Indie Oddities & Unexpected Delights: Five Games, Five Vibes.
Hotel tycoon, trolley conductor, cat delivery service, a free 1v1 arena shooter, and a typing dungeon crawler. Talk about variety.
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I could squeeze in two playtests of games that I was very interested in, both very different in tones and gameplay; a free 1v1 fast-paced arena shooter, a surreal, poetic typing game, and a gloomy but cute delivery service game.
Hotel Architect
Developer: Pathos Interactive
Publisher: Wired Productions
Socials: Pathos’ Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, Facebook | Wired’s Twitch, YouTube, BlueSky, Reddit, Discord | Game’s BlueSky
Hotel Architect is a tycoon hotel management game, where you aim to make the best hotel in different regions of the world. What initially drew me in were the cute visuals and the idea of managing my hotel in said cute world. What had me playing way more hours than I initially expected was the simplicity in the management and the ability to customize.
The playtest has two cities available, Gothenburg and Paris. Gothenburg is used to show you the basic mechanics of the game, such as allocating zones (laundry, staff room, bedrooms, gym, spa, etc.), hiring staff members, calling construction workers to build walls and bring in furniture, the talent tree (which allows you to get better equipment, staff, and so on), and more.
Of course, there are objectives you need to complete, ranging from getting several upgrades, getting the clients to use certain zones, or getting a certain starred review from a specific group. As there are different groups, from backpackers to upper crust and a few more in between, depending on how you decorate and what you implement in your hotel, you will attract different clientele.
What I found fun and welcoming is that these levels already started with a functional hotel, and you simply added to them. It allowed for an easier and less frightening onboarding experience than I think these games have. I could see what works and add from there. However, when you start the Paris mission, the third floor is in shambles, and you need to build some stairs to send people up there to clean it up and refurbish all of it.
I suspect one level will start you off with basically nothing, but I know that by then, the player would be more than ready to tackle it. It was a friendly, both aesthetically and mechanically, tycoon game, and I am excited to see the end product.
I still need to get my hands on Blood Bar Tycoon.
Troleu
Developer: Andground
Publisher: CRITICAL REFLEX
Socials: Andground’s Twitter, YouTube | CR’s Twitter, Instagram
On second thought, this and Hotel Architect aren’t so different, right? Maybe the difference is just at a smaller scale, perspective, humor, mechanics… Troleu is a first-person trolleybus management game, where you play as a conductor who ensures that everyone going in pays their ticket, and follows the rules.
The way you make sure the abiding citizens get their tickets is by receiving payment and giving them their change, scanning their cards, and ensuring that their pass is theirs and up to date. And of course, if they aren’t using a valid ID, if they are being disruptive, as sometimes using speakers or being a certain age can get banned on your way to the end, you simply kick them to knock them out, then throw them off the moving trolley.
It’s a simple game that can get chaotic, as unhappy customers can make the inspector appear, or simply by getting to the part where you pick up the inspector. When the inspector is there, you had better have checked everyone and kicked out everyone who’s not supposed to be there, because he will get you. If he finds someone unattended or who shouldn’t be there, he will Mr. X or Jaeger you, and the only way to beat him is by throwing people at him.
Which is fairly easy because the trolley can get full. Luckily, you can add the upgrade to your trolley by doing well enough on the levels, which will make life easier. You also get some weird guy in a trench coat to sell you tickets, which can run out fairly quickly, and upgrades, such as more health and strength to win fights more easily.
Oh, right, you can fight people in this game. They’ll get angry and start throwing hands at you. A little boy or girl? Grandma or grandpa? A homeless man? A woman holding a baby? They will all fight you.
The second level of the demo was hard, as you have the night shift in that run, and people are thieving and stealing. If the lights are off, people will steal from you, and it adds up quickly. How are you going to give people their change if you have no change to give?!
It was a fun and chaotic game. Getting my ass beat by a little girl and boy, while also throwing people out of a moving vehicle, was fun. I’m sure the full game will have tons of insane scenarios, and it’ll be cool to see what else you’ll be able to do.
