You might think there aren’t that many upcoming games in April, and you’d be wrong. It’s true this month is missing big spotlight-stealing hits like Resident Evil Requiem or Pokémon Pokopia, but there’s a trove of indie games flying under the radar that we’re keeping an eye on in between things like Pragmata and Outbound. God games, convenience store sims, more Moomin, builders, and mouse shooters — it’s a strong month for variety, and value, as nearly all of these games cost a fraction of what you’d pay for a new AAA game.
1
Masters of Albion
- Release date: April 22
- Demo available: No
Masters of Albion, Peter Molyneux’s effort at rejuvenating the “god game” genre he helped create, seems like a pretty ambitious swing. It’s your usual god game fare, in that you’re responsible for all the big stuff going on. But you can also influence every individual, down to the village dog, and see how your decisions influence all the little peasants under your care. There’s a tower defense component, as you fend off the forces of darkness at night; an extensive focus on exploration and digging up magical treasures to outfit your heroes with; and the option to personally build every structure in your kingdom. It might be promising a bit too much, but with the lack of god games in recent years, it’s just nice to see Molyneaux taking another crack at what he does best.
2
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth
- Release date: April 27
- Demo available: Yes
The makers of the award-winning Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley are delving back into the world of Tove Jansson’s beautiful Moomin books with Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth. It’s a “narrative puzzle adventure” like its predecessor — which, in normal speak, means there’s a lot of story and some light puzzle solving — but it takes an even more Moomin approach than before. Moomin wakes up alone and desperately wanting someone to care for him, but he learns the best way to feel less alone is to help bring warmth and light to others. Life lessons, gentle puzzles, gorgeous visual direction pulled straight from Jansson’s books — it’s ticking all the right boxes for an essential cozy game.
3
All Will Fall
- Release date: April 3
- Demo available: Yes
Survival builders are hardly a rarity anymore — heck, the beaver city builder Timberborn finally left its years-long early access period just last month — but All Will Fall adds a dash of chaotic realism that makes it unlike most of its peers. Everything you build is subject to the laws of physics. Walkway with no support? Building without the right bracing to distribute all that tension? It’s gonna fall and take anything nearby with it. Like Frostpunk, you’ll also be balancing the needs of factions, planning resource-gathering missions, and generally trying to make life in your isolated ocean city as livable as possible.
4
Mouse: P.I. for Hire
- Release date: April 16
- Demo available: No
“What if retro cartoon, but with bloody gunfights and nightmare-inducing death gurgles?” Is the guiding principle behind Fumi Games’ Mouse: P.I. for Hire. The jarring disconnect between Mouse‘s cartoon style and brutal combat took a bit to get used to when we played a preview build of the game, but the imaginative weapons and excellent diorama-like level design were major highlights. It’s definitely one to keep an eye on this month.
5
inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories
- Release date: April 30
- Demo available: Yes
Cozy games have mutated into countless different forms over the years, and InKONBINI is one of the more distinct varieties: a shop stocking-slash-small town life-sim. It’s the 1990s, and you’re working in a little convenience store in a small Japanese town for the summer. Keeping the shelves stocked and everything clean and functioning is just part of the role — all par for the course with this kind of game. But it’s what you do in between routine tasks that has us interested, namely building relationships with store regulars, relationships that change depending on the choices you make. It’s not the usual “branching narrative” setup, and we’re eager to see what developer Nagai Industries does with it.
And as you can see from the trailer above, InKONBINI will launch for multiple platforms, not just Steam.