Welcome to GTOGG’s April 2025 edition of Promising Indie Game Releases, where we highlight indie and non-mainstream titles that we believe deserve your attention – in other words, “look at all this potentially cool stuff you might’ve missed otherwise”. That would’ve been too long for a title, though.
In any case, let’s get right down to it.
The Flayed Man
Don’t you love it when absolutely nightmarish horrors are depicted with intricate pixel art? Well, I do, which is why The Flayed Man immediately grabbed my attention. In it, you wake up without your memories and... as the title implies, your skin. Then you’re off to explore a pixelated hellscape so you can hopefully piece together your own past. The only downside is that the game is being described as a fairly short experience that’s expected to take about 30 or so minutes to complete. But hey, it will also be completely free, and I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree
A gorgeous 2.5D metroidvania set in a dark and decaying world teeming with monsters. Also worthy of note is the fact that its storyline was handled by the one and only Brian Mitsoda, the writer/designer who worked on the cult classic RPG Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.
The Cecil: The Journey Begins
A horror game where your vacation soon turns into a hellish nightmare when your wife disappears and you’re forced to explore the titular haunted hotel of The Cecil. A fairly standard setup, but haunted mansions and hotels have always been near and dear to my heart, so I’m hoping this one will turn out well.
Scarred
A first-person horror game set in Singapore, Scarred will have you explore terrifying locations as you uncover ghastly truths about friends and classmates alike.
Soulkin
A colorful rougelite where you collect monsters and send them into tactical, turn-based combat atop a fancy, hexagonal battlefield. We love those. Or at least I do.
Deadly Quiet
An asymmetrical co-op horror game where you get chased around by monsters in the infamous Hoia Baciu forest. Now, this could either be terrifying or lead to hilarity and hijinks – but honestly, I’m here for both.
The Talos Principle: Reawakened
It’s the Talos you know, except it’s been slightly rejuvenated – The Talos Principle: Reawakened features extra content and improved gameplay, and will include a brand-new chapter called In the Beginning. In other words, even if you were all Talos’d out in the original, there is certainly reason to revisit the game one more time.
Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days
A zombie survival game taking place in the 1980s – however, what makes it particularly interesting is how the camera emulates the perspective of a side scroller game, which, as you might imagine, lends an entirely different feel to the experience.
Bionic Bay
Set in a biomechanical world filled with traps and strange technology, Bionic Bay is a puzzle platformer featuring an interesting teleport/swap mechanic and physics system. Basically, it allows players to manipulate gravity or switch places with objects in order to cleverly overcome obstacles and solve puzzles. Sounds fancy.
Soulslinger: Envoy of Death
An interesting mixture of nonstop Painkiller-esque FPS action, dark fantasy/horror vibes and roguelike elements. It was quite a fun little experience the last time I tried it, so I expect the full game to be decently enjoyable as well.
And that’s our list for now! Did you discover a new indie game to look forward to? Well, we hope you did. In any case, don’t forget to check back in about a month for our next episode, where we’ll be taking a look at the indie games of May 2025!
