One of gaming's biggest weeks is just around the corner, with E3 2017 ready to kick off on June 13. While it usually is dominated by the big powers of gaming, this year looks like it will have the strongest indie presence yet.
Big And Small
The first half of this presence is going to be the Indie Megabooth. Started in 2012, the Indie Megabooth is a traveling convention setup that goes to gaming shows like PAX, Gamescom, and GDC. The goal is to give small, indie developers a chance to show off their games to attendees and journalists at the shows. The Megabooth is usually the place where fans can find the true hidden gems of the big trade shows, adding games to their list that they may not have paid attention to otherwise.
For E3 2017, the Indie Megabooth will be home to six games. Five of them have been announced so far, with the sixth to be revealed at a later date.
First, there's Messhof's Nidhogg 2, the sequel to the 2014 indie hit. The game isn't taking a big departure from the first game, delivering the same pixelated 2D action as the first, but is looking more detailed graphically.
Then there's Songbringer from Wizard Fu and Double Eleven. Songsinger is going to be a top-down, roguelike action RPG set in a futuristic world. Roguelike, or procedurally generated, games have been very popular with indie devs over the last few years. The game creates new levels using the existing resources in-game, giving it greater replay value and makes development easier for the dev team.
Next up is Sumer from Studio Wumpus. It's a digital board game set in ancient Sumeria, with four nobles locked in a battle for political gain. While it may be a video game, any board game fans who enjoy worker-placement type board games should be able to jump right in.
Fourth is Sundered from Thunder Lotus Games. The game started out as a Kickstarter campaign early in 2017, proposed as a dark, metroidvania-type 2D platformer. The team was asking for $25,000 and ended up making more than $200,000. It has proven to be one of the biggest indie darlings heading into E3, with major outlets like Polygon, IGN, and Kotaku praising the Lovecraft-inspired game.
Last is Semblance from Nyamakop. Semblance is a 2D puzzle-platformer where the player and the world are made of playdough. To get through tough platform sections and solve all the puzzles, the player will have to change the shape of their character and the world in order to reach the end.
That's Not All
Aside from the titles listed above, the presence of indie games in E3 will be especially strong thanks to the most prominent indie publisher today, Devolver Digital. Devolver has tried to work as the Ubisoft or EA of indie devs, finding routes to get smaller games out to the public. Some of the games to come from the publisher include Broforce, Absolver, and Shadow Warrior.
For this year's show, the publisher will be hosting its own press conference. There are no other details as to the when and where of the conference, but Devolver announced that it would be hosting an "Indie Picnic" afterward. The picnic will be open to any badge holders at the show and will include the games from Devolver, Indie Megabooth, X-Split, and Gambitious. E3 is definitely looking to be a pretty good week for indie games.
