Indie Games Explosion at PAX East 2015!
Welcome to Indie Spotlight!
Earlier this month I had the pleasure of experiencing my third PAX East in Boston. So naturally, I had to spend some time checking out the Indie MegaBooth, a huge chunk of the expo hall dedicated solely to indie developers! Like my MAGFest review, here’s a compilation of as many indie titles as I could visit!
(Note: There were many devs outside of the MegaBooth area, and I regret to exclude them, but I had to prioritize my time!)
Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
You are in control of a subway system, and it’s up to you to get your passengers to where they need to be. Map out tracks and paths, use your trains as efficiently as you can, and play until you can’t handle the rush any longer! Projected release ~July.
Downwell (Ojiro Fumoto)
You can move sideways, you can jump, and while in midair you can shoot downwards. Use this to travel as deep as you can, well, down a well. Get it? A simple setup with a great art style makes for a fun experience.
Dead Pixels II (CSR Studios)
This is a side-scrolling, randomly generated beat-em-up (much like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game) with zombies! I really can’t ask for more than that.
Planet of the Eyes (Cococucumber)
You are a lone robot that survived a crash landing, and it’s on you to explore and puzzle your way through an unknown planet. Eerie and stylized like Limbo!
Homesick (Lucky Pause)
This is a mystery puzzle game, where your nightmares act as a parallel world to your own (think Soul Reaver). What you do in either world affects the other. (Note: NOT a horror game, like Amnesia. This game is for the story and the experience!) Homesick comes out in June and is available on Steam Greenlight!
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
Here’s a group trying to make the best of the Oculus Rift. One player enters the virtual world with a time bomb. A friend has the manual in real life. One doesn’t know what the other sees. It’s up to the two of you to keep it from exploding!
Renowned Explorers (Abbey Games)
Enjoy a text-based adventure that takes you around the world for hidden treasures. Engage in hex-based combat that ties seemlessly with the environment. Don’t like to fight and kill? You can charm, sneak and scare your way to the gold! (From the creators of Reus!)
Kwaan (Ankama Canada)
Here we have an online adventure game where all players co-exist on a remote island. Work together to keep a sentient tree happy, because if not his sorrow seeps into, and inevitably destroys, the world! Kwaan is available on Steam Early Access this month.
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base)
This is a 1- or 2-player co-op action game, where you man a crazy spaceship and survive in a randomly generated universe. Weapons, shields and engines are all controlled from separate stations on the ship, so you’ll have to prioritize!
Mayan Death Robots (Sileni Studios)
Select your robotic avatar and go head-to-head with a friend to become the better tribe! You can build and destroy the arena in real-time, as well as upgrade your robot between matches. On occasion, you’ll have to join forces against the real Mayan gods, who will not tolerate your blasphemy!
Tumblestone (The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild)
This is a casual competitive multiplayer game, where up to four players race to solve a block puzzle. You must remove blocks in matching sets of three (by color), but you can only take them away from the bottom up!
Flamingo! (Radiostatic)
A Mexican standoff done right. Simultaneously place bandits on the board, aiming for banks or enemy bandits. Everyone fires at once. Whoever ends up with the bigger haul is the winner!
Flamingo! is on Steam Greenlight.
Just Shapes & Beats (Berzerk Studio)
You know I love music-based games; this was my personal favorite of the weekend. Up to four players control shapes, and your job is to avoid anything pink on the screen. All of the pink moves, grows and explodes to the beat of the music. The best part is the dev team focuses on getting INDIE music into the game!
Sentris (Timbre Interactive)
Have you ever wanted to try your hand at composing music? Sentris gives you a creative interface to do just that! Place sections of sound on a circular track and listen to your creation in real time. Very easy to pick up and engaging from the first note!
We Are Doomed (Vertex Pop)
Here’s a brand new arcade twinstick shooter! Use a giant laserbeam to destroy waves of neon baddies and get that high score!
Vote on Steam Greenlight, and it’s also available on Xbox One and PS4.
