For those not in the know, Gamescom took place last week. While E3 tends to put a bigger spotlight on big budget games, Gamescom, like PAX, usually results in a lot of news regarding upcoming indie games. While I wasn’t able to attend the show in person, I have been sifting through trailers and announcements from the show and compiled a list of the ten which caught my attention. A note: all of the games featured here have yet to be released, but I have included trailers for all of them and applicable platforms of release.

10. Flotsam

Platforms: Windows, Mac

Flotsam is a survival game about building a seafaring colony out of floating garbage. There are also management aspects to the game as you’ll be issuing orders to your colony of “drifters”. While survival games aren’t normally my cup of tea, the premise of playing a game where recycling is a key mechanic indicates there may be a layer of strategy that could get its hooks into me.

9. El Hijo

Platforms: Windows, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Stealth games are usually hit or miss for me, but El Hijo has me intrigued. The visuals were the first thing that caught my eye followed by the gameplay. You play as the six year old El Hijo, who’s small stature necessities solving problems indirectly. Where most stealth games give the option to subdue, or kill everything that stands between you and your objectives there appears to be a much greater focus on stealth here.

8. Minute of Islands

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Similar to El Hijo, Minute of Islands caught my eye initially because of the visuals. It then continued to retain my attention because of how weird the remainder of the trailer is. While visuals alone are a silly reason to be interested in a game, I’m curious to see if the rest of Minute of Islands is as interesting as the artwork.

7. Necrobarista

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, PlayStation 4

I’ve had my eye on Necrobarista for a while now. It’s a visual novel that is aiming to utilize the third dimension to create several interesting vignettes throughout the experience. This is noteworthy as the overwhelming majority of visual novels use the same 2D art repeatedly. I’m interested to see if Necrobarista’s unique spin on the genre results in a meaningful difference.

6. We Are Screwed!

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

We Are Screwed! looks like Overcooked in space and that is meant as the highest of compliments. Control a spaceship with up to three of your friends as you explore the vast expanses of space. You and your friends will need to run around and micro-manage various aspects within the ship such as navigation, defence, cleaning, and putting out fires. I rather enjoyed playing through both Overcooked games with my SO and We Are Screwed! looks like another game we can enjoy together.

Bonus points if there are additional skins/hats to unlock.

5. Boyfriend Dungeon

Platforms: Windows, Mac

Weird genre mash-ups are always interesting to experience. Boyfriend Dungeon is one such game. It’s a hybrid hack & slash and dating sim game. Yes, really. Each of the game’s weapons has a persona of sorts which you’re able to date. As your relationship with each weapon improves they’ll become stronger in battle. The premise is unique enough that I’m willing to give Boyfriend Dungeon a chance based on that alone.

4. Grand Guilds

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, PlayStation 4

I enjoy grid based tactics games. I really enjoy card games. Grand Guilds is both of these things in one. That alone is cause enough for Grand Guilds to capture my attention. It’s a tactics RPG where you use cards to issue your attacks. With promises of deck building being a prominent feature, I’m hopeful that the card driven combat is well implemented rather than a superfluous gimmick. Time will tell, but I’m excited for the game regardless.

3. Cyber Shadow

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

A platforming game. What a surprise. Yes, I like platformers if you couldn’t already tell from the ones I’ve reviewed, almost all of which are varying levels of positive. Cyber Shadow has a retro aesthetic which is almost always good in my books. Plus it’s being published by Yacht Club, the Shovel Knight people! If you’re a platforming fan Cyber Shadow is a game to keep on your radar.

2. Lamplight City

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

In relative terms, I only recently found out I really like detective…everything. It never dawned on me that part of why I enjoyed detective television shows and movies was because I simply enjoy detective stories and solving mysteries. So when I saw the trailer for Lamplight City I was smitten. The trailer made it seem as though you have a lot of freedom in how you approach solving the game’s mysteries, so I’m very excited to eventually play Lamplight City.

Edit: I realized a day after publishing this article that Lamplight City is already out on Steam & GOG. Feel like a goof for not noticing.

That said, you can pick it up here if you’re interested.

1. Tunic

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Xbox One

And for the top spot we have Tunic. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had their eye on this game since it was first shown at E3 2018. You play as an adorable little fox wielding a sword as you explore ruins. It looks very Legend of Zelda inspired, especially with the main character sporting a familiar green tunic. I’m enthusiastically anticipating being able to explore every inch of Tunic’s world once it is finally released.

Well there you have it. Those are my ten favourite games featured at Gamescom 2019. Additional shout-out to CrossCode, which release last year, but was present at the show. My assumption is this was to hype people up prior to the Switch release. If you haven’t already played the game on PC I highly recommend checking it out when it releases on the Switch.

Are you equally hyped for any of the releases I high-lighted here? Did another game make your short list that I missed? Let me know in the comments!