Happy Summer of Gaming, everyone! A busy week of announcements was kicked off today with the Guerrilla Collective Showcase, an annual celebration of upcoming indie games that was bursting with new trailers and gameplay. Look, there were a lot of games shown off during that show today, and we encourage you to go watch the entire show when you get the chance. But for now, we picked out a handful of our absolute favorites to highlight – check these out, check them all out:
Super Space Club
I think I felt my stress levels drop at least 40% watching the release date trailer for Super Space Club. It’s a colorful arcade space shooter where you control a tiny triangle of a space ship zipping around the screen, pew pewing meteors and other foes. But my absolute favorite part of this is the lo-fi soundtrack by Fat Bard that gives the whole thing a real ethereal, chill, and spacy feeling. It’s pure vibes, coming to PC and Xbox on August 4 of this year.
ANTONBLAST
I freely admit I’ve had my eye on Antonblast for a while, largely because of its clear inspiration drawn from one of my favorite GBA classics, Wario Land 4. And everything from the visuals to the sounds to the crushing feel of Anton’s attacks takes me right back to my childhood playing that game. It’s clearly a loving throwback, right down to the feel of collecting coins and smashing through blocks, but adds a twist with a 2.5D element that sees Anton jumping back and forth between different layers of the background. Antonblast is coming to PC and Switch and while we don’t have a release date yet, there’s a new demo available on the game’s official website.
SacriFire
What I’m learning from this showcase is that I’m a sap for good music, and SacriFire had me at the name “Motoi Sakuraba.” The famed composer from games like Golden Sun, Baten Kaitos, Dark Souls, and many more has also stepped up for SacriFire, and his intense score is the perfect compliment for the pixel art style and fast-paced RPG elements shown off in this new trailer. SacriFire features real-time battles, crafting, puzzles, and all the good stuff we expect from a meaty RPG, couples with a “morally complex” story taking place across two different worlds. It’s coming to PC and consoles at a later date.
Lake – Season’s Greetings
I really dug Lake when it came out back in 2021. It’s a charming story of a woman named Meredith who takes a temporary post as a mail carrier in her small mountain hometown of Providence Oaks while in the midst of dealing with some life stuff. I wasn’t expecting DLC for the slow-paced, serene little delivery adventure, but today’s surprise announcement has me eager to revisit Providence Oaks. Season’s Greetings is a prequel featuring Meredith’s mailman father and yes, it takes place over a snowy Christmas. Season’s Greetings releases this holiday season, and I highly recommend playing through Lake’s main story while we wait.
Lil’ Guardsman
Look, the game Papers, Please was an incredible and very serious piece of art. But I’m surprised it’s taken this long for someone to take the concept and run with it in an admittedly sillier way. Lil’ Guardsman is, surprise, about a medieval town guardsperson named Lil who has to decide whether or not to admit or deny people trying to enter the city (or send them straight to jail). But the folks coming through the gate are…let’s just say, a rich tapestry of people. Some of them are trying to smuggle illegal goods, or get up to Capital-C Crimes. Others might look shady, but are actually just normal citizens. It’s up to you to make decisions about how you balance expectations around your job…with a desire to rebel.
World of Horror
World of Horror, described as a 1-bit love letter to Junji Ito and H.P. Lovecraft, certainly looks the part. It’s a point-and-click adventure that incorporates survival, roguelite, and RPG elements through a world plagued with Old Gods. World of Horror has been hovering in early access for some time now, so you can check it out now if you like, or you can wait for the full release on NIntendo Switch, PlayStation, and PC on October 19 of this year.
Europa
Unshockingly, Europa takes place on Europa – Jupiter’s moon and in this game, a lush paradise just begging you to explore it. The trailer we saw today was full of eye-catching little moments as the main character, an android named Zee, glided, climbed, and puzzled around the mysterious world. Europa seems very focused on movement and meditative play, with an almost Ghibli-vibe to the ruins, landmarks, and flowing grasses that cover the planet. It’s coming out for PC later this year.
These were far from the only games shown during the Guerrilla Collective showcase today. For a quick recap, here’s everything else we saw:
30XXA Bonnie OdysseyA Corgi’s Cozy HikeA Tiny Sticker TaleA Void HopeAbyssusAnnalynnArc SeedBattle ShapersBlood WestBye Sweet CaroleCorpoNation: The Sorting ProcessCrashlands 2Crypt CustodianDawn of the MonstersDeadlinkDeath Trick:Double BlindDeck of SoulsDemonschoolDo You See Sparky?Don DualityDwarf DelveEvolutisForgotlingsGori: Cuddly CarnageGrifford AcademyGrimeGrowthHammerwatch 2Heart AbyssIron MeatJumplight OdysseyKingdom EightiesLeximanLight OdysseyNivalisNocturnalNoun Town Language LearningNova LandsOlliefrog Toad SkaterPizza PossumPneumataPromenadeQuest MasterRemnant 2Sengoku DynastySerumSticky BusinessSuper Adventure HandTerra MemoriaThree Minutes to EightToads of the BayouToxic CrusadersWrestleQuestYomi 2
We highlight recommend watching the entire showcase right here when you get the chance – it’s a real buffet of incredible upcoming games. And in the meantime, stick with IGN for all our Summer of Gaming coverage of news, trailers, interviews, and more.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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