15 AWESOME upcoming 2024 games you MIGHT not know about!

[@MattMcMuscles]

UPDATE: Thanks to those who pointed out the very interesting history of Glyde. Not sure why it's demo was promoted on the Steam Next Fest, but it turns out it was originally a Kickstarter game and while it made it's funding goal, the full game was not developed due to major disagreements between the dev team. Instead of cancelling the whole project, what was developed was uploaded to steam, and the "demo" represents that (although the actual Steam page doesn't make that clear). I played around 45 mins of it for this video (had to move onto other games) but it turns out it's multiple hours long! So you can experience a giant chunk of it. Thanks for the added info, everyone!

[@TeraunceFoaloke]

The lead Dev has made it clear in the Discord he plans to regroup and relaunch the Kickstarter later on to finish the whole thing. The Demo is basically Chapter 1 of the full planned game.

[@imraanakollo-arenz1449]

So... Glyde the Dragon What Happened?

[@xavisteele]

​@@imraanakollo-arenz1449 The demo is going to be rebranded as a prologue soon as Valefor continues to take on the project by himself, but he may look for freelancers later on to assist. This way, the 'demo' can be given reviews and those who worked on it can say add a 'completed' game to their portfolios.

[@Brudisios]

the fumes demo lets you level up and refight that boss. took me 6 hours to beat and get all 4 achivements, pretty nice for a free demo

[@randomd00d19]

For Fzero fans there is also XF Extreme Formula, which is made by the guy who made Spark the Electric Jester. Fzero fans are finally eating with these two games. XF Extreme Formula is currently out in early access, so you can play that while you wait for AERO GPX.

[@GameDevYal]

XF is great, it's a shame it's getting so little attention. The early access update also immensely increased the difficulty compared to the demo so F-Zero fans will have something to cut their teeth on.

[@InitialDL84]

Yup, that game's on my wishlist too!

[@bad1080]

was just about to type this >

[@pedromallol6498]

Also found another F-Zero type game called, Super Pilot.

[@TheJollyRamRancher]

thank you for putting megacopter on my radar, that looks incredibly like a game I'd enjoy. I loved jungle strike growing up.

[@Chas-OTE]

I'm glad someone thought of Jungle Strike too! Man I was obsessed with that game for a good while as a kid. Thank you indeed Matt for putting this one on my radar.

[@Uhcip]

I thought it was desert strike, is that not similar?

[@antjones2281]

It should be illegal to not include chapters. 0:41 Kill Night 2:23 Megacopter 3:44 Flintlock 5:22 Glyde the Dragon 7:19 Aero GPX 8:53 Grunn 10:24 Akimbot 12:17 Parking Garage Rally Circuit 13:37 Dungeons of Hinterberg 15:04 Enotria 16:43 Steel Seed 18:45 Taki Rush 20:01 Grapple Dogs - Cosmic Canines 21:40 Wander Stars 23:19 Fumes

[@SenorBobII]

Awesome vid. Love to see people highlighting indie games that can't afford massive advertising campaigns. There's so many hidden gems out there.

[@Carnivius_Prime]

Fumes didn't make me think Mad Max (a game I love) but it certainly reminded me of the PS1 game Vigilante 8 (another game I love). :)

[@Baalirock]

That was my first thought, too. Gotta love the dust effects in the demo.

[@bandicootsauce4569]

That dragon game gives me Legend Of Spyro vibes. Consider me intrigued.

[@MatteoTomatto]

12:40 The dithering effects on the dirt and smoke clouds and generally blocky nature of the graphics reminded me more of the Sega Saturn than the PS1.

[@LordQuadros]

I sat in on some of Walaber's Parking Garage Rally dev streams a while back, and they were really fun. It's cool to see how far along it's come since then.

[@VicoSotto.]

That taxi game just look like an asset-flip.

[@_JPkun]

I love the editing style of this, reminds of the old TV video game shows from the 2000's (in a very good sense of course). Also helps indies get more recognition.

