Marauding minotaurs, more CloverPit and other new indie games worth checking out

The DLC adds 30 fusion charms, 11 new base charms, a secret ending and other features. I’ve played CloverPit for dozens of hours (I’m far from the only one, as the game’s pulled in more than 5 million players). I suspect I’m about to sink a whole lot more time into this DLC.

The Unholy Fusion DLC usually costs $3, but there’s a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 23. The base game is typically $10, though you can get 30 percent off on Steam until the same date. You’ll save an extra five percent if you buy a bundle with both. CloverPit is also on Game Pass, and you can buy a bundle of the base game and DLC on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and Xbox on PC for $11.49. On iOS and Android, you can snag CloverPit for $5 and the DLC for $2.

Another title had a surprise, sudden release during the Triple-i Initiative showcase: battle royale typing game Final Sentence. I really enjoyed the demo for this one, even though I’m not the fastest or most accurate typist around — I made four typos in this sentence alone. Make too many mistakes or fail to beat everyone else who’s bashing away at a typewriter and it’s curtains for you, courtesy of a creepy figure with a revolver that’s standing by your desk.

Final Sentence, from Button Mash and Polden Publishing, is available on Steam. It’ll typically cost $10, but if you pick it up before April 23, you’ll save 10 percent. (Sidenote: I enjoyed a Steam review that read, “finally… a way for millennials to beat Gen Z at a battle royale game.)

One of the most interesting things about People of Note is that Iridium Studios tried to make this musical adventure as approachable as possible. It’s an RPG with turn-based battles, but you can skip the fights if you like. That’s appealing to someone like me, who enjoys story-driven games but often struggles to engage with turn-based combat. Puzzles are skippable too. Great! People should be able to play non-competitive games however they want.

I dug the demo when I played it a while back. The approach to battles here is interesting, as the protagonist, pop singer Cadence, recruits other musicians to join her band — in other words, your party. The combat is based around music, and you can create mashups of battle tracks based on the genres that your collaborators specialize in.

People of Note, from publisher Annapurna Interactive, will normally run you $25, though there’s a 10 percent launch discount. It’s available on PS5 (the discount on that platform is only for PlayStation Plus subscribers), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC, Nintendo Switch 2, Steam and the Epic Games Store.

Tamashika is a fast-paced first-person shooter with a neat twist. The game only has one level available at any time. There are no checkpoints, and it’ll take about 10 minutes to complete a successful run. The level gets a procedurally generated revamp once per day.

A tantō blade, a pistol, your movement and your aim are the only weapons you have to defeat the enemies and reach the goal. I had to watch the trailer a few times to get it, but the quirky hand-drawn aesthetic is growing on me.

Tamashika — from QuickTequila and publisher Edglrd — is available on Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch for $20.

A Hidden Object Fest is running on Steam until April 13, and a few new games have debuted as part of that. One of those is Nippets by Blink Industries. It’s a hand-drawn game with lots of secrets and, at least judging by the trailer, charming animations. It seems like a very relaxing counterpoint to some of the more intense games out this week. It’s pretty digestible too, as it has around two to three hours of gameplay, depending on how sharp your observation skills are.

Nippets is available on Steam and Itch for PC and Mac. It costs $13, though there’s a 10 percent discount on Steam until April 21. A demo is available on both storefronts too.

Upcoming

Dead As Disco has some momentum after 1.2 million players checked out the demo, and this rhythm-based beat ’em up now has an early access release date. It’s coming to Steam and the Epic Games Store on May 5.

At the jump, you’ll be able to play the first arc of a larger narrative and be able to take out bad guys to the beat of a soundtrack that has more than 30 songs, including original tracks, covers and licensed tunes. You can load in your own music as well, though I can’t imagine being able to adeptly play this to the rhythm of Angine de Poitrine’s wild time signature swings.

Brain Jar Games expects the game to remain in early access for around a year as it adds new bosses, moves and other features, and makes adjustments based on player feedback. A co-op mode is planned too. You can get a taste of Dead As Disco now by checking out the Steam demo, though I would argue that disco is still very much alive.

Those looking for a puzzle game of a Lovecraftian persuasion may be interested in Call of the Elder Gods, a sequel to 2020’s Call of the Sea. The follow-up is bound for Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Switch 2 on May 12. It’ll be available on Game Pass and it’s priced at $25 on the eShop.

You seemingly won’t need to have played Call of the Sea before diving into the sequel, though you’ll surely get more out of Call of the Elder Gods if you have. You’ll switch between two characters — professor Harry Everhart and student Evangeline Drayton — to solve puzzles from a first-person perspective and try to find out what happened to the pair’s missing loved ones.

I’d seen Long Gone at another showcase some time ago, but the name of it slipped from my memory. No such issues after it made an appearance in the Triple-i Initiative stream though, as this project from Hillfort Games and co-publisher Outersloth is now firmly on my Steam wishlist.

It’s a narrative-driven game set amid a zombie outbreak in which you’ll solve environmental puzzles to learn about the lives of people who are no longer around. It’s ostensibly a point-and-click adventure that looks very heavily inspired by a certain post-apocalyptic series from Naughty Dog, right down to the backpack-wearing protagonist. There are platforming sections too.

I’m absolutely going to be interested in any game that smooshes together The Last of Us and the Monkey Island series. I’m really looking forward to playing Long Gone sometime next year.