While PAX West didn’t offer too many major surprises, as many of the big moments were shared a day early or even shortly after the event, there was plenty of games to enjoy, play, and discuss. From the mass of indies at the Indie MEGABOOTH to the hidden gems sprinkled throughout the show floor independent design was fierce at PAX West. We picked six nominations for the Best Indie Game at PAX West 2019, each with their own appeal and mastery of the medium.
Note, there was no way we could’ve seen every indie game at PAX West. In fact, there were only two staff members at the event, myself included, and our writer Mike was busy helping out Astro Gaming’s booth most of the weekend. That said, I was at several evening events showing off indie projects, so I got in as many games as I physically could, starting each day at 7 am and stopping around midnight. There’s a lot of games we’ll be highlighting on their own throughout the month, as well as interviews.
The Vale, Falling Squirrel Inc, Steam/Itch.io
While looking through the tidal wave of emails offering appointments at PAX, I came across one in particular that offered demo time with The Vale, an audio-only action-adventure. Being that I co-produce The Forever Classic Podcast and that I used to work in radio, I jumped at the chance to see what sort of design was even possible when taking away visual elements. Now, come to find out Bose had several audio-only games but The Vale was the only of its kind I played and I played it away from the convention in a separate location, giving me the ability to really focus on the audio.
I expected a simple dungeon crawler, akin to old PC text adventures like Zork. However, I was immediately surprised by the level of complexity featured in this title. The Vale follows the story of a blind warden who must find her way home after her caravan is attacked, all while navigating complex medieval politics and dangers. Gameplay includes navigating spaces through sound, such as walking towards the churning of a water wheel to find the right NPC to talk to. This was all done on an Xbox One controller, but it is also playable on a keyboard.
Surprisingly, combat is deep and nuanced. The left stick controlled blocking, and the right stick controlled striking. Three lanes of enemies come in from the left, center, and right, resulting in this careful reaction to the sounds around the player such as a bandit readying a powerful strike, the creak of leather as they shift positions, or the whirring of a thrown axe.
It all plays exceptionally well and I cannot wait to see how the full release plays. The developers also worked closely with visually impaired communities to ensure high levels of accessibility. As a sighted player, I really enjoyed diving into the life of this hero, shutting my eyes, and seeing a world that I didn’t expect to immediately fall in love with.
More information is available on their website or the Steam page.
Skellboy, Umaiki Games, Fabraz, Nintendo Switch/Steam (PC, Linux, Mac)
We’ve talked about Fabraz quite a bit, as the indie darling Slime-san was released and further expanded on with DLC. That team is now helping publish Skellboy which is the adventure of Skippy, an undead hero who was resurrected following a necromancer being rejected by a maiden. What follows is a light-hearted dungeon crawler with a unique visual style.
Characters in Skellboy are 2D sprites given depth that move around 3D spaces in a way that reminds me a bit of Paper Mario or 3D Dot Game Heroes. Action involves using various weapon types to smash up monsters and explore maps that weave in and out of a larger locations. Timing is everything in combat and each weapon class feels unique. The hero’s armor slots are where things get humorous; the skeleton is able to swap out body parts such as picking up new legs, torsos, and heads to get different stats. These are fun to experiment with and don’t always have positive effects.
There are also some fun music tracks driving the adventure, making it all feel like an action-comedy. I’ve loved the art style since Skellboy was announced but I was surprised by how good the gameplay felt and how it all cohesively fit together.
Fabraz and Umaiki Games likely have another winner on their hands and this one is more approachable than Slime-san which had some truly challenging levels. Skellboy is also not procedurally generated, so level design feels deliberate and focused.
I look forward to playing this one on the Switch especially.
Check out their website for more information or the Steam listing.
Haven, The Game Bakers, Switch/PS4/Steam
The Game Bakers may sound familiar to those who have been following our reviews. They are the team that brought us the beautiful and testing Furi, which was well-loved by Douglas here on Marooners’ Rock. The Game Bakers are continuing to perfect their art direction with the much more relaxing Haven.
Haven is a game driven by the relationship of its two main characters, a couple who ran to a lost planet to be together. I have never seen a game capture intimacy between two people who truly love each other so well. This is a turn-based RPG with exploration sections and dialogue moments. Combat is intriguing and exploring the planet seems engaging but the fact that the character’s connection drives everything is what makes it all come together.
Haven’s cooperative gameplay option is something that I could see couples really enjoying together and that’s a beautiful thing.
The Game Bakers website and the Steam listing has more information.
Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, Playtonic Games, Switch/PS4/Xbox One/Steam
I believe that the original Banjo-Kazooie was a masterpiece for the N64, more so than Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. When I heard that many of the same developers were creating their own company to make Yooka-Laylee, I was incredibly excited, but when the game finally got into the hands of players there seemed to be a collective groan as it just didn’t meet the expectations established. Now, I checked out the Team 17 collection of games mostly to play Blasphemous, a gore-filled side-scroller with incredible pixel art. Yet, I added in Yooka-Laylee to my schedule because I liked the character design of the first game at least.
I walked away from my time with Impossible Lair blown away by the level of polish already present.
Impossible Lair is more akin to Donkey Kong Country more than anything else; it’s a 2.5D platformer where one goes through the level, rolls through enemies, and collects things for more lives. What’s crazy is how good Impossible Lair feels to play. As a long-time DKC fan, I was immediately zipping through levels and dreaming about the speedruns that could come out of this game. I was worried about Playtonic Games due to the rocky release of Yooka-Laylee but it appears that they are evolving as a studio in a way that retro gaming fans will surely appreciate.
I believe that if they can stick the landing with Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, this could be a must-have platformer.
Find more about Yooka and Laylee’s next adventure on the Playtonic Games website or the Steam listing.
Praey for the Gods, No Matter Studios, PS4/Xbox One/Steam
Many of the indie games we nominated were inspired by some of the most praised games ever made. Praey for the Gods follows in the massive footsteps left by Shadow of the Colossus with gameplay that surprisingly hasn’t been replicated since aside from a blatant rip-off moment in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Created by the small team at No Matter Studios, Praey for the Gods adds in all of the modern controls that we expect to see such as exploration, a bunch of giant enemies (that already feel iconic), and climbing atop those giant monsters to take them down.
This game feels almost complete already but the developers are still set on making it the best they possibly can through careful feedback consideration and iteration. It’s one that’s already available on Early Access for those that cannot wait to play but the game’s ending segments are being held back for the final launch.
In short, this one is epic, go check it out.
Find more information on the No Matter Studios website or the Steam page. Video footage courtesy of IGN.
Infernax, Berzerk Studio, Steam/Switch
We all know that I had to include something truly retro-inspired and that’s exactly what Infernax is to a degree that’s laugh out loud funny, shocking, and just downright fun. Inspired by Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Castlevania: Simon’s Quest on the NES, Infernax takes the few good ideas from each game, hones in on what made them special, and then layers it with over the top gore, special effects, and gameplay.
There’s a system that lets the player choose between saving or slaying some characters, both of which have various effects on the level. The example in our demo was a decrepit beggar, who at first I didn’t trust and opted to slay, resulting in this brutal mace swing that crushed the man’s face. From there the adventure just continued. However, we reloaded to see the other option, where the man turned into a massive boss creature. It wasn’t too challenging and it did get me a ton of experience to level up my character’s strength. Animations are topnotch and blood will even gather on the character in a realistic way, slowly dripping off as the player moves.
Infernax is a wild, metal as hell retro romp that had me giggling like a kid again. From top to bottom it has been carefully designed to hit a particular feeling and I think it nails it.
Better yet, Infernax has a Game Genie style code system and when one of the developers put in the famous Konami code at the home screen, he spawned in as a Contra-style soldier with a whole other set of moves. I really hope we continue to see different modes, characters, and nods to retro gaming in the final release.
This one is a retro fan’s dream.
Find more information on the official Infernax website and the Steam page.
Winner of Best Indie Game – Haven, The Game Bakers
Again, Haven captures intimacy in a way that I’ve never seen in games. Subtle animations and realistic scenarios immediately had me invested in this couple’s adventure. I hope to uncover the mystery of the planet, combat challenging monsters, and grow closer to these characters when the game launches.
If The Game Bakers do as well with Haven as they did with Furi, we could have ourselves one of the best indie studios in the industry.
Be sure to check out all of the games we’ve recognized this year and wishlist them on Steam where applicable. Many of the developers I talked to stressed how important wishlisting is to them. We also spoke to many of these developers about their games in interviews that will be used for quotes here on Marooners’ Rock, as well as for upcoming episodes of the Forever Classic Podcast.
Congratulations to all of the indie studios creating some of the most unique and fulfilling games available. We wish you luck in all of your endeavors.
*Platforms could change over time, as could quality, publishers, etc.
Coming up next is our Best Games at PAX West 2019, an overall recognition of gaming excellence that expands into AA and AAA games and studios.
