While many people are out tonight getting sloshed at their local Irish Tavern, perhaps you’ve chosen to stay in for a cozy night at home with a nice game and a cup of tea. Here’s five indie games developed by Irish studios to help you properly celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year!
Mars Attracts
This park management sim is immediately a standout in the crowded city-builder genre because of its premise – you play as aliens abducting humans. Create the universe’s greatest theme park on Mars by managing resources, building out every detail of the park, and abducting humans for the entertainment of your Martian guests. Each human has a personality and likes and dislikes as well, so add things humans like (humans love coconuts, right? They’re always eating those!) to their enclosures to lift their spirits. This spin-off of the cult classic game Mars Attacks is perfect for anyone looking to lose themselves in a management sim for way too many hours.
Funi Raccoon Game
This 3D puzzle platformer does exactly what it says on the tin. Take control of a raccoon who has recently acquired a new dumpster home and set out into the world to find garbage to decorate it with! There’s unique traversal mechanics, tons of items to find, puzzles to solve, NPCs to assist… all in the name of stuff. If you’re not a fan of stuff, Funi Racoon Game is not for you. The Nintendo 64-style graphics are just the start of this game’s weirdness. Check it out now!
Paleo Pines
Paleo Pines is a delightful farming sim where, instead of raising livestock like sheep and cattle, you raise dinosaurs. Pretty simple, right? Collect dinosaurs out in the wild by wrangling them, and then guide them back to the farm to use their unique powers to assist in this season’s harvest. You’ll meet tons of new characters, find strange new places, and generally follow a cute little story while you spruce up your collection of dinos. Paleo Pines is a good fit for anyone looking to chill out.
Steam Page | Nintendo eShop, | PlayStation Store | Xbox Store
Dicey Dungeons
Tired of cards? Here’s some dice! This roguelike deckbuilder is equal parts luck and strategy, giving players control of giant walking, talking dice who must run and rerun escaping the dungeon of the vile Lady of Fortune. It’s got six playable dice characters, each with their own powers and RPG level-ups, so you can play around with tactics while also making sure to keep the good times rolling. Dicey Dungeons can also be played in short sessions, so if you’re looking for something to throw up on your phone or Steam Deck before bed, this one’s a winner.
Steam Page | Nintendo eShop | Google Play Store | Apple App Store | itch.io Store
Crab Champions
You may know EDM artist Noisestorm for his viral “Crab Rave” music video – well, he turned his own meme into a video game, and no one was able to stop him! This roguelike third-person shooter lets anywhere from one to four players jump in, load up their crabs with oversized firearms, and blast into a world of dangerous crustaceans that need a good shelling. Grab upgrades, accessorize your crabs, take on insane bosses, and generally just have a good time. How often do you get to fire a grenade launcher at a hermit crab?
Did we miss any Irish-developed indie games you love? Too drunk to play anything tonight? Let us know in the comments below!
