Check out all 30 Xbox indie games shown off at MIX 10th Anniversary Showcase

Yesterday’s MIX 10th Anniversary Showcase brought us over 80 awesome indie games coming soon — here’s a closer look at all 30 that are confirmed to be heading to Xbox. We’ve done our best to dig beyond what was shown last night to track down a few titles that didn’t have any mention of Xbox in the footage but actually are coming to console, and there may be other games from the show that will make their way to Xbox eventually. Here’s the full show, in case you fancy seeing what other cool stuff is in the pipeline.Due to the nature of the show, not all of the trailers are available individually, so for these game entries below, we’ve simply used the most recent trailers we could find. However, we’ve presented the games in the order they appeared, so if you want to see more (some games like Silt had mini-presentations, others just newer trailers or gameplay that we’ve not been able to find yet), you should be able to find the games you’re interested in fairly easily just by skipping through the full show above to find them. With that, let’s get into the games!Mika and the Witch’s MountainDeveloper: Nukefist/ChibigETA: 2022Ever wished there was a Kiki’s Delivery Service game? Mika and the Witch’s Mountain might be close — it’s a relaxing adventure game that’ll have us exploring, soaring around on our broomstick, delivering parcels to complete our witchy training, and getting to know the island’s inhabitants. It’s a short, combat-free game that’s all about growing up and coming of age. We’ll apparently earn upgrades by making successful deliveries, but it remains to be seen what Mika’s final witchy powers will look like. We’ll find out when Mika and the Witch’s Mountain launches later this year.SopaDeveloper: StudioBandoETA: 2023Sopa is another narrative-driven adventure game, and it lists Spirited Away, Coco, and The Little Prince as among its inspirations. It starts out with an everyday task: Miho must get a potato from the pantry for his grandmother. In a trice, however, he’s taken to a strange land where creatures can talk and mountains can float. You know this is going to be an emotional one, as each time Miho makes it back to the kitchen, he and his grandmother are a little bit older. We’ll be solving puzzles, learning songs, and exploring magical lands in Sopa, which is set to offer around ten to twelve hours of gameplay. Sopa will also introduce new characters in its post-launch DLC, but we’ll have a little longer to wait for this one, as Sopa launches in 2023. Cassette BeastsDeveloper: Bytten StudioETA: TBAWe recently discussed the best games like Pokémon on Xbox, and it looks like we’ll have another to add to the list in the not-too-distant future. Many monster taming games like to draw inspiration from the wider Pokémon community, so while Coromon (also featured during this event, but sadly only coming to PC and Switch at this time) incorporates elements from the randomiser and Nuzlocke (challenge runs) scenes, Cassette Beasts is all about fusing monsters together. An in-depth look at this system over on the official site suggests close to three million possible permutations, with turn-based battles governed by a board game-inspired Ability Points system where you can spend your points each turn on basic moves, or use weakers ones with lower costs to save up points for your big attacks. This looks ace, and while we don’t have so much as a release window yet, we do know that it’ll be launching into Game Pass when it does arrive.SoundfallDeveloper: Drastic GamesETA: Spring 2022I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts on an early build of this rhythm-based dungeon crawler soon, but for now, let’s stick to the high-level overview. Soundfall is a fast-paced action-RPG where you must time your actions to the beat in order for them to be fully effective — fuse the musical mechanics of Crypt of the Necrodancer or BPM with the frenetic action gameplay of something like Enter the Gungeon or Hades and you’re on the right track. Five playable characters each have their own weapons and play styles, and you’ll be able to kit them out individually with loot grabbed in any of the stages. Chuck four-player co-op into the mix and you’ve got a recipe for musical mayhem with stacks of replay value, plus Soundfall looks and sounds fantastic, which never hurts.TinykinDeveloper: SplashteamETA: Summer 2022I don’t know where Milo’s been, but Tinykin has him arriving back on Earth to find out that it’s been the Nineties for more than 200 years. On top of that, everyone seems to have vanished, and he’s suddenly very small. I don’t know what’s going on either, but Tinykin isn’t waiting for us to find out. We’ll be tasked with catching mysterious Pikmin-like creatures