Independent and Incomparable – Indie Gems from the Indie Playground
This year marks the first time that DreamHack has come to the UK, and what a turnout! The massive success of the convention has them already planning for DreamHack 2027. Unfortunately, there were so many exhibitors at DreamHack that it would be impossible to recap everything. Instead, I’d like to highlight some of the smaller creators that participated – introducing the Indie Playground. The Indie Playground is an area reserved for, as the box says, independently developed video games. Indie games have seen growth in popularity in recent years. Usually limited by budget, indie developers have to stand out through innovation, diversity, and style. Big titles often dazzle players with high-end graphics and iconic names, but they can lack heart. Especially with more people taking an anti-consumerism, anti-capitalist stance on gaming, there is a huge appeal in supporting small developers. With that, let’s get on with the Indie Playground Highlights.
Sponge Hammer Games
With no planned release date, Sponge Hammer Games joined the Indie Playground with a demo of The Drifting Crown. Sponge Hammer Games is an independent studio based in Warwick, England. The Drifting Crown will be their first venture into gaming, a complete contrast to their previous mobile game Flatstone Grove (an educational app aimed at pre-school children). Currently in early Alpha, The Drifting Crown is a roguelike action-adventure game with a Victorian steampunk aesthetic. The goal of the game is quintessentially British – to save the last remaining pub. You will also re-build the world and destroy enemies, but the pub is far more important. “Save the pub. Save the world.” Our test play of the game showed a stylistically strong game with smooth gameplay mechanisms, I look forward to it’s release!
Character Limit
My fellow neurodivergents and grammar nerds, I introduce to you a hyperfixation. Hotel Outlaw exhibited at DreamHack 2026 with a demo of their upcoming (and first!) game Character Limit. Based in Swansea, Wales, Hotel Outlaw is an ambitious team, already developing their second game Dream Guardians. Character Limit is a “no mercy” word game that combines puzzle with arcade. In this sadistic version of Scrabble, you have twelve spaces, a timer, and a never-ending stream of tiles dropping into the slots. Typing is the only way to clear the board, so it’s a test of reflex and quick-thinking. This game has me gripping to the seat as the countdown taunted me and my brain lagged. As the developer says, “it’s simple… until it’s not.”
Brightwyn Games
Brightwyn Games joined the Indie Playground with a demo of their upcoming game, Chronicles Reborn. Chronicles Reborn is an open-world survival adventure set in a fantastical world of magic and lost knowledge. Gameplay was smooth and had interesting mechanics for exploration in the demo. The style has similarities with other open-world games such as Palia or Palworld, and some may falsely discount it as a ‘knock-off’ as a result. However, the lore and world-building is unique and there is a wide array game mechanisms allowing players to focus on agriculture, hunting, combat, and more. What really makes Chronicles Reborn stand out is the passion behind it. The attending exhibitor is a near one-woman show, having developed the game largely herself with support from friends and family where a skill exchange was available. She was an absolute delight to engage with and I look forward to seeing the fruits of her labour. I was even given a sample card that would work as an in-game collectible once scanned – how cool! Brightwyn Games has no official website, however you can follow their Discord channel for updates on the game.
D’Avekki Studios Ltd
Slightly more prolific than our previous exhibitors is D’Avekki Studios Ltd. They presented us with a demo of their upcoming sequal The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker 2 (henceforth referred to as TIMDD2). TIMDD2 is a full-motion video game where you play as a psychiatrist, quested with solving a double murder. Answers lie in your new patients, transferred following the recent death of Doctor Dekker. Can you catch the killer or will you become a victim. This game is such an intrigueing premise, a murder-mystery with a Lovecraftian inspiration, it has the potential to be a stunning game. D’Avekki Studios also claims to be anti-generative AI, another great reason to check them out. The TIMDD2 demo is on Steam for free, or you can buy the prequel for £6.99. I would expect bundle deals to be available once TIMDD2 is fully released.
Galatico Studios
It’s time for a break from the whimsical and artsy. Galatico Studios delivers just that with a boisterous retro shooter game chockful of action and EDM. In Galatico, you play as a bounty hunter fighting to destroy the titular mega-corporation. Why destroy Galatico? Because, like most mega-corps, they are evil gatekeepers of important technology. In this case, the universe’s primary mode of transportation, the portal. Enemies spawn in waves, ripe for the shooting, and weapons are plenty. This is not a game of missions, this is simple violence and a whole lot of fun. The demo for Galatico is available on Steam, or you can buy the game in Early Access for £4.29.
Secret Mode
Finishing up with the most profilic on the list, we have publisher Secret Mode. Secret Mode is based in Leamington Spa, England, and is a multiple Indie Publisher of the Year award winner. Their known games include Star Wars: Galactic Racer™, A Little to the Left, and Escape the Backrooms. The latest indie development they were showcasing at DreamHack 2026 is the artistically named Everything is Crab. Everything is Crab was developed by Odd Dreams Digital and is planned for release on the 8th May 2026, though the demo is available on Steam for free. The crustacean-named game is an animal evolution roguelite, which the publisher described as “Spore meets modern roguelites.” In the game, you must make evolutionary choices to create a unique creature in each run. It’s all a battle to beat carcinisation – a form of convergent evolution where non-crab crustaceans eventually evolve into crab-like creatures (an actual scientific phenomenon!!).
Other Exhibitors
Sadly, I cannot dive into every single exhibitor at the Indie Playground, however you can check out the list of other visitors below as they all deserve an honoruable mention.
- Asobitech – D*Fuzed
- Kando Factory – Beast Breaker
- South Westerly Games – Nine Rounds Rapid
- Encircle Games – Wigged Out
- Thoughtfish GmbH – How to God
- Throughline Games – Forgotlings
- Tombobulus Games – Ink Strings
- Burning Fort Games – Vitrified
Conclusion
The Indie Playground was a brilliant experience and I recommend the developers above for anyone wanting to support small businesses and ethical consumption. The majority of these games are in Early Access or still in development yet performed well and had brilliant teams working to make them a reality. In particular, The Drifting Crown and Chronicles Reborn are on my radar, perhaps even a follow-up review on their release. Regardless, every one of these games has been added to my Steam Wishlist and I look forward to seeing more success from the indie community. Do you have any indie games that stand out in the masses of big-budget developers? Let us know below, or you can reach out to us on FaceBook, Instagram, or Twitter (X).
