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 eagle eyed early adopter, Oliver Shellding. Oliver has always loved the idea of crowdfunding games, with his own dollars going towards the creation of great titles like Undertale, Sea of Stars and No Time To Explain. While the process of investing in a game and hoping for the best can lead to some players being deeply disappointed or left empty handed, players like to dream about getting in on the ground floor of something truly game changing. In that spirit, here are four upcoming games that not only look incredible, but have the option for you to invest in right this very moment!

Shade Protocol

Developer: Little Legendary
Publisher: Little Legendary
Genre: Metroidvania, action, adventure, pixel art
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release Date: TBD, Estimated December 2028
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“SHADE Protocol is a 2D cyber-fantasy Metroidvania where music, code, and combat collide. Swap between DAWN and SHADE forms to unleash devastating abilities, wield Instruments as weapons, and rewrite reality itself in a world on the brink of annihilation by the SHADE Protocol.” A gorgeous looking pixel metroidvania with a unique swapping mechanic and some promising ideas about customization, the whole package looks incredibe. Also, in spite of a lot of development ahead, they’ve already collaborated with Radical Fish to bring CrossCode content into SHADE Protocol. Definitely one to keep an eye on!

Moonlight Pale

Developer: Blue Lily
Publisher: LightWitch
Genre: Survival Horror, Action/Adventure, 2D Narrative
Platforms: PC (Steam/Epic/GOG)
Release Date: TBD, Estimated February 2027
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“Juliette follows the ghost of her dead cat into a nightmare where she has to fight and solve puzzles through eerily familiar corridors as she tries to survive and help the rest of the girls trapped inside. Discover the sins buried under St. Birgitta’s Female Seminary.” It’s spooky, it’s adorable, it’s got the right vibes and the right energy to be both wonderfully entertaining and highly upsetting. Also, an incredible voice cast is already attached, including Pomni herself, Lizzie Freeman. February is not so far away, so Godspeed to the devs and I hope we hear great things soon!

Colossus: Eternal Blight

Developer: Rustic Panda Games
Publisher: Poysky Productions, Level Up Gaming
Genre: ActionRPG, hack-and-slash, JRPG
Platforms: PC (Steam/Epic/GOG)
Release Date: TBD, Estimated December 2027
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“Your brother is corrupted. The Blight is spreading. Only you can stop it. Colossus is an atmospheric pixel action-adventure where you master precise combat, explore a vast dark fantasy world, and make choices that permanently scar the kingdom of Eireos.” If your game is clearly taking visual and performance cues from Hyperlight Drifter, I’m going to be interested. Pepper in different classes, skill trees and a good amount of Legend of Zelda style puzzles, and you’ve got someone on the hook from day one to see where it goes. To be honest, it’s mostly the Hyperlight Drifter, and that’s enough to make me open up my wallet and wait for Christmas.

A Fighter’s Nova: Mindara

Developer: BadRez Games
Publisher: BadRez Games
Genre: JRPG, RPG, Fighting, Action
Platforms: PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2
Release Date: TBD, Estimated December 2028
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“A Fighter’s Nova: Mindara is a narrative-driven JRPG that fuses character-focused storytelling with the intensity and precision of a true tag-team fighting game.” This short and sweet description obfuscates an incredibly intriguing premise. There’s nothing like an RPG where each battle is a straight up side scrolling brawl instead of a turn based attack, and getting a mix of Street Fighter with Final Fantasy sounds incredible! Much like Wanderstars from last year, this love letter to anime and classic games seems bound to entice fans, though the ambition of already targeting PC and console release could be hubristic. Let’s hope for the best!

And that’ll do it for this iteration of Way Too Many Indies Wednesday! Go ahead and wishlist those that caught your eye; that kind of metric really matters for developers and publishers. Also, show support for these games in your own way: follow the devs if you can and spread the word so that these dreams can come rushing forward even faster. There’s always something for someone, so don’t forget to always be searching for the next big game that really speaks to you. 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!