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Ep.188: Tribeca Games is STACKED.
137 Plays6 months ago
The Tribeca Games '24 lineup includes nearly all of our most anticipated games of the year, as well as one huge surprise from a notable developer.
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Transcript
Introduction and Hosts Introduction
00:00:19
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to episode 188 of the Six One Indiecast. My name is Mike Townrow. Tonight, I am joined by Harry Lazetis. Hello there. And Matthew Wright. It's Harry. It's Harry. Harry, what are you laughing about as I fix the livestream? I always forget that you don't say like, all right, we're about to start. You're just like, all right. I literally asked y'all if you're ready. You said like 15 seconds before you started. I know, but sometimes in my head, that's a,
00:00:46
Speaker
That's a precursor to the precursor. Like, are you ready? I'm like, yeah. All right. Harry's the person that needs the teaser for the teaser before the trailer. I don't need it, but then I'm just like perpetually just like Harry is the target audience for Paramount Pictures. Trailers. Trailers starts now. OK, I'm ready. I clicked on this page. I wasn't ready, but now I'm ready.
Knuckles and Sonic Trailer Speculation
00:01:14
Speaker
Matt, two questions related to one another. Speaking of Paramount Pictures, A, are you excited for Knuckles tomorrow? Happy Knuckles day. That didn't come out yet. Happy and ready for Knuckles. Knuckles, hell yeah. B, when do you think we're getting the Sonic trailer, my guy? People saw it. That's a good question. That's probably tomorrow.
00:01:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's like, would it be dropping tomorrow? Or were they put it at the end of the last episode of Knuckles? Do we know, is Knuckles dropping all at once? I would think so. I don't think there's any show on Paramount that does the sequential learning. Beavis and Butthead, the new ones. Oh yeah. It was weekly. That's wild. It's wild that there's new Beavis and Butthead or it's new, it's weekly. Yes. Wild is weekly. Yes, they're both, okay.
00:02:06
Speaker
No, new Beavis and Butthead pretty good. That new series? I haven't caught it yet. Pretty great. Pretty great. But this is not a Beavis and Butthead podcast.
Podcast Details and Technical Updates
00:02:15
Speaker
It's loosely a Sonic podcast. But tonight, of course, you're listening to the sixth one, IndieCast, a weekly video game podcast amplifying the indie scene and smaller, I flubbed that up, smaller games outside of the AAA space. I should put on my glasses when I read things far away. You know what I'm saying?
00:02:32
Speaker
New episodes drop each and every Monday morning on all major podcast feeds and youtube.com slash six one indie supporters on patreon.com slash six one indie could tune in live as we record and gain access to clocked out the indie cast post show. But if money is tight, no worries. You still could show your support with a simple click wherever you're listening. Go ahead and leave this podcast review, follow six one indie on socials, subscribe, hit the bell on YouTube and tell your friends all about us. Shout out to the folks supporting on patreon, Brett Griffin, Coby Cordes, Ellie, JC, Jill Groat.
00:03:02
Speaker
Marcus O'Neill, Nicholas Johnson, Nicole Humphrey, Playa Jason, Silcana, hello Silcana in chat, the compound, and Cole, AKA the good sir, punching the mic. Not the good sir punching mic, me punching the mic. I don't think Cole will ever punch me. Little bit of housekeeping. We will have news about the 6.1 indie showcase relatively soon.
00:03:27
Speaker
by relatively soon, maybe next week. Who's to say? Eventually. Who's to say? Eventually. What? And now Harry's camera's all messed up on here. No. No, I mean, it's not bad. I mean, it looks great on my end. Kyle, come back. You know? Kyle, come back. I mean, if anything, Matt's looks very grainy on my end, but- No, it's fine on your end. It's for the people. Granted, by the time people listen to this publicly, it's not gonna matter. It's literally just for people. I do wanna try right now.
00:03:56
Speaker
What was doing housekeeping?
Game Reviews and Experiences
00:03:58
Speaker
Oh, other housekeeping. Matt just dropped a fantastic review of Surmount, which is up on the website, sixwayindy.com. Becca's review for Sucker for Love Date to Die For. Is that the full title? That's up on the website. And I came out of my review writing retirement to gush about agro crabs and other crabs treasure.
00:04:19
Speaker
You could say you came out of your shell. I came out of my shell and I'm doing just fine. Got to, got to beat down because I want it all. Is mortal shell an indie game? Technically. What's happening?
00:04:40
Speaker
I mean, that's the blurred line of indie or double AA. But what is an indie? What is an indie? I mean, it's like two or three bucks right now. That's a new prices, baby. I'm going to ask you all a question. I asked the indie council last night. It's good to determine what we talk about for what we're playing next week. Oh. Are fan games indie games? Yeah. Yes.
00:05:05
Speaker
Get ready, next week we'll be discussing what's the full title of this game. Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers, which dropped last night. I would love to know who would say no to that. I'm just making sure
Tribeca Games 2024 Lineup Overview
00:05:18
Speaker
that we're all on the same page. I agree. Who on the indie council says no? That's chasing commercials. No, we said no. No, we said no. Okay. I'm like, who do I have to have a text conversation with via Twitter? I'm gonna be like, insert council person.
00:05:32
Speaker
I have questions. Going back to mortal shell, mortal shell, uh, published by Playstack. Playstack did publish Balletra. Okay. For some reason I thought it was focused. So what a wild connection that could be. It was not expected that. I know. Right? What a weird publisher that is. What else to do? Playstack got, uh, last faith and the one
00:05:56
Speaker
Excellent. Yeah. No, that's not the Jesus one. Quite the opposite. They did case of golden idol. Oh, okay. That's a rad like combo of publishing and should be center, which I never played her. Good. That's not my wish list. Yeah. One of these days. That's a game. As they share wishlist in these and by which wish more in these eventually buy them.
00:06:22
Speaker
Uh, y'all, I would like to talk about a thing that dropped today and it's going to be the topic of the show. Tribeca games. They announced their 2024 lineup. Harry, what are you already questioning me about? No, I opened up a new tab and it was very bright and I'm like, how do I lower the brightness? I thought like you're about to tell me is like, I said, why is it called Tribeca games? It's actually this. What is a Tribeca game? What is a Tribeca? You know,
00:06:48
Speaker
So if you're unfamiliar, Tribeca Games is a part of the Tribeca, I guess, formally called just the Tribeca Film Festival. I think now it's just called the Tribeca Festival. Of course they have.
