Six One Indie Showcase Shockers, Two New Indie Game Studios, and Cozy Tavern Vibes
May 14 - May 21 News
I’m trying something new and want to do a weekly recap of news in the gaming industry. Writing is something I’ve always enjoy. It’s why I became an author and a member of the games media. I love it and games.
Doing something new is good. It’s fun to take the road less traveled or play a game you’ve never played before, you never know what you’ll get out of it. I tried out Hollow Knight knowing how challenging it was, and I enjoyed it, even though it’s setting heightened my emotions. I enjoyed Silksong even more, but won’t be beating it. It’s a great game and Team Cherry made something great, it’s just not for me.
What is for me is talking about video games, especially indies as I believe they are the future of this industry. That’s why the first story of this week’s news is all about the Six One Indie Showcase.
Hood Headlines
Short news roundup
Six One Indie Game Showcase highlights
The Six One Indie Game Showcase is one of the best showcases for indie games. With more 61 games and more than an hour and a half of trailers, banter, and developer spotlights, the team put on another incredible show. It was streamed live on the Six One Indie YouTube. Sey from Good Game Lobby, alongside Luna reacted to it on Twitch and had a watch party, which was fun to join.
Sacrifire - A love letter to JRPGs with a battle system with time manipulation. In fights, time moves with the character as they move.
SacriFire is an upcoming RPG boasting a unique combat system, elaborate pixel art, and music by genre legend Motoi Sakuraba. Ezekiel Ridan, a young priest, struggles to keep his faith as the world he loves is threatened by a war between gods and demons. The adventure begins!
Developer & Publisher: Pixelated Milk
Feather’s Edge - It’s giving mega Hollow Knight vibes with a stellar art style. You play as Upu, the Hoopoe bird warrior slashing, diving, and fighting through a ravaged world.
Dash and slash through an innovative kinetic metroidvania. The Tower of Time awaits – a rich, handcrafted world fractured by the collapse of time. Slice through foes in tough-as-talons bite-sized battles, and master the way of the bird warrior.
Developer: Clockwork Acorn Publisher: Clockwork Acorn, Outersloth
Twins of Olus - A game where you control two heroes linked together. With tags including Souls-like and hack and slash, you’ll swap between the two as you fight enemies and solve puzzles.
Twins of Olus is a vibrant action-adventure game that follows a young Uthran who is inexplicably tied to the spirit of an ancient warrior. Together they must defeat an unknown nefarious force that has invaded, corrupted and possessed everything in his once utopic world.
Developer & Publisher: Team Verdant
Sonnet - The game is giving me huge Esoteric Ebb inspirations with its music and gameplay. Part 1: The Gardener of Smoke releases 2026
Transport a magical flower across scenic lands, encounter strange travelers, and uncover the kingdom’s secrets in this sprawling medieval roadtrip.
Developer & Publisher: Antique Song
Isle of Reveries - Inspired by classic Zelda games where you play an owl named Lief, I need it. There’s even a fairy on the capsule image.
Make a pilgrimage skybound to the Isle of Reveries, where any wish can be granted. Conquer mysterious dungeons, solve puzzles, and explore a vast overworld in this retro-inspired adventure.
Developer & Publisher: desertcucco
Hips N Noses - What grabbed me was the art style, it’s stunning. Play a witch that works at a cafe brewing and making food and drinks during the day and fights monsters and creatures while sleeping.
HIPS N’ NOSES is a café management simulation! In a sleepless world, Mela is the only one who dreams. She runs a café that restores lost memories. Serve guests by day, battle in nightmares by night to collect the memory flower, customize your café, and become the most renowned owner!
Developer & Publisher: PepperStones.Inc
RollerGirl - I was taken back to summer days rollerblading down the street where I broke my arm. Explore on rollerblades, make deliveries, meet your neighbors in this coming of age story.
Choose your own vibe in this slice-of-life adventure. While exploring a small town on rollerblades, use your MP3 player to set the mood for your summer. Run errands for quirky neighbours, get entangled in local drama and stumble into a teenage romance.
Developer & Publisher: Pushing Vertices
Mayak - Gris vibes with its use of color and music.
