Tribeca Games Spotlight: All the extraordinary Video Games at the 2022 Tribeca Games Showcase

Otakus and Geeks got to attend the Tribeca Press Preview days for Tribeca Games and experience playable demos of the upcoming featured games. This year’s Festival features 9 official Games selections that demonstrate phenomenal storytelling, art, and innovation through interactive experiences. Festival goers will be the first to experience a playable Games Gallery at Spring Studios, featuring demos, art, and artifacts for this year’s selections, which include: American Arcadia, As Dusk Falls, The Cub, Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course, IMMORTALITY, OXENFREE II: Lost Signals, A Plague Tale: Requiem, Thirsty Suitors and Venba.

I got to play and experience each of these game selections, and also speak with some of the creators. Every single one of these games was intriguing, well- thought out and completely original. A game that completely caught my attention is the new thriller “As Dusk Falls” coming from X-Box Studios, this game is going to be a literal game-changer.
You can check my coverage here!

Check out all of the Tribeca Games Selections Below:

Tribeca Games at the Tribeca Festival celebrates the convergence of games, entertainment and culture, highlighting the storytelling, art and innovation of games. Tribeca champions every frontier in the art of storytelling, and video games are at the forefront of pushing narrative to ever greater heights. 

Our advisory board of visionary leaders in both the film and games industry champion Tribeca’s power in shaping the future of games as a powerful form of storytelling.

The festival kicked off with the Tribeca Games Spotlight, a digital showcase featuring exclusive gameplay and creator interviews from Tribeca’s official selections co-hosted by Janina Gavankar, Rahul Kohli, and Abubakar Salim. (June 10th) www.tribecafilm.com/games

American Arcadia (Out of the Blue Studios / Raw Fury)
Action, Drama, Thriller, Science Fiction, Technology

Welcome to Arcadia! A 70s retro-futuristic metropolis where all of its citizens enjoy a life of luxury and comfort… unaware that they’re being broadcast live 24/7! Arcadia is not an ordinary city, but the most-watched reality show on the planet—where a drop in popularity ratings comes at the highest cost: death. Uncover the truth and escape with your life from a televised utopia in Out of the Blue’s brand new puzzle platformer game.

As Dusk Falls (INTERIOR/NIGHT / Xbox Game Studios)
Drama, Thriller *Mature

As Dusk Falls is an original interactive drama from INTERIOR/NIGHT that explores the entangled lives of two families across thirty years. Starting in 1998 with a robbery-gone-wrong in small town Arizona, the choices you make have a powerful impact on the characters’ lives in this uncompromising story of betrayal, sacrifice and resilience.

The Cub (Demagog Studio / Untold Tales)
Action, Environmental, Music, Science Fiction

Welcome to Earth after The Great Climate Catastrophe, where only the ultra-rich managed to evacuate to Mars. Decades have passed and those on Mars venture back to Earth to collect specimens like a safari hunt. As the Cub, a mutant orphan immune to the toxins that killed off most of humanity, players will be relentlessly hunted by a science expedition and must run to safety amongst the ruins of Earth. Featuring an original soundtrack program, Radio Nostalgia from Mars.

Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course (Studio MDHR)
Animation, Action

Another helping of classic Cuphead action awaits you in Cuphead - The Delicious Last Course. Brothers Cuphead and Mugman are joined by the clever, adventurous Ms. Chalice for a rollicking adventure on a previously undiscovered Inkwell Isle. With the aid of new weapons, magical charms, and Ms. Chalice’s unique abilities, assist the jolly Chef Saltbaker and take on a new cast of fearsome, larger-than-life bosses in Cuphead’s final challenging quest.

IMMORTALITY (Half Mermaid Productions)
Experimental, Horror, Thriller, Art, Mystery *Mature

Marissa Marcel was a film star. She made three movies. But none of the movies were ever released. And then Marissa Marcel disappeared.

After discovering rare footage from her three lost movies—Ambrosio (1968), Minsky (1970) and Two of Everything (1999)—award winning Game Director Sam Barlow (Her Story, Telling Lies) has assembled an interactive trilogy in which players can explore the legend of Marissa Marcel through her work.

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals (Night School Studio / Netflix)
Animation, Drama, Thriller, Science Fiction, Mystery

OXENFREE II: Lost Signals is the mind-bending follow-up to the critically-acclaimed narrative adventure game OXENFREE from Night School Studio. In the small coastal town of Camena, unnaturally occurring electromagnetic waves are causing interference with electrical and radio equipment. Reluctantly, Riley Poverly returns to her hometown to investigate the mystery. What she finds is more than she bargained for.

A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio / Focus Entertainment)
Horror, Action, Women, Drama, Thriller, Mystery

This direct sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence follows Amicia and her brother Hugo on a heartrending journey into a breathtaking, brutal medieval world twisted by supernatural forces as they discover the cost of saving loved ones in a desperate struggle for survival. Strike from the shadows or unleash hell, and overcome foes and challenges with a variety of weapons, tools, and unearthly powers. A Plague Tale : Requiem will be released in 2022 on consoles and PC.

