The Indie MEGABOOTH is one of my favorite things about the gaming industry. Its story — several indie developers getting together to become more visible to event goers in 2012 — is inspiring, and has led to several games gaining awareness that may have been glanced over in the shadows of big publishers. As PAX East 2016 rolls around we’re once again looking forward to the show-within-a-show, and this year the organizers are teasing us with a trailer filled with many of its games.
There are a record 80+ developers at the MEGABOOTH this year, and so many look wonderful that it could take up an entire show just walking through to check them out. We’ve done a little bit of work ahead of schedule, pulling just a few of some of the most unique ones into this post — though, we reiterate that this is just the tip of the iceberg and recommend that you take time to see as many as possible. You can check them all out at IndieMEGABOOTH.com.
It’s eye-melting, for sure.
Astroneer
Astroneer looks great. The low-poly planetary exploration/terraforming game might be a nice partner to the vast expanse of something like No Man’s Sky. There seems to be a nice creationary aspect as well, so that could keep players engaged for a long time. It’s developer, System Era, encompasses former AAA game devs into its ranks, so the knowledge of building worlds is sure to be there.
Battle Chef Brigade
This game could become an obsessions. Battle Chef Brigade mixes cooking shows like Iron Chef with fantasy into a crazy RPG hybrid. Players are asked to impress culinary judges with their creations, but in order to do so they’ll need to hunt creatures and gather crazy ingredients. The anime art style seems just as delicious.
Dad by the Sword
This game looks crazy enough that it just might work. Dad by the Sword is about your dad — or, my dad? — as he tries to slay a bunch of crazy monsters and steal a fancy nut. It’s a first person sword-fighting game, and there are hotdog monsters. I dig the ingenuity.
Kathy Rain
I dig a good retro adventure game every once in a while, but I can only play King’s Quest III so many times. Thankfully, Kathy Rain looks like it can mix some of that aesthetic and design with modern storytelling. The plot follows a girl who returns to her home town and ends up working to solve her grandfather’s death. Hey, instead of a horse we have a Harley, so that’s pretty dope!
Subterrain
Set in an alien world, I can see Subterrain becoming an obsession for folks. It brings strategy and resource management to a procedurally generated world with top-down shooting, so the replayability could be lengthy.
Graceful Explosion Machine
Graceful Explosion Machine looks like a really pretty shmup. The design follows previous Vertex Pop game We Are Doomed, with gorgeous visuals, great audio and combo-based gameplay. It could be as much fun to watch as it is to play. This will actually be located in the Indie MINIBOOTH.
Dragoon
The Indie MEGABOOTH continue to evolve, showcasing even more tabletop games this year than ever before. Dragoon is one that caught our eye, as it features players taking command of dragons as they either harvest or destroy towns towards dominance of an ever-changing map.
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