IGF 2014 is the "Asia’s got talent" of student indie developers

IGF China 2014 has announced the finalists in its student’s competition. IGF China is part of the Global Developer’s Conference (GDC) which will showcase some of Asia’s foremost talents in Shanghai from October 19-21. This year’s student finalists are as follows:

Iris

by Digipen Institute of Technology (Singapore)

Iris is a charming 2D platformer which makes use of bow and arrow mechanics for both combat at puzzle-solving. The game follows the adventure of Iris as she attempts to rescue her kidnapped sister (the unfortunately-named Siri) from the Forbidden Forest. Its art-style borrows a lot from Limbo, with most of the characters, enemies, and scenery being displayed as silhouettes. However, splashes of color and a gorgeous soundtrack make Iris beautiful rather than haunting.

Lurking

by Digipen Institute of Technology (Singapore)

Lurking is an old friend of mine and you can read my more in-depth thoughts here. Lurking is a truly horrifying first person stealth game, where the player can see only by using sound. And so can the enemy. The player has to time movement and noises so that they aren’t caught by grinning monsters, and to make things worse, the game can hear you through the microphone. Get surprised and shriek and you’re dead in the game. It’s a great concept that still gives me the creeps.

Meowchine Mayhem

by Digipen Institute of Technology (Singapore)

Meowchine Mayhem is a 2D sidescrolling action game about tank-building cats. You can customise your own tank with a variety of weapons to help you survive bizarre enemies like helicopter-sharks. Combining the average nerd’s love of cats and guns seems to be a surefire winner, and adding in extraordinary amounts of customisation and weapons won’t hurt its chances either. I’m looking forward to seeing exactly how crazy I can get while building my tank.

Shadow of Life

by C4cat (Hong Kong)

Shadow of Life is a 2D platformer where light and shadow are your tools. The character can only stand on shadows, and you control the direction of the light with your mouse, allowing you to move the shadows as you see fit. Shadow of Life is all about careful planning and execution, and I can’t wait to see how the later stages pan out.

Xi

by Communication University of China (China)