FAR: Changing Tides, the follow-up/sister title from the small team at Okomotive, is another one of those titles that I found deep resonance with. It seems, somehow, that the Zurich-based indie studio managed to bottle lightning twice. Games are art. Art is inherently political. The FAR games stare right into environmental disaster, and then through that lens tell tales of survival, endurance, and the relationships we have with our machines.

The goal of any game, table top, digital, or otherwise, is to catch your eye. Walking the floor of Pixel Pop 2017 there was one game in particular that shouted "Come look at this!" Anthromancer is the creation of the multitalented folks at Dancakes. Yes, that is correct. Pancake artists by day, the people at Dancakes are also hard at work on a board game that is damn beautiful.

Bloodroots positively oozes style.From the music to the art direction, from the level layouts to the animations. Vibe Avenue’s score also absolutely rips and quickly found its way into my music library. Bloodroots is a devilishly smart, chaotically creative jaunt through fields of blood and mayhem well deserving of your twenty dollars.

NerdyBits EIC Caleb Sawyer got a chance to talk with some of the devs responsible for Coffee Talk. Join them as they talk about their inspirations, motivations, and of course their favorite drinks to order at a coffee shop.

Coffee Talk is a charming little narrative sim from the folks at Toge Productions, an indie studio based in Indonesia. Coffee Talk feels like it was made by people who love coffee, tea, and coffee shops. The aesthetic is executed extremely well. Even the soundtrack feels like a Chilled Cow playlist. After playing for a few hours, I couldn’t help but make myself a latte, grab a notebook and a cigarette, and listen to the rain.

Creature in the Well is the distillation of a dungeon crawler, and pinball. As if there were more disparate things in the gaming world. Despite having the urge to say something like, “you can count the number of games like this on one hand,” I am fully aware there aren’t any games like this title by Flight School Studio.

Playing Outer Wilds prompted a mental reaction I have never had before. Somewhere in the space between planets, as I sought out the clues to solve this rapidly decaying universe, I found the answer to a question I never asked. All the time I spent with this game was fraught with tension and trepidation until I knew what I was meant to do; A lesson with surprising connections to one’s journey through life.

When I was a kid, in fact, when most of us were kids, our options for games to play were limited. I still remember planning out what game or two I would have for summer break. There is so much out there to play, so many things to discover, you should never feel like you have to like something. Someone out there is making your favorite game. Maybe it’s already out!

Mechanically easy to pick up, hard to put down, a brilliant and evocative score, and entrancing art elevate Far: Lone Sails into the poetic. A contemplative and somber yet unwaveringly charming journey It hooked me immediately. Despite having beaten it twice, I keep finding myself coming back for a little more every couple of days.

Thief of Thieves released on Xbox Game Pass this week by publisher Skybound Entertainment and developer Rival games. The Point-and-Click, adventure style game shares a likeness to former Telltale titles like The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us (the former, also a Skybound property). Based on a comic series penned by Robert Kirkman (Creator of The Walking Dead), Thief of Thieves puts you in control of Celia, a punk styled spy protogé of master thief Redmond. Volume One, available now, is an interesting starter for the series but is a bit limited by its length.

Zap Blastum is fun. That is the first thing I thought as I tapped away at the screen, strategically placing myself against cover to take potshots at less guarded foes. An isometric perspective cover-based shooter, the game uses touch controls, a feature that will make the game a blast on mobile devices and tablets. It is easy enough to pick up. Touch the spot you want to run, touch the enemy you want to shoot. The complexity comes in the form of enemy types and cover angles.

With the current political climate as it is, it only makes sense that it impacts as many levels of media as possible. Benjamin Poynter's (@BenjaminPoynter) Marshall's Theory, puts players in control of the President of the United States during one of his nightmares. A strange mix of hilarity and morbidity, "Marshall's Theory [is] a game with a central theme of paranoia."

In the last year, several games have tried to revisit the aesthetic, both in appearance and difficulty, of retro Zelda. Perhaps the most notable to do this was last year's Hyper Light Drifter. A title by a small team that knocked the socks of of nostalgic gamers and newcomers alike. Next in that same lineup comes Lucah, a gritty game about a boy's journey through a world of nightmares on the way to self-discovery.

Amid the overwhelming lineup of indie videogames at Pixel Pop 2017 was an impressive crowd of tabletop games on display. One of those games was @STLGatewayGames Defend Neo Tokyo. I spoke with creators Jamie Toon and Jason Mayer about their ambitious board game at length and I can tell you this much, they have my money.

I have been to three of four Pixel Pop Festival's, each in a different capacity. This year, as a journalist, I hoped to hone in on the theme in the bones of this year's indie showcasing festival. Within hours it was clear what Pixel Pop was trying to say. Games are made by humans. Normal people like you and me. Their successes and sacrifices were given a spotlight here, illustrating one message clear as day: Behind the games you love are people who have dedicated themselves to creating what they love.