Game Con Canada has quickly become a place that takes the time to focus on indie games, giving smaller studios and creators a chance to showcase their work to thousands of people descending on the Edmonton Expo Centre. With so many titles at the ready to show to the crowds, CGMagazine took the time to sit down and experience what these studios had to offer, showcasing a diverse range of ideas, concepts and art styles, all looking to bring in an audience and show what they have to offer.
Sadly, we have to limit our awards to the best of the best, so not everyone can win, but this year, there were some solid offerings in a range of categories, making it one of the hardest years to narrow down our selection. From studios all across this country to creators local to Alberta, Game Con Canada has brought together some fantastic games, and here are our selections that stand above the crowd.
Here are our picks for Best Indie Games from Game Con Canada!
Best Art Style: Project Visceral
There is something to be said for a striking art style and a focus on a specific look, and Project Visceral has managed to capture that with its stark black-and-white design, which is truly unlike anything else on the show floor. The team has a drive to build a title that goes back to a simpler time in gaming, when the focus was on gameplay and the action you could achieve in such a digital world. While we know very little about the story, the focus of the game or how it will all unfold, what was on show looked striking, bloody and unique.
The team at The Foundation has said they will unveil more in the coming months, and even with what it was able to show off at this stage, we are intrigued. It looked fluid and fast, and the black-and-white line-art style contrasted with the blood and special-ability colouring already has us craving a full game we can play through. The super-limited UI and look have captured our attention. It is now up to the team to deliver on the promise that the demo showed off.
You can read more about Project Visceral on the Game Con Canada website
Most Innovative: Shuffles ‘n Scuffles
The deck-building genre has been around for a while and has been done well many times, but few games have innovated on it in such a way as Shuffles ’n Scuffles. Built with a cardboard aesthetic and capturing a sense of fun rarely found in a game like this, it instantly hooks you with its whimsy and look.
Sour Circuit Studios have boiled the core of a card-battle game down, removing many of the hurdles that can make it tedious to get into, resulting in a roguelike card-battle game that is easy to dive into and understand. You have the ability to invest cost into a card, so you can use two turns to get a card out that you normally would not be able to, and you do not need to worry about tapping mana and the like. Each character you pick has a set amount of magic, life and other attributes, and you can build your deck around their strengths and weaknesses.
But Shuffles ’n Scuffles manages to go further to build something unique, and it lets you edit your cards, allowing you to craft unique creations you can take to the battlefield. Of course, depending on how powerful you make the cards, it will make them more expensive to cast, but that is part of the fun, and the strategy that makes the game enjoyable to dive into.
Shuffles ‘n Scuffles is available on Steam now.
Best Gameplay: The Path of Kana
There is something to be said for tried-and-tested gameplay, and The Path of Kana captures the feel and style of classic NES and SNES RPGs perfectly. This is a game that wears its inspiration on its sleeve, capturing the wonder, excitement and whimsy of the classic era of The Legend of Zelda, and does it in a way that is both fun and fresh. The pixel-art style, which can be overdone at times, feels right at home in this little RPG, and the small from RetroDragon Entertainment team has managed to build that into a game that we could not help but keep playing.
It was easy to jump into, fun to experience and explore, and I mean, who does not love the thrill of breaking pots to find power-ups or attack enemies? The battles never feel needlessly complicated, and the overall feel transports us back to playing a game system way too close to a CRT TV, and that is a good thing. While still early in development, The Path of Kana already has us excited to jump back in for a longer experience.
You can wishlist The Path of Kana on Steam now
Best Studio: BuriedCandy—The Calling
It sometimes takes indie developers to tap into something that big studios simply neglect, and BuriedCandy did so with The Calling. Starting the game as a project to learn Unreal, and doing that learning on stream, the community seems to have rallied behind the concept. With many streamers and VTubers all wanting to see their characters in this anime-inspired shooter, community and excitement have become the driving forces behind the game.
This is marketing you simply cannot buy, and when a community rallies around an idea like that, seeing development take place in the open and tapping into the many ideas of fans and creators around the world, The Calling feels like a group effort, one they are all excited to see come out and expand upon. That is marketing that defies all the typical business models and becomes something organic. With more than 100 creators now a part of the project, and more waiting to be considered, The Calling is shaping up to be something unique that does not come around very often, and we are excited to see where it goes from here.
You can wishlist The Calling on Steam now.
Best Game: INFERIUS
We have seen INFERIUS at a few shows over the years, and each time, the game looks more polished, creepy and truly special. Lucid Rain Studios combines two very different gameplay concepts, card battling and Amnesia: The Dark Descent-style horror. INFERIUS is a game that I did not expect to be so good, but after playing the demo, we are hooked. It offers an ominous setting, an unsettling art style and a design that makes you want to experience more.
The level of polish this small Canadian-based team has been able to achieve is astounding, and it is shaping up to be a horror title fans of the genre will want to experience. There is something incredibly unsettling about diving into the world, battling cards for souls and seeing how the story slowly unfolds as you experience more of this horrific setting. While it is still in development, and there is still more work to do, what is on show is twisted, dark and deeply enjoyable.
You can wishlist INFERIUS and play the demo on Steam now.
