INDONESIA

2017 has been a banner year for videogames, with many successful and important titles getting released throughout the year. Instead of presenting you our favorite 2017 games, we asked developers which titles resonated with them instead. Their answers are once again testament to the richness and diversity that independent games have to offer. If 2018 will only be half as good, we're in for quite a ride!

Jay Tholen (@jaytholen):
"Rex: Another Island was my indie pick for 2017. It's a solidly designed 'open world' (it has one really huge level with warp points) platformer in which you play as an adorable pink dinosaur exploring an island with diverse biomes. Games of the 'difficult platformer' variety don't normally do this for me, but Rex was therapeutically relaxing and I want to go hang out in its world again just thinking about it."

Sam Luangkhot (@flarechess):
"Really loved Brianna Lei 's Butterfly Soup VN for a lighthearted and touching story that has now become close to my heart. It's so rare to find content that is made BY someone like you ABOUT people like you, which makes the game all the more endearing to me."

Omar Cornut (@ocornut), Lizardcube:
"Fidel Dungeon Rescue - I thought it was brilliantly designed, there are lots of subtleties with how to deal with the monsters, the game lets you discover and understand them by experimenting (much like The Witness did), and it doesn't have an invasive tutorial.
It's also a game that makes it clear that you can't "perfect" a level, you have to go with the flow and try to do the best you can, alternating moments of slow experimentation with moments where you have to save yourself and play a more risky and instinctive game. I think this is what the Ghost conveyed, you have to move on, don't try to perfect a level too much. Like the typical rogue like, it's not about a given level but about your ability to do well enough under always varying conditions."

Christian Miller (@SilvrSpookGames), Silver Spook Games:
"Tacoma - The way that the story was told, through AR recordings, bits of news and text littered around this space station was reminiscent of System Shock, but with its own innovative spin. The story is pretty short but well told with a lot of reversed expectations and sci-fi delightfulness generally."

Byron Atkinson-Jones (@xiotex):
"For me it's Doctor Kvorak's Obliteration Game by Freekstorm - the reason why is because I know the developer and saw the love and attention that went into that game. They were not only really passionate about their craft but the most wonderful people you could meet.
It resonated with me because I saw myself in them - trying to make a success in this brutally difficult industry. Doing everything they could within their means to make their game a success, just like I and all the other indie devs I know do."

Michael Rader (@raderm), Theory of Games:
"I love Tooth and Tail's minimalist approach to the RTS genre. Feels like a throwback and an evolution simultaneously. I've also gotten super addicted to Oxygen Not Included, even though it's still in Early Access. I love the interplay of automation vs manual control, and the complex-yet-transparent mechanic design."

Alexander Formoso (@Alexformosoc), Bohemia Interactive:
"Dead Cells doesn't have a deep story that touches the depths of human nature and so on. It's a simple 2D Roguelite Metroidvania, much like this year's Hollow Knight, which is also fantastic. But the difference with Dead Cells is that it compresses the play sessions in 10 minute runs. Every time you play, your character gets stronger, and you can get farther away, but since its stronger, you breeze through the beginning sections with reduced chances of getting harmed.
It sports phenomenal pixel art, fluid as hell combat, funny and responsive animations and super juicy effects. For a Dark Souls fiend like me, it feels like they found an amazing spot in the formula. THIS is the "Dark Souls in portable mode" that I've been wanting to play on commutes and lunchbreaks."

Louise Chamberlain (@LouiseWooeez), Triangular Pixel:
"Night in the Woods - its pessimistic/dark/humourous narrative really touched that cynical, teenage part of me that still lives on deep down! It's also beautiful."

Matthieu Richez (@cccpingu), CCCP:
"This year, the indie game that resonated the most with me would be Kitfox Games' The Shrouded Isle. A simple, short yet hard, compacted intriguing experience that really itches my game designer skills. The mechanics are subtle, board game like, when you play the game as a game designer you say to yourself: "ah! That's a game I could almost do on my own!" and at the same time "Gosh, that is clever!" It made me think a lot about new, small concepts, and made me nervous about my own skills as a designer to put on paper something so focused and in line with a cool, innovative theme like that."

Talha Kaya (@taloketo), Kayabros:
"Dujanah is my favorite indie game of this year. It is courageous in how it handles the serious themes while maintaining the absolutely punk, crazy and colorful style throughout. It is a game that truly embodies the vision of its developer and does not yield to anything less. It exists against all odds of this industry and we are lucky to have it."

