Happy New Year, Indieventurers, welcome to 2026! What's new, what's good? Well that's what we're here to tell you of course!

Last year may have been a bit of a washout for AAAs, but the indie game scene is still going strong, despite the many obstacles presented by the modern games industry and… our contemporary world in general. Happily, this year looks set to continue the indie gem trend; even though the calendar is so far looking pretty empty of firm release dates as every game developer and their mum attempts to edge away from the all-consuming spectre of GTA6, there's already plenty on the horizon for us to get excited about all the same.

Join us as we evangelise on our upcoming highlights (plus way more bonus honourable mentions than we'd planned) including, in no particular order (just kidding I'm alphabetising them like always): Beware of the Cartographer, Cairn, Denshattack!, Dosa Divas, Find Your Words, Hellmart, inKONBINI, Mandrake, Masters of Albion, The Mermaid Mask, Mixtape, Moonlight Peaks, Orbitals, Paralives, Peace Island, Penguin Colony, A Planet Full of Cats, Raccoin: Coin Pusher Roguelike, ReAnimal, Roman Sands RE:Build, Servant of the Lake, Starsand Island, and – maybe the best-named game ever – Virtue and a Sledgehammer.

Our first hyperfixations of the year are here too, and you may not be surprised to learn that over the Christmas break Rachel has been enjoying the latest series of The Traitors, while Liam has been equally diverted by the surprisingly excellent Scooby-Doo licensed DLC for House Flipper 2. Rebecca, meanwhile, thinks that 2026 may have peaked already as far as AAA gaming goes with the release of Heartopia – an Animal Crossing inspired "slow life sim" that somehow also encompasses all of the other trends she's associated with (a mobile live-service game possessed of the world's most useless and forgettable gacha).

Also, if you ever read a novel called The Mouse Butcher, can you please let Rebecca know? It'd be a great opportunity to head on over to our Discord if you haven't already, just saying.

Our music was written and performed by Ollie Newbury! Find him on Instagram at @newbsmusic. Meanwhile, you can find us at indieventurepodcast.co.uk or wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget that you can now join our dedicated Discord too, and be sure to check out our new Steam Curator page if you simply still can't get enough of us!