The annual E3 conference is the time of year when industry giants—such as Capcom, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Ubisoft—step onto the video game world’s largest stage to showcase how they plan to drive the industry forward with new hardware or software. Yet, E3 isn’t exclusively about huge, multi-million dollar companies with cutting-edge graphics and deep marketing pockets; independent developers also come out in full force to celebrate their upcoming indie games.If you think indie games are mostly point-and-click adventure games and visual novels (and there’s nothing wrong with those genres!), you’re deeply mistaken. The independent scene features shooters, RPGs, and action titles, just like the big-budget scene. Even better, because the studios aren’t risking millions of development dollars or answering to shareholders, independent developers can take wild chances that their larger counterparts wouldn’t dare. You’ll see that reflected in the games highlighted here.
Ready to explore the best indie games we’ve seen at E3 2021? Check out the blurbs below, open a note-taking app, and jot down titles of interest.
A Walk With Yiayia
Platforms: PCRelease Date: TBDMSRP: TBD
This lighthearted visual novel isn’t about big guns or saving the world; it’s about helping your Greek grandmother regain her confidence after she suffers a nasty fall. As you walk grandma around the neighborhood, you connect with her via engaging conversations, relaxing exploration, and undertaking micro-quests.
Akatori
Platforms: PCRelease Date: TBDMSRP: TBD
Featuring bright, rich colors that explode from the screen, Akatori resembles a 2D action game from the 16-bit or 32-bit eras. In it, you play as a girl, Mako, who battles through two parallel dimensions to save multiple worlds from destruction.
Aragami 2
Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox OneRelease Date: September 17, 2021MSRP: $34.99
In Aragami 2, you control a ninja who suffers a supernatural affliction that corrodes his body and mind. However, that affliction lets him tap Shadow Essence, a mystical power that controls shadows. Leveraging this gift and curse, your mystical ninja seeks to free a village enslaved by invader armies. Aragami 2 supports cross-platform, multiplayer action.
BPM: Bullets Per Minute
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox OneRelease Date: Available now for PC, with consoles version coming later this yearMSRP: $19.99
On its surface, BPM resembles a mere Doom clone, and developer Awe Interactive would likely admit that it took inspiration from 2016’s hit shooter. However, BPM carves its own path. It’s a rhythm-action shooter that demands you shoot, jump, and dodge to the beat of a rock soundtrack. Randomly generated dungeons ensure that no two playthroughs are the same.
Loot River
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox OneRelease Date: TBDMSRP: TBD
One part Diablo, one part Tetris, Loot River is one of the year’s most unique game reveals. The roguelike is set in a series of procedurally generated labyrinths that combine loot gathering with spatial block shifting.
Replaced
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox OneRelease Date: 2022MSRP: TBD
A social media darling that emerged from Microsoft’s press conference, Replaced sees you play as R.E.A.C.H., an artificial intelligence trapped in a human body. This cyberpunk action game tasks you with bringing down Phoenix-City’s corruption in an alternative take on 1980s America.
Serial Cleaners
Platforms: PCRelease Date: TBDMSRP: TBD
Inspired by cinema, from B movies to Tarantino flicks, Serial Cleaners is a stealth-action crime story that alternates between four, 1990s-era mob cleaners. It features a non-linear story, gangsters with character-specific abilities, and a soundtrack featuring decade-relevant music genres, including hip hop, industrial metal, and rave.
Unmetal
Platforms: PCRelease Date: TBDMSRP: TBD
In Unmetal, you play as Jesse Fox, a soldier imprisoned in a covert military base for a crime he didn’t commit. Featuring gameplay that recalls the 8-bit Metal Gear games, Unmetal tasks you with using explosives and MacGyver’d tools to bust out. Unmetal lacks a release date, but a demo is available now.
White Shadows
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series XRelease Date: 2021MSRP: TBD
Billed as a “modern fable, a distorted mirror of our own world,” White Shadows features a world of human-animal hybrids who live in a tower network known as White City. You play as Ravengirl, a youngster who tries to escape the oppressive city in this action-puzzle game.
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