00:06:59
Speaker
They're kind of like landmark film festival. Uh, there's music, there is audio storytelling. Uh, there's TV stuff. And now of course there's games. I think the games were implemented. I believe it was around lockdown because we covered the first one. So it must've been 2020. And I remember the first one being, uh, lost in random, lost in random Cana, bridges, spirits, Carol, halibut, big con, uh, signal us, maybe signal us. Yeah.
00:07:28
Speaker
So like traditionally, even from the first one, pretty top-notch lineups. Yeah. I would say the 2024 lineup, holy shit. Outstanding. Outstanding. So we'll go through these one at a time, but, um, just to give you the rundown, a ranger, a role puzzle, puzzle adventure, blueprints, dark web streamer, good night universe, never skate story. Thank goodness you're here.
00:07:58
Speaker
And for audio lens centers, it is blueprints, not blue. I just like, even spacing it out, it sounds like I'm saying blueprints. I'm saying blueprints. But what I think is interesting is that the eye is capitalized, and I don't know if that's on purpose. In the logo? Because not in the webpage. In the webpage, I see PR and then capital I, NCE.
00:08:28
Speaker
Like on the splash page. No, I can screenshot it. I don't see a capital. Let's talk about a ranger. A role puzzling adventure. A ranger. I'll just read the description from Steam. A ranger. A role puzzling adventure follows the story of Gemma, a small town misfit on a journey of self discovery venturing out beyond her.
00:08:51
Speaker
her stiffingly cold, cozy confines. She finds an inspiring world, but also one ruled by fear and a strange and movable static force. Can she disrupt a culture of stagnation and find a place to fit it into? So this we originally saw, and this is, again, I should put on my glasses. That's why I'm struggling. My apologies.
00:09:15
Speaker
Developed and published by Furniture and Mattress, LLC. Fantastic development. I think we first saw this at an indie world. Not the one that just happened, the one before that. This is the game where
00:09:32
Speaker
Playing as Gemma, you are essentially manipulating rows and columns and sliding them like slide puzzles. And that's pretty much the entire environment and entire world is built around that. And you're kind of like moving around enemies or moving around treasure chests, moving around keys, whatever it may be. Something that I think all of us kind of like it perked our ears up, I feel like.
00:09:57
Speaker
Yeah, super cool to see this at Tribeca. Anybody wanna jump in on a ranger? Anything you wanna shout out about a ranger? I love the art style. Yeah. Sorry, I gotta, I'll signal out people. Matt, you go first. Yeah, the art style here. It reminds me, it's kinda like a painterly 90s comic book style. Almost a little bit watercolorly. I dig it.
00:10:25
Speaker
Yeah. Something I like also, if you go to Tribeca's page, I think it was on Tribeca's page. I forgot where I saw it, but, um, there are scenes, I guess it's the cut scenes. Like there are just scenes of just full kind of like watercolor paintings, like fully formed, like character models, fully formed scenes, um, that are outside the typical gameplay model. So I'm really excited to see like how the story also unfolds a little bit and how they start interpreting the narrative.
00:10:54
Speaker
it being selected for Tribeca. I feel like the narrative is going to be a big part of this and the way it does tell a story is going to be a big part of this. So very excited to see a little bit more on that. Harry, what were you going to say? Well, I'm very interested in it that the fact that it's in Tribeca, because I was thinking of it
00:11:12
Speaker
more as a strictly gameplay-based game. Like, yeah, I'm here for the game. Like, I'm here for the mechanics of moving the world around. But now that it's at Tribeca, now I'm curious of like, oh, how deep is the story? Is it engaging? Is it part of the gameplay mechanics? Like, what's going on with this? So it continues to pique my interest.
00:11:30
Speaker
Yeah, typically not my kind of jam, like the core puzzle mechanic of it, but there are games like this and Cardo, I think have a similar sort of vibe slider from our, sorry, not August, Jesus, from our March showcase is very similar. Even recently, Harry, the PAX East game that
00:11:55
Speaker
was showcasing it. It's out already on PC. They're, they're part of PAX rising because it's coming to consoles. Hmm. I don't have my notebook with me. La La Land. Let's, let's revolution. Yeah, that was collaboration. Dreamer did. Nope. Nevermind. Uh, yeah, but, uh, tying that kind of puzzle mechanic and hopefully it's nothing like too overwhelming, but tying that to,
00:12:24
Speaker
an interesting narrative, endearing characters should be a good time. Very excited. Excited to hear what it gets revealed from Tribeca as well. Even if developers don't have news necessarily tied to Tribeca, we'll probably learn a lot about folks who are playing it, media that attend, influencers that attend. So it should be a good time. Next up, we got Blue Prince.
00:12:54
Speaker
Simon has just inherited a large estate known as Mount Holly, a location famous for, wait, is it Mount Holly? Yeah. As Mount Holly, a location famous for. Okay. That was just weird. It should be MT period. MT period. Yeah. Hmm.
00:13:13
Speaker
Anyways, Simon has just inherited a large estate known as Mount Holly, a location famous for its shifting rooms and puzzling floor plans. To him, the ever-changing nature of the house makes each day of exploration that much more exciting. Every door holds the promise of adventure and endless possibilities as the rooms and mysteries beyond are never the same from one day to the next. I feel like this is a mad joint. It does. Yeah, it is. Yep.
00:13:40
Speaker
It does. It does. Yeah. Matt, this reminds me of, did you ever, I forgot, did you ever play, um,
00:13:49
Speaker
Ooh, the horror, Tartarsky, you play Tartarsky, right? Tartarsky, yeah. This kind of, at least just by description, reminds me of that. Just more like mystery as opposed to like horror, but yeah. Yeah, yeah. This is, sorry, developed by Dagoban, but this most notably recently got a lot of hype from the Raw Theory circles. This is Raw Theory's latest project. Seems like folks are really goddamn excited for it, which yeah, it sounds super interesting.
