You should keep your eye on these promising Xbox indies

While indie video games from smaller developers tend to get more attention on platforms like Steam or Nintendo Switch, that isn’t for a lack of trying on Xbox’s part. Since 2013, it has run the ID@Xbox program to help fund and highlight games from independent developers all around the world. While some Xbox fans feel uncertain about the platform’s future because of Microsoft’s multiplatform push, Microsoft reaffirmed its efforts to uplift indie game developers at this year’s Game Developers Conference by highlighting some of its upcoming ID@Xbox titles.

At a hands-off presentation held just after GDC, I got a look at several ID@Xbox games coming soon. From more notable games like Still Wakes the Deep from British developer The Chinese Room to small, cozier titles like inKONBINI: One Store, Many Stories from Japanese developer Nagai Industries, these eight ID@Xbox titles are games to watch going forward.

Botany Manor (April 9)

Botany Manor is a first-person puzzle adventure game centered around gardening and plants. In one puzzle I saw, the player had to grow pixie tears. To do this, they had to find clues through books and microscope slides. They’d have to place the plant in a pot, water it, and watch a seedling grow. It’s a relaxing deduction-based puzzle game that will also teach players a lot about botany and gardening as they grasp and internalize the game’s mechanics.

Although Ballon Studios Creative Director Laure De Mey tells Digital Trends she’s not much of a gardener, she appreciates the beauty of manors dotted throughout the U.K. and wanted to realize one as a setting for this game. Titles that gamify everyday activities are always pretty novel to play, and Botany Manor feels like it’ll be the next game to do that.

If the premise interests you, you don’t have to pay much to try it out. A free demo is available for Botany Manor on Steam right now, and it’ll be a day-one Xbox Game Pass release on April 9. It’ll also hit Nintendo Switch on that date.

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