Day Of The Devs 2023 Rundown

It is not often I get to say this, but I think I could recount the entirety of this showcase just by reading most of my Steam Wishlist through Bart Simpson’s many megaphones. IAM8BIT and Double Fine returned with Day of the Devs this year to follow up the alright (for once) Summer Game Fest with the main event of the evening. This was especially refreshing since Devolver wasted 20 minutes doing a pasé joke on mascots, AI, and nostalgia, only for about 7 minutes of that to be games.

Do you want to play a game with the ideals of Pokémon but it is fun? Coming sometime next year to PC and Mac (Whoopi Goldberg will be happy) via Steam we have Beastieball. It will also have a “DRM-Free,” version as well as further platforms yet to be announced. Beastieball is netball with your Pokémon. I’ll tell you why already out of the three shows from Thursday that this was the best.

There was the professional voice actor and best dog, Ori. A game that exudes warmth and heart, Wishes Unlimited notes that you are best to stick with your beastie pals as they’ll improve over time. On top of that, as it is two-on-two netball (mostly) you play, specific beasties can Megazord themselves for bigger attacks.

I haven’t found myself getting into Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Drifter for some reason, and it isn’t the game’s fault. Hyper Light Breaker, coming to Early Access later this year, is a completely different story. As Alx from Heart Machine notes, it is “vivid but bleak.” I’m going to say this a lot today, but Hyper Light Breaker is downright gorgeous if not familiar. It is similar to BOTW with Dead Cells. I can see this being off-putting for some, but with such interesting art direction and reasonably fun-looking gameplay, I’m excited.

Next up involved my two favorite wholesome vampires showing a game I’ll play while listening to sad music. Simpler Times is an Unpacking-like but seemingly with a greater focus on a single point in a young woman’s life. No specific date has been given for it yet. However, Simpler Times is expected to come to PC sometime later this year. Other platforms are yet to be announced, though I can assume that the Switch is the ideal platform to snuggle up with to drink something warm as you look out the window.

I love when you can’t see the connection in a game, those moments when it does something cool but you are left asking “How did you do that?” Much like Superliminal (with other dev comparisons being Portal and Antichamber), Viewfinder does that camera-perspective trick but is a billion times more impressive than that. Releasing July 18th for PC and PS5, I am so excited about this strange and wonderful puzzle game. I was about to say platformer, but you don’t jump, you are creating the platforms from your camera. I’m in love! A demo is reportedly available now on PS5.

I don’t know why, but the art style of Hauntii doesn’t do it for me. Releasing sometime next year on Steam, Xbox One and Series X|S, PS4 and 5, and the Nintendo Switch, this strange and wonderful game about playing as a ghost that wants to haunt everything is one of the few I didn’t Wishlist on Thursday. Gameplay-wise, I am sold on Moonloop Games’ relaxing puzzle twin-stick haunting game. However, for some reason, the art is the thing holding my opinion back from jumping at publisher Firestoke to beg for a release date and a review copy.

A game that disappeared for a while, Cart Life will once again return to the land of the living thanks to the people over at Adhoc Studio and the game’s creator Richard Hofmeier. In a slice-of-life story title based around three people trying to make it as street vendors, you’ll spend a lot of your time doing retail jobs. This is not only a return to Steam. Cart Life now also has additions to the story, improved graphical fidelity, and improved controls/mechanics. Coming to PC and undefined consoles, the expected release is sometime later this year.

I don’t know how they’ve done it, but they’ve found me! Phantom Coast’s Helskate is a Tony Hawk’s Underground mixed with action Rogue-like/lite gameplay akin to that of Hades. Someone has finally made a Rogue-like/lite specifically for me and I love it. With really nice snappy gameplay matched with a bit of action, the game designer is Steve Swink who worked at Neversoft on Underground. Swink mentioned that the team thought this gameplay worked best as an RPG-style game, and they were right. There is no release date yet, but you can wishlist Helskate on Steam right now.

I knew immediately that Alexx and Lisa would be into Lululu Entertainment’s Henry Halfhead, coming to PC next year. In Henry Halfhead, you play as Henry, who is half a head. Morphing into everything like they are Mario’s hat from Odyssey, you’ll be asked to do simple tasks. These tasks consist of things like making your bed, washing yourself, making breakfast, and going to work as half a head. Fun, colorful, and wholesome as all hell, the cherry on the top is the co-op mode. In co-op, you can have two Henrys to make life all the more simple… or nightmarish if you’re the apple in the game of apple knife.