00:14:16
Speaker
curious to see what progression feels like, what the day-to-day feels like. Are we literally playing days at a time where the house keeps on moving around? Definitely feels like a Tribeca-esque joint. This gameplay heavy, but also borders somewhat art-housey, it feels like, just from that description alone. I think just more mechanically
00:14:48
Speaker
Not I don't want to use the term interesting to not to like downplay the other games or anything like that or things are not selected, but just seems intriguing in terms of like, yeah, every day is something different. And it reminds me of Shining also. Yeah, it looks like you're unrivaling a mystery within this house and a dig, you know, more games need to be cell shaded. Loving the look of this game. Yeah, it reminds me of
00:15:16
Speaker
the telltale game with the fictional characters
00:15:21
Speaker
Wolf Among Us with the art style. Oh, OK. Gotcha. Gotcha. And the mystery appeal. Yeah, like the mystery appeal to it. The characters aren't fable or anything, but like the art style, really, it kept reminding me of that. And the fact that you're doing like a mystery solving thing is all right. Like something's going on over here. And if it's like like gone home where it's just you when you're exploring an abandoned location, like it's even
00:15:47
Speaker
ramping up the suspense. And as long as there's not jump scares, I'm in for it. Yeah, it looks like there's a little more puzzle to it. Just one of the screenshots here, like you see, like there's a key, there's gems and another counter up at the top. So I am down for putting together mysteries and figuring out what's going on. Like I love the. Was it fireproof games?
00:16:14
Speaker
It's not called the box. What what is what are the mobile games called? The mobile mystery games escape rooms that you're like doing all these puzzles. Layton, the room, the room. It's called the room. Oh, yes. I love those types of games. So yes, I am into this. We are clearly over exhausted. It's a bit of a day. I'm on vacation. Yeah, it's true.
00:16:41
Speaker
I don't have my Kai-Kai next to me handling other things. I get it all thrown off. My baby boy, Kyle, come back. Next up, I was super, super stoked to see this make the cut this year. And I'm so surprised it's on this list. Dark Web Streamer from We Have Always Lived in the Forest.
00:17:04
Speaker
Become an occult streamer on a 90s dark internet in this horror RPG sim. Experience a fully procedurally generated world and endless sinister stories. As you grow your stream, surf the web, perform rituals, make hard choices, manage your stats, and try to survive your increasingly haunted apartment. This first came across my desk. Maybe earlier in the year at some point. No, it was towards the end of last year.
00:17:36
Speaker
the main developer, I'm blanking on her name. My apologies. I think Chantel, a story came out that's loosely paraphrasing. I'm sure there's a lot of details out there.
00:17:49
Speaker
take all this with a grain of salt. Something, there was a miscommunication between her and PC Gamer, where she opted in for one of the commercial spots, I believe, for the PC Gaming Show, but they kind of like ghosted her or something, or something happened along the way. She kind of like went public with that story and got a lot of attention from that. And good on PC Gamer and that crew, they're fantastic. I thankfully got to chat with them almost every day.
00:18:18
Speaker
They made it right. They included her in their most wanted showcase. That was last November, I believe, or December. That was like kind of the game's first big platform mainstream showing. And since then, it feels like it's just been carrying that momentum because it is. I feel like there's not really a game like this out there, at least in our modern.
00:18:40
Speaker
upcoming calendar or recently released. Of course, there are things like, Matt, the game that just came out recently, the Hotline game. Oh, yeah. Oh, Home Safety Hotline. Yes. Like there's things like that. This reminds me a little bit more like this is like the creepypasta era version of like World of Horror. Yes, exactly. Like I love the idea of
00:19:07
Speaker
navigating a dark web and like flat out, like I love that. Like the fact that she is just flat out mentioning all this stuff in the description makes me think there is a lot happening behind the scenes and a lot under the hood that we don't know of yet. And it is not only super intriguing, it is already horrifying to just like kind of think of what is potentially
00:19:31
Speaker
happening in this game. Um, this is a day one. I, this is like one of the games where I'm like, do I try to make it out to try Becca in early June? Like, do I make an excuse to go back home for a little bit? Cause I absolutely, I cannot wait to get my hands on this game. So Harry, let's go to try Becca. This is gonna have to be a number one on your list. Yeah. This might be too scary. I love the vibe of it without the horror, like,
00:19:59
Speaker
like the vibe of trying to figure out what's going on, what's happening with like this blogger thing. But then I see videos of like pixelated really not pixelated, like almost high, like almost black and white video of just walking in the hallway. I'm like, absolutely not. There is no scenario because something scary is going to happen. But I think the allure and even the premise of this where you're like just trying to figure out
00:20:29
Speaker
what's going on with this streamer person like there's rituals there's crafting there's like scary things going on and you're just kind of feeding into it as a streamer i think that's a really cool idea yeah
00:20:42
Speaker
It can get real weird and like, I hope streamers stream this so it becomes like ultra metal. We will definitely have stuff around it. We'll be metaizing this pretty well. So it's cool. I'm excited. I do find it funny that there's a world repeat world premiere tag on Tribeca. So yeah, that's the weird thing. I need clarification on what that means.
00:21:03
Speaker
It could be the first time you could go hands on with it. Technically, that's world premiere. That's what I was trying to figure out, too, because on Ranger, it's international premiere, blueprints, it's North American premiere. So it's like, what? Listen, we put on these showcases, we know what it's like to kind of stretch definition sometimes.
00:21:32
Speaker
of these senior year. Hey, cause the first time it's playable in New York. You know what I'm saying? It's the first time it's at here 57 57 the living room. You know, I want to skip over the next one cause I want to save that for last. So let's jump to never. Yeah.
Game Highlights and Developer Insights
00:21:51
Speaker
Never from Nomada Studio and, of course, Devolver Digital experienced the moving tail of a young woman, her lifelong bond with a magnificent wolf as they embark on a thrilling adventure through a rapidly dying world. Of course, these this is the follow up to Gris. Gris. Harry, go for it. Be still in my heart. Unleash. Unleash that magnificent wolf. I cannot wait for this game.
