Dr. David’s Indie Roundup: Finding Teddy, Hammerwatch, Indie Arena, and Volume

Indie Game Land is often a ridiculously exciting place. Honestly, it’s difficult to describe the realm of indie games as anything else because it’s insane just how much joy there is to be found. Case in point: Today on the Indie Roundup we’re going to focus on four stories that brought me stupidly high amounts of happiness. Here’s hoping this batch of indie news brings you a fair amount of joy as well.

Oh, we’re also going to take a look at the latest reviews right here on GameZone. So come along for the ride, and let’s talk indie games!

Finding Teddy, a dark yet adorable game about a girl and her toy, is now on Greenlight

If you watch the trailer for Finding Teddy, it’s very likely that you’ll be equal parts won over and terrified. The point-and-click adventure, developed by Storybird Games, tells of a little girl whose teddy bear is stolen by a monster late at night. Our bite-sized protagonist immediately gives chase and enters a secret realm full of wonder and danger. Finding Teddy has really charming graphics, and the premise is definitely cutesy, but the way everything plays out is actually kind of dark. I mean, in one scene the little girl gets impaled by a big spike; in another, a spider wraps her up in its web.

Previously released on mobile platforms to positive reviews, Finding Teddy is now on its way to Steam Greenlight. Check out the trailer and give it a vote if you like what you see.

Hammerwatch launches its co-op dungeon crawling madness

Grab a buddy or three and prepare to engage in some pleasant and pixelated four-player co-op dungeon crawling. Hammerwatch has officially landed on Steam, and it invites you to team up with your pals to conquer its hazard-laden environments. The game definitely has an old school look and feel, and you can bring some folks along for the retro-flavored ride. Of course, if you’d rather take on the fantasy adventure lone wolf style, you can do that, too.

Hammerwatch is available on Steam for $9.99 (launch sale price: $8.99) and its official site for $8.

Indie Arena hitting Gamescom with 10 games in a single booth

Gamescom is fast approaching, and the indie game scene will have quite the strong presence at the major trade show. Indie Arena will feature 10 games in its booth, allowing attendees to check them out and have a good time. There will be a variety of genres in that one booth alone, so it should be exciting checking out everything on hand. The list of playable games features Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians, Ethan: Meteor Hunter, Forced, GhostControl Inc., The Inner World, The Last Tinker, The Red Solstice, Sky Arena, Splatter, and Team Indie.

Volume is the next game from Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell

After having previously released the brilliant and wonderful feel-good puzzle-platformer Thomas Was Alone, developer Mike Bithell is now hard at work on his next project. Volume is a cool-looking stealth-action game that features an isometric view and plenty of intense hide-behind-things gameplay. Thomas composer David Housden is returning to create the soundtrack for Volume, which is great news considering the dude’s got major talent. More info will be revealed at GameCity, and a build of the game will be playable at Eurogamer Expo 2013.

For now, check out this trailer, which also features a brief look at the level editor in Volume.

Latest indie game reviews

Stealth Inc. is an inviting entry in an often daunting genre

Cloudberry Kingdom is a magical platformer that hates you

Gunpoint is proof that good things come in small packages

Beatbuddy is a joyous and musical underwater adventure

Papers, Please has me striving for Russian efficiency

Want to talk about indie games, Kirby, or cheap pizza? Follow me on Twitter @dr_davidsanchez.