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Everything announced at Day Of The Devs: SGF Edition 2023More indies to slap on the wishlist
More indies to slap on the wishlist
Image credit:Day Of The Devs
Image credit:Day Of The Devs
Day Of The Devs and its indie game festivities returned for this year’sSummer Game Fest, once again proving that indie games are good and cool. Quite frankly, it was an hour or so of straight bangers ranging from mind-bending puzzlers to Pokémon-likes to emotionally charged shepherders.
While there’s some familiar names in the pack like Hyper Light Drifter and Cocoon, there’s a whole host of surprises in there. And that’s thanks to the folks over at Double Fine Productions, iam8bit, and PlayStation’s indie champion Greg Rice who put all of this together for us to enjoy each year. Below, I’ve rounded up all the announcements so you can absorb them through your eyeballs and let them rattle around your head until launch.
Beastieball
Beastieball - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Beastieball - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Wishes Unlimited, the folks behindChicory: A Colorful Tale, are developingBeastieball, a turn-based volleyball RPG where you coach a team of adorable beasts. You’re able to explore a “huge open world”, recruit cute Beasties to your team, then challenge rival teams to a game of volleyball that’s… not quite volleyball. Form a solid team and apparently your Beasties will become mates with each other, unlocking cool combo moves unique to their pairings. I like the look of the big racoon, personally, so they’ll be straight on my roster. WithTem Tem,Cassette Beasts, and now Beastieball, the Pokémon-likes are really having a moment. This one comes out sometime in 2024.
Summerhill
Summerhill - Official Teaser Trailer 🐑 | Wishlist Now!Watch on YouTube
Summerhill - Official Teaser Trailer 🐑 | Wishlist Now!
Land & Sea, a new studio from the UK whose devs are best known for previously makingAlto’s Odyssey, are taking a step in a pretty different direction.Summerhillsees you play as a caped shepherd who rounds up sheep with their collie in tow. There’s not much to go on right now, aside from the fact it looks bloomin' gorgeous and will definitely have a crushing emotional impact on us. I mean, it’s a folktale about “life, loss, and livestock”, so there’s absolutely going to be tears shed as you lead some wooly boys through supernatural gates. No release date or year on this one, but you can find out more onSteam.
Retro Gadgets
Retro Gadgets - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Retro Gadgets - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Italian Icelandic developer Evil Licorice are behindRetro Gadgets, a virtual gadget creation station where people can build, solder, code, and share their own gadgets with other people. What’s really neat is the ability to take apart someone else’s gadget to see how they’ve built it, or even learn from how they’ve coded things. I will be absolutely dreadful at this, but man, what an absolute treat for folks who enjoy a bit of electrical engineering. It’s currently in early access over onSteam.
Saltsea Chronicles
Saltsea Chronicles - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Saltsea Chronicles - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Die Gute Fabrik are behindSaltsea Chronicles, a beautiful seafaring adventure where you guide a crew of survivors through a post-flood world known as “Saltsea” to uncover the mystery of your captain’s disappearance. You’ll send folks on expeditions, explore islands, and have chats with crewmates and islanders which’ll no doubt have lasting consequences. There’s also a bespoke card game within it called Spoils. Damn, Saltsea Chronicles looks good and thankfully there’s not too much longer to wait as it’s out later this year. Katharine has more about itright here.
Hauntii
Hauntii - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Hauntii - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Aside from being yet another gorgeous looker,Hauntiiis a hand-drawn action adventure where you play as a ghost who can haunt (take control) of all manner of things, whether that’s to solve puzzles or defeat baddies. It plays a bit like a twin-stick shooter and over the course of the story, you’ll piece together your past life before you were a spooky ghost. Alice0clocked the game a little while ago, too, so it’s great to see it get more momentum behind it. The game’s due out in 2024 and you can read itsSteampage for more info.
Été
Été - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Été - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Montreal-based studio Impossible are makingÉté, which is French for “summer”. You play as a budding painter who moves to Montreal for the summer and has the magical ability to slap paint about the gaff to give it colour. What’s super impressive is that you’re able to build a collection of things you’ve slapped paint on, then plop them onto a canvas to create bespoke watercolours for locals who’ll commission you. Another one for the 2024 pile here, but itsSteampage is up right now.
Helskate
Helskate - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Helskate - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Cart Life
Cart Life - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Cart Life - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
We’d coveredCart Life’sreturn to Steamearlier this year, but hey, it’s still nice to see it. It’s a retail sim from 2010 which features three street vendors who struggle to make ends meet. Richard Hofmeier removed the game from Steam almost a decade ago, and now he’s working together with AdHoc Studio to update the game with new story bits, new art, and updated controls for release in 2024. Here’s a link to itsSteam page.
Viewfinder
Viewfinder - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Viewfinder - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Hyper Light Breaker
Hyper Light Breaker - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Hyper Light Breaker - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Developer Heart Machine dropped in to remind us that, yes,Hyper Light Breakeris still a co-op roguelite they’re making, and yes, it’s a follow up toHyper Light Drifter. To be totally frank with you, I worry that the move to anopen world3D affair may dilute interest. That’s not to say it doesn’t have the potential to be fantastic, I just didn’t feel much ofanythingas I watched what sure looked to be a video game, all right. Well, there’s certainly more time for it to cook in the oven as there’s no still no release date. In the meantime, you can keep an eye on it over onSteam.
Cocoon
COCOON - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
COCOON - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Eternights
Eternights - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Eternights - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
There’s always one for the anime-likers isn’t there? (of which, I am one).Eternightscomes courtesy of Studio Sai and is a singleplayer RPG mingled with a dating sim. You play as a fella with a glowy arm that can transform into a sword, and you’ll fight monsters using said arm, in what looks like some pretty flashy hack n' slash combat. In between all the scrapping, you’ve got a “calendar system” and visual novel style interactions where cute anime girls blush and lean back nervously on school furniture. It’s coming in September onSteam.
Henry Halfhead
Henry Halfhead - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Henry Halfhead - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Mars First Logistics
Mars First Logistics - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Mars First Logistics - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
Another pick from our most anticipated games of 2023 list,Mars First Logisticswasfirst revealedall the way back in 2021 as a physics-based, open world sim where you build contraptions to shuttle awkwardly shaped objects around Mars. Well, nothing has changed on that front besides it being further along in development and looking like an absolute must for fans of anything builder related. It’s coming toSteamearly access this month.
Simpler Times
Simpler Times - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023Watch on YouTube
Simpler Times - Day of the Devs: Summer Game Fest Edition 2023
