Welcome back to Dwayne's Indie Neighborhood (formerly "Dwayne's Indie Corner" because I thought it was funny at the time, but I prefer the chill pivot)! Today, I have three games to highlight to the Glizzy Ghouls out there! I've played two of them, and the third has an active Kickstarter as I write this. Let's get right into the festivities, shall we?

'Date Knight' Is An Oddball Mixture Of Visual Novel And Microgame Collection I Need Everyone To Support *Now*

I've somehow managed to retain an aura of mystery among my Glizzy cohorts. Outside of Shaun Freakin' Cichacki, nobody knows my gaming tastes. This is partially because my gamer palate is as unhinged as I am. Simply put, Date Knight is my kind of surrealist weirdo romp -- part visual novel, part microgame collection, and all insanity. As of this writing, mkg, the developer behind the game, has an active Kickstarter for their knightly rendezvous, gaining a little over $25,000 of its $26,200 goal! How could you resist the urge to knock helmets with other knights? ...And die a bunch in the process?

"Do you want to kiss knights? Do you want to suffer for your ambition? Don't you want to die for the sake of? To feel the blade pierce your chest? Form your entire identity from a sworn loyalty to something else? All in an attempt to just feel something, anything?" the campaign details. Come on, that's a pitch for the (middle) ages!

In the spirit of transparency, I would not have known about Date Knight if it weren't for Cass Marshall and the other wonderful folks over at Rogue! If you want a more intimate peek into the inner workings of the upcoming indie gem, please check out Rogue's interview with mkg. Top-tier content! And, yes, I do want love, death, and knights! Give Date Knight the final push it needs to be great, if you can!

'Dread Delusion' Feels Like I'm Doing A Bunch Of Drugs While Playing A High-Quality Bethesda Game

Dread Delusion is a wild-ass open-world RPG with a nostalgic feel and modern sensibilities. It's what I imagine it's like to jump into a pile of cocaine and just start snorting until your eyeballs fall out! Here, you have the benefit of robust exploration without all the busywork older RPGs are guilty of. The music is unsettling, the enemies are disgusting, and everything feels wrong in a "Yuck, I need to find out this world's secrets" sense.

Usually, I like a smooth-talking main character that only throws hands -- or spells -- if they absolutely must. You can imagine, then, the panic I experienced when infiltrating my first big stronghold with no strength points and a paltry "Teleport" spell that sends me back to base, looking foolish. I had to use stealth. Shanking guards and panic-throwing knives at bobbing heads when I was caught? Nirvana.

I will have to file a formal complaint over the lockpicking mechanic, though. Not because it's bad, but because my character couldn't pick locks worth a damn and forced me to walk through the main gates, where the bulk of enemy forces were ready to scrap. If you aren't a down-and-dirty sort of player, please invest in lockpicking. Trust me, you'll be grateful for this nugget of wisdom!

'Beyond Words' Is What Happens When 'Balatro' Meets 'Scrabble' To Create Indie Roguelike Bliss

Hear. Me. Out. On the surface, Beyond Words may appear to be an innocuous enough challenge. "It's Scrabble -- how crazy can it possibly get?" However, you have Goal Thresholds to cross, and you're only getting through them by being strategic with your tiles. Maybe that means bolstering your 3-letter words with Booster Packs that enhance their point value and multiplier potential. Or maybe you take a chance and buy a Power Card, allowing you to save yourself from certain doom.

I'm not kidding -- Beyond Words isn't for the weak! Balatro at least has the decency to give you the runway to be consistent from one run to the next. In Beyond Words, you're completing unpredictable challenges. All of which contain different starting tiles and board-based hurdles you must overcome. "Extreme Scrabble" may not be a "broad" sell, but it is the perfect pitch for my fellow dictionary demons out there with a competitive chip on their shoulder.

Seriously, I had to start recalling words I haven't said, written, or even thought about in years. I played "Ciao" and realized, "Wow, that is a word!" You could do worse than stimulating a few dusty, dormant brain cells and getting your vocabulary up in the process, right? That's (one of the many reasons) why we love indie games!