00:22:19
Speaker
I was scouring the pictures trying to see if there's any new stills. They're the same that we've already seen. But like the idea of this game keeps hitting me in such an emotional like driven mode where this woman and then this giant wolf gets attacked. And then, you know, the wolf creature thing with like trees as antlers or something passes away in like a horrific way. But then there's a little like
00:22:46
Speaker
Wolf Cub, that's just like, well, I'm here. What do I do? And then you just kind of carry him on and be like, all right, this is where this game starts. I'm like, oh, my God, I need to play this game in a dark room, have a emotionally driven weekend where I have a moment and then, you know, move on with my life, but be happy with the experience. And obviously, like we haven't played the game. We have no idea how it plays or runs, but we have a good idea because again,
00:23:15
Speaker
If Greek is if I'm hoping Greek is a test demo or a test bed of what this game is going to do, then I'm in for an emotionally driven and stunning adventure. Or even if it hits like Planet of Lana vibes like that, I thought that was a great game the other year, which the other year that was that's twenty twenty two. Was it last year? Hell no. Last year was not twenty twenty two.
00:23:40
Speaker
No, it came out last year. OK, I feel better. Yeah. In my head, I'm like, there's no way that was two years ago and it wasn't. What's wild is their previous game could be. Six years ago. See, and that doesn't seem right to me because I played that for the first time like two or three years ago and I was like, man.
00:24:02
Speaker
What a great game that was. I'm watching the video now and I'm like, oh no, it's hitting the field. The Nomada studio has been cooking. I'm very excited to see what this, like you said, like we have an idea of how it's going to play and cause Greed plays fantastic, but yeah. As soon as we saw that teaser during that PlayStation showcase, like immediately, like that was the highlight of that show, maybe
00:24:27
Speaker
probably for us specifically because of what we cover on a day-to-day basis. But yeah, man, what an outstanding game this already seems to be. And what a perfect fit for Tribeca. Yeah. Like this is pristine. Like, like this is what I think of. Yeah. This is what I think of when I think of Tribeca games.
00:24:49
Speaker
I wonder, I recently, because I've originally played it on Switch, I recently picked up Gre on Steam for like two bucks. I want to replay it. I think I will too, when this starts coming up, so I can be like emotionally destroyed and then be like, yeah, let's do it again. The fact that it's at Tribeca makes me think we're going to see it at a day of the devs or something like that for a release date.
00:25:12
Speaker
I just hope it doesn't get buried. Or Devolver direct. Or you know what? Maybe they'll come out May 9th. Who knows? Like every other game. Before we, towards the end of the show, I want to do a May 9th check-in or like a May check-in. May-ish check-in. Yeah. Yeah. Good idea. We learned about more dates since last week. Yeah. Next up, we got skates. Yeah, we do.
00:25:37
Speaker
God damn, got Skate Story. First off, Devolver Digital, shout out to you guys for getting two games in Tribeca. So of course, Skate Story, Ali, kick flip and grind your way through the ash and smoke of the underworld as you take on a seemingly impossible quest, skate fast and destroy demons and save other tortured souls on your journey from a fragile beginner to a hardcore hardened skater.
00:26:02
Speaker
by Sam Ang and Devolver Digital. We've gushed about Skate Story over and over again. Still my favorite PAX East demo from 2020. This game, at least four years ago at this point, the game is the EA's Skate spiritual successor that I've always wanted, except obviously
00:26:23
Speaker
you are a demon and you're going into the underworld and you are pretty much a walking disco ball, the style, the aesthetic, the vibe, everything is just chef's kiss about this goddamn video game. Sam Ang, shout out to Brooklyn, the homie, knows what he's doing, knows what's up. I'm very curious if Tribeca, and like it could not be the case anymore. I feel like every time Skate Story comes up, like I,
00:26:49
Speaker
I always think about my conversation with Sam and him talking about the narrative of the game. I do have to just do a quick Google, cause I have to remember this God's name. Yes. So here we have New York premiere. Like didn't you see the New York premiere in New York? Because we've played this game in New York, right?
00:27:16
Speaker
So did we did we play skate story in at play on YC? I think we played his other game of play on YC, the the square game, the cube game. I would be shocked if we didn't play it. The first time I played it was at PAX East. I think it was the only time I played like a year or two later we did. I have to go back. Oh, maybe it was the papers. Maybe it was the play on YC where I broke my ribs and I couldn't make it. I don't know when it was you and Rez.
00:27:46
Speaker
Oh, throwback. Yeah. So maybe it was maybe I def. I 100 percent remember seeing Skate Story before Devolver Digital grabbed it. It was just by itself. And I'm like, oh, that's cool. I remember you raving about it and be like, yeah, it's so good. Jam's great. Like, no, dude. And I'm like, cool. So when we had that conversation back in 2020,
00:28:10
Speaker
Sam described the inspirations of the narrative. It's very much a take on the Orpheus and you're a dice, you're a dissy. Orpheus and his partner, his lover, who the lover gets trapped into the underworld and Orpheus has to propel into those like seven layers of hell in order to save her. Oh, Dante's Inferno from EA? Yeah, that video game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, do you mean Sandman, the comic? Yeah, exactly. Not Greek. Which arc?
00:28:41
Speaker
Oh, wait. Oh, I know what you're talking about. It's been so long. Never mind. Go, Mike. I actually was like, are we so riffing? It appears that back then it is his interpretation of this Greek story. Maybe that changed. But who's to say? I would love if like he just like doesn't publicly talk about that. That'd be great. And it's just kind of like that's what the game is. And
00:29:07
Speaker
people who are in the know, they'll know, people who are familiar with Greek mythology and those stories, they'll get that extra fulfillment. But I think it's a really cool setup for a video game that looks like this and has this kind of vibe. Yeah. Any other thoughts on Skate Story? I feel like I took that one over. I'm sorry. I apologize. No, I mean, I remember it for this game. Yeah, this is your never.
00:29:33
Speaker
Honestly, I think it's been like this for a while, but like now that another crab's treasure is out, this is now back to being my most anticipated game. God, I can't wait.
