The Big 2025 Indie Game Preview

[@GamingInTheWild]

Hey folks! If you like my videos, you can support the channel, get extras, and join the patron Discord for $1+! 🙏 patreon.com/gaminginthewild

[@ReadyPlayerPoet]

I don't comment enough on your videos, John, but always a pleasure to catch them.

[@GamingInTheWild]

@@ReadyPlayerPoet thanks! Nice to know people are enjoying the stuff

[@gingerwhale871]

Thx for putting the title screen of the games both at the beginning and the end :)

[@GamingInTheWild]

You're welcome. Thanks for the comment! It all helps the algorithm, and gives me a lil boost to make more :)

[@oysteinkalas889]

I'm very excited for offical Steam release of "The Roottrees are Dead", a game being described like mix of Her Story and Obra Dinn. Best of all its releasing in 2 days! And, The Mermaid Mask a detective game from the developer of Crow County and Snipperclips. It's the 3rd game in the Detective Grimoire series, was originally scheduled for last year but got delay because of its developer success with Crow County!

[@GamingInTheWild]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

[@ricochet1732]

I'm really excited for a recently-announced game Travelling at Night, from the people behind Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. This looks to be the studio's go at a more traditional rpg but still filled with that lovely lore juice this time set in an alt-history cold war. I'm hoping maybe I can recapture how I felt playing Disco Elysium all over again

[@GamingInTheWild]

@@ricochet1732 interesting, I was mixed on Cultist Sim's intentionally esoteric systems? But I liked the vibe a lot

[@ricochet1732]

@@GamingInTheWild yeah based on the steam page screenshots it looks like a disco elysium approach so I'm hoping for immaculate vibes

[@zockrateslaboratories]

Thank you for including Ruffy and the Riverside! It means a lot to us :)

[@GamingInTheWild]

Welcome! Excited for the game :)

[@jurtheorc8117]

Ooooh flip yeah, so glad to see Ruffy and the Riverside as well as The Midnight Walk on here! Cool to see someone who also played Lost in Random and was fond of it! "Lumpy" is a new way to describe games for me. And great to see Phonopolis too! Other standouts for me that i discovered thanks to your video, include Mixtape, Soulitaire, Usual June and Nivalis. You're doing great work. Respect for the quality of these videos. If i may ask, have you heard of the likes of - My Familiar - IMMORTAL: And the Death that Follows - Pillory - The Dungeon Experience - Genokids - Enenra Daemon Core - Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo - The new game by the Papetura dev (i forgot the name) - Promise Mascot Agency - Kraino Rebirth - Yasuke: A Lost Descendant - Motorslice - Kings of Hell - The Eternal Life of Goldman and that's all i can rightly think of at the moment. There's some other games that i do want to mention. They have alerady come out, but either have gone under the radar and/or have more planned for the future. MORE PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE: - Cookie Cutter (a personal favourite). Hand-drawn 2D metroidvania. Nature of what is planned include new areas, story beats, weapons, NPCs, sidequests, bosses, full voice acting, a battle arena, new collectables. It's a big passion project of the dev who went over more than 100 possible interviews before he found a publisher that was comfortable with not interfering in the vision at all. He really wanted Cookie Cutter to be a thing of its own. Lead dev described the protagonist as somewhere between a female Wario and inspired by girls he saw in raves in Italy through his life. The entire game is kind of the culmination of his tastes in media, from comics and games to manga and music, etc. - Decline's Drops. Hand-drawn 2D action platformer. Lead dev of this one describes it a bit as Yoshi's Island meets Smash. I can personally see a bit of Rayman Origins or Legends in there too. About a wooden gardener puppet that sets out to beat up corporate dragons for ruining her garden. Nature of what is planned include new areas, bosses and different playable characters. A recent update added time attack and boss rush modes. UNDER THE RADAR: - Magenta Horizon: Neverending Harvest For fans of high-paced action games like The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile, Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden and DMC, this is an absolute *must* to check out. Really striking art style with around 60 enemies and bosses to offer, solid story and players are incentivized to play aggressively thanks to multiple "projectiles" to use (like summoning a big ghostly arm, an electric cloud parry, throwing a boomerang that bounces of surfaces) and healing grenades. This is the one that is especially horribly going under the radar. - Zet Zillions Pretty striking deckbuilder roguelike by Ota Imon Studios. Good time in gameplay and presentation, even though it took me a while to realize it's more helpful to have smaller decks than keeping on building them. - Loco Motive Very solid point-and-click - PRIM Likewise a very solid point-and-click - Harold Halibut Bit conflicted on actually recommending it as a game, but as a story it is something very special. Presentation too, shares The Midnight Walk, Phonopolis and the Papetura dev's medium of stop motion/physical assets. - Judero Also a stop-motion/physical asset-made game! But much stronger on the area of gameplay. And a quick mention to other personal favourites from recent years: - No Straight Roads - Soulstice - Clash: Artifacts of Chaos. Hope this list was interesting, and wish you a good new year! Hope that your videos will be of good help in bringing more attention to all these cool games.

