This promising indie action-RPG knows the joys of downtime, and it looks lovely

It turns out upcoming indie sensation Dungeons of Hinterberg will incorporate downtime into its gameplay - with stat bonuses in tow.

If you haven't heard of Dungeons of Hinterberg, that's understandable, considering it was only just announced last month in June at Xbox's E3-adjacent showcase. The cel-shaded indie immediately caught attention with its announcement trailer though, and in our Dungeons of Hinterberg preview, we hailed it as one game you need to keep an eye on into 2024.

Now, Dungeons of Hinterberg has unveiled a new side of its action-packed gameplay: downtime. The screenshots from developer Microbird Games below show that we can do activities like taking a trip to the cinema or going on a boat ride to increase the stats of our hero in the new adventure, which should provide a breath of fresh air from slicing and dicing monsters.

Taking a boat trip, for example, will boost our Relaxation and Strength stats. That former stat teases that downtime could dictate how prepared we are to face the dungeon-crawling aspect of Dungeons of Hinterberg, which will no doubt follow on from periods of chill time.

Admittedly, these social sim features were revealed when Dungeons of Hinterberg previews went live last month around the time of Summer Game Fest 2023. Amidst all the buzz from bigger games, though, it was easy to overlook these features, and indie gems like Dungeons of Hinterberg always deserve their time in the spotlight.

Dungeons of Hinterberg is set to launch at some point next year in 2024, exclusively for PC.

You'll want to check out our upcoming indie games guide for a look over some of the other smaller darlings to keep an eye on.