Megan Fox (@glassbottommeg), Glass Bottom Games:
"Both Heat Signature and Streets of Rogue hit this free-form action sweet spot for me that I haven't seen done this well in, maybe ever? I'm hard pressed to think of another action game like this with as much breadth of choice as you've got in both. Bounce the wrench off the guy's head then grab your target and slam him into space, leaving him to suffocate, while you last-minute grab yourself with your own spaceship? Yeah, sure, that works. Become an ape, free your own kind, and fight an army of soldiers with nothing but a pile of bananas (and access to a cloning machine to bolster your ape army), all to steal a baseball that will fund yet more ape cloning? Yep, that works too. I'll leave it to you to guess which game is which.
Also, West Of Loathing is possibly the best-written RPG I've ever played. I mean that literally. I've never played something with such obvious love and care put into every word, that somehow did all that without the words burying the rest of the game. It's a beautiful work of fiction, full of silly walks and quite possibly the best subplot featuring a spitoon ever to grace the world of man."

Tom Grochowiak (@TomGrochowiak), MoaCube:
"Reigns: Her Majesty. The Tinder-like swipe-to-make-royal-choices mechanic is pretty much the perfect format for a mobile narrative game. The writing's witty, there's some mystery to it, and I had more fun with it than any "full-blown" indie game this year."

Chris Floyd (@DeckNine_Floyd), Deck Nine Games:
"Hollow Knight is a masterful exercise in tone (as well as finely tuned gameplay).
LogISTical is an addictive management game with an ABSURD amount of content.
What Remains of Edith Finch fascinated those of us making narrative games and thinking about gameplay in that context.
West of Loathing is a joyous and generous game. And freaking funny.
Super Blood Hockey is a brilliant revival of an old classic for the NES, with smart updating of the formula."

Jana Reinhardt (@rottenhedgehog), Rat King Entertainment:
"I feel >OBSERVER_ grabbed my Cyberpunk heart. The works of Bloober Team remind me of art installations the way they use space, music and effects so perfectly. Plus the setting in their very own hometown Krakow really made the cyberpunk believable. I also liked the limited setting and how you do interviews through doors. And that they could get Rutger "Tears in the rain" Hauer to do voice acting is just cream of the crop. Oh, and pigs with VR glasses!"

David Wehle (@DavidWehle):
"Easy choice for me, What Remains of Edith Finch. It left an indelible mark on my mind on how to tell a beautiful story in a video game. The themes of family and loss are ideas I try to present in my games with half of Giant Sparrow's grace and talent."

Joachim Holmér (@JoachimHolmer), Neat Corporation:
"Night in the Woods for its characters and for dealing with psychological struggles. The fact that you don't know the history of them makes it all very interesting as well. This is also a case where dialogue options are reflective of character, in a really nice way."

Tomas Rawlings (@TomasRawlings), Auroch Digital:
"I have really enjoyed playing The Shrouded Isle. It's a great game putting you in charge of an insular cult attempting to navigate your way to ensuring the whims of your dark god are carried out whilst making sure your followers remain obedience. That demands blood. The interaction is simple yet layered in complexity, the writing is witty and dark. It's the prefect gamic reflection of the times in which we live in..."

We'd like to thank all developers who contributed to this feature, as well as, of course, our readers for making 2017 such a good year for indiegames.com. We hope you have a great 2018!

Black Jewel aims to emulate a c64 art style with its tale of stolen magical jewels and shirtless men with swords who aim to bring them back.

Darkor, unfortunate enough to have been saddled with such an obviously-evil name, has decided to steal the black jewel, and Ryan the Barbarian is having none of it. Even if he has to cross forty levels, striking countless goblins, ogres, and other giants until their skin literally falls off, he'll bring the gem back. Unless, you know, all of those fire-breathing trees and huge bosses give him some guff.

Black Jewel is a slower-paced action game, with Ryan taking a little bit of time to wind up a swing or a jump, making things feel a bit more strategic rather than slashing away, players will need to take care if they want to return that enchanted jewel. Still, they'll be gifted with some soothing sounds and charming pixel art that will dredge up many fond memories of the system and games built for it. Just don't lose YOUR skin while enjoying it all.

Black Jewel is available for $1.99 on Steam and Itch.io. For more information on the game and developer Oscar Celestini, you can head to the developer's site or follow them on YouTube and Twitter.

