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AI horror, a dinosaur platformer and other new indie games worth checking out

Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. Even though it's a truncated week in the US with the long holiday weekend, there's still been a spate of new releases and news on upcoming games. There'll be plenty more over the next couple of weeks too, with The Game Awards, Day of the Devs and several other showcases in the pipeline. In the spirit of the season, one thing I'm thankful for is indie studios being able to make the games they want despite external pressures. We've seen both extremes of that in recent months. This week, the team at Santa Ragione said it respects players enough to release its latest game, Horses, as intended. However, Valve has blocked the horror title from Steam in what seems to be quite a messy case. As a result of not being able to sell Horses on the biggest PC games storefront, Santa Ragione said it's at risk of closure.On the other end of the scale, Team Cherry was able to take all the time in the world to make Hollow Knight: Silksong because of the success of its previous game, which has sold more than 15 million copies. Although Hollow Knight fans spent years clamoring for updates on Silksong, the small team had the financial freedom to spend as long as it wanted crafting and polishing the sequel. The devs were able to just keep their heads down and do that until Team Cherry announced a release date just two weeks in advance.Those are two very different stories. Still, they both resulted in fully realized games based on seemingly uncompromised visions. New releasesA.I.L.A — from Pulsatrix Studios and publisher Fireshine Games — has a decent-enough concept. It's a first-person horror title in which you take on the role of a VR game tester. The games that the protagonist plays are crafted by an AI (which, by itself, is a horrifying prospect) and adjusted based on your feedback. In a stunning development, the AI begins to tap into your character's deepest fears and blur the virtual and real worlds. It sounds like a blurb for an airport novel, but it's a solid-enough foundation on which to base a game.The structure of A.I.L.A allows for Pulsatrix to craft a few distinct experiences in various horror subgenres within a larger game. You'll encounter a cult, zombies, aliens, creepy mannequins, puzzles and more as you play through chapters rooted in the likes of psychological horror and survival horror. There are a lot of ideas packaged together here. I’ve played a chunk A.I.L.A and it’s okay so far, even if it does feel a bit like a tribute band playing the hits of yesteryear. A.I.L.A is out now on Steam (usually $30, but there's a 20 percent discount until December 9), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.If you can't get enough of fairly lengthy open-world action RPGs, Of Ash And Steel might be one for you to sink your teeth into. Fire & Frost and publisher tinyBuild claim there's over 45 hours worth of main story material to dig into here. One interesting thing about Of Ash And Steel is that there are no quest markers. Exploration is a major factor and you can mark locations on your map. Otherwise, you'll need to pay attention to things like what other characters are saying to figure out where to go. Also, the trailer's final shot shows a pair of titans that seem ready to battle, and that has me intrigued too.Of Ash And Steel typically costs $30. There's a 20 percent discount until December 8 on Steam and GOG.Young Suns is the latest project from Ko_Op (Goodbye Volcano High). When the team announced the game this week, it immediately became available on all Game Pass tiers as a game preview on Xbox Series X/S, PC and Xbox Cloud. If you'd prefer to buy it outright, you can also do that for $20. This is (appropriately enough) a co-op life sim for up to four players. The team readily admits that Young Suns is still in development and that means some features and quest content aren't available in the current version of the game. However, as game director Graeme Lennon wrote in an Xbox Wire post, "The game is playable and fun for its intended pattern of play: checking in for an hour or two daily, slowly building up your perfect ship-home and making new friends."The game is set on Jupiter and you can explore space stations, planetoids and ruins. You can collect resources and other items to help upgrade your ship/home. There are 30 characters (more are on the way), and most have "over two months of unique daily chat content." Young Suns is also coming to Steam down the line.Dinopunk: The Cacops Adventure is the first of two dinosaur games in this week's roundup. This one is an adorable-looking retro platformer from The Dude Games and publisher Meridiem. It's said to pay tribute to classic games like Wonder Boy, Alex Kidd and Contra. As an amphibian dinosaur, you can collect special items to upgrade your attacks. There are arcade-style minigames as well. My favorite thing from the trailer, though, is a boss called Gatling Saurus. Love it. Dinopunk: The Cacops Adventure is out now on Steam. It usually costs $8, but there's a 10 percent discount until December 1.Upcoming Ferocious is a very different kind of dinosaur game. This one is a first-person shooter from OMYOG and tinyBuild in which you have a device that allows you to communicate with and control dinos. Sending a rampaging triceratops into combat or riding on the back of one looks pretty fun. You can even take charge of a T. rex.The gist is that an evil corporation is out to change the world in its favor with the help of these prehistoric reptiles, and it's up to you to stop this cabal. Ferocious will hit Steam on December 4 for $25.Engadget's UK bureau chief Mat Smith got to try out There Are No Ghosts at the Grand back at Gamescom, and now you can check it out too. Friday Sundae has released a demo for the odd-looking "spooky, cozy musical mystery" on Steam.After you inherit a rundown hotel, you have 30 days to fix it up using talking power tools (such as a furniture cannon)... or else. At night, you'll have to fend off ghosts. Maybe the title of this game is a bit of a misdirect! There Are No Ghosts at the Grand seems a bit strange, but I'm on board with it. It’s coming to PC and Xbox Series X/S next year and it will be a day-one addition to Game Pass. It will hit other platforms later.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/ai-horror-a-dinosaur-platformer-and-other-new-indie-games-worth-checking-out-180000059.html?src=rss