[INDIE PICK 3] Vol. 1 by Shuhei Yoshida
2025.04.11
With INDIE Live Expo 2025.4.13 just around the corner, we’re counting down the final days until the big event!
As always, the show will feature over 100 carefully curated indie games from around the world.
To help you enjoy the program even more, we’ve put together a special series called INDIE PICK 3, where we ask guests and industry insiders to share a few indie titles currently on their radar.
Kicking off the first installment is none other than Shuhei Yoshida, former Head of Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Indies Initiative, who also joined us as a guest on the previous INDIE Live Expo.
Former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios.
A driving force behind the Indies Initiative at SIE, Yoshida has supported indie developers for nearly three decades during his time at the company. Even after stepping down from SIE in 2025, he continues to be deeply involved in games. He’s previously shared a message and joined us as a guest at INDIE Live Expo.
(You can find him on X here →https://x.com/yosp)
Let’s jump in—here are Shuhei Yoshida’s top indie games he’s watching!
Shuhei Yoshida’s Top 3 Indie Picks
If you’ve ever played Getting Over It on your phone or PC, you already know the struggle—and the reward—of simply moving forward. That feeling of hard-earned progress is at the heart of Baby Steps, the latest title from the creator of Getting Over It.
You play as a man who’s just discovered a special ability: he can walk by deliberately moving one leg after the other. With careful coordination—right, left, right, left—you’ll slowly climb your way toward the mountaintop. But just when you think you’ve got it down… a single slip sends you tumbling off a cliff. Embrace the despair.
Your goal in this puzzle adventure is to reach the mysterious Room 46 of a mansion that seems to contain only 45 rooms. After clearing each room, you’ll choose one of three floor plans to determine the next room’s layout, inching deeper into the house, one space at a time.
Each room is filled with puzzles, traps, and useful (or useless) items—but if you run out of keys or hit a dead end, your journey ends for the day. The next day, the entire layout resets and you begin again from room one. With every attempt, the deeper mystery of the story unfolds.
A one-of-a-kind concept—Blue Prince might just be 2025’s most mind-bending indie.
Do you like cute mascots? How about running a mascot talent agency that books them for events? Sound appealing?
You play as the heir to a fallen yakuza clan, tasked with running a struggling mascot agency to repay the family’s debts and rebuild your reputation. Sound fulfilling? We think so.
Set in rural Kyushu, this quirky adventure is packed with oddball characters—and rumor has it Shuhei Yoshida himself voices a guest character. Slightly embarrassing, perhaps? It may even become an amusing chapter in his otherwise distinguished career!
And that wraps up our first installment of INDIE PICK 3, featuring none other than Shuhei Yoshida and the indie games currently on his radar!
What kind of Shuhei Yoshida will appear in Promise Mascot Agency? We’re dying to know!!!
There are two more rounds of PICK 3 coming ahead of the INDIE Live Expo 2025.4.13 broadcast, so stay tuned—you might just discover your next favorite indie game!
【Check out other people’s PICK3!】