Super Meat Boy 3D, coin-pushing chaos and other new indie games worth checking out

## Summary
Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement You can try it for yourself right now as Super Meat Boy 3D , from publisher Headup, is available on Steam , Epic Games Store , GOG , PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 for $25. There's a 10 percent launch discount on PC, and it's on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass. By itself, that shot from the launch trailer was enough to sell me on Fishbowl, a coming-of-age adventure from the two-person team at imissmyfriends.studio and co-publisher Wholesome Games Presents. On Steam and PS5, that version includes a short animated film from Passion Games, which found out about the book and teamed up with Hyper Luminal and publisher Numbskull to make the game.

## Article Content
Sluggerfly/Team Meat/Headup
Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As ever, we've got a whole bunch of new games for you to dive into this weekend, along with announcements and updates on several others that are coming down the pike.
I love how spoiled we are for game showcases these days, and I'm really looking forward to the latest installment of the indie-focused
Triple-i Initiative
at noon ET on April 9 as the first two editions were really strong. The
trailer
for this one features the likes of
Cairn
,
Warhammer Survivors
(the Warhammer-themed
Vampire Survivors
spinoff), the excellent
CloverPit
,
Final Sentence
and
Far Far West
. The organizers are promising to share release dates and gameplay reveals. Expect to see eight game announcements here too.
Summer Game Fest is fast approaching. That means the mid-year edition of Day of the Devs, one of the biggest indie game showcases around, isn't too far away. Developers still have a chance to be featured in the show. Submissions for Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Digital Showcase
are open
, but you'll need to hurry if you're ready to shoot your shot at being included. The deadline for submissions is this Monday, April 6.
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Meanwhile, I’d normally write about notable ports in the new releases section of this roundup, but there was no trailer for this, so I'll mention it here. Before its success with
Peak
last year, Landfall also scored a hit with
Content Warning
on PC (making it free for the first 24 hours didn't hurt!). Now, this friendslop game is out on
PS5
,
Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC
,
Nintendo Switch
and
Switch 2
for $10. Landfall added cross-play to the Steam version as well.
New releases
A sequel to an all-time indie classic dropped this week, and it took the squishy protagonist of the series to another dimension. Like its predecessors,
Super Meat Boy 3D
is a tough precision platformer. You'll need to guide the titular meat cube past saws, shredders, burning forests, laser-guided rockets, enemies and other obstacles. There are boss fights too. A mistake spells a quick trip back to the beginning of the level. Meat Boy does have an air dash this time around, though.
I played through the first world and Sluggerfly and Team Meat haven't changed the base formula too much. The additional dimension and fixed perspective make platforming a little trickier. When there's a gap while I'm running across a wall, for instance, I might forget to stop pressing up while I'm crossing the hole, causing Meat Boy to disappear into the void. I found it easier to control him with the D-pad than a thumbstick, for what it's worth.
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You can try it for yourself right now as
Super Meat Boy 3D
, from publisher Headup, is available on
Steam
,
Epic Games Store
,
GOG
,
PlayStation 5
,
Xbox Series X/S
and
Nintendo Switch 2
for $25. There's a 10 percent launch discount on PC, and it's on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass.
I really enjoyed the
Raccoin
demo, so I'm bummed that I haven't had much of a chance to jump into the full game yet. I have some other things on my plate at the minute (more on some of those next week!). When I do have time to properly sit down with
Raccoin
, though, I may just lose the rest of the month to it.
Raccoin
is a roguelike deckbuilder in the vein of games like
Balatro
and
CloverPit
. Instead of racking up giant scores in spins on poker or one-armed bandits, the action here takes place in a coin pusher. The aim, as ever, is to find wild synergies between special coins and items to break the rules and earn enough points to keep moving forward. I'm excited to experiment with a much larger box of tools in the full game.
Raccoin,
from Doraccoon and
Balatro
publisher Playstack, is out now on
Steam
. It'll usually cost $12, but there's an 18 percent discount until April 7.
I've only played around an hour of
Tombwater
, but I'm really digging this game from Moth Atlas and Midwest Games. It's a 2D, eldritch horror Western Soulslike. It feels like
Bloodborne
meets
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
(there's even a hookshot), by way of
Red Dead Redemption
.
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After a brief prologue, you'll pick a character class and jump right into the action as you search for a former train-robbing partner who has somehow become a sheriff. Enemies are quite varied, and you'll use a mix of melee attacks, firearms and magic to battle them.
Resource management is vital. You restore ammo by dishing out melee damage. The magic meter has an interesting twist too. Using spells too often can send your character spiraling into madness, which can cause hallucinations.
There are lots of hallmarks of the Soulslike genre here. When (not if) you die, you'll leave behind a totem that has all your cash and unused leveling experience. You can destroy this to regain your lost loot, or wait unt

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- I love how spoiled we are for game showcases these days, and I'm really looking forward to the latest installment of the indie-focused Triple-i Initiative at noon ET on April 9 as the first two editions were really strong.
- The trailer for this one features the likes of Cairn , Warhammer Survivors (the Warhammer-themed Vampire Survivors spinoff), the excellent CloverPit , Final Sentence and Far Far West .
- The organizers are promising to share release dates and gameplay reveals.
- Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, I’d normally write about notable ports in the new releases section of this roundup, but there was no trailer for this, so I'll mention it here.

### Areas for Consideration
- When there's a gap while I'm running across a wall, for instance, I might forget to stop pressing up while I'm crossing the hole, causing Meat Boy to disappear into the void.
- That's not a problem with a mouse, as you can aim freely.

### Implications
- Expect to see eight game announcements here too.
- When there's a gap while I'm running across a wall, for instance, I might forget to stop pressing up while I'm crossing the hole, causing Meat Boy to disappear into the void.
- When I do have time to properly sit down with Raccoin , though, I may just lose the rest of the month to it.
- But you can only point your weapon in the four cardinal directions, and you need to let go of the left trigger before you can change your aim.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers game, advertisement, there topics. Notable strengths include discussion of game. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2177.