Top 10 most anticipated indie games of 2018

Looks like we’re spoiled for amazing indie games in 2018…

10. Pathologic 2

Kicking of our list of our most anticipated games of 2018 is Pathologic 2 – an open world survival thriller set in a town that’s being consumed by a deadly plague. Face the realities of a collapsing society as you make difficult choices in seemingly lose-lose situations. The plague isn’t just a disease. You can’t save everyone.  Get to know it, winning the affection of the locals and gaining allies, or try to carve your own path alone. Explore the Town, its inhabitants, and their traditions; fight both the plague itself and its victims; try to make a difference before the time runs out.

Figure out who killed your father while fighting a deadly plague. It’s up to you to assume his mantle of the town’s Chief Medic. Find your alleged twin sister. Was she the one who had brought the plague to this town? The local kids are hiding something. Try playing by their rules. You only have 12 days.  And you’ll need to carefully manage the short time you have.  To survive you’ll have to manage not only your resources, which you can source either ethically – or not, as well as your own bodily parameters.

Pathologic 2 will be released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, though does not yet have an exact date.  We’ll keep you updated.

9. InnerSpace

In the final days of the Inverse, you must help the Archaeologist recover the last remaining memories before they are lost forever. Fly through ancient skies and abandoned oceans to discover the lost history of this fading realm, where entire civilizations have died, yet their gods still wander. InnerSpace began as a project among college friends and evolved into a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014. It’s easy to see the fruit of these years of production.  The game looks and sounds fantastic, with it’s own ethereal art style and accompanying soothing electronic musical score.

InnerSpace is an exploration flying game set in the Inverse, a world of inside-out planets where gravity pulls outward instead of in. This sets the game apart from other flying games in a unique way, and this is partly why it’s one of our most anticipated games. You’ll not be flying around planets here, instead, you’ll be flying inside planets with visually spectacular results. This creates such a unique playstyle, that the developers, PolyKnight Games, say that if you’re looking for a traditional flight sim, InnerSpace may not be for you. If however, you’re looking for a truly unique and gorgeous experience, you’re in the right place.

InnerSpace will be available on the 26th of January, for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

8. Fantasy Strike

Designed with accessibility in mind, Fantasy Strike provides players with a rare experience in the world of fighting games: a game that’s unusually easy to jump into, yet with the depth of strategy and tactics that hardcore fans of the genre expect. Fantasy Strike’s diverse roster of combatants includes a painter, a watchmaker, flame archer, a dragon-man, and more. A full set of game modes are also available, including arcade, practice, local versus, and online play with the best-in-class GGPO networking technology to minimize online lag.

The core concept of Fantasy Strike is to allow players of all skill levels to get straight into the game, rather than have to practice for hours and read move lists in order to be anywhere near competitive.  A somewhat simplified control scheme allows for ease of blocking and countering, a rare encounter in fighting games.

7. The Last Night

The Last Night immerses you in the everyday life of Charlie, a second-class citizen living in a city brimming with augmentation and citizens living a gamified existence – none of which Charlie can experience himself due to a childhood accident. Apathetic and disheartened by the seemingly pointless world around him, Charlie is presented with an opportunity to take matters into his own hands. But at what risk?

Turning the survival genre upside down, in The Last Night, the fight for survival doesn’t mean food and water, but a purpose for living. People now define themselves by what they consume, not what they create.  The game is full of fantastic visuals, and will undoubtedly look brilliant in 4k.  There’s no narrower date than 2018 yet announced for release, but we do know that it’ll be coming to PC and Xbox One.

6. Into the Breach

This game has a lot to live up to.  From developers Subset Games, Into the Breach follows the spectacular Faster Than Light.  The remnants of human civilization are threatened by gigantic creatures breeding beneath the earth. You must control powerful mechs from the future to hold off this alien threat. Each attempt to save the world presents a new randomly generated challenge in this turn-based strategy game.

Into the Breach has a very strong Final Fantasy Tactics flavour, though the world is sci-fi rather than fantasy.  The game play is turn based, and requires strategic planning to complete missions.  If you’re defeated, however, don’t worry.  Simply send help back through time and create a whole new timeline.  You’ll also have control over customising and building your own mech, kitting it out with new weapons and pilots.

There’s no solid release date for Into the Breach for Steam yet.  There’s also no word on a console release, and I don’t think we can expect this in the future either – but the recommended spec for PC should be very low.

