“Oak City Indie Games Showcase”
10 min read
Go wide, explore and learn new things. Something will surely have a kick for you.
When it comes to hubs of video game development, Raleigh, North Carolina is probably not the first place anyone is going to think of. It’s a deceptive area. Even by big city terms, it’s not that big, but despite that, several AAA teams have made their home in the surrounding area, including Red Storm Entertainment (developers of the Tom Clancy games), Limited Run Games, and the legendary Epic Games. Throw in one of the top 50 schools for a degree in video game design at NC State University and you have an area that’s rife with people trying to break into the industry in whatever way they can get a foot in. That’s why, this past weekend, Raleigh played host to the first Oak City Indie Games Showcase, where small devs and recent NC State grads were able to set up and show off their projects, whether they’re coming out next month or are little more than the twinkle in a dev’s eye and a demo on the screen. So what’s coming soon/eventually from our little video game hub? Let’s take a look.
Calorie Defenders
Out of the many games showcased at OCIG, Calorie Defenders was probably the second most unique idea there. Acting as part exploration-platformer, part tower defense, you play as one of several vegetables protecting your land from a sugar high. Candy corn and gummy worms beware! You’re coming for them, armed with healthy traps and exploration tools aplenty to help you navigate and destroy structures and enemies in your way. And you don’t have to defend your world alone; couch co-op is already built in, swapping smoothly from single to split screen depending on how close your characters are. I was struck by the adorable and high quality pixel art, the fruit and veggie puns (my friend was particularly charmed by the Beet Boxer trap) and the clever combination of gameplay mechanics. This one is not to be missed by fans of platformers or tower defense.
Fist of the Forgotten
Upon first seeing Fist of the Forgotten, I was immediately reminded of Limbo. The dark world lit in silhouette isn’t new, but it is always strangely beautiful. Fist of the Forgotten follows its predecessors in that design element while implementing challenging precision-platforming gameplay. Perhaps a little too challenging at this moment, as myself and another found it impossible to beat the third level in the playable demo, but the dev was responsive to our troubles and expressed willingness to tone it down a bit at the beginning. While we did get stuck, we also found ourselves taken with the different jumping mechanics and the roundabout ways to solve the puzzles of the stages. This will not be a game you can just slam your head against to get through. It makes you stop and look at your options if the first method doesn’t work. Along with gorgeously haunting 3D background scenery, I think Fist of the Forgotten will be a game loved by people who enjoy a real challenge.
Galacide
If you’re wondering what the FIRST most unique idea at the showcase was, it’s this one. At first glance, Galacide looks like a typical sci-fi side-scrolling shoot-em-up, with the space and the ships and the shooting. And then the match-four element comes in. The player comes up against walls of colored blocks. From there, they have to shoot enemies, grab free-floating blocks like powerups and shoot them into the walls. Match four or more and that portion of the wall clears. In this way, you make a path for yourself through the stage. After seeing dozens of match-3 games on the phone that look like basically the same thing and plenty of shmups both classic and new that don’t break many molds, combining the two is quite genius. While Galacide is already available on Steam, it is still coming soon for Mac and Linux users. If you like shmups and puzzle games, this is definitely one to look into.
Shooty Seas
I was actually surprised by how few app games were on display at the showcase. The first of the two app games on display, Shooty Seas is a pirate-themed sea combat game coming soon to Android. This one was demonstrated on a tablet instead of a phone, and I can certainly see the benefit of the larger screen with the gameplay mechanics. You play as a pirate ship, sailing around one of several selectable areas, shooting down enemy ships automatically as they get near. It’s not as simple as it sounds, though, as you can easily find yourself swarmed. I actually failed to take down a single opponent before the swarm took me, but it seemed like the general conceit was to earn money doing what damage to the area you could and then upgrading your ship with more destructive power. I just didn’t manage to earn enough to buy anything during my short time trying this one out. Visually, it’s solid and the gameplay was easy to pick up. If you enjoy naval combat games, this may be one to keep an eye on.
Sparklite
This is actually the game that led to me finding out about this event in the first place. I’ve been following it for some time as it quickly approaches its release date. From a dev team in my own hometown, Sparklite is a roguelite adventure game similar in style to A Link to the Past. From what I can tell, this game is about what you make of it and about what it makes with you. The look and feel of the world is familiar to any classic Zelda fan, but the items you need to explore it aren’t just given to you. It’s up to you to invent them and with the world morphing every time you get knocked out, who knows how long those inventions will prove useful each run? It strikes me almost like it’s A Link to the Past meets Rogue Legacy, and it should appeal strongly to fans of either. Sparklite is due to launch on November 14th on PC, Switch, and PS4.
Spirit of the North
Spirit of the North drew me in from the first moment I saw their booth. Inspired by games like Journey and Abzû, and coming very soon to PS4 (Nov 1st) and down the road to PC, Switch, and XboxOne, Spirit of the North isn’t about fighting enemies or overcoming unbeatable odds. It’s a relaxing wander through beautiful environments as a little fox, interacting with the magic in the world around it. As the fox searches for lost spirits, it will hop, swim, and change the world around it to explore new areas. I was utterly charmed by this game. This is one of the games made by its small details: the way the fox shakes off water after swimming, the way rocks shift and tumble as you shift your weight on them. The bright colors, gorgeous scenery, and various paths of exploration give the world an open feeling that even if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re happy to just be there. PS4 owners who enjoy chill environmental games, keep an eye out for this one in the coming weeks.