known as Tinykin, which have different abilities and can make bridges and ladders and so on, all of which will undoubtedly be very useful to Milo as he explores tiny cities inhabited by insects. The game’s Steam page also says that we’ll “collect upgrades to improve Milo’s bubble-pack, build out the Ardwin Museum and complete Ridmi’s mysterious machine” — just what that means, we’ll have to wait and see when Tinykin launches this summer.Koa and the Five Pirates of MaraDeveloper: Talpa Games/Undercoders/ChibigETA: 2022Following on from Summer in Mara, Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara sees Koa and her friend Napopo setting out on an adventure throughout Mara, unlocking pieces of the archipelago as they go, and attempting to defeat pirates to reclaim their loot. Each island will apparently vary both in looks and in the secrets they hold, and the devs add that Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara will be accessible for newcomers and speedrunners alike. Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara launches later this year. Robotry!Developer: LockpickleETA: Fall 2022Robotry! instantly brought to mind the physics-based perilous platforming of Struggling, with the game’s focus on mastering machine manipulation purely through direct control over two individual legs using the analog sticks. You’ll start out flopping around like a rookie QWOP player, but soon start to get a feel for kicking off walls to bound around like a robotic gymnast. The clean, colourful visual style means you can focus purely on the surprisingly complex movement without distractions, then you can see who has mastered the mechanics best by going head-to-head with other tumbling bots in multiplayer. Yes, it’s daft, but we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that Robotry! looks like a lot of fun.Neko Ghost, Jump!Developer: Burgos GamesETA: Summer 2022Here’s a platformer with a twist… literally. Evoking the likes of Fez and Super Paper Mario, the hook here is that you can freely flip between 2D and 3D worlds in order to make seemingly impossible jumps trivial, dodge attacks, or reveal secrets. An interesting extension of this mechanic is the ability to project a ghostly version of yourself — test tricky platforming sections before you make the leap for real, for instance, or have the spooky doppelganger clear out enemies to carve you a path. Neko Ghost, Jump! launched in Early Access on Steam back in January to positive reviews (there’s also a demo you can try out for free), so hopefully a few more months’ worth of polish will make it even better by the time it makes its way to Xbox later this year.Time on Frog IslandDeveloper: Half Past YellowETA: “Coming soon”There’s a lot going on in this one. In Time on Frog Island, we wake up to find we’ve been shipwrecked on an island populated entirely by mild-mannered frogs. Our mission will be to fix our boat, but this will soon devolve into a mess of different trades as we try to find the right materials by helping out the frogs. We’ll find new items by fishing, farming, solving puzzles, and exploring, while the frogs will help us learn new skills to explore the island. It looks wacky and all types of weird, and honestly, we’re already very invested in the strange goings-on of this frog-filled island.SouldiersDeveloper: RetroforgeETA: May 19thIn Souldiers, we’re taken away to a magical land called Terragaya. Terragaya is meant to be somewhere close to the afterlife, and we’re meant to be moving on to the next world, although things get a little complicated when it turns out that we haven’t actually died yet. Souldiers describes itself as a retro epic with puzzling and platforming elements, as well as Metroidvania exploration and Souls-like combat… buzzwords aplenty going on here. Still, if that sounds like your kind of thing, then good news: Souldiers isn’t too far away, and launches in just a couple of months. SpiderHeckDeveloper: NeverjamETA: “Coming soon”If you’re a fan of the multiplayer arena madness of games like Starwhal, Gang Beasts, and TowerFall — or just the idea of spiders battling to the death with laser swords — then SpiderHeck is likely to step up as your new party game of choice when it eventually crawls onto Xbox. Leap and swing your way around simple stages with physics-based mechanics for both movement and combat, and more than just laser swords on offer, too. Toss bombs around, fire laser cannons, blast enemies with shotguns… pretty much anything goes here, it seems, so long as it’s bright, explosive, and really stupid. From the way the swords clash to the potential for stylish finishers from impressive swings, SpiderHeck looks to be an absolute blast.Hyper GunsportDeveloper: Necrosoft GamesETA: “Coming soon”If you prefer your multiplayer experiences