[@GamingInTheWild]

Thanks! This pushed Zet up my to-play list.

[@justsophia22]

You hit so many games already on my wishlist, so excited for this year! What incredible games coming! 💜

[@GamingInTheWild]

@@justsophia22 and these are just the ones we know about! Most people didn't know Balatro or 1000xRESIST existed this time last year :)

[@simoncote4064]

First time watching one of your videos, high quality, straight to the point, and well thought out! Keep going, i'm confident your channel will grow! +1 sub :D

[@GamingInTheWild]

Thanks man, I always appreciate feedback from a KZbin aficionado. Glad the structure and delivery worked for you. Onwards!

[@internisus]

It's very helpful that you always say the game's title at both the start and end of its segment.

[@GamingInTheWild]

Appreciate the comment :) I'm always zoning out for a sec when I'm watching stuff so I'm tryna help other people be able to follow it okay!

[@kathat7549]

This is a really well-researched video, i appreciate all your work on this! Theres quite a few games ont his list inhadnt heard of but am now looking forward too- thanks for beinging them to light!

[@GamingInTheWild]

Thanks I appreciate you noticing the work :)

[@FinallyGotAroundTo]

Great video! I played Beastieball in Early Access and it is incredible. Really looking forward to both Heart Machine games, I also hope Wanderstop has an unexpected twist, and downloaded the demos for Soulitaire, Cairn, and The Alters, so thanks for the heads up on those. Some others I’m looking forward to/hoping launch in 2025 are Everdeep Aurora, Tears of Metal, Love Eternal, Building Relationships, We Kill Monsters, and The Lost Wild just to name a few.

[@GamingInTheWild]

Tears of Metal is a good name 🤘 Thanks for the reccos!

[@Jackieboy84]

Great video. So glad I found your channel :)

[@GamingInTheWild]

Thanks, I'm glad you found it too! :)

[@4000Wiggins]

Got my wishlist ready!

[@BeauSweatman]

Ahhhh I don’t I’d I would call all of these indies/indies anymore. Still great video and thanks for sharing. Some of these titles really keen to follow up on 👍

[@GamingInTheWild]

Yeah, people have different definitions of indie. I just go with the classic, "not AAA". All games are indie games until they get a publisher, and most that get a publisher just carry out their original intent. I'm more about the spirit of the games in question than parsing the fine print, I'd say.

[@jeremyusreevu237]

Grimoire Groves, Beastie Balls, Mixtape, Star Birds, Big Walk, Blue Prince, Soulitare, and Morsels look pretty cool, and I'm definitely hyped for Wheel World, Nivalis, and Ruffy and the Riverside. I'm also excited for VideoHole: Episode II, BOOM! Buster, and This Is Fine: Maximum Cope. They look really cool!

[@GamingInTheWild]

They're new to me, I'll look em up!

[@ergohash2517]

Wanderstop is on top of my wishlist. "Peripetia" comes out in February (although i guess it launches in early access, so maybe not applicable for such videos), seems like a sci-fi dystopian immersive sim with polish & anime vibes. Speaking of polish games i wonder if Holstin (indie survival horror akin to HollowBody from this year) comes out in 2025. Great video.

