EGX Indie Highlights

Aside from the gargantuan booths of AAA games, boasting fancy flashing lights, brain-meltingly loud music, TIE Fighters and monitors bigger than some countries, the Indies at EGX took up a large chunk of the show floor in not one, but two areas; the Indie Megabooth and the Rezzed zone. With a chance to get my hands on a huge variety of these titles, here are some highlights from the Birmingham-based games show.

2Dark

Right click and left click. That’s all you need to play through 2Dark, a 2.5D survival horror, action adventure meets point and click game. One moves your character, profiler Mr Smith, the game’s hero, the other is your action button and allows you to select from your inventory and attack. As you travel through dark and abandoned houses in search for missing children, you must solve puzzles, avoid traps and… well, survive. Dark corners hide enemies that you can attack or avoid, secrets that will aid in your rescue mission or contain any number of horror cliches and it’s often both rewarding and devastating to investigate them. The small demo on the show floor felt a lot like a roguelike, failing the mission didn’t diminish the gameplay putting you straight back in and allowing you correct your mistakes. This is certain to be a surprise hit as horror is experiencing a steady renaissance.

Sheltered

 

Another post-apocalyptic game, oh joy. But hold on a second, this one is entirely different. Think the gameplay of Fallout Shelter meeting the gritty reality of The Last of Us and you’re almost there. A survival, strategy game with inventory management and the constant threat of death. You start with a family of four as they enter a nuclear bunker, with resources dwindling, you must then send members of your family out to scavenge the apocalyptic landscape to gather medicine, fuel, food, water, everything you need to survive for an indefinite period of time in the bunker. As you progress, more and more strain is put upon your decision making. More people come to the bunker is search of help, do you let them in at the cost of supplies, or do you refuse them? Will you turn into a cannibal to survive those extra few days? Are the children an unnecessary burden? It quickly becomes a game of powerful, thought provoking decisions and it looks to be a highlight of 2016.

Kingdom

After falling in love with this game at gamescom, I was excited to get my hands on it once again. The tower defence-cum-strategy from Raw Fury games is everything you’d want from a indie game; simple controls, beautiful design and tonnes of replayability. Build and protect is your task, and as your kingdom’s population grows, so does your income; with your income you hire bowmen, farmers or build higher, stronger walls in order to survive a nightly attack from foes. Don’t be surprised to pour hours upon hours into defending your pride and joy.

Jump Stars

 

Highlighted at the Xbox indie booth Jump Stars is yet another local co-op party game that gets better the more people are playing. You take the role of cosplaying cubes, choosing your design, be it an orc, an army general or a Roman centurion, there’s plenty of variety and participating in any number of mini-games. The general rule for all of these mini-games is essentially ‘kill or be killed’ just without the extreme violence that is conjured up in your head. Jump up and up to avoid the falling screen, pass on a ticking bomb and avoid it being given to you, or don’t be crushed by falling pylons, these were the three game modes displayed at EGX and each encouraged players to force others into danger while keeping themselves safe.

One Ship Two Ship Redshift Blueshift

When could a block breaker with no blocks ever work? When it’s a two player tournament-ready game where you control spaceships which transform into paddles, that’s when. Each player has to hit the bouncing ball of light on their turn, while the competing player puts them off using any number of powerups, from missiles to obscuring the screen. With an art-style harking back to the days of blocky over the top sci-fi, Redshift Blueshift is another classic multiplayer game that’ll have you jostling with the person sat next to you for hours on end.

Stikbold!

 

A dodgeball game in it’s most primitive form, but Stikbold is much more than that. The multiplayer-centric game has dodgeball at its core, but gives greater control to the player. With a blockly, 70’s art-style (big hair and even moustaches), and up to four players, matches take place in a variety of arenas ranging from a roundabout to on top of a dilapidated pier, but unlike dodgeball, when you’re struck out (in this game after being hit three times) your game isn’t over. Instead, you take control of the surrounding environment and can have a larger impact on the outcome of the match. In the version I saw, the losing player became a whale (because, games) who can jump out of the water, and onto a player, taking another life. It’s stupid, hilarious fun and something perfect for local multiplayer.

The Escapist: Walking Dead

 

As a fan of the show, I was always going to be intrigued by a cute, pixel art rendition of the dark, twisted and brutal series. Suffice to say, I was enamoured from the get go. Instantly familiar locations and characters make fans feel at home. The RPG elements of levelling up Rick, be it by hitting some punching bags or running on treadmills, mean you can give him your own personal stamp, and running errands on Hershel’s farm feels as though you really are part of season two of the show. While combat felt a bit clunky and unbalanced, if you’re a fan of the show, it’s certainly one to keep your eye out for.

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