Shortly after the Summer Game Fest Kick-off Event, the Not-E3 summer festivities continued on June 9 with the Day of the Devs 2022 and the Devolver Digital Direct 2022 presentations. Live-streamed immediately after Geoff Keighley’s hosted event, Day of the Devs celebrated its 10th anniversary by showcasing even more excellent indie titles.
At 6 p.m. EDT on the official twitchgaming channel and Devolver’s official channels, Devolver Digital hosted their annual unique conference. As usual with Devolver’s presentations, it was filled with hilarious high jinks that featured Devolver’s executives (and guest star Suda51) accidentally breaking the fabric of the universe, and announcing some projects like Anger Foot in the meantime.
Choo-Choo Charles Is A Unique Horror Experience
Likely inspired by many Thomas the Tank Engine memes, Choo-Choo Charles is an upcoming open-world survival horror game that’s set to release sometime this year. On the player’s island home, there’s a horrifying train-like monster known by the locals as “Charles” who loves to eat humans. Using an old yellow train, the player must explore the island, complete missions, and find the necessary scraps that can upgrade the train into an unstoppable killing machine capable of killing the beast.
But, while exploring the area, the player will need to be careful because the spider-like eldritch monstrosity can be just around the corner. During the Day of the Devs live-stream, the developer commentated over some gameplay footage that showed that this game is actually terrifying despite the absurd premise.
Desta: The Memories Between Features A Nonbinary Protagonist
While Triple-A games have only recently begun adding more female protagonists, indie games have featured some excellent representation of minority groups in recent years, which includes plenty of great LGBTQ+ protagonists. Ustwo Games, the developers of the award-winning puzzle series Monument Valley, are continuing this positive development with their upcoming turn-based tactics roguelike Desta: The Memories Between, which features the titular non-binary protagonist Desta.
According to the short presentation during Day of the Devs, the game focuses on the 20-year-old Desta who is struggling with the loss of their father. As they explore their dreamworld, Desta confronts their past, fears, and anxieties. Similarly to Supergiant’s Pyre, the game, which doesn’t have a release date yet, combines sports-like gameplay with an emotional narrative.
Time Flies Is A Cute Game About Death
Created by Michael Frei, who has created other monochromatic games such as Plug & Play and Kids, Time Flies is an upcoming monochromatic adventure game about death that’s scheduled to release in 2023. In this game, players control a fly within a human house. As the small insect buzzes around and interacts with the environment, they can complete various silly tasks on their bucket list.
But, the fly only has a short period of time to live, and the amount of seconds given is determined by the average life expectancy of real-life countries. The Day of the Devs showcase featured Frei talking about this latest artistic project.
Animal Well Is An Artistic Achievement
Although there have been many indie pixel-art games in recent years, most of these titles simply try to emulate old pixel-art games to harken back to the nostalgic style. During this year’s Day of the Devs, solo developer Billy Basso wanted to instead use modern technology to take pixel-art to the next level in the upcoming metroidvania Animal Well, which doesn’t have a release date yet.
Animal Well has players explore a dark labyrinth filled with puzzles, upgrades, and strange creatures. Since modern computers have stronger visual and processing capabilities, the game will have dynamic lighting and other things that retro games would’ve been unable to do, which will result in an exquisite visual feast for the eyes.
Bear And Breakfast Is A Relaxing Management Sim
Planned to release on July 28, Bear and Breakfast is an upcoming unique management sim where the player controls a bear named Hank. When Hank and his friends stumble across an abandoned shack in the woods, they decide to start a new bed and breakfast there. Players will be able to design every detail of their new business with all sorts of furniture, flooring, decorations, and more. They will also serve guests and even cook the meals, and there’re plenty of interesting characters to meet.
But, the woods also hide some dark secrets that Hank will slowly discover as the business grows. Along with this, another interesting management sim announced during the Day of the Devs presentation is the stone age farming sim Roots of Pacha, which will release sometime this year.
Tricking Rich People In Card Shark
Although the game had already been released on June 2, Card Shark was one of the five games showcased during Devolver’s presentation. Taking place in 18th-century France, the player is a servant who, through a series of circumstances, ends up working with Comte de Saint-Germain, who likes to use various tricks during card games to con people out of all their money.
As the player progresses through the game, they learn more tricks and slowly make their way up in society. But, players have to be extremely careful because people may even try to kill the player if they discover that they player has been cheating. With gorgeous visuals and a beautiful soundtrack, Card Shark is a breathtaking experience in both style and gameplay.
Anger Foot Is A Kicking FPS
Another game that was teased during the Devolver live-stream is the kicking-focused FPS Anger Foot, which is scheduled to release sometime in 2023. Unlike most shooters where the player is basically useless until they obtain guns, the kicking attack in Anger Foot is so powerful on its own that it can wipe out whole squads of enemies, which the player may need to do.
In order to decimate the criminal underworld of a city, the player will need to bust their way through hundreds of doors and punt enemies across the room with their trusty legs. With a distinct art-style and adrenalin-pumping music, Anger Foot provides a cathartic experience.
The Plucky Squire Brings Stories To Life
Planned to release in 2023, The Plucky Squire is an action adventure game with a storybook-esque art-style that initially seemed to only take place within the the 2D space of a book’s pages. But, the trailer shown during Devolver’s presentation surprised viewers when the characters leapt right off the page into a 3D environment.
When the character Humgrump realizes he is the villain of the story, he kicks the main character, Jot, out of the story to change his fate. To save his friends and world, Jot must jump between both 2D and 3D worlds through a lighthearted adventure filled with engaging puzzles and enjoyable gameplay mechanics. James Turner, who used to work at Game Freak designing Pokémon and eventually became the art director for Pokémon Sword and Shield, is creating this beautiful experience.
Cult of the Lamb Combines Cute And Creepy
Another unique title announced at the Devolver showcase was the roguelike dungeon crawler management sim Cult of the Lamb, which is scheduled to release on Aug. 11. Taking on the role of a cute, possessed lamb, the player must establish a cult within the dangerous woods in order to repay a mysterious stranger who saved the lamb.
At the main hub, players must grow their cult by building structures, performing rituals, and conducting sermons. Meanwhile, players must also explore the land, spread the cult, fight creatures, and defeat rival cults so that the player’s cult becomes the one and only cult in the land. The game’s cute storybook-esque art-style contrasts with the dark premise, which creates an intriguing experience.
Skate Story Is A Game Where The Player’s Knees Really Are Made Of Glass
Created by Sam Eng, who also made the multiplayer cubic arcade shooter Zarvot, Skate Story is an upcoming action adventure skateboarding game that was presented during the Devolver showcase. Scheduled to release 2023, the player controls a demon made out of glass who has literally just made a deal with the devil.
If the demon can skate to the moon and swallow it, then the demon will be freed. As the player skates through the underworld’s surreal nine layers, the demon will help trapped souls, destroy vicious demons, and perform many skateboarding tricks.
