The Summer Game Fest is a time for the major publishers to hype their latest blockbusters with the likes of “The Witcher 4” and “The Ghost of Yotei” amping up anticipation. Although those AAA titles will garner plenty of attention, smaller studios have a chance to shine with the “Day of the Devs”.
The event puts a spotlight on projects from smaller developers, which have more control over the games and are also more willing to take risks. Indie titles are where fans find innovative ideas when the run-of-the-mill blockbusters feel rote. Here are the games that impressed me most during the presentation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyQPc1i4Rpo“Big Walk” by House House — The developer behind the “Untitled Goose Game” has a new project with a simple premise. It’s an open-world game, where a group of friends explore a curious environment, but there’s major limitation. It has a proximity chat.
That means if someone wanders off they can become lost and unable to communicate because no one will be able to find them if they’re not close by. That leads to novel ways of play as players have to use items like signs or flare guns to communicate from afar. The goal of the game is to find ways to get a message across when there are obstacles to do that.
It reminds me of playing a game as if it were the 1990s, a time before smartphones. I think of it as a “Seinfeld”-simulator. It’s scheduled for release in 2026.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGjSjN4iYlQ“Blighted” by Drinkbox Studio — This project is described as a hard-core action Metroidvania in a psychedelic Western nightmare. It takes place in a world where a civilization developed through a sacred ritual in which a seed is planted in a brain when someone dies, and a tree grows from it. The fruit that it bears contains the memories of the person who died.
But the villain, Soristo, has decided to eat the brains before that happens, defiling the ceremony and creating a blight. It’s up to players to defeat them and regain the lost memories. It’s Drinkbox’s first foray into three-dimensional environments, and it features co-op gameplay and a dynamic difficulty system. Like its other games, it’s unlike anything else out there. The team hopes to have a playable demo later this year on PC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Av9DJexkp8“Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault” by Digital Sun — The shopkeeping and rogue-lite mashup was a revelation when it was released in 2018. The game follows a simple gameplay loop. Players delve into dungeons and collect loot and sell those items in their shop in order to obtain better gear.
The sequel moves away from the pixelated look of the original as the developers have shifted to polygons for a more beautiful world. The developers also said combat has been vastly improved with a better mix of enemies while maintaining the rogue-lite gameplay that rewards players for clearing rooms. In addition, the team has added perks to the shop-keeping element, so boosts don’t just happen during runs.
“Moonlighter 2” is scheduled to release this summer on Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and PC.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgPxPfXb734“Relooted” by Nyamakop — Few games have a real-life call to action. Players run through the adventure, enjoy it and put it down, but this heist title from the South African-based team works a little differently. “Relooted” puts players in the role of “Ocean’s Eleven”-type team that seeks to repatriate artifacts taken from Africa.
Players case the locale, they plan out how to steal the piece and then they execute that plan in hopes of taking back the treatures items while avoiding capture. “Relooted” features 70 real-life artifacts and highlights the issue of many works today. They are in Western collections and many from their country of origin want them back.
The game is coming to PC and Xbox Series X and S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_EZZgGH5U“Thick as Thieves” by Otherside Entertainment — Legendary game creator Warren Spector’s new game puts players in the shoes of burglars who are each after their own target. What makes this title different from other games is that they’re thrown in with other real-life players who have their own agendas.
That means players not only have to deal with computer-controlled adversaries, but they’ll also have to outsmart other players, who could chaos a ruckus, set traps or interfere with a goal. It has the potential to be a smarter stealth game that requires more from players.
The game is coming to PC.