Welcome to first edition of This Week in Indie Games, a weekly article that I hope will help inform your indie purchases over the next seven days by serving up some of my favourites from the coming week. It’s been a busy month so far for indie games, and that trend is set to continue for the foreseeable future.

This week we’ve got party games, librarian simulators, and a spiritual successor to a cult classic from the early 2000s, so without further ado, let’s dive right into things!

Moving Out 2 (August 15th)

We start this week with the sequel to acclaimed house moving party game Moving Out. The original launched in 2020, catching the start of a certain global event that saw a lot of us trapped inside for a fair chunk of time, and I have fond memories of putting plenty of hours into it with friends and family as we kept looking for new ways to stave off the boredom. The sequel is sure to offer up the same combination of frantic gameplay and moments that border the line between hilarity/rage-inducing, which is pretty much the staple of these ‘Overcooked-esque’ games.

The sequel offers even wackier level design, allowing more creative methods of earning your moving-person credentials, and if the trailers are anything to go by, the same slapstick humour continues to deliver laugh out loud moments at a canter. It remains to be seen if this sequel will manage to swerve the ‘DLC’ accusations, but I can’t wait to dive into Moving Out 2 and brush up on my furniture carrying skills in this beloved universe.

Prepare to move out on August 15th, when Moving Out 2 arrives on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC. PS+ subscribers will be enjoy it day 1 on the service too, a great incentive to try out this indie darling!

En Garde! (16th August)

En Garde! was one of my favourite demos from Steam Next Fest, and the ‘swashbuckling action game’ is parrying, jumping and swishing its way onto Steam this week. En Garde! possesses what narrative designer and artist Julien Fenoglio describes as an “overall anti-authoritarian vibe” – its fencing is fun, flamboyant and a touch fabulous.” [Guardian]

Slapstick combat is the name of the game here, and a delightfully colourful setting leaves little doubt that En Garde! is aiming to be a fun romp through a post-medieval(?) Europe. Success will come if En Garde! manages to nail its combat system, but early signs look great if the demo is anything to go by… I’m super excited to try out En Garde! and I’m hoping to write some more extensive thoughts on this one once I have had chance to experience everything it has to offer.

En Garde! arrives on Steam on August 16th.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (August 16)

It’s not every day you get the chance to fill the boots of a fortune telling witch who his exiled to an asteroid in deep space, but that’s precisely what The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood will be bringing to the table this week. The games standout feature is the ability to craft your own tarot cards from an expansive range of design options, and these very cards will be used to determine the fate of the diverse cast of characters you’ll encounter across a story that spans decades.

Deconstructeam have strong pedigree with previous release The Red Strings Club launching to mass acclaim in 2018, and their focus on thought-provoking, narrative driven gameplay looks set to continue here. With a plot that will determine the fate of the entire Cosmic Witch society, the stakes could not be higher. Here’s hoping that the luck of the draw will be in your favour then…

Gord (August 17th)

A change of pace from what has been a rather whimsical list so far, Gord is a rather brutal settlement-builder that takes place in a world inspired by the darkest of fantasy settings. Manage peasants, ensure they survive against increasingly impossible odds and do your best to flourish in a hostile world determined to take you down at every turn.

Establishing your settlement will quickly devolve into a balancing act, especially with a sanity system that can see a range of factors including illness, hunger or the death of other villagers, cause your subjects to suffer breakdowns, or even flee your camp. When you’re not busy building, you’ll likely be engaging with Gord’s extensive quest system, requiring your subjects to leave the safety[?] of the settlement and wander into the dangerous wilderness.

You can also sacrifice children to appease the otherworldly Gods, that’s a selling point right there surely! Gord will launch on PC, Xbox Series and PlayStation 5 on August 17th.

Book of Hours (August 17)

This week’s final pick is Book of Hours, a combat-free RPG that tasks you with rebuilding the library of Hush House after its entire collection was ruined in a mysterious fire. Customise your new home, organise the flourishing collection of books, and unravel the mysteries surrounding the occult stones found within the house. Your life may be one of solitude, but your actions can determine history, so tread with care…

Book of Hours looks absolutely delightful, and is a classic example of indie developers pushing the envelope and trying something a little bit different. It looks like the perfect game to settle down with after a busy day, take a breath, and uncover the truths in Book of Hours on August 17th when it launches exclusively on Steam.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (August 18)

Reptile Studios’ Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is not afraid to wear its Jet Set Radio inspiration on its sleeve, so get ready to skate, run, or even dance your way through New Amsterdam, taking on rival graffiti gangs in the process. Turning up the bizarre-factor, you’ll take control of Red, a graffiti artist who has a groovy looking cyberhead as he endeavours to become turn the ‘Bomb Rush Crew’ into the best graffiti gang in the city!

When you’re not pulling off cool tricks on your skateboard, BMX or rollerblades, you’ll be recruiting new members to the crew, and dodging the ever-increasing presence of police forces around the city who are desperate to end your graffiti spree. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk looks like a real good time, and as one of my most hyped indies of the year, Friday can’t come soon enough.

If you need me, I’ll be grinding rails in New Amsterdam…

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And that’s our lot for this week! To anyone reading this, thank you so much for supporting the first edition of This Week in Indie Games! I hope my passion for the indie scene will reflect in all my work on Tom’s World, but the indie enclave is my special place to highlight all of the great games being made by small development teams, and I am excited to see where this journey will take me… For more indie content, why not check out my review of the brilliant Tunic?

If you have any suggestions for new features, or improvements, don’t hesitate to let me know either within the comments below or by contacting me on Twitter. Until next time..!