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Welcome to a week of sunny indie coverage as I relive my experiences at Summer Game Fest and all its surrounding festivities. The MIX had an amazing showcase that was broadcast across screens everywhere. For those in the Los Angeles area, the showcase offered more tactile interactions with a demo-filled soirée. Surfing through the rows, I was struck by how many good games were present that I’d already played. These included Enter the Chronosphere, Sucker for Love: Crush Landing, The Secret of Weepstone, Ballgame, Croak, Entropy, and more. All of these are worth an immediate wishlist. In this article, I wanted to focus on new-to-me games that caught my eye.
Of course, the dungeon-delving game that looks like it’s on my childhood television screen caught my eye during the showcase. But it was what I found out at the hands-on event that really caught my attention. You might catch it, too, if you read down far enough on the Steam page:
- Decipher forbidden knowledge in the game’s manual – it contains more secrets than you might expect…
- d̶͕̚̕è̷͕̬̈́f̴̠̻̽͊ë̴̛̲́͜ȁ̶̡̼̈́t̷̖̉́ ̵̜̇t̵͈́͒h̶͙̠͐e̵͙̩̒ ̶͈́͒D̴̹̩̉̊4̶͔͇̂Ŕ̸͚Ǩ̷̥͝Ḽ̴̒̆0̴͎̰̉Ŗ̶̌͠D̷͕͐̋ͅ
Few circumstances in daily life radiate the same stress as fighting a demo boss with people you don’t know crowded around, watching how you do. Luckily, I am not one to underestimate a game based on its delightfully adorable protagonist, or I would have been in some trouble.
The little snail hero really seems so huggable, though. One of my absolute favorite parts of the demo was hitting block — which, of course, activates my shell — and learning that I could still move forward by doing the cutest waddle I’ve literally ever seen. As a person who loves being cautious in a world where enemies can jump out from anywhere, I lived for this small detail.
The boss was a beast. Towering over me with its beady, bloodthirsty eyes, it took me three tries to bring it down and end the demo.
It really seemed like The MIX had my number this time around because every game on this list was, in all likelihood, made specifically for me. Now that I’m embracing my strategy sicko era, I practically floated over to the station with the Medieval mouse demo.
The rouglike deckbuilder doesn’t pull its punches. I possess an astonishing amount of health compared to my manuscript-inspired foes, but it doesn’t go as far as you’d guess, with no consistent way to heal. Piled on top of that, I have a curse to keep in mind. After three days and nights, everything starts over, and the time ticks while I’m on the chess-like field of battle. Getting through levels quickly is just as important as clearing them.
The enemies get mean quickly. However, their art is so enchanting it is hard not to enjoy getting attacked.
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