SXSW Sydney returned this month, bringing the tech, film, music, and games festival back to Australia for its second year. This time SXSW Sydney's video game showcase took place at the University of Technology, Sydney, where developers gathered to show off indie titles both from within Australia and abroad.
Times are undoubtedly tough in the video game industry, which has struggled through countless layoffs this year. Fortunately, there are still some developers continuing to work on exciting new games that the rest of us can look forward to playing soon.
In no particular order, here are some of the coolest indie games we checked out at SXSW Sydney 2024.
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure
As a fan of food in video games, and Asian food in particular, I've been following SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure for a while. This "cooking-combat adventure" from Singapore's kopiforge features delicious Southeast Asian foods such as teh tarik, nasi lemak, ondeh ondeh, and even strays further north to include Taiwan's bubble tea.
SEDAP! has clear similarities to Overcooked, with cartoonish characters running around to prepare a variety of delectable dishes. However, rather than collect ingredients from allocated storage areas, SEDAP!'s chefs must gather them fresh from the source. This could mean plucking a pineapple, but it could also mean using your chef's knife to fight a chicken, adding the danger of combat to its culinary equation.
You won't have to fight alone either, with SEDAP! supporting two-player co-op as well as solo play.
SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure is scheduled for release in March 2025.
Winter Burrow
Who amongst us has not wished to be a little mouse living in a tree hollow and knitting themselves jumpers out of grass? Pine Creek Games' Winter Burrow allows you to fulfil your Beatrix Potter dreams, albeit with a survival bent.
Billed as a cosy survival game, Winter Burrow positions you as a mouse restoring their childhood home after returning to discover it in ruins. You also have to search for your missing aunt, who was tasked with caring for it, as well as give the residents of your local community a helping hand.
The weather's pretty chilly though, so first you'll need to gather resources and repair your furniture, keep yourself fed, and knit yourself some warmer clothes to wear on your adventure. Winter Burrow's storybook-like illustrations give the game a distinct charm, and take the dark edge off dangers such as freezing to death.
Winter Burrow is scheduled for release in 2025.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby
Of all the games I tried at SXSW Sydney, Wabisabi Sushi Derby was the quickest to capture my heart.
Developed by Japan's ITAMAE STUDIO, Wabisabi Sushi Derby has you play as a sushi chef creating cute little bites and entering them in races. These adorable morsels automatically run around a sushi train track, avoiding hungry customers and speeding up when you cheer for them, but will eventually lose freshness if they aren't eaten. You can even train your sushi to improve their stats, which is pretty satisfying. I would absolutely eat up a sushi raising sim.
Though the gameplay was relatively simple, Wabisabi Sushi Derby's cheerful sushi pixel art and fun concept easily held my attention — I could happily just sit and watch them run around a track for a while. I'm curious to see whether the full release will continue to keep player interest.
Wabisabi Sushi Derby is scheduled for release later this year.
Dungeon Inn
While your traditional business management sim will never get old, it's always interesting to see developers try something new. Developed by South Korean studio Cat Society, Dungeon Inn is unique in that rather than directly focusing on building and running an inn, players will spend most of their time arranging signage to direct the flow of guests.
You play as the commercially-minded proprietor of a new inn, strategically located near a popular dungeon. Said dungeon is a frequent destination for the members of two rival adventuring guilds, providing two streams of potential customers on either side of the inn. The catch is that you must serve both guilds without letting either find out that you're also playing the other side.
While Dungeon Inn does allow you to build new facilities, the primary focus is on erecting temporary roadside installations. These can alert potential guests to your inn, sell them snacks to alter their speed of travel, or even stop them on the road, preventing opposing guilds from running into each other and catching on to your scheme.
Dungeon Inn is scheduled for early access release on Nov. 14, with the full launch expected in 2025.
Identifile
Identifile was one of the more creative games at SXSW Sydney's showcase, positioning you as an antivirus fighting off malicious intruders on a computer. Developed by Singapore's Gearbyte Games, Identifile utilises a procedural folder-based dungeon system on a replica PC desktop screen, with every file acting as a new room. Open a file, and you can find coins for upgrades, keys to open zipped subfolders, and, of course, malware.
Players' attacks depend on the cursor they choose at the beginning, with each option offering different stats. One may require you to repeatedly click on the evil pixellated representations of malware overtaking your screen, while another deals damage by circling them. Just remember to play in short bursts to prevent RSI.
I did initially have trouble figuring out why I was losing health, as the build I played didn't make clear that you are your cursor and must dodge attacks accordingly. It's likely Identifile will be making some tweaks to address this though, with the game still under development.
Identifile has not yet announced a release date.
Demonschool
Higher education is hard enough without dealing with gangsters, demons, and "big weirdos," but at least Demonschool gives you a squad to help you through it. From California-based Necrosoft Games, Demonschool is a turn-based tactical roleplaying game that draws inspiration from Italian giallo horror as well as Shin Megami Tensei (sans collectible monsters).
Described as having a "light horror narrative," Demonschool fortunately isn't too frightening — especially since you can punch demons in the face. Facing off against supernatural denizens who have no business being anywhere near a school, Demonschool has you plan your four party members' attacks on a battlefield grid, then hit a button to execute all of them simultaneously while you sit back and watch the carnage.
You also need to plan your school schedule to build your characters' skills, and befriend people so you can take them on your demon-punching adventures, just like real life.
Demonschool is planned for release in early 2025.
