Innovative RPGs aren't unearthed often enough. When they do come along, as in the case of Toby Fox's UnderTale, they are such a joy to share. Sharp writing, engaging puzzles, and fresh battle systems makes UnderTale a triple threat, even in its demo state.

No matter what you've read about the newly-unveiled Xbox One, I'll wager you haven't seen much mention of the role of indie developers on the new console.
The reveal event bigged up plenty of consumer features that may well have whetted appetites, but when it came to talking to the people who can make or break a games platform -- the developers -- there was barely any mention of what devs should be looking forward to.

Dig deeper, and you'll find that the future for indies on Xbox consoles isn't looking any smoother than it has been before. As with the Xbox 360, Microsoft has confirmed that developers cannot self-publish on the Xbox One, and must release their game through a publishing deal either with Microsoft Game Studios or a third-party.

If Xbox does end up walling up its garden even more, it is potentially blocking out the same developers who have been reshaping the landscape of the video game industry. If mobile and PC have taught us anything the last few years, a platform holder needs to acquire a critical mass of content creators by providing them with the means to try new ideas, giving them the venue to distribute, and do its best to curate the best games. And guess what, "triple-A" and "indie" are proven to coexist in harmony on such platforms.

Noticed on Twitter, Quarantine is the first released game by John T. (Crono Maniac). It would have been a great fit for Ludum Dare 26. It's a minimalist, mysterious little puzzle-platformer with a cool twist. There appears to be a sinister narrative suggested by the game and its title, but nothing is explained in the game--not even the gameplay. You awaken trapped in a large room, encased in a chamber of red blocks. Other blocks in the room are blue and transparent. One of the giant lamps that woke you up is pulsing, as if beckoning you.

Crypt of the NecroDancer developer Ryan Clark shares tips on netting big-time indie developers and lessons he's learned from shipping 10 games, in this final part of our interview.

Blake Fix, designer of the excellent Walker and the upcoming Omulus, announced the release of his latest project, (my) Life as a Game (designer). He describes it as "a minigame that is supposed to convey the frustration of life's distractions while trying to complete a project", but it is so much more. While it does convey tedium and frustration, it does so with wit and style, while employing a surprisingly intricate game system.

Microsoft has all but completely failed to acknowledge independent development in the course of unveiling its new console, the Xbox One. But what it has said isn't too inspiring.

Speaking with ShackNews, Microsoft's general manager of Redmond Game Studios and Platforms, Matt Booty, confirmed that developers can't go solo on the new console.

"We intend to continue to court developers in the ways that we have," says Booty, meaning that Microsoft will continue to require game developers to submit through a publisher, as they have in the existing Xbox Live.

However, Booty adds that Microsoft will "continue to explore new business models and new ways of surfacing content."

It's really simple actually. If the Rythos RPG Builder gets kickstarted it vows to become a freeware, open-source, cross-platform RPG creation kit, that will offer a ton of options and enough versatility to cover all genre needs. Apparently quite a bit of work has already been done on it already and, seeing as this will become a thing for the community, chipping in would be the nice thing to do.

These Robotic Hearts of Mine and Traal developer Draknek/Alan Hazelden has released a short but clever puzzler for iOS, Android, and Blackberry today. Dr. Biology's Educational Game is an exercise in splitting and moving cells until they cover all the gaps. Simply drag the cells where you want them to move, and they will split upon moving. That's not all there is to it, but that should be enough to get you going!

Swofl, developer of the exceptionally creepy indie classic Lasting, has delivered a new horror game of a different flavor. Super Product Line, or SPL, is an 8-bit styled survival horror game created for the NESFAN Game Jam. It's a bit like what Resident Evil might have been on the NES, but with a sense of humor.

With upcoming console Xbox One, the Xbox Marketplace will no longer offer a distinction between retail, Arcade and Xbox Live Indie Games -- instead, all titles will be available under the same banner.

Talking to Eurogamer, Microsoft's Phil Harrison explained that where the Xbox 360 offers separate channels for the different types of games on offer for the console, the Xbox One will instead bring them all together.

"In the past we had retail games which came on disc, we had Xbox Live Arcade and we had Indie Games, and they had their own discrete channels or discrete silos," he noted. "With Xbox One and the new marketplace, they're games. We don't make a distinction between whether a game is a 50-hour RPG epic or whether it is a puzzle game or whether it is something that fits halfway between the two."

Essentially, users will be able to search through all the available games for the Xbox One together rather than sifting through individual channels.