Top 5 Indie Games at PAX PRIME 2015

Sleep is overrated, right?

After an incredible weekend in Seattle, I settle in to recuperate from the mind-altering, sleep-deprived bliss that was this year’s PAX Prime. With so much to see and do, it’s only natural that I’d require some time for reflection.

I mean really, an entire massive event devoted to all things gaming and tech? Where could the downside possibly be? You’ve got your cosplayers, your game demos, all kinds of displays and models…it’s basically a mecca for all things gaming and tech! The biggest names in the industry come together to showcase their goods and hobnob with some of the most recognized faces in gaming. With that said, there’s another part of PAX to look forward to: the indie games. With the PAX 10 released, I’m gonna pare the list down even further and give you my personal top 5 indie games of PAX Prime 2015.

5. Ninja Tag

Did you ever want to know if YOU are the ninja-est ninja? No? Well find out anyway with this adorably brutal game! Ninja Tag is a local multiplayer stealth brawler in which 2 to 4 players try to smack the ever-lovin’ hell out of each other. Invisibility, teleportation, and subsequent backstabbings are not only allowed, but encouraged! Indie developer Shin Kazuo has gone above and beyond to create a game of relentlessly quick combat featuring multiple maps, several game modes, and all kinds of visual and audio goodies.

Ninja Tag has been greenlit through Steam, and this playful action-arcade has fun music and sound effects; they’re cartoony without diving over the cliff into campy. The completion of every game rewards players with a screen of accolades, ranging from the game objective of “The Ninjaest Ninja” to the “Awardless Award” for (you guessed it) doing nothing noteworthy at all.

• Release date: “Soon.”
• Platforms: Windows, Mac

4. Tumblestone

Behold: The Stones that Tumble

From developers The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild, this bright colored grid of falling blocks initially looks like just another Match-3 category game. Like some of its genre predecessors, Tumblestone features a multiplayer competitive (AI, LAN, online) setting as well as a solo play mode with multiple game types. One of the more impressive aspects of Tumblestone is the beautiful, hand-drawn artwork in 1080p.  

The game itself is straightforward: you move your character through an overworld map, each location representing a game level. The background color of your screen tells you which color block to destroy, with the layers of stones tumbling down to meet your character at the bottom, and a dozen characters and backgrounds to unlock.

• Release date: Sometime in 2016
• Platforms:  Steam (PC/Mac/Linux) Xbox 360; Xbox One; Playstations 3, 4, & Vita; Wii U; iOS; Android; Windows Phone & Windows Store; Ouya (read: pretty much all of them)

3. Adventures of Pip

Now with animal stacking for more convenient storage!

I’m gonna' level with you: one of the main reasons this game made it into my personal top 5 is the fact that its 32-bit graphics gets me all warm and nostalgic inside. Or maybe it was just that microwave burrito (I was at PAX, don’t judge me), but we’ll call it nostalgia for now. Pip, our perpetually plucky protagonist, is a 1-pixel hero who has the ability to absorb the pixels of the enemies he destroys - and uses them to evolve into three different forms! Sort of like if Mario used spare goomba parts instead of mushrooms, but I digress.

This game runs like a solid platformer in a side scrolling run-jump-dodge galavant through five stylized worlds as he works to save his village from the evil Queen DeRezzia. While some reviewers have complained that the game is on the shorter side, we ALL know that size doesn’t matter as long as you have fun!

• Release date: Available Now
• Platforms: Steam, Nintendo WiiU, and iOS, PS4, Xbox One

2. Darkest Dungeon

“Hello, have you heard about the word of our Dark Elder God and Destroyer of all Mankind?”

On the surface, Red Hook Studio’s Darkest Dungeon looks like your standard fare of RPG turn-based dungeon crawler. Rather than playing a single character through a game, you direct parties of mercenaries through each dungeon as you fight to reclaim your family’s home and hamlet from the abomination of evil that your Ancestor (capitalized by the game) unleashed. The graphics feature a heavy, stylized look with side scrolling animation closer to an animated graphic novel rather than your usual “frames per second” type videogame.  

The sound highlights original music and ambient noises that shift to fit not only your environment and situation (combat vs out of combat) but also your coterie’s mental state. A surprisingly complex game, you must monitor the mental state of your party at all times, as shown by the “stress” meter. If the stress meter fills, the character dies. Character death is permanent in this game, with new recruits arriving by stagecoach every day - a random mix of male & female for any and all of the 20 classes. With gothic, elaborate writing, great voice acting, and the old school feel of a gritty dungeon crawler, Darkest Dungeon is a game well worth picking up.

• Release date: Available Now!
• Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, PS4, and Vita.

1. Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

No, you didn’t drop acid. This is what the game really looks like.   

A game designed for two, Asteroid Base’s Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a superlatively chaotic 1 or 2 player couch co-op action space shooter. Yes, that’s a genre now. In this game, you and your other (whether it’s a person or a loyal AI pet is up to you and your social life - or lack thereof) control a huge, brightly colored battleship that you control together by darting to and fro the various rooms. Each player is equally important and the game is possible only through teamwork.

An exhilarating challenge while also being accessible to new or casual gamers, the goal is to triumph over the evil forces of Anti-Love by way of rescuing kidnapped space-bunnies (not kidding) and escaping from a death in the vacuum of space! Players can find powerful space-gems and use them in various combinations to upgrade their battleships to create tools for every situation. The game uses randomized level layouts, so even veteran gamers will find something new to navigate every time they settle in to play. By beating levels, you unlock new constellations (pictured above is “Ursa Major”), with all-new places to explore!

• Release date: September 9, 2015
• Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, and Xbox One