Video Games. For years, we have wondered: What are they? Where do they come from? And what do they want from us? Today, we have answers for you... answers that would delight even that strictest of industry philosophers: Sonic the Hedgehog. These are shorter games, far less hardware intensive than the latest AAA titles, and made by passionate developers. In fact, the only thing that might not satisfy Sonic's demands is that indie developers aren't always paid more to work less, but maybe by telling you about these Indie Visual Novels we played, we can encourage more people to send some money toward these incredible games.

This month, as is our semi-annual tradition, Sara and Runa each talk about a handful of indie visual novels they've played recently, each with its own incredible style, story, and impact. Some of these games are too short to warrant a full episode of the show, but honestly it's a struggle to keep ourselves from talking about each one for a full hour because they're just that good.

In these Indie Game Compilation Track episodes, which we do at least twice each year, we want to highlight some of the incredible indie VNs we've played recently and get people excited about the things happening in Indie Visual Novel development spaces. We want to not only showcase the amazing breadth of work coming from Indie developers but also talk about some of our favorite games, many of which touch on subjects, characters, and experiences we rarely get the chance to see in games from larger studios. You can find a list of each game we played below and we encourage you to play along with us, and go searching for other Indie visual novels as well! 

Most of these games are free and if not, fairly cheap (though please tip the creators if you are able), and you can read most of them inside of an hour or two. In fact, we want YOU, dear listener, to pick at least one of these games to play after you listen, and then tell us about it!

Games included in this episode:

• Stillwater by Studio Clump (00:04:30 )
• May I take Your Order by Alexis Royce (00:10:27 )
• Someone Stole MY LUNCH by Studio Clump (00:17:35 )
• Mushroom Musume by Mortally Moonstruck Games (00:24:05 )
• Penultima by Zetareishi (00:34:43 )
• Doomsday Dreamgirl by Nadia Nova (00:46:35 )
• Sink Your Teeth by SuperBiasedGary (00:54:36 )
• He Fucked The Girl Out Of Me by Taylor McCue (01:01:10 )
• Bad Faith by Mado (01:14:07 )
• Dahlia by Crystal Game Works (01:23:06 )

And we also mentioned...

• Rituals in the Dark by ebi-hime (01:30:20 )
• Life after Magic by Chiraishi Games (01:29:21 )