May, as the saying suggests, is when flowers begin to show themselves after making it through downpours. Certainly, The Indie Informer’s April was awash with indies and, in the brief space before Summer Game Fest Season, many budding and blooming games are getting their time in the sun. Among these are three completely unrelated titles. One is out, one has a demo up, and one is still on the horizon. Hopefully, they all end up on your radar.
Imprinted
Mystery is all the more unsettling when it takes place where you feel safe. Hauntings occur in old mansions, looming on distant hills, crowned with ivy and moonlight. The supernatural does not walk through us while working from home on the computer. Or it shouldn’t — it feels wrong to. As I currently type this on my keyboard, I’m struck by how unsure I am of that fact right now because of my time with Imprinted. One moment I’m chatting mundanely with work colleagues, the next it’s corrupted audio, incoherent messages, and my dog barking nervously at something I can’t detect.
Rivage
Okay, intrepid puzzle seekers, this demo is already up for you. Waking in my bed, I realize I am not safe. A mellow-voiced recording piping through the space station urges evacuation. However, I don’t remember anything and have no clearance to open the door beyond my bedroom. My note-taking habits take over, moving from softball guesses at my PC password to more complex visual codes needed to access workstations. It’s only at the end of a trail of triumphs that I realize the truth: I’m out of time. Or more precisely, the energy to sustain the station’s life-sustaining functions has run dry. But an unlikely source zaps me back to where I began, in bed. It’s my second loop, and I can now push further with the knowledge I gained.
High Above
After the stresses of the last two entries, High Above was the perfect way to wind down. This minimal-pressure building title gives players an option of experiences. For a while, I played around with simply constructing rooftop structures to my liking. The tools and mechanics are all user-friendly and intuitive, and the ability to change time and weather lets me set the mood just right. However, to keep me engaged longer, I eventually turned to the levels with various objectives. My first challenge — if you can call it that — was to make the perfect space for meditating.
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