00:29:45
Speaker
Yeah, wait, next up, we got Thank Goodness You're Here from Cole Supper and published by Panic! Thank Goodness You're Here is an absurd comedy slap former, great genre, oh my God, that's incredible, set in the bizarre northern English town of Barnsworth. As a traveling salesman, take the time to see the sights and meet the locals who are very eager to give you a series of increasingly odd jobs. Did anyone else get to play this? No.
00:30:15
Speaker
I just remember when we first saw it, but yeah, I haven't played those. Kyle and I got to check it out. I forgot where Kyle checked it out. Maybe it was a Next Fest joint. I don't know. Anyways, really delightful. Slapformer is a funny way to say it, but really delightful adventure game where
00:30:35
Speaker
You are this little lad walking around town. You, I forgot how the game, I forgot how the demo started, but the cadence of the game is so brilliant where you start in a house, for example, let's say I, again, I don't remember what the exact task is, but let's say.
00:30:53
Speaker
You need your home and you need to go out to get a loaf of bread or something like that. Or while use a specific example, you have to go get like something from the butcher shop. You go to the butcher shop and all of a sudden the butcher says like, thank goodness you're here. We don't have enough ice or whatever it may be. Can you go to the deli down the street and grab ice? You go down the street to be the next character. Thank goodness you're here.
00:31:22
Speaker
Fish order is all disgusting. Can you go figure out what's going on? And then it's just like a constant cadence of like going from one point to the other with a character greeting you of, thank goodness you're here, presenting you with an obscene, ridiculous, hilarious, charming scenario. And just going through the motions of like just trying to help all these towns folks out. It is so English. It is so funny. It's very just like,
00:31:51
Speaker
super dry, ridiculous humor. It feels like a BBC sitcom and it's great. And not to mention that the aesthetic, the vibrancy, the animation work, the character models, not even character models, the character designs, everything is so beautiful and so amazingly rendered. It feels like
00:32:13
Speaker
you are playing a coloring book, or not even a coloring book. It feels like you're playing like a children's story book, pretty much, which is like hypersaturated. Yeah. Can't wait. Can't wait to play the full thing. It definitely looks fun and pretty wholesome. So I'm about it. Not super wholesome. There's some stuff in this video. I mean, maybe not wholesome, maybe Kookie. Kookie? Yeah, Kookie is a good word. Maybe that's a better word.
00:32:43
Speaker
Um, I retract my statement about storybook. It's more so that it feels like you're playing a cartoon network. Cartoon. Yeah. That's exactly what it feels like. Like an adult, adult swim cartoon and be like, Ooh, I'm raunchy. Like that's like, it's looking at the gift on the steam page. Uh, the, like the first gift on the steam page. It's one of those games of like, how the hell does this run? How the hell is this a video game? This should be an adult swim series. Like I don't understand how.
00:33:13
Speaker
I just in this scenario, I just figured out what it remind me of the Cartoon Network show, Uncle Grandpa. OK, with a goofy like, oh, I'm so zany. But anyway, I remember waking up from waking up at a friend's house on the couch and that was on the TV. I'm like.
00:33:34
Speaker
What? Yes. I don't remember watching more than like a minute of it, but I'm like, this is too wild for me. Am I still asleep? Is this a dream? Is this a real show? We did miss one though. Is that the one you're going to back? Yeah, I'm going back right now. Yeah. Great timing. Uh, next up is, uh, the next game from a studio that is, uh, pretty fucking prolific nowadays.
00:34:02
Speaker
from Nice Dream Games and published by Skybound Games comes Goodnight Universe. Are y'all familiar with Nice Dream Games? Yeah. Sick. Okay. This is the studio that created Before Your Eyes. There we go. Yeah, I saw the face track and I'm like, let me just double check this.
00:34:26
Speaker
Yeah, so they don't have a Steam page or anything up yet, but we did get a press release earlier today. I'm just gonna take this straight from the press release. Skybound Games, a nice dream, the Los Angeles-based studio recently founded by the co-creators of the BAFTA award-winning Before Your Eyes, thrilled to announce their latest collaborative project, Good Night Universe. In the narrative adventure, Good Night Universe, you play as Isaac, a six-month-old baby developing mysterious psychic abilities. What you want most is to be loved and accepted by your family.
00:34:56
Speaker
I know, but a secretive tech corporation wants you for their own. The game will also feature immersive face tracking mode, expanding on the innovative use of the camera-based technology that the team is known for. Scrolling down a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, yeah, now it's just, as a quote, spiritual follow-up to Before Your Eyes with the sci-fi twist, Goodnight Universe will fuse impactful storytelling with mechanics that push the boundaries of interactive entertainment. The Nightstream team reunites,
00:35:25
Speaker
numerous notable talents behind Before Your Eyes while bolstering the roster with new foundational additions to the studio's growth. I think it goes without saying, I feel like anytime we are able to talk about Before Your Eyes, we have to talk about Before Your Eyes.
00:35:41
Speaker
if y'all haven't played before, why am I stuttering on before your eyes? Jesus. Because you're already getting emotional about it. I'm already getting emotional, I'm gonna take a sip. Yeah, so, yeah, that's the game where I'm just like, I already know I'm gonna have an emotional moment. Yes. And it's gonna be the whole game. If y'all haven't played before your eyes, you have to play before your eyes. Yeah, don't Google it. Don't Google it, just go in without any knowledge of the game if you don't know anything about the game.
00:36:11
Speaker
I think with no exaggeration in my tone, it is by far one of the most profound games ever developed. I think it is a top 10, top five. I think it is in that conversation. It is in my mind, one of those games where
00:36:30
Speaker
Somebody asked the question of like what video games could be nowadays or is our video games art or whatever it may be. Do video games have compelling stories before your eyes checks all the boxes before your eyes is outstanding. It will fucking break you.