skewed more towards skill than chaos, the competitive Hyper Gunsport will likely be more your speed than the arachnid deathmatch featured above. In the same vein as games like Windjammers and Laser League (which shut down last month), it’s a futuristic sport (as the title suggests) where teams of two blast a ball (of sorts) around a 2D volleyball-style court with various scoring targets on the back walls depending on the stage. Interestingly, players must take on roles on their two-person teams — the keeper sits back with minimal mobility but more firepower with which to blast the ball clear, while the striker is nimble but has fewer shots so needs to make them count. Rules are fully customisable so you can tailor the game to how you and your friends like to play it, which could very well lead to multiplayer rallies that draw on for hours. Bring it.Lords of RavageDeveloper: Synthetic DomainETA: Winter 2022Lords of Ravage is role-reversal RPG where you take up the mantle as the final boss of a dungeon. Decide which minions to send to confront the heroes that dare enter your domain, hatch devious schemes to keep the good guys on their toes, and eventually stand up to the adventurers once your underlings have worn them down ready for you to finish off… you can even choose to make an early cameo appearance to send them packing personally if your troops aren’t pulling their weight. The 2D/3D art style looks like a darker Octopath Traveler — in keeping with this game’s decidedly more evil themes — and with three different lords to master and numerous different hero groups to outwit, this is shaping up to be a really interesting twist on a tried-and-tested formula.Kaiju WarsDeveloper: Foolish MortalsETA: “Coming soon”A turn-based tactics game that sees you fending off all manner of giant monsters sounds like a great time, so Kaiju Wars has very much emerged from the ocean and made its way onto our radar. The limited-palette art style falls somewhere between old 8-bit home computer games and early comic books, with some awesome animations for the kaiju that bring the latter to life. Kaiju have distinct behaviour patterns that you can use against it, so you can exploit their obsession with bashing up buildings to lure them towards empty structures as a decoy while you ready your counterattack — the game even offers predicted odds of their movements so you have a better idea of how best to deploy your forces. Naturally, the kaiju can’t be killed, merely repelled should you manage to bully them enough, but sending a Godzilla-esque superbeast limping back into the ocean seems like it will be reward enough. Kaiju Wars stomps onto Steam in April, and there’s a free demo up if you fancy giving it a go ahead of its console release.Fire CommanderDeveloper: Atomic Wolf/Pixel CrowETA: TBCFirefighters and video games is a fairly rare combination, but it often tends to lead to fantastic games — just ask The Firemen on SNES and Burning Rangers on Saturn. Fire Commander is an upcoming real-time tactics game that treats the emergency service with a greater degree of realism than those retro gems, tasking players with assembling a capable team, making difficult decisions in the heat of the moment, and hoping that their approach to taming a towering inferno in order to save lives ends up working out for the best. It still seems a fair way out — the trailer only shows a few snippets of gameplay mixed in with actual footage — but it has certainly piqued our interest as a rare real-time strategy game with a non-military theme.Shadow’s Light: Tale of the ChampionsDeveloper: 3Mind GamesETA: TBCAmidst so many 2D and low-poly indie games, something like Shadow’s Light looks ridiculously ambitious. It’s a dark fantasy RPG being made in Unreal Engine 5, and the project has some impressive clout behind it at Canadian studio 3Mind, including several pretty high-profile Ubisoft alumni in key roles, as well as having writers from Deus Ex and Pillars of Eternity on board. If taking on a massive 3D project like this didn’t seem ambitious enough, it’s also a tale that you’ll be able to play out from both sides — two separate campaigns will let you experience the story from two unique perspectives. It’s a gargantuan undertaking for such a relatively unknown studio, but here’s hoping the team can deliver a game that matches its lofty vision. Slaycation ParadiseDeveloper: Affordable AcquisitionETA: “Coming soon”A brand new announcement during the showcase, Slaycation Paradise presents a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where death-defying package tours of murder are a perfectly normal thing. The game blends frantic shooter gameplay with tower defence mechanics as you blast and bludgeon your way through waves of horrible beasties on the best/worst holiday