Long ago, primitive man left its mark with strange images. They rendered exaggerated depictions of their peers and fantastic creatures with crude tools. Sometimes these figures were made of metal and soared through the sky, other times they wielded fire as if it were a play thing. Collected scraps of these images have had but a few things in common: a reference to something we’ve decided to call a “Screenshot“, an importance laid upon Saturday, and an independence from larger developmental forces. Leading scientists estimate the age of these markings as roughly two solar days. I have taken the liberty of assembling some relics of the most recent of such ancient scrawlings for you to view at your leisure.
Druids of Gemini by Joshua Smyth and Lianne Booton
Smyth describes Druids of Gemini as a hodge podge of various ideas he’s enjoyed in other games. There’s some turn based combat here, some adventure stuff to explore and discover over there, perhaps some puzzles to be found amongst the role playing bits. He’ll figure it out. The majority of the experience is had from a top-down view like this shot above, but dungeons flip open a first person element where you do… something. That part of the game hasn’t enjoyed as much attention.
Nubarron by Nastycloud
“A story about a complex relationship between Cloud and Gnome.” Yes, it’s about a portly old man who’s down on his luck and can’t shake a rain cloud. It’s also gorgeous. Nastycloud is building the game from a less pretty prototype they created a few years ago, and have since been content to string us along with nothing but eye candy like the above work in progress. Details on gameplay, like this poor fellow’s umbrella, are quite absent.
Hamster, Eagle Hunter by Dayvi
In a world where humans have, for one reason or another, disappeared entirely, hamster kind has seen great development. Now they wield sword and spear alongside makeshift equipment forged from mankind’s remnants and fend off birds of prey many times their size. From the looks of things, we’re dealing with medieval dragon hunts crossed with post-apocalyptic junk salvaging crossed with Redwall. How fantastic does that sound? Unfortunately we’re again stymied by a lack of information beyond art and a ridiculously cool idea for a setting.
Outland 17 by Grenade Tree Games
Colonial era humanity has taken to the stars. Following the unification of our home planet, colonies have begun to appear on our solar system’s neighboring worlds. The unrest and impending revolutionary violence sprouting on these “outlands” are the setting of Grenade Tree’s upcoming turn-based tactical RPG. Naturally, the red coats are the bad guys (though I may be biased). Expect equipment loadouts, class specializations, perk and skill selections, and other such genre accoutrements.
Lemma by Evan Todd
The leading lady in this one, presumably going by the handle of Lemma, is a traversal enthusiast intent on breaking into something at the far end of a series of floating cube worlds. What’s she after? I don’t know, but it’s evidently a perfectly valid excuse for first-person parkour, and that’s all right with me. Unlike a certain similarly athletic acrobat from EA’s stable of heroes, however, our character can manifest usable surfaces from thin air.