On the hardboiled streets of 1924 San Francisco, danger, suspicious characters, and mystery lurk, and in minimalist narrative adventure A Case of Distrust, private detective Phyllis Cadence Malone has to navigate this sprawling city of lies, misdeeds, and secrets to uncover a dark truth.

Armed with only clever deductions and astute eye, Malone moves through this vibrant, minimalist, and historical representation of the era's San Francisco, from seedy speakeasies to barbershops, collecting evidence and dealing with both lying suspects and 1920s social issues that impede her investigation.

Stylish screen transistions and colorful art gives A Case of Distrust a unique aesthetic compared to the typical detective noir tone, as you question people of interests and make decisions that mold the narrative.

A Case of Distrust is available to wishlist on Steam, and you can follow the game and developer Ben Wander on Twitter and TIGSource.

The Line is about trying to stand out in a long line for resettlement, somewhat like mixing waiting at the DMV with turn-based battles with the other shmucks waiting alongside you. Except the other people sometimes mutate in very unsettling ways, and the line leads to a resettlement project that seems to have something very wrong with it.

So kinda like waiting at the DMV (laugh track).

Angelina is looking into the nature of the resettlement, being part of a group that feels there's likely something wrong with it. To find out what's going on with it, Angelina, along with her mutant dog Fin, find a place in line and start working their way to the front, meaning to see what's going on first-hand.

That could be a slow process, but Angelina has a few tricks that will move her up in the queue. She can fight the people in line using an array of special moves, forcing her way to the front, or she can try to use mental weaknesses on each person ahead of her to get them out of the way. She can also trade items with people in order to claim their spots. It's up to the player whether they want to hurt the people ahead of them or not, but either way, she needs to move up the line.

Moving up only makes things stranger in The Line. It doesn't take long for odd tentacles, bizarre visions, and creeping creatures begin to appear, with players moving deeper into a disturbing hellscape as they progress. It creates a slow dread as players move forward into it, and the same dizzying sense that a nightmare is slowly spinning out of control.

Kind of like the DMV (laugh track goes wild).

The Line is available for $4.99 on Steam. For more information on the game and developer Marginal Act, you can follow them on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

For those still reeling from the terrors of The Letter, they'll get a little break with YangYang Mobile's newest project! Love Esquire takes a new direction into the softer (and squishier) side of things, with players assuming the role of a lowly squire, hoping to win the heart of one of five maidens (while also keeping his knight alive).

Like The Letter, Love Esquire looks to keep things interactive by adding some light combat to the mix along with the normal blend of visual novel elements. Combat may be a generous term though, as you're just the squire and it's your duty to support your knight whatever means necessary! You'll be tasked with cheering him on, keeping him healthy and scooping up all the treasures left behind. You can use these rewards to pick up some items that may aid you in your quest for love - or you can pay some coin to get relationship advice from Hugh (whether it's good or bad advice).

You'll have a time limit of four months to achieve your goal, so you'll have to maximize the use of your days in order to get the girl of your dreams while also keeping up with your squire duties! With 11 different endings to fall into, you may end up with a completely different outcome than you had intended. So, start planning your attack now and find love in Love Esquire!

For more information on Love Esquire, check out the Patreon Page. You can also follow the developer on Twitter, Tumblr, and Facebook!

Storyseeker sends players out into a wide, ever-changing world filled with stories for the curious to discover, letting them follow up on whatever tale they wish to learn more about. Through this free exploration, they can learn more about the vibrant world around them and the people (or weasels, or ghosts, or giants) within it

Storyseeker lets the player freely roam through its lands, giving them many different people, animals, and creatures to talk to. Each offers a little bit of information on their lives or the state of the world, and through gathering as many stories as they can, players can get an idea on the larger picture of this place and the people who live in it. While doing so, they'll also explore some wild, colorful landscapes and head out into the pretty waters surrounding it, giving players some soothing places to meander (a nice thing for when it's a cold winter's day in the real world).

Storyseeker is a calming, intriguing walk, one best gone on without knowing what you'll find. So, since it's free, hop to it!

Storyseeker is available for free on Itch.io. For more information on the game and developer Miles Aijala, you can head to the game's site or follow them on Tumblr, YouTube, and Twitter.

In adventure game I Fell From Grace, players will be put in the shoes of a man who's lost a lot already, but still stands to lose even more. Players will have to choose their actions wisely, treading a path that may put morals to the test. The path you walk will determine your fate, and the fate of others around you.

