The Game Developers Conference—or GDC—is a yearly meeting of the best and brightest minds in the videogame industry that happens in San Francisco every spring. While most of the event is dedicated to developer-focused events like talks and panels about working in games, a handful of events dedicated to showing off upcoming games to media and developers have popped up on its periphery. And with E3’s unceremonious demise in the rearview, gaming publishers are scrambling to find new places and ways to show off their games at events like GDC, meaning there were a ton of games to check out at the Bay Area’s premier gaming event. As such, we weren’t able to check out every single game on display, but we did sample a healthy smattering of games. Here are some of our favorites!
Nightshift Galaxy
There’s a distinct lack of flashy, cartoonish dogfighting games on the scene. Nightshift Galaxy fills that niche with aplomb, delivering on Star Fox-inspired mech and aerial combat that scratches my constant itch to live out my childhood dream of piloting an X-Wing or an Arwing. The level I played took place on a small planet with varied, diverse landscapes that was dense with bespoke moments and interactions in a way that—shockingly—reminded me of Katamari’s level design philosophy of all things. The starship (which also transforms into a mech) was a dream, with responsive dashes and strafes that expertly nailed the balance between swift and weighty.
Dungeons Of Hinterberg
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom aside, I’ve never been much of a 3D Zelda head. I find their controls largely unresponsive and frustratingly overengineered in a way that’s kept me from finishing a single one. From what I played during GDC, though, Dungeons of Hinterberg understands that the connective tissue in between well-designed puzzles is just as important as the puzzles themselves. Sprinkling in snowboarding-like traversal and rail grinding alongside weighty combat between cleverly designed puzzles fixed my issues with the genre’s core conceits and let me just enjoy trawling the wintery dungeon. Once I finished a dungeon and defeated a cool boss, I spent some time in the small Austrian town of Hinterberg and enjoyed hanging out with some of the locals in a cute, Persona-like social sim setting. Dungeons of Hinterberg checked all the boxes for me and I’m so excited to see what this graphic novel-inspired game accomplishes in its full release.
Cylinder
Cylinder reminded me of a Lumines-esque take on Puzzle Fighter. Instead of operating on a grid-based 2-dimensional well, you’re rotating and shifting tiles around a full-on cylinder. Tiles still fall in from the top, but it adds enough depth to push the game forward without alienating people (like me) who play ungodly amounts of well games. That is to say, it’s extremely my jam. The goal is to match at least four tiles of the same color in a square, line, L, or T shape. If you plan well enough ahead (or get lucky enough) you can pull off even more impressive combos that net you big bonuses to beat your opponents.
Worship
Worship is like if Pikmin was metal as hell. In this black-and-white-and-red, hand-drawn isometric puzzle-strategy game, you play as a cult leader whose Pikmin-like followers will (and often do) die for the cause. You can pick them up and bleed them to draw symbols on the ground to accomplish various tasks like casting spells, unlocking doors, and more. You can also use them to pick stuff up and carry it elsewhere or even throw them at enemies. It’s instantly familiar in the best possible way, and infusing satanic, gory imagery into an otherwise cute style is always a win in my book.
Luna Abyss
Luna Abyss takes what works from a handful of controller-based shooters and distills it down to a science. Instead of futzing around with aiming on your right stick as you attempt to jump and dodge and strafe around enemy fire, Luna Abyss gives you a lock-on. Hardcore Call of Duty snipers might chuck their Scuf controller with modded sticks and back paddles in the air at that concept, but it trims so much fat from the boomer shooter. It lets this game’s stellar bullet hell gameplay shine while also emphasizing its satisfying guns that would feel at home in a classic Bungie game. It’s in the business of satisfying and making you feel like a badass as you vault over a volley of enemy fire, mashing the right trigger as fast as you can as you shred the boss’ life bar to ribbons.
Echo Weaver
I’ve heard a lot of funny portmanteaus used to describe games within the Metroidva—sorry, exploration platformer—genre, but “Metroidbrainia” might be my favorite. Echo Weaver is a time loop-based exploration platformer that melds time loop mechanics and exploration platforming to yield a combination that feels somewhere between Outer Wilds and Super Metroid. Starting at a single spawn point, you’ll slowly unspool Echo Weaver’s complex thread and find dozens of shortcuts by pulling off clever platforming challenges that satisfy and delight. Getting to the second spawn point, which serves as a Metroid save room or Dark Souls bonfire, hits home just how expansive and intricately designed Echo Weaver’s map is.
Sopa
We need more clever narrative games like Sopa. Electrifying magical realism by infusing it with a hyperactive child’s unbridled sense of whimsy brings so much joy and excitement to this type of story. In my demo, I haggled with silly, sock puppet-looking frogs over a stuffed panda so I could get back a bag of potatoes that my grandma needed to make soup. Rich in charm in its writing and presentation, I can already tell that this is going to make for a touching and joyful game once it’s fully out. I spent the entire demo at GDC with a smile on my face, and I’m eager to see where the story goes.
Sacre Bleu
Sacre Bleu scratches a very particular itch. Giving a combat-focused action platformer bullet time mechanics and cool movement abilities proved to be a winning hook during my brief demo of the game. Featuring a combat system that’s equal parts Devil May Cry with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, I felt constantly rewarded for going for the most outlandish combinations of attacks, tricks, and flourishes to keep kicking my combo meter up to the next level. Stuff like the ability to throw opponents into one another after defeating them adds a satisfying level of flash and strategy to Sacre Bleu’s flow state-inducing combat.
Everdeep Aurora
I only played about half of Everdeep Aurora’s demo during GDC but what I played was exceptionally fun. This cute exploration platformer reminded me of one of the most creative entries in the genre: Steamworld Dig 2. Infusing Dig Dug or Mr. Driller-inspired platforming into a ‘troidlike opens up creative ways to encourage exploration, expand movement, and play with what defines progression. Drilling through the ground felt satisfying as I dug my way from room to room. On top of that, you play as a cute little black cat and explore really well-designed environments that help Everdeep Aurora pop off the screen in a way that so few pixel-based 2D games do.
Grunn
Grunn is exactly the type of strange, goofy game I like to get lost in for an afternoon. In this first-person gardner, you’re tasked with tidying up someone’s garden and lawn. That’s about all it tells you, at least. I clipped grass and picked up trash as I tried to poke more into its story. Something about its vibes kept me locked in on the screen for much longer than you’d expect. I have a feeling there’s a lot more to Grunn than meets the eye, and I wish I had the time to take a spade from my tool shed and dig into its world more than I was able to at GDC last month.
I played dozens of games during my time at GDC—a fraction of what was actually playable at the convention and its various spinoff events and parties. Each of these games has a live Steam page right now, and if one sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend taking the time to wishlist it. Not only do wishlists help developers secure funding, but they also help studios get their work published on other platforms and get their work in front of more people.
Charlie Wacholz is a freelance writer. When he’s not playing the latest and greatest indie games, competing in Smash tournaments or working on a new cocktail recipe, you can find him on Twitter at @chas_mke.