The second day of Summer Game Fest was a slew of constant game news from 4 separate showcases: The Wholesome Direct, Latin American Games Showcase, Women-Led Games Showcase, and the Future Games Show. Quite a few games overlapped or repeated from yesterday, while other showcases had *70* games, so we’re presenting this in a more digestible way today.
After a fairly lackluster first day of the show featuring Geoff’s attempt to placate concerned viewers and workers about the plight of the industry while not trying not to step on toes, the second day of Summer Game Fest kicked off with the Wholesome Direct, which alone featured a whopping 70 games in their hour-long showcase. Interspersed in that were calls by the Wholesome Direct crew to donate to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, either through buying timed merchandise or direct donations, so in the spirit of their stance for good, a link to the PCRF is right here.
Wholesome Direct
Marcy: This year’s direct was fairly packed with a ton of titles, but there is a point at which “indie game” has come to sort of immediately call to mind a specific style, aesthetic, or budget. That was certainly the case here, and while many of the games looked fantastic, there were also some that kind of fit the standard fare of what one might expect when you think of an indie game–something twee, in calm colors, with a simple concept. That is not, again, bad, but many of the games on display this year were not breaking molds. However, compared to the main show yesterday, I have to admit that there was at least a far greater sense of whimsy and playfulness and, well, games I would like to actually play, so there is that. Below I’ve compiled a few of the real stand outs, but if you want to see a full list, you can head over to the Wholesome Games website here.
Rooster
Developer: Sticky Brain Studios
Release Date: 2025
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Rooster caught my eye through the use of Chinese aesthetics, with a heavy emphasis for ancient Chinese art, folklore, and aesthetics. The game promises a mixture of puzzles, cooking, and even dating sim elements, so I also like the somewhat ambitious attempt to mix many of the things one often finds in smaller games into a larger package. I’ll be curious to see how Rooster develops as we get closer to a full release date, but it certainly stood out from the pack at the show.
After Love EP
Developer: Pikselnesia
Release Date: Q3 2024
Platform: Steam, Switch
Marcy: Some readers might remember that I reviewed a game jam some months back, one title of which, Coffee Talk, I very much enjoyed. After Love EP is from the same creator, and deals with the fairly heavy topic of what to do after the death of someone you love. While indie games are often cursed with a seeming need to deal with the somber or melancholic, the musical and adventure game trappings and gorgeous aesthetics of After Love EP really grabbed my attention.
POOOOL
Developer: Noah King
Release Date: Now!
Platforms: Steam
I really love physics puzzle games, and I spent a lot of time with Suika Game, so I had to give this a shot. This one is on the list because I actually just bought it immediately and spent a bit of time playing it, and if you like fun little pick up and play puzzle games that use pool physics and are just a good way to relax a little bit, I suggest giving POOOL a try. Plus, the name is really fun to spell.
Lost and Found Co.
Developer: Bit Egg Inc.
Release Date: coming Soon, Demo Out Now
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Hidden object games have become very popular lately, but many of them involve horror aesthetics, meaning that if you’re not looking to potentially scream at the top of your lungs, it can be hard to find games in that genre that you can play. In comes Lost and found Co., which replaces horror with bright colored cutesy aesthetics, and from my time with the demo, works pretty well. What I found interesting is that the usual way these games work is through muted colors and limited perspectives, but Lost and Found Co. almost operates like one might remember a Where’s Waldo book: big, full color spreads, and in this game, they get bigger and more complex as you progress.
Wax Heads
Developer: Patattie Games
Release Date: TBA, Demo Out Now
Platforms: PC
Marcy: Perhaps this one is due to my affinity for music, book, and vintage media stores, and my memories of working in niche media retail, but I felt like Wax Heads perfectly grabbed a very specific slice of personal history for me and then made it into an interesting business simulation game. The graphics are very vibrant and colorful, with unique and fun character designs and backgrounds, and the gameplay loop and music humor really resonated with me. You can try the demo out yourself if any of this sounds like something you’d be interested in!
Latin American Games Showcase
Marcy: Following the Wholesome Direct was the Latin American Games Showcase, focusing on developers and creators from Latin America. Another huge bevy of games were shown off here, and the genre spread was very diverse, from old-school horror to platforming and simulation games. If you’d like to see the full list of games, you can check them out on the website here, with a few of my favorites from the showcase below.
Vultures: Scavengers of Death
Developer: Team Vultures
Release: Coming Soon
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Vultures grabbed my attention due to the old-school survival horror vibe, and while that’s not always enough, the turn-based gameplay it then showed off kept me interested. I’m very curious to see how Vultures juggles those two things; I’m reminded a bit of Metal Gear Ac!d, which managed to combine turn-based gameplay and stealth mechanics very well (if unorthodox), and since Vultures promises some form of roguelike element, I want to see how that manifests and if the game is about survival runs, or if there’s a strict gameplay narrative.
