Dark Queen of Samobor draws from the dark fantasy of Croatian folklore, weaving a linear narrative around the mythical Black Queen, Barbara of Celje, inspired by Antun Šenoa’s poem “Zmijska kraljica” and the works of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić. Josip and his brother Mato aim to create an atmospheric experience reminiscent of games like Inside, blending 2.5D visuals with a haunting story.

The game’s development has been supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), which provided crucial funding through a competitive grant, allowing the brothers to focus on their vision. However, Vincetić emphasized that financing remains their biggest challenge, describing it as a “marathon” that lasts the entire development cycle.

Dark Queen of Samobor may join Xbox Game Pass, as Josip Vincetić shared that they have talked with people at Xbox about a program that support games in development. This could greatly increase the game’s visibility to millions of subscribers. However, Vincetić noted that such deals need careful financial review, as some involve upfront payments but sacrifice royalties post-launch. “It’s a big chance to reach players”, he said, “but we must weigh if it’s financially better than selling directly after release.”

Optimization remains a big challenge, as the team works to make Dark Queen of Samobor run smoothly on various PCs. Vincetić said balancing optimization with core development is time-consuming, with much work still to do. Early on, they tried smaller side projects to fund the game, but this slowed progress. Instead, they secured support from HAVC, HAMAG-BICRO grants, and Zagreb’s tourism board, though these funds are limited.

The game is preparing for closed alpha testing in late 2025 on Steam and an open beta in early 2026. A Steam Next Fest demo is planned, along with potential releases on PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, depending on funding and publisher support.

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Mixtape follows three friends on their final adventure, guided by a perfectly curated playlist of 80s and 90s hits featuring iconic bands like DEVO, Roxy Music, The Smashing Pumpkins, Joy Division, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. This soundtrack fuels a series of dreamy vignettes, each highlighting key teenage moments: first kisses, late-night mischief, skateboarding, fireworks, and sneaking into abandoned theme parks.

The trailer, packed with amazing visuals, captures the era’s spirit, blending nostalgic realism with dreamlike, fantastical moments that evoke the emotional highs of adolescence. Echoing Life is Strange, the game uses abstract storytelling to amplify the pivotal moments shaping its characters. The distinctive style of Beethoven & Dinosaur, seen in the psychedelic flair of The Artful Escape, shines through in this title as well.

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Set in a haunting, Belle Époque-inspired world, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 follows the members of Expedition 33 on a quest to defeat the Paintress, a mysterious entity who awakens yearly to paint a number on her monolith, erasing everyone of that age. This year, the number is 33, signaling a dire mission for the team. The game blends turn-based combat with real-time mechanics, allowing players to dodge, parry, and counter while chaining combos and targeting enemy weak points.

Its oil painting-like art style, gripping narrative, and a voice cast featuring talents like Charlie Cox, Ben Starr, and Jennifer English have drawn comparisons to JRPG giants like Final Fantasy and Persona. Developed by a small team of about 30 former Ubisoft developers, the game’s polish and ambition have exceeded expectations for a first-time studio.

Kepler Interactive announced on April 27 that the game surpassed 1 million copies sold across all platforms, a milestone reached in just three days. This figure, which excludes Game Pass players, highlights the game’s broad appeal, especially at its accessible 49.99€ price point. Its availability on Game Pass, Epic Games Store, and consoles likely pushed its total player count far higher.

According to SteamDB, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 peaked at 121,422 concurrent players on April 27 surpassing the all-time peaks of major RPGs like Metaphor: ReFantazio (85,961), Persona 3 Reload (45,002), and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (46,161). Starting with 51,922 concurrent players on launch day, the game saw steady growth, hitting 98,000 by April 26 and crossing 115,000 before reaching its record high.

Critical reception has been a driving force behind the game’s success. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 boasts a 92 Metacritic score, tying with Blue Prince as 2025’s highest-rated game, and a 91 on OpenCritic. Looking ahead, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s trajectory suggests more milestones to come. Its high ratings, growing player base, and critical acclaim position it as a Game of the Year contender alongside titles like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

The post Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Sells 1 Million Copies and Hits 121k Concurrent Players on Steam first appeared on IndieGames.

Blue Prince is a genre-defying first-person puzzle adventure set in the ever-shifting Mount Holly mansion. Your goal is to find the elusive Room 46 in a 45-room estate, blending roguelike randomization, strategic room-drafting, and intricate puzzles. Let me start by saying Blue Prince is an excellent game. Its design, atmosphere, and mechanics are all well-crafted, but its biggest flaw is the clash between its roguelike and puzzle elements.

