Gamers will use any excuse to get together to play and talk about games. It’s how we show our love. The Canadian Video Game Awards will be presented later this evening. But for now, convention booths armed to the teeth with television screens and gaming consoles dominate hockey rink (sans ice) used as the show floor. These sorts of events are great because they bring some of the big names in the industry together with the smallest of indie developers and enthusiasts. It’s a reminder that we’re all taking part in the same hobby.
Here are some of the most interesting games that were shown off this weekend during the fanfest.
Resonance Unlimited:
This fast twitch based music game has already found some success on mobile platforms. But solo developer Anthony C. Phillips is looking to turn game development into a career by releasing it through Steam Greenlight. It uses music composed both by Philips and guest chip tune artists.
Fate Tectonics:
Fate Tectonics is about creation and destruction in equal parts. Players try to appeal to in game deities who grant powers in this multiplayer world building game. But angering these deities can mean the end of the world. The goal, says developer Alex Bethke, is to balance the strength of your land with your favor with the gods
One of the most interesting things about Fate Tectonics is a real effort to make the game accessible to as many people as possible. Rosemary Brennan, the game’s artist, says the entire game was designed to account for color blindness and hearing disabilities. There is also a setting to slow the game down for a more casual experience but also for players with cognitive disabilities.
Fate Tectonics is currently available on Steam but the studio, Golden Gear, is working on porting it to other platforms.
Quasar:
We’ve written about Quasar before. This is a top down competitive space shooter made by OSnap! Games. With aspirations of bringing a new genre to eSports, Quasar is built around quick thinking and dexterous control. Top it all off with some stylish graphics and this game can compete with the best of them.
Developer Ryan Luck says the team is aiming to release Quasar next spring on Windows and Linux.
Za Vas:
Ever wanted to experience the anxiety of meeting your significant other’s foreign family for a dinner party in the comfort of your own home? Za Vas replicates the pressure to impress strangers by meeting their strange expectations. Pick up on all the social cues or risk offending those closest to the person closest to you.
Za Vas was hilarious and chaotic. Brittany Oberfield says it uses the real life stories of her family as inspiration for challenges such as “eat enough food to make grandma happy” and “take another picture of the family for mom.” She says her family even pitched in by doing all the voice acting. They hope to be releasing the game by the end of the month.
Halcyon 6:
Full disclosure: this game caught my eye because it has a space map in it. The space map isn’t the main feature by any means. But the whole game looks great. The pixel art itself is nice, but the whole game has a sort of graphical unity that brings it together.
Halcyon6 is a tactical management game. You create a fleet of ship and fight against the invading aliens. This familiar premise is supported by a plethora of customization options with meaningful impacts on strategy. It’s even being designed from the ground up with the modding community in mind, so the sky is the limit.
