Europe and Asia are bringing some exciting participants to the Indie Prize during Casual Connect USA 2018 at Disneyland® Hotel. The games bring a variety of worlds and experiences, imaginary, realistic and even historical. The story lines are as varied as the environments, and challenge, adventure and learning are involved in all of them.
Game Title: Bushy Tail
Developer: Fuero Games
Platform: Desktop Win
Country: Poland
In Bushy Tail, three children are processing their experiences when refugees and foreign cultures suddenly arrive. They dive into the fictional world and tell the story of their hero, Little Fox, who goes through, adapts and overcomes the challenges of change. The game is constantly transforming, depending on which child is telling the story, giving the player the sense of influencing the plot.
At Game Connection Europe 2017 in Paris, Bushy Tail received the award for Best Story/Storytelling. It was also nominated in the following categories: Best Console PC/Hardcore, Best Casual Game, Best Quality of Art and Best IP.
Game Title: Penny’s Farm
Developer: Snake Cake
Platform: Desktop Win
Country: Sweden
Penny’s Farm takes place on a chaotic co-op farm. The game has a procedural narrative and increasing difficulty. Players must survive diarrhea, heartaches and rabbit invasions while running the farm together. And if you are working together you could get fired.
Penny’s Farm won the Best Graduate Project and Student Choice Award at Gotland Game Conference and the Gamers Choice Award at Swedish Game Awards. Recently it won the AirConsole contest. It was nominated for Indie Prize by AirConsole 25k Game Dev Contest.
Game Title: AntVentor
Developer: LoopyMood
Platform: Desktop Mac
Country: Ukraine
AntVentor is a point-and-click adventure game with Ant as the main character. You, the player find yourself in the macro world where you immediately break into the ideal life of Ant and destroy his plans to realize his dreams. Can you put it all back together?
LoopyMood, the developers of AntVentor are excited to show this game, their first experience in game development.
Game Title: Molecats
Developer: Vidroid
Platform: Console
Country: Ukraine
Molecats is a puzzle adventure, but an indirect control, tile-twisting puzzle adventure – with traps. The goal is to guide the molecats through the caves. To do this you must control the environment and change the course they follow to help them avoid dangerous traps, spooky monsters and tricky challenges.
The developers of Molecats, Vidroid, have been working on this game for the past five years, funding it themselves. They are excited with the result, a game with beautiful art that children will enjoy.
Game Title: SpiritSphere DX
Developer: Eendhoorn & Fabraz
Platform: Console
Country: Netherlands
SpiritSphere DX is a multiplayer game inspired by classics such as Zelda and Windjammers. And it incorporates the nostalgic feel of player air hockey at the arcade. The game can be played in single-player mode against the computer or you can challenge friends to a one-on-one battle.
SpiritSphere DX is now being published by Fabraz for the Nintendo Switch, covered by influencers such as KittyKatGaming.
Game Title: Throne of Lies: The Online Game of Deceit
Developer: Imperium42 Game Studio
Platform: Desktop Win
Country: Taiwan
Throne of Lies was inspired by medieval politics as well as the Werewolf/Mafia genre of 1986. It is an online multiplayer game requiring social deduction, mischief and betrayal. You must find a way to distinguish friend from foe before it is too late!
Imperium42 Game Studio began working on this game in January of 2016 and had a successful $20k Kickstarter in early 2017. The launch of the game brought in over $100k in the first month. They are proud to describe, “We accomplished this with only two actual programmers on ramen-noodle college budgets in a profit-sharing team of eight.” The other team members included the artists and community managers.
Game Title: Skye
Developer: Puny Astronaut
Platform: Console
Country: Scotland
This game features Skye, a friendly dragon, as it wanders through a friendly world. The player controls the dragon while it dashes through the dandelions or dives for pearls under the sea, or watches the fireworks at night. And while wandering Skye can do things like helping a farmer with the crops or aiding a sea captain in finding sunken treasure.
Skye won the Best Sound Design award at Game Design Awards. It was also on the short list for Best Casual Game at TIGA Industry Awards.
Game Title: Past Cure
Developer: Phantom 8 Studio
Platform: Console
Country: Germany
Past Cure is a 3D action thriller for PS4, XB1 and PC. The game includes two worlds, each with its own mechanics. It is a story driven game based on the movies Inception and Fight Club and was developed with UE4.
The release of Past Cure is planned for February 2, 2018.
Game Title: Skelewton’s First Law
Developer: Youmaku Games
Platform: Android
Country: Egypt
Skelewton’s First Law is a 2D endless arcade game. It takes place after Isaac Newton’s death, when he wakes up as a skeleton now known as Skelewton. But Skelewton has gravity manipulation powers, so he can control gravity to avoid obstacles and traps while collecting as many apples as possible. There are power-ups to help in the game, such as the ghost apple that makes Skelewton intangible or the alarm apple that stops time. The player can also use apple to purchase and collect costumes for Skelewton and mix and match different costumes.
Skelewton has received a number of awards: Winner, Best Game at Run Double Jump 2017, International Mobile Gaming Awards Nominee, nominated for Best Game Award at Tunisian Game Awards 2017, and nominated for Game of the Year at Tunisian Game Awards 2017.
Run Double Jump nominated Skelewton to participate in Indie Prize USA 2017.
Game Title: Kluno: Hero Battle
Developer: Gameka
Platform: Android
Country: Malaysia
For the first time we have a game that makes puzzle matching competitive. Kluno: Hero Battle is a player vs player battle arena with the battle controlled by a match 3 game board. Players can collect, upgrade and form the best team of five while trying to defeat the enemy team and destroy their base.
You must match fast while managing your team and react to the battle situation or you risk losing your ranking on the leader board. Each hero on the team offers either an offense or a support skill depending on their location in the arena. You experiment with each hero to form the winning team. There are also an arsenal of items to use in the battle, each with a unique purpose. You must try them out and learn to create your battle strategy.
You can battle in real time with players around the world. And you can play with your friends.
Game Title: Hello World
Developer: Tumblecrate
Platform: iOS
Country: Denmark
Hello World is a leisurely travel game that allows the player to meet people and learn about the characteristics of different places. The game combines a laid-back atmosphere with an interesting but approachable quiz element. If you like trivia, you are sure to enjoy Hello World.
Game Title: Tanks a lot!
Developer: Highcore Labs LLC
Platform: Android
Country: Belarus
Tanks a Lot! Is a fun, dynamic multiplayer game. Players build their tank using dozens of parts and, as part of the team, try to dominate the arena. They can form teams of friends to defeat their enemy team.
The game has different modes, such as the Resource Brawl, where you try to grab as many barrels as possible and keep them within your team to gain the victory. A second mode is the classical Team Death Match.
Tanks a Lot! Was a nominee for Best Multiplayer Game at Indie Awards 2017. It was also nominated for Best Artwork on DevGamm 2017.
Game Title: Spitkis
Developer: Triple Topping Games
Platform: iOS
Country: Denmark
Spitkiss is a 2D platformer designed for mobile. The two spitkissers are in love. They both live in your heart, but they are stuck and unable to reach each other. In this long distance relationship, they can only kiss with spit bubbles that travel through your heart. You must guide the bubbles through the levels where enemies are lurking and somehow you must avoid the dangerous traps. This game has a swipe-to-jump mechanic especially for smartphones.
Spitkiss was showcased at Respawn 2017. It was one of ten winners at Global Top Round 2017.
To view all of the Indie Prize finalists for Casual Connect USA, visit indieprize.org.
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