Welcome to Way Too Many Indies Wednesdays where we highlight four recently released or upcoming indie games that have caught our eye. In a market where so many games can get lost in the shuffle, some true gems can sneak right past us without us knowing. These are the four games this week that we want to keep our eye on, and we think you should as well!

This week is a spotlight hosted by the resident Japanamaniac, Oliver Shellding. With over a decade living in Nihon and even a stint working in Japanese publishing, Oliver has always been locked into the smaller titles coming from the East. This weekend is the 14th annual BitSummit, Kyoto’s own indie gaming festival, and Oliver has opted to highlight four titles that will be presented in one form or another. These carefully curated titles highlight some of the innovation and creativity that centers around the Japanese indie scene.

Short Short Fictions

Developer: room6, 密輸水産
Publisher: room6, yokaze
Genre: Interactive Fiction, Experimental, Visual Novel
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: Q3 2026
Steam
X
Itch.io
YouTube

“A short short mix tape of one story that connects three shorter stories. On the NewWave, a magical game console that is retro but new, enjoy DON’T SAY YES, TO:NORTH, and a secret tale nobody yet knows. Welcome to a slightly fantastical and nostalgic world of painful, toilful, and beautiful stories!.” A fascinating little concept that hinges on a devil-possessed handheld stealing your soul through choices, it’s an engaging title that somehow keeps modern and classic sensibilities in the same space. Plus, yokaze has published some of my favorite titles in the last few years (Unreal Life, Ghostpia), so I’m instantly on board with their next endeavor.

Rain98

Developer: C#4R4CT3R
Publisher: C#4R4CT3R
Genre: Simulation, Psychological Horror, Romance
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: 2026
Website
Steam
X
YouTube
Discord

“Rain98: A lo-fi psycho-thriller romance adventure set in ’90s Tokyo. In a chill but dark apartment room, you’re joined by Reina Amehara (VA: Rio Tsuchiya), a girl with a mysterious and somewhat dangerous charm to her. Together, you decide you have to perform a strange ritual… to save the world from destruction.” I cannot stress enough how much I adore the anime aesthetics of the 90s, and being able to capture it with both atmospheric design and conceptual execution gets my blood flowing.  This has the unnerving feeling of a work by Ryukishi07 with plenty of care and craft to make this a standout work of this year.

Satoyama Note: Spring Walk

Developer: 里山のおと
Publisher: 里山のおと
Genre: Point and Click Adventure, Nature Appreciation
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: 2027
Website
Steam
X
Instagram
Itch.io

“Satoyama Note: Spring Walk is a point-and-click game where you explore the woods in the springtime. Talk with animals and observe plants as you head through the forest on your journey to enjoy a meal under the cherry blossom tree!” Not only is this the most Japan coded game I’ve played in a while, it’s also so distinctly countryside and nostalgic that it makes my heart ache. All you do is engage with nature, learn about different plants, chat with various trees and animals, and just have a sweet and wonderful time. To have a game that is both wide open and perfectly serene is uplifting, and the art styling is simply divine.

ナカノ人格移植研究所 / Nakano Personality Transplant Institute

Developer:麺屋すぱいす 東京支店
Publisher: 麺屋すぱいす 東京支店
Genre: Adventure, Exploration, Mystery
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: 2027
Website
Steam
X
YouTube

“‘Nakano Personality Transplant Institute’ is an adventure game set in a research lab on a ship. To unravel the mystery of the researcher who disappeared from the ship, the player progresses through the mystery story by possessing other characters.” This truncated, translated description gives real Ghost Trick meets Phoenix Wright ideals, mixed in with some fantastic pixel art design and clever framing. Not only do you need to control other people, you need to figure out key clues they spill so you can use it against them later in confrontations. This game is so bleeding edge there isn’t even an English page available yet, so get in on the ground floor and let the devs know you were interested first!

And that’ll do it for this iteration of Way Too Many Indies Wednesday! Players who are interested should definitely come check out BitSummit, and, if you aren’t able to attend, watch the socials and be ready for announcements, awards and tons of surprises! Also, if you like what you see here, be sure to wishlist the games to let the devs know you want to see their releases in the future. If you think there’s a game that should be considered for our roundup, be sure to let us know! Have fun, and keep the indie parade going!

If you missed last weeks picks, here is a quick link to go check them out!