Hardcore Gaming 101 (Posts tagged indie games)

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Cultic: Chapter Two

Cultic Chapter One was an already extremely impressive game. Telling the story of a detective who runs afoul of a mysterious cult, it was a step-by-step journey through a mountainous region that featured rather excellent level design, a killer soundtrack, and first person shooter gameplay that found its own chaotic, distinct rhythm of combat. There was a three year waiting period between chapters, and it turned out that the time was well spent- solo developer Jasozz Games somehow improved almost everything about the game with Chapter Two, and the result is an expansion pack that not only concludes the story, but feels like a full sequel in its own right.

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Cultic

Boomer shooter Cultic comes from solo developer Jason Smith under the name Jasozz Games. It’s a fascinating title that pays homage to various older games, but remixes its various elements into something that feels perfectly at home to the eras it pays tribute to. The game’s first half, Chapter One, tells the story of an unnamed detective who worked at the Grandewel PD investigating a cult in the area that is suspected to be responsible for several recent crimes. He is framed for misconduct under false pretenses, and suspended, but keeps investigating them until one day they ken to what he’s doing and leave him for dead in a pit of corpses. It’s in this pile that the game starts, informing the player that this is not one for the faint of heart.

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One Step From Eden

What do you get when you mix the unique battle system from Megaman Battle Network, the high-speed intensity of Eschatos, Cho-Ren-Sha 68k and other similar shoot-em-ups, and the addictive gameplay loop and procedurally-generated challenges of Balatro, Rogue Legacy and its modern indie kin? You get Thomas Moon Kang and Humble Games’ One Step From Eden, one of the coolest games to have come from the roguelite boom of the 2010s and 2020s, and one that sticks far, far closer to old-school roguelike tradition than it may first appear.

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Top 47K - CarnEvil (and Rolling Gunner!)

Join the HG101 gang as they discuss and rank Midway’s lightgun shooter about a carnival… that is evil. Then stick around for Rolling Gunner, an accessible bullet-hell shooter with DLC-added twin-stick controls!

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Top 47K - ToeJam & Earl (and ChainStaff!)

Join the HG101 gang plus special guest Robbo, as they discuss and rank-err, revisit, the groovy duo’s funky roguelike for the Genesis/Mega Drive. Then stick around for ChainStaff, a violently quirky action-platformer about having an alien parasite attach itself to your head!

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Forbidden Solitaire

2026 has seen an unexpected indie success, due to the fact that it’s an extremely unexpected team up. On one hand, you have Grey Alien Games, long time grinders of the solitaire genre, most known by you HG101 readers as the creators of Shadowhand. On the other, we have Night Signal Entertainment, a newcomer created by a former actor for the Evermore theme park that made some waves with Home Safety Hotline, combining a mixed media approach and analog horror techniques to make a unique and tongue in cheek horror experience. This is not a combination of talents you’d ever expect, and yet it happened, and quickly cleared 10,000 copies sold in just 48 hours.

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Top 47K - SUPERHOT (and Muppet RaceMania!)

FPS Through the Ages moves when you move! Join the HG101 gang as they discuss and rank a 2010s viral hit that attempts to redefine the first-person shooter genre. Then stick around for Muppet RaceMania, a kart racer with a surprising amount of platforming mixed in!

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ChainStaff

Earth has been overwhelmed with Star Spores from space, mutating its flora and fauna in ferocious ways! Courageous soldier Jesse Varlette has fought valiantly, except he’s ended up with an alien parasite on his body. He is, fundamentally, still human, and uses his newly mutated powers to fight back against the alien menace.

Chainstaff comes from Mommy’s Best Games, an indie American studio that’s specialized in 2D shoot-em-ups and run-and-guns since the XBLIG era, including titles like Weapon of Choice and Serious Sam DD. This is a culmination of everything they’ve done up until this point, with a distinct visual style and over-the-top gunplay that sets them apart from retro titles like Contra.

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ZPF

Homebrew Genesis shooter ZPF owes a big debt to Wings of Wor and the Thunder Force series, owing to its pacing and its general feel. But it’s also visually striking in a way that gives it a completely distinct identity.

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Bounty Sisters

Konami was once home to a number of storied video game franchises, but around the mid-2010s, they scaled back game production and left many of these to languish. These resulted in a number of spiritual successors, some created by their original staff – Castlevania had the Bloodstained games, Suikoden had Eiyuuden Chronicles, and Goemon had Bakeru. Now indie team PiXEL attempts to resurrect the TwinBee cute-em-up series, even featuring a few old school Konami team members.

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