ever. Earn Slaycation Club Rewards by surviving the mayhem, then invest them in new weapons, gear, abilities, destinations, and more to keep the good times alive as long as you are!Turbo OverkillDeveloper: Trigger Happy InteractiveETA: TBC If you’re in the market for a lightning-fast retro-style FPS where you play as a dude with a chainsaw for a leg, you’ve definitely come to the right place. In what the devs describe as “Blade Runner meets Doom” and “excess personified,” jump into the heavily augmented body of the brilliantly-named Johnny Turbo and go to town of the legions of chumps that await your decidedly explosive brand of justice. It might sound a little one-note, but there actually looks to be a fair bit of variety to the game — as well as neon arenas packed with nasty things for you to turn into jam, we see vehicle sections, parkour, grappling hook traversal, and more, and that lethal slide attack just looks so satisfying. Turbo Overkill looks set to live up to its name, and launches into Steam Early Access in April, so here’s hoping the Xbox release won’t be too far behind. VoidTrainDeveloper: NeargaETA: 2022Fortunately, VoidTrain casts us as mechanics, so when we’re somehow transported to a new world and put in charge of our own interdimensional train, we apparently have the know-how to go about building and expanding it. We’ll be constantly on the move in VoidTrain, as the sandbox survival game has us exploring from new land to new land, gathering resources, uncovering secrets, and overcoming puzzles and challenges as we go. VoidTrain looks like one of those games that we can’t really wrap our heads around until we actually get our hands on it — which will happen some time later this year.ScatheDeveloper: Damage StateETA: 2022Scathe is another hectic FPS that riffs heavily on the early years of the genre, combining fancy modern visuals with level design that harks back to the Nineties classics. Think Doom and… well, that’s it actually. Think Doom, more specifically the superb 2016 reboot. Scathe does have its own trick up its bloodied sleeve, mind, in taking a mechanic more typically associated with 2D shooters than 3D ones and going ham with it — elements of bullet hell gameplay seep into the fray, meaning you’ll have to learn how to deal with enemies’ complex projectile patterns and revenge bullets as well as making sure your aim is true as you blast those demons to bits.Dark FractureDeveloper: Twisted II StudioETA: Late 2022As a cosmic horror game set on a body farm, Dark Fracture probably isn’t going to be one for the faint of heart. It looks about as grim as you would expect from that premise, with creepy corridors lined with organic matter, shambling abominations aplenty, and some rather impressive (and terrifying) eldritch nightmarescapes. There’s already a playable prologue on Steam which has been met with a fantastic response, so we hope that impressive sense of suspense and bleak atmosphere carries over to the main game when it drops later in the year.Fobia: St. Dinfna HotelDeveloper: Pulsatrix StudiosETA: “Coming soon”Something for horror purists now — that classic horror setup of a grotty old hotel which, in this case, is “the subject of numerous rumors including mysterious disappearances and paranormal activity.” Seems legit, and definitely a great place to go check out, so our brave/stupid protagonist will be doing precisely that. This is another one with a demo already up on Steam, and it’s looking ace, especially considering it’s Brazilian studio Pulsatrix’s first project.AK-xolotlDeveloper: 2Awesome StudioETA: TBCA 2D roguelite shooter starring a gun-toting axolotl is one of those things you never knew you wanted until you see it, at which point you still don’t want it — you need it. We’re getting strong Enter the Gungeon and Nuclear Throne vibes from the awkwardly-titled AK-xolotl, and that’s no bad thing. Once again, there’s a Steam demo up if you want to marvel at the madness for yourself, although it’s unclear how far along the game actually is… there’s a Kickstarter campaign coming soon, but we’re not sure whether funding earned there will simply increase the scope of the project, or be integral to its actual development. We’ll be throwing some money its way, just to be on the safe side…Princess FarmerDeveloper: Samobee GamesETA: March 31stPrincess Farmer combines match-three gameplay with the story of Princess Farmer herself, who, blessed by Mother Gaia’s magic, has the power to pull up rows of vegetables that can be matched together. We’re told that the visual novel is played out in episodes, which can last anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour. We’ll be making friends, unlocking new “hare” dyes and outfits, and trying to uncover the mystery of what’s happening in the woods. It’s almost