Humanity is available starting today as a Day 1 PlayStation Plus Game Catalog title.*

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Inspired by the “flocking behavior of birds”

Shuhei Yoshida (SY): I heard that Nakamura-san likes to observe flocks of birds, and that’s where you found inspiration for Humanity. Can you tell us more about that? 

Yugo Nakamura(YN): I specialize in Interactive Design, and I like to spend my time programming, sharing my work, and creating visual experiences; I enjoy these things and that’s why I do them for a living. I think a lot of people like me have used a simulation program called “Boids,” which essentially simulates the flocking behavior of birds. If you focus on just a single creature, you’re able to create very organic movements just by programming three simple rules and connecting them. But in the case of birds, the simulation looked so alive, and it was fascinating to see how organically the flock of birds moved, even though it was based on such a simple mechanism. 

From there, I spent some time making a bite-size mobile game that used simple bird movements as motifs. It was like a racing game where you control a flock of birds. 

SY: It’s the one where you try to progress further into the game, right?

YN: Yes. In a regular racing game, you’re only responsible for controlling one car, but in this game, you basically had to control 300 different cars. If you made a small mistake, you lost 100 birds, but then eventually gained back 200!

SY: Game developers like us are always looking to surprise people by creating something that goes above and beyond what you’d expect from a hardware’s capabilities. So when I saw your game, I felt something similar. 

YN: I had similar thoughts as a consumer myself. I was shocked at how smoothly games ran back on the original PlayStation, and I thought that was such a great achievement. From there, I decided that since I already made a game with birds on a smartphone, next I wanted to create a system that controlled large groups of humans. That’s how the idea for Humanity was born. 

SY: Birds’ movements are driven completely by instinct, but in the case of humans, a mix of intellect and social conventions come into play. What aspects did you focus on when designing the movement of crowds of humans?

YN: My first eureka moment was when I saw huge crowds of people at Comic Market (Comiket) in Japan, all properly lined up and waiting patiently. I was fascinated by how the movement of that many people was so controlled and regulated – I think this sort of behavior is unique to humans who are not just herded by instinct.

“Humanity is something special” – how development started

SY: How did you meet Mizuguchi-san?

YN: I’ve always loved games, and I’d seen Mizuguchi-san many times in gaming magazines since his time at Sega. I was a fan of his work. I once had a chance to meet him briefly, but then I saw him again at Unity Developer’s Delight – a developer event hosted by Unity. There, one of our engineers, Yama, showcased a human crowd simulator demo which was the prototype for Humanity. Mizuguchi-san was one of the judges there, and he later got in touch.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi (TM): I met Yugo once at the Japan Media Arts Festival, hosted by Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, but to me he was like a superstar creator that produced so many unique and creative products. If you turned on the TV you’d see a show that he produced, and if you walked the streets of Ginza, you’d see UNIQLO ads that he had worked on.

Enhance helps navigate the complexities of game design 

SY: Nakamura-san’s “tha ltd.” isn’t a game development studio. How does the collaboration between Enhance work?

YN: We aren’t a game studio, but our expertise lies in design and tech for interactive experiences. Even though we didn’t know much about video game design, we were overly optimistic at the beginning, and decided that our team will be responsible for development, and Enhance will take on the role of publisher and producer.

However, the deeper we went into development, we realized that game development was not at all like we had imagined. I realized rather early on that creating a fun gaming experience is not something an amateur can easily pull off, so I spoke to Mizuguchi-san to have seasoned game designers oversee our work. From there, we had staff from Enhance join our development as well.

The fun and terror of collectivized humanity

SY: I felt like the game’s title, Humanity, is ironic in a sense that it reflects how humanity as a concept can be perceived. Heaps of people walking around in hordes almost reminds me of a totalitarian society. I was really curious as to whether you developed the game with such irony in mind, or whether you were just genuinely interested in people. When creating a game, you have to implement a lot of rules, which may cause the game to end up becoming something that was not originally intended. Did you face any dilemma like that?

YN: Actually, the inspiration behind the game title is a T-shirt that I own with a logo that says “Humanity” – I thought that was a cool logo and the word itself had a nice ring to it. But when you think about it, Humanity has a very deep meaning, and when I reflected on how humanity plays a role in my daily life, many thoughts came to mind. Each and every one of us is generally kind and rational, and not many of us are inherently mad or crazy. However, this all changes drastically when it comes to ‘groups’. Politics, war, cancel culture on social media – people tend to go to extremes when they are part of a larger group. The title, Humanity, embodies the idea that humans gain a new trait when they come together.