After that, it was time to break your brain some more with Geometric Interactive and Annapurna Interactive’s Cocoon. We’ve seen Cocoon in snippets before I think, but nothing to this scale. Finally I know how much my brain is going to hurt playing this gorgeous puzzle platformer. As expected with a release sometime later this year on Steam, Xbox, Playstation, and the Nintendo Switch, my brain is going to have a fun time trying to power through this puzzling world and get rid of headaches.

There was a point just before Été was shown off that we were told it means summer or summertime in French (which is true) and thus it is appropriate for Summer Games Fest. I’ve said Summer too many times and I’ve started to question it. Summer doesn’t start until the 20th-21st. Anyway, Montreal-based Impossible’s game Été is a relaxing exploration title where you go about adding color to your surroundings. What sold me was the commissions you can do which become available once you’ve colored in the “real” world equivalents. Été is coming to PC next year though.

If something is sort of an ad but with Tim Schafer doing fun stuff too, is it really an ad? Yes, but Indie Megabooth is returning from pandemic-based hibernation to major cons in America, bringing some more wonderful indie titles to the show floors of all these cons that often gloss over the likes of previous titles like: Tunic, Disco Elysium, Spiritfarer, Celeste, Mini Metro, Papers Please, and many more. Now you can sign up for their newsletter as they make a return to the cons you’ll probably never go to due to the long lines.

Similar to my disinterest with Hyper Light Drifter, Land & Sea’s Alto series never caught me the way I think it should have. Their next game, Summerhill, is actually quite interesting as a story-based puzzle game about being a young shepherd. Coming sometime next year, the only platform announced so far is PC. I couldn’t see why consoles would be off the books. Breathtakingly stunning and genuinely interesting, I can’t wait for this story-based puzzle title when we get hands-on time next year.

Why am I so interested in a game that is basically an anime dating-sim crossed with Persona and Devil May Cry, with a touch of Suda51 in the idea of mini-games? Quite literally corrupting the showcase, Eternights made my eyes almost roll into the back of my head and then it kept going and I got interested. Set for September this year, Eternights will be on PS4 and 5, Steam, and Epic. My Steam Wishlist has been corrupted by the anime.

Next up is a game now in Early Access called Retro Gadgets. Released in November of last year into Early Access, this was more of a showcase of what is currently available. A fantastic hardware building/programming, dare I say simulator that I want to do a review on when it comes out of early access. So far, there is nothing new to really say. As I point out, this was more of a showcase of something cool that links into what is next.

Releasing on the 22nd of June, Australian developer Shape Shop has made an Early Access sandbox builder about making your own Mars Rover. Mars First Logistics is a Besiege style game with the goal of getting specific items across the home planet of a social media owner. Sort of in the same Belgian comic book art style as Sable, this red-sanded-based builder looks to offer a lot of interesting tools to truly make the Martian landscape your own sandbox. Also, I love Ian. He looks like the type of bloke that makes simple, useful tools in his shed.

The final game (sadly) is from Mutazione developer Die Gute Fabrik, and it shows. Saltsea Chronicles is a story-driven choose-your-own-adventure title about the water levels once they’ve risen and the community on a stolen ship with a kidnapped captain. Playing as the crew, you go on an adventure to track down your captain by talking to those land-dwellers, playing card-based mini-games, and exploring this gorgeous world. The best thing though is the “shoulder button” instant movement across the map feature. It cuts down on boring trudging around. Saltsea Chronicles is coming to PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC later this year.

With only admin left, Double Fine notes the bloody fantastic documentary PsychOdyssey about making Psychonauts 2, and it is free to watch on YouTube. As well as that, we were told of the backers of the presentation, noting those who have a game and want it showcased should submit it for future showcases, Doseone who did all the music between trailers, and finally the highlight of the fantastic Tchia soundtrack with a performance set to a showcase of the game and its inspiration of New Caledonia. Lastly, if you’d like to watch the whole showcase, it is linked down below.