For video games, the summer season kicker off with a double-header: the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, smack amid the three-day slew of game reveals that comprise Summer Game Fest (and its surrounding press conferences). But the most exciting games of the summer aren’t all Switch 2 ports or massive studio tentpoles. In fact, it’s the smaller games — the indies and the AA gems — that have captured most of Polygon’s attention.

From a management sim about temperamental clones to an open-world adventure in which you bike your way to saving the world, here are 11 under-the-radar games to watch out for this summer.

Release date: June 13 (out now!)
Where to play: PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox Series X

How well do you think you would enjoy working with a few radically different versions of yourself? That’s the question Jan Dolski is facing — that, and how he’s going to survive imminent death on a hostile world. In The Alters, Dolski is the sole survivor of a scientific expedition in search of a new element. Through survival and base-building gameplay, he, alongside the alternate versions of himself he brings to life, has to find a solution for survival while contending with how varied his life could have turned out if different choices were made.

Release date: July 1
Where to play: Windows PC

BloodRush: Undying Wish is like if Bloodborne met Crank, that offbeat 2006 Jason Statham action flick (stay with me here). It’s a hack-‘n’-slash roguelike where your character is constantly bleeding out during combat. You can increase your blood by killing enemies, so the gameplay is fast and frenetic; you’re constantly dashing around the battlefield like you need adrenaline to survive. So, Crank.........

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