As long as I am writing about video games, I will be writing and talking about indie games. I don’t do this out of charity or out of some sort of hipster pride. I write about indie games because year after year, they go toe to toe with AAA games and produce some of the best games of the year. When I make my top 10 game of the year list each year, there are usually 3-4 indie games in there.
When I see people whining about “modern games” on Twitter, I always roll my eyes heavily. In part because I disagree with most of these takes as a whole, but also because almost every single complaint people have about video games is generally solved by indie games. If you think we have too many sequels and re-used existing properties, go play some indie games. If you think we have too many greedy corporations dictating how games are made, go play indie games. If you think that too many video games are filled with bloat and are too long, go play some indie games.
With my general passion for indies, my interest was very piqued when I learned of the triple-i initiative a few weeks ago. This was essentially going to be a Summer Game Fest type show, but only focused on indie games. While indie games do get some shine at those types of shows, they always get brushed aside fast and never get the big headlines after the fact. This showcase allowed indie games to completely take the spotlight.
And I think that overall, they did a fantastic job with it. I learned about several new games, this put some games I already knew about back in the spotlight, and they even managed to drop a few surprises worthy of any major video game showcase.
I will say that, while I understand that they wanted a brisk and easy to watch show, I do think that they made the show a bit too tight. With very few games getting more than a minute worth of showtime, it was tough for some of these games to breathe and truly get remembered. I also think that having an actual host for the show is nice for introducing games and moving things along in a more natural way. It’s cool to see an actual human face filled with excitement after a big reveal or a killer trailer. While this was an awesome show, I think it could be better, and I hope we get more of these in the future so that it can truly live up to its promise.
In order to highlight more of these games, and because I was just really excited about the showcase in general, I ranked my top 10 presentations below. I only included games that showed gameplay, so while I am extremely pumped about getting Slay The Spire 2, it is not on here. With that said, here is the list!
10. What The Car?
I thought that What The Golf? was a cool game, but I didn’t stick with it for very long. So the odds of me getting interested in another game in this series were slim, but they somehow pulled it off with the What The Car? trailer. This looks like a wild and hilarious platforming/racing/cooking? game. The trailer really draws you in with its humor and varied gameplay, and I’m ready to jump into it.
Apparently, this is already out on Apple Arcade, which explains why it has gone a bit more under the radar, but this seems like a perfect Steam Deck game (and hopefully it ends up on the Switch).
9. Mouse
Mouse already went a bit viral when they released a trailer for it a few months back. This essentially feels like the Cuphead of FPS in terms of transporting an old-school visual style into a modern video game. If that original trailer came out here, this might be close to the top. This was lowered just because we literally only get about 15 seconds of gameplay here. But they do manage to pack a fair bit in that short time. We once again see how perfect the aesthetic is. They also do a good job showing off the mix of shooting, melee, and grappling hook type gameplay.
The trailer is there to showcase its spinach upgrade, which is an obvious nod to Popeye. The Mickey Mouse inspirations are also pretty blatant. It’ll be interesting to see how many other properties end up finding their way into this title. I’m very interested to see more of this one, and the trailer at least did a good job of reminding me that this game exists and is coming.
8. Hyper Light Breaker
I talked about this one in my last mailbag post. Hyper Light Breaker is one of my most anticipated games for the rest of the year. I love the blend of action, roguelite, and open world elements. I also think the art style is great.
Unfortunately, we only get about 30 seconds of footage here. They show off a bit of the combat, and it looks good. Tough difficulty is also advertised, which is obviously important for this series and genre. I was happy to see this, but I question how impactful it would be to someone not already hyped for the game.
7. Cataclismo
This is not a game I would usually be interested in, but seeing that the developer of Moonlighter is making it forced me to at least give it a chance. This seems like a really crazy mix of RTS, with some extensive base building and maybe some tower defense too? The graphics, music, and overall vibe are just super appealing as well.