I Fell From Grace is set in modern day Maine and revolves around a 40 year old man named Henry. After recently experiencing a miscarriage, he discovers that his wife is terminally ill and requires thousands of dollars in medical care. The appearance of a miracle cure should mean some good news finally coming his way, but getting this cure puts him on a perilous path.

Pairing retro-style art and a solemn soundtrack, players will take control of Henry as he unravels the mystery set before him. Among the many puzzles to solve, players will be forced to make tough moral decisions that explore the lengths Henry will go through to save his wife, as well as the evil that lurks behind the miracle cure. Players will feel the pressure of making decisions quickly, and only in the end will they find out if they have found themselves at the goal or a treacherous dead end.

You can purchase I Fell From Grace on Steam here! You can also check out the official site and follow the developer on Twitter or Facebook!

If you're looking for a throwback to classic sidescrollers with a holiday twist, Krampus Quest will fill that void this year. Take control of Krampus as he journeys north this holiday season to take on the man in red himself in this Castlevania-inspired adventure.

Once a valued sidekick to Santa Claus, Krampus would dole out punishments to naughty children while Santa would reward the more virtuous. This fearsome duo hit a disagreement when Santa wanted to treat and reward all children equally. Krampus disagreed and was sentenced to fester in a cell for many years. Now, a stranger has released Krampus back into the world, and he's ready to exact his revenge on jolly old Saint Nick with whips and magical powers.

Players will take control of Krampus in the retro-style game, demolishing foes and dodging clever traps by using a whip to smack enemies or grapple across platforms. As you make your way to the North Pole, you can use the souls you acquire from your victims to upgrade Krampus, purchasing sub-weapons and upgrades to take on the surprisingly-monstrous creatures that lie on the route to Santa's workshop.

So, if your idea of holiday cheer involves taking down Santa and monsters with a whip to the face, go check out Krampus Quest!

You can purchase Krampus Quest on Steam here!

MuX gives players lots of tiny pieces to play around with, each of which creates its own unique sound when connected to an in-game speaker. Each of these pieces can be fiddled with to adjust the sound, or connected to other parts to change the nature of the sounds that players create. Essentially a sandbox designed around playing with the building blocks of music, MuX aims to let players create song and intricate machinery through experimentation.

MuX's mixture of fantastic contraptions and unique music make for an intriguing gadget. Players can take up various Generators that create sound, attaching them with Combinators to make a sound that mingles two sounds, use Transformers to adjust it using various filters and effects, and then attach them to the speaker to see what the player has created. Then, players can continue to connect these parts to various other pieces of musical machine, slowly developing music, bit by bit, through these and various other components.

All the while, players are building a fantastic-looking machine in VR. These things are fascinating to watch in motion, giving players a sense of the complexity of sound through a neat-looking machine, one that they have built all for themselves.

MuX is a wonderful tool for exploring music in a unique light, as well as for building intricate machinery in VR, and something to easily lose yourself in as you delve into the nuances of sound.

MuX is available for $9.99 on Steam. For more information on the game and developer Decochon, you can head to the game's site, the developer's site, or follow them on YouTube and Twitter.

Norwegian studio Rain Games has been working tirelessly to release their games on as many platforms as possible. Their first title Teslagrad is available for all of the last and current generation consoles and their latest game World to the West isn't too far behind. I talked to CEO Peter Meldahl about ports, problems, and future plans.

What are you working on at the moment?

We have not only been porting both Teslagrad and World to the West to new platforms since our last release about half a year ago, we have also been cooking on something new: Mesmer. Mesmer is another game in the same universe as both Teslagrad and World to the West. It is a game about revolution [and] by far the most unique title that Rain has ever made

We are already showing off some images and gifs from time to time on our Twitter channel. We will just finish up with the ports for [the] new platform, and we will announce the game properly and tell you all some of our plans for the title.

You've ported your games to all current platforms now - which version are you the most happy with?

The Switch ports of both Teslagrad and World to the West are a joy to play. World to the West is not out for purchase yet (the release date is January 18), but I have put in a fair share with both titles testing in the office. For some reason, the device just feels perfect for both titles.

The Scandinavian dev scene seems like a close-knit community. Is there one common element to your work, or to what do you ascribe this?

We all know each other, and we help each other out with all kinds of stuff. I was just talking to the guys from D-pad, Red Thread, Krillbite, and Snowcastle about getting together some collaboration on Steam. It is always easy to ask, and we feel that we are all in this together.

