Day of the Devs is easily one of the highlights of the year for fans of indie (or indie-adjacent) games, as well as the developers picked to be celebrated and have their projects highlighted. This year’s broadcast of the The Game Awards Edition of Day of the Devs was jam-packed with incredible-looking upcoming games, so in case you missed it or just want to read the short versions, here’s everything we saw:
Everything Shown At Day Of The Devs: The Game Awards Edition
Militsioner (TALLBOYS)
Militsioner is a surreal, first-person, Kafka-esque immersive sim that sees players attempt to escape from a mysterious town under the looming gaze of a positively gigantic policeman. There’s some hugely ambitious stuff going on here, with a well-realised world to explore, a “Tamagotchi-like” mood system dictating character motivations and relationships and a full time-of-day system that you can use to your advantage when planning your escape. Militsioner looks weird as hell and I’m here for it.
Nirvana Noir (Feral Cat Den)
A sequel to the excellent, jazzy noir adventure, Genesis Noir, this one looks set to continue its predecessors cosmic, philosophical flair wrapped up in sumptuous visuals and backed by another wonderful soundtrack. With the hero split into two distinct personalities, this time around we’ll see both the stark, moody look we’re used to as well as a psychedelic alternate world with its own distinct visual and musical flourishes.
Thank Goodness You’re Here (Coal Supper)
Each time I see this “comedy slapformer” from Coal Supper and being published by the folks at Panic, I become increasingly distraught with the fact that I’m not playing it right now. It’s very British, but like, in a good way.
Flock (Hollow Ponds)
Flock, a chill, multiplayer co-op experience from the folks at Hollow Ponds, continues to look positively gorgeous. Players will take on the role of flying shepherds, each tending to their own unique herd of adorable flying creatures and exploring the soft, colourful world to discover and catalogue new ones.
There’s even a Steam demo you can play right now!
Kind Words 2 (Popcannibal)
I had no idea how a sequel to something like Kind Words, a game about real people sharing their deepest thoughts and feelings and sending them out into the virtual ether, could possibly have worked, but somehow Kind Words 2 is happening. It’s taking things beyond the one room and offering players a heap of new ways to create genuine and hopefully warming human interactions.
Hermit and Pig (Heavy Lunch Studio)
I might not be much for mushrooms, but this turn-based, adventure RPG about a reclusive old man and his mushroom and truffle-hunting pig looks like a great little time.
Dome-King Cabbage (Cobysoft Co.)
I am genuinely obsessed with the way this game looks, with its trippy, claymation-esque visuals powering a visual novel set in the world of a monster-collecting RPG. I don’t think I truly understand anything that’s going on here, but I’m 100% all for it.
Ultros (Hadoque)
This stunning, psychedelic melding of metroidvania and roguelike is high-concept, high-colour and high on my list of most anticipated games for next year. It looks positively brilliant, and you only need to read the freshly-penned words of our very own Brodie Gibbons’ hands-on preview of the game to understand why this is one worth watching.
Loose Leaf (Kitfox Games)
If “the most in-depth tea brewing simulation ever,” somehow doesn’t convince you of this game’s merit right away, the concept of a tea room between worlds certainly should. Loose Leaf looks charming as heck.
Holstin (Sonka)
Just watching a trailer for this psychological survival horror set in an eerie, isolated 90s Polish town has me ill-at-ease. It riffs on old-school isometric survival horror games but has one hell of a twist – the entirety of its hand-crafted pixel art world can be viewed from eight different angles, and when in combat it shifts right down to an over-the shoulder 3D view. It’s super impressive.
ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm)
The first time I saw ODDADA I was drawn in by the idea of its part-video-game, part-musical-toy vibe, but until now had no idea it’s being pitched as a “roguelite music builder.” You’ll have to watch the trailer to make true sense of that idea, but it’s enthralling and I can’t wait to see more/play.
Cryptmaster (Akupara Games)
I’m obsessed with Cryptmaster, a word-based, dungeon-crawling narrative adventure with a striking black-and-white visual style, surprisingly gripping spelling puzzles and an absolutely charmer of a host.
Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story (Digital Eclipse)
Digital Eclipse, the folks behind the excellent The Making of Karateka are back again with another interactive documentary on an iconic video game creator. It’s a virtual museum of design documents, playable games, and all-new videos put together to tell the fascinating story of Jeff Minter.
Drag Her! (Fighting Chance Games)
Drag Her! is a camp 2D fighting game that features some iconic queens like Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, Kim Chi and Asia O’Hara and asks the very important question, “What would a less-gay Mortal Kombat look like?”
Braid Anniversary Edition (Thekla)
Fans have been waiting for a hot minute, but it was recently revealed that this remaster of the award-winning game Braid will finally see the light of day on April 30th next year, and featured in the Day of the Devs broadcast we get to see a great look at how Jonathan Blow and the team at Thekla are handling this transformative makeover.
Open Roads (Open Roads Team)
This new road trip adventure is being published by Annapurna Interactive, and is very much exemplative of the impeccable taste those folks have when it comes to getting wholly unique and innovative projects off the ground. Melding characters built from traditional 2D animation with 3D backdrops in a narrative-driven adventure, Open Roads looks set to be a classic in the making.
RESISTOR (Long Way Home)
A narrative driven RPG featuring open world exploration, high-octane racing, and explosive vehicular combat with a distinctly anime aesthetic? Sign me up. RESISTOR looks rad as hell.
Home Safety Hotline (Night Signal Entertainment)
A text-based horror game about working in a 90s call center where the calls coming in are getting progressively more fucked-up is an excellent bloody concept, and with little more than a fuzzy, simulated PC display and a bunch of text and audio, Home Safety Hotline looks like it could scare the pants off of me.
Janet DeMornay Is A Slumlord (and a witch) (Fuzzy Ghost)
A massive congratulations to Scott and Pete for having their upcoming game featured in this event. Janet DeMornay Is A Slumlord (and a witch) explores the anxieties and horrors of what it is to be a renter in a world run by landlords, with the twist that your landlord is a witch and your house is an ever-unfolding impossible space where things get progressively more not-right.
The Mermaid’s Tongue (SFB Games)
Detective Grimoire and his assistant Sally are making a triumphant return in an all-new murder mystery set on a mysterious submarine. Fans can look forward to more well-written capers, fully-3D clues to explore and a gripping new paranormal conundrum to solve.
