Welcome to Indie Watch, a regular feature here at P2 where our Editorial team take it in turns to highlight 2 or 3 Indie titles that have them excited. It is our chance to show off some games that you may have missed and a way to help boost the things we love most about the industry. Join us each week for a new edition.
Indie Watch - Under Par: Golf Architect & Beyond Words
Beyond Words
Developer: Mindfuel Games
Release Date: 10 April 2026
Format: PC/PS5/Xbox/Switch
Buy Beyond Words Here:
When you see the words “From the creators of GoldenEye & TimeSplitters,” you probably don’t expect to get a roguelike built around Scrabble, but Beyond Words is exactly that. Steve Ellis and Dr David Doak, two of the minds behind those classic FPS titles, have once again joined forces to release a game, and it is something that is truly out of left field considering their background. Luckily, though, it seems that their talent is undeniable, irrespective of genre, because Beyond Words is an absolute winner.
Built around the classic Scrabble gameplay, Beyond Words adds Balatro-style elements to the mix as players aim to reach a goal score in as few moves as possible. As players progress, more upgrades, boosts and letters are added to the mix as they chase increasingly higher scores. Win 12 rounds on a particular board, and you have cleared it, and you can then move on to the next one. Throw into the mix persistent unlocks that add new boosts and the random nature of the letter draw, and you have a game that will keep you coming back again and again just to beat that tricky score that has been taunting you. It is seriously addictive stuff and the sort of game I can see staying on my handheld PC for a long time to come. If you ever enjoyed Words with Friends or would like a different spin on Balatro, this is the game for you.
Under Par: Golf Architect
Developer: Broken Arms Games
Release Date: 17th April 2026
Format: PC/Switch 2/PS5/Xbox
Buy Under Par: Golf Architect here:
Do you remember the absolute classic Sim Golf? Well, it appears that Broken Arms Games does, because this is about as close to a sequel as we are ever going to get. Much like Two Point Hospital and Theme Hospital, Under Par: Golf Architect takes the classic Sim Golf and updates it for the modern era, bringing in some genre norms and basically letting people re-live the good old days on a modern system.
As the name suggests, the game has you designing and running a series of golf courses as you try to attract players and members to raise money. There is a really robust course editor here, and while it isn’t quite as chock full of humour as the Two Point games are, it is close. Each course has different goals that earn players up to three stars, and as the game progresses, the challenges get quite difficult. There is a real sense of satisfaction in creating the perfect mix of challenge and accessibility that a good course requires, and it is the sort of thing that I could lose hours to. You can also play golf on any course you have created, and while it is a nice feature, the implementation is a bit rough. PGA 2K, this is not. That said, the real joy is the management side of things here, and that alone is well worth your time.
