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Double Fine’s annual Day of the Devs events and live streams have become an impressive source of unique indie titles. This year’s Summer Games Fest-adjacent live stream was no exception with updates on titles we’re already excited about (like Hyper Light Breaker), new game announcements from developers with impressive resumes (like Beastieball), and completely new experiences that we can’t wait to get our hands on (like Helskate). You can see everything that was announced and shown below.
Beastieball
Beastieball has a simple premise: what if, instead of battling, Pokémon just wanted to play volleyball? In this turn-based RPG, explore an open world, befriend monsters called Beasties, and recruit them to your Beastieball team. Beasties have relationships with each other as well, gaining access to different abilities if they’re besties, rivals, or whatever else. The next game from the makers of Wandersong and Chicory: A Colorful Tale is out next year.
Hyper Light Breaker
We’re fully aware of Hyper Light Breaker (check out our big, four-page feature on the game in the Diablo IV issue of the magazine), but Day of the Devs shared new gameplay footage from the game as well as commentary from creator Alx Preston. The game will be entering early access later this year.
Simpler Times
This title comes from a Transylvania-based developer and is a game about leaving your childhood home and the relaxing process of packing up your life for the next stage.
Viewfinder
Viewfinder is another title we’re already familiar with, but Day of the Devs offered an extended look at its impressive perspective-shifting gameplay.
Hauntii
The Day of the Devs team actually reached out to the developer of Hauntii to feature its game in the show. In the game, you play as a ghost who is able to haunt various objects in order to progress and solve puzzles. The impressive art style really makes it stand out.
Cart Life
Cart Life, a game about three people trying to make their way in the world by starting cart-based businesses, was released on Steam in 2010, but was taken offline by its creator in 2013. The game is making a comeback, though, and will be released on new platforms with added content soon.
Helskate
In Helskate, you are a skateboarder trying to make your way through the hellscape of Vertheim with impressive tricks, and a little bit of melee combat. The game is a roguelike, according to one of its designers who also worked on Tony Hawk’s Underground, which is considered by many to be the apex of the series. We’re excited to try the genre mix-up Helskate is promising.
Henry Halfhead
Like Hauntii, this is the other game on the stream about taking over various objects to progress and solve puzzles. This wasn’t the first time we had heard of Henry Halfhead, but it was nice to see new footage.
Cocoon
This game boasts Playdead lineage, as its creators did puzzle design on Limbo and Inside. The game is about moving between worlds with the help of orbs. It’s kind of like if the end of Men in Black was a video game.
Été
The word Été is French for summer, which is appropriate considering it is a game from a Canadian team that takes place in summer. Été recalls the 2012 puzzle game, The Unfinished Swan, where you explore Montréal as a painter and cover it with color in order to progress.
Summerhill
The creators of the Alto’s Adventure and Odyssey endless runners are back with something entirely new. The game retains the beautiful visuals of those two games, but the brief snippet shared belies a puzzle game about herding sheep. It’s not what we expected from the developer, but we’re excited to try something new from the team.
Eternights
Another title that we have heard about before, Eternights is a post-apocalyptic game about teenagers figuring out how to survive, while also navigating the complicated adolescent dating waters. It’s also an action game. The genre mash-up is impressive, and the visual style is engrossing.
Retro Gadgets
Retro Gadgets is a game about making gadgets, and it looks charming and inventive.
Mars First Logistics
It’s hard not to see Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom everywhere you look after spending approximately 165 hours in the game… but Mars First Logistics is reminiscent of the vehicle building from Link’s latest adventure. In the game, you have to make vehicles in order to transport various objects around Mars. It looks like a charming physics playground.
Saltsea Chronicles
Saltsea Chronicles is a charming narrative-driven game about the crew of a ship trying to track down its captain. As you explore the sea for clues about their whereabouts, you’ll make decisions about where to explore, decide how your crew members interact, and encounter unique islands, like the cat-filled locale of Los Gatos. With a charming art style and promising quality-of-life features, I’m eager to test the waters of SaltSea Chronicles.