This gallery is going to be independently AAA-lluring. Or at least indies should be respected like triple-A games. Check out nine of the awesome indie games I saw at PAX East 2015!
Indies at PAX East 2015
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Downwell
In stark contrast to many of the colorful titles I saw at PAX East, Downwell looks almost pre-NES. The visuals are mostly black and white with red dotted in for good measure. And it’s incredibly fun.
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rnYour non-descript character is equipped with gun-boots. By holding the jump button, he can shoot down on enemies and breakable blocks for a limited time. But as you for further and further down, you unlock upgrades for your health, ammo capacity, and the boots themselves until the action becomes absurd.
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rnI took the plunge a bunch of times, and each randomly generated time was as exciting as the last, perfect for picking up and playing. Developer Moppin is onto something with this simplistically-rendered experience. Expect it to come out for iOS, Android, and PC in Q2 of this year. -
Dropsy
I don’t think enough games feature a quest for hugs, though Dropsy’s developer, Jay Tholen, assures me it’s not about that.
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rnThe story features the eponymous slightly frightening clown trying to clear his name after his circus is set ablaze. Through a traditional point-and-click interface, Dropsy finds people in need and tries to help them, assisted by his little dog.
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rnWhat is not traditional, though, is that there is no dialogue. Rather, characters express their needs and desires through iconography. For example, I came across an old woman who just spoke out an image of a sandwich and a little girl who uttered the picture of a blooming flower. Some were harder to discern, but I look forward to figuring them out when Dropsy drops this summer for PC. -
Paradise Never
Speaking with Calvin French about his ambitious RPG was actually as entertaining as the concept itself. The story takes place in the future during a revolution on a French colonized island. You and your friends are part of that revolution, but things are not as clear cut.
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rnYour main character is not permitted to kill anyone. Oh, and dying or taking too long restarts the game…kinda. It’s sort of like Groundhog Day if Phil Connors could bring items into the following days, but Pittsburgh was randomly generated each time with different people.
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rnDuring my time with Paradise Never, I beat up jailers with an electric bass, freed a friend, and set a house on fire. Good times. And my friends were a diverse bunch who’d fit in with the San Francisco underground scene. I’m very curious how this voxelated experience will be with more time to spend with it. Until then, await la révolution. -
Titan Souls
A little bit Shadow of the Colossus and a smidge of Dark Souls, Titan Souls is a cruel game I found myself wanting to play more of. Your character is armed with a single arrow that can be beckoned to return, a roll maneuver, and exactly one health point. For all those times you thought you could’ve beaten that boss without losing health, here’s your opportunity to prove it.
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rnIn twenty minutes, I took down a stone golem with crushing fists, an evil brain encased in a giant ice block, a heart suspended in a gelatinous ball that splits in two continuously, and a large cube with a powerful laser coming out its weak spot. And that was a tutorial. With nice pixel art graphics and challenging gameplay, this is a game to look out for this quarter on PC, PS4, and Vita. -
We Happy Few
Set in a 1960s alternate history dystopia, Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few, is tackling the action/stealth genres in a unique way.
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rnIn this society, where everyone is drugging themselves a lá Brave New World, you are the only lucid one, and you’re trying to escape. But rather than hide in the shadows, you need to do it in plain sight.
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rnIn this procedurally generated city, it’s important not to be caught running, jumping, or entering people’s homes or everyone will turn on you. However, because you need to satisfy basic needs like hunger and thirst, it’s necessary to do all of those things.
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rnFiguring out the better approach, fight or flight, is a puzzle in and of itself, and there’s always another option: taking Joy; it’ll make you seem normal but make you crash hard. Because I was as stealthy as a one-man band with an airhorn, I didn’t get too far in the demo, but the colorful world and disturbing themes had me itching to see more. -
NOCT
I found myself seeking at unique experiences at PAX East, which typically meant eschewing shooters. However, something about C3SK’s NOCT drew me in. rn rnPart of it was the style—starting out, the visuals are just comprised of stark grayscale footage from a top-down thermal camera. Then there’s also the survival horror factor. Enemies, which comprise massive spiders and worms, can take you out in one hit, and abandoned towns are surrounded by confusing webbing that obscures their forms. rn rnI was surprised, though, when I came across another human. Assuming him to be hostile, I started shooting, and the young man on the computer next to me asked why I was attacking him. NOCT unbeknownst to me beforehand, features online co-op for up to twelve players, meaning building up demon-shredding teams to fight the horde. rn rnIf that interests you, the game will be coming to Steam Early Access in about a month or so, hopefully released in full in the summer. -
Pollen
This was the first time I used an Oculus Rift, so I admit to approaching Pollen with some childish glee. Mindfield Games foray into VR is fittingly an adventure game on a space station that appears to have been abandoned.
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rnThey weren’t revealing much story here, so I mainly learned how to use the various controls. I listened to some recordings, threw a basketball around, and eventually found a room that looked like a crime scene under a black light. Although there’s not much else to know yet, it was a sharp production.
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rnAlso, fun fact: Olli Sinerma, the co-founder, was once a teacher to Olli Harjola, of The Swapper fame. (No relation to OlliOlli, though.) -
Forced 2
Abandoning the co-op twin shooter style of their first game, BetaDwarf’s roguelike is taking their Forced series in a different direction. Featuring more of a hack-'n'-slash approach to gameplay, the twist is that players amass cards they can use to buff their hero after each round. rn rnAfter playing the game for a while, players can start building preferred decks to aid them in battle in each randomly generated arena. I tried the game out as a paladin warrior with something of a continuous laser shot that looked powerful until I actually went against some foes. rn rnThe gameplay is action-packed with enemies constantly launching explosives at you and traps appearing out of nowhere, so there was a large focus on remaining mobile. The cards I employed buffed my super moves, increased my health, and even gave me some shielding. rn rnAlthough the game isn’t entirely dictated by the cards like Hand of Fate, it’ll be interesting to see how a deck can guide the long haul through the campaign. If you’re intrigued, you’ll be able to check it out in September on Steam Early Access. -
Hexarden
Flippfly caught gamer attention with their endless racer, Race the Sun, which was a frenetic experience to say the least. By stark contrast, Hexarden is a relaxing experience where the greatest violence is papercraft-looking bunnies eating your crops.
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rnYou’re given a hex-based grid and your goal is just to build a fruitful garden over twenty turns, gaining points for successful contiguous rings of plants.
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rnAfter only two months of work, the basic game looked solid, and Aaron San Filippo, the programming brother, said he’s still working on fleshing out the whole concept. He’s been trying to find the right balance of strategy and mindless activity.
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rnI must say that on a floor full of loud noises, it was a pleasant respite to watch berries grow and ward off some bunnies in their peculiar booth decorated with garden lanterns and a green overhang. It’s really refreshing to see a developer branch out from their original core audience like this, and I hope it pays off.