Early Fun Fades to Tedious Late Grinds

Puzzles are deep and layered, requiring you to take a note and write things down to keep track of clues and hidden connections. This isn’t a game you can fully experience in just five hours; it constantly reveals new surprises the longer you play. The developers put real care into ensuring you can solve everything solo, with plenty of clues and redundancy to help uncover even the deepest secrets. However, Blue Prince’s endgame becomes a grindy mess where the roguelike elements work against you.

Roguelike elements force you to retread the same rooms repeatedly, and the RNG often leaves you with little control. The worst part? Knowing the solution to a puzzle but never getting the right room layout to actually solve it. That said, the mansion’s daily reset and randomized room-drafting keep each run fresh, but the system just needs a better balance to give you more agency.

Blue Prince revolves around drafting rooms onto a 5×9 grid, starting from three doors in the Entrance Hall. Each door offers three room choices like a Kitchen, Observatory, or Closet with unique exits, items or puzzles. You get 50 steps per “day” (used when entering rooms or interacting), and running out resets progress until the next day.

Smart drafting is also crucial: Hallways link multiple exits, while dead-end rooms like Closets can trap you if placed poorly. Rooms are color-coded by type (Green = gardens, Orange = hallways) and serve different purposes, for example, the Security Room tracks items, while the Boiler Room tweaks house rules. But heavy randomization can backfire. If keys to unlock rooms or items don’t appear, some runs just feel like dead ends, which happens far more often than you’d like.

RNG Tests Puzzle Mechanics

Back onto the puzzles, they vary from self-contained challenges like math problems or combination locks to sprawling mysteries that connect clues across multiple playthroughs. For instance, you might find a note in the Study that hints at a safe code in the Den but only after several days of observation will the solution become clear.

What makes the game special is how naturally it presents clues. You’ll find hints hidden in letters, books, and environmental details, rewarding thorough exploration rather than obvious signposting. Permanent upgrades help balance the randomness, for example, you can install Upgrade Disks in DOS computers to improve rooms adding extra steps or keys for all future runs, and solved puzzles stay solved.

Story reveals itself through exploration rather than cutscenes, uncovering family secrets, political drama, and the mystery of a missing author. Like Gone Home or Outer Wilds, you piece together Mount Holly’s history through notes, objects, and environmental clues. The subtle storytelling delivers satisfying “aha!” moments when a painting suddenly makes sense after 20 hours. There are cut scenes, but they serve more as an introducion than properly continuing the story.

Blue Prince offers great replay value. While challenging, with no hint system or difficulty options, each failed run teaches you something new. When the roguelike elements work in your favor, the game shines, but when luck turns against you, forcing constant day resets just to progress, frustration can outweigh the fun. Unfortunately, this does hurt the overall replay value.

Very Rewarding Game Once You Get Hang Of It

Every one of the 45+ rooms is packed with detail, whether it’s the cozy fireplace in the Den or the unsettling depths of the Boiler Room. Small touches, like a knocked-over candlestick or a hamster wheel in the Bunkroom, make the world feel alive, leaving you wondering what’s just decoration and what’s a clue. The 3D art also pulls you in, with clever details like hallway windows appearing along the mansion’s edges.

Blue Prince starts strong, the developers cracked the code on RNG-driven puzzles by flooding you with enough challenges to always feel progress. But after dozens of hours, you will eventually hit a wall. The shrinking room pool turns progression into a grind, and the mansion demands you keep backtracking. The big puzzles inherit the small ones’ flaws: bloat. Hunting for specific rooms becomes tedious, first finding the right layout, then hoping prerequisite pieces appear in the same run.

On top of everything mentioned, we can’t forget that the game also has its own resources, specifically keys, gold coins, and diamonds, which you use to unlock rooms, purchase special blueprints, or to use various useful objects, such as a sledgehammer to break locks. There are also passcards and batteries that help open shortcuts or power devices.

In the end, this is a thinker’s game; challenging but deeply rewarding, where every discovery feels earned. The striking cel-shaded art and moody soundtrack also pull you into its world completely. While the randomness and difficulty might test your patience, it’s an essential experience for puzzle lovers, especially for fans of Outer Wilds or Return of the Obra Dinn.

The game review is based on the version available through Xbox Game Pass

3.8

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With the Stargazer DLC, players receive a brand-new armor set, three new weapons, and an impressive new map called Starlight Cape. In addition to battles against diverse enemies and a new boss, the update also delivers new quests that continue the main story, revealing more of the Enclave’s secrets. A special addition is a drone companion that dynamically synergizes with Brynn’s magic abilities.