When it comes to similarities, I have to point to the fact that all of us Nordics like our sombre or sad stories. Some of the titles from the above companies are Among the Sleep, Owlboy, Dreamfall and our own Teslagrad . They have some sadder and more emotional moments than one might expect from games in their genre.

What's something you love about the games industry at the moment, and what would you like to see changed?

Companies are moving in very different directions and treading up a lot of new paths. At least on the small company stage.

It is also great to see Nintendo back in the game. It sometimes feel like they fall in a slump, but when they return it is usually with some innovations to both game design and innovations in the "form factor" of hardware design. The Switch is amazing, and is currently a great playground for new things.

People are also great. Kickstarter and sites like Fig are still places where projects can be born through the support of the fans, and the world is richer for it. We have never used such sites ourselves, but I have personally enjoyed many great games that have.

With things that I am less stoked about, I will just focus on my own neck of the woods: the practices of digital key resale sites like G2A are rapidly threatening to make bundles a thing of the past. Bots are set up to buy bundles at minimum prize, cut them into their component titles, and put them on the store at absurdly low prices, forever competing with the game companies' own store offers. Combined with the key scamming and money laundering that also comes with these sites, it has become quite a mess... When I hear many peers say that they would rather their games be pirated than be sold there, it says a lot about the whole process.

Visibility on Steam is also not what it was in the past. There is a sea of small titles coming out, and ironically the total sum of smaller titles sell less now than before Steam opened the floodgates. It is not hard to understand why: even people who cover games get overwhelmed by this giant torrent of daily content. The average consumer never had a chance.

In such conditions, users flock to the well known islands that stand above the high waters: Large and familiar titles with budgets to signpost their arrival on the store trough a marketing campaign can quickly seem like the only dry land left, joined by the odd smaller title that has the rare combination of both quality and luck to grab the Zeitgeist.

Though not quite there yet, it is looking more and more like the landscape of mobile games: a "winner takes all" world, where most will surely perish, and some will gain treasures unrivaled. Some have of course proven that they can live in such waters, but Rain has stayed out of the mobile market for a reason.

Finally: the best character in World to the West is obviously...

I like Lumina. She has strong ties to Teslagrad, the first game I ever designed. I like how she is the clever and level-headed of the group, and how we wanted to show this trough rewarding a "puzzle solver's" mindset when playing her. I also like some of the design details we put on her: Note that the brim on the hood forms an omega. I studied physics, so I love to have fun with that kind of stuff.

For more information on Rain Games and their two releases Teslagrad and World to the West, visit their website or follow them on Facebook or Twitter.

Graphical text adventure Cleansuit tasks players with trying to survive a serial killer's assault on their home, forcing them to think quickly and creatively about the objects in their house and the commands they can give. With multiple ways to survive and far, far more ways to die, it demands players think hard on what they choose to do, and do it quickly.

Cleansuit gives players control of a clumsy protagonist who finds a chilling presence at the front door one day, asking them to stay alive. To do that, players will need to comb through the protagonist's home looking for tools, handy items, and other things they can use to trap, attack, or fend off the serial killer that's coming for them. Using a large array of commands, players can explore the options available to them to see which will help them and which will just result in a quick death. There are far more of the later, but perhaps some players won't want to give the killer the satisfaction of victory.

Cleansuit conveys a chilling, panicked feeling through its distorted art style. Colors spray each scene, and yet there is a dull gray cast over much of it, giving it this sense of conflicted feelings - of a person trying to find mental control when overwhelmed with fear. That, combined with the uncomfortable appearance of the killer, creates a powerful tension that may have some players making repeated spelling errors while trying to input commands.

Whether through finding a little humor in accidentally taking away the killer's victory by offing yourself, or through navigating fear and finding one of the many ways out, Cleansuit aims to give players a striking challenge in survival.

Cleansuit is available for $3.99 on Itch.io and Steam. For more information on the game and developer Goblin Council, you can head to the developer's site or follow them on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

 
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LongStory aims to explore what it feels like to be a teen dealing with the complexities of who they are, and who the world wants to force them to be, all through the help of a warm group of friends who will work together to help carry each other along despite their own problems.

