5 Smaller Games that Deserve a Spot on Your Wish List
From tactical Metal Slug to an expanded playable Atari documentary.
We’re officially in the beginning of August, which means that we are at the very start of the fall video game release season — the most wonderful time of the year. Later this month we have Star Wars Outlaws, early next month we have Warhammer 40,0000: Space Marine 2, in October Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is dropping, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are a ton of games and expansions to look forward to, with more launching each week. I’ll be sharing some of the larger games that I’m excited about next week, but I’ve also got my eye on plenty of smaller titles, too.
In fact, it’s been a quieter year for first-party activity on PlayStation and Xbox, which means that the AA and indie-level gaming scene has really been popping with some fantastic experiences that are worth your time. These five upcoming games are largely flying under the radar, but they’re all fantastic concepts that are absolutely worth adding to your wish list — and in the case of one, for me, specifically worth watching other people play on Twitch.
Metal Slug Tactics
Let’s start things off with Metal Slug Tactics. This is a game that I’ve been following for years since it was announced at a Nintendo Direct in 2021. It’s a blend of Into the Breach, with turn-based combat on this stylized grid of a landscape, and the classic look and feel of the iconic Metal Slug side-scrolling shooter series. Metal Slug is a game that’s really nostalgic for me. Every year when my family would go on a fall camping trip to the mountains, and there was a little arcade above the laundromat that had an older Metal Slug machine. I spent hours upon hours popping quarters in and falling in love with its pixel art style, and those quick vacation experiences instantly made Metal Slug one of my favorite arcade games of all time.
Into the Breach is also a game that I love the look of. It’s a super accessible tactics game that’s easy to pick up and play, and also has that old-school pixelized look and feel that meshes well with the art style of Metal Slug. Ironically, the developers of Into the Breach are not the developers making Metal Slug Tactics. Leikir Studio is actually leading the project, with support from Bandai Namco. This team has an eclectic list of past projects, ranging from bullet hell platformer mashups to city builders. Even without a beefy catalog of relevant past projects, the gameplay snippets we’ve seen for Metal Slug Tactics speak for themselves. This game looks fantastic, especially for people that are playing on handhelds like the Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck and are on the hunt for a cozy tactical couch game.
DEATHSPRINT 66
Next up, we have DEATHSPRINT 66 from Sumo Digital. This team reached out and asked if I wanted to go hands-on with an early build of the game through a remote play session, and you know that I had to take them up on the offer. DEATHSPRINT 66 is basically cyberpunk Mario Kart where eight players go head-to-head in super-fast on-foot races through techy neon cities.
The coolest thing about this game is the lore. In 2066, the world has been dealing with war, famine, and climate change — but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need entertainment! The Bachman Media Network is there to make it happen with a new high-stakes game show where Clone Jockeys are put on tracks that are riddled with death traps so the fans at home can either watch people race and win or get roasted sprinting through an electrified wall. It’s a win/win for the audience either way. As a Clone Jockey, the Bachman Media Network has endless waves of clones they’ll keep dropping into the race to keep the action going no matter what kind of misfortune might happen. I played an hour or two during my remote playtest, and it’s shaping up to be a great time so far. The game is only coming to PC at launch, but Sumo Digital is open to exploring other platforms in the future once they get out of the initial launch window. If you want to check out more of my first impressions, I’ve got a full video up on the channel breaking down my time with the game and sharing extra hands-on gameplay.
Parcel Corps
Now we have Parcel Corps; the Paperboy, Trials Fusion, and Mat Hoffman’s Pro BMX combination that I never knew I needed. This game puts you in the shoes of a freelance bicycle delivery guy in the city of New Island where three mega corporations are going head-to-head to be the top delivery company in town. You’ll pick a company and start running missions, but a gas company headed up by a man named Rich Villainé is threatening the bicycle courier lifestyle and it’s up to you to save the world.
The story is set to be packed with satire commenting on the gig economy, influencers, big tech, and more of the things that we see in our lives every day. It’s the gameplay that really shines; you’ve got rooftop hopping, rail grinding, half-pipe riding, and sliding. It seems like there will be plenty of gameplay variety, and the time crunch element of being a delivery person is probably going to make this one a great pickup for speed runners.
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration Expanded Edition
One of my favorite projects from 2022 is back for another round! Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration launched in November 2022 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the most influential gaming companies of all time. Without Atari, the gaming industry as we know it wouldn’t exist today.
If you’ve been following my work for a while, you’ll know that I am all about gaming history and the preservation of not only the games that have gotten us to where we are today but the stories of how those projects came together to begin with. Atari 50 brings together more than 100 playable classic Atari games that span from the Atari 800 all the way to the Atari Lynx, along with six entirely new takes on some of the iconic classics. For historians, the real appeal of this bundle is that every era of Atari can be explored through interactive timelines that have old ads, pictures, and interviews with some of the people that made this era of gaming happen.
The base game may have launched in 2022, but Digital Eclipse is coming back to Atari 50 with the Expanded Edition that includes 39 new playable games and two new timelines. The Wider World of Atari explores a deeper look at the company’s impact on the wider development space, and The First Console War tells the story of the Atari 2600 going head-to-head with Intellivision. The further we get from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, the more important it is to preserve these games and their stories. Atari might not be the dominant powerhouse of the gaming industry that they were back in the day, but they’re still putting out some fantastic new games that keep those classics alive with modern twists while partnering with companies like Digital Eclipse to keep the company’s origin story alive and well — and playable!
Baby Steps
Finally, we have a game that some people may want to play and that many would rather watch. I think I fall into the Twitch stream viewer group on this one, but it’s hard to deny that Baby Steps is one of the funniest (and strangest) looking games of the year. In Baby Steps, you play as Nate — an unemployed dude in his 30s living in his mom’s basement. He’s burned out with nothing going for him, until he starts putting one foot in front of the other and getting life going.
Players with a keen eye may be able to tell from the gameplay and the art style that this is coming, in part, from the mind of Bennett Foddy — the developer of the infamous indie Getting Over It. The ultimate goal here is to literally walk and move forward in life. Through forests, over mountains, along walls — whatever it takes to find meaning in life. As with all “Foddian” games, the simple controls mean nothing — you’ll trip, stumble, and fall down mountains, but you can guarantee that there is going to be some hilarious — and potentially scarily relatable — humor along the way.
There you have it, five smaller games that I think you should have on your radar for the rest of 2024. While 2023 is a lighter year for first-party releases in the console space, there are plenty of third-party games both large and small that are bringing new experiences for players around the world to enjoy in the months ahead. I’d love to know what smaller indie or AA-level games you have on your own personal wish list in the comments section down below. Happy gaming!
