All the indie games shown at today's Annapurna Interactive showcase

Today, the indie publisher Annapurna Interactive held a showcase, revealing updates about many of its upcoming games. This is the first major showcase for Annapurna since the big news a few months ago that the entire team resigned. Of course, this didn’t come up in the showcase, but reportedly, the entire team resigned after the team tried to spin off the video game division into a separate company. Until now, many of Annapurna’s anticipated games were in limbo, with the teams working on them no longer at Annapurna. Thankfully, many highly anticipated indie titles are now confirmed to still be in progress, including next month’s Wanderstop, the bike-racing Wheel World, and more. The full showcase is a little over twenty minutes, with nine games featured.

Annapurna Interactive gives a deep dive into a handful of exciting upcoming indie games

• Annapurna Interactive gives a deep dive into a handful of exciting upcoming indie games
• Wheel World
• Wanderstop
• Skin Deep
• Geometric Interactive is working on something
• Lushfoil Photography Sim
• Faraway
• To a T
• Morsels
• Sayonara Wild Hearts

Annapurna Interactive has published some of the best indie games of the last few years, including Stray, Cocoon, and Neon White. The recent news about resignations was worrying, but this showcase showed that there is a lot more to be excited about. From Wheel World to what the Cocoon team is working on next, and even a surprise Sayonara Wild Hearts announcement, here’s a breakdown of everything shown during the showcase.

Wheel World

The first game shown during the showcase was Wheel World, a new game from developer Messhof, the team behind the Nidhogg series. You may remember this as Ghost Bike, but last year it went through a name change. Personally, I don’t know if it was a great change, but apparently the term “ghost bike” has some other meanings that the developer wanted to avoid. Wheel World caught my attention early on with its cel-shaded art style and an incredibly catchy soundtrack from their reveal trailer. But now, there’s a free demo available on Steam, so this game is more than just a cool trailer.

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This is the first game for Messhof that takes place in a 3D open world. This showcase didn’t talk as much about the single-player story that Wheel World will have, but the floating skull on the front of the bike is significant. The protagonist is chosen by “ancient cycling spirits” and must perform a ritual to save the universe. Also, the bike is fully customizable, so it will be fun to explore the various options and their benefits. One wheel looked like an eyeball, but I’m sure it’s probably something else, right? Wheel World is still expected to launch in 2025, but there is no release date currently set.

Wanderstop

From the writer of The Stanely Parable and the debut game from developer Ivy Road, is Wanderstop. On the surface this game looks like a café management simulator set in a fantastically colorful world. But the reveal trailer, along with the writer of the subversive Stanley Parable being involved, suggests there is something more under the surface. The protagonist appears to be a retired warrior, still haunted by her past. This might hint at something more than just a café simulator. Fortunately, as of today, players won’t have to speculate completely, because there is a free demo available now on Steam.

Wanderstop is one of the few games during this showcase that already has a solid release date, which is set for a few weeks away on March 11th, 2025. Today’s trailer didn’t reveal too much more about the gameplay, other than featuring a cute but possibly annoying bird character that tries to steal a drink from the protagonist. It will be exciting to give this demo a try and get a better sense of what to expect.

Skin Deep

Described as Die Hard but in space, Skin Deep is being developed by Blendo Games and has a charming retro-style that reminds me of a more humorous System Shock. The protagonist of Skin Deep is a former assassin who has finally retired and taken a job as an insurance commando. But when the spaceship is overtaken by pirates, they decide to take matters into their own hands to eliminate the threat. Avoid detection by the entire pirate crew, while carefully taking them out one by one.

There’s a lot more going on in this new trailer, which seems to suggest that there’s a whole group of talking cats on the ship as well, but thankfully we can all get a better idea of what’s going on here because there is a free demo available on Steam now. The full game is planned to launch on April 30th, 2025, so we don’t have to wait long.

Geometric Interactive is working on something

The team behind 2023’s indie puzzle hit, Cocoon, Geometric Interactive, announced that they are working on something new, which is “unlike anything [they] have ever worked on before.” But that’s about all they said, other than to stay tuned for future updates. As a fan of Cocoon, this is very exciting. This was the debut game from this studio, and what a debut it was, but the Game Designer/Director on Cocoon is Jeppe Carlsen, who was the lead gameplay designer on other great indie games: Limbo and Inside. Whatever this team is working on next, I am interested.