When we view human beings as a cluster, and not as individuals, we may associate them with the totalitarian and homogenous image you mentioned earlier, and the fear and extremities that derive from that are certainly an important motif in the game.

SY: Visuals of the game evoke fear as well.

YN: It was even more terrifying and ruthless at the earlier stages. When you looked at a single human from a group’s perspective, they looked like a speck of dust or even a tiny piece of trash. Mizuguchi-san provided us with some guidance and we went in a more gentle direction.

Expanding the community with the Stage Creator

SY: What was the idea behind Stage Creator?

YN: Originally, the development team was working on a tool for level design, and we thought it would be fun to make it public. However, it was quite a challenge to develop it into something that users could play with a controller.

When we previously released the demo, I saw users creating stages that went far beyond our expectations, so I felt reassured that we made a good decision

SY: I felt the same with LittleBigPlanet and Dreams. It’s nice to see players leveraging the games in ways that the creators never imagined, and sharing their creations with other gamers. Humanity’s UI is also very well designed. Stages with high user ratings and recommendations are showcased at the top, allowing users to quickly discover fun and interesting community-made content. 

The world of Humanity in PS VR2

SY: In my position, I must bring up the fact that the game is compatible with PS VR2. The team at Enhance has produced VR masterpieces such as Rez Infinite and Tetris Effect: Connected, so I imagine it was a familiar process for Mizuguchi-san. What was your impression of VR as a medium, Yugo?

YN: I enjoy VR so I have been playing around with it since the early days, but I had an impression that the majority of VR content was immersive first-person experiences. When Mizuguchi-san suggested trying out VR, I didn’t think it would be a good fit for this game, but there were so many discoveries when I gave it a try. I didn’t realize VR was capable of capturing extremely detailed 3D human movements in such high resolution. We were able to utilize VR in a unique way, where the player can watch over small crowds of people walking around in an elaborate diorama, as if you’re observing a swarm of ants.

TM: Most of the VR games I have worked on so far are immersive first-person experiences, but I had a feeling that Humanity would be interesting to play from a third-person perspective – sort of like Sim City where you can walk around and get a bird’s eye view of everything. At first, members of the team were a little skeptical, but when we tried it out, everyone agreed that it was a good idea. The development went smoothly from there.

SY: Performance, such as framerate, can be a concern on VR. Did you run into any issues around that?

YN: It was quite challenging optimizing for PS VR, but we had a lot of leeway with PS VR2. I think we were able to achieve the level of detail we were aiming for, with the resolution of the PS VR2.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s take on the potential of PS VR2

SY: As a developer, how do you feel about PS VR2 overall – not just limited to Humanity?

TM: Compared to the original PS VR, the overall quality has improved dramatically, and I think it is an amazing generational leap forward. As a developer, I’m particularly interested and see a lot of potential in the new eye tracking feature.

Also, you may think that we at Enhance are obsessed with haptics – well, we are haha – but we are interested in building experiences that involve haptics. In that sense, the inclusion of haptic feedback in the headset is very significant. What I found out when I created the Synesthesia Suit for Rez Infinite, for example, is that when there is distance, you can experience the world through the senses of your whole body. You can feel the sensation of objects passing by or the alternating beat of the music. What only existed in the palm of your hands is now extended to the headset, so there are so many new possibilities.

A perfect chemistry of puzzles and narrative that make it worth playing till the end

SY: It’s been five years since development started. How do you feel looking back?

YN: We were struggling the whole time basically (haha). I mentioned earlier that the game was an extension of an interactive design we worked on, and there were parts of the process that were exactly as we had imagined and parts that were completely unexpected. The basic aspects of development were what we had expected, but the process of refining the game to make it more fun and enjoyable was very unique.

Extensive playtesting and listening to various user feedback is common practice in the game industry. Even when there were opinions I thought were okay to ignore, we diligently repeated the process of resolving them. We would eliminate even the slightest stress, and the end result would be a game that is pleasant and comfortable to play, even if you can’t quite complete it.

SY: Indeed, there is no stress when playing Humanity. You can retry immediately if you fail, and it drops you right back into the middle of what you have been doing. I felt that the game was being accommodating to the user and made them feel comfortable during gameplay.Players from around the globe enjoyed the demo released in February, and now the full version is available as part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.How do you feel about that?

