These games are worth keeping an eye on.
Day of the Devs followed up the Summer Game Fest stream with a handful of upcoming games worth paying attention to.
The show gave each game a full segment where the developers described their game and what inspired them. Aside from games I’m already excited for, like Hyper Light Breaker, the stream had several trailers for games that bend existing genres and have exceptionally pretty visual styles.
All of these games are on Steam so you can add them to your wishlist to know when they come out. It’s a little bit of a bummer that none of these games have specific release dates, but a couple of them are targeted for this year.
Here are the five games you shouldn’t overlook from the Day of the Devs stream:
Beastieball
Release date: 2024
Beastieball comes from Greg Lobanov and the team behind Chicory and Wandersong. It’s a Pokemon-like where you play a game similar to volleyball with cute little monsters, or beasties. Instead of catching all of them, you’re encouraged to collect the ones you like and form a relationship with them to unlock new powers for your matches.
A Kickstarter to crowdfund some of the game’s development will be available soon.
Wishlist: Steam
Simpler Times
Release date: “Coming soon on PC”
Simpler Times sets off Unpacking alarms with its coming-of-age story and organization-focused tasks. The first-person packing game has you move through main character Tiana’s memories as she prepares to move out of her childhood home. You can take Polaroid photos, pick apples, play records, and slowly (and sadly) choose what items to take with you.
Wishlist: Steam
Viewfinder
Release date: 2023
Viewfinder is a game with one extremely ambitious mechanic: you find and take photos to turn them into parts of the environment. This first-person puzzle game has visual similarities to The Witness with its mix of modern architecture and a bright artstyle. The trailer shows the player taking a picture of a staircase and using it climb up to a previously inaccessible area. The areas inside the photos almost look like they’re from the past, which might suggest there’s a lot more going on than its sandbox puzzles.
Wishlist: Steam
Read more: 2023’s most mind-bending puzzle game gives you a magic camera and invites you to break the world
Hauntii
Release date: 2024
Hauntii imagines a black-and-white world where ghosts seek out remnants of their lives. You play as one of them in this twin-stick shooter with a hand-drawn visual style. The 2D scenes have a striking look, especially when the game seems to break away from its sort of isometric camera angle and fills the screen with its surreal art. At one point, your little cloaked character rides on a rollercoaster overlooking a city, which immediately reminded me of a similar section in Nier: Automata’s circus area. It’s still a little unclear how much of a shooter it is, but it also looks like there might be a variety of things to do, including some sort of platforming sequence to collect feathers.
Wishlist: Steam
Summerhill
Release date: TBA
Summerhill’s tagline is “A folktale about life, loss and livestock” and I think I’m down for whatever that means. It’s a story-driven puzzle game where you control a little shephard as they seek out their lost flock of sheep. The tiny trailer lets you watch over your character and their dog from high above as they herd the sheep down from a cliff. You’ll be hunting for sheep in beautiful environments like the warm, sunny cliff as well as darker areas like a ruined stone cathedral bathed in green light. The pastoral environments as well as the folk-inspired soundtrack in Summerhill definitely have my attention.
Wishlist: Steam
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