Straftat
Developer: Sirius Lemaitre, Léonard Lemaitre
Publisher: Lemaitre Bros
Socials: Discord
It is crazy that this game is free. For the low price of free.99 (FREE), you can 1v1 your friends in a fast-paced arena shooter with 100 levels. And these rounds are quick, as you slide everywhere, wall jump wherever you can, and you die quickly when you’re getting shot with machineguns, pistols, shotguns, snipers, grenade launchers, or get hit with katanas, bats, butcher’s knife, and so many other weapons.
What I really like about the game isn’t only its speed, how quickly each level loads up, or how you have to run around the map to get your weapons, but the maps.
Each map will have its gimmicks, weapons, and geometry. From being a pitch black arena with flashlight you can find around, a sniper only arena, a level where spikes will squish you unless you get out of the way and the only weapons are tasers, or where you both have a weapon at arm’s reach so whoever gets it has a better chance of winning, maps can be more than just a normal arena. Though they have those, too.
Settle it in Straftat.
Three Verses
Developer: sphere, desktop_trash, kernelfusion
Publisher: D-MAG
Socials: Twitter
Three Verses is a poetry-based typing dungeon crawler. You talk to people, paying attention to every word they say, to figure out what to tell people so they can finish their poems, or to settle disputes with friends through poetry. It reminded me of LSD: Dream Emulator, where everything felt so surreal. Well, to be clear, the demo has two sections, an older one and a newer one.
As an English major, I studied with plenty of poets, and it was always very confusing to me. The way people say so much with a few words and still create colorful and meaningful imagery is something that still has me lost, both in how they do it and understanding it. This is no exception in that not only does it confuse me, but it intrigues me.
The older section is harder to stomach than the newer one, but the concept remains the same. By talking to people, you can find out how to solve people’s problems because there will be a word that’s fully capitalized. It’s like a very obvious hint; you just have to find out where to slam that word to progress.
Of course, this is after walking around in a dungeon crawler perspective, slamming my face anywhere I can and progressing wherever I can, talking to whoever I can. In the older version, it felt like everyone I spoke to was a poet, not only the poets themselves. That’s some skill.
You can also fight enemies, and the magic you cast is magic that you can find when solving what I would call puzzles. Such as someone telling you about PROTECTION or that darkness is weak to LIGHTNING.
The second section is easier to stomach, although it has the same mechanics. There’s a strike going on, and a friendship dispute you will solve with the power of listening, discerning, and relaying. It’s a game that, while confusing to me, still lurks around my mind. It was a unique experience I wouldn’t mind diving into again.
Easy Delivery Co.
Developer: Sam C.
Publisher: Oro Interactive
Socials: Sam’s Instagram, Discord, Twitter, Website | Oro Interactive’s Twitter, Website, LinkedIn, YouTube
Easy Delivery Co. is a relaxing driving game that had me on edge because it always felt too mysterious. You’re a cute cat who works as a delivery driver, delivering whatever people need through a cold and snowy mountain town. The conditions are rough; drink energy drinks to continue working, and it always feels like something is happening in the town.
The said conditions make the deliveries hazardous, as there’s very little traction because of the icy road, scattered piles of snow on the road, and the visibility is low because of the winter winds.
The town seems abandoned, some buildings seem poorly maintained, what I’ll call a camper tells you that the company you work for shut down the radio towers, some buildings looked abandoned or boarded up, and I honestly could never shake off that something was going to happen.
It wouldn’t surprise me if you work for an oppressive, evil corporation. I also wouldn’t surprise me if there were some spooks. Who knows? I wanna know. Someone tell me.
THAT’S IT?
What have you been playing? Anything you’re excited about?
+1 for Easy Delivery Co as well. Anything with a kei truck and I'm sold!
The character design in Troleu is wonderfully horrifying. Easy Delivery Co. looks like its set in Silent Hill.
Both of these are very good things.