Welcome to the first installment of DIC: Dwayne's Indie Corner! I'm following in a certain lad's footsteps and doing a little round-up of some cool indie game demos I played! At Glizzy, you can count on us to give you only the best of the best! (Or some other such slogan -- we have to meet and choose a corny marketing line to feed y'all.) If you see something you like here, please wishlist it on Steam. That's how these games receive visibility and momentum heading into their releases! And now? Our feature presentation.

I've Got 'Good News' For You -- This Chaotic Indie Beast Perfectly Portrays The Life Of A Stressed-Out Editor

Good News is developed by Augusto Salgado, and it was tailor-made for my neurotic ass. You're an editor of The Citizen, a newspaper you're trying to revitalize. Your job? Correcting writers' articles! With every article, you're given a Fact Sheet and a Wiki. If you adhere to the facts, you get readers. Mess up, and you'll lose 'em. Simple, yeah? Maybe, when you're dealing with one measly Crime section. But as the game progresses, you're entrusted with more sections. In the demo, I ended up with Crime, Sports, Entertainment, and Politics. Oh, and you have time-based deadlines while all of this is going on. I hope you're good at fast cross-referencing!

The CEO of The Citizen expects the paper to hit a certain readership threshold within a set number of days, or else you'll be joining me in the unemployment wilds! You can gain more readers beyond making sure you aren't peddling misinformation, though. You're able to alter the headlines of some articles, and a glance at a daily survey tells you how people feel about a specific subject. If your Crime article praises the police at a time when the majority of folks believe the police are corrupt? Not only do you miss the chance to get bonuses, but some of your writers might not like your "sensationalistic" tendencies. Meaning they'll be prone to messing up and giving you more to account for.

The funniest part is the cheery old-timey music constantly playing in the background. There you are, frantically flipping through Wiki pages, and the game relishes in taunting you every step of the way. It becomes therapeutic, especially if you already have a job full of unending chaos. Here, you at least won't actually get fired for not hitting arbitrary company milestones!

'Prime Monster' Is A Highly Strategic Roguelike Deckbuilder With The Personality To Match Its Looks (And Mechanics)

"Now that's what I call politics." -- Chopper Badstone, probably.

Prime Monster is basically everything I love in an indie game (or any other game, really): roguelike, deckbuilder, an abundance of strategy, and hilarity. Humans have been completely pushed out of society and replaced by monsters. The monsters then decide to do the one thing that makes the most sense when you find yourself with a societal blank canvas: adopt democracy! Now, would you be surprised to find out the new monster government sucks? That's where you come in!

For the demo, you only have one choice: my guy, Chopper Badstone, the leader of the Orcs-4-U Opposition party. Yeah, he's abrasive and maybe slightly corrupt, but you know something? He's got a few good ideas! He's the kind of guy you could see yourself having a drink with -- oh no. ANYWAY. You'll battle your political rivals in court, presided over by "Shrieker." Both you and your opponent have a set number of MPs (Monsters of Parliament) at your disposal. Your goal as the Opposition is to convince your party to vote to oppose the current administration's bills and, eventually, win over enough of the general public to win the next election and become Prime Monster!

Sorry, This Headline Is Only Here For Google -- INDIE, INDIE, INDIE, WE LOVE INDIES

You get to the top using Tactics, Cards, and Political Capital. Without overly explaining the game's mechanics, I'll one-two-skip a few and say: this is a roguelike deckbuilder masterclass in the making. With each card, you can either use its intended effects to unify your own party or destroy your opponents -- or, you could cash a card in to gain Political Capital, giving you access to your roster of totally-legal Tactics! The strategies run deep in ways I don't want to spoil for any curious players out there.

Unfortunately, the demo ends once (or if) you win the election. However, winning the election and becoming Prime Monster is a whole new ballgame full of new mechanics, promises, and hungry politicians vying for your spot. Please just trust me -- go download and play the Prime Monster demo immediately.

'Thank You For Your Application' Is 'Papers, Please' If 'Papers, Please' Wanted To Personally Hurt My Feelings

Thank You For Your Application is legit just Papers, Please with indie publisher No More Robots' signature anti-capitalism flair sprinkled on top! (Speaking of -- please play NORCO if you haven't. You're welcome!) Not to be confused with the other Thank You For Your Application! by Kaiju Ultimax, this experience -- even as a demo -- somehow nails the sordid energy of "capitalism is a cancer that ends up eating everyone." Instead of an Immigration Inspector, however, you're a Junior Interviewer for Aeropolis! Yay!

Aeropolis is the "big guy" on campus. If you ain't Aeropolis, you ain't shit. ...And even if you are Aeropolis, there's a whole bunch of red tape you must wade through to earn the coveted status of Employed. You're making sure resumes are up to snuff with all the proper credentials and supplementary documents. If someone has a sob story or feels the system is unfair, that's too bad. Should've followed the rules, buddy!

Despite the small sample, there's a lot of narrative heft on display. Thank You For Your Application is both horrifically topical and unapologetically honest. At a certain point, applicants must present Psychological Evaluations in case they're likely to have a breakdown on the job. Companies can't have that. "Workers' Rights?" Pfft. Work to Love, Love to Work!