A signal from a star // 3571 → 3559 → 3557 → … → 0 // 336 years remain // You and her, staring up at the sky. A hand-drawn sci-fi adventure about first contact.
Developer & Publisher: Nikita Nplus1
Ourlands - A cozy island builder just focused on creativity. Build your own island in a very cozy setting.
Ourlands is a cozy island builder where you handcraft and play around in bespoke little lands and truly explore your creativity. No goals, no management, just vibes.
Developer & Publisher: GrahamOfLegend
Forklift Flowerpot Botanical Investigator - The creator writes a weekly newsletter on Substack which goes over development of the game. You play a flowerpot.
An exploration game about knowledge and discovery. Change between seasons, investigate plants, and discover secrets about the world to stop an ecological disaster.
Developer & Publisher: Developer: Michael Mato, Too Much Tomato
Mouseward - You play a mouse exploring a fantasy setting reminiscent of Ocarina of Time.
Take up your sword and uncover the secrets of a cursed kingdom in this soulslike collectathon. Awaken as a Royal Mouse Guard, master combat, defeat foes and search for celestial fragments to restore a once great kingdom.
Developer & Publisher: Finite Reflection Studios
Painted Kingdoms: Tower Defense & Firefighting - Tower defense that uses color to show where your area of control is on a massive piece of paper.
Painted Kingdoms is a minimalist strategy game where you paint, build, and defend your Kingdom of paper. Harness the power of paint to protect it from relentless flames and enemy hordes. Will your Painted Kingdom survive the next wave?
Developer & Publisher: Hectiq
Jupiter Junkworks - A Tetris style game about cleaning up junk in space. The art look fantastic.
Jupiter Junkworks delivers fast-paced arcade puzzle action! Complete contracts to earn resources and rebuild a run-down spaceship junkyard. Dive into a sci-fi narrative campaign where an unlikely trio of travelers must learn to work together. But unknown to them, something awaits beyond the vault.
Sloppy Forgeries - Paint famous paintings using a mouse or two.
Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced competitive painting game. Practice your skills by butchering iconic masterpieces in one of the few drawing games that measures accuracy pixel-by-pixel in real-time.
Developer & Publisher: Playful Systems LLC
Ragdoll Physics Experiments - You play as a test dummy put into hazardous and hilarious scenarios to test.
A narrator-driven comedy game set inside a bizarre testing facility, where experiments, secrets, and physics-driven chaos are only part of the story.
Developer & Publisher: Giraffe Head Studios
The Marvelous Raincaster of Yell Holler - A narrative focused puzzle game about storytelling and using clues to piece the tale together.
A time-looping puzzle ballad of Ozark folk superstition. Reorder events in time to unravel the legend of a weather-making rooster.
Developer & Publisher: Brain&Brain
Mass Effect, Dragon Age veterans form indie studio
Ex Bioware, Inflexion, and Timbre Games developers are now together under their new independent company, Studio Reset. Founded by Kaelin Lavallée, Kris Schoneberg, and Francis Lacuna, the Canadian studio is working on “smaller, more intentional…original IP.”
The first game is a supernatural mystery using Parallax Deduction, a gameplay mechanic where things can look different depending on the individual’s location. Players will control characters each with their own unique perspectives to investigate clues and solve puzzles.
“Studio Reset is smaller by design,” said Kaelin Lavallée, Producer and Creative Director at Studio Reset. “We are not trying to recreate blockbuster development at a smaller scale. We want to build original worlds with focus, intention, and a team that can stay close to the work, the creative vision, and the players we are making it for.”
The developers are taking a “no moon logic” approach to the game’s design. “Moon logic” is when solving a puzzle feels random, there’s no satisfaction in completing one if the player doesn’t feel like the earned it or truly discovered it themselves, it’s not gratifying.
Kris Schoneberg, Design Director at Studio Reset said, “A good mystery should make you feel clever, not confused. With Parallax Deduction, we want players to understand that perspective is part of the evidence. Who is looking at the case matters, because each investigator brings their own expertise, history, instincts, and blind spots.”
Studio Reset’s debut project is currently in its early stages with support from the Canada Media Fund. Today’s announcement marks the beginning of a longer development journey.