harvest time, too — Princess Farmer is out next week.Serial CleanersDeveloper: Draw DistanceETA: 2022If you fancy playing a game where you work for the mob but only deal with the aftermath of its dirty work, then Serial Cleaners might be for you. It’s a single-player stealth action game set in the Nineties, and names Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction among its inspirations. Everything seems to start on New Year’s Eve in New York City in 1999, when four professional mob fixers start to share stories about the last decade. Apparently, though, something isn’t quite right about these reminiscences, and things begin to get pretty tense. There are four characters and four play styles to face the game’s obstacles, as we work to clear up any evidence as quickly as possible. Intrigued? Serial Cleaners launches later this year.Submerged: Hidden DepthsDeveloper: Uppercut GamesETA: Out nowSubmerged: Hidden Depths is an exploration game about two siblings, Miku and Taku. It’s pretty cryptic in its description, where we’re told that the two siblings are exploring sunken ruins to “collect mysterious relics of a distant past” and that one of the siblings is seeking to use her curse for good, but apart from that, it’s seemingly left to the imagination. The game is already out on Steam to positive reviews, so it’s clearly doing something right. Submerged: Hidden Depths is about a relaxing exploration experience, with no combat to worry you, and those positive Steam reviews speak to its laid-back atmosphere. If that sounds like your kind of thing, then good news; Submerged: Hidden Depths is out now!The Tale of BistunDeveloper: Black Cube GamesETA: 2022The Tale of Bistun is inspired by Khosrow and Shirin, a 12th century Persian romance tale, and revolves around a stone carver. He wakes up on Mount Bistun with no memories, only to find that the mountain is being corrupted by some sort of blight. The stone carver has to battle his way through the real world and the Revelations Realm to uncover the truth about the past. An omniscient narrator will tell the story as we go, and we’ll also have the ability to construct statues and engravings, all of which detail our experiences as we explore. The Tale of Bistun is a story-rich game that brings together Persian mythology with fast-paced combat, and is set to arrive later this year. SiltDeveloper: Spiral CircusETA: 2022With its monochrome palette and beautiful minimalistic design, Silt is giving off strong ‘underwater Limbo’ energy, and we’re here for it. It’s got that same sense of feeling out an alien environment about it, seeing how the weird sea critters respond to things like your headlamp and how that may help you manipulate the sealife and survive the weirder threats that await beneath the surface. The gameplay demo from the showcase event focused on the diver, but we’ve seen from other trailers that we’ll be able to go even deeper by taking direct control of some of the sea creatures — seems like we’ve only dipped our toes into what Silt might actually offer when it arrives later this year.NorcoDeveloper: Geography of RobotsETA: March 24thIn a change of pace, Norco is a sci-fi point-and-click adventure game where we’re looking for our brother Blake, who has gone missing after our mother’s death. Norco brings sci-fi themes mixed together with gothic elements, and it seems our only lead for our missing brother is a security android who we follow into the dangerous swamp of South Louisiana. We’ll be facing everything from bullies to death cults, and befriending both robots and river dogs. It sounds like an atmospheric adventure, and it’ll be available this week via PC Game Pass!A Space for the UnboundDeveloper: MojikenETA: 2022A Space for the Unbound describes itself as a surreal pixel slice-of-life adventure game. It’s set in Indonesia in the Nineties, and revolves around two kids — Atma and Ruya. They’re already dealing with the end of high school, their relationship with each other, and the attempt to find themselves, before a supernatural spanner is thrown into the works: we play as Atma, who has a book imbued with a strange power that lets them explore the minds of others. This sets them on the path of uncovering secrets and even facing “the end of the world.” A Space for the Unbound will have you exploring Atma and Ruya’s rural town and the minds of its inhabitants, all while trying to help Ruya overcome her anxiety and depression. It looks like an atmospheric, story-rich experience, and the devs have hinted that its 2022 release date isn’t too far off, either. Any of these awesome indies finding their way onto your wishlist? Anything else from the showcase you’d love to see come to Xbox? Let us know down in the comments!



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