6 cool games from the first Tokyo Indie Fest

Tokyo Indie Fest 2015 landed in the Japanese capital last week, joining 100 indie game studios from across the region with 2,000 attendees for a weekend of button mashing and screen tapping. The event fittingly took place in the heart of Tokyo’s geek graceland, Akihabara, and featured games for just about every platform imaginable: browser, mobile, PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, and virtual reality.

While we didn’t have an opportunity to try everything, here are six standout titles from the first Tokyo Indie Fest.

Galak-Z

Platforms: PS4, PS Vita, PC
Release date: coming soon

Galak-Z is a retro-inspired spaceship shooter a la the Gradius franchise, but with a modern facelift. While developer 17-Bit is based in Seattle, the game is being built in Kyoto and borrows some of its design aesthetic from classic anime.

Intuitive controls and surprising smart AI make the game a blast. Instead of scrolling, the ship is controlled by forward and reverse thrusters, activated by the controller’s shoulder buttons. Enemy scouts will sneak up on you, retreat in a hurry, and return later with a convoy of attack ships. Animations are beautiful, especially large-scale explosions, and the game even includes a number of hand-drawn sprites.

Block Legend

Platforms: iOS, Android, PC
Release date: available now

Block Legend, released this past February, is a retro puzzle JRPG created by indie dev duo Dot Warrior Games. It mixes cute 16-bit graphics with a tile-matching battle mechanic. Choose a hero (the game offers everything from your standard knight to an anthropomorphic hotdog) and embark on more than 100 quests. Battles with the game’s unique cast of monsters will entertain puzzle fans, but the funny dialogue and item/location descriptions will keep them coming back for more.

Block Legend is US$1.99 and without those pesky in-app purchases.

Nom Nom Galaxy

Platforms: PS4, PC
Release date: available now for PC, coming soon to PS4

Released on Steam Early Access last year, PixelJunk’s Nom Nom Galaxy was one of the stranger titles at Tokyo Indie Fest. You assume the role of a galactic soup maker, searching alien lands for delicious ingredients, returning them to your base to be prepared, and shipping the finished product around the galaxy via rocketship. Apart from gathering ingredients, you must also protect your base from the local aliens who are probably not so excited about your impromptu soup factory.

The game has a neo-retro feel and a really eye-catching color palette. It’s also surprisingly deep, in terms of ways to upgrade your character and home base. Fans of old-school platformers and tower defense games will really enjoy this one.

RPGolf

Platforms: Mobile
Release date: ?

What a brilliant title, right? RPGolf immediately caught my eye, but there was no staff manning the booth to inquire with. Fortunately, it’s exactly what the name implies: a 2D, top-down golf game with RPG elements. Walk up to the tee, choose a club, aim for the hole, time the power bar, and hope for a well-placed shot. Be careful though, because monsters are lurking on the runway and in the sandtraps. There’s even a dragon waiting next to the hole.

The demo was running on an Android tablet, but the developer’s website doesn’t provide details about other platforms or a launch timeline. If you’re a fan of golf or the handheld Pokemon games, keep this on your radar.

Thumper

Platforms: Multiple
Release date: ?

Thumper, created by two-man studio Drool, is difficult to explain – but damn, does it look and sound good. Described as a “rhythm violence” game, you commandeer a metallic beetle as it screams down what can only be described as a metaphysical luge. Looming in the distance, at the end of the track, is some kind of giant demon. To kill the demon, you perform rhythm-based key presses that charge up attacks and send them blasting ahead.

The game has been in development for six years, with specific platforms and a release date yet to be announced. Korea-based lead programmer Marc Flury previously worked on Rock Band and Dance Central.

Pixel Pirate in Bits of Eight

Platforms: Console, PC
Release date: Fall 2015

Remember Nintendo’s NES DX? I don’t either, but according to Tokyo-based Dadako Studios, it’s a rare console that succeeded the NES and preceded the Super NES. Pixel Pirate (“Dot Kaizoku” in Japanese) was designed for this elusive console, but is now being given a modern update while maintaining its vintage 8-bit look.

This Mario-style platformer features Pete the pirate, who gets drunk and loses his treasure. Your goal is to get it back, and there are barracuda guns, giant anchors, and more to wield against any foe that stands between you and the lost booty.