Welcome to The Indie Game Cafe!
I enjoy finding hidden gems and sharing them with everyone who wants to listen 🙂
Grab a beverage, a controller, and stay a bit!
The Indie Game Cafe is my way of celebrating indie games, from reviews and features to other projects.
Every bit of support helps keep this passion project of mine going. Thanks for being here and supporting in whatever way feels right for you.
Are you game dev? I love hearing what you’re working on. Feel free to shoot a line to theindiegamecafe@gmail.com!
How do I decide what to cover? I research the game, see if it’s a genre or has mechanics I mesh with. If there’s a Gen AI disclaimer, it’s probably a no from me. As a writer, I’m just not a fan. Finally, I will check out how a dev/dev team treats their community.
I want to help people find great indies, and I want great indies to find their people (if that makes sense).
Hello there!
I’m Amanda! I drink too much coffee, love a good mystery, and my Steam wishlist is WAAAY too long. Let’s find you your next favorite game.
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Five Standouts From the Wholesome Games Celebration So Far
Happy Wholesome Games Celebration kickoff day! Thanks to the team at Wholesome Games, I’ve had my hands on a selection of titles featured during the event, so I’m using this space today to share a few of the especially tasty bites I’ve come across. To begin, a small story. Inside me, there are two wolves. …
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One Loop Sold Me on Curse of Resthaven | Demo Impressions
When Hilltop Studios announced Curse of Resthaven, I had two thoughts. One was an immediate “OH MY GOSH YAY!” and the second was “man, that seems a LOT different from Lil’ Guardsman.” Lil’ Guardsman is one of my favorite indies of the past five years. Between the Papers, Please-inspired gameplay, hilarious writing, and wonderfully colorful…
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Helix: Descent N Ascent Review | Vibrant Doesn’t Always Mean Colorful
I think Helix: Descent N Ascent, out now from Badass Mongoose, may have made me rethink my use of the word “vibrant.” This is a game that is almost entirely black and white, yet somehow feels more visually alive than a lot of the games I’ve described with that term. The black-and-white art style absolutely pops…
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Slumber Realm Is a Roguelite with Big ’90s Energy
Update: As per the comment at the bottom of the post, you can sign up on the Steam page to help out on the full playtest soon! First and foremost, I am not a card game expert. Sure, I sell a lot of PokĂ©mon and Magic cards to people in my day job, and I’ve…
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The Incident at Galley House Review | The Best Mysteries Earn the Red YarnÂ
Okay, everybody. You know I’ve been on a murder-mystery bender lately. (Lately being subjective, I guess?) I’ve been rewatching Only Murders in the Building. I discovered The Thursday Murder Club. I do basically an every-other-year rewatch of Bones and Castle. I grew up reading Nancy Drew books, had a HUGE Harriet the Spy phase, and…
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The Granny Detective Society Demo | Thursday Murder Club meets R.E.D?
2026 is shaping up to be a SOLID year for the detective genre in video games. As you’ve probably noticed, I’ve played an absurd number this year. (Part of that may be because I fell down a Thursday Murder Club rabbit hole last Fall after watching the movie and starting the books. Part of it is because…
