As we all know, E3 is less than a week away! As another year of high-profile announcements draws ever closer, now is the perfect time to unwind with smaller experiences. This week, I played through two very short indie games on the Switch, both published by Devolver Digital and focusing on animal characters. What are the odds, right?

You might already be familiar with Ape Out because of its eye-catching presentation. The whole game has this retro visual and audio treatment evoking 1950s jazz. Hell, the levels are even broken into "albums" and "sides." Every character is a solid silhouette, which looks great in motion from the overhead camera angle. Every level is punctuated with a lone drummer going absolutely mental on a perpetual solo.

The easiest way to describe Ape Out's gameplay is to compare it to Hotline Miami. Only instead of wearing an animal mask, you're an actual gorilla wreaking havoc on some unlucky humans. Your only options are to punch people into puddles of blood, or to grab them and throw them into other things, thereby facilitating their transformation into puddles of blood.

Subtle as they may be, I found that the changes to the Hotline Miami formula worked great in furthering the premise and vibe Ape Out is going for. For one thing, the placement and number of enemies is randomized each time you restart a stage. This game isn't so much about mastery and memorization like Hotline Miami. You are an escaped animal, you aren't really supposed to know your surroundings that well. The random element keeps the player on their toes every attempt. You also get three hit points instead of one. It makes sense that a beefy gorilla can withstand a few shots, but it also feeds into the improvisational element of the jazz aesthetic.

Despite the very limited gameplay opportunities, the environment regularly refreshes itself. The power might go out for a few levels, or bombs start to blow up in the building. There's a sense of continuity to the chaos. You'll fight through four major environments, plus a few surprises. And oh man, the title sequences at the start of each level are some primo material.

The faster this type of game is, the better, and the first areas feel very snappy. Conversely, the second half of the game uses more open spaces and more annoying enemies. It's less about a rampage of wish fulfillment and more about weaving around enemies before they can pop you. What I'm saying is, I don't like the flamethrower guys very much.

Still, Ape Out can be a great time, and it's got the best styyyyle I've seen yet this year. There's a good amount of extra content, too, so don't be put off by the short running time.

My second game is Gato Roboto, which came out just a few days ago. It's an indie Troid-like, which is not typically my favorite genre. Still, its low asking price was enough for me to check it out.

You're a cat named Kiki exploring an abandoned research colony after your ship crashes, with your owner trapped inside. Soon, you find a mech suit and start doing the standard Troid-like stuff: finding upgrades, filling out the map, and fighting enemies.

Gato Roboto feels like a "lite" version of a Troid-like. I did a good amount of exploration, and my playthrough was still under three hours. There are just a handful of small areas to go through. Enemies don't drop anything, so they're only necessary to fight in combat rooms. Every bit of damage takes away a single hit point. Missiles are on a cooldown instead of having ammunition. This was great for me, as I could actually use them without fear of running out.

Other upgrades include a spinny double-jump and an invincible dash that reminded me of Teslagrad, another indie Troid-like. You can also exit the vehicle and run around as the cat to access tight areas. Since the game is so short, the climb in power happens much faster than normal.

Exploring for secrets isn't necessary, but it is fun. It's usually the inverse for me with these games, so this was a pleasant surprise. For the short duration of the game, there's an awesome variety, and I was having some amount of fun the whole time. The boss fights were a surprising highlight, having a good amount of challenge and using different skills each time.

Visually, the game is very similar to Downwell. Just like that game, you can even unlock additional palettes to tint the monochrome graphics. Audio-wise, nothing really stuck out other than the gibberish noises during dialogue, which every game should have.

The only thing I had issue with was the ending, which for me was sudden and somewhat unsatisfying. Since this borrows so much from Metroid, I'm almost positive there are multiple endings for item completion and speed but... eh. I had enough fun that I don't feel the need to dig up every last item.

There you have it, two shots of indie animal antics. I always love a short game with a fun concept, and these both fit the bill. Check them out for a nice few hours when you're in the mood! As for me, maybe I'll make another E3 watchlist this year, if enough things appeal to me. Regardless, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next blog.

Gato Roboto was a near perfect Saturday afternoon game. As you said the condensed ramp up made it quite satisfying and the smaller map made it pretty easy to justify going back to look for secrets. I think my only real gripe with the game was the game not letting you skip the text scenes before boss fights. Just a personal gripe that I don’t need to re button through something I already read - especially when some of them are fairly lengthy, but that aside I was super into it.