The Best Indie Games of April 2017

What Remains of Edith Finch

PC & PS4

Giant Sparrow’s latest indie title, What Remains of Edith Finch, falls into the ‘walking simulator’ genre. Players assume the role of Edith Finch, a young girl exploring her old family house. As she searches the house’s rooms, each belonging to a deceased family member, players experience a variety of stories told by flashbacks. What remains is a wonderfully atmospheric, intriguing and magical collection of tales that are well worth the admission fee.

While this indie only clocks in at around a couple of hours, exploring the entirety of the Finch household and playing through these flashbacks is nothing short of a joy. In fact, it’s so easy to immerse yourself in the experience that you’ll likely lose complete track of time. If you’re looking for a beautiful, well-written collection of tales, then look no further than What Remains of Edith Finch.

Little Nightmares

PS4, Xbox One & PC

Indie game Little Nightmares tells the tale of Six, a young girl donning a yellow raincoat as she tries to escape from the nightmarish world known as the Maw. In order to get out of the Maw alive, she’ll need to navigate the labyrinth-like environments while also avoiding the grotesque and hostile creatures going about their daily lives.

While this might sound very similar to the likes of Playdead’s Limbo or INSIDE (which it is), Little Nightmares shines brightest when you’re facing off against one of its large enemies. These moments turn into intense cat and mouse chases where you’ll be using your small size and agility to creep past. It may not sound like much, but when you’re deep in the world of the Maw with a giant gross chef thing chasing you, trust us, it’s intense. If you’re looking for an atmospheric and creepy 3D platformer, Little Nightmares is definitely worth checking out.

The Sexy Brutale

PS4, Xbox One & PC

Amidst all of the blockbuster titles having recently released, it’s a shame that The Sexy Brutale didn’t get as much love as it really deserves. Combining the classic adventure genre and mashing it with a delightful art style and soundtrack, The Sexy Brutale stands out as one of the most refreshing and well-realized titles to release in April.

Players awake on the floor of one of the rooms of the Sexy Brutale casino mansion wearing a mask with a bloody handprint across it. It protects you from the evil entity murdering all of the other guests at the masquerade party, but you can’t just save them out of the blue. You’ll have to learn their secrets by spying on them and use this information to help save them from their encounter with the deadly entity. In order to freshen things up from just any other puzzle mystery game, at midnight, the clock rewinds and everything plays out in the exact same way. It adds a delightful time-loop twist to the murder mystery solving, and The Sexy Brutale is all the better off for it.

Looking for a palate cleanser after all of the AAA goodness that’s graced us the past couple of months? The Sexy Brutale should be at the top of your list.