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Dinos with swords, making music with gnomes and other new indie games worth checking out
This week’s indie-game roundup highlights several unusual new releases, alongside a game-history archive that preserves early E3 material.
– Dinoblade is a £20 action RPG on Steam in which a sword-wielding Spinosaurus fights armed dinosaurs and summons defeated bosses’ souls; it is discounted by 10% until 30 July. – The game grew from a 2022 viral animation by Sucker Punch animator Jean Nguyen, and is being praised as an enjoyably janky, distinctive take on the crowded Soulslike genre. – Offbeat, in Steam early access for £12 and discounted by 10% until 1 August, is a music-creation game where players fulfil client briefs using a four-track sequencer and eccentric instruments, including a singing gnome. – The Video Game History Foundation released decades of E3 materials, including rare 1995 footage of the Sega Saturn reveal and Sony announcing the original PlayStation’s price.
In short
- Dinoblade turns sword-wielding dinosaurs into an action RPG.
- Offbeat makes music creation accessible and playful.
- A new archive preserves rare early E3 history.
Explained simply
Indie games are video games created by small studios or individual developers, often with smaller budgets than games from major publishers. They have become increasingly prominent in the gaming industry, with many indie titles receiving significant acclaim and commercial success. Players value indie games for their willingness to experiment with fresh ideas.
This roundup covers some particularly distinctive recent indie releases. It includes an action game featuring a sword-wielding dinosaur, and a music-creation tool where players compose songs for clients using unusual instruments, such as a singing gnome. The variety illustrates how indie developers pursue many different types of projects.
The roundup also features a newly released archive from the Video Game History Foundation. This archive preserves materials from decades of E3, gaming's largest annual industry conference, including rare 1995 footage of major console announcements from that era. Such historical materials document key moments in the industry's development.