Slay the Spire 2, Scott Pilgrim EX and other new indie games worth checking out

This is a narrative-driven adventure platformer in the vein of Limbo and Inside. As in the first game, you’ll be evading dangerous robots after the antagonist weaponizes technology to exploit the resources of Lana’s home planet. I’m sure that doesn’t have any parallels with our reality.

Planet of Lana II looks just as gorgeous as the first game. Lana is said to be more agile this time and is capable of moves like wall jumps. Her companion, Mui, remains available to help her solve puzzles and survive this dangerous world.

Planet of Lana II is out now on Steam, Switch, Switch 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S for $20. The Steam, Switch and Switch 2 versions have a 10 percent launch discount. You can get that same discount on PlayStation if you’re a PS Plus member. The game is also available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

The Legend of Khiimori hit Steam and Epic Games Store in early access this week for $30. It’s an open-world adventure game in which you take on the role of a courier rider in 13th-century Mongolia. You can breed and train horses with special abilities to help you explore this landscape and carry out deliveries.

You’ll need to set up camp and craft critical items on your journeys, and you’ll need to be on the defensive against dangerous wildlife. There are also evil spirits to fend off in order to liberate corrupted zones.

There’s a lot going on here and, evidently, a lot more to come. Developer Aesir Interactive plans to add a string of features during the early access phase (which is expected to last for around a year), including racing, falconry, a “peaceful mode” and character and horse customization.

Lost and Found Co. is a lovely-looking hidden object game from Bit Egg and co-publisher Gamirror Games. It’s on Steam for PC and Mac for $18, though there’s a 10 percent discount until March 19.

I love this trailer for Lost and Found Co. It’s full of charming animations and neat details, like a comic book-style series of panels that helps tell the story. You play as Ducky, a duck who has turned into a human intern at a startup that helps people get their lost items back. That sentence alone has me smiling.

In the wake of Blippo+, another game that debuted on the Playdate has now landed on PC (Steam and Itch), Mac (via Steam and the Mac App Store) and Nintendo Switch. Ratcheteer DX typically costs $13, but there’s a 25 percent launch discount on all storefronts except the App Store.

The original version of Ratcheteer made its bow in Playdate season one, meaning that every owner of the little yellow console has access to it. You play as a young mechanic who — like the rest of humanity — lives underground to stay safe from an eternal winter. However, after the power plant and water treatment plant go out of commission, it’s up to you to fix them. That kickstarts a top-down pixel-art adventure in the vein of the early Legend of Zelda games that should take you about four to five hours to finish.

This updated game from Shaun Inman, composer Matt Grimm and illustrator Charlie Davis is available in color — with filters that include the 1-bit Playdate look — and it has a CD-quality version of the soundtrack. It’s the first game that publisher (and Playdate maker) Panic has made in house that’s landed on Steam and consoles. I’ve only played a little of Ratcheteer DX so far but it seems just as delightful as the original version, so I’m eager to keep going with it.

On another day, I might have wrapped up this section with a feel-good game like Lost and Found Co. Not this time. Instead, here’s a bird-spotting psychological horror walking sim.

The one-minute launch trailer for Birds Watching, from Studio Ortica, is about one-60th as long as the game’s runtime. It’s full of creepy details, like a giant bird with humanoid legs. The tone is unnerving, but it absolutely caught my attention.

Birds Watching is out now on Steam for $5. You can get it for 10 percent off until March 13.

Upcoming

This trailer for My Little Puppy (which premiered during the Indie World showcase) captured my whole damn heart. Korean developer Dreamotion created the game by “adding dreams and hopes to the story I shared with Bong-gu, a dog who I adopted and raised,” the studio’s Junyoung Lee said. After crossing the rainbow bridge, the game’s version of Bong-gu eventually picks up the scent of his dad and sets out on an adventure to rescue his human. I’m crying in the club at my desk.

My Little Puppy is coming to Switch on May 29. It’s already available on Steam for $25.

Lunacy Studios is a studio that boasts developers with experience on the likes of Star Wars: Battlefront, Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Life is Strange. Its first game is The House of Hikmah, which is coming to Steam on April 8.

This is a story-driven 3D adventure game that takes place in a setting inspired by the Islamic Golden Age. You take on the role of Maya, a 14-year-old who is looking for answers after her father passes away. He left Maya with an elemental heirloom that she can use to solve puzzles and she can use wind channels to help her traverse the environments.

I can’t speak to how authentic its representation of the Islamic Golden Age is, but the setup and art direction of this game have me intrigued. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Austin Wintory (Journey, Sword of the Sea, The Pathless) composed the music.

I got completely hooked on Ball x Pit and I’m looking forward to trying out MLB The Show 26. So, I really think there should be more ball-based games. And, look at that, here’s a first peek at Ballgame from new studio Human Computer.

In this physics platformer, you play as a sentient ball. As is the case in golf, the idea is to get to the hole in as few shots as possible. Also like in golf, that’s harder than it might seem at first. The levels pull in elements from a range of inspirations, including pachinko, pinball, skeeball and many other types of ball games. Among other things, you’ll skim across water, bounce off of bumpers and float in bubbles.

There are arcade minigames where you can earn a type of currency that you can use to unlock upgrades, custom looks and dozens of other balls. It all seems quite chaotic at first glance. I live for chaos. I’m in.

Ballgame is coming to Steam later this year.

To wrap things up for this week, here’s a nifty teaser trailer for Echobreaker, a precision platformer with an isometric perspective. The aim is to reach the goal as quickly as possible. You’ll use powerups to help you do that. You’ll also need to battle enemies along the way.

I had no trouble following what was happening at any given moment in this short clip. I think the perspective here makes things interesting. There have been a bunch of high-octane first-person platformers in recent years. I think that being able to see the action from above helps make it clearer to me what’s going on here. The clean, futuristic art style helps too.

Echobreaker, which is from Upstream Arcade and publisher Weekend Games, is slated to hit Steam later this year.