Indiescovery Episode 2: Our most anticipated indie games for 2023

Proving that our ability to organise recording a podcast episode wasn't some sort of one-off fluke, the Indiescovery crew are back again! Going forward, this is going to be a fortnightly podcast, but we just couldn't wait to share our thoughts on this year's best upcoming indie games, so we decided to release Episode 2 a week early, as a treat (the treat is for us, really, but we hope you enjoy it too!).

You can also listen and subscribe via your podcast provider of choice! Find us on RSS feed, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, and Deezer.

Episode notes

We begin with a nice little chat about what we've all been playing since we got back from our Christmas hols. I'm eager to extol the virtues of Tiny Life, a pixel art spiritual successor to classic The Sims that's just hit early access. Liam likes similarly retro-styled Nightmare Of Decay because it's like Resident Evil, but somehow even gorier, and also puts in a good word for upcoming open-world parkour-precision-platformer Ballistic Zen, which in a happy coincidence is due out the very day this episode releases! Rachel, meanwhile, has lately been all about magical coming-of-age '90s nostalgia trip A Space For The Unbound.

After that little catch-up, we take a whistle-stop tour of our most anticipated indie games expected to release in 2023. I kick things off with Anemoiapolis: Chapter 1 and Inescapable — neither of which I know a lot about, except that they are both shaping up to be exactly my jam. I'm also eager for another look at Romancelvania, the side-scrolling horror date-'em-up that couldn't be more my thing if it tried.

Liam's beloved Hypnospace Outlaw is getting both a sequel and a spinoff in Dreamsettler and Slayers X respectively, if you can believe it! He also can't wait for reverse citybuilder Terra Nil, which looks so peaceful it makes us all want to have a little cry.

Rachel also submits Mary Poppins-esque Metroid-like Gunbrella from the makers of Gato Roboto. She follows this up with Thirsty Suitors, an action-plaftormer-RPG about learning to forgive your flaws and get over your exes through skateboard battles and homestyle cooking.

We conclude the discussion with a big love-fest for Demonschool because, as it turns out, we're all very stoked for Demonschool.

In our latest collection of hyperfixations, I have a full-blown case of the post-game blues after finishing the whole Ace Attorney Turnabout Collection. Liam has been reading Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, a novel beloved in the industry right now for its compelling insights into game development and the rarely-spoken-of love that exists between true collaborators. And Rachel unboxes her copy of the Frostpunk board game live on air, accompanied by excited audio description.

We also get sidetracked onto a few incidentals, like a quick (spoiler-free!) chat on The Banshees Of Inisherin; a brief, friendly disagreement over which Sims game is the best; and the revelation that my rarely-seen mean streak is apparently activated when I drink a second cup of coffee.