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IndieCade 2018 Festival Nominees Announced – IGR’s First Draft Picks

IndieCade logo

IndieCade 2018 Festival Nominees Announced

This year’s IndieCade festival is just two weeks away. Featuring over 100 new games from all over the world, highlighting the artistic avant-garde and the bleeding edge of innovation in game design, the festival takes place October 11th-13th in Santa Monica, CA.

In addition to workshops, panel discussions, interactive experiences, and the legendary Night Games event, the IndieCade jury – comprised of past festival finalists – has announced the initial list of festival nominees.

We will be there to discover the coolest new titles, interview the develops and generally play all the things, but in anticipation, we’ve highlighted a few of the games we’re most excited about below (visit the IndieCade website for the complete list):

Pixel Ripped 1989

by ARVORE Immersive Games

Pixel Ripped 1989 game screenshot courtesy Steam
Pixel Ripped 1989 – screenshot courtesy Steam

Jumping right into the meta deep end, Pixel Ripped is a combination of video game nostalgia and cutting edge VR implementation; an AR game within a VR game. You’ll take on the role of a little girl with a portable game device; when her game’s monochrome pixel art world spills into her own, she’ll team up with its protagonist to save both realities. It already happens to be one of our favorite Virtual Reality titles ever.

Accounting+

by Crows Crows Crows and Squanch Games

Accounting+ game screenshot courtesy Steam
Accounting+ – screenshot courtesy Steam

A collaboration between William Pugh (of The Stanley Parable fame) and Rick and Morty co-creator and voice actor Justin Roiland, Accounting+ is a VR-exclusive comedy adventure. Expect lots of dark comedy in this cartoonish satire of corporate finance.

Little Bug

by Buddy System

Little Bug game screenshot courtesy Steam
Little Bug – screenshot courtesy Steam

A surreal and bittersweet platformer, Little Bug stands out for both its narrative, based around a little girl navigating a bizarre dreamworld, and its telekinesis mechanic, which employs a simple control scheme in service of some unexpectedly complicated environmental puzzles.

Just Shapes and Beats

by Berzerk Studio

Just Shapes and Beats game screenshot courtesy Steam
Just Shapes and Beats – screenshot courtesy Steam

Some of the best IndieCade experiences involve cooperative play, and Just Shapes and Beats delivers that with its abstract but visually and musically impressive mix of rhythm game and bullet hell.

Forgotton Anne

by ThroughLine Games

Forgotton Anne game screenshot courtesy Steam
Forgotton Anne – screenshot courtesy Steam

Released via the Square Enix Collective (the Japanese game publisher’s relatively new indie games branch), Forgotton Anne is a gorgeous platformer/adventure that’s two parts Studio Ghibli film and one part the animated household objects from Beauty and the Beast.

Macdows 95

by Yunus Ayyildiz and Kubra Sezer Ayyildiz

Macdows 95 game screenshot courtesy Steam
Macdows 95 – screenshot courtesy Steam

It wouldn’t be IndieCade without a game or three involving meta commentary on games and computers themselves. Macdows 95 provides a series of puzzles from within an imaginary – and obtuse – operating system, plus a mysterious but ultimately heartwarming narrative to boot.

Mulaka

by Lienzo

Mulaka game screenshot courtesy Steam
Mulaka – screenshot courtesy Steam

The team behind cat-themed Metroidvania Hunter’s Legacy is back with Mulaka, a third-person action game based on the folklore of the Taruhumara people of northern Mexico and set in gorgeous low-poly deserts and canyons.

What are you most excited about at IndieCade 2018?