Today was the official, inaugural Indie Houses Showcase, an event put on by a new collective of seven publishers — Akupara Games, Fellow Traveller, Neon Doctrine, Raw Fury, Those Awesome Guys, Toge Productions, and Whitethorn Games — to highlight their upcoming titles.
The Indie Houses was recently formed with the aim to not just collectively promote the games of its seven member publishers, but also share information more widely about the challenging world of indie development and publishing. IGN spoke with the leaders of the studios behind The Indie Houses last week about the collective's goals and ambitions for more than just showcases like this one.
But for now, today's showcase included a number of new game reveals, release date announcements, gameplay trailers, publisher announcements, and more for games like Coffee Talk, Glitchhikers, Legend of Tianding, Kraken Academy, Teacup, Dream Cycle, Suzerain, and so much more. Here's a rundown of everything that was shown at The Indie Houses' first showcase:
Neon Doctrine
Legend of Tianding – Release Date Announcement
The Legend of Tianding got a release date during today's showcase of October 27, 2021 on Switch and Steam. It's a sidescrolling action game about the titular legendary Taiwanese Folk Hero that has you exploring explore the dazzling streets of Colonial Japanese Taiwan in the early 20th century, robbing the rich, feeding the poor, leaping across buildings, and exposing the corruption of Taipei. Learn to use the One Inch Punch to send opponents flying, or weapons you find as you fight.
Lamentum – Launch Trailer
In this pixel art survival horror game set in nineteenth-century New England, find out how far you'd go to save your dying wife. Descend into the horrifying depths of Grau Hill searching for a cure for her disease, and solve the mansion's dark, dark secret. Lamentum is officially out now.
Jack Axe – New Gameplay Trailer
In a gameplay trailer, we join the Jack sisters in a single or multiplayer, 2D open-world adventure: Jack Axe. Together, the group can overcome platforming challenges, toss axes, and explore a Filipino-Norse mythology-inspired world where a young woman breaks a taboo, arming herself against the wishes of an irate god.
Devilated – New Gameplay Trailer
Devilated got a new gameplay reveal during Indie Houses. It's a super violent first-person shooter with role-playing elements and 30 over-the-top, maze-like levels and bosses. Devilated is out now in early access on Steam, but is coming to other consoles as well.
Lost Castle – Final DLC Sneak Peek
Lost Castle appeared briefly during the showcase to offer a look at its final DLC, which is out now five years after the game's launch. It includes new bosses, armor, weapons, and skills.
Akupara Games
Gone Viral – Launch Trailer
We got a look today at Gone Viral, which is out now on Steam. It's an over-the-top action game with roguelite elements where you fight for your life in a prison arena to entertain a blood-thirsty audience.
Kardboard Kings – Publisher Announcement
Kardboard Kings was announced today as officially being published by Akupara Games. Open your own game shop, befriend customers, and help them find the cards they need while collecting magical cards for yourself. A free demo is available now on Steam.
Fellow Traveler
Suzerain – Switch Release Date
In Suzerain, you are president Anton Rayne, elected to lead the nation of Sordland after years of political turmoil and civil war. In this text-based RPG, choose what kind of leader you will be amidst looming war and an economic crisis. Suzerain got a Switch launch date today of September 23, 2021.
Beacon Pines – Publisher Announcement
A cute and creepy adventure game in a magical storybook where you play as both the book's reader and its main character Luca. Explore the cozy town of Beacon Pines, write and rewrite the story to change the fate of the town's inhabitants. During today's Indie Houses showcase, we learned that Fellow Traveler is officially publishing Beacon Pines when it comes to PC — and there's a demo available now on Steam.
Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between – Game Reveal
Born from the experimental game Glitchhikers: First Drive and revealed for the first time at The Indie Houses today, The Spaces Between is a fully reimagined version of the 2014 liminal space game. It includes a night drive, a walk in the park, a ride on the train, all in strange, familiar-yet-unfamiliar spaces.
Kraken Academy – Release Date Announcement
Kraken Academy is no ordinary high school. Ghosts fill the art department, cultists meet below the monkey bars and now crocodiles are eating children. Join forces with a magical Kraken to uncover a malicious plot to destroy the school. During today's Indie Houses showcase, we also learned Kraken Academy is coming out on September 10, 2021 on PC.
No Longer Home – Console Release Date
No Longer Home, a narrative game about everyday moments, and letting go of a life you've built due to circumstances beyond your control, is coming to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on October 7.
Citizen Sleeper – Gameplay Trailer
We got a new look at the gameplay of Citizen Sleeper, where you're an escaped worker trapped in a decaying body, washed up on the edge of an interstellar society. Inspired by tabletop RPGs, you'll choose your path and roll the dice to find your way through your strange situation and build a new life among the stars.