00:36:47
Speaker
it will fucking rip your heart out and throw it into the goddamn ocean and let the sharks feed on it. And at the end, you're going to say, thank you. At the end, you're going to thank Nice Dream. You're going to thank them for destroying you. I don't think, aside from, because Emily is away, always did this to me again. It's irrational just because of how well Kyle Seeley is able to, uh,
00:37:14
Speaker
put you in the role playing position. Um, I think before your eyes is probably the game that made me like cry the most, like literally like tears and sweat running down my entire face where it was uncontrollable. I think I would agree. I'm trying to think of like, I don't know. It really hit me hard. Also. Yeah. Yeah. When I think of that kind of like hard impact, like Celeste did it for me a little bit. Um,
00:37:42
Speaker
Like I mentioned list to make like the, the Emily's away games, um, games that obviously on the triple A side, like last of us, stuff like that. But of course the telltale walking dead, but yeah, before your eyes is really goddamn impactful. Like even if you don't, I don't know, even if you can't totally relate to the story, which unfortunately I was able to relate to the story. Um, or I guess fortunately, I don't know how ever you want to frame that. Uh,
00:38:13
Speaker
It will, yeah, it's one hell of a gut punch, but it's cathartic. It's like one of those cathartic experiences when you get through it. It felt like playing it, it felt like I was really holding something back and it helped me just like untie the knot, if that makes sense. And like kind of like open the box a little bit, you know? I like boxes. Compartmental. Obviously Harry, you played it. Matt, did you play before your eyes?
00:38:42
Speaker
No, I haven't do that man. Do it when you have like, I think it's like a two hour game. I don't think it's that long. It's short. Um, but like if you're having like a not great couple of weeks or something, be like, I need to just get emotions out of my body. Just let everything out. Yeah. That's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah. And you, and you'll eventually like,
00:39:07
Speaker
When I watch shows, I have like go to ones to be like, yeah, I'm going to watch this whole thing and then have an emotional journey. This is one of those video games that like, if I want to have an emotional journey right now, this is what I want to play and be like rekt and be like, yeah, thank you. So yeah, it's the game equivalent of Marley and me. Marley and me. Is that the dog one? I think I'm still dead inside. Still dead inside from King Hearts 3. Yeah, that's fine.
00:39:37
Speaker
How I like Kingdom Hearts three. Y'all been nordid ending. Oh yeah. Yeah. Broke me. Donald. No. And of course, um, good night. Universe is again, similar to, um, uh, what was the, oh, never, um, like,
00:39:59
Speaker
That is a Tribeca-esque game. Yes, that should be displayed in front of a mainstream audience that is attending the Tribeca Festival as a whole to understand, hey, this is what a video game can be nowadays. Especially with the face tracking. I'm very curious to see non-gamers be like, whoa, oh my God, technology has advanced so far. I'd be like, yeah, man, it's been like this for years. Where have you been?
00:40:23
Speaker
Yeah, even with Before Your Eyes. I've been waggling this remote. I mean, before your eyes. Yeah, before your eyes completely. You could play it completely without any input controller or anything like that. Well, I think that's what's going to be this game. If you're playing as a six month old, there's not going to be an intensive UI. Yeah. Like, I got putting hands around or something. I want to go back to that terminology. What Google said. Yeah, that. Yeah.
00:40:53
Speaker
So for Goodnight Universe, they say face tracking. Yeah. They say it in the PR thing too. Or I'm at least looking at the Tribeca website. Yeah. Yeah. I'm looking at the press release. I'm curious if they said something different for before your eyes. Like is it face tracking versus eye tracking? I'm curious. I don't see anything in the press release, but yeah, I'm very curious what the, the input is and what, um,
00:41:23
Speaker
how that drives the story, how that drives the narrative. Yeah. I should go back and play it before your eyes again. I kind of want to play it without the eye tracking so I could experience like some of the other, like without sporting anything I want like just to be able to fully experience some of the bits that you may have missed.
Tribeca 2024 Recap and Excitement
00:41:37
Speaker
You mean you don't want to just keep your eyes open like this? God, I'll never forget like I played it like I think I started at midnight for some reason and my eyes were already shot. Like I'll never forget like literally doing that because I didn't want to miss a scene and like just kind of like exclaiming in pain and just dry eye because I didn't want to miss anything. But now that's tough.
00:42:05
Speaker
Beautiful game. Play before your eyes. Goddamn. The other day it was $2 on like fanatical or something. Wow. Hashtag worth.
00:42:14
Speaker
So yeah, that's Tribeca for, well, Tribeca Games, at least. Arranger, the role puzzling adventure, blueprints, dark web streamer, good night universe, never skate story. And thank goodness you're here. Again, as we kicked off the conversation, stellar year. Yeah, bangers. Probably the strongest so far, I would say. Yeah, like, I don't think we said when it takes place. It's from June 12th through 16th.
00:42:41
Speaker
Uh, it is June 5th to 16th. Well, I think that's the gas of the gallery. Oh, okay. Okay. Gotcha. I was like, so like, if you want to go to pier 57, it's the 12th through the 16th.
00:42:53
Speaker
Yeah, so Pier 57, I guess the room is called The Living Room. It's in Tribeca Games Gallery. Free and open to the public, June 12th to June 16th. If you go to TribecaFilm.com, it just navigates to the games section and you can see there's hours of operation, stuff like that. Again, free of the public.
00:43:13
Speaker
If you're in New York or in the Tri-State area, please go check it out, support these games, talk to the devs. Great opportunity to go hands-on and get an extra look at some really special experiences coming down the pipeline. I know it is Chantal for Dark Web Streamer. I didn't realize her name was on the website. Oh, Chantal. Sorry, Harry. That's a French word, I think. It is.
00:43:43
Speaker
Matt, before we get into our little side topic of just doing a little May overview. Yeah. You reviewed Surmount. Yeah, I did. Tell me about it a little bit. Of course, people can go read your review for the full thoughts, but like, yeah.
00:44:01
Speaker
Tell me about it. Absolutely delightful game. Frustrating is all hell. So I'm not sure if like you've guys if you guys have seen like any of the streamers playing like that climbing game that's been making a waves where like mouse click left hand, right hand. I think it's literally called like a game about climbing, right? Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So like if you know that, if you know like getting over it, there's a few others. It's it's in that vein.
00:44:30
Speaker
But fair. So like you're you're you're able to like hold and swing yourself up higher. There's a lot more forgiving moments in there so you can hook on to things. So if you do lose your grip like you can dangle regain your stamina because you have stamina a lot like kind of like Breath of the Wild climbing. But yeah, it's it can.
