Now that we have entered 2020, its time once again to highlight some of the most exciting games we have to look forward to coming later this year. Last year, I covered over 100 indie and middleware games spread out across ten articles, and this year will be no different.
While some of the games on these lists will be moderately high profile, I’m hoping to bring attention to a lot of the more obscure games that might not be on your radar yet.
Sadly, there’s simply so many games coming out that we can’t cover them all, so this will by no means be a comprehensive list of 2020’s upcoming titles. So don’t be afraid to tell us in the comments what you’re looking forward to!
First up in the series are adventure games, a nebulous genre title that will include everything from point and clicks, to stealth games, to anything with a heavy emphasis on puzzles and exploration. Regardless of what part of the adventure game spectrum you enjoy, hopefully you’ll discover a few games to get excited about in this list.
Here is a list of 18 adventure games to keep on your wishlist in 2020:
Ary and the Secret of Seasons
Publisher: Modus Games
Developers: eXiin, Fishing Cactus
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is a 3D action-adventure game where you play as Aryelle, a young girl with the power to manipulate the seasons. Ary will have to use her newfound abilities to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and travel across the mystical land of Valdi to break a mysterious curse.
Ary and the Secret of Seasons is targeting a Q1 2020 release.
El Hijo
Publisher: HandyGames
Developer: Honig Studios
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
El Hijo is a top-down stealth game set in a spaghetti western world where you play as a young boy trying to find his mother and escape a monastery. As a tiny six-year-old child, your combat options are completely nonexistent. Meaning you will need to rely entirely on your wits, mobility, and nonlethal gadgets to distract your foes.
El Hijo doesn’t currently have a release date.
Bloodroots
Developer: Paper Cult
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Bloodroots, a fast-paced, combo-driven brawler in a Weird West setting. You play a Mr. Wolf, a savage warrior determined to fight his way through hordes of hired goons to get revenge on the person who betrayed him. The game’s action focuses on improvisation, and each level is littered with mundane objects waiting to be converted into deadly weapons.
Bloodroots is targeting a Q1 2020 release.
Tunic
Publisher: Finji
Developer: Andrew Shouldice
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Xbox One
Tunic was in one of my articles last year, but sadly missed its 2019 release estimate. This adorable Zelda-like has you playing as a small fox in a gigantic and colorful world full of ruins to explore, puzzles to solve, and ancient evil to vanquish.
Tunic doesn’t currently have a release date.
The Last Campfire
Developer: Hello Games
Platforms: Windows PC, unspecified consoles
Speaking of cute and colorful adventure games, hopefully we’ll be seeing Hello Games’ The Last Campfire sometime this year. While the developer may have bitten off more than they could chew with No Man’s Sky, The Last Campfire is a more traditional puzzle-driven adventure game closer in scope and ambition to their previous titles.
The Last Campfire doesn’t currently have a release date.
Smalland
Developer: Merge Games
Platform: Windows PC
Smalland is a third-person open-world adventure game where you play as a boy that has been shrunk to the size of a pebble. The game features some survival and crafting elements as you try to learn how to navigate a world where even a mouse is now a towering monster.
Smalland doesn’t currently have a release date.
The Pathless
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Developer: Giant Squid
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4
The Pathless is the next game from the developers of 2016’s underwater adventure, ABZÛ. Become the mysterious Hunter, and embark on a quest to dispel the dark curse gripping your island homeland. Use your trusty bow and loyal eagle companion to battle enemies and solve puzzles.
The Pathless doesn’t currently have a release date.
Cloudpunk
Publisher: Maple Whispering Limited
Developer: ION LANDs
Platform: Windows PC
Cloudpunk is a story-driven adventure game where you play as Rania, a driver for a semi-legal delivery company in the dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Nivalis. Meet a quirky cast of characters and accidentally uncover a global conspiracy or two while moving people and cargo around the city.
Cloudpunk is targeting an “early 2020” release window.
N1RV Ann-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
Publisher: Ysbryd Games, AGM PLAYISM
Developer: Sukeban Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Speaking of cyberpunk adventures, N1RV Anna-A is set to release sometime this year. The highly anticipated sequel to VA-11 Hall-A, players will once again serve cocktails to an assorted cast of androids, waifus, and android waifus in a cyberpunk dystopia. This time around the game will follow the lives of Sam and Leon, two inhabitants of an artificial island in the Caribbean named Saint Alicia.