YN: In one word, I am terrified! The content I usually produce lasts five to 15 minutes at most. With videos, I only need to grab the attention of the viewer for that short amount of time, so I can focus on that and make it happen. Games, however, can take up to several tens of hours, so I cannot help but wonder if our game is really worth that amount of players’ time. As the creator, I don’t have that much objective confidence, and because I’ve been a part of the game’s development for so long I can’t say I’m objective anymore.

SY: Do you have a message for those who haven’t played Humanity yet?

YN: There may be people who don’t enjoy puzzles or are not too fond of it as a game genre, but I hope people will see past that and give it a try. Of course the puzzles are fun, but I encourage gamers to jump in and play around as if it’s a playground; move the crowds in various ways and experiment by making them do different things. You’ll see a lot of interesting behaviors and results. We put work in creating a game that you won’t get tired of.

It is part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog, so if you are already a member, you can play it whenever you feel like it. I’ll be delighted if everyone could give it a try.

TM: Humanity is a game that delivers a whole new experience. If you ask me what genre it is, I would probably say it is a puzzle game. I think it is easy enough for anyone to pick up – from children to the elderly, even our parents’ generation. Everything that happens is a spectacle, and that alone is interesting, but I think the game is about experiencing the narrative, and immersing yourself in the story of Humanity. 

It’s a fun game that can be enjoyed on your own, or have family and friends with you helping to solve the puzzles. You can also treat it like a party game where everyone beats the game together. I hope players enjoy the game in their own way, and are able to witness the end that we prepared for them.

*Humanity is available now on PS4, PS5, PS VR, and PS VR2. It’s also included with the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog with PlayStation Plus Extra and PlayStation Plus Premium memberships.

These indies will take players through puzzling labyrinths and down dangerous roads, fighting for love and scavenging for treasures. 

Keep an eye here on PS Blog as the updates unfold every fifteen minutes, starting at 8am PT / 4pm GMT / 5pm CEST.

Indie Spotlight announcements

• Ironwood Studios returns with a first look at the gameplay of Pacific Drive
• Eternights harmonizes love and conflict in the post-apocalypse, coming this summer
• An update on Animal Well and the origin story of its creator
• PixelJunk Scrappers Deluxe punches in on PlayStation this year

Shuhei Yoshida: “PlayStation has a long history, and there are many titles that are referred to as masterpieces. Today, I wanted to offer up my personal recommendations for games available on PlayStation Plus Premium. I’ve chosen titles that I’ve personal history with, but there are many other excellent games available as well. 

We are happy that users who have joined the community from PS5 and PS4 can play the masterpieces from the past, and I think the creators are happy too. I think this is a great opportunity to introduce the history of PlayStation to a generation that was not yet born when the first PlayStation was released, so please enjoy the Classics Catalog.”

1. Jumping Flash!

Released in 1995 at the dawn of the PlayStation era, this unique 3D platformer was played from a first-person perspective as players controlled the rabbit-shaped machine Robbit. You must use its signature three-step jump to reclaim a world that was stolen by the evil scientist Baron Aloha. This early title showcased the potential of 3D. 

“This was one of the first titles to be produced for the PlayStation. Even before the hardware was completed, young game directors like Kazunori Yamauchi-san and Tetsuji Yamamoto-san were assigned to the PlayStation project and started planning the software. It was during this time that Yamamoto-san brought a short movie to me. It was an experimental video called “Jumping” by Osamu Tezuka-san. Jumping up high, over trees, over buildings, and coming down with a whoosh. Inspired by this video where the viewpoint dynamically changes, Jumping Flash was born!

Jump up to a high place and jump down at once while looking down at the ground. The novel gameplay and unprecedented sense of pleasure it offered was one answer to the question at the time, “What can a 3D game do?” Moreover, it incorporates cute characters named MuuMuus to give it a pop finish. I was impressed by Yamamoto-san’s skills as a producer, and I think it is a game that represents the early days of the PlayStation, and is still a fun game to play today.”

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2. Tekken 2

Joint development of system boards helped bring popular arcade games to PlayStation. One notable entry was fighting game Tekken 2, which made the leap from arcade to PlayStation in 1996. Select from a 25 character-strong roster to battle through single player Arcade Mode, drop into Practice Mode to perfect your favorite fighter’s move set, take on endless enemies one after another in Survival Mode and challenge another player to Team Battle Mode. 