Splitty Robot
Of all the games on show, Splitty Robot handily ran away with the title of “cutest.” This puzzle-platformer has you driving a robot that can split itself in half vertically or horizontally. You use these abilities to press buttons, clasp platforms, dodge falling lava, and climb vertical shafts, at the very least. It’s a simple concept with simple gameplay, but the implementation is wholly charming and clever. While I didn’t get my hands on it myself, I got to watch as the player tackled increasingly difficult platforming challenges that encouraged quick switching from clinging to both sides of a moving platform to standing on top, jumping to other platforms, and splitting to grab the moving one again to avoid narrow corridors and impassable areas. It was definitely challenging, but not frustrating or impossible to progress. Checkpoints seemed generous and respawns were fast (and frequent). Overall, it appeared to be well balanced, creatively implemented, and fun, and that is, of course, the most important element.
Temple Run 2
Already available for free on various phone systems, Temple Run 2 was the second of the two app games on offer at the show. They were showing off their Halloween update “Spooky Ridge” and teasing something upcoming that the devs “could not confirm or deny” when I jokingly asked if it was Temple Run 3. A basic autorunner, this one proved to be more of a challenge than I expected, and pleasantly so. It was hard to step away from the demo phones despite barely able to progress beyond a few turns. And then I looked over at my friend who had managed to get more than ten times my score on her first try and accepted that perhaps I am not all that good at autorunners. I did enjoy it though.
Together Forever
Together Forever was the lone co-op-required game at the show, but it showed itself off well. Akin to games like Rikki and Vikki, Together Forever is a puzzle-platformer about working as a team to get to the target destination. You have two characters: Blue and Orange, on small stages platformed with white bars. If one character touches one of the bars, it becomes the corresponding color and from then on, only that character can stand on it. The other just passes through. However, each character can also act as a platform for the other, boosting each other up past platforms they can’t interact with. On its face, it seems simple, but watching it be played proves it to be a very different experience. If you have a co-op partner that you can communicate and plan well with, this might be a game for you.
These last two are games that were developed as final class projects, so whether they eventually make their way to a publicly playable format is up in the air. While I’d love to see both hit the computer screen, it may be a while down the road, if ever.
Shadow and Skully
Shadow and Skully was the first game openly stated to be made for an undergrad’s final project, and let me tell you how much that blew my mind. The dev told me that what we were seeing was the result of ten weeks of work. My reaction was, “Only?!” For ten weeks, this game looked good. Real good. The player played as Shadow, a, well, shadow, followed by an AI grim reaper named Skully, “the most awesome and handsomest grim reaper in the whole world and universe.” Together, they drifted through a top-down dungeon akin to some Legend of Zelda games, fighting baddies, pulling levers and solving puzzles. Each character had access to areas that the other didn’t, so it came down to the AI and your own problem-solving skills to figure out how to get where you needed both characters to be. When I asked about co-op plans for the future, the dev said that the purpose of the project was to design an AI, but they were not opposed to making it a co-op game. Based on the puzzles and importance of a secondary character, “It seems like it was made for co-op,” I said.
“It definitely was not,” the dev replied with a grin.
Whether co-op ever becomes a possibility or not, Shadow and Skully looks like a game with a lot of potential.
Switch Bots
Last but not least, Switch Bots was surprisingly the only competitive game on display, though in its current form, it’s only single player. My first impression was “Fortnite with robots” as a little boy zoomed across the map, shooting enemy AIs and looting them for different weapons. Not everything was working as intended, the dev explained, but he was still working on it. The target goal was to accumulate material from the enemy bots and eventually build up three target points. The little boy playing seemed to be much more interested in taking down the AI than doing any building, gleefully filling the screen with rockets that behaved more like land mines. As the dev was telling me he wasn’t sure what he planned on doing with it long term, the boy announced, “HOW AM I SO GOOD AT THIS GAME?!” No matter what the dev ends up doing with it, he certainly has an audience ready and waiting. I do hope we’ll be seeing it spoken of in the same tones as Minecraft and Fortnite among the younger gaming crowd.
There were several other demonstrators set up, including Limited Run Games, but as far as games go, this was what was offered, and it was a treat. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I can’t seem to stop thinking of my area as a “small town” despite it and its surrounding areas being a considerable chunk of the biggest cities in the state, including the capital. But small or big, we clearly have a strong video game scene both AAA and indie. I look forward to seeing how far many of these games will go.
Maggie Maxwell spends most of her days buried in her fiction writing, only coming up for air to dive into the escapism of video games, cartoons, or movies. She can usually be found on Twitter as @wanderingquille and @MaxNChachi or streaming on Twitch with her husband, also as MaxNChachi.
