Thursday, September 14, 2017

IndieCade 2017 Official Nominees

IndieCade, Oct 6-8, the independent games festival is approaching next month and we are already getting a look at some of the games. Right now, we can see the listed IndieCade 2017 Official Nominees. They're a wide selection of strange games to try, one of which is just about building cats and putting on their butts.

Here's our top choices, check the full list here.

Cat Sorter VR
Cat Sorter VR can be played alone or in a group, and challenges players to find, fix and have fun sniffing out flawed cats and returning them to normeowl. The design also allows for a party gameplay that is sure to bring out the cattitude in players as they compete with friends and family for the best score and bragging rights to become the ultimate sorter of cats.

Emotional Fugitive Detector
Emotional Fugitive Detector is a two-player cooperative game which uses the human face as both its primary controller and screen. One player’s face is scanned for emotions by the installation robot’s face tracking technology. The other tries to determine which emotion is being scanned for. Emotional Fugitive Detector embraces the affordances of human emotional expression, and subverts the concept of a controller. Instead of using the controller (a human face) to exert control, players attempt to send no input while evading detection. Players must find a difficult middle ground in this emotional Turing test: expressive enough for a human, too subtle for a computer.

Fear Sphere
Fear Sphere is a two player asymmetrical experimental arcade game aimed at bridging the gap between the real world and the digital world--without the use of VR. One player enters a darkened inflatable sphere and tries to escape an underground facility using only a flashlight controller and the help of a second player who is relaying directions through the use of blueprints. The two must develop a coherent stream of communication in order for the player inside the sphere to escape successfully.

Frog Fractions 2
Frog Fractions 2 is a game about mystery and surprises.

GNOG
* Wait, GNOG? You came out already as a game on the PS4 are you...are you coming to Steam?
Follow your mysterious ghostly companion among the Gnogs, each one a monster head filled with wondrous interactions and surprising experiences. Each monster is a tactile toylike object to behold, filled with undirected play, dynamic soundscapes, and hidden secrets to explore.

Keyboard Sports
You play as the young apprentice to Master QWERTY, who sets you off on a stunning adventure to find your inner key — and explore your entire keyboard. The game uses every single key on the keyboard. Yes.





OneShot
OneShot is a surreal top down Puzzle/Adventure game with unique gameplay capabilities. You are to guide a child through a mysterious world on a mission to restore its long-dead sun. The world knows you exist. Inspirations include Yume Nikki, Link's Awakening, Hyper Light Drifter, and The Little Prince.


Santiago

Santiago is a multi-sensory virtual reality (VR) installation that explores the idea of escapism through psychedelic visuals and music. The experience revolves around a physical sculpture of Santiago, an ancient fish god, that transforms into a living, breathing musical instrument that can be played through touch. The music created by the player affects objects and visualizations in the virtual environment, giving each player the agency to shape his or her experience.

Virtual, Virtual Reality
Put on VR headsets in VR to escape your A.I. manager and explore deeper realities in this two hour narrative satire. In the near future, most human jobs are automated. What is the purpose of humanity? Activitude, the Virtual Labor System, is here to help. Your artisanal human companionship is still highly sought by our A.I. clients. Strap on your headset. Find your calling.
Psst...not everything as is as it seems.

Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a single-player narrative game about traveling and telling stories, set in an America inspired by folklore and the Great Depression. Unlike other narrative games, however, WTWTLW is structured not as a single central narrative, but as a collection of short stories. While wandering, the player will meet 16 different characters, each of whom was written by a different writer. The stories share the theme of the failure of the American Dream, especially as it relates to those outside the mainstream of American society. The player, cursed to wander the land as the personification of Folk culture, takes on the task of spreading folktales and helping them grow, as well as collecting the life stories of the characters they meet.