LongStory aims to be welcoming to players of all kinds, letting them create whatever character they want, use whichever pronouns they prefer, and charm whichever of their friends they wish to charm (or not!). Players are free to make friends, flirt, text their buddies, and solve mysteries or start trouble as they work to navigate the challenges of being a teenager. Goofball principals and cruel bullies may create some issues, but it's nothing the group of friends cannot work through.

Aiming to deal with issues of gender identity, sexual orientation, boundaries, and social anxiety, LongStory looks to tell a hopeful story of how friendship can help people find the answers to the questions about themselves. It's a game of how our friends can be the ones who help us find out and accept who we are, and also the difficulties many can face from friends, family, and beyond as well.

LongStory is available now on Steam, the App Store, and Google Play. For more information on the game and developer Bloom Digital Media, you can head to the game's site, the developer's site, or follow them on YouTube and Twitter.

The 2018 Game Developers Conference is just a few months away, and today organizers are excited to debut the 20 games selected to exhibit at alt.ctrl.GDC, the on-site showcase of alternative control schemes and interactions in games.

GDC 2018 attendees who stop by the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit will have the chance to play all of these inventive and innovative games using unique, one-of-a-kind controllers.

You could, for example, pilot a spaceship while shouting madly at a nearby friend/coworker/stranger to plug different-colored wires into your controller, or play games on a special sphere studded with LEDs.

You might also play virtual golf by blowing madly into a set of sensors, or help virtual disco-loving cops save their city from a zombie invasion by slapping fake zombie heads in time to the beat.

If you're really feeling adventurous, you could climb inside a special unicorn controller and play a game with your horn and feet, or try your luck at a game of foosball played only using your voice!

As always, it promises to be a fantastic showcase. This year's roster of alt.ctrl.GDC finalists is as follows:

Striker Air Hockey (Guerrilla Nouveau) - Guerrilla Nouveau has been hard at work on a new touchscreen technique. We made air hockey to demonstrate the possibilities of this low resolution touch screen technique, but couldn't resist throwing in some extras.

Too Many Captains (And Not Enough Wire) (Avi Romanoff, Giada Sun) - A game where two or more players work together to pilot a spaceship through outer space. The engineer has the controller, and they plug colored wires into panels on the game's controller. However, the engineer can't see the screen -- they need to rely on the other players, the captains -- to guide them to victory.

Vaccination (Installation Required) - Two players must work together to keep the patient alive for as long as possible against the onslaught of bacteria racing towards the patient's heart. One player is in charge of scanning the body, on the lookout for the bacteria and relaying what vaccine and where the other player, equipped with the injector, should administer.*

Clunker Junker (HNRY) - Clunker Junker is an experimental arcade game in which two players attempt to keep their space transport intact as they outrun space pirates through an asteroid field. As the ship takes damage in-game, physical panels will fall off of the ships 4 main modules, disabling them until they are repaired using the custom-made repair tool. The tool boasts two main components. First, the specially made tip which must be used to connect to the 4 ship modules. Second, the uniquely fabricated crank which provides actual power and rotates the tip, allowing players to perform actions such as steering, changing turret direction, supercharging their engine, or repairing their hull.

Grave Call (Totally Not a Game Studio) - Grave Call is a time-based, asymmetrical multiplayer game based on communication between two players, one is buried alive and one is a police dispatcher. A phone holds clues for the coffin's location, which has to be identified before the phone battery runs out.

Living Orb (Jonathan Giroux) - Living Orb is a tangible game console, with which you can easily create your own enlightened games. The device is an sphere covered by LEDs. It's like its surface is the screen! And you only control it by rotating it, that's all. This allows for unique games!

Wind Golf (Pepijn Willekens) - A game where you play golf by blowing on physical sensors!

Puppet Pandemonium (Fluffy Games) - A puppet show video game that uses the puppets as the controllers, and has an element of audience participation.

Disco is Dead! (Third Floor Games) - Disco is Dead! is a 2-player buddy cop comedy horror arcade game that follows the story of Reggie and Kenny -- two disco-loving cops who must save their city from a zombie outbreak with their ultimate handy dandy weapon... slapping! The game plays with slappable zombie heads and disco ball controllers for a more immersive experience!

Voiceball (Alex Turbyfield, Stephen Borden, Ilya Polyakov, Talal Alothman, Ali Yaldrim) - Voiceball is like foosball played with your voice. Using microphones, players hit the ball with a waveform representation of their voice. Make sounds to create waves to hit the ball into the other player's goal in this party game pitting your vocal skills against your friends.

