Games Y'all Showcase:

How to Say Goodbye

How to Say Goodbye is a beautiful narrative puzzle game inspired by picture books. Reorganize the environment and solve puzzles to help a group of ghosts on their quest to finally move on.

Florian and Baptiste started working together when they were studying graphic design and illustration. They both had a deep interest in storytelling and interactivity. After having spent time at various companies and other game related freelance missions, they join up to get back to what got them talking in the first place: making beautiful, emotional and entertaining games for everyone.

Developer: Florian Veltman & Baptiste Portefaix

@baptisteworks

@FlorianVltmn

Perfect Tides

A point and click adventure game about the agony and anticipation of being a teen. Set in the year 2000, you play as Mara, an internet-obsessed young writer who lives on a so-called island paradise. Following 4 seasons of the year, you encounter through Mara the beauty and silence of the island, the turmoil of family life and mainland public school, and an ever-evolving quest for love, friendship and experience.

Meredith Gran (she/her) is a cartoonist, writer and game developer living in Philadelphia, PA. In 2022 she released her first game, Perfect Tides. She is currently working on the sequel, Perfect Tides: Station to Station. Previous work includes the long-running webcomic series, Octopus Pie.

Developer: Three Bees

@perfect_tides

Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly

Coffee Talk is a coffee brewing and heart-to-heart talking simulator about listening to fantasy-inspired modern peoples’ problems and helping them by serving up a warm drink or two.

The team behind "Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly" continued the legacy of the acclaimed 'Coffee Talk'. Andrew Jeremy resumed his roles as audio director/composer and project manager, with Dio Mahesa once again taking charge as lead artist and art director. Fredrik Lauwrensius led the programming efforts, supported by Jovan Anggara. Junkipatchi (Junki) stepped in as the narrative designer and lead writer, with assistance from co-writer Anna Winterstein, embracing the vision of the late Mohammed Fahmi to shape the game's narrative — ensuring fidelity to the original while infusing it with fresh experiences and perspectives.

Coffee Talk Episode 2 marks Junkipatchi’s entrance into the game development world. Having worked in story production, comics, intellectual property, and the entertainment sector since the early 2010s, Junkipatchi is driven by a profound belief in the power of storytelling. This conviction underpins a commitment to articulating personal ideas and forging connections across diverse cultures and languages, utilizing any medium available.

Developers: Toge Productions

@togeproductions

Goodbye Volcano High

Goodbye Volcano High is a cinematic LGBTQIA+ narrative adventure about love, change, and the end of the world. Guide Fang through their final year of high school as they try to make things right before time is up.

KO_OP is an artist-run and owned studio.

Hope Erin Phillips (they/them) is a programmer, multimedia artist, and professional hobby collector. Before working on GVH at KO_OP as lead programmer, they completed a BFA in Intermedia/Cyberarts, taught themselves game development, and was a Critical Hit 2015 alumni. Their work has been shown at IndieCade as well as art galleries throughout North America.

Saleem Dabbous (they/he) is the studio director and co-founder of KO_OP, a worker-owned studio, creating original award-winning games and high-profile collaborations on major IPs.

Kyle McKernan (he/him) is a game director and designer at KO_OP. Kyle has worked in games since 2014 as a solo developer, an animator, a game designer, and a writer. He has also worked professionally as a graphic designer for numerous clients in and outside of the games industry. Games he has worked on include Beasts of Balance and Winding Worlds. Most recently, Kyle co-directed and led design on Goodbye Volcano High.

Developer: KO_OP

@ko_opmode

Re:Fresh

Lose yourself in the relaxing solarpunk breeze of Re:Fresh, a 3D exploration-platformer game where you play as a robot collecting materials to help repair your town after a torrential storm. Explore at your own pace in the open-ended environment and collect solar cells to upgrade your movement options, forging your own path to get the town up and running again.

Re:Fresh was created by Merge Conflict Studio: an Indie Game Studio focused on centering marginalized perspectives and environmental awareness, based out of Austin, Texas. Our goal at Merge Conflict is to create games that not only are fun for everyone but make the world a better place.

The Team:
Melody Geiger (she/her) CEO and Lead Producer
Will Sords (he/him) COO and Audio Director
Joseph Horak (he/they) CCO and Narrative Director
Connor Blankenship (he/they) CTO and Lead Gameplay Designer
Karina Teruya (she/they) Art Director
Ethan Godwin (he/him) Design Director

Developer: Merge Conflict

@mergeconflict

Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery

You're a detective, and a frog, and it's time to solve 3 thrilling mysteries! Play as the #2 best investigator as you find clues, question silly suspects, and look at things through your magnifying glass. Some nay-sayers have called the magnifying glass "useless", but what do they know?

Worm Club is a 2 person game dev team headquartered in Australia with Creative Director Grace Buxner & Design Director Thomas Bowker.

Developer: Worm Club

@frogdetective

Loddlenaut

Loddlenaut is a cozy underwater survival game that takes place on an ocean planet. Play as an interstellar custodian who is sent to clean up the pollution left behind by a mysterious corporation and befriend some cute creatures along the way.

As you clean up the planet, you’ll run into axolotl-like aliens known as “loddles.” Rescue them from polluted waters and feed them fruits you find on the job while you make their planet habitable again.

Developer: Moon Lagoon

@loddlenaut

Bugaboo Pocket

A virtual pet game starring bugs from land, air and sea! Play as a research scientist living in a cabin with just your bugs and a penpal for company. Spoil them with pets, minigames, food and furniture. Raise and release bugs to help Beetleback Ridge recover from a devastating fire.

Elytra Games was founded by Beth Rosaschi and Sarah Yu who are partners both in the studio and in life. Having met a week before COVID lockdown, they bonded over a deep love for video games. They started designing Animal Crossing worlds (including a Taco Bell) so that they could go on virtual dates together and a studio was born. As a result, Elytra Games is focused on creating beautiful worlds that bring people joy and comfort.

Developer: Elytra Games

@BugabooPocket

Instanosis

Inspired by online quizzes, probing conversations with coworkers, and a fascination with the far corners of the internet, Oddalys Salcido's Instanosis serves as a diagnostic tool to help you re-discover the playfulness of the digital-age through the art of oversharing. Follow forking paths of absurdist questions, leading you through portals to shared text documents and curious websites curated by Salcido. Seek digital absolution for your sins, gaze out of someone else’s window, contemplate the boundaries of the physical body online, or explore whatever else your Instanosis prescribes.

Oddalys Salcido is a 1st generation latine queer movement artist and filmmaker from Austin, Texas. As a child they felt cosmically connected to Selena Quintanilla and has been searching for that feeling in everything they’ve done since. Traditionally trained as a choreographer, contemporary dancer and reality TV consumer, Oddalys is a movement inspired filmmaker. With influences of absurdity and tenderness they bring an observant collage of their identities, mental illness and humorous existentialism embedded in both their films, choreography, and instagram captions. They morph into many identities such as a professional dancer for ARCOS, co-founder/director of Preheat Film Festival, web designer for artists, filmmaker, digital composer, tote bag designer, and cyborg. They are passionate about experimenting with contemporary movement and technology as a tool to blend both existing and non existing borders.

Artist: Oddalys Salcido

@oddalys_______________