Riffs on GoldenEye 007, Star Fox and Kingdom Hearts, and other new indie games worth checking out

Plus, a dog game, a cat game, a sheep game and a Marathon-esque cyberpunk mystery.

Chuhai Labs/Balor Games Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As ever, we've got some new games for you to check out this weekend, as well as a peek at some upcoming titles.

There's been so much doom and gloom in the video game industry over the last few years (and with good reason, given the many layoffs and studio closures ). So, I thought we could get things started on a positive note for a change by celebrating a few success stories.

Nothing's beating Grand Theft Auto VI , but I would not be shocked at all if Meccha Chameleon ended up as the second best-selling game of 2026. It's the biggest indie success story this year so far, having sold more than 20 million copies in just two months. If it keeps up this momentum, it could crack the list of the 50 top-selling video games in history .

Meccha Chameleon is essentially a hide-and-seek party game. Hiding players have a blank canvas of a white humanoid figure to work with. They can paint their character to blend in with their surroundings and try to troll the seekers. That's a great recipe for having fun with friends.

A different kind of party game is doing well too. Machine Party (from Buckshot Roulette creator Mike Klubnika and co-developer GDeavid) is a more violent take on the genre, in which losing a mini-game against your friends can spell a gory demise. It has sold over a million copies since its debut at the end of July, and the developers have just added a couch co-op mode .

Two of the games I covered in last week's roundup are off to a flying start as well. Big Walk reached the 1 million sales mark in six days, while the delightful ReStory saw more than 300,000 sales in its first week.

Developer/publisher: Replicant D6 Platform: Steam (Windows) Price: $21.64, with an 11 percent discount until August 25

Oddly, a bunch of new games that are heavily inspired by '90s/2000s classics arrived all at once. Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a game that very clearly takes its cue from GoldenEye 007 . The blocky visuals look pretty similar to those from the Nintendo 64 game. Even the way the weapons sway looks familiar. I love that you can take down an enemy with a karate chop as well. There's split-screen multiplayer and an online option, so you can jump in with friends and switch on settings such as slow bullets and a Big Head mode. Fun!

Solo developer Replicant D6 has been working on Agent 64: Spies Never Die for over five years. It looks like a proper tribute to Rare's all-timer, as well as the likes of Perfect Dark and other first-person shooters from that era.

Developer: Chuhai Labs Publisher: Balor Games Platforms: Steam (Windows; Steam Deck Verified; demo available), PS5 , Xbox Series X/S, Xbox on PC . Coming to Switch this fall. Price: $15

Here's another sort-of blast from the past in the form of Wild Blue Skies , an on-rails shooter that looks pretty similar to a certain series Nintendo revived recently . This ode to Star Fox has a rad anime-style look and virtual teammates for you to work with, protect and perhaps be entertained by thanks to some banter.