Tomorrow marks the return of the annual Game Awards and, as part of the accompanying festivities, it’ll be possible to play demos of 13 upcoming indie games, including the long-awaited System Shock remake, Skatebird, Carrion, and more.
The Steam-based event, officially known as The Game Festival, begins tomorrow, 12th December, at 6pm in the UK/10 am PT, and all demos will be available on Valve’s platform for 48 hours before they’re whisked away forever – even if you have them installed.
Hopefully 48 hours will be enough to get through everything, as there’s a load of interesting stuff on offer, including The Game Bakers’ co-operative love story Haven, Nightdive Studios’ much-delayed System Shock remake, Sundered developer Thuder Lotus’ “cozy game about dying” Spiritfarer, be-the-monster 2D horror Carrion, and more.
The complete list, as currently announced, can be found below – and I’ve included a trailer and Steam description for each, which will perhaps assist in finding the titles of most interest to you.
Incidentally, the Game Awards itself kicks off at 1.30am on Friday, 13th December in the UK. It’ll be livestreamed on Twitch, Mixer, YouTube, Steam, and Facebook, and we’ll be giving it the full coverage treatment here on Eurogamer, likely with hysterical, caffeine-addled glee.
Acid Knife (Powerhoof)
“Battle Death Centipedes in the melting psychedelic void. Slower, more intentional side-scrolling combat, with an emphasis on positioning and improvisation.”
Carrion (Phobia/Devolver)
“Carrion is a reverse horror game in which you assume the role of an amorphous creature of unknown origins, stalking and consuming those that imprisoned you.”
Chicory: A Colourful Tale (Greg Lobanov)
“You’re a dog wielding a magic brush! Use painting powers to explore, solve puzzles and make friends in this top-town adventure game. From creators on Wandersong + Celeste.”
The Drifter (Powerhoof)
“A Pulp Adventure Thriller – A drifter, murdered, finds himself alive again seconds before his death. Struggling to maintain his sanity, can he unravel the conspiracy surrounding his condition and those hunting him?”
Eastward (Pixpil/Chucklefish)
“In a beautifully-detailed and charming post-apocalyptic world, a miner discovers a mysterious little girl named Sam deep underground in a secret facility… Journey through decaying cities, encountering strange creatures and even stranger people along the way!”
Haven (The Game Bakers)
“They escaped to a lost planet to be together. An intimate RPG adventure about love and freedom. To play solo or with a special someone.”
Heavenly Bodies (2pt Interactive)
“Wrangle the hands and arms of a 1970s space cosmonaut and push, pull and twist your way through an increasingly precarious range of physically-simulated stellar scenarios, where without gravity, nothing is still, nothing is secure, and nothing is simple.”
Moving Out (SMG Studio/Devm Games/Team17)
“Become a certified removals master in this action, puzzle, physics based moving simulator that brings new meaning to ‘couch co-op'”.
Röki (Polygon Treehouse/United Label)
“Röki is an adventure game inspired by Scandinavian folklore; a dark contemporary fairy tale underpinned by a touching narrative, alluring art style, ancient puzzles and atmospheric exploration.”
Skatebird (Glass Bottom Games)
“Grind on bendy straws, kick-flip over staplers, and carve killer lines through cardboard and sticky tape parks. Above all else, skate birds try their best!”
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
“Spiritfarer is a cozy management game about dying. As ferrymaster to the deceased, build a boat to explore the world, care for your spirit friends, and guide them across mystical seas to finally release them into the afterlife. What will you leave behind?”
System Shock (Nightdive Studios)
“After two decades, Nightdive Studios is rebooting and re-imagining the original System Shock. We will keep the new game true to the classic experience, keeping all the things you loved while giving today’s gamers the modern look and feel expected from a great game.”
Wooden Nickel (Brain&Brain)
“Step inside the curiosities of an Old West newspaper to explore a frontier town. Meet the locals, wander the desert, make choices that shape each morning’s paper in a growing spread of possibilities.”