[@Broll00]

I’m so glad Matt called out Enotria doesn’t feel as good as Lies of P. Vaati has been singing this games praises for some reason and I can’t tell why. I was very underwhelmed by the demo. Lies of P was far more impressive IMO.

[@InitialDL84]

Yeah I played the demo on PS5, after the first boss fight I was already over it

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

Yeah and I don't get the critical reception to Lies of P either. It's honestly one of the best soulslikes, feels amazing to play and balanced and has so many cool additions to the combat system. It stands alongside FromSoft games. I really don't get how Lies of P has the same critical reception as Mortal Shell, for example.

[@CompleteAnimation]

Just found out that Glyde the Dragon was basically cancelled due to conflict within the dev team. They even cancelled the kickstarter campaign after it had reached its funding goal. The cancellation post mentioned trying again later, but who knows if that will actually happen.

[@ObsoletePerson]

Oh that sucks.

[@ValeforGames]

Glyde is getting an upgrade to unreal engine 5 and the only Kickstarter was cancelled.

[@FinalGamerJames]

"Dungeons of Hinterberg" weirdly reminds me of Okami with its soft cel-style and the way combats lock you into a smaller area, I really like it! I do hope Glyde manages to get sorted and be released, though the game I'm most intrigued by is Drunn as part of the new "cozy horror "genre. BUT I am so happy to see Grapple Dog got a sequel, that game was cozy as heck and I'm glad the devs got to keep going! Wanderstars, weirdly, reminds me of the Harry Potter GB game "Chamber of Secrets" which is like an RPG and had a really fascinating setup of "construct spells with various verbs for maximum damage" and I love that, I really like that concept so I hope Wanderstars does well!

[@antjones2281]

Wow the Desert Strike homages are fierce this year. Megacopter looks nice But you should also check out Cleared Hot.

[@Lukethefox]

Never thought I'd hear my voice in this video. I'm the voice of Wing in Glyde BTW. I don't mind the criticism about the voice acting and there's some stuff going on behind the scenes but I'm glad people are enjoying the game and this is a role i'm really proud ofr.

[@MattMcMuscles]

I think a lot of it has to do with the voice acting direction and the script itself. While the project certainly has had some big snags behind the scenes, I still think it was pretty enjoyable overall!

[@HiGlowie]

Surprised Flintlock is from an indie team. Looks very Ubisoft to me.

[@jolumaya4557]

There's much more to the Glyde demo than you described here, it's basically a free full 10 hour game in on itself. And all of the elemental powers can be unlocked, not just the electricity one. It had a Kickstarter but was cancelled due to internal conflict within the team, but the dev is now starting over from scratch and scaled back the scope, which I think is a good call. Best of luck to him!

[@DeinonychusCowboy]

"I know I have to go further, but... So much lava!" -- me when there is construction and it is difficult to get into the tim hortons drive thru

[@lifestream_real]

Who needs Summer Game Fest, when we have Summer Matt Fest? 😊

[@Figo064]

fyi Aero GPX is releasing in early access on august 6th

[@Haysey_Draws]

The Next Fest was great, it's really filled up my steam deck!

[@Valkian24]

Conscript is one game that I feel is worth mentioning. An isometric survival horror but not in the traditional sense as you're not dealing with monsters but surviving through the battle of Verdun in WWI as you play as a soldier trying to find his brother while in heading into the many horrific trenches and bunkers. It's very similar to something like Signalis as it's developed independently (in this case, one person) over the course of a few years and I've played it a few small chunks of it here and there and I'm eager for the full release when it comes out July 23rd on all platforms (except Mac & Linux).

[@Carnivius_Prime]

A couple of those craft in Aero GPX look quite Wipeout style too which ain't a bad thing either. :)

[@kshadehyaena]

The theme song from Taxi Rush is also very much the product of generative AI.

[@MattMcMuscles]

hrrm, yeah that checks out, some of it sounded...off?

[@dark0al097]

That's an easy ignore button then.

[@drstclair]

You had me interested in Wander Stars, and I looked up their other games. They made one called Underhero that is a really cool look on a Paper Mario style RPG.