5. Indivisible

As you can see above, Indivisible is a beautiful looking game.  The 2D animations are all loving hand drawn, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before in an action RPG.  The huge fantasy world is inspired by a number of cultures and mythologies, and you’ll explore this world using several different traversal abilities.

Part of the reason this game is one of our most anticipated games of 2018 is what is guaranteed to be an excellent musical score, composed by Hiroki Kikuta He also composed of some of the most iconic and beautiful music in games such as Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu 3.

Indivisible began life on Indiegogo in 2015, and developers Lab Zero Games managed to raise an impressive £1,475,950 / $2,000,000, 124% of their campaign target.  Indivisible will be released at some point this year, for Steam, PS4, Xbox One and Switch.

4. Griftlands

Just knowing that Griftlands is developed by Klei Games will probably assure you that this deserves to be one of the most anticipated games of 2018.  Klei Games are the developers of the equally brilliant Don’t Starve and Oxygen Not Included.  Griftlands takes a step away from the survival genre, and though not much is known about Griftlands, what we do know is that it is an RPG where everything is negotiable: money, loyalty—even morality.

Klei maintain continuity throughout their games of fantastic looking cartoon style graphics, and Griftlands is clearly no exception.  Though there’s little doubt to whether or not Griftlands will be amazing, I’m excited to see just how amazing.

There’s no date yet set for release, however we can expect it early this year.

3. Baba Is You

People often throw around the term rules are made to be broken, but that’s literally the case in Hempuli’s Baba is You.  A truly unique looking game with unique gameplay, it’s hard not to be sold on this game by simply watching the trailer.

The rules of the game are objects physically present in each level.  Walls usually cause you to stop moving, both in games and in real life.  That doesn’t have to be case in Baba is you.  Simply push away the word stop from the rule, and you can pass through walls to your objective.  Always wanted to be a rock, free of the troubles of humanity?  Push the rock into position after the words “Baba is” and your dream has come true, you’re now a rock.

This interesting mechanic with potentially endless uses is why Baba is You is our third in our list of the most anticipated games of 2018.  You can download a demo for free on the Baba is You website, however if generous is you, you can set how much of a donation you would like to give.  The full release can be expected some time this year.

2. Super Meat Boy Forever

The mere mention of Super Meat Boy can be sufficient to trigger a post traumatic stress episode.  It’s one of the toughest, yet most critically acclaimed platformers out there.  Now more deaths, rage and insane fun are on the way in Super Meat Boy Forever.

If you’re a fan of Super Meat Boy, you’ll be delighted to hear that Meat Boy and his girlfriend Bandage Girl have had a baby, Nugget.  The premise of the game this time around is completely different to the first time around – instead of rescuing Bandage Girl, you have to rescue Nugget from Dr Foetus.  This time you’ll run, punch and kick through a massive amount of levels.  Think you’ve beaten a level?  Now it just gets harder, as specific zones in each one increase in difficulty with each successful run.

Super Meat Boy Forever is expected to be released before Summer this year, so you’ve a few months to mentally prepare yourself.

1. Laser League

I’m calling it now – this game is going to be huge, and had to be the winner of our most anticipated games of 2018.  I was lucky enough to attend the post beta party for Laser League hosted by developers Roll7 and publisher 505 Games, and the potential for the e-Sport community for this game was immediately apparent.  Watching this game is almost as much fun as playing, with last minute clutch saves and epic come backs.

Laser League takes place in one of several arenas, with the goal being to activate laser nodes before the opposing team.  Once you have, lasers cut the way through the arena from these nodes, and if an enemy player is touched by one, they’re down.  Fill the arena with your own lasers and keep the enemy players on their toes.

At the start of each round, you pick which character to play as, each with their own game changing ability, such as stunning enemies in place or cutting them down with your sword.  Laser League is, at first glance, a simple game, and operationally it is, with only one button to activate your ability and the analogue stick for movement.  Deeper tactics and strategies do require a much more developed understanding of the game though.

I’m genuinely excited for this game, and if you’re interested in playing for yourself, a second beta will be coming in the near future.  We’ll let you know when there’s a date for the beta and a full release.

Well, there you have it!  That’s our most anticipated games of 2018.  Have we got you hyped up for this year in indie gaming?  Let us know what games you’re most looking forward to below.  If you’re looking for something great to play now, check out our list of the best indie games of 2017.