The Coldest Winter
Developer: Vibe EXP
Release Date: Q1 2025
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: The Coldest Winter might win for my favorite overall aesthetics in any of the showcases, with a very, very unique style and vibe. Called a CYOA Point and Click, that’s not a type of game that you see a lot of these days, and the psychological horror vibe mixed with the aesthetics really makes this one stand out. There’s a lot of potential for this to either hit very well or flop hard, so I’m praying very hard for the former.
Tenebris Somnia
Developer: Andres Borghi and Tobias Rusjan
Release Date: Coming Soon, Demo Available Now
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Maybe second on my overall aesthetics list is this survival horror game that mixes old-fashioned 90s art (It says 8 bit but it has vastly more colors than 8 bit was ever capable of) with live action cutscenes, and the cutscenes shown in the demo and the showcase were disturbing enough to make me deeply curious. My concern will be how gimmicky do the live action scenes make the full game, but from the demo, I did enjoy my time with it and it felt unique.
Mariachi Legends
Developer: Halberd Studios
Release Date: 2024
Platforms: Steam for now.
Marcy: The stinger of the showcase, Mariachi Legends is a metroidvania–or frankly, Castlevania Symphony of the Night specifically–game set in Mexico where players take on the role of Detective Pablo Cruz. The combat and platforming look very smooth, and the Mexican aesthetics here are to absolutely die for with great use of color, shadow, and thematics. Very much looking forward to this one when it drops, and a possible big breakout hit of the show for sure.
Goblin Cleanup
Developer: Crisalu Games
Release Date: TBA, Early Access Demo Now
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Billed as a first person co-op cleaning game, Goblin Cleanup tasks players with cleaning up and resetting dungeons before the next band of adventurers stumbles in and messes the place up. A combination of Powerwash Simulator and Tecmo’s Deception, the game is very silly and looks very, very fun. This one does have an upcoming Kickstarter, so keep that in mind; I understand completely that people are wary of KS projects.
Women-Led Games
Marcy: The third of the smaller showcases was the Women-Led Games show, which featured a tight but interesting collection of games. Some of these were repeats in other showcases from the previous day and even earlier in the day from the other two, so I’ve selected the ones I specifically liked, but you can check out the entire list and the website here.
darkwebSTREAMER
Developer: We Have Always Lived in the Forest
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: Steam
I’m quite a fan of analog horror, internet horror, old technology, and unique experiences, so to say that darkwebSTREAMER might be literally and specifically made for just me is possibly not wrong. I remember the initial teaser being uploaded to Twitter and then immediately wanting more, and looks like I may soon get it. darkwebSTREAMER promises a procedurally generated RPG world where your goal is to stream and survive your continually haunted apartment. I will also mention that aesthetically this game rules, but this is another game that very likely has a high hit or miss chance; assuming it is a hit, I might end up doing a full review when it releases.
Awkward 2
Developer: Snap Finger Click
Release Date: Q3 2024
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Essentially a “dark” Jackbox collection, I actually like these little party games. Jackbox can make for an easy little social gaming experience, but ironically it often devolves into very boring toilet humor and things people “think” is funny, like finding how many ways someone can say “dick” or “cum” or draw a penis on a shirt. Awkward 1, and hopefully Awkward 2, will alleviate that by already being kind of dark and weird, making a good time for an adult party that maybe doesn’t force people to try so hard to be funny. Newsflash: you are not.
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge
Developer: Humble Reeds
Release Date: Now!
Platforms: Steam, Switch
Marcy: Releasing today, or yesterday, depending on when you read this, Kamaeru is a cozy farming sim that focuses on frogs. Frogs are so hot right now. The art style here is cute and rustic and very cozy, and the frogs are round and cute, so if collecting, raising, and playing with frogs sounds like a good time for you or someone you love, then Kamaeru is an easy sell, and my household already has a copy of it.
Citadelum
Developer: Abylight Barcelona
Release Date: 2024, Demo Out Now
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: If that Civilization VII trailer left you depressed yesterday, consider giving Citadelum a shout. The demo is currently out and I quite enjoyed it. I’ve always been a fan of civilization builds like, well, Civilization and Age of Empires, and Citadelum was able to scratch that itch while providing a few new twists and unique takes on the formula. I actually quite liked the gods just appearing and inspecting things, and the fighting mechanic for military battles was unique.