“Before we launched the original PlayStation, we went around asking game developers to make games for us. However, back then it was considered that 3D graphics could not be used for anything other than shooting and racing games, and early negotiations did not go very well. But then Virtua Fighter appeared in arcades, and the tables were turned. We started getting a lot of calls saying, ‘We want to make 3D games too’.

We thought that the ability to play popular arcade games on the PlayStation would be a major selling point. At the time, Namco was making its own system boards for arcades, but they required advanced technology and were costly. Former Namco and Sony Computer Entertainment (current Bandai Namco Entertainment and Sony Interactive Entertainment) decided to jointly develop a system board that would have upward compatibility with the PlayStation. This made it possible to port games that had become popular in arcades to the console in a short period of time. The first such game was Tekken. The sequel, Tekken 2, was the showcase game using 3D graphics at the time. The storyline revolving around the Mishima Zaibatsu and the unique characters were fascinating and they still leave a strong impression on me today.”

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3. Ape Escape

The very first PlayStation controller didn’t have analog sticks or vibration feedback. That changed with the launch of the DualShock controller (named due to the two motors housed inside) in 1997 and the first PlayStation exclusive to use it launched in 1999. Ape Escape’s unique concept of using the left and right sticks to catch running monkeys became a hit, with the game’s Gotcha gadgets (called Gacha Mecha in Japan) and the simian-like escapees (called Piposaru in Japan) became very popular. 13 additional games in the series would release in the years after. 

“This game was produced by SCE WWS Japan Studio with myself as the producer. At the time, 3D action games were just starting to be released, with games that let you run around freely in a 3D space, climb to high places, and get behind objects. We wanted to try our hands at a 3D action game, so we started planning Ape Escape.

During the development of the game the DualShock controller was conceived, so we decided to plunge into the direction of “making a game that cannot be played with conventional controllers.” However, since it was a new experiment, we could not tell if it would be fun or not until we made it! So we kept creating and discarding prototypes. I spent a long time working on it, so I was very happy when it appeared on the cover of a magazine.” 

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4. Jak II: Renegade 

This sequel to Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy launched in 2003. Unlike the light-hearted action adventure of the previous game, the open world Jak II takes a darker turn as our hero is captured and infused with Dark Eco by Baron Praxis, granting him the ability to turn into a stronger, more agile version of himself. Coupled with the new multipurpose firearm, the Morph Gun, he joins an underground resistance to fight back against Praxis. This shift to a more nature, character-focused game set the groundwork for developer Naughty Dog’s future titles. 

“Naughty Dog, the creators of Crash Bandicoot on the original PlayStation, developed Jak and Daxter for PS2. Crash Bandicoot was a level-based platformer with a linear approach to its gameplay design, with loading screens between each level. However, Jak and Daxter was made so that all stages were seamlessly connected, and the next stage would load in the background while the players were playing. It was a very ambitious work and received high praise.

When Grand Theft Auto III was released in North America in 2001, it sent tremors through the video game industry. The game depicted an adult world where anything was possible, including criminal activity, in a realistically rendered city, and the tide of video games changed dramatically. In line with this, Jak and Daxter, which had been for everyone, underwent a major change of course. Naughty Dog changed the appearance of the characters, made it a darker story about revenge, and allowed the players to roam freely in a large city. Normally you don’t change the tone this much in a sequel, but Naughty Dog was amazing for doing so. This was a major departure, and it led to Uncharted for PS3. It’s an interesting title to learn more about Naughty Dog’s history.”

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5. Echochrome

This unique PSP puzzle game built by Japan Studio, originally launched in 2008, is based on the theme of optical illusions. Players can rotate the deceptive world to guide an ever-moving mannequin figure towards the safety of an end goal. Rotating the stage joins up previously unconnected paths, hides obstructive pitfalls, and makes walls that were seemingly impossible to climb over viable. The game was chosen as Japan Media Arts Festival Recommended Work in Entertainment Division at Japan Media Arts Festival.

“It’s a very impactful title, like art turned into a game. The vivid black and white visuals are very cool. The original idea came from a free software ‘OLE Coordinate System’ by Jun Fujiki, a researcher of art engineering. We created this puzzle game based on a video of a character walking all the way through a monochrome world that resembles Escher’s deceptive pictures. Echochrome II for PS3 which was released later, was a game exclusively for PlayStation Move in which the motion controller was used as a flashlight. This game was also highly artistic and won the Excellence Award in the Entertainment Division at Japan Media Arts Festival.”

