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Typically, when I head to a gaming event, I pick one indie I feel shone the brightest to highlight. My “best in show” from Summer Game Fest 2023, for example, was rightfully Cocoon. Likewise, at GDC last year, I named Eldritch Empathy the best underground gem. This time around, I’m having a difficult time narrowing down the greatest Summer Game Fest experience.
Part of this stems from the fact that there were so many top-tier indies at the show. Demo after demo offered fun mechanics, beautiful visuals, and a little special sauce. If that didn’t make the decision hard enough, I’m at war with myself about what makes a preview great at gaming events. Do I pick the indie that came out of left field and surprised me with how much I wanted to keep playing? Or do I choose games I went into with high hopes and came out completely convinced of their spectacular potential? These questions tore at me until I remembered: I am The Indie Informer. So, instead of one winner, I’ve picked four. And no one can stop me.
Games I Knew To Love Winners
Toem 2 and Mixtape are tonally so far apart that picking between the two might have broken my heart. Having to start somewhere, however, I’ll dive into my impressions of the latter.
Mixtape is stunning. Long before my appointment to see it on the second day of Play Days, I’d been bombarded with tales of its quality — and a few hints of something wild to watch out for. Several people I take very seriously — along with Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller — called it their game of the show. This wasn’t a surprise, as the rocking coming-of-age story comes from Beethoven and Dinosaur, the team behind The Artful Escape. I reviewed this debut title and so was familiar with the studio’s Johnny Galvatron before sitting down to play. The bar was high for the follow-up title, and with the additional praise, I was actually a little nervous greeting the creator, worried the game wouldn’t clear my expectations.
Mixtape didn’t clear the bar; it blasted right over it. Its blend of impeccable soundtrack, dazzling sequences, and the nostalgia of cynically naive youth was intoxicating.
We meet our main characters on top of the world and filled with hope. Mostly, they hope they won’t die skating down their hometown’s largest hill, which also just happens to be its busiest highway. With the enthusiastic recklessness of youth, I speed into the demo surrounded by friends and whirring past deadly vehicles, doing kickflips and ollies all the way down. I can almost feel the sense of freedom glide across my skin with the wind. Transporting this sensation from the screen to a player’s consciousness is not an easy task, though it’s something the devs consistently pull off with style.
Looking back analytically, the game — much like the studio’s original title — isn’t overflowing with gameplay. I swerve with the joystick and do a trick with one of a few buttons, but I wasn’t aware of that while playing. I was so engrossed in the electricity of my death-defying stunts. Between jolts of teenage mayhem — like running from the cops in a high-speed shopping cart chase ending in a dive into the local lake — I just hang out with my friends exploring life.
These quieter, perfectly curated moments let me walk around reliving my high school memories. Perhaps the most memorable of these put me in the driver’s seat of the protagonist’s first kiss. I took literal control of her tongue, attempting to ensure she had a good experience but also hoping the sloppy event would all be over soon. Something that might nail the awkwardness of an actual first kiss for many.
As the demo continued, I discovered it was my last day in Blue Moon Lagoon before making my big dreams come true in New York. As I, of course, know everything, I had a foolproof plan to land my dream job. I’ll “accidentally” bump into an industry hotshot — whose schedule I’ve unearthed through unelebrated means. During this run-in, I’ll share my mixtape. She’ll be so impressed, she’ll give me the role of a lifetime, cutting music together for TV and film. It’s that simple. My flight leaves tomorrow morning at six, so today has to be memorable.
Toem 2, rather than exhilaration, filled my heart with warm fuzzies. Like in the original game, the sequel is a mostly black-and-white photo adventure starring a do-gooding traveler. Its main objective is to traverse the world to experience its wonders while simultaneously helping those around you.
Almost immediately, I felt the series’ familiar charm pull over me like a warm blanket. The hero has grown taller, and just that little detail fills me with the sense I’m meeting an old friend I haven’t checked in on for a while. The environment is a little different, though.
My adventure to lands unknown is now in full 3D, which results in more ways to search for the secrets the first game was known for. The level I played through had a bit of Medieval flavor to it — always a plus for me. To progress and head off to the next zone, I had to earn stamps as my bus fare. Stamps are gained after aiding the level’s citizens. Some want nothing more than to see a photo of a herd of goats. Others need to see you reach the highest points of the land to grab their flags.
With the newly added extra dimension, climbing and verticality are core to the gameplay. There’s now a jump and climb feature that interweaves well with the fully revolving camera. I also got a chance to try out new camera tools, like the hammer. This instrument helps me remove obstacles, check inside vases, and even create art. The game’s creativity, both in quest design and tool use, continues to be one of my favorite elements.
After walking away, my only note read: “Best in show?” Now, I can say it’s not a question. Toem 2 deserves a place among Summer Game Fest’s top contenders.
Games I Grew To Love Winners
Ambrosia Sky and Grave Seasons, like the pair above, dance around each other for my favorite “out of left field” previews.
It’s no overstatement to say I had no idea what I was walking into with Amborisa Sky. Seriously. The appointment offer came to me in cloaked language and hidden details. The email simply insisted I wouldn’t want to miss the title, which would be revealed during the summer’s festivities. These kinds of meetings can be dangerous, because it has the potential to go very badly. This one, luckily, shot into outer space.
Space is where the action takes place, after all. The cosmic colors, sci-fi weapons, and intriguingly emotional narrative premise make it a game to get on your wishlist as soon as you possibly can.
Grave Seasons wasn’t completely new to me. I had watched its title flash across the screen when Blumhouse Games first announced its slate of indie horror projects. Where most of the other titles elicited deep, instinctual nopes from me, this alluring indie promised to play around with cozy and creepy vibes.
And the vibes were so cozy. Until they weren’t. Grave Seasons does a laudable job of lulling the player into a false sense of security before shocking them with a hint of wrongness. Then goes right back to business as usual.
Like many farming sims, I begin on a spit of land that needs a little help. However, in this case, I discovered I needed to move to my new homestead to escape my past (and prison). The previous owner has mysteriously gone missing, but let’s not think about that because planting my carrot crops is so satisfying. Then, making a salad for a new friend from everything I harvested? It couldn’t be more pleasant.
That Grave Seasons ends in a rush of blood and screams is probably nothing to worry about.
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