Thirsty Suitors (Outerloop Games / Annapurna Interactive)
Action, Women, Comedy, Drama, LGBTQIA, Romance, Asian Diaspora Stories

Jala is a young woman returning home for her sister’s wedding and confronting her past. With wildly varied gameplay, Jala will fight skate punks, random suitors, and ultimately, her exes, in the ultimate battle to heal old hurts and ignite new truths, bringing Jala closer to understanding what she wants from her future. Can she learn to love herself and heal the wounds of her past?

Venba (Visai Games)
Animation, Experimental, Food, Asian Diaspora Stories

Venba is a narrative cooking game centered around an Indian mom who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes, restore lost recipes, engage in branching conversations, and explore a story about family, love, loss and more.

Indie Game Preview: From Beneath

H

ey Otakus and Geeks fans. We attended Otakon and met some developers of a great mobile game coming soon to Tablets and Smart Phones. From Beneath is a survival horror game that keeps true to genre. Here is a quick bio about the game:

W

hen a group of people wake up in a strange, twisted version of their world, they must use their strength, wit, and survival skills in order to find a way out of the nightmare. But something sinister lurks, slowly eating away at their sanity, feeding from their fear. Their only hope is a unique ability, hidden deep within each of them. Will they embrace their gift?

“From Beneath” brings a console-quality stealth horror experience to iOS and Android devices.

Experience a story seen from 8 different points of view. With unique characters and intertwining  paths.

Large explorable environments.

Mission based gameplay

Use your “gift” to sense nearby enemies.

Avoid prolonged exposure to enemies and gruesome scenes in order to maintain your character’s sanity.

As your character’s sanity depletes, the world changes and becomes even more nightmarish.

Seek out hidden documents throughout the levels in order to uncover more of the story and the dark secrets of the town.

F

irst Look:

From Beneath is due to be release sometime by the end of this year, but our first look and play of the demo..... It's pretty Awesome. It definitely keeps true to survival horror games and reminds me of games like Fatal Frame, Alone in the Dark, and Clock Tower. Each character in the game is unique and has their own unique skills to get them through the game. One thing I like about this game is when you encounter monsters and they spot you, it causes you to go into a state of fear that slows you down or you have an emotional response like crying. The graphics are really good for a mobile game. The environments look sharp and clear. I can't wait till it's released and we will keep you updated on the date.

Checkout the video interview below: 

Shattered Planet Showing At Boston FIG

As some of you might know the Otakus & Geeks game will be attending this year's Boston Festivial Of Indie Games. This convention showcases the indie developers of the state of Boston. One of the developers that will be there is the group called Kitfox Games. Kitfox will have a demo of their RPG game entitled "Shattered Planet." Shattered Planet is a survival-strategy RPG with randomised planets and dozens of crazy items at your disposal. As the Blight devours all light and life in the Universe, you are tasked with finding the only cure: the Amulet of Yendor, left behind aeons ago on the war-shattered human homeworld. Venture ever deeper into Old Earth's wilderness and try to survive as long as you can! The game will be released on PC and Tablets early next year. Here are some screenshots of the game and  more coverage of "Shattered Planet" when we hit Boston FIG.

Screenshots

Humble Bundle 8

The Humble Bundle 8 has just been announced and for under $10 USD. You can get seven awesome indie games plus soundtracks.

The games include Dear Esther,  Thomas Was Alon,  Capsized,  Awesomenauts, Little Inferno, Proteus and the award winning  Hotline Miami. This is not the only time they have done this and will not be the last so remember to sign up for their email updates by going to there site https://www.humblebundle.com .

The Humble Indie Bundle 6

The Humble Indie Bundle 6 is now out and its your chance to get 6 indie games for less than 10$ and support charity. This time around it is a great buy with dustforce and vessel as two of the six games available why not. also keep in mind the sale is over next week and separate you will end up spending over 50$ on theses games and helping charity is always nice plus all oft these games are genuinely good. Get it at http://www.humblebundle.com/

featured games down below

 

The Binding Of Isaac Review

The binding of Isaac is a twisted and unforgiving Action-adventure/dungeon crawler made by Edmund McMillen one  half of team meat, who made the ever so popular Super Meat Boy. The binding of Isaac is on steam for 5$ USD and the wrath of the lambs DLC that doubles the content is 3$ USD. Is this game worth your time or or an easy pass?

Story- In the binding of Isaac you play as Isaac who lives with his mother who has a obsession with  Christian Television. Every thing is simple until the day  Mom hears a voice from up above ant tells her that Isaac is corrupted by sin and that he needs to be saved. Obeying the voice she takes every thing from Isaac including his pants, then after hearing the voice again this time she locks Issac in his room. Then after in the final calling from the Voice he demands she sacrifice Isaac to show her love for him. In a panic Isaac finds a trap door to his basement under his rug and proceeds to jump down in time to escape his mother. Now this is where your journey begins to face Mom.


