September's Mechanic of the Month is Silksong's Swift Step. Unlocking Swift Step transforms the game into an acrobatic dance of dodges and air dashes. Honestly some of the best movement mechanics I can remember playing in a 2D game
#Silksong

Was similarly concerned when the excellent Nemesis System was patented in 2021. In another world we would have seen a whole wave of indie and AAA devs pushing the nemesis system in exciting new directions. Instead, it's appeared in 1 other game since 2014, and then WB closed the studio

As a British person of a particular age, it’s also reminding me a lot of 90’s television. There’s a bit of Knightmare in there (as well as the board game Atmosfear). The sassiness of the Cryptmaster himself also keeps making me think of Richard O’Brien from The Crystal Maze

Cryptmaster (@thecryptmaster.bsky.social) is a wonderfully weird game. It feels like what might have happened if the Typing of the Dead games had continued to evolve in surprising ways, and eventually became a whole new genre. Love that Fighting Fantasy / OSR art style too

#indiegame

Caught up with The Royal Writ (@theroyalwrit.bsky.social‬) over the weekend, which is an exceptionally charming roguelike deckbuilder. The animation team really deserve to take a bow on this one

#indiegames #animation

As excited as I am for Silksong, their surprise September release date must have been scary news for the other devs releasing this month. It might be harder for other indie devs to get press attention this month, so it's a great time to shout out any other new releases you're enjoying

#indiegames

There’s nothing flashy about Öoo’s bomb mechanic. You place a bomb (or a segment of your caterpillar body - I’m not really sure!) and then blow it up to create motion. When it comes to extracting all of the potential depth out of a simple concept though, Öoo is an absolute masterclass

Mechanic of the Month! Each month I'll be highlighting an exceptional game mechanic from a recent game. For August's mechanic I'm choosing the bombs from Öoo by @namataka.bsky.social, which has to be one of the most elegantly designed games I've played all year

#indiegame #gamedesign

Finally got my hands on the Sable book by the folks at @lostincult.co.uk. When playing Sable it always felt like it was a real passion project for everyone involved, so it's great to see the whole creative process captured so well here

#indiegame #indiedev

I know I'm a sucker for a sandbox strategy game with a ton of DLC, so for my own safety I've been trying to stay far away from Age of Wonders 4.

I finally caved in this week. It's time for bird pirates.

As somebody who grew up in England playing systems like the Amiga and BBC Micro, it kinda did feel like this! Oh that Sonic the Hedgehog guy looks ok I guess, but have you spent time with this cursed egg?

Celeste feels like an all timer when it comes to this too

Both of the Ori games for sure. The progression you get to make from being a little ground creature to rocketing through the air is extremely satisfying

Good to see that UFO 50 is starting to come to consoles! One of the most ambitious collections of game design ideas you'll ever play.

I'll forever be impressed they decided to create 50(!) games when I think people would have been just as impressed with a collection half that number

#UFO50

Actually quite excited about my 3 hour train journey today as it means I have an excuse to take my Switch 2 somewhere. In other news, I am finally trying to complete Tears of the Kingdom. This game is BIG

I've no idea what Everwild might have turned into, but it did look like it was going to have some very nice art direction