The Digital Event is Back
You know it’s full-on summer, because it’s time to talk about Indie Arena Booth at Gamescom 2021!
After Opening Night Live on August 25th, you can take part in the “Summer Camp of Doom,” and experience over 100 indie games — all for free — right here https://indiearenabooth.de/.
There’s a local connection with two of the studios featured this year. Today we’re excited to highlight the Ontario winners of the 2021 Ubisoft Indie Series who will have games available for demo at Indie Arena Booth: Mermaid Heavy Industries and Killjoy Games.
A Surreal 3D VR Puzzle Game
Mermaid Heavy Industries won the Ubisoft Indie Series Grand Prize in 2021 for SKATEGIRL DESTROYS THE UNIVERSE, a game played on TV screens floating in a surreal 3D VR space.
Players navigate the VR screens as Skategirl, and, well, she just destroyed the universe. Oops! Grab, move, and fit together the VR TV screens like jigsaw pieces to create a path Skategirl can move through to escape the horrible, horrible consequences of her own actions.
“We’re hoping to show what makes this an interesting and unique VR game,” says SKATEGIRL developer Andi McClure. “We’re still pretty early in development, but we have a few early levels picked out to show what makes SKATEGIRL special.”
Mermaid Heavy Industries is the new project of indie developer Andi McClure, who previously worked on the freeware games Jumpman and BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS. The colourful and engaging SKATEGIRL DESTROYS THE UNIVERSE wowed Ubisoft and National Bank judges during this year’s Indie Series competition, and we think Indie Arena Booth attendees will love it too.
“This is a really amazing opportunity,” McClure adds. “We’re excited about being able to get the word out about our game.”
90s Nostalgia Meets Magical Self-Care
Ubisoft Indie Series National Bank Special Prize Winner’s Killjoy Games are debuting their game Curses for the first time during Gamescom.
A darkly comedic journey into the world of Girl, Curses is about a teen in a very unhappy home in the 90s who turns to magic (and magical thinking!) to solve her problems. Explore her world through different emotional lenses and ultimately choose whether you will curse — or practice self-care.
“Curses is an emotional journey,” says Killjoy Games founder Emily Flynn-Jones. “Players will meet Girl, our unnamed protagonist, and learn about her troubles. Our branching narrative is entirely controlled by the feelings players choose to explore and those feelings are ‘dark’ ones that are generally considered taboo. We try to present them as natural and necessary and frame them through humour and the fantasy of magic.”
This is the first chance audiences will have to demo Curses. “We hope players will get a flavour of how feelings and magic mingle to create a meaningful experience,” Flynn-Jones adds.
We can’t wait!
Ubisoft Entrepreneurs Bring Indies to Gamescom
Ubisoft Entrepreneurs is an exclusive gateway to Ubisoft’s expertise and local and international networks. Through various programs, Ubisoft Entrepreneurs provides mentorship from internal experts, partnerships with Ubisoft brands and ecosystem, and venture capital. Ubisoft wants to explore entrepreneurs’ opportunities that will shape the future of entertainment.
“We are also so appreciative of the opportunity to exhibit in the Indie Arena, especially under the Ubisoft Entrepreneurs booth,” says Flynn-Jones. “Attending probably isn’t something that we could have afforded as a scrappy little indie without the support of Ubisoft and the Indie Series competition. So, it’s a really big deal — and a wonderful surprise for us.”
Check out SKATEGIRL DESTROYS THE UNIVERSE and Curses at this year’s Indie Arena Booth from August 25th to 29th at https://indiearenabooth.de/.