00:44:55
Speaker
That last area will let you activate those accessibility options and let you get through. It's nice that they offer that. Yes. Yeah. And it doesn't interact or interrupt trophies or it's not on PlayStation, but like achievement on Steam. So however much or little you want to use, use them guilt free. Hell yeah.
00:45:20
Speaker
Uh, runtime on it. I know you said there was what four areas in the game. I'm assuming to take that along. Well, I did use those accessibility options. Just because I didn't have too long to get through the game. Um, but I would say runtime without using those probably 20, 25 hours. Mm. 20, 25.
00:45:46
Speaker
Yeah. Cause there's a lot of expeditions too, that are like handcrafted levels that aren't procedurally generated. Um, and some of those are races and, um, some of them objectives. So yeah, there's a lot, there's a lot. It's a meaty game. Nice. Excuse me one moment. Cat stop biting plastic. Oh, kitty cat. Get out of here. Jesus. That's why I turned around when you mentioned the hours. Kitty cat.
00:46:13
Speaker
Cool. Yeah. I, uh, I literally made my character and that's about it so far. Um, the character creator, even from the get-go fantastic. It's awesome. It reminds me of me so much. Exactly. It feels like a modern me, but like a lot more, I don't know, a lot more fluid, I guess, if you want to call that a lot more options, like it feels like you could really get into the weeds. You can't really like scrunch and do all that stuff that you can with knees, but I do like all the different clothing options and stuff.
00:46:43
Speaker
That's fun. Because me is definitely don't have that. Now they're just blue or purple means don't have like frog hats or let me make myself be Luffy. But Street pasted and that was great. Rip. Actually, no, it's not rip. It's still existing, but. No, I think it's done. No, Street pass is never that's not part of the.
00:47:08
Speaker
Um, internet of it. Right. Oh, you street pass. Yeah. Yeah. That's fun. Bring a few packs. Um, and yeah, in case you missed it last, the last episode that you got double episodes last week with the last episode was the full kind of review discussion for another crab's treasure.
00:47:30
Speaker
Um, I am currently like five hours into it on PlayStation now. Cause I, I, Matt, you know me with these souls likes you beat it. Nothing else clicks. There's plenty. There's so much that we're playing behind the scenes. All I want to play is this goddamn crab game. I love this game so much.
00:47:46
Speaker
I, it exceeding expectations. Um, I'm very excited for you to play it now that it's out now. Um, Harry, are you interested in crab game? Cause you're a new souls boy. I am, but I'm still working on Elden ring. I want to get that done for June. That's fair. Um, but yeah, Matt, we, we talked about this in the, the main review discussion, but, um, same, I don't think I distinctly clarified all the assist options and another crap treasure. If you want to shoot your way through that game with the goddamn Glock.
00:48:17
Speaker
You'll get all the achievements. You're fine. Good. Awesome. Good, good man. I'm totally on the side of accessibility for just don't walk achievements and stuff. It's fine. Like just let people play the game. How do you want the assist motor? That game is fan, fan fucking tactic. It's like the gold standard of like, at least it's setting the bar of like what these games should present moving forward. I'm really excited for you to jump in.
00:48:43
Speaker
or both of you, I'm really sorry. Eventually, I'm back on that Final Fantasy 14 bullshit, so. Yeah, there's so many games.
Game Release Schedule Discussion
00:48:54
Speaker
Speaking of so many games, let's do a quick May recap, because May is a nightmare at the moment, and a great way. May is, you know. It is a busy time. It's a busy, busy, busy time. Mother's Day, brother's birthday, Alan's birthday. Yup, that's what we're talking about.
00:49:13
Speaker
We talked about this on the latest indie council, but to provide some context as to why you can speculate May is so busy, a few reasons. A lot of indie games probably want to get out of the way of summer event season. So May seems like the final horizon, unless you want to wait until
00:49:31
Speaker
July, but then July you start talking about games, comp planning and stuff and, and there's steam events, whatever. Speaking of steam events, some of these games may want to tie to steam events. The next big one coming is, and it's not technically a valve event, but the next big digital event is Ludo Naricon, which starts I think May 7th off the top of my mind. Um, or maybe the week after that, um,
00:49:59
Speaker
So that's a big reason. And obviously a lot there it's being a narrative game or having a game with a story is a pretty wide net. So if games are out or releasing around there, they want to be included in that festival or, you know, get some extra eyes. Cause it's all about, it's all about the steam algorithm. You're always playing with steam algorithm. Better than the YouTube algorithm.
00:50:21
Speaker
Sure. Better than YouTube. Go subscribe on youtube.com slash six way indie. Um, and of course, uh, June on top of all the summer events is also next Fest. Next Fest ramp up starts happening mid may. So people want to get out of the next Fest wave. It's not, not great. So release your game around next Fest or around even the, the summer sale and stuff like that. So a couple of reasons why may, maybe a reason.
00:50:49
Speaker
behind all these indie releases, including, sorry, some of you said something? No, I was chucking at the joke. Oh, thank you. I appreciate you. Speaking, or including, that was the word I used. Slash coming to consoles. Hey. Which I have to put more time into. Slash, very good. Indica, May 2nd. Yes. Very excited. Surmount, May 2nd. Yes. Whoa.
00:51:17
Speaker
I thought it was coming out today. I know. That's a long, hell yeah, good for them. Venture to the mile, May 7th.
00:51:28
Speaker
Heading out, May 7th, which heading out every time I mention it, a lot of hype during its PAX East demo. Oh yeah. I am unfamiliar with the game. Harry, did you get to play it during PAX sounds? No, if there was a consistent line and it was just a busy time, but it was one of the ones where I kept looking back and then there was like a four person deep line for a pretty, it looked pretty meaty of a, of a demo. So I'm like, all right, I don't think I can,
00:51:55
Speaker
push my way in to be like, I want to see it. So I let the people who were waiting like enjoy, but it's coming out. You're a man of the people. Yeah. There's also too many games, not enough time. Yeah. May 9th gift, which I know Becca is really excited for. Uh, not indie, but may knife pack man, mega tunnel battle, uh, chomp champs. That's common. What a wild name. Is that a translation here? Let me say that again.
