Dinos with swords, making music with gnomes and other new indie games worth checking out Plus, email as turn-based combat (which is really just regular email). Welcome to our latest roundup of what's going on in the indie game space. As always, we're here to tell you about a bunch of new games you can check out this weekend.

I was even able to set my beloved Poinpy aside for long enough to try one. Expect some news on upcoming games as well. There are so many neat-looking games out this week.

I'll keep this intro relatively brief so I can squeeze more in. There was some intriguing news from The Video Game History Foundation this week. The organization unveiled a collection of materials from decades of E3, including flyers, press kits, panel transcripts and videos from the event's first few years, long before the press conferences streamed live over the internet.

Those videos include the only-known footage of the Sega Saturn's reveal and Sony announcing the price of the original PlayStation (both from the 1995 edition). This isn't necessarily directly related to indie games, though some are mentioned in the E3 materials. I just find this all fascinating.

It's important to preserve this important chunk of video game history. Plus, it's wild how low-key Sony's 1995 E3 press conference was compared with the splashy productions of modern video game events. New indie game releases Dinoblade Developer: Team Spino Publishers: Team Spino, Boltray Games Platform: Steam (Windows; playable on Steam Deck) Price: Usually $20, with a 10 percent discount until July 30 A pair of comments on a Reddit thread for this trailer sums up just why video games are the best.

"This looks stupid as all f***," one user said. In a reply, another wrote "Dude I know right, it's awesome." Love that. Dinoblade began life as a meme.

It has its roots in a short animation that Jean Nguyen, a senior animator for Sucker Punch, created of a Spinosaurus delivering a devastating combo with a sword that's not unlike the one Cloud uses in Final Fantasy VII. Nguyen shared the clip on Twitter/X in 2022. It blew up, and Nguyen decided to make a full game.

Spinosaurus full combo attack animation pic.twitter.com/i1KmyAmtIZ — Jean Nguyen (@JeanAnimate) August 11, 2022 Dinoblade is an action RPG that casts you in the role of said Spinosaurus with a sword in its gob. It sets out to prevent the extinction of its species (I wonder how that'll ultimately pan out?). Enemy dinosaurs wield weapons, and you can summon the souls of vanquished bosses to help you out in combat.

The general consensus seems to be that Dinoblade is both janky and fun, and that it has slick combat. At a time when the market is flooded with Soulslikes, it's refreshing to see one with such a bizarre concept, especially given that it seems to sort of work. My only complaint, without actually having played the game yet, is that I cannot really fathom why it isn't called Dinosword.

Offbeat (early access) Developer: Whetstone Games Publisher: Pantaloon Platform: Steam (Windows) Price: Usually $12, with a 10 percent discount until August 1 While playing Offbeat, I quickly realized I'd forgotten how to actually make music outside of fiddling around with a guitar.