I am usually quite hesitant on any form of RTS. Perhaps Unicorn Overlord is breaking some barriers!
6. Streets of Rogue 2
At 2 minutes and 9 seconds, this was the second longest trailer of the show. That is incredible. Streets of Rogue 2 used that still short time really well and showcased an incredible looking world with a seemingly unlimited number of ways to tackle each scenario, with way more scope than the original game.
For whatever reason, the first game didn’t quite click with me, but this looked so ambitious that I can’t help but want to give it another try next time around. That is no easy feat and speaks to how strong this trailer was.
5. Shadows of Doubt
Shadows of Doubt is a game I’ve had my eye on, but have avoided since I don’t generally play anything in early access. I thought they did a fantastic job showing off all of the elements of the game in about 45 seconds. This is an open world detective game that clearly does not hold your hand and lets you truly feel like a sleuth. The Minecraft style graphics help give it a unique look as well.
Revealing that this is coming to consoles AND is coming out of early access was very exciting stuff, and I’m super pumped to play a game I’ve had my eye on for over a year now.
4. Gestalt: Steam and Cinder
I really loved this trailer because of how much they managed to convey in one short minute. Gestalt shows off some very fancy looking platforming, some great combat, several RPG elements, and that it will have a real story all in that short amount of time. I had never heard of this one, but it really caught my attention as each new element was unveiled. I loved that they also spent those few seconds to show off the levels over enemy names and its skill tree to really drive home that this is an RPG.
Even better, they dropped a release date for a mere month from now, which allows me to get hyped without having to wait a long time. You can’t ask for a more effective one minute trailer than this.
3. Undermine 2
This one came out of nowhere for me and was an extremely exciting surprise. I really enjoyed the original Undermine. It wasn’t revolutionary, but I found it to be one of the most well executed roguelites I have ever played. It nailed just about every one of its systems.
The trailer for Undermine 2 is mostly here to hype up its co-op (which does seem awesome), but I also thought the gameplay looked a lot more crisp and varied as well. While the art style is the same, the graphics looked a bit cleaned up, too. This feels a lot like Rogue Legacy 2 (similar art style and all), where they take everything they learned from the first game and take it to the next level. I am beyond pumped for this one.
2. The Rogue: Prince of Persia
In terms of media attention, The Rogue: Prince of Persia was probably the winner of the event. It got the coveted last spot for the showcase and delivered in every way. The trailer starts with a cutscene, which usually doesn’t excite me much as I am more interested in gameplay, but it actually grabbed me and was really well done.
Then things heated up when the cutscene smoothly transitioned into gameplay, and that gameplay looked damn good. I had big time Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown vibes from it, which is a giant compliment. It might actually be a bit faster paced without as much parrying. The game is also being made by the developers of Dead Cells, which gives the project even more credibility.
To top it off, immediately after the showcase, several outlets posted full previews of the game that were overwhelmingly glowing. This looks like a no-brainer contender for indie game of the year whenever the full release happens. For those who like to play a game in early access, the release date on Steam being a month from now makes it even more exciting.
1. 33 Immortals
I love indie games, but it is rare that I play one and feel like it is epic. Often, that feeling comes from the big bombastic production values that AAA games have. But watching 33 Immortals, I just had this feeling of scale that is uncommon in this genre. The battles just have so much going on, between all the enemies and allies on screen, as well as all of the attack indicators. I also love how they showed off some of the RPG and loot elements. But perhaps the coolest part to me was when they showed off the live map, and you saw everything going on during the current raid, including where all of your allies are. Seeing that in action really helps put the scale of the game into context, as you see multiple fights happening across different fronts on the battlefield.
After watching this, I quickly signed up for the beta that comes out late May, and I can’t wait to post some thoughts on it at that point! While I had seen a little bit about this game before the showcase, this was the first trailer that really grabbed me. I would say a few other games had more headlines, but 33 Immortals is the game I was most excited about after watching this entire fantastic showcase.
Indie games forever.
Big Nerd Gaming 
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