In celebration of Gamer’s Outreach’s goal of making play an essential part of care, we played a number of indie games over the week of 22nd June 2026. To see our charity roundup, check out this post!
A big thank you to the developers and publishers who reached out to have me try their games. The week was filled with so many fun and unique experiences! Through VTuber Summer Slam, I hope we can help more children in hospitals enjoy the wonderful worlds we get to explore from the comfort of our homes.
Click on the game name to jump to the short review of the game!
Day 1 VOD
1. Cloudbreaker (Steam link)
2. Friendship vs The World (Steam link)
3. Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart (Steam link)
4. lovebyte.exe (Steam link)
5. Red Chat Ritual—TSUMIMI TIME (Steam link)
Day 2 VOD
6. Low Effort Romance (Steam link)
7. Teachers. With love and passion. (Steam link)
Day 3 VOD
8. Charming Hill (Steam link)
9. In Trusted Hands (Steam link)
10. Teller’s Duty (Steam link)
11. Goblin Vyke: Thief Tycoon (Steam link)
12. DAVE THE DIVER In The Jungle DLC Content Pack (Steam link)
13. Rabbit & Steel (Steam link)
1. Cloudbreaker (Steam link)
The Cloudbreaker demo was a BLAST! (pun intended) In this exciting roguelite survivor, you attempt to build the strongest horde-surviving spaceship where every part you place on the grid matters. It took me a while to grasp, but the tutorial was easy to follow and the mission was clear—survive as long as possible. Players who enjoy mastering complex systems and engine builds will appreciate this game.
2. Friendship vs The World (Steam link)
When I decided to try Friendship vs The World, I went in with no expectations. And good thing I did, because there was no way anyone could have predicted what chaos this game had in store! Picture this: crafting involves a mix of beavers, boxes, and kids to create various units. Then, you deploy these troops in lanes to defend against crazy corporate demons scissors-paper-stone style! In the Steam description, the developers mentioned 12 units are coming soon, so I can’t imagine the kind of complex Pokemon-esque type matchups there will be in the future.
The core gameplay works similarly to Overcooked, with a top-down view of the map and ability to play with up to 3 friends, but the element of tower defense made things all the more challenging and chaotic. It was really fun! Definitely give the demo a try with your friends. As a bonus, there’s also engaging Twitch Integration which allows your chatters to spawn as ‘kids’ who can say things as they got to battle for you! En garde!
3. Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart (Steam link)
After browsing the Next Fest page with chat, we decided that the extra game demo pickup of the day would be Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart. It first caught our attention because the protagonist, Taffy, looks a little like my VTuber avatar. But watching the trailer of the gameplay really solidified giving it a go, because what do you mean I get to flirt my way through the dungeon and pick up cute monster girls?!
The writing for this game is hilarious, and every monster girl has unique dialogue and playstyles! I enjoyed flirting with our monster girlfriends and seeing how we could improve our relationships with them. The boss battle for the demo was a good challenge too. I’ve definitely set my sights on the full release of Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart after the amazing demo experience. So stay tuned!
4. lovebyte.exe (Steam link)
To say I enjoyed lovebyte.exe is an understatement, I was fully immersed and embodying our Angelite! The familiar interface and realistic chatting styles made it super easy to feel like a part of a conversation with real people. The characters are fun to interact with and from the get-go I already felt like I wanted to get to know some of them on a deeper level. The limited demo featured the first 3 days and a short skip forward to when our relationships with the characters establish a little more (and we get our first selfies ouo). And to the day when we get our first voice message.
This game really plays on the fact that you never really know who you’re talking to online, making each day’s discoveries really exciting. You even get to watch your oshi stream and interact with him in chat!
5. Red Chat Ritual—TSUMIMI TIME (Steam link)
On first glance, the pixel art style and anime inspired early 2000s UI might lead one to think that this game has a similar plot to NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD. But, sinister things are underfoot right away in Red Chat Ritual—TSUMIMI TIME when your oshi, Mashiro, goes missing. Determined to investigate what happened to her, you tune into her former streaming partner, Tsumimi’s, streams. Tsumimi is just as eager to know what happened to Mashiro, and you act as a supporting role through your Mega Chats and comments. The live times are full of creepiness and keeps you in suspense. For horror fans who like cute anime girls, Red Chat Ritual—TSUMIMI TIME is a must-try!
6. Low Effort Romance (Steam link)
Who can anyone choose between a picture-perfect ex-boyfriend, overworked IT support technician, and flamboyant co-worker? Embark on a Low Effort Romance, where you embody an anxious salarywoman named Emma starting a new job at a fancy tech company! Where everything seems exhaustingly high-effort… *phew*
7. Teachers. With love and passion. (Steam link)
I was so excited to play an otome with some older love interests! Introducing Teachers. With love and passion., a school-set romance where you find yourself in a lounge full of charming single teachers (aged 33-48!). The prologue is rather long to read aloud, so we have yet to reach the character routes yet. That said, I’m really excited to get to know the love interests. Each of them has a distinct personality. We’ll have to play through it to find out more!