“We want Studio Reset to be known for games about strange places, hidden stories, and the curious characters compelled to uncover them,” said Francis Lacuna, Art Director at Studio Reset. “Visually, we’re building toward a world that feels beautiful, uneasy, and familiar in the wrong way. The kind of place where the ordinary starts to feel like it is hiding something.”
As for where the devs came form, Inflexion worked on and released its first game Nightingale, an open world survival crafting game released in 2024. Timbre Games has yet to release anything. The studio was owned by Sumo Group which sundered Timbre Games in 2024. Timbre reformed in September the same year as a fully indie studio. Bioware
More details about Studio Reset’s first project will come at a later date.
New indie studio from Former Housemarque Game Director
Cosmic Division is a new independent game studio by former Housemarque Game Director Harry Krueger. Developers of Returnal, Nex Machina, and Resogun, and most recently Saros, of which Krueger shaped the direction of the game.
“At Cosmic Division, we’re building on our strengths while finding a new edge through fresh themes, ideas and talent. We believe there is always room for games built on timeless values that trust the player and leave a lasting impact,” said Krueger.
The developer’s first game is a new single-player PC and console title, with a focus on gameplay and an emotional story. There is little more than that revealed about the game at this time. The Finland-based studio has funding, and is looking to build a team to create its first title.
“Games are an interactive medium. there is no substitute for good gameplay. Our goal is to get our hooks into players… and leave them there” — Harry Krueger, Founder of Cosmic Division
As for the last released game Krueger worked on, Saros sold around 300,000 copies. The game is a PS5 exclusive and appears to be locked that way according to Sony. It may not be coming to PC as it Jason Schreier reported Sony’s single-player games will now be PlayStation exclusive.
News of the Week Roundup
Tavern Talk gets physical Nintendo Switch release
Tavern Talk from Gentle Troll Entertainment is getting a physical Nintendo Switch release. Strictly Limited is providing the physical edition of the cozy fantasy visual novel where you gather at the Wayfarer’s Inn tavern for storytelling, drinks, and to meet adventurers resting after a long day exploring.
Tavern Talk Complete Edition is launching exclusively through a limited-time pre-order that lasts until July 14, 2026. There are three editions available: Limited Edition, Deluxe Edition, and No Game Edition.
The Deluxe Edition includes: Nintendo Switch Game + Printed Manual, Deluxe Edition Box (serialized), Lore book - approximately 88 pages of worldbuilding details, Original Soundtrack, Dice Scroll, Sticker Sheet, and a poster
The No Game Edition comes with all items from the Deluxe Edition without the Nintendo Switch game.
Released in 2024, Tavern Talk succeeded on its Kickstarter campaign in just six hours. raising around $181,429.74. The physical editions come with the main game with both the Pirate Palooza and Tempest Tantrum DLC.
Warhorse Studio is making a Lord of the Rings game
Kingdom Come Deliverance II maker Warhorse Studio is making a Lord of the Rings game. With its medieval game having sold more than five million copies in its first year, Middle-Earth seems to be in good hands. As posted on the official KCDII website, it was announced the team is working on an open world Middle-earth RPG. This alongside a new Kingdom Come game.
Xbox left caps lock turned on
Xbox (or should it be XBOX?) is going through a lot of major changes with new management and rebranding. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, made a poll on Twitter (X) asking “Xbox” or “XBOX” with 64.8% people voting for the latter.
Xbox has also seen two new hires to the team. Matthew Ball was brought on as Chief Strategy Officer. He’s an industry analyst who oversees The State of Video Gaming report, which tracks data throughout the games industry. The second hire is Scott Van Vliet as Chief Technology Officer. He worked at Amazon Game Studios, was VP of Digital Play at Mattel, and has worked with brands including Batman and Barbie.
That’s all for this week. If you enjoy what you see here, please subscribe to my Substack and YouTube. I really enjoy the games industry and want to cover more of it. If there is anything you want me to cover or talk about, please leave a comment. I find research fascinating and want to dive into all that videos games are and can be.
Go out and play something fun. For me, it will be Two Point Museum.