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6. No Heroes Allowed!

Instead of portraying the dungeon-conquering hero, you play the God of Destruction, dungeon master intent on stopping – by any means necessary – any adventurer that strays into your kingdom. This fantasy-themed management sim released on PSP in 2010 and in addition to the “Main Dungeon”, the game also features “Everyday Dungeon” mode, where players clear the missions one after another within a time limit, and multiplayer mode, “Family Dungeon”.

“What makes the series interesting is that the player cannot defeat enemies through actions. The player, the God of Destruction, can only dig into the ground. This is how the game is played; building dungeons, creating various monsters, and intercepting the invading heroes. However, the monsters are AI-driven, so they do not grow as you would like. AI gave players the challenge that things don’t always go as planned and the unpredictability of things working out unexpectedly, which made it interesting and fun in its own way. The worldbuilding was also unique, going against the conventional RPG stereotype.

In addition to that, the series is popular for its fun jokes. It incorporates many stories and parodies that poke fun at famous RPGs, and you can’t help but laugh at them. The third title says “3D” (in Japanese version) but it doesn’t have 3D graphics (laughs). The title was given because “there are 3 Dungeons,” but such a joke of a title can be forgiven in this series, can’t it? As the series progresses, the weight of comedy has increased.”

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7. Siren Blood Curse

This reimagining of the original PS2 horror title Siren released on PS3 in 2008, and introduces mechanics developed for the second game in the series. Switching perspective to eight interconnected protagonists, which include an American TV crew, find themselves pulled into the heart of supernatural events in an isolated Japanese village. 

“Siren became a hit when it was released in 2003, and we wanted the series to be enjoyed widely among the users globally, not just in Japan. This is when we released Siren: New Translation, which is a reimagining of Siren on PS3.

The original Siren launched in PS2, so the number of polygons that could be used was limited. However, Siren created human facial expressions as textures and pasted them onto the faces, so the changes in facial expressions were very natural. When you play some old games now, you often think, “Oh, ……?” But the quality of the facial expressions and CG in Siren was outstanding. That came to PS3, so the quality of the graphics has improved even further. The characters are also well-defined, and the game is still very popular today. Director Keiichiro Toyama later worked on the Gravity Rush series, and is currently developing a new game as the head of Bokeh Game Studio. We encourage you to play the Siren series, Toyama-san’s starting point.” 

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8. ICO

This is the first game directed by Fumito Ueda, who went on to create Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian. It first launched in 2001 on PS2. The version available on PlayStation Plus is the PS3 re-release in 2011. Ico portrays a young boy and a girl trapped in an old castle. Unable to speak each other’s language, the boy must lead the girl by the hand as he solves puzzles as the two attempt to escape and protects the girl from shadowy figures intent on recapturing her. 

“When I was a producer at Japan Studio, Fumito Ueda-san joined the company. He showed me a video he had been working on for several months. That became the prototype for Ico. The white, pale images of a boy running away from a castle with a girl by his hand convinced me that it would be a game with an interesting atmosphere, and I set up the production team.

Ueda-san polishes and polishes, and continues to create until he is satisfied. He takes on difficult challenges that push the limits of the hardware. I was happy when the game was successfully completed a while after. It was a wonderful game with a mysterious sadness. The PS3 version we are presenting here is the best version with high resolution and high frame rate. This is Ueda-san’s first directed work, so I hope people who know him from Shadow of the Colossus and The Last Guardian will play it.”

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9. Tokyo Jungle

This survival action game sees more than 50 animal species including pomeranians, beagles, and deer, fight to survive in a deserted, futuristic Tokyo. Developed through the game creator discovery support program “PlayStation C.A.M.P!”, the game launched in Japan in 2012, but the outrageous concept drew interest from gamers worldwide, which lead to the title launching across multiple regions. 

“It’s a game that I also love. At the time, SCE was running the “PlayStation C.A.M.P!” program to discover talented game creators. One of the applicants was Yohei Kataoka-san. He was still in his 20s at the time, and the team members were all young. The idea was outstanding, but because he was still young, the PlayStation C.A.M.P! members with game development experience supported him and helped him to complete the project.