00:52:25
Speaker
Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Colon Chomp Champs. My God, that's for real. Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle Chomp Champs is an online-only Pac-Man eating complete competition. Eat your way through multiple interconnected mazes using power pellets and a variety of power items to chomp the ghosts and opponent Pac-Man players. Be the last Pac standing at the end of each maze in the 64-player battle royale to be the chomp champ. Yeah, I'm good.
00:52:56
Speaker
Now we hopping in. If it was championship rules, I'd be in it. Cause those games rules. Whoa. Also May 9th, as I dropped my bottle, vampire survivors, operation guns. This is the Contra DLC coming to vampire survivors. Oh yeah. May 9th, little kid at big city. Whoo. May 9th, Crow country. May 9th, corporal nation coming to console. May 9th, thousand time resist.
00:53:26
Speaker
May 9th, Animal Well. Oh my God. That's it for May 9th as far as like highlights go. Until next week happens. You need a cloning machine. May 14th, again, what is an indie game? The Rogue, Prince of Persia. I know, yeah, whatever. May 15th, Mullet Mad Jack. May 15th, Balladins. May 16th, Read Only Memories, Neuro Driver.
00:53:55
Speaker
Oh, shit. That didn't come out yet. May 16th. Lorelai in the laser eyes. May 21st. Paper trail. Shit. May 21st. Again, not exactly. Indie, whatever. May 21st. Senua Saga Hellblade 2. May 22nd. Oh, that's only on the release date? Yeah, it does. Yeah, five years after it was announced. May 23rd. World of Goo 2. May 23rd. Haunted. Shit.
00:54:28
Speaker
May 23rd, Duck Detective. Damn. What else, what else, what else? There's more, don't worry. They're coming. The secret salami. Oh boy. So stoked for it, dude. I forgot this existed. And probably the last, oh no, that isn't even the last one. Sometime in May, Kristala is coming to early access. And then finally, May 29th, Nine Souls. Whoa.
00:54:58
Speaker
Yeah. That's me. And that's just like our personal highlights. I would say there's other shit in the summer. Like the rise was going to consoles. There's a Valheim thing I saw. I scrolled by like there's also let's go to temper expectations, nine souls. It says coming soon on steam. So maybe that's a place. Oh, do they switch it? I don't know. Oh, shit.
00:55:22
Speaker
I'm not aware and I'm sold on release day. Cause I'm like, um, Wikipedia says November to the 29th. They definitely announced may 29 games. They said Q1 2024. Huh? Hmm. On, on March 28th, they said the nine songs release date. Interesting. Maybe they just didn't update it. Hopefully they just didn't update it on steam. Cause that's the latest. That's the latest blog entry.
00:55:51
Speaker
Yes, it was only a month ago, so. Yeah, and it links it to Steam, but then it doesn't show May 29th. Hmm. Yeah, maybe it's an updated nine candle games. They they run a tight ship over there. Yeah. Well, he's just a oversight on Steam. Man, I can't wait for fucking night. Yeah. So what I will say is in the news in Steam, it says May 29th. So it's OK. It seems resolved. Yeah. It looks so good.
00:56:22
Speaker
And what's, if you're going to pick one from May. I mean, I know what I'm going to say. Look at big city. Of course. Now you got one.
00:56:38
Speaker
Um, uh, besides surmount, because I have shared that, uh, right. Uh, really excited for balance. Um, love the demo. I've never played Dungeons and Dragons. So like that, that was a lot of fun. Oh yeah. Uh, nine souls for me. Yeah, for sure. That's the one. Yeah. Very excited for crow country. Very excited for all the games I mentioned, but not absolutely the one.
00:57:05
Speaker
I didn't properly prepare this week in Indy because I forgot, but I'm going to give you the loose one, all right? You're not going to get any of the descriptions. You're not going to get any of the consulates or the whatever. You're going to get names and dates. And we're going to do this at the seat of our pants. This is this week in Indy from April 29th to May 3rd. Can you believe next week is May? I can. I'm excited for it to be June.
00:57:31
Speaker
Shouting out Mark of the Deep, they're having a play test. This is a Solsy, Metruvania pirate themed. I tried to play it during next to us, it didn't work great on Steam Deck, so I'm gonna check out this play test. Play tests now, with the courtesy of Hades, it seems like play tests seem to be the new hotness from Steam. April 30th, Loop Heroes coming to mobile. Dangerous. Dangerous.
00:57:57
Speaker
Uh, scrolling through the list, looking for things, but who knows? I can't see much, but like I said, may second slash may second indica, uh, may seconds from out that, that seems to be the highlights for the week. So that's a stack of weeks right there. Big fucking week. And I mean a big fucking day. Yeah.
00:58:21
Speaker
Yeah. What is May 9th? What is May 9th? Who's to say? Oh, and of course, I forgot to mention by the time the public is listening to this, there is an ID at X-Box show also this, this coming week. We're going to get news on 33 immortals, lost records. I think some vampire survivors stuff keep on rolling. They keep on coming. But none of them can light a candle to the six way indie showcase. You know what I'm saying? So by the time you're listening to this publicly,
00:58:49
Speaker
Tune in to, uh, you know, keep your eyes peeled on socials on six way indie.com. All that good stuff. Got some, some news to share. Yes.
00:59:02
Speaker
All right, well, thank you so much for listening to episode 188 of the 6.1 Indiecast. We love you dearly. Like I said, 6.1indie.com. Get your links for everywhere. Go check out some of those articles that the team have been pumping out there. It's a busy time of the year. We all do this for the love of it. We don't get paid to do this, so go check it out. Give the site a click. Share things around. We'd appreciate it greatly.
00:59:26
Speaker
The other thing I forgot to mention, we're trying to do better with putting out gameplay videos on the YouTube as well. So today, since the embargo lifted for gameplay, me, Matt and Kyle sat down to play through what I thought was an optional boss for another crab's treasure. And it turned into Mike spiraling because he skipped a tutorial 15 hours into the game.
00:59:49
Speaker
So go check that out and please subscribe to youtube.com slash six with indie, like the videos, leave a comment, treat the algorithm with all your bliss. We'll catch you next week. Thanks so much for listening. Goodbye. Bye.