As tens of thousands of Australian gamers flocked to this year's PAX Australia in Melbourne last weekend, one thing stood out more than ever before—the strength of the independent games scene.
While the likes of Ubisoft and Sony still had their mega-booths hogging up most of the floor space, the hotspot of the show was Pax Rising, an area dedicated to up-and-coming indie titles in development or recent release. We hit the show floor to check out this section, and were impressed once more at just how quickly the quality of independent games continues to evolve each year. There were too many games to mention them all, but here are 10 to keep an eye on.
1. Wildfire
Originally inspired by the fire-fueled mechanics of Far Cry 2, this side-scrolling stealth game has come a long way since we saw it at last year's show. The same stunning pixel-art style has been polished even further, but the developers have expanded the elemental-control gameplay to include more than mere flames to keep your enemies at bay. It's now possible to use water and grass to figure your way through the single-player campaign. Need to get out of a river? Just grow a vine. Looking for a place to hide? Grow some grass and tuck yourself in. Look out for the final game sometime in 2017; the introduction of co-op means you'll even be able to play with friends.
2. The American Dream
Quite possibly the funniest game of the show, this VR experience parodies America's great obsession with weaponry. The mechanics are simple—learn how to live your everyday life using nothing more than a set of pistols. It begins with the player sitting in a rollercoaster that leads them through the various stages of life, starting as a small child in a children's bedroom. It's here the game teaches children how to blast the heck out of everything that moves, before the rollercoaster leads the player to a bagel factory. Using nothing more than your trigger fingers, you need to blast dead rats off the conveyor belt, while ensuring the bagels have the prerequisite hole in the middle. With a drier style of wit than Australia's outback, The American Dream is as funny as it is fun.
3. The Artful Escape of Francis Vendetti
We'll admit that it was the absolutely stunning art design that first attracted us to this Unreal-powered creation, but it was the innovative mixture of music design and gameplay that kept us enthralled. Described by its creator as a cinematic platformer, the narrative was described as such: "With his first show one night away, he embarks on a multidimensional journey to create his stage persona." Think David Bowie creating Ziggy Stardust, and you'll have a rough idea of the narrative. But we think the best feature is the electric guitar that lets you ride beams of light, triggering musical features in the background as you zoom on by.
4. Kept
PAX is a very noisy place, so when we stepped into the beautiful silence of Kept's magical forest, it was almost like being transported into a different world; that's one of the beauties of VR. Using the HTC Vive, this is a VR game that seems to be doing things just right—forget first-person shoot-outs and high-speed action that'll have you reaching for a bucket. Instead it's an atmospheric, story-based game of exploration, with puzzles along the way. Your goal is to help a soul find its way to the next world. We were constantly in awe at the stunning mood and atmosphere, and we can't wait to try Episode 1 later in the year.
5. Paradigm
Okay, we're not really sure how to describe this utterly bizarre, yet unique creation. It harkens back to the point-and-click adventure games we grew up on, yet the focus is definitely on dark, adult humor. The art style is utterly surreal yet old school, and overall it's just plain…weird. But in a really freakin' cool way; there's nothing like Paradigm out there at the moment, and that's what makes it stand out. Let's just hope the odd-ball humor stands up over several hours of playtime.
6. A Township Tale
Despite being little more than a VR tech demo, the premise, not to mention promise, of this game simply made it impossible not to include. In a nutshell, it's a VR social multiplayer world set in medieval times, with up to 16 players inhabiting each persistent village. Players can take on a variety of roles—miner, blacksmith, cook, warrior and more—and the goal is to slowly repair the town over time. The basic mechanics are already in place, including mining and archery, and players will have to work together to fight off deadly creatures that inhabit the forest surrounding the town.
7. Forts
Our game of the show last year, Forts will be in open beta from Nov. 12 to Dec. 9. The premise is the same—using a physics-based engine, you need to build a fort that can withstand attacks from either AI or human players. It's described as an RTS and yet that doesn't seem to adequately describe the gameplay. We highly recommend checking out the beta to see what it's all about. Over the last year the developers have since built in a full single-player campaign that operates in many ways as a tutorial, and has also introduced three different armies—the US, China and Russia.
8. The Adventure Pals
Like many of the indie titles at PAX, this is another side scroller, a genre that seems to be a hit with smaller developers. However, it's the game's super-cute art design and unique approach to puzzle-based combat, not to mention full co-op, that brought it to our attention. Bashing up huge boss baddies will be a key part of the experience, with one boss called the Breakfast Buccaneer being a "giant pirate made up of bacon and eggs." Yep, the quirk factor is high in this one, but it's the child-like emotions that it stirred in us while playing that helped it hit our top 10.
9. The Eyes of Ara
Released a couple of months ago, this game harkens back to the days of Myst, where pre-rendedered environments were chock-full of mind-stretching puzzles. Despite being pre-rendered, though, the player physically moves through the environment by clicking on different areas, so it's not just a set of static screens—it is a true 3D world. With an environmental designer as the lead dev on the project, it's no surprise that this is such a stunner of a game, but reader reviews have raved about the quality of the puzzles on offer. Hit the Steam store now to check it out.
10. Mini Metro
Recently released on Steam, iOS, and Android, this subway simulator tasks the player with ensuring that their trains are on schedule, as they design their own transportation systems. The player has to connect various stations and other locations with new train lines, but you don't have infinite resources to do so. You've also got to make sure the traffic is flowing smoothly, which is easier said than done. Look, even if you've never caught or thought about a train in your life, this puzzler is suitably satisfying for those who enjoy visual puzzles.