Wobble Garden (Robin Baumgarten) - Wobble Garden is a hand-crafted arrangement of sensing springs combined with reactive lighting. Players wobble springs to interact with the installation and play games. It creates a unique visual and tactile experience, and will be scaleable to a several meter large installation.

Unicornelia (The Sad Rainbows) - A game about the life of a young unicorn with an office job, played by mounting a horn on your head and inserting it into special motion-sensing compartments while also managing emotions via special pressure-sensitive pillows.

Mark Wars (Matthieu Alves, Louis Bernot, Alessandro Cheinisse, Gaëtan Cloarec, Florian Eschalier, Matthias Johan, Pierre Llanusa) - Our intention was to make a game accessible for a wide audience using no screen and one instinctive button. With Mark Wars, using a marker pen, the players will be able to trace their own unique path! This path will be followed by the player's small model ship (either a TIE Fighter or X-Wing) and can be altered by the opponent.

Pump the Frog (7 Holy Frogges) - Pump the Frog is a 2d-puzzle-platformer where you control the Frog and your environment, roll, slip and squeeze around the levels, devouring any fly in your path!

Bot Party (Phoenix Perry and Frieda Abtan) - Bot Party in an interactive sound experience for humans. The bots have a problem. They have no way to communicate with their friends. Can you help? They need you to touch another human holding a bot. Through you the bots use the proprietary bot to skin to skin to bot communication protocol (BSSB) to send encoded secret messages to each other. Hold hands with other players to get the bot sound spectacular started!

Yo, Bartender! (Kraken) - Yo, Bartender! puts you in the shoes of a modern day bartender mixing cocktails in a bustling city. Survive the night rush by mixing and serving as fast as you can while making sure you always have the orders right. Do you have what it takes to be a bartender?

Doors to the City (Looking Glass) - An artist is lost in the divisions of his mind as he attempts to organize the vast arrays of his own creative process. The planets of his mind, NYC-LA-Newark-Oakland, take shape as he comes to battle them in their own respective ways.

Lemonade (Jing Sun, Yaying Zeng, Yuchen Huang, Ziqiang He) - A two-player game in which each player controls one (real) water pipe they can use to control the angle and flow of virtual on-screen water pipes. Shoot lemons, avoid cupcakes, make lemonade!

Hi-5 Heroes (Bobby Lockhart and Marty Meinerz) - Hi-5 Heroes is a 2-player cooperative rhythm game where two people high-five, low-five, and fist-bump to the beat.

Scissors The That Than and Shcocoococo VS (Miyazaworks) - One is a a game played with huge scissors controller. Use the joystick on the left to move, press the button on the right to search nearest enemies, cut the enemies in order to survive. The other is a multiplayer game in which you use special soap bottle controllers (modified with a Raspberry Pi) to control an on-screen soap bottle bird. Depress the soap bottle nozzle, and the bird will shoot liquid at germs!

As always, the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit is open to all GDC attendees and will make its fifth appearance at the conference from Wed-Fri, March 21-23 in the Moscone Convention Center, near the Independent Games Festival pavilion. Any questions about the showcase should be directed to alt.ctrl.GDC co-creator and organizer John Polson.

So don't miss your chance to play these unique, one-of-a-kind games -- GDC 2018 may be your only chance to do so! For more information on GDC 2018, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

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Purrfect Date is the newest in what seems to be a string of lighthearted visual novels this year, bringing a new romantic feline flavor. As the song states, 'if you try it in real life, you'll get sent to jail, but in the game it's fine!'. So, if you're into dark humor, cats and tons of replay value, pick up Purrfect Date!

Cat Island is the main stage of the story, a place where you'll be playing as a researcher trying to understand this cat-infested land mass. While doing so, you'll have to hone your skills through three stats - research, recon and stress. Can you balance your love life with your research, or will your choices come back to haunt you at the end of your journey? The island has many secrets to uncover, and only the most dedicated researchers will be able to find them.

With 6 cats to date, 6 humans to play, and 6 chapters to traverse and make choices in (which will be evaluated in the final seventh chapter), Purrfect Date is chock full of content. The game is also bursting with personality, whether it be its catchy theme song, the hilarious cast of cats (from Floofybutt to Kibbles) or the quick-witted dialogue. Players that are looking for something new in their visual novels should definitely give Purrfect Date a try.

You can purchase Purrfect Date on Steam here. You can also check out the official page, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube channel.