Day of the Dev’s preview event at SFMOMA was one of the most unique and soul-nourishing experiences I’ve ever had covering games. Even amidst a sea of captivating titles, Dome-King Cabbage stole my attention.
I didn’t know what I was walking into, but after checking in for the event, I was ushered into a small theater space inside SFMOMA. It was the kind of auditorium one might have visited on a school trip to learn about some artistic figure or other. But the vibe was very different tonight. I quickly realized this darkened room set the stage for a kind of hands-off preview event. Typically, these happen over a video call and, consequently, allow for little audience participation. This event was anything but passive.
A huge swath of the auditorium consisted of indie dev teams. All were there to learn, present, and celebrate the games shown. It was a riot of encouragement and understanding. Unlike traditional showcases, this audience was swayed to applause when someone pointed out a hard-won feature or referenced the current state of the games industry. We were in it together, all realizing that the people around us cared as much for the indie space as we did. It quickly dawned on me we were all sharing an incredibly special moment.
Presenters would take the stage one after the other to showcase their upcoming projects. I gained a greater appreciation for all of them, wrapped in the night’s blanket of gleeful appreciation. However, I do want to shout one out in particular. Dome-King Cabbage.
Understanding and unapologetically aware of what their game is, the developer said little before starting his presentation, preferring the title to speak for itself. It was full of sound, fury, and cuteness. We were told before the preview kicked off that we may end up with more questions than answers. “Let it wash over you” was the last piece of advice we got before an indescribable series of scenes invaded the screen.
A starship. A figure stabbed with swords. A door opening. A voice coming to terms with its death. And then the dev began to narrate. The words he spoke recalled a toy. Its make is hazy, but it’s certainly a toy. It’s a memory from before the speaker could speak. It’s a memory that could simply be a dream, like the rock wall with a face we see next. The most grounding thing that graces my eyes is a block of text that reads “Prologue.”
This leads to an adorable and seemingly all-powerful being. And if that being had had hands, my fate might be said to be in them. It’s trying to express a message to me, but since I am from a young planet and even younger species, this creature seems to find relaying information to me difficult. It calls my bodily functions and linear understanding restrictive, to put it lightly. But it promises to try to do its job, even if it has to do a few things the boss won’t like.
Before I knew what was happening, I – and the rest of the merry band around me – weighed in on the fate of two entire galaxies. We were assured that neither were ours… probably. However, one of them must be destroyed. Surprisingly, the audience – so exuberant in praise – was equally vocal about destroying the lives of every single being in the second of the two galaxies. Like, it was unanimous. So, the all-mighty cutey NPC blinked them out of existence with a shrug. Or what might be a shrug if it had shoulders.
This is where the preview ended but where my curiosity began. The developer was right. I did have more questions afterward, but the presentation answered the only one I needed to be answered: Dome-King Cabbage is a game I can’t miss.
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