[@mochiebunny3833]

Thank you for showing these, going to have to pay more attention to Next Fest. Can't wait for Taxi Rush and Fumes

[@Kenoji8]

Two upcoming indie games I think you should check out, Matt, are "Victory Heat Rally" from Skydevilpalm and "Iron Meat" from Retroware -- who are also making the Toxic Crusaders beat-'em up. Victory Heat Rally is a rally car racing game, similar to something like maybe a Daytona USA or Sega Rally Championship, but has a kind of style from Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom. Meanwhile Iron Meat is a Contra-style side scrolling shooter that looks like it was lifted from Contra Hard Corps, but just much more apocalyptic and gritty. And the music for the game is PHENOMENAL and very catchy. If anything, I recommend Iron Meat for the high-paced action and killer soundtrack. Iron Meat has a demo out, too, that you can check out if you want. Awesome demo.

[@ruzma3927]

Just wanted to point out, but it sounds like you only did the VERY BEGINNING of the Glyde the Dragon demo-prologue, as there are FAR MORE elemental forms beyond Lightning to acquire. Behind the First Blight Crystal (which you're not really meant to clear upon first encountering), there is a cave which will lead you to the rest of the game, with many more NPCs, secrets and Elements to acquire (including one that's REALLY helpful for the big Crystal Guardian fights)!

[@FutureRetroRoots]

From this June Steam Next Fest, 2 games that stood out the most for me are Parcel Corps and Metal Slug: Tactics. Parcel Corps itself is like this crazy delivery type of game that's like JSR mixed with Crazy Taxi. I highly recommend these ones if you haven't already.

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff, as always!

[@carpemundum1607]

I found Wander Stars through its kickstarter page, which hasn't gone live yet. Hopefully, voice acting isn't off the table yet. Can't wait to back it!

[@-castradomis-1773]

Holy shit is that Eiji’s theme from Toshinden 2!!?? Talk about a nostalgia bomb!!

[@bluphitiger]

Hey Matt, I think DinoRex needs a look for the WFG

[@psirensongs]

I gasped when I saw the thumbnail, I had no idea we were getting a sequel to Grapple Dog, which one of your videos also put me onto a year or two ago. LET'S FUCKING GO EDIT: I wishlisted at least half of these games. Very excited for Wander Stars!

[@Amaror2]

Unfortunately you won't be seeing a full clyde the dragon game anytime soon. The team had a kickstarter game and did reach the goal, but apparently they disagreed on how to continue the project, so they split up and cancelled the kickstarter. The team lead wants to continue the project bull wants to rebuild it in unreal engine 5. The demo will be rebranded as it's own free game, since it's quite long for a demo and this way the team members will have a completed game project on their resume.

[@Zenlore6499]

From what I recall, Glyde is more of a Legend of Spyro love letter than a straight up Spyro love letter. It’s possible that’s shifted since the early days, but it’s good to keep in mind.

[@ruzma3927]

Actually, the main dev never played TLoS before working on this! The similarities are purely coincidences. That said, OG Spyro still is a major influence.

[@PirataGalactico]

I wanna add to the list Brandon James Greer's (pixel artist youtuber) "Petal runner" which is a sort of slice of life RPG Pokémon game with a GBC aesthetic. Check it out! It looks gorgeous, and if you don't know Brandon's channel i strongly recommend it too.

[@CompleteAnimation]

Thanks for bringing Glyde the Dragon to my attention! I played the demo and am now excited to play the full game! It's got a lot of rough edges at the moment, but it is just the kind of game I wanted!

[@dw86536]

Akimbot it is. Gives me Jak and Daxter and Ratchet & Clank Vibes.

[@MarquisdeL3]

Flintlock seems to be taking some influence from Ancient Babylon. The particular design of the sphynx-like boss, for instance and one of the main characters being named Enki. It's nice to see.

[@jackkemp7256]

Glyde the dragon from Glyde the Dragon?!

[@onilao]

Love these types of videos dude, helps me add more cool games to wishlist!

[@KronetHjort]

I really like this format, I am comment to let you and the algorithm know

[@sudohnim1275]

What's the music playing at 10:27? Anyone know the name or where it's from?

