Hands-on with Indies at Winter Play NYC

It’s not always about the big shows. One of the (often overlooked) pleasures to be found in gaming (when the world is not in quarantine) are the local events featuring indie developers and their creations. While many of these are geared towards the developer community, others, such as Playcrafting’s Winter Play NYC Game Expo, are open to the public and offer the opportunity for players of all ages to get hands-on with video, card and tabletop games from a variety of individuals and teams.

The event, which was held at the Microsoft Technology Center in Times Square early last month, gave me a chance to preview games ranging from Switch-bound multiplayer titles to ones that began as projects from this year’s Global Game Jam and everything in between. And while I didn’t have time to play every game appearing at the expo, I did want to share some impressions of the titles that may be of interest to the Nintendo player- and a few more that further convey the nature of the event.

Kung-Fu Kickball

Blowfish Studios

Everybody was Kung-Fu fightin’! One of the first Switch games I had the chance to try out at Winter Play throws- er, uh, kicks a mash-up of kickball, basketball & Kung-Fu archetypes through the lens of local multiplayer frenzy reminiscent of Smash Bros & Killer Queen Black. In fact, the game’s primary developer, Jonah, mentioned that he was approached by a company to make a physical arcade machine- and that cabinet now stands next to one for Killer Queen Black.

I had a chance to enjoy a couple of rounds- but, then, who wouldn’t have fun playing as an old master kickin’ people around inside a volcano?

Teams of two players face off on large stages attempting to kick the ball up into the opponent’s goal net, using their kung-fury to slow down other players, steal the ball or block shots. A clever teleport dash mechanic, once mastered, helps rapidly navigate back and forth across the court and get ahead of the ball.

Characters have a bit of a floaty feel to them, but in a good way. It helps keep the action frantic and moving while also allowing players to misjudge the angle of a sudden redirection. Those openings can lead to break away moments from the kung-fu hustle and bustle.

It admittedly took me a round to really grasp the controls, through no fault of the game itself. Once I got the hang of the teleport dash and how to kick the ball up into the goal basket, I was quickly kicking the ball free of my opponents and teleporting past them to catch up to it and bring it into the goal area. My efforts were often foiled by static, pinball-like platform placements but I, nonetheless, had a blast leading to my losing-er, uh, unvictorious streak and I’m confident a few more rounds would lead to overcoming those challenges.

Following my less-than-impressive kung-fu career debut, the next group after me was a family with both adults and young children and all four had a good time with energetic enthusiasm during their matches, which bodes well for this title’s family gaming prospects.

After three years of development by primarily one person (with the art and audio contracted out), Kung-Fu Kickball should be hitting the Switch sometime this year.

Swim Sanity

Decoy Games

One of the last titles I had the opportunity to try out at the event also gave me some Killer Queen Black multiplayer vibes at first glance, but this underwater competitive adventure/shooter hybrid quickly drowned those comparisons.

Up to four players navigate a side-scrolling arena or stage, shooting down various creatures of the sea with primary and secondary weapons while charging a Smash-like meter that can unleash different special “swimsanity” abilities selected prior to the start of the stage. These swimsanities range from transforming into a shark that can dash attack horizontally across the screen to a piranha that lets you go Pac-Man on hostile soon-to-be-sushi. The different abilities help customize team configurations for co-op play and add variety to competitive rounds.

I first played a horde mode that reminded me a little of an underwater (non-Super) Mario Bros. stage, with various waves of critters emerging onto the level. It made for good targeting practice and a chance to acclimate to the controls.

After that, I swam next door to a second room where the developers had the adventure mode set up and it was here that you really started to realize that the game was meatier than just another single-screen, multiplayer versus game. We played a couple of levels- both featuring our team of four fleeing from a giant threat pursuing us from the left of the screen as we swam through levels, collecting weapons and treasure. The first was a giant killer whale, while the second was a sort of crab tank. Turns out, that apparent safe spot above the chest laser cannon by the crab’s eyes? Not so safe when the crab tank also has laser eyes.

The title’s journey began over a decade ago as a student project inspired by the Game and Watch Gallery game Octopus. Now, after many iterations over the years, it is anticipating a Switch release in 2020.

Slapdash

Tarraske Digital

https://youtu.be/YfGbgzTnCro

Combining the rapid, angular redirects of Pinball and obstructed goals of Nok Hockey with the team play of an arcade soccer game (and then throwing cats in for good measure), Slapdash is another promising local co-op title that I’m now looking forward to getting my mittens on.