Nuclear Throne (Vlambeer)
Select from a roster of unique characters and go on an 8-bit combat spree to claim the throne of a post-apocalyptic world. You get dozens of character mutations and twice as many weapons to make every run one-of-a-kind!
Titan Souls (Acid Nerve)
This one’s for all Shadow of the Colossus fans! You have one hit point. You have one arrow. You must fight bosses. GO! (Don’t worry, you can pick up or retrieve your arrow with telekinesis.)
Catlateral Damage (Fire Hose Games)
If you have ever dreamed of being a cat (don’t lie, you know you have), look no further! This is a first-person destructive simulator that has you knocking everything in the house onto the ground. Time attack to the extreme!
Lovely Planet (quicktequila)
Here’s a colorful first-person shooter that has you shooting baddies and jumping through five worlds with secrets to discover. Its story is so abstract you’ll just have to try it for yourself to find out!
Grim Dawn (Crate Entertainment)
This is a must-try for any action RPG fan (like Diablo). Join one of eleven factions, gain the favor of allies (or the spite of nemeses), and fulfill quests to shape your world. There are consequences — what you choose to do affects the world and people around you as you progress.
Enter the Gungeon (Dodge Roll)
Here’s a bullet hell dungeon crawler that has you shooting, dodging and looting your way to a legendary gun that can kill the past. Fast-paced action and a crazy roster of weapons will keep you waging war for hours.
Interloper (Monogon Games)
Here’s a beautiful real-time strategy game where you control a Sentinel (think of it as your commander) and a series of drones. You compete with enemy factions in claiming the land around you by spreading your respective color. You can play friends or AI of varying difficulty, and matches only take a few minutes each!
Move or Die (Those Awesome Guys LLC)
This is a fast-paced multiplayer party game that involves a variety of levels, each with their own goals/rules. Race your friends and stay alive, for if you stop moving, you explode! There’s a free demo on their website.
Forced 2: The Rush (Betadwarf)
I had never really considered what you get when you mix deck building, rogue-like and arena combat, but now I don’t have to. Forced 2 lets you customize an arsenal to equip your champion on the field of battle. Available now on Steam.
Prismata (Lunarch Studios)
Engage in real-time strategy within the ease and comfort of a digital card game. Generate resources, build defenses and overrun your opponent before they take you out first!
Telepath Tactics (Sinister Design)
Here we have a good ol’ turn-based RPG where everything in the environment can be used and abused. Crush rocks, kick enemies off cliffs, what have you – but bewarned, they’re smart enough to do the same… Telepath Tactics is available on April 16 for PC.
Viking Squad (Slick Entertainment)
I can’t get enough of beat-em-ups! Here’s a lane-based brawler a la Castle Crashers that’s all about Viking ferocity. Grab some friends and conquer!
The Masterplan (Shark Punch)
Aside from an awesome name, Shark Punch brings you a tactical action game like the Fallout games of old, in which you conduct a series of heists in the 1970s. It’s available on Steam Early Access now, so check it out!
The Magic Circle (Question Games)
This is a first-person adventure that allows you to “edit” the world around you, literally. Take a mushroom and give it the ability to float. Make a wild dog your pet, or just remove its mouth so it can’t harm you. Do whatever your mind comes up with!
Black ICE (Super Duper Garrett Cooper)
This one’s for all you cyberpunks out there. Enter a procedurally generated digital world and hack into any secret you wish. Servers and firewalls will fight back with drones and countermeasures. Will you have what it takes to win?
SpeedRunners (Double Dutch)
You can almost think of this one as competitive parkour. It’s an expansion of the original SpeedRunner with cut-throat multiplayer. Use grappling hooks, traps and powerups to beat your opponents to the finish line!
Rive (Two Tribes)
Take control of a little spider robot and hack/shoot your way through levels of puzzles, baddies and intense action. The pace is exciting and the graphics are stunning!
Swords & Soldiers 2 (Ronimo Games)
Control one of three factions in a side scrolling tug of war! Send out fighters to push the enemy back, collect random treasure and bolster up your defenses. You can also cast big spells to turn the tide in your favor and deploy legendary heroes with crazy abilities! Only available on Wii U.