8. Charming Hill (Steam link)
Think sticker book, but landscape painting! Charming Hill is an experimental game where players create relaxing paintings. You can also unlock short stories that are tied the scenes as you explore the customisations. The demo features a number of presets to choose from, allows you to change the time of day, and bring your environment to life with animated stickers to decorate your painting.
9. In Trusted Hands (Steam link)}
Cozy workshop and repair sims have been all the rage lately, but have you played one that forces you into meeting shady characters and face morally questionable situations? Introducing In Trusted Hands, a repair sim where you inherit the shop from a distant relative whose business you never really knew much about until now. The narrative twists in the first few in-game days had me shocked, and some of the free exploration thrusts you into really bizarre situations.
At one point, I unintentionally started a date with a customer and tried to romance a married woman. The choices can be unclear, so it’s not really your fault. If you’re someone who’s up for whatever chaotic surprises games have to offer, In Trusted Hands will keep you entertained.
10. Teller’s Duty (Steam link)
Teller’s Duty builds on the tried-and-tested Papers, Please! formula to bring a fresh takee on the genre set in its own war-torn world. A while back, we also tried 1998: The Toll Keeper Story, which is similarly a narrative-driven simulation with some money counting involved. What sets Teller’s Duty apart from the aforementioned games is the greater level of interaction with your restrictive boss and uncle, and the characters you build relationships with.
Each customer revisits the bank, building up a sense of trust with the ones who consistently fill in their forms correctly. Our MC’s story is also unfolding with each chapter. At the end of each day, we get to experience a short time at home, deciding whether we can afford to eat, pay the bills, and support our family living in the countryside. Mistakes carry heavy penalties. The art, sound, and gameplay feel polished. So for a smooth and enjoyable simulation experience, Teller’s Duty is an easy recommendation.
11. Goblin Vyke: Thief Tycoon (Steam link)
I absolutely adore Goblin Vyke: Thief Tycoon. Vyke is a charming protagonist that I really want to root for. By night, we enter the dungeon and steal from unsuspecting mobs. By day, we sell the loot to customers and haggle for higher prices. The first few runs were really challenging since there are no defence options, but as you master the dungeon and gain skills and checkpoints, many more ways to explore and overcome it become available to you. It also helps that the dungeon’s structure stays the same, giving a Metroidvania-like component to the exploration. Mastery definitely comes to those who put in the time!
Along the way, you meet interesting characters who all subvert their tropes. I look forward to uncovering what more Goblin Vyke: Thief Tycoon has to offer.
12. DAVE THE DIVER In The Jungle DLC Content Pack (Steam link)
My DAVE THE DIVER In The Jungle DLC Content Pack segment was more so to showcase the unlockable features rather than progress the DLC, since I completed it off-stream. With reviews sitting at a current 49,562 overwhelmingly positive, any indie game enthusiast knows DAVE THE DIVER as a home name by now. But the reviews for the DLC are more divisive.
The In The Jungle DLC is so expansive that it felt like a whole game on its own. The core gameplay is still rooted in the diving experience with some quality of life additions, such as the versatile jungle gun! By itself, the diving has a good number of unlockable regions, bosses, and new fish to discover. The team delivered way more than I expected just in this regard.
This DLC also spends a decent amount of time quite literally in the jungle, which is turn-based land exploration with its own puzzles and mechanics. It might seem tedious at first, but once your characters are well levelled, you can hit the enemies and get free EXP without needing to engage otherwise. It gets WAY easier, there’s just a bit of a grind involved! In fact, if you want to skip the grind, you can rush the bosses. It’s just harder to take them down. Also, Malrone is adorable!
I’m personally a big fan of games with a variety of content. So especially in a DLC, they are more than welcome and it still felt easy to immerse myself in the main storyline once the side quests were done. In fact, each side quest felt rewarding and I was looking forward to which series they could possibly include in this game next. The volume of it is indeed ridiculous, but hilariously so. The number of characters from others game being integrated into DAVE THE DIVER and Bancho’s Grill is whimsical. Om Nom is such an awesome employee. That little green creature has a special place in my heart, so maybe I am biased.
Some may argue that including so many things aside from the original gameplay loop is unenjoyable, and I can see why if that is the expectation. A skip option is provided for some minigames that you’re struggling to overcome (For me, it was the Miside one). I think many would appreciate having a skip option available for all minigames after a while. But for the most part, I was delighted to engage in the world of DAVE THE DIVER in so many new and different ways! I found myself looking forward to the surprises, and appreciating each one.
13. Rabbit & Steel (Steam link) with Faffery and Anteloperush
Finally, we have Rabbit & Steel. Gifted to me by Faffery because of the theme of the game, I was really happy to finally try it! At first, I thought the gameplay loop would not be long, but before we knew it, it had already been an hour and we’d only gone for 2 runs! Soloing familiarises you with the characters, and co-op requires more communication and syncing with your team members. MMO raids were once a foreign concept to me, but playing Rabbit & Steel with friends helped me see why it can be enjoyable. I also drew us in the Rabbit & Steel style to celebrate the collab!
Whew! With that, a huge thank you to everyone who supported this line of charity streams over the week. It has been my pleasure to stream for Gamer’s Outreach through VTuber Summer Slam, and I hope to participate again next year!