Once again, the annual Summer Game Fest showcase has concluded with a coda that should not be skipped: Day of the Devs. Now officially a non-profit, Day of the Devs is responsible for both a number of digital showcases throughout the year as well as physical shows of highly curated indie games, and their picks are impeccable as always.
This year, Day of the Devs included a whopping 21 games (last year’s had 15!), many of which were newly announced. They included cozy sims, unsettling horror games, arcade collections, RPGs, and far more. We couldn’t choose our favorites out of the bunch, so here’s the full rundown of everything you missed – but really, you should watch the showcase yourself too.
Simpler Times
Developed by Stoneskip and published by iam8bit, Simpler Times is the one game in Day of the Devs making a reappearance from last year. It’s about highlighting the “beauty of the ordinary” where players spend time with Taina, who’s getting ready to leave her childhood home. In the trailer, we see the player listening to records, looking at the stars, building a birdhouse and birdwatching, and doing art. It’s a “just vibes” kind of game. Best of all, it’s out today on Steam! You can play it now.
Battle Vision Network
From Grindstone and Below developer Capybara Games, Battle Vision Network reimagines another of the studio’s previous games: Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. Battle Vision Network takes place in a different setting (think something like, space travel meets Eurovision) but is a spiritual successor to Clash of Heroes’ multiplayer, where players compete in 1v1 matches taking turns launching attacks to create color-matched formations of units in attack or defense formation. Players can choose from different teams, each with different strategic benefits and weaknesses, and then customize units further with collectible outfits. Battle Vision Network is coming to mobile, PC, and console.
Cairn
After Fury and Haven, The Game Bakers are completing what the studio describes as its “freedom” trilogy with Cairn, a game about climbing a deadly mountain. You play as a climber obsessed with climbing what no one has climbed before, and you use a realistic climbing sim control scheme to get them there. Cairn looks brutal, necessitating trying over and over again to achieve new heights and with a limited amount of checkpoints the player can set on their own to prevent losing progress. A particularly tricky wall is the equivalent of a boss fight. Cairn is coming to PC and consoles in 2025.
Petal Runner
You like GBA-style RPGs? You’re getting a GBA-style RPG from Nano Park Studios. Petal Runner is a lovely throwback to that retro era about two couriers known as Petal Runners, who drive around a place called Sapphire Valley making deliveries in a world where flowers are a fuel source powering beloved virtual pets. Petal Runner is coming to PC via Steam at a later date.
Karma: The Dark World
From the China-based Pollard Studio, Karma: The Dark World is a first-person narrative game where you play as a man named Daniel. Daniel exists in a dystopian version of the real-world in 1984, where he, as an agent of the Leviathan Corporation, dives into people’s minds and uncovers the truth behind events. Over the course of the story, he will find his loyalty to the company challenged by what he discovers, and those discoveries seem pretty upsetting. Karma: The Dark World revels in psychological and body horror, so it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s coming out on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC at a later date.
UFO50
UFO50, from Mossmouth, rests on a premise I’ve never heard of before. It’s a collection of 50 different games imagined as if they were released for a fictional video game console by a fictional company, called UFO Soft. Far from just minigames, UFO50 promises the collection has a wide variety of full games ranging the breadth of a fictional company’s history. Some are arcade style, some have larger campaigns, all in different genres and all complete-able with their own credits. The games get more “advanced” as you progress through the company’s “history,” and some even have sequels, story ties with other games, or recurring characters. UFO 50 is out on Steam on September 18.
Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit
Those familiar with the first Cozy Grove from Spry Fox will recognize Camp Spirit instantly. It’s the same kind of game as the original: befriend ghost bears, help them find peace, collect materials, craft, build, and create a bustling camp site. Camp Spirit is the sequel to the original, and is coming exclusively to Netflix Games subscribers via mobile, with no microtransactions or ads to muck up the cozy experience. It’ll be out on June 25, 2024.
Koira
Koira, made by Studio Tolima, is a narrative game set in a small, snowy forest. The main character frees a puppy from a trap, and the two work together to return home through the woods, avoiding a group of hunters on their tail that seem intent on capturing the puppy. It’s a journey told in sound and music, without dialogue, where puzzles involve use of sound and every character is “voiced” by a unique instrument. Koira is planned for release on Steam in 2025.
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
From Argentinian studio Furniture & Mattress, Arranger follows the misfit Jemma on a puzzling adventure. Jemma navigates the world in a unique way – every time she moves, the row of tiles she’s standing on moves with her, conveyer belt-style. Players have to guide Jemma through the world by using her movement style to solve floor puzzles and overcome obstacles. Arranger is coming to PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch on July 25.
Fear the Spotlight
Ironically made by a studio called Cozy Game Pals and published by Blumhouse, Fear the Spotlight is an old-school throwback to classic horror films (and unsettling PS1-era 3D graphics) where two teenagers sneak into a high school after dark and get up to some spooky stuff. Vivian must save her friend Amy from evil forces after a seance goes wrong while exploring the haunted school. Fear the Spotlight will come to PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC later this year.
