Having checked out scores of indies at PAX last week, I’m ready to share the absolute best of the best. And to do that, I’m stuffing the site with top 3 lists spotlighting the wildest, most thoughtful, and brightest games of the bunch. Each list doles out much-deserved accolades to a different category.
For this list, I’m shouting out the games that took me on a wild ride, making me question everything I was experiencing in the best possible way.
Thank Goodness You’re Here
This absurd hand-drawn gem just made its debut during Gamescom Opening Night Live. Luckily for indies fans, the developers decided to take the title across the globe for a hands-on preview at PAX. The game lives up to its erratic trailer, thrusting me into series after series of strange scenarios in which someone needs help. And, for some reason, I’m the perfect person for the job. I punch an optimistic warm to help a gardener turn on his hose, make fish look like they’re smoking to fix up a salesmen’s display case, and break someone’s sanity by accidently helping to bake the world’s largest pie.
Roman Sands RE:Build
Being stuck in a looping simulation with no clue how you got there or how to get out is bad enough, but this game goes the extra mile by forcing players to deal with the outrageous demands of entitled customers. Honestly, it’s the worst case scenario. But each day’s tasks get easier as I already know what I’m going to be asked and how to serve everything up without a sweat, unlocking job points along the way that help me get past metroidvania-type gates. There’s never enough time in the day for everything, and I was constantly chomping with curiosity to see what the next day would bring.
Sucker For Love: Date To Die For
Before I even attempt to explain what I experienced in this preview, I want to share the game’s tagline: “Put the ‘love’ in ‘Lovecraftian horror!’” I kid you not. There’s a demo up on Steam right now if you’d like to really understand this oddly perfect phrase. I began my journey as a rash of unexplained kidnappings have been sweepin my hometown. An impossible note from my parents — who are already missing — leads me to a Fatal Frame-esque murder house where, of course, I need to summon an overly flirtatious supernatural being to have any chance of escaping. It’s creepy on so many levels, and I need to play the full game.
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