Toge
Vanaris Tactics – New Gameplay Trailer
In a new gameplay reveal, we got a look at Vanaris Tactics, a fantasy turn-based tactical RPG that tells a story about refugees fleeing their occupied motherland. Vanaris Tactics is planned for release on Steam.
Coffee Talk – Sequel Announcement
Coffee Talk, a visual novel about listening to people's problems over a warm beverage you made for them, is getting a sequel. We only saw a brief teaser video today, so no info on an official title or release date just yet.
When the Past Was Around – Mobile Announcement
When the Past was Around is an adventure point-and-click puzzle game about love, moving on, letting go, and the joy and pain of everything in between. A tale of a girl and her lover in a surreal world consisting of disjointed rooms from memories and time. It's currently available for PC and consoles, and as we learned today, it's also coming soon to mobile devices.
Whitethorn Games
APICO – New Gameplay Trailer
In a new gameplay trailer, we got a look at APICO, a relaxing sim game about breeding and collecting bees, combining elements of farm building, resource gathering and production, and beekeeping minigames.
Calico – Update Overview
In a new Calico trailer, we got a look at several of the recent updates added to the cat cafe simulator game that lets you rebuild a cat cafe, meet cute friends, and ride giant cats around a pleasant, cozy world.
Kana Quest – Demo Announcement
Kana Quest is a puzzle game that teaches you how to read Japanese Hiragana by moving individual Hiragana around to form common sounds. A free demo is now available on Steam.
Lake – Launch Trailer
Lake is another game we've seen quite a bit of at indie showcases, and it's finally out tomorrow. A scenic story-driven game where middle-aged career woman Meredith Weiss returns to her hometown of Providence Oaks to take on a temporary job as a mail carrier. While there she'll rekindle old friendships, make new ones, and rediscover herself.
Onsen Master – New Gameplay Trailer
Indie Houses showed off another look at Onsen Master, a hot spring customer management game where players must create ingredients to match the various customer ailments across the fantasy island of Izajima.
Princess Farmer – New Gameplay Trailer
We saw a new gameplay trailer for Princess Farmer, a match-3 story game full of adorable garden critters that can be played alone or in co-op.
Teacup – Release Date Reveal
The narrative-driven adventure game about a shy frog finally has a release date of September 23 for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Follow Teacup as she explores her neighborhood, spends time with her friends, and looks for tea herbs for her upcoming tea party.
The Forest Cathedral – Demo Announcement
This first-person psychological thriller set on a remote island follows the story of real-life scientist Rachel Carson and her discoveries on the harmful pesticide DDT. A demo is currently available on Steam.
Wytchwood – Gameplay Trailer
Wytchwood, a crafting adventure about a mysterious old witch in a gothic-inspired world, showed a brief gameplay trailer showing off crafting, exploration, and bits of the fairy tale-laden story.
Raw Fury
Dream Cycle – New Gameplay Reveal
In a new gameplay reveal during Indie Houses, we meet Morgan Carter, a student of the arcane, who finds herself trapped in an otherworldly dimension known as the Dreamlands. In a game from the creator of Lara Croft and based on the tales of Lovecraft, Morgan must search for a way out through thousands of shards of the realm, fighting enemies, investigating anomalies, and finding treasure as she goes. Dream Cycle goes to early access on Steam in September 2021.
Wolfstride – New Gameplay Trailer
In Wolfstride, an exiled ex-Yakuza, a rookie combat pilot, and a grizzled mechanic team up to compete in the Ultimate Mech Tournament. Today, we saw a new trailer for the game that showed off gameplay outside of combat, where you find supplies to beef up your mech, make repairs, and get to know the locals who can help your cause. Wolfstride is planned for a Steam release.
Kingdom Two Crowns – DLC Reveal
Though we didn't see much in the way of gameplay, we learned that Kingdom Two Crowns has an upcoming new premium DLC. Entitled Norselands, this DLC will explore the viking age and include new content themed around the Norse gods.
Sable – Demo Announcement
Sable, which previously had a demo earlier in the year, is re-releasing its demo on PC and Xbox during the Indie Houses event ahead of its September 23rd launch.
Townscaper – Community Showcase
Townscaper is a city builder with a stand-out aesthetic that Raw Fury highlighted in a trailer today showing off a number of gorgeous, creative city designs from the game's community. It's already out on PC and Nintendo Switch, and it's coming to Android and iOS this October.
Per Aspera – New Content Announcement
Per Aspera, a game about terraforming the surface of the red planet in city builder format, showed a brief tease of some new content coming in October, entitled Green Mars. We didn't get much of a look at the gameplay, but dang, Mars sure does look green!
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.