The Future of Play Direct has returned for its third year to showcase more than 30 indie games from just as many developers. Taking place earlier today (June 11), the show kicked off with video game music covers from orchestral composer Alex Moukala before delving into updates on games including Boyfriend Dungeon, Onde, and Psychodrama.
Boyfriend Dungeon – Secret Weapons DLC Trailer
Kitfox Games revealed a first look at its upcoming DLC for roguelite weapon-dating simulator Boyfriend Dungeon. The trailer showed off a new dungeon and three new playable characters including one designed by Ikumi Nakamura (who’s previously worked on Ghostwire: Tokyo and The Evil Within).
Psychroma – Announcement Trailer
Rocket Adrift Games, creator of Raptor Boyfriend: A High School Romance, have announced Psychroma, a narrative-driven side-scroller where you play as a digital medium. This game looks as crazy as it sounds, as the player must explore a cybernetic house and confront all sorts of spooks as they attempt to uncover a mystery in their past.
Onde – Switch and iOS Release Window
Colourful sound-surfing platformer Onde will arrive on Nintendo Switch and iOS in the second half of 2022. It was released on PC in March from publisher Mixtvision and currently has a 9/10 on Steam, receiving praise for its abstract take on platforming that sees players move through visual representations of soothing music.
Love Shore – Release Date
Developer Perfect Garbage has announced that its visual novel Love Shore is coming to Steam and Xbox on October 21. The player must explore a cyberpunk metropolis as they meet and mingle with robots, gods, and humans alike.
Spiral – Xbox Platform Announcement
Folklore Games’ Spiral, a third-person narrative drive exploration game, is officially coming to Xbox. Players follow a man named Bernard as he explores his family home, reliving the past from childhood to his current, ageing state in what looks like a super impactful but super sad indie.
The Cartomancy Anthology – Release Date Trailer
Developer Compact has announced that The Cartomancy Anthology, its virtual tarot reading collection where each arcana is its own game, will be released for Steam and itchi.io on August 9. Each game is completely different to the next, allowing players to play through a series of unique “introspective digital experiences” all under one title.
ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area
Another visual novel confirmed for Nintendo Switch is ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area. With a demo already available on Steam, the game is being fully released in August and will see players follow 13 lonely adults as they navigate the ups and downs of romance.
Railbound – Release Window
Fans of trains and puzzles can enjoy Railbound this September. Golf Peaks and Inbento developer Afterburn showed off new gameplay and finally unveiled the release window for its track-connecting game that includes more than 100 puzzles for players to solve.
Hill Agency: PURITYdecay – New Gameplay
Achimostawinan Games has shown off its new detective mystery game Hill Agency: PURITYdecay, coming August 21. The trailer revealed new gameplay and story details for the game, in which players take on the role of a tough as nails P.I. as they explore, interrogate, and sift through evidence across the world.
Cook Serve Forever – New Gameplay
A new trailer highlights the story and gameplay of Cook Serve Forever, sequel to 2013 hit Cook, Serve, Delicious. Players must cook their way through a bustling solarpunk city as they work their way from a food cart chef to the culinary queen.
Creature Keeper – New Gameplay
Creature Keeper is a top-down, pixel art, monster farming RPG that lets players explore a bright and colourful world. A new trailer showed off the different types of monsters players can collect and battle with.
Kabaret – New Gameplay
Persona Theory Games has revealed new art, characters, and gameplay from its dark fantasy folklore adventure game, Kabaret. Players follow a cursed child named Jebat as he finds himself in a cruel and unforgiving realm of monsters.
Malice & Greed – New Gameplay
Alongside gaining XP when defeating enemies in Malice & Greed, players also gain the monsters themselves. Players build up a new team on every run of this roguelite, turn-based RPG, and a new gameplay trailer showed off mechanics including capturing monsters, selling them, and butchering them to steal their skills.
Rocket Rumble – New Gameplay
PixelNAUTS Games has revealed new levels coming to its combat-racing party game Rocket Rumble. Players can now take battle through a steampunk inspired world, a lush green forest, and a classic speedway. The developer didn’t say exactly when the game would leave Early Access but did confirm that it’s currently gearing up for the full launch.
The Wandering Village – New Gameplay
Survival RPG The Wandering Village is still without a release date but developer Stray Fawn Studios has revealed new gameplay showing off the game’s scavenging mechanic. Players must collect items to build their village on the back of a giant, wandering turtle-type creature called Onbu while defending themselves from an ever-threatening toxin.
Lab Rat – New Release Window and Publisher
Long-delayed puzzle game Lab Rat is officially coming to Steam in late 2022, with Klei Entertainment now publishing the game. Coming from developer Gwen Frey (BioShock Infinite, Kine, The Flame & The Flood) the game combines meticulous puzzles with a clever, hand-crafted narrative.
Calico – Expanded Edition
Cat-cafe building game Calico is receiving a big update this summer called the Pawsome Edition, which includes a revised, expanded version of its cooking minigame, new animals, and a new UI.
Everything Else Shown at the Future of Play Direct
The 30 minute showcase was full of announcements, also including new trailers for Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Infinite Guitars, Lost Twins 2, Mossfield Origins, OU, Pen Pal Princess, Skábma-Snowfall, Soundfall, Spells & Secrets, Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To, and The Pale Beyond.
Breeze in the Clouds, Button City, Circuit Superstars, Dorfromantik, Kitori Academy, Loddlenaut, and Midnight Girl all made an appearance during the showcase as well, but with no new information.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.