[@tylerferguson3193]

Hope you'll have a good day

[@rooislangwtf]

21:42 Man I hate when that happens

[@marvellousm]

A demo I really, REALLY loved was DUSTBORN. It's a narrative "choices matter" adventure game set in an alternative USA where Jackie Kennedy was assassinated instead of JFK and has led to a robot filled authoritarian regime. The character design is really cool and it has surprisingly solid combat, it's a rhythm game, and I was just really impressed with it. This video was awesome, I downloaded nearly all of these demos to check out!

[@josephjennings3146]

12:16 - did….did I hear claptrap?! Someone analyze this

[@danwoods8195]

aero gpx so sick.

[@notesonwheels]

your two fav games from the list, hinterberg and flintlock, are both coming day one on gamepass. Boom.

[@SoaringLettuce]

oh wow, akimbot is straight up a brand new PS2 game, that's wild how that vibe just died in the mainstream industry

[@Go_away_loser]

I’m going to be honest. People need to stop writing sarcastic, witty characters now. It’s so obnoxious to play a game or watch a show and none of the characters on the screen are taking the story they’re in seriously.

[@Carnivius_Prime]

I find them kinda annoying too but I guess someone likes them enough for them to keep being a thing. Is cool. I just find something else to entertain me. :)

[@MercenaryTau]

What really gets me is when the character complains about gameplay or design choices. They're actively making an effort to sabotage their own game. While less favorable decisions can be forgiven as being mildly annoying, if the protagonist complains about it at every opportunity, what's keeping the player from eventually agreeing; "you know what, you're right, this isn't fun and don't know why I'm still playing."

[@HiGlowie]

There’s an interesting video called “Millennial Writing” that delves into this well

[@InitialDL84]

I'm not too big on platformers outside of the old Sonic games, but that Grapple Dog game looks fun. The first one's on sale via Steam's Summer Sale, and I put the sequel on my wishlist. Hell, a lot of the game you mentioned are now on my wishlist 😅

[@pleasantlygrim6712]

I wish steel seed had a demo that one looked cool

[@MattMcMuscles]

Yeah, I guess they took the demo off once the Next Fest finished up. Most developers leave the demos up, not sure why they didn't.

[@bungieman2810]

Definitely gonna check some of these out eventually. Thanks, Matt!

[@shadesXL1220]

You neglected a vital overlook by most people who aren't in the know. Allow to give you 2.5 words to correct your error. Gundam Breaker 4

[@SithMetalord]

Definitely gonna check all these games. Great video, Matt!

[@Carnivius_Prime]

oh i haven't played Grapple Dog and it's currently £2.99 on Steam (down from £11.99) so I'll give it a shot. :)

[@Carnivius_Prime]

I'm enjoying it. :)

[@thebeaphomet9485]

Chronicles of the Wolf is another game people should keep an eye out for. Lecarde Chronicles 1 + 2 and Wallachia: Reign of Dracula are good games and this new game by Migami is gonna be even better.

[@MattMcMuscles]

Yes, it's very good. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpXHiIB_Yq1rm9E

[@TheCartoonGamer8000]

Wander Stars I'll definitely be keeping my eye on!

[@woodenotaku]

If you think Fumes looks interesting then check out Bandits: Phoenix Rising, an entirely forgotten PC-exclusive from over twenty years ago by the developers who also brought you games like Tom Clancy's GRAW and Bionic Commando Rearmed. It is unfortunately a retail-only release that never saw a digital copy for purchase but thankfully it's fully compatible with Windows 11 and the latest patch even makes it DRM-free.

[@masral1]

Thanks for the megacopter recommendation! Thats a tight little game

[@ddarkman1festt]

To bad i can't play any of these. No pc or room for a pc

[@TheSmartboy64]

I immediately tried Glyde as it gave that Spyro love letter feel. Then I immediately disliked it because the combat felt way too clunky, heavy, and slow for what it was trying to do. And the writing sucked. I spent most of my last week jamming out to Rift of the Necrodancer. Sadly, the demo is no longer available. However, if you have any love for rhythm games, or enjoyed Guitar Hero, its a must buy when it comes out sometime this year.

