Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Don’t miss these eye-catching indies from Day of the Devs’ anniversary stream

Day of the Devs, a showcase dedicated to highlighting indie games, held a 10th-anniversary showcase today. The hourlong stream shined a spotlight on several anticipated indie games, including Mina the Hollower, Sea of Stars, and more.

Day of the Devs 10th Anniversary Indie Game Showcase 2022

This is the second stream put on by Day of the Devs in 2022, as the organization hosted a showcase as part of Summer Game Fest in June. Today’s stream celebrated its 10th anniversary and brought announcements on games that weren’t highlighted earlier this summer.

Recommended Videos

The show kicked off with perhaps its biggest title: Mina the Hollower. The Game Boy-inspired adventure game is the latest title from Shovel Knight studio Yacht Club Games. While we’ve seen footage of it in the past, this was the closest look we’ve had yet at its gameplay, which is reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. One notable feature here is its burrowing mechanic, which lets its hero, Mina, dig under enemies to avoid damage.

Mina faces down a boss with its mouth wide open in Mina the Hollower.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The most surprising moment of the stream, though, came when legendary game developers Ken and Roberta Williams appeared to announce a full 3D remake of Colossal Cave, a 1976 text-based adventure game. The remake completely modernizes that classic experience by letting players explore a 3D space. It’ll also include a VR component, with a release planned on Meta Quest devices, as well as PC and Switch.

Several other eye-catching games appeared during the stream. Evolutis: Duality is an anime-inspired adventure game that features hype-violent combat, Dead Pets Unleashed is a feminist punk rock game that involves managing a band of demons, and Snufking: Melody of Moonmin Valley is a musical adventure with a score by Icelandic band Sigur Rós.

A character walks through a neon-lit cyberpunk street in Evolutis Duality.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Here’s the full list of games that appeared during the showcase.

  • Mina the Hollower
  • Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley
  • Escape Academy: Escape From Anti-Escape Island
  • Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County
  • Dead Pets Unleashed
  • Terra Nil
  • Thirsty Suitors
  • Colossal Cave
  • Surmount
  • Gunbrella
  • Evolutis: Duality
  • Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection
  • Slime Heroes
  • Samurai Zero
  • Wat the Bat?
  • Sea of Stars

To follow up the celebration, Day of the Devs will hold a physical event on November 5 in San Francisco. It will feature playable demos of upcoming games like Another Crab’s Treasure, Demonschool, and WrestleQuest.

Giovanni Colantonio
As Digital Trends' Senior Gaming Editor, Giovanni Colantonio oversees all things video games at Digital Trends. As a veteran…
One of Game Pass’ best titles leaves PC on August 15 and you don’t want to miss it
Sam Porter Bridges and Fragile holding their foreheads together.

While Xbox Game Pass frequently adds new games to its library, some titles do leave the service every fifteen days. Sometimes, those games are fantastic and PC Game Pass will lose a heavy hitter on August 15: Death Stranding. If you aren't familiar with this game, it, ironically, is a PlayStation console exclusive that's part of Microsoft's subscription service only on PC. Death Stranding first released on PS4 in November 2019 and tells a story about a man who is trying to reconnect a post-apocalyptic while dealing with lots of supernatural threats along the way.

It didn't come to PC until July 2020, before that was followed by Death Stranding: Director's Cut for PC and PS5 in the following years. The version of the game that's available through Xbox Game Pass is based on the July 2020 PC release, although it only came to PC Game Pass in August 2022. After a year on Microsoft's subscription service, the deal is up, and it's going to leave on August 15. Death Stranding is a game with a very compelling and socially relevant story and gameplay not quite like anything out there, so Game Pass subscribers who haven't tried this game yet need to before it leaves the service soon. 
It's all connected
Death Stranding follows the journey of Sam Porter Bridges, the adopted son of the President of the United Cities of America, as he attempts to reconnect what's left of America with a Chiral Network and save his sister. Of course, this game has Kojima's signature eccentricity, as Sam also carries around and starts forming a deeper connection with a baby in a pod (called a BB) that helps him avoid deadly creatures called BTs and gives him visions of a mysterious figure played by Mads Mikkelsen. On that note, Death Stranding has a stacked Hollywood cast as it stars people like Norman Reedus, Lea Seydoux, and Margaret Qualley and features characters modeled after Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, Nicolas Winding Refn, and more. 
I'm not a huge fan of this game's melodramatic dialogue exchanges and arduous pacing that leaves a lot of the most interesting reveals for the end. Still, it undeniably has some prescient themes about how important connection is, something that became even more apparent and relevant in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Few video game writers can craft narratives that are as engaging and memorable as the ones in Hideo Kojima's games. Though what I like most about Death Stranding is its gameplay, which isn't quite like anything that came out before or since. 
For the most part, Death Stranding is a game about delivering packages. It initially seemed like a shocking change in style for the man behind the Metal Gear Solid series, but the connections become a bit clearer to me as I had to stealthily avoid BTs and saw the Metal Gear Solid V-level of freedom the game gives players in making deliveries. To maximize profits from deliveries, I have to balance all of the packages in Sam's possession, keeping a close eye on the terrain, and finding the best ways to get Sam to his destination without damaging much of the goods he's carrying.

Read more
Don’t miss this free Epic Games Store gem from the creators of Fall Guys
Honor and Miss Terri stand back to back in Murder by Numbers.

If you're looking for a new game to fill your weekend (but don't want to drop a ton of cash on Exoprimal or Pikmin 4), Epic Games Store's latest freebie is a must-download. Welcome to the puzzling world of Murder By Numbers.

Developed by Fall Guys studio Mediatonic, Murder By Numbers is a unique blend of visual novel and traditional puzzle game. And all of that is wrapped up in a witty 90s murder mystery story full of colorful characters, talking robots, and absolute bops.

Read more
Sports-loving animals and demon skaters headline must-watch Day of the Devs stream
Key art for Beastieball

The Day of the Devs annual livestream returned this year following Summer Game Fest Kickoff 2023. It featured several world premieres, including games from the teams behind titles like Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Mutazione, and Alto's Adventure. 

Right off the bat, the show impressed with the reveal of Beastieball, which the developers of Chicory are making at their new studio, Wishes Unlimited. It mixes the monster-collection aspects of series like Pokémon with the sports tactics of Desta: The Memories Between (which was also a Day of the Devs game). Essentially, volleyball is turned into a turn-based RPG, with each Beastie's unique moves and its bonds and rivalries with other creatures influencing the abilities at the player's disposal. Beastieball's unique gameplay ideas definitely make it stand out within the sea of Pokémon-likes and started the show off on a strong note.
Day of the Devs had another world premiere shortly thereafter with Simpler Times, which looks like it will hit the same emotional notes as Unpacking. Playing out from a first-person point of view, this game puts players in the shoes of Taina, who is reflecting on her life as she packs up and moves out of her childhood home. The game has no fail state either, so it's just meant to be a chill, contemplative experience.
The next new game to be revealed was Helskate, which is a hell-themed skateboarding game that features combat and builds on ideas that game director Steve Swink got while developing Tony Hawk's Underground.

Read more