Screenbound
Please watch the trailer for this one especially, because the effect of Screenbound is so trippy it must be seen. Crescent Moon Games and Those Dang Games have developed a 3D game where you explore a world full of puzzles. But you must do so while holding a GameBoy-like device containing a side-scrolling 2D game, where all the actions you take impact the world of both games. Monsters killed in 2D make the path safe to move forward in 3D, and puzzles solved in 3D allow progress in 2D. I don’t know how anyone keeps track of both worlds at once, but I know I want to try when Screenbound eventually releases on Steam.
Zoochosis
There was a surprising amount of horror in Day of the Devs this year, but Zoochosis might win the prize for most freaky. It’s a bodycam horror sim where you play as a zookeeper working at a zoo where animals have been infected with something that’s turning them into mutants. You have the power to save them by creating a vaccine, but you have to survive them first. Zoochosis even features different endings depending on player choices. It’s made by Clapperheads, and is coming to PC sometime this year.
Tom the Postgirl
Less horror than Zoochosis, but still firmly creepy cute, Tom the Postgirl is about, well, a postgirl named Tom. Tom has a bad habit, though: she likes to snoop on her neighbors. And what she finds when she starts stalking them is…not always wholesome or pleasant to observe. Tom the Postgirl is by Oopsie Daisies Studio, with hand-drawn settings and plenty of unsettling imagery while still being a little cute. It’s coming out in Q3 of 2025.
Psychroma
Developed by Rocket Adrift, Psychroma is a cyberpunk horror game with a lot to say about identity and the horror of having yours stripped away from you. It’s a narrative-focused side-scroller where you play as Haze, a “digital medium” putting together memories in a broken, cybernetic house, all while regaining your own memories. Psychroma is coming out soon on PC via Steam.
Building Relationships
Thai studio Tan Ant Games describes Building Relationships as “like A Short Hike, but stupid,” which is a shockingly effective tactic at getting me interested. You play as...a house? Yeah, a literal house, rolling around a 3D map, talking to other houses and buildings and trying to find yourself a date. It’s not a dating sim exactly, as the whole game takes place in one day. It’s just a goofy adventure. Treasure chests are hidden around the map, but they’re in a polycule and they don’t want to date you. You can fish, but you fish up cars. Building Relationships will be out on Steam at a later date.
A Little to the Left
If you haven’t yet played this cozy little game about organizing things neatly, A Little to the Left is already out and already robust with DLC. But today, we got an announcement of additional DLC from Max Inferno, called Seeing Stars. Seeing Stars adds 33 new levels, five extra bonus levels, 100 new “stars,” and more cat mayhem to A Little to the Left, largely centered around puzzles with multiple solutions. The new DLC is coming to Steam, Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation on June 25, 2024.
Hello Again
It’s Groundhog Day, but nice. A postal worker travels to a remote island, gets stranded, and finds themself in a 12-hour time loop that only they are aware of. In Hello Again, you’ll explore, solve puzzles, and try to uncover a story of an ancient people who lived on the island thousands of years ago, who might be the reason you’re in this loop to begin with. Everything runs on a clock: tides, weather, circuits in the ruins, people…all of it. Hello Again, from developer Soup Island, will be out on Steam in 2025.
While Waiting
While Waiting is based on yet another goofy yet delightful premise: what if there was a game that was just about…waiting for stuff to happen! From Optillusion Games, While Waiting follows a person through their life, from birth to death, focusing in on the moments they spend waiting. Waiting for buses, for traffic, for lines, for elevators, for rain to stop, and so much more. You can be patient and wait, or you can cause all kinds of mischief to try and get things to hurry along – and there’s even a fidget button if you want to wait but need something to do. While Waiting will release on PC and mobile in 2025.
After Love EP
From the creators of Coffee Talk and What Comes After, After Love EP is a story about a musician in Jakarta who hears the voice of his girlfriend after she dies. It’s a narrative game with dating sim and rhythm elements that explores grief, love, and finding ways to love yourself, even when it’s hard. There’s no release date just yet, but Jakarta-based developer Pikselnesia hopes to release around October this year for PC, Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Phoenix Springs
Phoenix Springs, from developer Calligram Studio, is a modern point-and-click adventure about a reporter searching for her brother. She ends up at the titular Phoenix Springs, solving puzzles in a neo-noir environment. While oldschool point-and-clicks usually use objects in an inventory to interact with the world, Phoenix Springs uses a mental detective pinboard to connect ideas together, allowing the main character to understand what to do in a given situation or what to mention in a conversation to progress. Phoenix Springs will release on September 16, 2024 for PC.
Tides of Tomorrow
The final game of the show, Tides of Tomorrow, didn’t spend much time explaining itself - but what I saw was enough to get me curious. It’s an asynchronous multiplayer game developed by Road 96 developer DigixArt, where multiple people’s playthroughs of the same story can impact one another, and influence events. In the trailer, we see one character escape a tight situation while leaving a knife hidden for another player to use during their escape. Tides of Tomorrow takes place on an ocean planet, where a deadly “plastification” is killing things very, very slowly, and players may be able to find a cure and survive. Tides of Tomorrow is coming to PC, but there’s no release date yet.
That’s everything from Day of the Devs, but there are plenty more games where those came from. You can catch up on everything from Summer Game Fest earlier today with our round-up here, and stick with IGN for the Devolver Direct later today, followed by everything else Summer of Gaming all month long.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
