Welcome to this week’s Indie Invasion! It may be a day late due to shenanigans, but it’s no less important! For this week’s episode, the VICE Games squad is running quite the diverse batch of indie games! (Especially against last week’s favoring of roguelikes.) Of course, I look like the weirdo in the bunch for wanting to play sci fi anime Among Us. But, hey. That’s the nature of the indies — a vibrant world of creativity.
let the indie invasion commence!
dwayne jenkins — managing editor

So, I found out about GNOSIA recently! “Anime Among Us” is reductive, yes. But, if that’s how I convince y’all, then it is what it is! “The Gnosia lie. Pretending to be human, they’ll get in close, trick and deceive, and then eliminate one victim at a time,” the game’s Steam page states.
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“The crew of a drifting spaceship, facing off against a mysterious and deadly threat known as the ‘Gnosia’ and having no idea who among them is really the enemy, formulate a desperate plan for survival. The most suspicious among them will be put into “cold sleep” one by one, in an effort to rid the ship of Gnosia.”
I’m super into the premise. You mean to tell me I can play single-player Among Us without interacting with other people? And the anime stylings are fairly unique? I’m in there.
matt vatankhah — contributor

I’m jumping back into the mysterious world of Enshrouded this week and checking out the newest Pact of the Flame update. It’s a game my buddies and I pick back up every now and then, and for good reason, since Keen Games seems to constantly update it with new stuff!
I get obsessed with base building in these types of games and am usually designated as “the builder” while the rest of the crew hunts for materials and loot. And, man, Enshrouded sure does make my role a whole lot of fun. The new patch lets me rotate props and build little set pieces around the tavern, and now, I can even throw moss and scuff up some bricks on the outside!
anthony franklin II — contributor

I’ll be getting some more time in on Mark of the Deep before dropping my review of it. I’ve been getting my ass kicked, but I enjoy the challenge so far. Besides that, I’ll be playing more Dead Letter Dept to get the remaining endings. And I’ll be spending my normal 2-3 hours searching Bluesky and Steam for indie devs to see what they’re working on to cover here.
shaun cichacki — contributor

Seeing as there are multiple endings available? I think I’m going to be starting up another run of S4U: CityPunk 2011 and Love Punch. The translation and localization aren’t exactly the best in this game. But, you can feel how much love and care the developer put into this visual novel. I rank it quite highly in my books, and I’m very interested to see how the story can unfold if I do things differently.
Should I go ahead and try out the female Miki route this time around to see if anything is different? Maybe, but I’m still not quite over my boy Miki just yet. It’s a mysterious game. It’s bleak, sad, and also, somehow heartwarming? I’d recommend giving this one a try, as it’s beautiful to look at and offers a great story throughout.
indie invasion comes to a close
Ah, the fresh smell of indie game cookies! Or something — creativity is hard. Anyway, that wraps up this week’s Indie Invasion extravaganza. Whether it’s survival crafting, anime antics, or a relatable visual novel, there’s nothing like a pure hit of heartfelt creativity in the games industry!
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