There are big-budget games and then there are those that appeal at a personal level. Several such titles were announced at Summer Game Fest, which was held in Los Angeles, the city that has lately been in the news for igniting a new fight over immigration. The games showcasing proved that the future will always be a mystery.
Ambrosia Sky
Death is inevitable; death is a constant. How does one deal with it? In Ambrosia Sky, the player controls Dalia, who is a part of an organisation of scientists who conduct death rites known as Scarabs. Set in a sci-fi world, Dalia has been given the task of disposing of bodies, collecting mushroom samples around those bodies and testing them to find a way to tackle an invasive fungus. The Scarabs collect the DNA of the recently deceased with an ambition of achieving immortality. The player has to look around for resources and, in the process, get to know the people of Dalia’s past. This is the first game from a new studio called Soft Rains, comprising members who worked on the likes of Skyrim, Fallout 3/4, A Mortician’s Tale, Creature in the Well, and Left 4 Dead.
Escape Academy 2
Escape Academy 2 takes the open-world route in a college campus environment. Players can uncover a mystery surrounding the school’s founder, leading to more revelations. The game pushes the Escape Room genre, allowing players to unearth secrets between classes. “We’re opening up the campus to give players a deeply immersive experience—where escape rooms are the challenges of everyday student life at the Academy,” said Wyatt Bushnell, co-founder of Coin Crew Games. The original Escape Academy attracted more than four million players.
Dosa Divas
On the one hand, the Trump administration is carrying out deportations; on the other hand, Dosa Divas finds ways to connect people to different cultures through food. In the game are two sisters fighting against an evil fast food empire. Characters have unique abilities associated with different “flavour profiles,” like sweet, spicy, or sour. To attack effectively, you need to match moves to the enemy’s flavour craving. Actually, there are three sisters. Samara, Amani and Lina, the last of whom has a quick cuisine that has become so popular that people don’t feel like cooking.
Petal Runner
The pixel-art adventure has the player take on the role of motorcycle courier Cali, who delivers a technology named Leap Cells that powers HanaPets. The couriers delivering it have to take on an extensive training programme to become Petal Runners. Cali and his HanaPet Kira travel around the city delivering Leap Cells and making friends. But nothing is forever.
Out of Words
Created by game developer Kong Orange and stop-motion animation studio WiredFly, Out of Words is a co-op platformer. Everything on the screen has been made by hand. The game was initially launched as a Kickstarter in 2021. The controllable humans have had their mouths stolen, so they are out of words. You have two humans to control, who are accompanied by a flying stingray. Suddenly, the ground collapses, and Kurt and Karla find themselves in the realm of Vokabulantis. They try to save the world while falling in love in the process.
Possessor(s)
In the game, you play a young woman trying to escape a city under attack. You play as Luca, who has been saved from certain death by a demon. To escape, she needs to search for answers and discover what caused the destruction of her home and the deaths of almost everyone she’s ever known. The different paths you choose lead to alternate endings.
Mixtape
The latest from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven & Dinosaur, Mixtape is a coming-of-age adventure dripping with ’90s nostalgia. Three friends are spending their last night together before one of them moves away, and you’re along for all the ups and downs. It features music from Devo, Roxy Music, Lush, The Smashing Pumpkins, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, The Cure and many more.
Directive 8020
The game has a spaceship under siege by an unknown alien threat. The plot is simple: In the course of searching for a new planet to replace the dying Earth, the crew of the Cassopeia crashland on an alien planet. The crew is under attack, and the enemies can mimic the crew. Can you trust anyone? Pistols are pointed, but will the trigger be pulled?