My Indie Hopes & Dreams for Summer Game Fest

rSummer Game Fest is only a few days away. This Friday is the showcase, followed by the Day of the Devs showcase, the Devolver showcase, and the Guerrilla Collective Showcase. The Xbox showcase is on Sunday and the Ubisoft Forward is on Monday. By this time next week, we will be living in a whole new video game world.

These predictions will vary in terms of outlandishness. Some are hopes, some are fears, and some are educated guesses. I would love to hear your thoughts and predictions too, so feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page if you feel so inclined.

There are a couple of indie games I would have mentioned here, namely Flock and Beastieball, but those games both got some interesting updates recently, which you can read about here (for Flock) and here (for Beastieball). Otherwise, here’s what I’m thinking.

The Lost Wild: Release Date or At Least a New Trailer

If you haven’t watched my first YouTube video where I share my excitement for Great Ape Games and Annapurna Interactive’s upcoming dinosaur survival horror game, The Lost Wild, I highly recommend it. The devs have a quote on their website that suggests the potential for a release in late 2024 or early 2025. If I had to be honest with myself, I would guess that they would be pushing for the 2025 release date and I support that. On the other hand, there hasn’t been any news or trailers for a long time, so it wouldn’t be that wild to see a new trailer. Right? Please?

The Plucky Squire: Release Date

This feels like one of the more likely announcements. The Plucky Squire is a highly anticipated game from developer All Possible Futures and publisher Devolver Digital, which is having a direct on Friday after the Summer Game Fest and Day of the Devs showcases. This game has caught a lot of attention for its captivating mechanics where the protagonist can jump out of the 2D storybook pages and into the 3D world to solve puzzles and take on enemies. The Plucky Squire was originally set to release last year but was delayed in Devolver’s iconic Devolver Delayed presentation. Since we are already six months into the delayed year, hopefully, that means the wait won’t be much longer.

Ghost Bike: New Trailer (Or Just Tell Me The Song)

Ghost Bike is the next game from the developers of Nidhogg, Messhof. Currently, there is only one trailer for the game, so it’s likely still a long way from being released, but that’s not what I’m after. The trailer for this game about fantastical bike messengers features a song that has been stuck in my head for months. The cel-shaded art style, world-building, and racing mechanics all seem great too, but just give me the song. Or at least another trailer or something. But really it is mostly about the song… But also I’m interested in the game too… But that song though.

Windblown: Early Access Launch Date

From Motion Twin, the developers of the super popular indie game Dead Cells comes Windblown. The deadly 3D rogue-like stole the show at the Game Awards with their bloody trailer featuring three anthropomorphic protagonists, one lizard, one bat, and one axolotl. The game is planned to launch in Early Access sometime this year, but they have remained quiet since the original announcement at last year’s Game Awards. There is still a lot of time left in 2024, but if there was an opportunity to get my hands on this game earlier than this winter, I would love to know about it. This is not unreasonable given that Windblown was announced at a previous Geoff Keighley-hosted event, so I will be keeping my fingers crossed.

Heart Machine and Devolver: New Game Announcement

If you haven’t read the recent news regarding Devolver and Heart Machine, I recommend catching up. Heart Machine, the developers behind the popular indie title Hyper Light Drifter, have already confirmed that they are teaming up with Devolver to announce a game during the Devolver Direct this Friday. It’s not clear what this game will be, though some fans have already begun to speculate that it will be within the Hyper Light universe. This sounds great, but with Hyper Light Breaker (another game I hope to hear news about) already on the horizon, I would guess this is entirely new. No matter what I am excited to see what this will be, but I stand by the prediction that it will be an original project.

Crypt Custodian: Release Date

If you’ve been reading the recent articles you know I’ve been having a great time with Kyle Thompson’s Crypt Custodian demo that launched earlier this year. I saw a post about this game claiming that there would be an update in the Guerilla Collective showcase happening on Friday evening, so I do know it will be there, it’s just a question of what the announcement will be. If you’re like me, you may have also not heard of this showcase before today. But if they feature great games like Crypt Custodian, I’ll be there to check things out. I hope the full game will be out in only a few months, but if not, maybe by the end of the year.

We Kill Monsters: New Trailer

The upcoming We Kill Monsters from Glass Revolver and Annapurna Interactive looks like a game I could get lost in. The development process appears to be very slow and deliberate, which I appreciate. Something in my gut tells me that this game still needs time to develop, and as far as I know, there isn’t even a release window announced yet. So all I hope for is a new trailer to get a fresh look and a few more details about this exciting indie game. What drew me into We Kill Monsters is the worldbuilding. The game takes place in underground catacombs where you play as a homunculus sent to hunt and kill powerful beings to stave off the extinction of the humans living above. It’s also the first game I’ve come across that is being developed in Rhode Island, which is where I spent most of my life, so that’s fun to support too.

Sword of the Sea: New Trailer or Release Date

From Giant Squid, the developers behind Abzu and The Pathless, comes another game that will have the player explore a vast and visually stunning environment full of ruins and wildlife, Sword of the Sea. As the title suggests, there is an ocean involved, but it seems hidden in some way by a desert environment. I’m not sure how this will present itself in the game’s narrative, but I’m excited to find out. The protagonist in Sword of the Sea travels around on a sword as if it were a hoverboard, with one clip from the trailer even showing the character going up and down a half pipe. This could be an excellent game to showcase at some point to inspire people with the fantastic imagery and remind them how great a time they had exploring Abzu and other games like Journey. Since there is no planned release window yet I would settle for a new trailer rather than a finite release date.

33 Immortals: Early Access Launch

Thunder Lotus Games has created something special with their co-op multiplayer action-rogue-like 33 Immortals. If you want to read about my experience with the closed beta, even though it wasn’t as long as I hoped it would be, check out my recent Gameplay Recap. 33 Immortals was originally announced at last year’s Xbox Showcase, so it would make sense for it to appear again there. Early Access is planned for launch sometime in 2024, and with the closed beta wrapping up earlier this month, it would make sense to start getting more players into the game. 

The Gecko Gods: New Trailer or Demo

Maybe it’s because I had a pet gecko for a few years growing up, but The Gecko Gods from developer Inresin looks very promising. The player takes on the role of a gecko in a cel-shaded adventure puzzle platformer. The art style and movement are endlessly charming, and I already know this game will rewire my brain to think like a lizard. There is so little I know about this game other than I love the look of it, so maybe a new trailer would give me more to get excited about. But my other thought is that this would be a perfect game to take part in this June’s Steam Next Fest with a free demo. Fingers crossed.

Hollow Knight: Silksong: Shadow Drop

This is mostly for the meme of it all. Over the last few years the follow-up to Team Cherry’s acclaimed action metroidvania, Hollow Knight, has plagued the live chat of every internet showcase from The Game Awards to Nintendo Directs. This might be the first time that it’s somewhat possible though. I am less sure about the whole “shadow drop” of it all (which if you’re unfamiliar, to “shadow drop” a game would mean that it’s playable the day of the showcase), but it’s not impossible. Chances are that Team Cherry would want to have some build-up to the launch, but I don’t know if the gaming community can get any more excited or aware of this huge upcoming game.

I’ll leave it at that for now! Most of these are games I already know about and want updates on, but one thing I’m looking forward to at Summer Game Fest is finding out about exciting games I’ve never heard of. I can’t wait to share all of those with you too.

What do you think? Ridiculous? Reasonable? What am I missing? What do you hope to see during these showcases? Let me know in the comments!