Earlier this week, publisher Humble Games held its first-ever Humble Games Showcase. Similar to Nintendo’s Nindies videos, the presentation revealed details about upcoming indie titles and reinforced the company’s commitment to both charity and social causes.
One of the biggest announcements was Monaco II, a sequel to the top-down heist game from 2013. While the game doesn’t yet have a release date, Humble and developer Pocketwatch Games showed off a trailer and discussed their collaboration at length. In addition to Monaco II, a variety of colorful and engaging indies were showcased to round out the presentation.
The games detailed were diverse in terms of both genre and developers. Among the titles showed off was Coral Island, a farming sim from Indonesian developer Stairway Games that raised over $1.6 million on Kickstarter. Humble Games will be its official publishing partner when it releases. Other titles included Moonscars, a 2D Soulslike with art inspired by Dutch painters, and Chinatown Detective Agency, a mystery game based on classic point-n-click adventure games from the 90s.
Some unique genre mash-ups were featured in games like Infinite Guitars, which combines Guitar Hero-style rhythm mechanics with action, and Stray Gods, a “roleplaying musical” featuring a strong soundtrack and dramatic character design. While only a handful of games had release dates — Chinatown Detective Agency releases on April 7 — all of the games shown got thought-provoking trailers.
Outside of the games themselves, members of the Humble Games publishing team reaffirmed their commitment to charity and the advancement of indie games as a medium. The team’s goal is to be a “force for good in gaming” by elevating developers through a variety of social programs and continuing to magnify one-of-a-kind indie titles.
