Kinetic Games are keeping busy! You may have heard yesterday that the Phasmophobia developer is publishing the next game from Her Story and Immortality’s Sam Barlow (who’s roped in Brandon Cronenberg this time around). That’s not all that was announced however, as there’s a bevy of other, not even scary at all, actually, games that are coming up from the new publisher.

First up is Crescent County. This one comes from developer Electric Saint, and it’s probably the one I’m most personally looking forward to out of the list here. It puts you in the role of a delivery driver, just one set in a world where magic and tech are blended together. Your vehicle of choice is a motorbroom, obviously much sicker than motorbikes (don’t bring up Akira, that wouldn’t be fair to anyone), and you can also form bonds – or flirt – with a range of characters you meet on your delivery runs.

Then there’s Shellbound, a Metroidvania that went to the Hollow Knight school of graphics most certainly. In this one you’re a parasite that can control its enemies travelling around the inside of a giant snail, presenting a concoction of flesh and machinery that disgusts and delights in equal parts. I’m quite intrigued by the fact that killing too much of a given enemy species will slowly let them evolve into something stronger, providing both a greater challenge and strength if you take them over.

Up next is Contact Protocol, certainly one for retrofuturism and Alien fans. You play as a security officer aboard a corporate spaceship ferrying miners towards Jupiter’s biggest moon, Ganymede. It’s up to you to “assess the intentions of approaching ships, decide their fate, and keep your crew alive.” And of course, “the company is watching.”

Lastly, there’s Aether Wizard Life, another magicy entry that gives off some light Spiritfarer vibes. Here you’re a young apprentice mage who resides in a haunted town, learning a bunch of spells, brewing potions, crafting weapons and the like, all the while building up your very own castle.

It’s an interesting slate from Kinetic Games, or I should say Kinetic Publishing. Mostly what I’m taken aback by is the fact that we have an indie studio here that has found a lot of success, and is sharing that with other devs and games that don’t fit into that vaguely shaped mould of “instant viral hit.” While not exactly the same, it reminds me of Among Us developer Innersloth’s Outersloth, a fund for independent game devs. Among Us obviously continues to find success many years after the pandemic first took hold, and Outersloth continue to put out more games they’ve helped to fund. At a time when the industry is [choose whatever metaphor feels most appropriate to you, dear read], seeing indies express even the smallest amount of solidarity like this is a little heartwarming at the very least. May it continue!