Post-PAX thoughts – the indie invasion

Last week I talked about a few of the big studio items that I got to check out at PAX Prime. Those were pretty cool, but the thing I really love about PAX is the giant (perhaps one might say SuperGiant) showing of indie games and developers. One of the most awesome opportunities of PAX is the ability to play these games while talking with the people that actually put the time and effort into making them. The best and worst part this year was that there were far more indie titles than I had any hope of fitting in during the now extended 4 day event. I tried, believe me. The ones I did manage to get my hands on were pretty incredible on the whole. Even though I’m doing a quick highlight of them here, I’ll be playing and reviewing a good number of these titles over the coming days, weeks, and possibly months. Seriously, there were a lot.

 PAX loves indie titles!

It may sound a little harsh, but I tend to stay pretty clear of the PAX 10. It’s not that I have any issue with the games, but I get the strange feeling that those 10 hand picked indie titles are going to get a lot of love from dozens of other outlets. So I really wanted to focus more on the other amazing games that were on display.

Contrast

I have absolutely no interest in waiting for Contrast to be released. It needs to come out and it needs to be now. Holy smokes was that a fun demo to play. As the title implies, the interplay of light and shadow is a big part of the game. You control Dawn, a character that can switch between running around in the beautiful 3D environments of the real world and the 2D platform environment of the shadows. The demo we were treated to on the show floor included a couple missions that showed off the brilliant use of lightsource manipulation to create shadows in order to solve platforming puzzles. While I loved getting to check out the action in the game, one of my favorite parts was listening in on a conversation from the past as it was played out by shadows. Contrast is absolutely gorgeous and I can’t wait until I can dig into the story behind it.

Secret Ponchos

I had the great opportunity to stop by the booth for Secret Ponchos and chat with the game’s creative director while I ran through a couple shoot outs. Secret Ponchos, more than any other game I got to play, made me think that I really want a PS4. The gritty spaghetti western look of this arena shooter made for a delicious combo that’s going to be hard for any gamer to ignore. The simple concept is flawlessly executed and makes for an immediately addicting experience. In short, Secret Ponchos is a twin stick shooter with reload, dodge, and multiple weapon mechanics to make sure that it stays challenging and fresh. This one is currently set as a PS4 exclusive launching early next year.

Betrayer

Nestled over in the Logitech booth, Betrayer may have gone unnoticed by many gamers traversing the crowded expo hall. That would be an absolute shame because it’s a shooter with a great deal of potential. The game design was a lot of fun and managed to really build a creepy and foreboding atmosphere. Betrayer has recently gone through some changes (it’s still in alpha) which includes the addition of brightness, contrast, and color sliders. After spending some time playing it myself, I would highly recommend keeping with the original feel of the game and going with the high contrast black and white or a grayscale if that’s a little too hard on your eyes. The story is freeform and really puts agency back into the hands of the player, allowing them to piece together the mystery of recent events on their own instead of forcing them down a quest path on rails. Betrayer is currently available on Steam early access.

Lost Toys

I know I mentioned this on the podcast, but I really want to mention Lost Toys again. The description I was given at the Indie Mini Booth was that Lost Toys is a puzzle game for introverts. I don’t know if that’s the entire audience for this game, but I know I wouldn’t be venturing out much if I had the chance to play it again. Puzzles are presented as charred and disfigured blocks of wood that you can twist and rotate in Rubic’s Cube fashion. When you correctly fix the broken toy, you are rewarded with a sequence which restores the paint to it and the toy is then placed on a mobile. The challenge in the gameplay comes from having a limited number of moves in which to repair the toy. I sat and played through the first two sections of the game before I could pull myself away. The near photo realism of the graphics, the simplicity of the interface, and the inherent innocence associated with the images hit me right in the feels. Do yourself a favor and swing by Barking Mouse Studio’s website and check this one out.

Of course these are only four titles out of the dozens that I got to play at PAX. Keep checking back while I work on tackling these and other individual titles in their own articles to prevent this one from running on much longer than anyone is willing to read. PAX Prime is definitely one of my favorite events to attend every year and a big part of that is the indie scene.