Also included is a Story Difficulty mode for those who prefer a more relaxed gameplay experience focused on narrative. Players can now customize armor colors, and a dedicated “Tips & Tricks” hub has been added to help new players get familiar with the game’s mechanics.

The Eternal Strands: Stargazer DLC is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam, and Game Pass subscribers can access it at no additional cost. You can read our full review of the game here.

The post Free Stargazer DLC for Eternal Strands Adds New Map, Enemies, and Weapons first appeared on IndieGames.

The game builds on the success of Descenders by introducing new sports, larger worlds, and more control over your rider. At launch, you can hit the slopes with snowboarding and mountainboarding, with additional sports planned for future updates. The game offers a massive open world to explore, featuring huge biomes, secret parks, and hand-crafted courses connected by procedurally generated maps.

You can choose to ride solo or join up to 11 others in multiplayer mode, shredding the same slopes together. With enhanced controls, you can perform flips, barrel rolls, and grinds, adding a new level of skill and style to your runs. The game also features a wide range of customization options, including clothing, kits, and boards, allowing you to deck out your rider in unique ways.

The post Descenders Next is launching in early April and will also be available on Xbox Game Pass first appeared on IndieGames.

Echo Weaver is a unique time-loop adventure that tells the story of a ruined society trapped in a fatal time loop. You take on the role of the last Weaver, a remnant of this society, and must uncover the mysteries of their world, and their own past, by exploring beautifully drawn biomes, helping quirky survivors, and tracking down leads.

The game challenges you to use each loop to chip away at the mystery, fine-tuning their skills to blaze through new routes, harvest potent “echoes,” and unlock game-altering secrets and shortcuts. By gaining powerful knowledge, you can reshape the timeline and master the loop, weaving a new fate for those trapped within.

Echo Weaver stands out with its innovative “metroidBRAINia” design, where knowledge is the only gear you need. Unlike traditional metroidvania games that rely on upgrades and unlocks, it focuses on discovering secrets and learning new ways to navigate the world.

The post Time-Loop Adventure Echo Weaver Coming to Xbox and Game Pass in 2025 first appeared on IndieGames.

In TANUKI: Pon’s Summer, you explore a picturesque Japanese town, delivering packages, pulling off BMX tricks, and helping locals with quirky quests. As Pon, a furry tanuki with a knack for biking, you’ll ride through vibrant streets, perform stunts, and immerse yourself in the charm of village life. The ultimate goal is to restore the Great Tanuki Shrine, but along the way, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to enjoy summer activities like baseball, sumo, taiko drums, and more.

The game also features a unique emoji-based dialogue system, allowing you to build relationships with the town’s quirky residents. Whether you choose to befriend or annoy them, your interactions will shape your story and add depth to the experience. The world of TANUKI: Pon’s Summer is inspired by the developers’ lived experiences in Kyoto, Aomori, Sapporo, and Beppu, creating a lovingly crafted environment that feels authentic.

The post TANUKI: Pon’s Summer has received a new trailer and will be coming to Xbox Game Pass later this year first appeared on IndieGames.

In Blue Prince, you take on the role of the heir to Mt. Holly, a mysterious mansion where the rooms change every day. Your goal is to explore the estate, uncover its secrets, and ultimately find the legendary Room 46. However, the path to it is far from simple, each day, the mansion resets, and the rooms you encounter depend on your choices.

The game combines elements of mystery, strategy, and puzzle-solving to create a unique and unpredictable experience. As you explore, you'll uncover the estate’s rich and dark history, filled with intrigue, blackmail, and the mysterious disappearance of a local children's book author. The deeper you delve into the story, the more you realize that the past is closer than it seems.

The post In Addition to the Previously Announced PC Version, Puzzle Game Blue Prince Is Coming to PlayStation and Xbox first appeared on IndieGames.

In The Alters, you play as Jan Dolski, an ordinary man stranded on a distant and dangerous planet. Facing impossible odds, Jan must rely on alternate versions of himself, created using a mysterious substance called Rapidium to survive. These “alters” are different versions of Jan, each shaped by a key decision he made in the past. Together, they must work to overcome the planet’s challenges and find a way home.

In a lore-themed message, 11 bit studios explained the delay as a necessary step to ensure The Alters meets their high standards. The additional time will allow the team to refine the game’s mechanics, enhance its features, and deliver a more polished and rewarding experience. The studio emphasized that “almost ready” is not part of their vocabulary, and they are committed to delivering a game that lives up to players’ expectations.

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