Indie Spotlight June 2021

The GameGrin Indie Spotlight aims to give attention to videogames that the independent scene has offered us over the past month. Whether it be due to quality, success or creativeness, these are the independent games that stood out to us over the month of June.

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Exploring the colouring book world of Chicory: A Colorful Tale with the power of paint, players are able to explore the charming world of an outsider for game of the year, come the end of 2021. After a renowned artist, Chicory, goes missing, the world loses all of its colour. It’s up to the player to solve puzzles and paint the colour back into this colourless world.

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows
Play if you enjoy: Night in the Woods, Undertale

 

One Hand Clapping

It’s not quite a Skyrim sequel, but players must learn to master the power of the voice in One Hand Clapping. Rather than the safety of a controller, players are forced to navigate the various stages of One Hand Clapping using only their voice. Players can sing or scream their way through each level and, with up to five hours of content, you’re likely to be loathed by all of your neighbours once it’s done.

Platforms: Stadia, Windows
Play if you enjoy: Singing or irritating neighbours

Operation Tango

For the multiplayer puzzle game fans, Operation Tango is a co-operative spy game with a twist. With one person in control of the hacker to help with infiltration from afar, the other agent takes charge of the agent, getting their hands dirty out in the field. Operation Tango also takes advantage of the Steam’s Friend Pass system, meaning only one person has to own the game in order for two people to play.

Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X|S
Play if you enjoy: It Takes Two, A Way Out, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes

The Magnificent Trufflepigs

Have you ever wanted to simulate using a metal detector in the British countryside? Yes? Well, that dream can finally come true in The Magnificent Trufflepigs. Search and find treasures (but also a lot of rubbish), as well as helping the newly befriended Beth, as she makes one last push to find a missing earring before their farm is destroyed.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Windows
Play if you enjoy: Firewatch, Dear Esther, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

Backbone

Explore a dystopian Vancouver in this post-noir adventure game, Backbone. In a world inhabited by animals, you take the role of Howard Lotor, a raccoon by day and also private detective by day. With stunning visuals to draw you in, the game focuses on a deep narrative so you can become connected with the characters around you. Clearly inspired by old-school CRPG’s, can you unravel this raccoon's biggest case yet?

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One
Play if you enjoy: Disco Elysium, Grim Fandango, Chicken Police

ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights

Our final game this month takes us to the dark fantasy world of ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights. After all living things were turned into monstrosities known as the Blighted, a young woman finally awoke far below an old church. Highly touted in the metroidvania genre, ENDER LILIES really captures the atmosphere of gothic horror like very few before it. Explore this ravished world - the more you uncover, the more your journey's end will be altered.

Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox Series X|S
Play if you enjoy: Salt & Sanctuary, Hollow Knight, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night