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Gamereactor's indie discoveries from PAX East 2018

A busy week in Boston saw us discover a bunch of interesting upcoming indie titles.

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A show like PAX East in Boston offers a wealth of games, and it's a challenge to even see half of them during the four days the doors are open. But after walking the show floor, interviewing developers and checking out and playing a huge number of titles, we picked out a bunch that we hadn't seen before or that really impressed us out of the vast number of indie titles on display.

Blazing Chrome
PC (and consoles potentially)
Developer: Joy Masher Publisher: The Arcade Crew

French publisher Dotemu and their new label The Arcade Crew drew a lot of attention to their booth at PAX East with two indie titles, Dark Devotion (with the catch line "Dark Souls of 2D Dark Souls") and the Contra-inspired Blazing Chrome. The later offered adrenaline-fueled 8-direction arcade action with an interesting retro look (the game even adheres to the colour limitations of the Sega Mega Drive, so not even Super Nintendo amounts here). It's hard to judge most games on a busy show floor like the one at PAX East after just a few minutes, but Blazing Chrome immediately captured our attention with its furious pace.

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Projection: First Light
PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Developer: Shadowplay Studios Publisher: Blowfish

Shadow puppets may not have inspired many video games, but if you think about it they are a very good fit for a video game and this is something that Shadowplay Studios has picked up on. Having studied various shadow puppet traditions, Shadowplay Studios settled on a mix of Polynesian traditions as inspiration for Project: First Light. The main mechanic here is to move a light source in order to create shadows so that you can make your way from left to right, a physics puzzler of a different ilk in other words.

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The King's Bird
PC and consoles
Developer: Serenity Forge Publisher: Graffiti Games

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There are a few things that can help ease the frustration we sometimes feel when playing precision platformers. Instant respawns is one. Beautiful easy-to-read visuals is another. The King's Bird features both, making it easy to see yourself trying to clear each screen over and over until we manage to progress. The developers at Serenity Forge call The King's Bird a momentum platformer as you'll need to expertly glide and use your momentum to gain altitude and progress through the levels.

Gamereactor's indie discoveries from PAX East 2018

The Gardens Between
PC, PS4
Developer: The Voxel Agents

We did see The Gardens Between at Sony's pre-show during Paris Games Week, sure, but we got a closer look at the time manipulation puzzle game about friendship in Boston, and we really liked what we saw. The word "gimmick" has a somewhat negative connotation in games, but the gimmick here is that you don't actually control the characters on screen, but rather the flow of time. That's not what we'd call a negative feature, and to top it off it looks gorgeous and the theme of friendship is one that typically translates really well in video games.

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Decay of Logos
PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
Developer: Amplify Creations Publisher: Rising Star Games

We had somehow missed Decay of Logos until we stumbled across it in the Rising Star Games booth at PAX East. Our mistake. Even if we had very little time with it on the show floor, it immediately caught our eye thanks to its stylised and slightly cartoony visuals. A Zelda-inspired adventure inspired by Norse mythology and high-fantasy certainly doesn't sound like a terrible idea. We may have only gotten a brief glimpse, but it's on our radar now.

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Phogs
PC and consoles
Developer: Bit Loom Publisher: Coatsink

Since we've known about Keita Takahashi's (Katamari Damacy, Noby Noby Boy) next game Wattam for some time now, it couldn't qualify for this discoveries piece. Instead, we picked the closest thing to it that we came across on the show floor, Phogs (short for Physics Dogs, but it could also have been called DogDog). The premise is simple, two dog heads are connected via an elastic body (maybe it should have been called DogSnakeDog), and together they must solve puzzles by gripping objects with their mouths, moving around and extending their highly flexible connective tissue. It's the sort of game that's great when you get into a co-operative flow and work well together with someone, but it's just as much fun when you fail and physical comedy ensues.

Gamereactor's indie discoveries from PAX East 2018

Genesis Noir
PC
Developer: Feral Cat Den Publisher: Surprise Attack

It's not unusual for somewhat superficially highlight games with a striking visual style at games conventions, and Genesis Noir is another one of those games that leave a strong first impression thanks to its drawn-as-you-go artstyle. Set before, during, and after the big bang, you're tasked with preventing the big bang and saving your love. It's a bit of a point-and-click adventure outside of time if you will, and it just oozes of personality. At PAX East we learned that the team behind it have roots in art and animation rather than video games, and more frequently in recent years we've seen great things come out of teams with experience in fields outside of video games.

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Disco Elysium
PC
Developer: ZA/UM

We didn't hear about Disco Elysium for the first time at PAX East, but it was the first time we got a proper look at what the developers themselves are calling "Planescape Torment 2.0", a cop-RPG set in an urban fantasy world where you'll get to be the sort of cop you want to be. Formerly known as No Truce with the Furies, this game offers the sort of narrative we like to immerse ourselves in for hours - not ideal for a trade show, but rather a lengthy weekend sitting. It's got a unique look that stands out even as you look at the isometric graphics, and the soundtrack is composed by post-rock band British Sea Power.

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Trüberbrook
PC
Developer: btf GmbH Publisher: Headup Games

Some of the games on this list we only got a brief look at and among them was the German adventure game Trüberbrook. Described as a mystery adventure, it sees a scientist go to the small town of Trüberbrook in Germany after he wins a stay there in a lottery he doesn't recall entering. The visual style reminds us of old stop-motion animation TV shows, and the reason is simple, each "screen" is an actual model that has been photographed and applied in game. It creates an environment that feels lived in, yet not necessarily realistic. The game itself appears a fairly straightforward point and click adventure, but we're intrigued by the art style and the premise.

Gamereactor's indie discoveries from PAX East 2018Gamereactor's indie discoveries from PAX East 2018


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