From reality-bending hotels and nightmare worlds to underground labyrinths and inventive environmental puzzles, this latest batch of indie releases shows just how differently smaller studios can approach familiar genres. Hyperdrive Inn puts a wonderfully strange spin on the point-and-click adventure, Wake Up, Lia turns precision platforming into a story about confronting trauma, while Plungeez swaps combat for exploration and puzzle solving in a distinctly Brazilian setting. None of these games are without their rough edges, but each brings its own ideas and personality to the table, making them three very different experiences that nevertheless demonstrate why there is always something interesting to discover in the indie scene.
Hyperdrive Inn review (PS5)
Hyperdrive Inn takes the familiar point-and-click adventure formula and throws it into a hotel where the concept of “somewhere else” has effectively lost all meaning. As Aino, we return to the titular establishment to find our estranged father, the man responsible for its reality-bending technology, while the hotel itself threatens to spiral further out of control. It is a wonderfully absurd setup, but Horsefly Games understands that the family drama underneath all the cosmic nonsense gives the story something to hold onto. Aino’s grounded attitude makes her an effective guide through the madness, although the sheer number of detours can eventually make the central search for her father feel less urgent than it should.
The game’s biggest strength is undoubtedly the way its hotel is structured. Each room effectively becomes its own strange little adventure, taking us from one bizarre reality to another, while the randomized selection means that a single playthrough cannot show us everything. That is a clever way of making the Inn genuinely feel infinite rather than simply telling us that it is. The problem is that the developers have perhaps been too reluctant to leave their own ideas on the cutting-room floor. Plenty of these encounters are entertaining, but some feel like padding, and the longer the game goes on, the more we can start wondering when the main story will get back to the point.
On PS5, the straightforward gamepad controls suit the experience particularly well, allowing us to move Aino along the 2D plane, interact with objects and characters, and manage an inventory without the usual fiddliness associated with traditional adventure games. The puzzles are more of a mixed proposition. There are satisfying multi-step challenges that reward paying attention to the information we have gathered, but there are also plenty of combination puzzles and logic problems that can feel unnecessarily obscure. The hint system can help, although it is inconsistent, while some solutions lean more heavily on trial and error than we would like. The constant backtracking and occasional overly long interactions also prevent the otherwise accessible interface from feeling completely frictionless.
Visually, however, Hyperdrive Inn is considerably harder to fault. The use of scanned fabric textures gives its characters and environments a handmade, patchwork quality that is unlike most adventure games, and the wildly different settings make excellent use of that distinctive aesthetic. The Finnish-folk-inflected soundtrack, mixed with jazzier touches, complements the eccentric environments nicely and gives the whole journey an appropriately offbeat atmosphere. There are some rougher animations and close-up elements, and the lack of voice acting may leave some conversations feeling a little text-heavy, but this is nevertheless an adventure that looks and sounds like very little else on PS5. Hyperdrive Inn can be frustratingly overstuffed, but its imagination is difficult to resist, and for adventure fans willing to put up with a few too many rooms along the way, there is plenty here worth checking into.
Wake Up, Lia review (PS5)
Wake Up, Lia! takes an unexpectedly heavy subject and wraps it in the familiar framework of a 2D precision platformer. Lia is trapped in nightmares born from bullying, with each stage gradually helping her piece together fragments of her past and identity. There is certainly potential in that premise, and the darker emotional angle gives the adventure more purpose than simply hopping from one spike-filled room to the next. Unfortunately, the narrative never quite gets enough room to develop into something genuinely affecting, leaving the gameplay to carry most of the burden.
And that gameplay can be a difficult proposition. The basic idea is straightforward: jump, avoid hazards and make it to the exit without dying, with local co-op providing an alternative way to tackle the stages. The problem is that the challenge quickly shifts from demanding to frustrating. Spikes, saws and swinging hazards are used extensively, while later stages introduce blind jumps and perspective changes that can make deaths feel more like a consequence of the level design than our own mistakes. Checkpoints can also leave us replaying sizeable sections, which does little to encourage experimentation.
The controls themselves are suitably uncomplicated, using the analogue stick or D-pad for movement and a single button for jumping, but that simplicity doesn’t always translate into precision. Lia can feel awkward around ledges, and the fixed jump behaviour leaves little room to correct mistakes once we’re committed to a leap. The situation becomes particularly problematic when the game changes the camera perspective without adapting the underlying control feel, turning what should be a clever nightmare-inspired twist into an additional source of irritation. For a game built around precision, consistency is simply too important to compromise.
Visually, Wake Up, Lia! has a colorful character design that contrasts with its considerably gloomier environments, although the overall presentation remains fairly modest. The same applies to the audio, where the soundtrack and sound effects don’t do enough to establish the unsettling atmosphere the premise calls for, and can become repetitive rather than enhancing the tension. There is a worthwhile idea buried in Wake Up, Lia!, and its low price and additional local co-op option make the package approachable, but the uneven platforming and occasionally hostile stage design ultimately undermine its emotional ambitions. Instead of making us want to escape Lia’s nightmares, too often we simply want to escape the game itself.
Plungeez review (PS5)
There is something immediately appealing about Plungeez’s decision to put a plumber in an underground labyrinth and then refuse to let her solve problems by hitting anything. As Bôni, a Salvador-based water-treatment worker who ends up stranded beneath the city, we spend our time trying to find a route back to the surface rather than saving the world. The premise is simple, but the Brazilian setting gives it considerably more personality than the average indie puzzle platformer, with Salvador’s cultural identity woven into the dialogue, collectibles and environments. The story itself remains fairly lightweight, but its humor and sense of place make Bôni’s strange workplace mishap an enjoyable excuse to start exploring.
That exploration is where Plungeez makes its strongest case for itself. Instead of combat, the interconnected Metroidvania structure is built around environmental puzzles, navigation and gradually acquired tools. The plungers are particularly clever, allowing Bôni to stick to walls and eventually ceilings, while the lamp-and-furnace mechanic adds a nice layer of planning: carrying fire through hazardous areas only to have it extinguished by water means that seemingly simple routes can require some thought. Wrenches, pipes and diving equipment introduce further variations as the adventure progresses, and the steadily expanding map does a good job of making previously inaccessible areas worth remembering.
The downside is that the same non-linear design that makes exploration satisfying can occasionally make Plungeez feel a little too much like wandering around looking for the one thing we missed. There is no combat or death penalty to create pressure, so the challenge rests almost entirely on solving puzzles and maintaining a mental picture of where everything connects. That makes the game approachable, but it also means that players expecting either demanding platforming or a particularly inventive Metroidvania may find the experience somewhat restrained. The plunger controls are generally enjoyable on PS5, although some of the more awkward wall, ceiling and water-based manoeuvres can feel less precise than they should.
Visually, the 16-bit-inspired pixel art does a lot with its underground setting, giving the different areas enough character while maintaining a damp, atmospheric identity. The PS5 version is crisp and technically clean, while the ambient music and sound design complement the feeling of descending further into an unfamiliar place without overwhelming the puzzle-focused gameplay. Plungeez is also a fairly short adventure, which works in its favor to a degree: it knows what it wants to be and does not overstay its welcome, although anyone hoping for a sprawling Metroidvania may be left wanting more. Ultimately, Team Zeroth has created a pleasant and distinctive puzzle adventure that proves you do not need enemies to make exploration engaging. It may not reinvent the genre, but its clever environmental mechanics, Brazilian personality and relaxed approach make this a worthwhile dive for anyone who prefers thinking their way through a Metroidvania rather than fighting their way through one.