Toronto-based indie developer Rocket Adrift announce the release of their satirical visual novel romance game Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance for PS4/PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch on December 14th, 2022.
Last year, the most embarrassing game that I played was a dating simulator on my phone called
Love Island the Romance Game, based on a sleazy British reality TV show. I enjoyed flirting with the himbos and picking out bikinis for lazy days of sunbathing. The thrills are simplistic, and the conversations are vapid. This experience might be what most players expect from dating sims, but numerous development teams have subverted expectations for the genre.
Originally released in 2011 by Japanese developer Hato Moa,
Hatoful Boyfriend is an absurdist trailblazer and avian love story in which you are the singular human student attending St. PigeoNation’s Institute, a high school for talented (and flirtatious) birds. The visual novel is surprisingly campy and saturated with wordplay. I played through this dating sim a few times to further investigate a mysterious side plot involving the menacing school doctor.
There were plenty of weird and wonderful indie games to look forward to in 2020, and I’m happy to report that there are plenty more to keep an eye out for in 2021.
Looking through these upcoming games was exciting. There are so many interesting, weird, and gorgeous games to look forward to in the new year. All of the games on this list are slated to come out in 2021, each equally ambitious in meeting its goal. We’ve got a few noir-style detective thrillers, a bit of teen angst, and a few hand-drawn delights.
Of course, these aren’t all of the amazing indies coming out in 2021 there are simply too many to list. We’ll continue our coverage of indie games to play in 2021, and I’d love for you to share games you’re looking forward to in the comments below.