On January 23-25, 2015 the first ever PAX South premiered Deep in the heart of Texas at San Antonio. I was excited for my hometown, not only to host the first ever PAX South, but also because it will give San Antonio an opportunity to propel itself into the national spotlight and someday possibly bring notoriety at a level of San Diego as a convention city. To me at least, San Antonio will always be a small town/big tourist city, but something like PAX South brings a whole new level of industry to the tourist city. All weekend long, I could not help but ask developers and media alike how they were enjoying, not only the show, but also the city. The overall response was positive, especially with the amount of bars and restaurants in the immediate convention center area, something some of the other Shows do not have.
Many of the big publishers and developers had had decided to take the “wait and see” approach to see if PAX South would be a success before committing to future shows at the venue. As a result, many of the Independent developers received more of a showcase and focus that they may have not have quite received had there been bigger triple-A titles hogging up the spotlight.
Here are a few of my Indie standouts of the show. Be sure to keep these games on your radar over the next few months and years.
Super Slam Dunk Basketball
Imagine if NES classics Super Dodgeball, Tecmo bowl and a dash of Double Dribble all got together on crack for a 3v3 multiplier fest! And you would have something akin to Super Slam Dunk Basketball. Throughout the weekend if you were anywhere on the show floor remotely near this game’s booth, you would hear loud Cheers and Jeers. And when you headed over to see what all the commotion was about, you saw a crowd of people lined up to get into the action. It was glorious! Super Slam Dunk Touchdown has recently started a Kickstarter. Head over to https://tippinggoat.com to learn more from MVP developer Rick Felice who is developing this project all by himself.
Light Fall
Imagine if you crossed the art style of Limbo with the story telling of Braid and you would have something close to Light Fall’s style and feel….now add in exceptional 2D platforming and you have the core of what this game is all about. When I spoke with the three man team of developers it was clear that they focused on the jumping mechanics before anything else. So much so that they introduced something they are calling the “Shadow Core,” which players can summon as a platform to not only help them navigate the world but also solve puzzles. This is a fantastically charming game and I am looking forward to playing it again.
Light Fall is currently well on its way to being “Green lit” on Steam. If you would like more info about this game, head to https://bishopgames.com
Ronin
Ronin is a turn-based action platformer that is stylish as it is calculating. Players move through the world and have turn-based point and click mechanics every time the character needs to attack. That’s really all that needs to be said about this great looking and interesting game. Search for it on Steam as it is trying to being “Green lit” and see what it is all about.
Adventures of Pip
This little pixel who could stole my pixilated heart at PAX South. Seriously, the game plays as a classic 2D action/puzzle side scrolling that has it all, tight controls, charming characters, great soundtrack and most importantly, a clever and endearing Lore.
You play as Pip, a single pixel born into the Pixel Kingdom. Since he is only a single pixel, Pip is considered a lower class pixel among the 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit counterparts. However when a witch shows up and kidnaps the pixel princess and absorbs all the pixels in the kingdom, everyone is left in fear as a single pixel, not knowing what to do. All except Pip that is.
And this is where things get going. As Pip, you have to evolve into 8-bit and 16-bit versions of himself, each with different attributes. But in order to solve puzzles and fight certain enemies Pip will have to devolve into the version of him that best fits the situation.
This was my game of show as I cannot wait for it to launch in May on all home consoles, windows and mac. Check out more at https://www.tictocgames.com/
State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition
Not enough can be said of Undead Labs’ Studio hit 2013 Xbox Live Arcade game. Like surviving a zombie apocalypse, this game defied all odds and found success on Xbox live with very little promotion form Microsoft as Xbox live arcade was basically ended and Microsoft had shifted its focus to the Xbox one. But great gameplay and word of mouth and social networks raised this game to higher success than expected.
When State of Decay debuted, it broke several gameplay conventions, in that characters die permanently and story progression is not pre-scripted. Rather than focus on killing tons of zombies as in traditional zombie action games, State of Decay is more of a Zombie “Survival” game. It literally puts you in a sandbox environment and it is up to you how you survive or not. You must band together with other characters and use their attributes to scout, scavenge for supplies or fight. If you have ever watched a zombie movie and thought what you would do in that situation, then you should play State of Decay and find out.
The State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition includes the original State of Decay re-mastered in 1080p, the add-ons Breakdown and Lifeline as well as new missions types, new weapons, vehicles and perhaps
a few new heroes. This is the definitive edition of the game and while speaking with lead designer Geoffrey Card, he was excited to take advantage of the more powerful hardware of the Xbox One and be able to include all the things that he had to cut from the Xbox 360 version of the game because of limited system ability.
It is safe to say, I cannot wait till April 28 to get this game. And those who previously purchased the game back on Xbox 360 will get the Year One Survival Edition at a reduced price. For more info, check out https://undeadlabs.com
So PAX South came and went, but it was success not only for indie developers but also the city of San Antonio which has already been scheduled to hold the event at least through 2017. Without a doubt the show will grow and it is exciting to see how it evolves over the coming years. I can’t wait till next year!