I remember that when we exhibited the game at the Tokyo Game Show prior to its release, the Western media was extremely enthusiastic about it. That sounds about right, as a game about a dog surviving in a Tokyo where humans have disappeared while making more puppies is just too far-fetched of an idea. The sight of cute Pomeranians gobbling up other animals was also shocking and created a lot of buzz even before the game was released. The theme of “dog eat dog world” was also interesting and probably caught the interest of people in the West. This is another interesting PS3 game that symbolizes the PS3 era, so please play it.”

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10. Rain

SCE, PlayStation C.A.M.P! and Acquire co-developed this game for PS3, which launched in 2013. A boy chases after an invisible girl in the rain, and one day he too becomes invisible. He takes advantage of the fact that he can only be seen when he is drenched by the rain to escape from town while avoiding monsters that lurk in its streets. 

“This is another very beautiful game born from PlayStation C.A.M.P!. To tell you the truth, when I first heard about the idea of “only being visible when it rains,” I thought it was interesting but wondered if it was enough to create a game. I was happy to see that the game turned out to be real fun to play. One of the most enjoyable aspects for me was to see the creators grow and improve the game to perfection.

The theme song, too, was wonderful. There once was a girl named Connie Talbot who participated in the British public audition program “Britain’s Got Talent” at the age of 6 and attracted a worldwide audience. We asked her to sing the theme song. We put a lot of effort into the sound, including her clear voice and the sound of rain echoing through the game, so we recommend playing the game with headphones on.”

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If you want to know more about PlayStation Plus Premium, head here. 

Our first update lands at 7am Pacific, so you don’t have to wait long. Additional reveals will happen every 15 minutes after that, so keep it tuned to PlayStation.Blog!

Want a hint for the first one? Well, you’ll just have to wait and Sea…

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Indie Spotlight announcements

• A closer look at the turn-based combat in Sea of Stars
• SCHiM steps out from the shadows next year
• Managing a cult can be a messy business in Cult of the Lamb, out August 11
• Signalis brings multilayered psychological sci-fi survival horror to PS4 October 27
• The Tomorrow Children: Phoenix Edition Launches September 6
• Cursed to Golf tees off on August 18 for PS5 and PS4
• Psychological horrors stack in devilish deck-builder Inscryption

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• Creating the connected world of Moss: Book II
• The secrets of Animal Well, coming to PS5
• Master Splinter is coming to TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
• Post Void blasts to PS5 and PS4 this spring
• Exploring the upgraded PvP of Salt and Sacrifice, launching May 10
• Samurai Gunn 2 is coming to PS5
• Hello Neighbor 2 announced for PS4 and PS5

Hi everyone! We’ve lined up seven indie updates and new reveals that we’re excited to share with you this morning. Check in starting at 7am Pacific — every 15 minutes we’ll publish a new story here at PlayStation.Blog.

Once the festivities have ended, we’ll update this post with links to all seven updates. Please let us know what you think of each reveal in the comments!

We’re just minutes away from our first reveal. Spoiler alert: we’re kicking things off with a new look at one of our most anticipated upcoming PlayStation VR titles…

Throughout the year, we have seen lots of amazing, charming, beautiful and totally engaging indie games on PS4, PS VR and PS5. Here are 12 of my personal favourites. 

Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights

This beautiful yet oppressive Japanese explorative platformer has an interesting approach to combat: discover downed knights and cleanse their souls to have them fight for you, while defeating certain enemies allows you to adopt their abilities for your own use. 

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Chicory: A Colorful Tale

At first glance Chicory may seem like an interactive coloring book, yet at its heart lies an engaging adventure. The story’s themes – self-doubt, redemption – are universally relatable. 

Play Video

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

Of all the games I’ve played this year, this one left the biggest mark. It’s also the one game I can’t reveal much about without spoiling some of the huge twists and turns that await you. I’ll say this only: don’t be deceived by its dating sim-like appearance. 

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Puzzling Places

This photogrammetry-powered puzzler challenges you to recreate various real-world places by picking up – and putting together – their fragmented parts like a jigsaw puzzle in VR. 

Play Video

F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch

A game featuring a heroic rabbit with a huge mechanical fist attached on his back needs to offer satisfying melee combat, and this delivers. (And the dieselpunk Shanghai-inspired aesthetic is beautiful.)

