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Find your new favourite indie game in the Japanese asobu showcaseIndies: uncovered!
Indies: uncovered!
Never let it be said I don’t write about weird indie games, because I do. Monday was the asobu indie showcase, a delightful stream that highlighted a bunch of cool indie games from Japanese developers, as well as international indie games coming to Japan. It’s a pretty new community that,in its own words, aims to be “the ‘lighthouse’ for indie game creators in Japan”, supporting the indie dev process in that country as well as getting the word about Japanese indies out and about internationally.
It worked on me, right? The stream introduced me to a load of games I hitherto knew nothing about but am now interested in. Whomst among us could not find something to intrigue us in the line-up, which includes a game where youplay in-game versions of 80s Japanese PC games, or one where a lone girl lands her airship to explore a mysteriously empty town, or a game about making low-fi music beats in the proximity of a nice cat.
While some of the games are ones we’re already aware of (non-violent chill couple gameHaven, for example, or weird doing-situps-into-a-dog simMy Exercise) there is an admirable display of weirdness to peruse here. It might take a bit of digging, because some of these are for Mac OS X or have slightly broken links, but PC pals can find some extremely fun demos, plus games that are already out, as well as some to look forward to.
Best of asobu: Tasomachi
My own top picks would includeTasomachifor the latter, one of the games I mentioned up top. A young girl named Yukumo spends her days travelling around in a little airship, and when she arrives in a beautiful town (cherry trees in bloom, natch) looking for parts, she finds that the whole place is mysteriously empty. So she has a good old explore. Extremely ‘opening scenes of Spirited Away’ vibes, here.
Watch on YouTube
Watch on YouTube
Also in the upcoming games Alice is up for category would be this creepsome looking ARPGOlija(whichKatharine played at PAX East last yearand liked a lot), and whateverSuper UFO Fighterturns out to be, because I am not sure but god I love the colours.
Best of asobu: Lo-Fi Room
The current version is pretty great, though. With each level you do a little find the object search to uncover musical instruments scattered around the scene. For each instrument you then have to do a rhythm-action mini game with the QWER keys, and eventually you’ve layered them all up into a chilled out little song. A low-fi beat, in fact. Excellent stuff.
Best of asobu: Pull Stay
In a completely different but also cathartic vein, isPull Stay. Ithas a demo on Steamand I can only describe it as wacky. It’s a beat ‘em up where you, a robot must protect your shy master, who is in his room and does not want to be disturbed or made to leave his room. Waves of enemies (including what are basically ‘normies with jobs’) turn up, and you must thwack them.
In between the waves you use resources, which you can steal from your neighbours’ houses, to set up traps, Home Alone style, except decidedly not. One of the traps you can put in a downstairs bedroom is an anime body pillow. I did that and a man started chastely humping the pillow, only for it to glomp around him and, I guess, suffocate him for a bit? This did not stop him immediately getting up to hump the pillow again, though, which could probably be repurposed as a metaphor, I just don’t want to speculate for what. Pull Stay is definitely something. I enjoyed punching the suit boys.
