Double Fine's first post-Xbox game leads indie release roundup

In Thank You Bus Driver, players drive a bus and try to earn gratitude from unruly passengers. The employer adds rules during the journey, including keeping passengers from falling asleep or clipping their toenails, and players can slap passengers or kick them off the bus while racing to the next stop before time runs out, according to Engadget.

The release came a couple of months after Double Fine departed Xbox. Engadget said the game looks like a fun way to spend a few hours and that it is eager to see what the newly independent studio develops next.

The roundup also covered Valor Mortis, a first-person Soulslike from One More Level, the studio behind Ghostrunner. Players control William, a British soldier who signed up to fight for Napoleon and is roused by a corrupted Napoleon played by Vincent Cassel after a plague transforms other survivors into grotesque enemies. The game offers supernatural powers, firearms and melee weapons; players collect catalysts from defeated enemies and spend them on upgrades at checkpoints, find build modifiers in the world and use new abilities to open paths and shortcuts in a Metroidvania-inspired structure. It costs $40 on Steam, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, is available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and a $60 deluxe edition includes an expansion set for next year. PS5 and PlayStation Portal owners can try a 1.5-hour trial on PS Plus Premium.

Ratatan, a rhythm action roguelite and spiritual successor to Patapon from series creator Hiroyuki Kotani, is also among the releases. It is priced at $35 and is coming to Steam, where it is leaving early access, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, Engadget reported.

The article also described several showcases. The Cozy After Dark Showcase featured more than 50 eerie, dark, mysterious or unsettling games with cozy elements. It showed more of Grave Seasons, a murder-mystery farming sim from Perfect Garbage; its story lasts an in-game year, and players can restart with a new killer and victims while keeping farming progress. Other featured titles included DeadRoot, with a sword-wielding snail that suplexes; Usual June, described as a third-person action-adventure about combat, cupcakes and community; and FallBearers, a co-op game about transporting bodies to their final resting places. Demos for Usual June, FallBearers and other games, plus discounts on cozy-but-scary titles, are available through a Steam event.

The Galaxies showcase included more than 50 games, among them Appulse, a pinball-based top-down shooter; Guns of Eschaton, a first-person Western Soulslike; and Spine, a gun-fu and parkour action title. It also offered updates on The Finals and Train Sim World 7, with a Steam event covering the featured games. The Mix Fall Showcase, which aired Friday, included Zozo and the Lost Dreams, a Saturday morning cartoon-inspired Metroidvania, and Nonolith, a puzzle platformer.

Editor's Summary

Double Fine's $5 Thank You Bus Driver marks its first release after leaving Xbox and the first title from Double Fine Action Labs. The week's indie showcases and releases also highlighted Soulslikes, horror-tinged farming and co-op games, rhythm action and platformers across PC and consoles.