Day of the Devs 2024 – some of our favourite games from the big indie showcase
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest showcase might have all the glitz, glamour, and triple-A brand recognition, but you can always rely on Day of the Devs to follow things up with a cracking indie-focused showcase of its own. And its latest smorgasbord of fresh looks and reveals – which aired immediately after Geoff’s offering – was no exception, featuring everything from surreal Orwellian dystopias to adorable time loop adventures, as well as new games from the studios behind Haven, Grindstone, Cozy Grove, Road 96, and more. Oh, and Spelunky studio Mossmouth’s long-awaited UFO 50 got a release date too.
Day of the Devs managed to pack in a lot over its hour-long runtime, but to help ease you into the festivities we’ve pulled out some of our favourites from tonight’s show below. And if you want the full, unexpurgated experience – including a lot more developer insight on each game – just point your browser toward the complete stream.
The latest project from Haven and Furi studio The Game Bakers, Cairn is another entry in the burgeoning rock-climbing genre. Unlike the daffy physics-based flinging of Surmount or the streamlined fantasy of Jusant, however, Cairn – described as a “survival-climber” – is leaning harder on realism for a rather more terrifying ascent. Players, in the role of story protagonist Aava, can climb the mountain freely as they try and uncover its history and hidden treasures, reading the rock face to determine their route and using their pitons and equipment wisely. And as the altitude becomes more unforgiving, they’ll need to forage for food and water, or set up a bivouac. Cairn is due to launch for PC and consoles sometime next year.