It made me recall the feel of some of the multiplayer party/mini games found in the Super Monkey Ball series, such as Monkey Fight or Monkey Billiards, with ball-shaped cat players ricocheting a ball (and themselves) back and forth across the playing field trying to score points behind the opponent’s goal wall.

While still in the process of refining its visuals (the white face patterns of the different cats currently all tend to blend together, making it very easy to lose track of which player is yours), the gameplay itself is simple, addictive and fun.

Slapdash is aiming for an eventual release on consoles, but no platforms have been officially announced yet.

Antipole DX

Saturnine Games

Mega Man-inspired gameplay with an added gravity reversal mechanic? That’s something firmly in my wheelhouse. This remake of the original DSi game features new graphics, sound, music & levels with refinements to the overall gameplay.

The juggling of both your character and enemies with the gravity mechanic is implemented in some tight platforming puzzles and obstacles. The action will definitely scratch an itch for players eager for a game in this genre beyond the Mega Man and Gunvolt series.

While originally announced for 2016 on the Wii U and 3DS (and even included among the 2016 Nindies Summer Jam highlight reel), those versions were never released, despite the game being made with the 3DS in mind. And though a Switch port has become unlikely at this point, players who have been following the game’s development over the past few years can look forward to finally playing it on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One in 2020.

Lo-Fi Samurai

Pure-238

One of the more unique titles I played was this stylish game that combined rhythmic combat with real-time platforming. You move freely but can only dash or attack enemies to the rhythm beat pattern tracking across the top of the screen. All set against gorgeous retro visuals that are at least partially inspired by Samurai Jack.

I played one of the levels and watched other people play a couple more. It turned out that I am, apparently, really terrible at rhythm games- and it was definitely at no fault to the game’s controls. I found myself trying to overcompensate for missed timings or attempting to spam an attack out of platformer habit, only to extend my cooldown punishment and leading to my inevitable demise. The developer recommended everyone playing play the game with headphones on as the actual music beat helps the player focus on, and attune to, that facet of the game play. I guess I just needed to attune longer.

Despite this newly discovered rhythmic deficiency in my gaming abilities, I found the combination of genres and mechanics really interesting and the overall project to have a lot of promise. It may not have any platform releases scheduled yet, but I think players will want to keep their eye open for it in the event that it achieves one.

Repear

Fruits & Veggies Games

A Global Game Jam project from this year providing a cute, simple 2D, split-screen, co-op platformer experience. Players must try to reach one another through a series of puzzles solved through triggers on the other player’s screen. By working together they can achieve that goal.

Though intended for 2 players, I actually got a chance to play it by myself, controlling both characters. As I’m a sucker for dual-screen-type experiences, the added level of challenge involved actually enhanced the experience considerably. The game also has some really beautiful music by Axel Kazis-Taylor that might take you off guard. It goes a long way to show the level of talent and creativity that can emerge for even relatively simple projects mostly made over a single weekend (and less than a month of polish).

Chromavaders

Corundum Games

A fun, retro-NES-styled match-3 puzzle game combined with a Space Invaders-style enemy advancement. It may seem pretty straight forward but the block catching/building mechanic provides some interesting variety to strategies you can employ to play it.

You can play it for yourself on the game’s website.

Hidden Tunes

Rafael Rodriguez

Navigate across all the spaces of an isometric world by queueing up your movements. The paths you take produce tones. Eventually, you can discover the melody needed to progress. A solid foundation for a musical puzzle game that I could see having a place on platforms like the Switch. No word on a release for this project, yet.

Radarjam

Hamra Digital

A game in the spirit of Asteroids, but one where the enemies and incoming fire are only seen periodically. I found myself pulling off a lot of aerial drifting and circle-strafing attack patterns, which ended up being pretty fun and helped distinguish the feel of the game from its more familiar progenitor.

Run & Gun

MHarris Games

The Tron-like aesthetic used by this multiplayer, arena shooter lends it an instant visual appeal. A wall run mechanic helps add some variety that you might not anticipate with a retro-styled shooter like this. Has potential as a fun testbed as the project evolves. Downloadable from the game’s website, where you can also follow its development as future builds are released.

PathFinder Pro

Peter Trivelli

This physics-based puzzle game has you navigating a ball towards contact with a goal by laying down a path piece of piece. Simple in premise but deceptively challenging. The gameplay could easily become addictive.

Available now via iOS Test Flight

In Before the Lockdown

While the current health crisis will probably keep Winter Play as one of the last local expo events for some time, they’re definitely worth looking into once we emerge from our lockdowns and social distancing and the world begins to return to normal. In the meantime, we can hopefully look forward to more hands-on time with some of these titles as they release on Switch and other platforms.