Boston Festival of Indie Games Preview

The Boston Festival of Indie Games is occurring on September 13, 2014 and we’ll be there. There are over 50 digital indie games for us to preview, but below are a few games that we are excited for:

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Never Alone, Upper One Games

Nick: Never Alone has had me intrigued for quite some time. It’s gotten a lot of press from PAX Prime because it’s something that is rarely done. It’s a game about a very specific culture’s stories, told through the voices of the native people. This particular game delves into the traditional storytelling of the Inuipaq in Alaska, using a young girl and a fox as the main characters. The game looks gorgeous, interesting, artistic and fun. I have been looking for a cultural experience like this since I played the Navajo section of Beyond Two Souls. I don’t know how culturally correct that game was, but I liked the idea. I think Never Alone will fill a niche that sadly gets very little attention. Hopefully these “World Games” really take hold of the industry. Look for it on PS4, XBox One and Steam.

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Catlateral Damage, Chris Chung

Nick: Let’s be honest. Cats can be a$$holes. They will look you in the eye and knock things off shelves or poop in the litter box at the least opportune times just to spite you. Catlateral Damage lets you be the cat (in first person) and terrorize your owner’s property. Procedurally generated levels should keep your destruction new and different for a long time. I want to play this because, first of all, you’re a cat, and second of all, it seems like a lot of simple fun. Similarly, I played Goat Simulator back at PAX East this year and spent way too much time just enjoying the complete nonsense, which gives me the sense that Catlateral Damage is right up my alley (cat). Animal destruction sims are apparently the new “thing”. Catlateral Damage was successfully funded on Kickstarter July 11 so look for it in the future!

Tim: This game is Reddit’s ultimate wet dream, Caturday gone digital. I understand the audience they were looking to capture, but I have to ask myself, why? I guess it was only a matter of time before this was reality, I mean we already have Goat Simulator. There’s definitely some potential, because who doesn’t like knocking things onto the floor. Ultimately though, it will take some innovation to turn this sim into something more than a gimmick. My suggestion: a Godzilla-Cat mode.

Steve: WTF is this game, seriously… It’s a cat simulator where you can jump around a room and knock stuff off of shelves and tables.  Clearly the title of the game explains it all.  But to what end?  Currently there doesn’t seem to be any scoring system or ultimate goal.  Just like real-life there is no rhyme or reason to why this cat is destroying everything and giving zero shits.  Oh, did I also mention you can chase a laser pointer…. it’s not quite as funny when you’re getting trolled.

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High Strangeness, Barnyard Intelligence Games

Nick: High strangeness has two of my favorite generations in gaming history: the 8 bit and 16 bit eras. The object of the game is to switch between the two generations to solve puzzles while being interrupted by watercolor visions which give an insight into the world around you. This is a new concept that I haven’t seen before. I’ve played games like Outland that switch between worlds of Light and Dark energies to be able to solve puzzles, but this generational graphic change is very interesting. It’s a cool idea and I’m looking forward to seeing how well it’s executed. High Strangeness will be available through Steam Greenlight later this year.

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Mushroom 11, Untame

Tim: Without a doubt, the game I am most excited for is Mushroom 11. The controls and design are unique and different from anything else I’ve seen in a while. It reminds me a bit of pushing toothpaste out of the tube, or shoving playdough through different shaped holes. The main protagonist is an amorphous blob, and it is directed and pushed along by the user. The interface lends itself particularly well to touch, and it almost feels therapeutic. Perhaps not the most engaging of titles, but definitely one of the more innovative and one I can see myself spending many hours playing.

Steve: Mushroom 11 is a pretty unique puzzler/platformer based game. It reminds me a lot of games like world of goo but it clearly has a much different take on its puzzles so even that isn’t really a great analog. You push along this green goop through obstacles. Clearly physics is a major factor, as it will fall into and around obstacles different depending on its shape. I’m still not sure how it will all work out but it appears to have hype and could be a pretty good game which lends itself well to pc/consoles as well as tablets/mobile.

