This weekend I had the honor of playing a new indie platformer game called Miracle Mia.

I’ll be honest in saying that I typically don’t seek out platformers to play in my free time, but when Donald W. Boose IV, independent developer of Shademare Studio, reached out to me about reviewing his game, I was thrilled. I felt relevant, for one, and I was also excited to branch out from what has become my normal rotation of games (The Sims, Roblox, etc).

Playing indie games has created some of my favorite experiences. I love finding them and playing them, but I especially enjoy supporting the hard work and the stories behind them — because there’s always a story. As someone who wishes they knew where to even begin in development, indie developers put themselves out there and produce some true gems.

Donald originally created Miracle Mia over a weekend during a Game Jam in 2015. From there, it grew into a project he put his heart and soul into. With an incredible soundtrack and brilliantly colored scenery and an added bonus of wonderful voice acting, I immediately fell in love with this game.

I’m only one chapter in so far, but I already can’t wait to play more. The “tennis-based combat system” featured in Miracle Mia is unique and seriously fun. You should definitely see it for yourself.

Here’s my first video playing Miracle Mia, and there will definitely be more to follow. I hope you enjoy! And a big thank you to Shademare Studio for allowing me to play with a review code. I also recommend following Shademare on Twitter.