Day of the Devs Game Awards 2024 edition recap
The Day of the Devs – Game Awards 2024 edition served up nearly two dozen excellent indie games, from inventive platformers to robot survival and a girlboss FPS game. There’s a healthy mix of games out now, out soon, and out at some vague point in the future as well, which makes a welcome change from the likely dozen or more trailers from The Game Awards that will doubtlessly air without a release date.
You can catch up on the full presentation via the video-on-demand below, but we’ve also listed every Day of the Devs announcement in case you don’t have 60 minutes to spare watching.
Lok Digital
Lok is a wordy puzzle game – no, literally. Your job is solving puzzles with words from a fictional language and watching how they work their magic to heal a broken world. It’s a lovely concept, and you can play it now on PC or wait until 2025 to get it on mobile devices.
TankHead
Post-apocalyptic roguelikes aren’t exactly hard to find, but TankHead is putting a different spin on them. You’re a robot, building a tank, and causing mayhem, assuming your build is good enough to survive the harsh reality of the wasteland.
TankHead is available now on the Epic Games Store.
Crescent County
If you like Kiki’s Delivery Service and kissing your friends, then Crescent County is probably for you. It’s a magical delivery game about a witch who likes to unwind by competing in chill street races with her broom. The vibes are strong with this one, and you can check out a Crescent County demo on Steam now.
Hyper Light Breaker
A Hyper Light Drifter sequel this is not, even though it bears a similar name. Hyper Light Breaker is a 3D roguelike that unfolds across procedurally generated maps as you tussle your way through vibrant environments and, with a bit of luck, take down the big bad at the end.
Hyper Light Breaker enters early access on Steam in January 2025.
Kingmakers
Kingmakers drops you into medieval European warfare with heavy weaponry and vehicles to see what happens. The answer is carnage, with a touch of light real-time strategy and plenty of destructible environments. It’s certainly a creative twist on war games and history, and if you’re keen to see more, you don’t have long to wait. Kingmakers launches for PC via Steam and Epic in February 2025.
Bionic Bay
The 2D platformer space is pretty crowded now, but Bionic Bay has something different up its sleeves – time control. It seamlessly weaves time warping into its complex puzzles as you navigate pits and perils, assuming the gorgeous background art doesn’t distract you and lead to an untimely end
Bionic Bay launches on March 23, 2025, for PS5 and PC via Steam.
Blue Prince
Blue Prince is an architectural mystery game, where you plumb the depths of a vast, changing mansion to find the clues to… something. The trailer is big on mood and light on basically everything else, including what you’re doing, but it’s enough to capture interest at least.
- Read more: The best puzzle games you missed from 2023
Blue Prince launches in early 2025 for PC via Steam and Windows.
Demon Tides
Demon Tides channels the 3D platformers of old – and some new, like Penny’s Big Breakaway – and it looks absolutely charming. Expect this one on Steam sometime in 2025.
Faraway
This one’s a re-release of a classic casual puzzle game where you, a star – the celestial kind, mind you – roam the cosmos and create constellations. It’s a chill way to spend some time, and procedurally generated levels mean you’ll almost always find a new challenge.
Faraway launches on PC in 2025.
Neon Abyss 2
Neon Abyss’ sequel keeps the original’s flashy style and throws in new weapon systems and more ways to fight. It’s shaping up quite well, though there’s only a vague 2025 release date just yet.
Feltopia
Feltopia asks what if side-scrolling arcade shooters were made of felt? And then makes one, where everything in it is handcrafted with felt of various textures.It’s adorable and lovely, and it’ll launch on Steam in 2025.
Blippo+
Blippo is from the Untitled Goose Game devs, but I’m gonna be honest and say I have no idea what it’s about. Blippo puts you in front of a retro TV set with a variety of bespoke shows hailing from decades gone by. That’s about all we know, but hey, at least it’s a unique idea.
- Read more: The best stealth games to play in 2024
Curiosmos
Here’s a city builder with a bit of a twist, as you’re building an entire solar system, one planet and intricate ecosystem at a time. Your goal is making conditions just right so life can evolve and blossom, all with the threat of a nearby black hole looming over you. Curiosmos has no release date yet, but it’s definitely a highlight from this season’s Day of the Devs and one we can’t wait to see more of.
Incolatus: Don't Stop, Girlypop!
Barbie and Doom collide in Incolatus: Don’t Stop, Girlypop! It’s a frilly pink take on gritty shooters that throws in movement combos and special attacks to help stand out from the crowd, as if it’s fabulous aesthetic didn’t already help it do that. Incolatus has no release date, but it’ll launch on Steam whenever it does release.
Inkonbini: One Store. Many Stories
If you’ve ever wanted to work in a Japanese convenient store in the ‘90s, well, you can’t, because the ‘90s are gone. Inkonbini gives you a chance to experience a stylized version of what it might be like, though. It’s a slice-of-life simulation game, where you stock the shelves, chat with customers, and see how things change depending on how you arrange the store. It seems like a unique and intimate take on daily life that gets how significant little things like a visit to the shop can be.
Inkonbini will launch on PS5, Nintendo Switch, Steam and Xbox, though there’s no release date yet.
PBJ – The Musical
Yes, that’s actually the name of this game. It’s a delightfully quirky concept about peanut butter and jelly as they journey through a world created from images the dev team cut out of old cookbooks. This is another one that’s light on details about what you’re doing, but it’s got my interest anyway.
PBJ – The Musical doesn’t have a release date yet.
Recur
Recur puts a new spin on puzzles where the world moves as you do. It looks like the kind of idea that opens plenty of fresh opportunities for stage design, though the debut trailer only gives us a little glimpse of what’s in store. Recur has no release date yet.
Sleight of Hand
Card-based third-person stealth about a witch out for vengeance against her former employer? Sign me the heck up. Sleight of Hand blends immersive-sim-style health with card-based tactics for something that I don’t think I’ve ever seen the likes of before. Which is making the wait for a release date even more challenging. When Sleight of Hand does launch, it’ll be on Steam and Xbox.
Ultimate Sheep Raccoon
An Ultimate Chicken Horse sequel in name if not in style, Ultimate Sheep Raccoon is a facing game, not a platformer. It looks just as wild and chaotic as its predecessor, though the wait’s probably going to be a while. Ultimate Sheep Raccoon has no release date yet.