Dear Villagers announced a huge rebranding. The boutique publishing label, which has a team of over 20 people, was founded in 2018 as part of Plug In Digital. It has since evolved into its own distinctive and lively ecosystem. Check out upcoming titles at PAX East!
Having already released such successful, beloved and award-winning titles at The Forgotten City, The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, Foretales, Souldiers, and Edge Of Eternity, Dear Villagers has carved a niche for itself as an indie game publisher that partners with developers focused on narrative and world-building, making games that will be memorable long after the credits have rolled.
To commemorate this rebrand, Dear Villagers has revealed its all new logo up above. Developed with marketing agency Combostrike, it’s a joyful village, a reminder that almost every endeavor in our industry is a group effort. There’s a reason for the expression “it takes a village”. The colors are inspired by landscapes from the south of France, where Dear Villagers is based, full of olive trees and lavender fields.
Dear Villagers also revealed its new key art. Realized by an artist from Toulouse called Sylvain Tohad, and his studio Umeshu Lovers, this painting represents the company’s vision of its welcoming little village, getting ready to celebrate.
Inescapable is a social thriller set in a tropical island resort: you’ve been kidnapped and forced to participate in a twisted reality TV show with 10 strangers. At the end of their stay, they’ll each receive $500,000... If they survive.
On the island, there are no rules or laws for the contestants to follow. Their only imperatives are to survive and to entertain the depraved audience of the Dark Web TV show on which they find themselves. Inescapable’s story explores human nature and how far people will go for social clout, wealth, and their own desires—and how much further they might be willing to go when they have permission to ignore the rules.
A new publishing label called Short N Sweet Games has announced its mission to deliver high-quality indie games that can be enjoyed in short sessions on consoles and PC.
Short N Sweet enters the spotlight announcing four new games, Mirrored Souls, Holy Hunt, UDO, and Food Boy, which will be released on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC during 2023. This varied line-up mixes a wide variety of genres and visual styles, from tributes to classic games to pixel art roguelikes or platformers, but they share the Short N Sweet principles in common: quality over quantity (good games don’t need to overstay their welcome with filler!), simplicity (so players can enjoy a carefree experience even between an AAA title and the next) and affordability (players get a good deal for great games while devs and the publisher get fair compensations).
Upcoming Games
Mirrored Souls (The Bricks Studio)
In this 2D "single-player-coop" puzzle-platformer, players have to reunite Ravi and Daru, two celestial beings separated in a mirrored world. Control both characters at the same time in a mirrored screen while jumping and pushing your way through a bevy of beautifully illustrated scenarios to solve challenging, mind-bending Braid-like puzzles.
Holy Hunt (Artificial)
Faith, Guns and your Holy Punch are your only chance to survive the hordes of demons in this 8-bit retro top-down shooter. Go back to the 8-bit Nintendo era in a punishing, fast and precise action-packed gameplay world that urges you to be fearless and persevering. Get the most out of your enemies in an unique bullet-based game loop by using your arsenal of bullet types and blessings from angels to stop the four horseman and a prevent the doomsday prophecy.
UDO (Blue Firefly)
Dig through a mysterious planet in a delicious arcade down-scroller roguelike that basically challenges you to dig deeper and deeper into a hole with an oversized drill! Go deeper to find mysterious technologies, improve your drill and make each run unique while being surrounded by creatures that definitely don’t want you there.
Food Boy (Dopamin Game Studio)
Paperboy meets Food Delivery Service! Inspired by the classic Paperboy, Foodboy gets players to deliver pizzas in urban environments in an exciting arcade format. Make perfect deliveries and knock out furious customers to get the highest scores and unlock new cities and challenges!
Short N Sweet aspires to be a label that will provide opportunities, no matter the developers previous experience, to get their names out there with scope-aware products that will generate both fun and revenue
Focus Entertainment and studio Deck 13 Interactive revealed that Atlas Fallen, the epic fantasy action-RPG where you battle legendary creatures in superpowered combat, will be coming to Xbox Series X|S, PS5 and PC on May 16th. Save the date and prep yourselves with glorious new screenshots showcasing the game’s high-octane action and breathtaking environments.
On your own or with a friend, take on a heroic journey through a variety of breathtaking environments, swiftly gliding through the desert landscapes of a vast sand-covered world. Explore ancient ruins and unearth the mysteries and secrets of a fallen society. Fight a corrupt god and extraordinary beasts thanks to the divine power of your shape-shifting weapon. Unlock powerful skills and abilities to build a unique moveset and rise as the champion who will liberate the people of Atlas.
Atlast Fallen Features:
Master the sands to explore a unique fantasy world teeming with secrets, locales and dangers
Hunt legendary creatures alone or with a friend in heroic, super-powered combat
Unleash your power to create deadly shape-shifting weapons
Rise as the ultimate champion with unique custom skills and abilities
Thunderful, Coatsink & Noname Studios’ beguiling 2D adventure platformer Worldless will be available for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC (Steam) later this year. Check out the new trailer showcasing the stylish combat offered up by Worldless’ blend of turn-based and action combat, as well as the beauty on offer as you explore its mysterious minimalist world.
Worldless is set in a world where polar opposite realities are aligned with a common spark. Players will venture into an abstract setting full of entities with opposing goals. One half is fixated on the virtue of their nature, the other is seeking to exchange it for their demise. Polarities attract, resulting in neverending conflict, and the result is the traumatic process of Absorption which sees their very natures exchange.
In Worldless, you’ll learn the nuances of an optimised combat system by mastering your timing and refining your strategies. Absorb enemies to learn new abilities in an ever-expanding skill tree to unlock new ways to explore and add depth to combat encounters. You’ll explore intricate areas filled with secrets, using finesse and fluid action to uncover them, and engage ferocious beings in fast-paced, turn-based action combat.
Wordless will be available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC later in 2023.
Independent game studio Jukai Studio (@JukaiStudio) and Versus Evil (@vs_evil) revealed that mystery-driven psychological horror game Stray Souls (@StraySoulsGame) will arive on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4|5 and PC via Steam in 2023; with a hands-off demo also being shown to press at GDC 2023. Dive into the mind of Daniel, a teenage boy who inherits a home from his estranged grandmother.
Stray Souls combines beloved elements of Japanese survival horror games with an array of new tricks, including a variety of randomized systems where enemy encounters, item placement, paranormal activity and even weather patterns are always changing so no two playthroughs are exactly the same. Using the power of Metahuman technology and Unreal Engine 5, characters and environments are authentically brought to life, throwing you straight into the dread and dismay of the narrative.
Unlock the secrets hidden within the haunted town of Aspen Falls, featuring gruesome enemy encounters, epic bosses, cunning puzzles, and a deep story where not everyone is who they seem. Play as Daniel – an average teenager whose life is forever changed after inheriting the home of his estranged grandmother and meeting a mysterious woman with intimate knowledge about his family, the house, and its shocking connection to his past. The gameplay elements inspired by classic horror combat with souls-like precision put a fresh spin on the modern action-horror genre.
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