[@EnriqueMcQuade]

Hello

[@josh-oo]

Megacopter makes me think of the song "Hatredcopter", by Dethklok. If I get that, I'll probably just have that song on loop while I play it.

[@AlecCuellar]

Are you the new voice for weird history? Yes or no

[@classmst89]

Glyde is just a spyro ripoff, down to the firefly sidekick

[@wentencel]

Gardening game with horror elements plays up the vibes you get in Stardew valley running back to your farm from the mines right before 2am

[@Critical_Hit]

Another game you might want to keep your eyes on is the 3D, fishing-themed platformer Big Catch. There is a demo currently out on Steam, though there is no announced release date as of yet

[@BHRaccoon]

How have I never heard of Gapple Dog!? And it's getting a sequel with equally cute characters? You, sir, have just helped that company to make a sale.

[@roberthiltz2741]

The segue out of the Taxi game made me chortle; if they give me a hurricane kick in a 3D game, I’m totally going to foot blast random NPCs!

[@AceOfShamrock]

That dragon game looks kind of neat. Might look into it. If I can add one to the list, Streets of Rogue 2! If you've never heard of it check out the first one, it's awesome. One of my favourite games ever, and the sequel drops in August on PC

[@MoTheBlackCat]

Thx for giving some love to the indy scene Matt! That's how we can stumble across gems that could have slipped by otherwise!

[@Uhcip]

Dont skip Nine Sols which recently released.

[@TinchoX]

Excellent list there, much appreciated!

[@PaddletailPhilly]

New Grapple Dog YES!!!

[@Quackenson]

Grapple dog is why i clicked on this video 😂

[@NetBattler]

Hmm

[@BustershotTV]

Ill get each one bro, btw, hades II has early access on steam!!!

[@Edgar_SB]

Yo yo yo

[@CodenameV5k]

More video lists of good "under the radar" games please.

[@maskofacryingclown3]

I would definitely like to see more videos like this from you. I would unsubsrcibe from playstation so fast just to get away from the toxic comments. I know not to go into the comments, but just knowing the evil that are sitting beneath the video gets to me. But hopefully some of these games come to playstation. Plus I like to see more talk on indie games. Your commentary is always the best

[@CornyPuddle]

Flintlock looks so sick

[@Artang89]

Loads of cool looking stuff here. Already tried Killknight, Wanderstars and Flintlock. I will definitely check out at least some of these. I also played quite a bunch of demos during Next Fest, I would recommend these the most: Conscript One Btn Bosses ODDADA Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure Blue Prince Caravan Sandwitch The Alters I Am Your Beast Selfloss Dawnfolk SCHiM Spilled! Hollowbody Tactical Breach Wizards RP7 Man, there's too many games and not enough time for them(

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

I really liked Flintlock, although they do need to fix the stuttering for launch. Awesome new format, hopefully this stays around :)

[@3chambergamer]

These are so awesome suggestions! I need to try a few of them.

[@AnonPer]

Wander Stars would be perfect if not for just one little problem: No explorable map. I cannot stand it when the "world" in an RPG is just a bunch of "dots".

[@rfs8194]

Ok but the important question is, can you pet the fox thing in Flintlock?

[@shifty7078]

I’m still waiting for varvarion to come to steam.

[@julioagua]

Thanks for this big help to the indie scene! You and the "Best Indie Games" channel are a beacon on a sea of AAA mediocrity.

[@emilysong2000]

Hope we see gameplay videos of some (if not all) of the indie games featured here on the Flophouse Plays channel in the future!

[@lostlake86]

MOM! MATT'S making me spend money again!🎉

[@MCDexpo]

Glyde the Dragon genuinely looks awful... And that makes me extremely sad

[@OneTrueBelmont]

Wander stars actually looks pretty fun!

[@jackmcslay]

3:44 Good to see people talking about games on their merit as games without the constant nontroversies over female character designs that don't look like lingerie supermodels.

[@JustDatBoi]

Stunning and brave take