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Pinoy-made Indie Games Showcased in Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit 2018

Whether it’s played using a console, laptop, tablet, or smartphone, there’s no denying that Filipinos love to play video games. In fact, some of them love gaming so much that they’ve started creating their own indie games.

At this year’s Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS), Indie Fiesta 2018 showcased these projects that our local studios are working on.

Shots Fired, Street Feud, and Data Breach

Chryse, a local studio based in Manila, brought three games to Indie Fiesta 2018: “Street Feud,” “Data Breach,” and “Shots Fired.”

“Shots Fired” is an award-winning assassination/photojournalism game, which is nearing completion and is planned to be released for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch.

“Street Feud” and “Data Breach” are both new games that debuted at the event. The former is a cooking and restaurant management game but with a Filipino twist.

In the game “Street Feud” made by AB Productions, you sell typical Pinoy street food such as kikiam, fishball, and kwek-kwek to customers. The catch is that the customers can get impatient and leave if it takes too long for you finish cooking, which can be prevented by giving them gulaman or turning on the fan.

“We got the idea for the game while eating at a street food cart near our school. We saw how popular street food is in today’s culture so we decided to make a game out of it,” said AB Productions producer Victor Tan.

Plans to add more kinds of street food and upgrades to the game are already in the pipeline.

“We plan to release the game on the Google Play Store as soon as possible,” said Chryse co-founder Ronnie Legaspi.

“Data Breach,” on the other hand, was developed during an internal game jam.

“The game itself is a stealth roguelite mobile game inspired by the likes of ‘Metal Gear,’ wherein you are trying to hack into the major evil corporations and retrieve data in order to survive in the desolate and harsh cyberpunk world,” said Legaspi.

Excessive: The Trilogy

If you’re a fan of those choose-your-own-adventure-style PC games in the 80s, you will surely love DagitabSoft’s “Excessive: The Trilogy.” It is a series of text adventures made from the compilation of Benedict John Rey Villariaza’s written materials as well as the previous Ludum Dare game jam entries.

“As the game emulates how text adventure games were made then, there are no graphics and there is no sound. Imagination is the key,” said Villariaza.

Villariaza was inspired to create the game after seeing the “The 8-Bit Guy” Youtube Channel where you can watch videos about 8-bit computers such the Apple II and Commodore 64.

“Excessive: The Trilogy” is scheduled to be released in late 2018.

“I also am seriously thinking about a limited-release physical edition for DOS, if I can get my hands on an old PC that can run DOS, as well as lots of 3.5-inch floppy disks,” said Villariaza.

Good Knight

Created by Retro Future Studios, “Good Knight” is about a warrior whose quest is to revive a loved one murdered by a Spanish soldier. In order to do that, however, you’ll have to go through hell by dodging hundreds of bullets and fighting mythical monsters. To make it more fun, you are stuck with a cursed talking helmet that can revive you and rewind time.

“I also like to call it an impossible game because the game is very difficult yet very rewarding,” said game designer Alex Valdez.

“Good Knight” supports 4-player coop. It was originally designed for mobile only, but positive feedback from ESGS 2018 attendees compelled them to prioritize a build for the Nintendo Switch.

“The design philosophy I’ve given Retro Future Studios is to be simple, minimal, and creative,” said Valdez who is a massive retro game fan like Retro Future Studios CEO and fellow game designer Zaid Al-Shaheed.

On top of the build for Nintendo Switch, the team also plans to add more Filipino elements to the game.

“Filipino myths and Filipino words are a joy to the players,” explained Valdez. “Whenever they read Filipino words they just end up smiling…Filipino myths were just an extra frill to the game, but it seems like we want to focus on those monsters now as they gave a positive impression (of) the game.”

TESSERACT

According to the developers, games like “Portal,” “Myst,” and “The Witness” are among the inspirations for the game. That’s why it’s no accident that the Team Theta Games chose to describe “TESSERACT” as a “first-person puzzle-adventure game set in deep space.”

“The player must make their way through alien locales to solve the mystery of a missing alien race,” said Game Director Vinny Layog.

“TESSERACT” is the sequel to “TESSELATE,” which was the thesis project of Team Theta Games in 2015. It was awarded the Game Developers Association of the Philippines’ GameOn 2016 – Game of The Year (Student Track).

The studio plans to upgrade “TESSERACT” by adding more levels and creating an overarching story that explores themes such as creation, creativity, ancient artifacts, and art as expression.

For more details, you can follow Team Theta Games’ blog where they regularly update the development progress of “TESSERACT.”

More than the success of the event, what matters most is that ESGS 2018 gave Pinoy game developers a platform. A platform where people can play their games, where they can receive firsthand feedback from their customers and where they can network with their peers.

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