Play Video

Hades

Everything about Supergiant Games’s roguelike is sublime: razor-sharp combat, superb gameplay mechanics, captivating characters, amazing voice-acting…  you cannot stop playing. It’s a perfect game.  

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits

A third person action-adventure game with beautiful character animation and engaging combat. You collect “Rot”  – cute little creatures – to aid you in combat and puzzle solving. 

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Song in the Smoke

A PS VR game set in a prehistoric era in which staying alive hinges on your ability to craft, hunt, and fight. Encounter fearsome creatures and soak in the sights of this atmospheric survival sim. 

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Jett: The Far Shore

The first 30 minutes of this game is the most cinematic opening of any game released this year and perfectly sets up your role as your civilisation’s chosen one who is tasked to survive in a new colony. 

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Death’s Door

This isometric action adventure mixes varied combat scenarios with light puzzles for an engaging story set in the afterlife.  

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Solar Ash

Glide across clouds and grind on rails in a fantastical sc-fi world. Between combating foes and defeating leviathan-sized bosses, exploration will yield collectables and deepen the story of this world’s past.    

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Among Us

One of the most fun multiplayer experiences I’ve had this year. Try and work out who on your spaceship crew is helping prep for launch, and who are imposters intent on killing you all. 

From mysterious horrors and action-packed dungeons, to colorful characters and thoughtful exploration, there’s a game from today’s announcements suited to every player. 

Keep an eye here on PS Blog as the updates unfold every half hour, starting at 7am PT / 3pm BST / 4pm CEST.

Indie Spotlight announcements

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• The origins of Hades, out next week on PS5, PS4
• Reverse-horror experience Carrion bursts onto PS4 later this year
• Crafting a tiny open world: A look behind the scenes at the creation of A Short Hike
• Sol Cresta revealed: PlatinumGames’ 36-years-in-the-making space shooter sequel
• Bewitching crafting adventure Wytchwood comes to brew on PS4 & PS5 this Fall
• How Axiom Verge 2 shakes up the formula
• Uncover the full story as Riley in Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, coming to PlayStation

Work with a friend to solve complex puzzles, make your own path in a surreal adventure, and experiment with sounds and colors in unexpected ways. The games in today’s announcements bring such a variety of aesthetics and gameplay, I’m confident that everyone will find something to capture their imagination.

Keep an eye here on PS Blog as we bring you reveals and updates on indie games every half hour, starting at 7am PT / 2pm GMT / 3pm CET.

Indie announcements

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• Worldbuilding for asymmetrical spy co-op in Operation: Tango
• The world is your canvas in Chicory: A Colorful Tale, coming to PS5 and PS4 this spring
• Nour: Play With Your Food’s sous chef: an interactive soundtrack
• Surreal narrative adventure Where the Heart Leads hits PS4, PS5 on July 13
• Puzzling Places, the 3D jigsaw puzzle game is coming to PS VR
• New Heavenly Bodies gameplay trailer reveals two challenging scenarios
• How to become a superstar detective in Disco Elysium – The Final Cut, out March 30
• Play at Home 2021 update: 10 free games to download this Spring

I’ve been meeting the delicious denizens of Snaktooth Island in Bugsnax — from Young Horses, the creators of Octodad: Dadliest Catch — and getting lost in the mesmerizing world of Giant Squid’s The Pathless. This month also saw the release of Haven, an exploration of relationships while you discover a mysterious world, playable in co-op. These games are all distinct from one another, but they all carry so much heart. And the PlayStation Indies team has been working with many more brilliant creators to bring a variety of new experiences to PS5.

There are more great indie games coming to PlayStation soon that I’m excited about — let me introduce you to a few of them.

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Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Exploration, action-packed combat, a beautiful world to explore – Kena has it all. But if you’re like me, it’s the Rot that will capture your heart. Collect these adorable, tiny spirits and they will help you manipulate the environment and take down corrupted spirits as you uncover the secrets of the forest.

Kena, the Spirit Guide players control, wields a staff which can magically work as a bow — and it feels fantastic with the DualSense controller’s haptics and adaptive triggers. As you wear down enemies, the Rot will join you, enhancing your abilities and helping you bring life back to your village.

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Nour: Play With Your Food

What’s your favorite food? In Nour, you can finally indulge in playing with your pancakes, boba, ramen, and more. Go ahead — make a huge mess and don’t worry about cleaning up.

Developer Terrifying Jellyfish wanted to make players hungry with this bright, interactive experiment of a game… and it’s working on me!

