The Annapurna Interactive Showcase 2022 carried a somewhat different strategy from the video game publisher’s summer showcase format. Instead of a fire hose of sizzle reels, trailers, and gameplay videos,
Annapurna diverted it a bit, doing all of the above while offering off the people and making some of the most suitable indie games in the endeavor.
Thirsty Suitors from Outerloop Games shows a skateboard-loving South Asian woman called Jala. After retiring behind a trail of broken hearts, she must now duel the owners of those hearts while attempting and failing to live up to her parent’s expectations. We fetch the foremost in-depth glimpse of gameplay, highlighting all the ways Jala will fight, cook, and rail grinds her way to self-love. Thirsty Suitors projects on Game Pass, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch in 2023.
HINDSIGHT
Hindsight from Prune solo developer Joel McDonald is coming soon. This bizarre narrative game is evocative of Gone Home. It has players exploring a woman’s life through her memories and how the story of those recollections changes when looking at things from a different perspective. Hindsight launches on August 4th on Nintendo Switch, Steam, and iOS.
CARDBOARD COMPUTER
Cardboard Computer, the Chicago-based three-person development team, talked about how the group met, its creative process, and how it completed the narrative masterpiece Kentucky Route Zero. The team also communicated that it’s working on a new game intended to be livelier, more humorous, and faster than KRZ.
BOUNTY STAR
Bounty Star blends the peacefulness of farming and base-building with bad-ass mecha combat. The freshman designation of Dinogod, Bounty Star, is coming soon to Game Pass, Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam.
YARN OWL
Yarn Owl’s — a two-person crew spread across Texas and Georgia — the story starts with Fabian Willis’ father blessing him a copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past shortly before departing away. Once Willis finally wins the game when he’s older, he decides he desires to recreate that understanding for others. So, after slowly familiarizing himself with the game development tools, he teams up with Chris Hofmann, and together, the two are functioning to create their first game, encouraged by A Link To The Past. It’s fantastic to see normal humans with little to no formal video game background making a game. Yarn Owl’s story is encouraging, and it’s neat that Annapurna Interactive decided to highlight it.
OUTER WILDS
Mobius Digital, the maker of Outer Wilds, holds an announcement. Yes, Outer Wilds is still reaching the Switch. Still, it’s not coming due to technical difficulties and an admitted misunderstanding of the Gregorian calendar. However, the team revealed that the game would get a free, next-gen update to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S / X on September 15th.
THE PATHLESS, MAQUETTE, SOLAR ASH
Outer Wilds isn’t the only game bringing some cross-platform love. The Pathless, initially a PlayStation 5 exclusive, is coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch. In addition, the architecture puzzle game Maquette is reaching Game Pass and Nintendo Switch. And ultimately, the slick but uninteresting Solar Ash is also moving cross-platform, coming on Steam on December 6th.
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH
What Remains of Edith Finch is a narrative venture that attaches to you like a splinter and never departs. After recreating the game back when it was released in 2017, it’s one of the best games you’ve played in the previous decade. If you missed WROEF, fantastic news, it’s bringing a 4K 60FPS port to Xbox Series S / X and PlayStation 5, available now and obtainable to anyone with Xbox One or PS4 versions. So play it — you owe it to yourself.
THIRD SHIFT
Third Shift is a two-person Germany-based developer operating on its first game, Forever Ago. It reveals the story of Alfred, an elderly photographer, about that #vanlife pushing his way through the United States. No release date or platforms yet, but hold your lens caps off.
FLOCK
Flock is a unique game from I Am Dead creator Richard Hogg in partnership with Hollow Ponds. It’s a multiplayer co-op game that allows players to fly around, flashing through colorful, alien landscapes on adorable bird-like creatures players must catch and manage like Pokémon. The flock will soon be available on Xbox, Game Pass, PlayStation, and Steam.
HOHOKUM
Colorful investigation game Hohokum, initially available on PlayStations 3 and 4 and the Vita, is eventually coming to PC.
UVULA
Keita Takahashi, best comprehended for building Katamari Damacy, has a new game coming soon named Uvula. That’s it, that’s the statement. *hums in Katamari Damacy*
DREAMFEEL
Shortly after the triumph of If Found, Dreamfeel is performing on its next title. Based in Ireland, the creators at Dreamfeel shared insight into its creative philosophy. They revealed that sometimes making games doesn’t suggest being chained to a computer 24/7 but coming together, creating, experiencing, and collaborating on art. Finally, the creators shared some information on the new game, which appears to follow Annapurna’s recent trend of “put a cat in it.”
THE LOST WILD
Great Ape Games, founded in the UK, led off with a teaser of its first game. The Lost Wild — a name that sidesteps dangerously close to operating afoul of Michael Crichton’s attorneys — is a survival horror game that pits you against a globe driven by dinosaurs. Players troll a lush forest populated by all sorts of horrible lizards with nothing but your senses of humor and a mysterious voice to steer them. It’s giving Resident Evil but with dinosaurs instead of the zombies, and since Capcom won’t release another Dino Crisis, this will have to do. The Lost Wild will launch on Steam with consoles to be announced later.