As part of its Geeked Week announcements, Netflix has revealed Hades, Death’s Door and Braid are coming to its game service.
Netflix Games is gradually building an enviable portfolio of fantastic indie games.
The service – which is including as part of a Netflix subscription – allows users to download games to their mobile phone. The current catalogue includes a bevy of bona fide indie classics, including Into the Breach, Immortality, Oxenfree II, Kentucky Route Zero and Moonlighter, in addition to games based on Netflix shows, such as The Queen’s Gambit Chess.
Now, Netflix has announced that the acclaimed indie titles Hades, Death’s Door and Braid: Anniversary Edition will be joining the roster.
Hades is undoubtedly the biggest announcement of the three. Supergiant’s fantastic roguelike won Game of the Year at the 2021 Game Developers Choice Awards, and Ian Dransfield awarded it a whopping 94% in Wireframe magazine’s review, saying “there’s nothing about Hades I don’t like”.
Death’s Door from Acid Nerve is another absolute banger, which I awarded 87% in my review back in 2021. I called it “The Legend of Zelda, but meaner”, and concluded that “the fact a tiny studio has created something that compares favourably with Nintendo’s finest is nothing short of a miracle”.
Finally, Braid: Anniversary Edition, which was announced last week, will be coming to Netflix Games in April. This new version of Jonathan Blow’s breakthrough 2008 platformer comes with 15 hours of director’s commentary in addition to enhanced graphics.
However, one thing that remains to be seen is how well these games will translate to a touchscreen. I can’t help thinking that Hades in particular might be tricky to play with your thumbs covering part of the screen, although there’s always the option of tethering a Bluetooth game controller to your phone.
Netflix appears to be ramping up its efforts in the games space. In addition to securing acclaimed indie titles for its mobile games roster, the company is apparently working on a ‘triple-A’ title headed by Halo designer Joseph Staten, and Netflix reportedly approached Rockstar about releasing a GTA title on its Netflix Games service.
Read more: Netflix is reportedly looking at releasing a Grand Theft Auto game
