Indie developers are breathing new life into the underrated immersive sim

When Arkane Austin was shut down by Microsoft, many gamers wondered wistfully if this was the end of the immersive AAA sim. While that legacy lives on through projects like Wolfeye Studios’ upcoming sci-fi RPG, the genre is absolutely thriving in the indie scene. Recently we’ve noticed an explosion of intriguing, ambitious and fascinating immersive sims from smaller developers that take the best parts of classics like the iconic Deus Ex, PreyAnd Dishonored.

These games are built around player choice and take place in complex and busy environments. The player typically has a variety of skills and strategies, such as brute force, hacking or social manipulation. For example, while investigating a suspicious company executive, a player can sneak into his office through air vents and hack into his work PC. Or perhaps they socially manipulate a nervous secretary into gaining access. Or maybe they find the director at home and harass him.

It takes a lot of work for a developer to build a world complex enough to accommodate all these choices, but when it all comes together it’s a unique, satisfying experience.

Shadows of doubt was released in early access in 2023; the game celebrated its 1.0 launch on September 26. In Shadows of doubtyou’re a private detective in a dystopian 80s noir voxel town. I’m called to murder scenes, where I search for information: fingerprints, shoe prints, receipts, recent phone calls. As I follow up on leads, look at places to work, and talk to friends, I slowly build a board of all my leads.

I follow connections with a red string and refine the clues until I finally find the killer. Shadows of doubt doesn’t have the same narrative heft as other titles, as every city and citizen is procedurally generated – but I’ve rarely felt as satisfied as when I finally solve a tough case. The procedural generation is unusual for immersive sims, but the sheer scale of the city makes the system work well. Sometimes it takes hours of scanning a building for faulty fingerprints, or a complicated series of jobs to hack into a computer system with a camera pointed at the crime scene – but that just makes solving the case all the more fun.

On September 24 Ctrl-Alt Ego was released on consoles; the game originally launched on PC in 2022. Ctrl-Alt Ego positions you as a ghost in the shell, a sci-fi poltergeist jumping between bots and devices. To navigate the space station, players must use both brute force and clever tactics. I often get frustrated with puzzle games because there’s only one way to solve things, and I don’t know how, so I bang my head against the wall. Ctrl-Alt Ego is much more flexible – and when push comes to shove, I have a shotgun to overwhelm any obstacles in my path.

Corpus Edax is a wildly inventive and ambitious immersive sim along the lines of Deus Exmade by one person. The physics and how they play in melee combat are a major highlight of this game; you can pick up props and throw them at enemies, which are wildly ragdoll. During my first playthrough, I tried to opt for social skills and hacking, and I quickly realized that subtle methods pale in comparison to the power of kicking a guy in the face.

While Corpus Edax starts off on a very strong note, there’s an illusion of choice in the early game that really never pays off in the way that other immersive sims do. However, it’s a promising game that harkens back to an earlier era – it’s the closest we’ve come to a new take on the classic Deus Ex formula you can get your hands on. I also like lurking on rooftops and throwing rocks at the heads of patrolling thugs.

If sci-fi is a turn-off and you prefer something more gothic and somber, then Gloomwood will probably be your cup of tea. Gloomwood Set in a Victorian city full of gruesome citizens and newborn monsters. Stealth is your most valuable ally, aside from your cane sword and your six-shot revolver. Gloomwood has been in early access since 2022, so the game isn’t complete yet, but the depth of the existing systems means there’s already a lot to discover.

Immersive sims are complex games that require a lot of love and handcrafted details, but as the barrier to entry for game creation lowers, developers can dedicate themselves to meeting that challenge. Cruelty squad is ugly, unpolished, and still one of the best indie immersive sims in recent memory. Corpus Edax was made by one person, Ctrl-Alt Ego by two.

While we may not get a sequel to the big-budget Dishonored games anytime soon, the immersive sim is still thriving. Like the horror genre, the genre is being renewed and reinvigorated by indie developers making bold choices. Taking advantage of features like early access, games like Shadows of doubt And Gloomwood can test the complex choices with players. With today’s tools, even small (or solo) teams can create massive sandboxes and expansive cities for players to explore. There is still an appetite for this style of game and indie developers are rising to the challenge.