Friday Follow-UP: Morsels, Crypt Custodian, The Explorator, Usual June, Arco, and Henry Halfhead
This week we wishlist Morsels, Usual June, Henry Halfhead, and Mexico 1921: A Deep Slumber, Crowdfund The Explorator, and check out the reviews and soundtracks for indie games Arco & Crypt Custodian.
Hey everyone, and welcome to your weekly recap of indie games to wishlist, the latest crowdfunding news, gaming soundtracks, and more with Friday Follow-UP!
Wishlisted XP
It was unveiled during Nintendo’s latest showcase—check out my coverage of that here. Annapurna Interactive is publishing a brilliant-looking roguelite by FURCULA, featuring a soundtrack by the legendary Sam Webster.
🎮Morsels | Steam
🗓️Release Date | February 2025
Almost every review or game I talk about I preface with me playing it during Steam Next Fest. It’s honestly an insane amount of games, demos, and trailers that come out during that time. That brings me to Mexico 1921: A Deep Slumber, a demo I played during Steam Next Fest, that was intriguing, visually fresh style, and nice gaming mechanics. I personally loved the camera gameplay mechanic. We finally have a release date! You can watch my demo playthrough here:
🎮Mexico 1921: A Deep Slumber | Steam | Demo Live Now
🗓️Release Date | September 13th, 2024
It’s interesting how social media can work sometimes. I discovered Henry Halfhead from a photo that Mathilde, the sound designer on ODDADA, posted on Twitter. At Gamescom, it looks like the stickers for both games came together perfectly for this adorable picture below.
Just from that post now I am sharing the amazing trailer for this cute, and goofy little indie title. It’s a “quirky sandbox adventure game” where you control everyday objects.
Please just watch the trailer I promise you this game is going to be fun.
🎮Henry Halfhead | Steam
🗓️Release Date | To Be Announced
Usual June is about summer break, where you hang out with friends, fight monsters, and uncover your town's darkest secrets. The animation during cutscenes and exploration features a slower frame rate, similar to what we’ve seen in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It looks like a fantastic game. The demo is out now!
🎮Usual June | Steam | Demo Live Now!
🗓️Release Date | 2025
Crowdfunding Checkpoint
The Explorator launched its Kickstarter during the Future Games Show. I watched the trailer live, opened a new tab, and immediately backed it on Kickstarter. It looks like many gamers watched the same trailer but didn’t come to the same conclusion. As of this post, the campaign is at 11% with 21 days left. This typically trends toward the campaign not being funded. It’s unfortunate when this happens, but crowdfunding success isn’t based on luck. The biggest and best campaigns funded this year prepared for months, if not years, in advance to build their community around that important launch date. For example, Outbound, whose campaign is at a whopping 530% funded with 13 days left, was all over social media with coverage leading up to the launch.
“For our part, we didn't do enough communication, we thought that the Future Game Show conference would have given some hype but we were wrong, we should have secured a fan base little by little while waiting to be sure we could launch the campaign with a good number of contributors.” - Remnant Game Studios
It’s good to learn from mistakes, and Remnant Game Studios has owned up to theirs in the latest campaign update. Being honest upfront and having 107 backers right now provides a great foundation for a second attempt. I’m rooting for them and hope to see this game funded in the future with great success. You can still wishlist it on Steam!
🎮The Explorator | Kickstarter | Steam | Demo Live Now!
Quest Vibes
This week, I’ll continue sharing music I loved in gaming. It may be obvious if you’ve scrolled down to the review section, but I’m highlighting the soundtracks for the last two games I reviewed: Arco and Crypt Custodian. Each soundtrack played a huge role in how I experienced the games, and you’ll find that evident as you listen along. For Arco, the soundtrack was crafted by José Ramón "Bibiki" García, and for Crypt Custodian, it was composed by Eric Thompson. The soundtracks, though completely different in style, brought life to their respective games and pushed the narratives forward. When reading reviews, it’s also apparent that, more often than not, soundtracks are less likely to be highlighted and are sometimes just given a one-liner. My goal with reviews and Quest Vibes is to spotlight these talented musicians and give them the recognition they deserve. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. :)
🎮🎶Arco (Original Game Soundtrack) by José Ramón "Bibiki" García | Bandcamp
🎮🎶Crypt Custodian (Original Game Soundtrack) by Eric Thompson | Spotify
Good Game Lobby Review
This week, I posted reviews for two games that are officially in my top ten of the year: Arco, a Western-inspired turn-based combat pixel game, and Crypt Custodian, a top-down Metroidvania with fun combat and exploration. Let me know what you think and what some of your favorite indie games released this year are!
Morsels looks great!