A little robot lost in a big robot world, that's pretty much the plot of Haiku the Robot, a recently-released indie with a pretty big heart. Jumping, dodging, blinking, and zipping around a rusting world of robots, Haiku is a side-scrolling action game with a progression system similar to games like Hollow Knight.
As you explore, you meet new, weird characters and learn more about the world from them. Things like a sentient subway train, for example, or a little guy who looks kind of like a trash can.
There's also the kind of crisp, satisfying combat and platforming you want from this kind of game. You can customize your character further with chips that change your powers and upgrade them to reach new areas and find secrets. It's all tied together with nice GBA-style graphics and lovely chunky pixels topped off with more modern-style animation.
- The team behind one of 2024's hidden gems is following it up with a stop-motion 'relaxed digging and discovery' game about a happy robot's underground adventures beneath a lake of slime
- Heart of the Machine is Crusader Kings for speculative sci-fi nerds, flipping the script on the cult AI War series
All of this is to say that the explosive growth of the modern action-exploration-adventure game, or the metroidvania, or whatever, continues apace. You can find Haiku, the Robot on Steam, or check out its creator's site: mistermorris.games.
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