This open-ended experience lets you explore the aesthetics of food while a reactive soundtrack sets the mood.

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Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach

No one will judge you for playing this one with the lights on. If you’ve played any of the other Five Nights at Freddy’s games, you’re familiar with the creeping tension that builds up as you explore a pizza restaurant filled with toys, rides, and terrifying animatronic creatures.

Ray tracing technology makes Security Breach shine, drawing you further and further into this restaurant of monstrous robots waiting to jump out at you from the shadows.

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Oddworld: Soulstorm

Oddworld: Abe’s Odyssey launched on PlayStation in 1997 with groundbreaking high-end pre-rendered CG, and it was a pioneer in mixing a mature narrative with comedy in video games. With its foundation as a 2D action platformer, the “game speak” mechanic introduced an innovative way to communicate with AI characters in nonviolent ways.

Soulstorm continues the saga as the 2nd chapter of the Oddworld Quintology. Its “2.9D” level design allows players to explore beautiful, expansive 3D worlds in a linear fashion for tried and true 2D action gameplay. With up to 1,300 rescuable followers — more than 20 of which can follow Abe at a time — plus an engaging crafting system, you can approach the game’s puzzles in your own ways.

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Temtem

This creature-collecting MMO launched in Early Access on PS5 this month! Explore islands while finding and collecting Temtems, train them to defeat the evil Clan Belsoto, and do it all while trekking across a world packed with other players. Team up to adventure together or battle each other to become the best Temtem tamer.

This vibrant adventure also provides plenty of ways to customize your character as you unlock new cosmetics to let your tamer’s personality shine. I’m excited to jump in and become the ultimate Temtem tamer, and I can’t wait to see how this one evolves on its way to a full release.

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Disco Elysium

Disco Elysium is an award-winning RPG with a morally questionable protagonist, a mysterious world, and a bizarrely intriguing progression system. I was thrilled when The Final Cut was announced for PlayStation at The Game Awards this month!

While solving a murder mystery as an amnesiac detective, developing your character’s skills in this RPG takes a strange twist as those same skills will try to influence the detective with internal dialogue. It is a dark, compelling journey and we can’t wait for you to play with full voice-acting and other enhancements in March.

I’m pleased to formally announce the PlayStation Indies initiative. With PlayStation Indies, we hope to spotlight and support the best of the best indie games being published on PlayStation and the entire indie community as a whole. Our goal is to make PlayStation the best place to develop, find, and play great indie games.

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The indie community is increasingly important for the future of the video game industry, as AAA game development has grown so financially demanding that big companies are finding it harder to take risks to invest in new concepts that may or may not work. We trust indie developers with strong vision will continue to bring ideas that have never been tried before, creating whole new genres of games and advancing the art and meaning of video games. PlayStation has always embraced games with completely new concepts, like PaRappa the Rapper, Katamari Damacy, LittleBigPlanet, and Journey, and we look forward to seeing what surprising new ideas will come next!

I was so excited to see the strong reactions to the amazing indie titles featured in the PS5 Future of Gaming event a few weeks ago. Do they not look charming and interesting? I, for one, could not get the Bugsnax song out of my head for a few days since the show went live.

While details are still forthcoming, we are also happy to confirm a new indie title will join the PlayStation Now service every month, starting with Hello Neighbor in July. Please look out for our monthly PS Now posts for more information!

Today, alongside news of the PlayStation Indies initiative, we’re happy to debut nine imaginative and exciting titles coming to both PS4 and PS5. Stay tuned throughout the morning for these reveals, which we’ll gather up here once they’ve all concluded. Can’t wait to hear what you think!

July 1 Indie Reveals

• Worms Rumble brings real-time multiplayer action to PS4 and PS5
• Haven is a chill co-op adventure coming to PS4 and PS5
• Introducing Carto, a charming, innovative puzzle adventure coming to PS4
• Hacking-themed platformer Recompile is coming to PS5
• Where the Heart Leads: A narrative adventure between truth and fiction, coming winter 2020 to PS4
• The recursive world simulation & puzzle-making process in Maquette
• Action platformer F.I.S.T: Forged in Shadow Torch coming to PS4
• Introducing PlayStation Indies and a day of captivating new games
• Heavenly Bodies is coming to PS5 and PS4
• Explore ambiguity in Creaks, coming to PS4 this summer