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We dont get many independent games coming out of Japan.
Gnosia is the only one that immediately springs to mind.
Of course, this could be an issue of perception.
I know a lot gamesin the UK because I live here.
Im sure the same happens for Japanese games journalists.
Additionally, nearly every press release I receive is written in English, my native tongue.
H*ck, the thirdTokyo Indie Games Summitis happening next month.
Maybe Im just out of the loop.
Thats why I always pay attention when a Japanese indie game breaks containment and appears in my social circles.
This is exactly what happened with Hole, a creepy extraction shooter that felt right up my street.
Hole
Hole doesnt explain itself.
You are in a concrete room with three crude drawings of faces plastered on the wall.
There is a handgun and a boarded up doorway.
Theres a floating microwave.
Press F to fall.
Then youre in an office.
Its long abandoned, your footsteps the only sound as you creep down corridors and past cubicles.
It might be a fridge full of data.
Perhaps its a delivery package filled with glowing green health pluses.
It might be someone else searching these empty corridors, their reasons as cryptic as your own.
Thats when your pistol comes in.
Hole is entirely single-player.
Your opponents in the office with you are controlled by AI.
The game decides whether they baa like a sheep or make a series of beeps and boops.
This is quite a noisy process, so expect company.
This is clearly your base.
Hole gives me a similar vibe to Shieys explorations in Chernobyl and other abandoned places.
The stories that unfold from finding a half-drunk cup of coffee or papers left on a desk are compelling.
The smallest sound puts you instantly on edge.
Could it be a fridge behind that door, or an enemy?
Could it be the microwave youre searching for?
Like a lo-fi Control, Hole has hooked its weird claws into me.
I cant help but return to this creepy office time and time again.
If theres a better way to spend a fiver in 2025, Ive not found it yet.
Inkression is an atmospheric walking simulator that tells stories through colour and tattooing.
