Every year, I end up writing roundups of a lot of indie showcases. But inevitably, Day of the Devs showcases are always my favorites. Originally an annual in-person show in San Francisco run by Double Fine, Day of the Devs has added digital showcases to its lineup in recent years and just this year attached its in-person and digital show to The Game Awards.
Day of the Devs consistently shows off some of the most inventive, weird, and exciting upcoming indie games in the industry, and this year is no exception. I can’t pick favorites, so here’s a little tiny rundown of everything we just saw in the show, though I highly recommend watching each trailer yourself too!
IGN’s Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
Militsioner
Militsioner, from the game studio TallBoys, is described as a first person runaway sim, where the player is a wrongly-accused civilian attempting to flee a city under the watchful eye of a giant (like, truly massive) policeman. The trailer mixes healthy doses of absurdity, horror, and political commentary, with players able to take advantage of a “Tamagotchi-like mood system” to interact with anyone in the city…including the giant policeman. Maybe complimenting him enough will get him to ease up on you?
Nirvana Noir
From Feral Cat Den, the team behind Genesis Noir, comes a sequel of sorts in Nirvana Noir. While the aesthetic will be familiar to Genesis Noir fans, Nirvana Noir comes with a burst of bright color, and is described as “acid-tinged psychedelia.” It follows a watchmaker named Norman who “faced an impossible decision, and chose the impossible: to live two lives” with all the consequences and struggles that brings. Nirvana Noir is still a ways out, but has launched a crowdfunding campaign and is coming to Steam, and Xbox via Game Pass at a later date.
Thank Goodness You’re Here
You’ve heard of platformers, but Thank Goodness You’re Here is apparently a “slapformer” from developer Coal Supper that embraces British comedy. Set in a little town in the north of England, Thank Goodness You’re Here follows a salesman who has arrived to meet with the mayor – but has shown up too early and has tons of time to kill. So kill time he does, by getting up to all sorts of mischief around town with the locals and running silly errands for them. It’s coming in 2024.
Flock
We’ve seen Flock before, but never quite in this level of detail. Flock, from developer Hollow Ponds, puts the player on the back of a bird flying around gorgeous landscapes. As you travel, you can sing to and charm creatures you meet, eventually getting them to follow your flock through the sky. But many creatures are tricky and like to hide, and you’ll need to use close observation to categorize each creature and learn the best way to charm it into your group. Flock is coming to Xbox, Steam, and PlayStation in spring of 2024.
Kind Words 2
If ever a game deserved a sequel that statistically was probably not going to get one but then miraculously did anyway, it’s Kind Words – lofi beats to write to. The original Kind Words was a tiny but moving game where players could write letters to other random players about their worries, fears, wishes, and dreams, and receive kind responses back. Now, developer Popcannibal is expanding on the idea by setting Kind Words 2 in a city that gives players all sorts of different ways to communicate and share. You can write poetry in a coffee shop, share wishes to the night sky on a mountain top, or scream into the void quite literally. The Steam page is live now, and playtest signups are available.
Hermit and Pig
Do you like Mother 3? Well, we’re still not getting a localization of that in the States, but Hermit and Pig from developer Heavy Lunch Studio gives off pretty big Mother 3 aesthetic vibes. Its combat pulls from the Mother series as well as Pokemon, Paper Mario, and Street Fighter, asking players to choose methods of attack that seem like they would be impactful to each enemy. For instance, you can’t punch a cockroach – but you can stomp one! Even conversations are battles, in a way, since Hermit isn’t so great at talking to people and can take cringe damage from interactions gone wrong. Hermit and Pig is a “mushroom-infused” RPG about a man and his pig uncovering a conspiracy, and it‘s coming to PC in 2024.
Dome-King Cabbage
I’ve watched the Dome-King Cabbage trailer several times, and I’m still not fully sure what this game is, but I know that I’m really, really into it. Here’s what we do know. It’s developed by Cobysoft Co. and is supposedly a short visual novel set in the world of a monster-collecting RPG. Parts of the trailer looked a lot like an RPG Maker game, but those were interspersed with extravagant FMV sequences with surreal imagery and odd cartoon characters. Apparently the creator made it while stressed out teaching classes in Japan and laying on the floor using a bottle of detergent as a pillow. I don’t know what to make of all that, but whenever Dome-King Cabbage makes it to PC and Switch, I’m committed to playing it to see what it’s all about.
Ultros
From developer Hadoque, Ultros is a Metroidvania with true Metroid inspirations. You wake up after crashing your ship to find you’ve landed on a giant space uterus that contains an ancient demon named Ultros. Exploring the alien planet, you find yourself meeting alien creatures and planting seeds of new life as you also destroy enemies. Ultros is a game about cycles, with a “loop” mechanic that lets you start over at specific story moments to try and unlock new outcomes. It’s coming to PC, PS5, and PS4 on February 13, 2024.
Loose Leaf
The developers of Boyfriend Dungeon, Kitfox Games, have announced their next game: Loose Leaf. It’s a “tea witch simulator” that promises “the most in-depth tea brewing sim ever.” Players can control ingredients, temperature, stirring, steeping time, and more to try and make the best possible cup of tea. But it’s not just about tea – you’re a tea witch. So you’ll also be developing relationships with your customers, doing tarot readings, and helping them make sense of their problems.