N1RV Anna-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action doesn’t currently have a release date.
Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story
Publisher: Top Hat Studios
Developer: Suzaku
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita
Rounding out our trio of cyberpunk adventures is Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story. This 2.5D adventure game changes things up by blending a cyberpunk world with traditional Cantonese folklore, creating a horror game where paranormal beings are manifesting in the city via technological glitches. Explore Neo Hong Kong as Mei Lin Mak, a young woman trying to break a family curse by uncovering the origins of the ghostly glitches.
Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is set to release sometime in Q1 2020.
Coffee Talk
Developer: Toge Productions
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One
Coffee Talk is effectively VA-11 Hall-A, but with coffee instead of booze and succubus waifus instead of sexbot waifus. Serve coffee and chat with regular customers in an urban fantasy version of Seattle where orcs, elves, mermaids, and many other traditional fantasy races live alongside humans.
Coffee Talk is hoping to release in January 2020.
Necrobarista
Publisher: Coconut Island Games, AGM Playism
Developer: Route 59
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
Necrobarista is another supernatural coffee shop adventure coming out in 2020. This visual novel-inspired adventure game is set in a magical Melbourne coffee shop where the dead are given one last chance to interact with the living and hipster coffee connoisseurs debate the ethics of necromancy.
Necrobarista doesn’t currently have a release date.
SKYHILL: Black Mist
Publisher: Klabater
Developer: Mandragora
Platforms: Windows PC, Mac
SKYHILL: Black Mist is a spin-off to Mandragora’s SKYHILL from 2015. In this top-down action game, you play as an employee for Skyhill Inc., a shady biotech corporation that runs the city from behind the scenes. Suddenly, you awaken to find the Skyhill condominium overrun with mysterious mist-like creatures and deranged cultists. Scavenge for supplies and use whatever means necessary to find your family and escape.
SKYHILL: Black Mist doesn’t currently have a release date.
Lightmatter
Publisher: Aspyr
Developer: Tunnel Vision Games
Platform: Windows PC
Lightmatter is a first-person puzzle game set in a high-tech facility following a disastrous scientific experiment. Shadows are now deadly to anyone who comes in contact with them. Trapped inside the facility, you’ll need to solve a variety of puzzles based around manipulating light to escape.
Lightmatter will be releasing on January 15th.
Dead Static Drive
Developer: Fanclub
Platforms: Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Speaking of games about killer shadows, Dead Static Drive will have players traveling across the country to escape mysterious eldritch beings erupting from the ground. Sneak around, hunker down, or just drive as fast as you can in supped up muscle cars to ensure your own survival in a world that is crumbling around you.
Dead Static Drive doesn’t currently have a release date.
Beyond a Steel Sky
Developer: Revolution Software
Platforms: Windows PC, Linux, unspecified consoles
Beyond a Steel Sky is the sequel to the cult classic adventure game Beneath a Steel Sky from 1994. You play as Robert Foster on his mission to rescue a kidnapped child. Explore the sprawling Union City, one of the last mega-cities left on a devastated world, in this sandbox adventure game full of puzzles and branching quests.
Beyond a Steel Sky doesn’t currently have a release date.
Raji: An Ancient Epic
Publisher: SUPER.COM
Developer: Nodding Heads Games
Platforms: Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Raji: An Ancient Epic is a top-down action-adventure game inspired by Indian mythology. You play as Raji, a young girl that has been gifted incredible powers and weapons by the gods in order to stop an invasion by a race of cruel demonic beings that have been abducting children, including your younger brother.
Raji: An Ancient Epic doesn’t currently have a release date.
Beautiful Desolation
Developer: THE BROTHERHOOD
Platform: Windows PC
Finally, we come to Beautiful Desolation, the next game by the developers of 2015’s cult hit adventure game, STASIS. Like THE BROTHERHOOD’s previous titles, Beautiful Desolation is a traditional 2D point and click adventure with some gorgeously rendered environments. Explore a desolate post-apocalyptic world that blends African-inspired landscapes and aesthetics with ’80s-style retro-futuristic technology.
Beautiful Desolation is targeting an early 2020 release window.
That’s all for our first article about indie and AA games to keep an eye out for in 2020. Next time, we’ll be taking a look at some of the strategy games coming this year. Until then, which of these games are you interested in? What other games are you excited about in 2020? Sound off in the comments below!