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Albino Lullaby, Ape Law

Tim: Survival horror is generally a pretty hit or miss genre, so I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Albino Lullaby. If first impressions were everything, then I don’t know how I would feel, but there is definitely something about it that draws me in. From what I’ve seen the game looks a bit quirky, but also intriguing and creepy. The one feature that I think will take it to the next level is Oculus Rift integration. The combination of unique style and 3D compatibility make for a potentially interesting experience.

Black Hat Occulus, Team Future

Charles: When I was readying the description send to us about Black Hat Occulus I knew it was a game that would immediately draw my attention. Co-op, usage of the Occulus rift device (which I have not yet used) and a dynamic take on both means the game will be very interesting. It may make me smack my head on the wall (not to hard due to the occulus attached to it) but I am sure it will be fun to work through the levels with the aid of SPICE.

Unbroken, John Araujo

Charles: I like brawling games. I like side scrolling brawler games. I like the color scheme. Something tells me I could spend a lot of time playing this game.

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Rain World, Rain World

Steve: Rain World is clearly my favorite digital game in the line-up for the Boston Festival of Indie Games.  This post-apocalyptic game has a very dark, retro game feel to it and the style reminds me a lot of classic games such as Out of This World and Flashback.  From teaser trailers the dynamic crawling and climbing seems to have a very fluid flow.  With this being said, the game seems to be really dependent on gameplay and adventure as there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of progression or upgrades.

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Super Rad Raygun, Tru Fun Entertainment

Steve: A comical megaman style remake.  I know these type of games are becoming more common and Megaman can be a hard act to follow but it has promise.  Super Rad Raygun has some pretty amazing music and clearly some pretty funny baddies and bosses. Michael Jackson and Soviets… do I need to say more?

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World Zombination, Proletariat

Steve: World Zombination is a game that I need to see more of.  It’s a top down shoot-em up action game that appears to have a strong coop component.  This game has a pretty well done teaser trailer but I’m not a huge fan of these style games so I still need to see more.

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Big Action Mega Fight!, Double Stallion Games

Steve: Big Action Mega Fight is nuts.  It’s a double dragon style action game with total chaos and clearly some pretty funny jokes.  Giant fists and ridiculous moves, this game is clearly geared towards cooperative play.  I still think there is a place for action based coop games like this.

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Zombie Hearts Chicken, drMikey

Steve: I don’t even know what to say.  This game is about a zombie running and eating chickens.  You can jump, slide and dive your way past a serious of obstacles… usually spikes or chickens strapped with dynamite (wtf???).  At one point in the trailer there is a chicken in a rocket ship throwing dynamite down onto you… awesome!

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Thief Town, Glass Knuckle Games

Steve: Ok, so this game looks pretty plain.  There is a bunch of exactly similar looking thieves that are walking around and you are trying to stab/shoot the other ones in the back.  You can play against other people local or internet, and kill them.  The best part is by far the trailer, it’s pretty funny and self-deprecating.  It pokes fun at old school video game commercials and the retro game style.

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Alien Makeout Simulator, Mike Mandel, Devon Newsom, Dawn Rivers, Benjamin Taylor & Shawn Witt

Steve: This is an occulus rift supported game where you need to make out with as many alien lips you can before time runs out.  It was made in 48 hours, so we have to put it in perspective.  This is a perfect alternative to going out on a Friday night, if multi-lipped alien creatures are you kind of thing.  I just hope you have to buy it a drink and impress it with small talk about stuff that you really don’t care about.

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Sext Adventure,  Kara Stone

Steve: You have to pay $5 for 24 hours of some kind of sexting adventure on your phone.  Once that time is up you need to pay $5 again… Seriously!?  I’d rather go re-download AOL instant messenger, find the smarterchild bot and sext that.  Props for the ridiculous idea but no thanks for me.

We will be partying after the festival so if you plan to attend, hit us up on Twitter @LNGamerPodcast so we can get some drinks! See you there!

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