Lushfoil Photography Sim

Back to the games, or maybe not so much. The developer behind Lushfoil Photography Sim, Matt Newell, says that this is “hard to describe as a game.” This simulator places the player in an incredibly lifelike location, such as a Japanese forest, an Australian beach, or an Italian alpine lake. Explore, find hidden secrets, and snap photos. To get a sense of what to expect, there is a free demo available now on Steam.

When it comes to Lushfoil Photography Sim, I had the chance to try a demo during 2024’s Summer Game Fest. The chance to take a break from all the other meetings and demos and just walk through a stunning landscape at my own pace was invaluable. I wish I could have this game stationed at every event I go to as an opportunity to take a moment to relax and zone out. Lushfoil Photography Sim is planned to release on April 15th, 2025.

Faraway

Solo-developer Steph Thirion has been working on this game since 2010, which means Faraway has been in development for fifteen years. Thirion did specify that it was “on and off” for those fifteen years, but still, that’s a long time. Faraway is a puzzle game where you create constellations. This is a “one-button game,” meaning you can easily sit back and play the game on a controller with one hand. The player is a shooting star exploring the universe, staying alive, and creating constellations.

Thirion describes the game as “an infinitely replayable, immersive, cosmic, game experience…” The game is very minimal, but has depth, so it’s easy to learn and play, but more of a challenge to master. Every time you play, the game creates a randomly generated new world, giving it that infinite replayability. Unfortunately, like many of the other games from this showcase, there is no demo available now for Faraway, and no exact release date either. But it is still planned for sometime in 2025.

To a T

to a T is a humorous game that seems inspired by the infamous “T-Pose,” a common default pose for human models in video games before they are animated. To see one in a game usually means something’s wrong. I don’t know if this is actually inspired by this, but it’s what it makes me think of. Developer uvula LLC has taken this idea and made a quirky, humorous, and heartfelt world where the protagonist is perpetually stuck in a T-shape, their arms sticking straight out to either side.

The game is set in a colorful and friendly world full of unique characters like the giraffe chef featured in the trailer shown during today’s showcase. Just navigating the world in a T-pose makes daily tasks entirely different. How do you brush your teeth? Ride a bike? Put on a shirt? Thankfully, the player will have their trusty canine companion by their side. I still have so many questions about how this game works and what will happen in the story, but it looks utterly charming. to a T does not have a demo out yet, but it does have a release date for May 28th, 2025.

Morsels

Perhaps on the opposite spectrum visually, is Morsels, the debut action roguelike from developer Furcula. This pixelated top-down action game takes place in the sewers, full of strange, disgusting creatures, and filthy locations. You play as a mouse that gains the ability to shapeshift into other creatures, using their abilities and powers to progress and eventually take on bosses, which are cats. Makes sense for a game where you play as a rodent.

The developer talked about how four years ago, the first texture they created for the game was the concrete floor, a cracked and crumbling grey surface, inspired by living in Toronto at the time. This aesthetic eventually grew into the full game, but it is a fascinating place to start. While Morsels might look disgusting, there is a method to the madness and in a strange way it is a visual feast, even if I wouldn’t want to actually eat any of it. There is no demo for Morsels either, but the game is still expected to be released later this year.

Sayonara Wild Hearts

Fans of 2019’s rhythm action game Sayonara Wild Hearts got good news at the end of today’s showcase. The update brings the game up to modern standards such as 4k graphics, 120FPS, and introduces haptic feedback. But there will also be a new mode exclusive to PlayStation 5. The mode will steadily increase in speed and challenge, hopping between random moments of songs in an infinitely replayable, devilishly tough new way to play with no loading screens. This was an unexpected but welcome update to one of Annapurna Interactive’s most notable past games. The update is available now, and owners of the PS4 version of the game will be able to upgrade for free.

That’s everything shown during today’s showcase! Despite Annapurna’s recent resignations, many of the publisher’s games are still moving forward. It’s hard to imagine that there was no impact on the upcoming slate of games, but if it did, we didn’t hear about it. Almost all the games shown here today have a free demo available on Steam right now as part of Steam’s ongoing Next Fest, so if something caught your eye, there’s a chance you can give it a try already.

Wanderstop

March 11, 2025

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• Overview

• indie games
• games showcase, conference
• Annapurna Interactive
• PC
• PS5
• XSX