Holstin
Holstin, from developer Sonka, is a psychological survival horror game set in a 90s Polish town haunted by something ominous. While it can appear at first glance to take a top-down view, Holstein is all about changing perspective. The camera can be rotated to reveal secrets in the environment, and while shooting enemies you can switch to an over the shoulder perspective for better aim. Holstein has two demos currently available now on Steam, with a third on its way in 2024.
Oddada
Developed by Sven Ahlgrimm and Mathilde Hoffmann, Oddada is a “no-pressure, roguelite music builder” where you can experiment by building little buildings and cities that double as musical contraptions. By placing houses on different landscapes, you can create your own miniature soundtracks.
Cryptmaster
Word game nerds, pay attention. Cryptmaster, made by Paul Hart and Lee Williams, puts you in the shoes of a revenant working for a necromancer who needs your labor to survive. What kind of labor? Word games. By guessing the names of items in chests around the underland you’re exploring, you obtain the letters to spell them, which you can then use to spell different words, regain the skills you knew in life, and solve other word-based riddles and puzzles. Cryptmancer has got a bit of RPG, a bit of dungeoncrawler, and a whole lot of word game in it, and it’s coming out in 2024 to PC.
Llamasoft – The Jeff Minter Story
Digital Eclipse, the creators of The Making of Karateka, announced a new interactive documentary entitled Llamasoft – The Jeff Minter Story. It’s just what it sounds like: an interactive deep dive into the life and career of designer and programmer Jeff Minter, who founded Llamasoft and led development on games like Polybius and Gridrunner. Digital Eclipse describes the documentary as a “virtual museum of design documents, playable games, and all-new videos” telling the story of the indie developer’s work over the 80s, 90s, all the way to today through four interactive timelines. The documentary will release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC at a later date.
Drag Her!
Drag Her! is a fighting game from the aptly-named studio Fighting Chance Games, where real-life drag performers fight one another. It’s full of camp and over-the-top drama, and all the characters are fully licensed, voiced, and approved by each respective drag performer being portrayed. Fighting Chance promises the fights will be both “forgiving to play and fundamentally stupid to watch,” but we’ll have to wait a bit for both – Drag Her! isn’t set for release until Q1 of 2025.
Braid Anniversary Edition
We’ve covered Braid Anniversary Edition’s announcement elsewhere on the site, but it got a new trailer during Day of the Devs, so here’s a reminder: Braid is getting an anniversary edition on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and Netflix on April 30, 2024, with Mac and Linux releases coming later. This version comes not just with the game, but with improved sound and new variants of the soundtrack, hand-repainted graphics, and a developer commentary track.
Open Roads
It’s been a while since we heard about Open Roads, the roadtrip game about a mother and daughter uncovering their family’s secrets. It was first announced in 2020 and was originally being developed under the Fullbright label, but after allegations came out about the company founder, the Open Roads team split off from Fullbright to develop it independently, with Annapurna still publishing. Now, Open Roads seems to have made significant progress, and is planned for release in February of 2024 for PC and consoles.
Resistor
From developer Long Way Home, Resistor is a narrative-focused “Car-PG” with classic racing game inspirations. It follows Aster, a young person growing up in a post-apocalyptic world divided into urban safe havens and dangerous wastelands. Aster’s mother is ill, and needs treatment in the city, but without citizenship, neither Aster nor their mother can get in. So Aster follows in their father’s footsteps as a racer and enters the Death Games, a dangerous series of races where the prize is permanent citizenship in the metropolis. Resistor is coming to PC, Switch, PS5, and Xbox at a later date.
Home Safety Hotline
As a fan of Hypnospace Outlaw, I was really into the premise of Home Safety Hotline, from Night Signal Entertainment. It’s a text-based horror game about a 90s call center where you play as a phone operator who’s an expert on home safety. People call you with household problems, like mice or spiders or leaks, and you have to advise them on how to fix their issues. You check emails, clock in, take calls, and do research via a 1996-style desktop work computer interface. But given this is a horror game, your calls aren’t going to be limited to simple rat problems for long, and there are weird things listed in your database that callers might ask about. Home Safety Hotline is coming in early 2024 to PC and other platforms.
Janet DeMornay Is a Slumlord (and a Witch)
I feel like the title is self-explanatory, but here’s a bit more info: you play as a tenant, and your landlord is a witch who likes doing the maintenance herself. This results in all sorts of weird magic problems, like doors that go nowhere or hallways you can get trapped in. Janet DeMornay is about puzzle solving, working to figure out how to get around your house and operate the strange machines Janet has left lying around, all while telling a queer story about found family. From developer Fuzzy Ghost, it’s coming out in 2024.
The Mermaid’s Tongue
You might know SFB Games as the developers of Snipperclips, or you might know them better from their Detective Grimoire series. Today, they announced the latest Detective Grimoire adventure: The Mermaid’s Tongue. Like the others, it’s a murder mystery detective adventure featuring the titular detective and his assistant, Sally, searching for clues and talking to suspects to uncover a mystery.
That’s everything from Day of the Devs, but more games are coming at The Game Awards tomorrow, and you can keep an eye on everything coming out of that show right here on IGN.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.