[@GamingInTheWild]

@@ergohash2517 interesting picks, thanks! Paripetia's setting looks right up my alley

[@nurobot]

I am so so looking forward to Holstin!

[@Masamune314]

Looking forward to Citizen Sleeper 2 😃

[@FranticJosh]

Another year full of bangers

[@GamingInTheWild]

The indie quest never ends

[@chronicallychic]

I'm really looking forward to Urban Myth Dissolution Centre, which comes out in about a month. I played the demo during next fest and found it super interesting 😊

[@GamingInTheWild]

Great title!

[@bbjunho]

Can’t wait for Lost Records! Has Life is Strange meets Yellowjackets

[@mateosimon4237]

Great list great games coming👍👍

[@pavlotverdokhlib7627]

Couldn't try out The Usual June demo, b/c it required a controller. Probably my most anticipated game is Otherskin (Q2). which is a sci-fi 3rd person metroidvania, and also a biopunk game, where you mutate your body parts from killing enemies in order to gain more combat and traversal powers. I've been hankering for a good biopunk game for over a decade, and the demo was really fun, so I'm pretty stoked for it.

[@GamingInTheWild]

That sounds great. Will check it out!

[@cytharion]

Some additional games that I'm personally looking forward to which have release dates: None Shall Intrude (Jan 20)- A roguelite deck-builder with tile-based combat where you become a powerful Raid Boss. Manipulate the environment to make devastating combos! Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (Jan 21) - a gripping roguelike horde-survivor game set in the dark realms of Norse Mythology Mandragora (Apr 17) - a 2.5D side-scroller action-RPG with deep Metroidvania and Soulslike elements. Light your Witch Lantern, enter the dark realm of Entropy, and tear reality asunder.

[@astoldb]

if you like celeste, you might be interested in tethergeist. im not really one for precision platformers but i found that the most recent demo they released was pretty accessible and made me wanna play it ^^

[@GamingInTheWild]

Wishlisted. Thanks!

[@hashslingingslasher3083]

Everdeep Aurora releasing in Q3

[@jasonck9635]

I been waiting to hear a release date for alters on ps5 !

[@GamingInTheWild]

Yeah that game is one to watch !

[@jasonck9635]

Damn I thought cairn was coming to ps5 . I really hope it does eventually , as I was really excited for it .

[@4000Wiggins]

Really hoping Dead Static finally releases in 2025 but I’ve about given up on it.

[@GamingInTheWild]

Wow yeah I'd forgotten that one exists!

[@user-jf8di5wm8f]

What about Isle Goblin?

[@GamingInTheWild]

Looks cosy! I'll keep an eye out for a demo

[@4000Wiggins]

Oh how i long for a new Playdead game..

[@GamingInTheWild]

They split into two right, one guy made the quite bad Somerville, and the other was working on something else under another name?

[@josh440]

The Cocoon devs are from Playdead

[@sleve_mcdichael]

The screenshots from their third game look absolutely glorious, I'm super excited for it even though there's been very little news

[@ZedAmadeus]

My top 4 are: Citizen Sleeper 2 Skate Story Airframe Ultra Rain World: The Watcher

[@GamingInTheWild]

Airframe Ultra is new to me, I'll check it out!

[@ZedAmadeus]

@@GamingInTheWild new game by the developers of Rain World! a closed beta is starting today, you just missed sign-up sadly, but there will probably be another at some point! :)

[@armandostockvideos8386]

Nice video, my top 5 most-wanted indie games for 2025 would be: Deltarune Chapter 3&4 Rune Fencer Illyia Angeline Era Ratatan Psycho Patrol R

[@GamingInTheWild]

I will look em up, thanks!

[@internisus]

Earthblade was just canceled, sadly.

[@GamingInTheWild]

@@internisus yeah, that was sad and unexpected

[@igniby5601]

Hm.. Ngl, I'm somewhat disappointed from these picks of the current Annapurna publishers, they just don't seem like the bangers of their past picks.

[@GamingInTheWild]

They definitely had a golden crop that's been hard to top since

[@AliceBaker]

Algorithm

[@christofferhammarstrom]

Please stop saying "rock-hard".

[@GamingInTheWild]

lol no, it's British for "extremely difficult"