Future Games Showcase
Marcy: The final showcase of the day, Future Games had a fairly hefty collection of games to show off, although many of the titles had already appeared in various other showcases up until that point in the weekend. If you’re willing to fight through the corniest presentation of the weekend so far, you can watch the full video here, and check out the collection of games shown off at the link here. In the meantime, I grabbed a few games that hadn’t been talked about before that also really seemed like they had potential (which means no, I’m not talking about Space Marine 2 for the third time in a month).
DREDGE: The Iron Rig
Developer: Black Salt Games
Release Date: Aug 15 2024
Platforms: Steam, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, GOG
Marcy: Dredge is BACK baby. This is less a new game but more expansion content, but if you’ve never had a chance to play Dredge, then let me be the first to sell you on this amazing game. While technically a fishing game, DREDGE is much more than that, with some of the best nautical horror and thematics in quite a while. You’ll find yourself fishing up more than just your paycheck as you tool your boat around, and the new expansion, the Iron Rig, has you contributing to the construction of an offshore rig that is sure to make things even more dire and mysterious.
Motördoom
Developer: Hobo Cat Games
Release Date: Aug 2nd, 2024
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: They only showed a few seconds of this game but I was hooked. Described as a “freestyle-sports roguelite horde shooter”, everything about this game seems insanely silly and also a ton of fun. And it was; the demo that is out now gave me a pretty solid taste of what to expect, and the answer is that I want more of it right now. If anything I said or the trailer makes you also want this game, go grab the demo right now and do some sick bike tricks while firing a sawed off shotgun. Trust me, a very good way to make a bad afternoon better (in a video game, of course).
Judero
Developer: J. King-Spooner and Talha Kaya
Release Date: TBA, demo out now
Platforms: Steam
Marcy: Sometimes a game catches your eye because of the amount of work that you can tell went into the product. Judero is such a game, animated using stop-motion animation, and in some ways I think that is going to either make you curious or turn you off; the artstyle is very unique and not for everyone. I did try the demo and liked it, but I almost like the concept and the craft of Judero more, so I’m going to cautiously keep an eye on this one and see if the full game, whenever it releases, can live up to the interesting curiosity that the demo was.
ANTONBLAST
Developer: Summitsphere
Release Date: Nov. 12, 2024, Demo out now
Platforms: Steam, Switch
Marcy: I think it is impossible to talk about ANTONBLAST and not mention Pizza Tower, so let me just get it out of the way: both games are made in the vein of Wario World and other 16-bit era games, and there’s nothing wrong with drawing a comparison between the two titles, because Pizza Tower fucking rules. From what I played of ANTONBLAST, this also has a similar charm and seems like a great time. If you loved Pizza Tower or you like this sort of era of game, ANTONBLAST is worth a try (but also go play Pizza Tower).
The Casting of Frank Stone
Developer: Supermassive Games and Behaviour Interactive Inc
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC (For now)
Marcy: For those of you who don’t know, I’m an avid Dead by Daylight player; I have hundreds of hours in the game and have been playing it for years, and I really enjoy the vibe that Behaviour has managed to build around the game and the franchise. So I am deeply curious how this “exploration” of the Dead by Daylight universe goes, as much of the real promise to this game is the way it expands or explains parts of the DBD universe and lore. Hopefully, the CYOA style horror, similar to The Quarry or Until Dawn, will make playing the game worth it as well, rather than just for the lore buried inside mediocre gameplay.
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
Developer: Happy Broccoli Games
Release Date: Out Now!
Platforms: PC, Switch
Marcy: Although this title was already out, since it was included I’m going to gush about it. I love detective and mystery games and stories, and I also love when sometimes they aren’t up their own ass with trying to be Agatha Christie level serious. I really like the Frog Detective games, and Duck Detective is a somewhat similar vein; a fun mystery solving game in which the mystery isn’t exactly dire, but still fun to figure out and solve. The cut-out style animation and colorful graphics go a long way, as do the voice acting and mood that the game creates for a fun mix. I really liked my time with Duck Detective, and suggest you try it out if it sounds up your alley.
Wrap Up of Day 2
Day 2 of the Summer Game Fest was a far, far greater showing of titles, but also makes it very obvious that if you’re looking for unique, new, or fun game experiences, you’re going to have to start leaving the AAA and AA sphere for indie titles and smaller developers. There were a lot of great games shown off in the first three showcases, which also made it very odd when the Future Game Showcase… kind of felt bland and boring whenever the bigger games would be shown. The star flop of that showcase, to me, was certainly the Starship Troopers game that seems to have missed the memo of not playing the themes of the game entirely straight and instead just presented it as a “shoot the bugs” simulator; uncomfortable to watch at the very least.
Tomorrow, we’ll be back with coverage of the Xbox and PC Game showcases, so stay tuned for even more trailers, opinions, and wrap ups!
