DukeHawthorne

My 8 favorite demos from Steam Next Fest, including Promise Mascot Agency, Wanderstop, Demon Tides, and more! The quality of these demos are getting better with each Next Fest and I found some truly great demos this time around. There’s something here for everyone: 3D platformers, tactical RPGs, puzzle games, and even a...

I’ve played some pretty great indie games lately, and instead of peppering your subscription feed with a million videos, I thought it’d be better to put them all in once place. From Utopia Must Fall to Blade Chimera, I’ve played a bunch of great indie games, demos, and prototypes.

IGF - the Independent Games Festival, part of GDC - is a yearly event dedicated to showing the best new and upcoming indie games. The finalists for this year’s awards were recently announced, and I had to play some of them for myself. As usual, they knocked it out of the park with some truly great indie games.

Ruffy and the Riverside is an upcoming 3D platformer with a unique gameplay mechanic. I got the chance to play new demo early and got to try this unique feature firsthand, and experience the game’s gorgeous art and animations as well.

Death of the Reprobate is an absurdist comedy from Joe Richardson, creator of The Procession to Calvary. Using actual medieval paintings, this is a point and click adventure game that is absolutely hilarious and worth a try.

2015 might be the biggest and most important year for indie games. It was the first time that multiple major indies released in a single year. Developers and publishers established themselves. Several big Kickstarter games released. And studios would have critical success but financial flops that would force them to be sold...

2015 might be the biggest and most important year for indie games. It was the first time that multiple major indies released in a single year. Developers and publishers established themselves. Several big Kickstarter games released. And studios would have critical success but financial flops that would force them to be sold...

Palworld has been out for one year now, and it feels like the game has been plagued by controversies. From accusations of ripping off Pokemon, an actual lawsuit from Nintendo, AI art, cryptocurrency, and a previous game from the developer still in early access, is Palworld itself worth all of it?

I have stacks of games I buy and then never play, for whatever reason. This year I plan on attacking that gaming backlog hard. Will I be able to play all of these games? Will I get to even half of them?

2024 was a remarkable year for indie games and 2025 looks like it’s going to be just as good. I compiled a list of 20 of my favorite upcoming indie games in the new year. Some of these I’ve had my eye on for years and am happy to see they’re finally coming out.

I researched hundreds of Kickstarter campaigns since 2021 to find the most successful, tracking how much money they earned, how many backers they had, their country of origin, and whether or not they’ve since released. What I found might surprise you! Or it might not! Or maybe you’ll be mildly interested!

Astro Bot is an incredible experience from the moment you open the box. Or download it, if you went that direction. It’s a joyful experience that is both a celebration of PlayStation and gaming in general. It’s characters from dozens of franchises, bright and cheerful music, gorgeous art style and graphics, and excellent...

Otherskin is a third person shooter that plays like your favorite, obscure, janky action adventure game from the PS3 era. It has a lot going on, with unique powers you absorb from defeated enemies, an array of weapons and power-ups, and a story that feels a lot like Returnal.

The Switch is known for having a ton of great indie games, and a ton of great retro games. It stands to reason that it also has a lot of fantastic retro-inspired indie games. Too many, even. Today’s video is all about showcasing the ten best retro indie hidden gems on the Nintendo Switch!

October is going to be a big month for indie games. With a lot of variety - from creature collectors, horror games, rally racing, and so many more - I found 19 great indies you should check out.

Astro Bot is the best game of 2024. It’s the best 3D platformer I’ve ever played and its one of the best games I’ve ever played. Not to hype it up too much.

Akimbot is a 3D Platformer that blends Ratchet & Clank and Jak & Daxter. It still has unique ideas of its own, though. But does this lively platfomer live up to either PlayStation legend?

House Flipper 2 initially left me a little disappointed when it first released. I liked it, but it was lacking in basic features. And it got me wondering: “are there better house flipper games out there?” This video is the result of my months long journey to find out. And boy did I find some weird stuff.

Bakeru is an incredible 3D platformer from longtime Nintendo collaborator GoodFeel, and its something of a spiritual successor to Ganbare Goemon.

Over five years covering video games on YouTube, I’ve featured a lot of games. It’s time I go back and look at what happened to some of the games and their creators since I last covered them. There are some pretty big surprises in here, and plenty of sad stories…

Steam Next Fest is coming to a close, but before it does, be sure to check out these incredible retro-styled games with incredible demos!

2024 is shaping up to be a great year for 3D platformers! From ones inspired by Jak & Daxter, Super Mario Sunshine, and Captain Toad, to musicals, to roguelikes and puzzle games.

Tinykin is a fantastic 3D platformer that experiments with the genre by taking elements of other games and seamlessly combining them with parts of the genre we know and love. Part Pikmin, part Mario, and full of charm, Tinykin is one of the best 3D platformers I’ve played in years.

For six years I’ve hosted the series Upcoming 3D Platformers, showcasing a ton of games in the genre that I thought looked promising. Some of those games have come out, some are still in development.