6 Indie RPG Developers You Should Be Following!

Over the years, my interest in video games has slowly shifted from the AAA industry to indie games. I attribute this interest to indie developers having the will to try new things or create something retro. Lately, we've been experiencing an indie RPG renaissance with high-profile titles like Knuckle Sandwich, Sea of Stars, and In Stars in Time, all released within the last year. With that in mind, I want to highlight four indie developers creating RPGs slated for future release.

Temmie Chang

Temmie Chang, perhaps best known for her work on Undertale and Deltarune, is a game developer in her own right. Her first game, Escaped Chasm, is an adventure game with a monochrome blue color palette reminiscent of the Game Boy. It's a short game involving little more than reading dialogue, but it's worth it for its somber visuals and storytelling. Dweller's Empty Path, the sequel to Escaped Chasm, is like a more developed version of its predecessor. Dweller's Empty Path has a longer runtime with more exploration and collecting. Like Escaped Chasm, the highlight is the visuals and storytelling, but Dweller's Empty Path offers a wider range of emotions, with cozy and unsettling moments. Temmie has expressed interest in creating another game in the Escaped Chasm series and has teased the idea of it including more than exploration and reading dialogue (I think combat would be a great addition).

Samanthuel Gillson

The introduction to the work of Samanthuel Gillson (Splendidland) for many was her RPG Megaman Sprite Game, but for me, it was Apple Quest Monsters, a bestiary for a non-existent RPG. I immediately fell in love with the excellent pixel art, monster designs, and worldbuilding in Apple Quest Monsters. However, the first game I played, developed by Splendidland, was a short RPG called Franken. Franken takes many cues from Dragon Quest but omits the need for grinding because the game includes exactly the number of monsters needed to reach the level required to complete it. Franken's standout feature is its irreverent sense of humor, which parodies JRPG and anime tropes. As for upcoming projects, Splendidland has two adventure games in development (Amazing Treasure Valley and Formless Star) and their most ambitious RPG yet, Tender Caves of Death.

Chimera Labs

Chimera Labs didn't get on my radar until they announced the Kickstarter campaign for the RPG they're developing, Other: Her Loving Embrace. The developers behind Other are Quincy Pringle (writing, coding, sound, and general development), Kelly Pringle (concept art and art direction), and Harry (design, art, and animation). What caught my attention about Other is its battle system, a mix of WarioWare, Devil May Cry, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Battle in Other is a turn-based affair with the player and enemy alternating turns, initiating and avoiding attacks. Outside of battle, Other resembles The Legend of Zelda series, with exploration, puzzle-solving, and overworld enemies. Other doesn't have a release date yet, but a new trailer showcasing the current game dropped this year.

BananaSoft

Another Kickstarter product, Blue Omen Operation is the seminal work of developer BananaSoft. The developers behind Blue Omen Operation are Bryan Cox (game designer and programmer), Inkuusan (artist and creator), and Michael Staple (composer). Blue Omen Operation is an RPG that I would describe as an anime-inspired take on the Mario & Luigi series. True to its roots, Blue Omen Operation features action commands in battle that aid your offense and defense with the correct input timing. However, its "patches" present a more developed badge system than Mario & Luigi, similar to the early Paper Mario games. Unfortunately, development of Blue Omen Operation has stalled because of the team's limited size and experience. In the meantime, BananaSoft is developing a small-scale game to build up more experience, knowledge, and funds for Blue Omen Operation's development.

Not Gonna Miss it

If, like me, you're a fan of the Mother series, you are probably familiar with the then-fangame Mother 4 and its eventual successor, Oddity. While Oddity's release status remains in limbo, developer Not Gonna Miss it has delivered on a similar Mother-inspired RPG with Dreamtone. Rather than a science fiction pastiche of 90s Americana like Earthbound, Dreamtone opts for the 80s with supernatural theming. Like Mother 3, Dreamtone's battle system rewards players for timing their attacks, but instead of tapping to the rhythm, players must line up their attacks with the enemy's weak spot. One of my favorite qualities of Dreamtone is its use of comics as a framing device for the story, which lends itself visually to the cutscenes through its use of panels and battles with its onomatopoeia word bubbles. Dreamtone doesn't have a release date yet, but a demo containing volume 1 is available for download.

Addy Valentine

My first encounter with game developer Addy Valentine was their entertaining devlog videos on YouTube. However, I didn't start following their work outside of YouTube until they launched the Kickstarter campaign for Gun-Nose. Gun-Nose is an action-mystery RPG where you uncover clues and track down disguised killer robots. Think Hideo Kojima's Snatcher, but with a rogues' gallery of robots like Mega Man wrapped in the retrofuturism of 2001's Metropolis. What makes Gun-Nose unique is its semi-procedural cases featuring different victims, suspects, clues, and murderers, and its 3D pixel art system that lets you explore from any angle without breaking the classic pixel aesthetic. Gun-Nose is currently in development and is not available to play yet, but you can check out Addy's earlier work on their itch.io page.