 Gameplay- Is unforgiving for short if you die and that it you start over from the start losing everything a very old school way of gaming this top down has taken. But this is what gives the binding of Isaac its charm the from items that could save you ass to the unlabeled pills that could easily screw you over every thing is a mystery and you will be playing this game over and over and over. Another major part of the game is the Special rooms such as Treasure Rooms, Shops, Secret Rooms and more where one you could find Items, shot machines, enemies or even a mini boss whatever you find could mean the difference between life and death. But don't forget every thing comes at a price weather its a key, coins or something else. Also lets not forget Isaac his only weapon are tears (unless you find a tear changing item) yes Isaac cries and uses them as ammunition against the array of enemies you will encounter and there is no shortage of them. On another that note the controls are great and take some time to get used to at first most people will be confused especially since there quite a few items that change the controls. Keeping that in mind those controls are what will be used to take on the boss rooms witch only get harder and takes experience to beat most of them. There are moments where things seem broken and even unbeatable but after playing for a year and experiencing most of whats to offer this game perfect as gameplay and controls go. But in all to beat this game you will need both skill and luck.

Graphics and Sound- This is the most unpolished part of the game but the majority of bugs in this department are usually caused by your hardware and not the game it self. That said the art is insane everything looks as amazing as gorey yet cartoony game can look every thing fits and the bosses are all very disgusting looking in a good way. The sound fits every action and and rely is amazing.

Final Grade 9.5- In short this game is amazing! And the replay value is higher than any game I have ever played, the game is based around you replaying and learning from your mistakes. This is a game were every thing effects you and will have you playing for awhile I'm still playing! But I highly recommend this game to any one and is one of the best I have played in awhile.

P.A.M Review

P.A.M which stands for Post Apocalyptic Mayhem is a action racer with out the race, (lol) it is a cross between Full Auto and Twisted Metal. This destruction derby indie is made by Steel Monkeys and is 9.99$ USD on Steam. Is P.A.M a worthy buy or a an easy pass?

 

Story- There is none! But does a destructive car based action shooter really need one?

Gameplay-  P.A.M is hectic! The way it should be, nothing short of its name your set in a post apocalyptic environment in what ever crazy car you choose, amongst mayhem and your causing most of it. There are three game modes and all are pretty much the same thing. You are not really racing as you are keeping up with the crowd collecting power ups and racking up kills, it is basically Mario cart with out the race. Even though are some bugs and moments in the game you will die and you be left saying WTF but it dose not really effect the gameplay. Your end goal is to collect the highest kill streak by time the race is over, or you could set it to first to a certain amount wins. Either way its a blast!

 

Multilayer- Multilayer is recommended playing with all your friends is is a great way to experience P.A.M in its true form and best of all really fun. Although  public severs are pretty laggy and unless one of your friends has a good computer with great internet its pointless. But if so it is really fun and can easily play for hours. 

Graphics and Sound- The graphics are surprisingly good. I mean didn't think they would be horrible but there better than whats expected of this type of game. The developers could have easily made it cartoon like with no problem but instead they made it realistic, which is not expected of any indie developer. On the other hand the sound is nothing special the sound effects fit and the music is easily muted and replaced by your own.

Final Grade 7.5- At the low price of 9.99$ USD this P.A.M is a great buy and is really fun. With a diverse group of selectable cars and good amount of levels you can play for a while. But a lack of game types that seem like an easy addition and a few mechanics like laps that make no sense for the one game type keep Post Apocalyptic Mayhem from reviving a higher grade. But none the less it is an interesting and fun Game.

Video version of this article

Braid Review

Braid is an artsy indie game that was released summer of 2008 on XBLA, since then it has been released on nearly every other platform and has received many prestigious awards. Does Braid offer any thing new? Is it worth all the hype? But most of all is it fun?

Story- In Braid you play as Tim and he is searching for the princess and not much else is revealed till later on. The story is essentially Mario with a cynical twist. Not much else can be said with out spoiling the whole game.

Gameplay- Braid is a puzzle platformer, the gameplay is a cross between Mario and Prince of Persia with some banjo kazooie collectables. It is pretty easy to see these elements plucked from those games and pays ode to them as well. For example at the end of every world there is a dinosaur who tells you the princess is in another castle or some variation. But that aside the the controls are clunky and the hit boxes on enemies feel out of place. There is no urgency in the level design while most puzzles are difficult there is no real need to solve any of them your player can just walk right to the end door and ignore the the puzzle pieces. While you need the puzzle pieces to complete the game you don't need them to get through 90% of the game, witch makes it feel like hassle and not some thing that is needed. The boss fights are sub par you can just spam the rewind and hit him over and over. Also some puzzles are more confusing than challenging and certain levels feel like re-skinned versions of older levels. Also the main problem is that your character is invincible if you die you rewind time and there is no limit on this power so death is welcomed cause it really is not a problem.

 

Graphics and Sound- Soundtrack is amazing a fits the games art perfect. While I am not a fan of the art I appreciate how well it fits the world and is executed great none the less. The world you are placed in does feel alive and is a work of art, every enemy and platform fits perfectly. The dinosaur is the coolest thing art wise in my opinion. But one thing that bugs me is the enemy sounds, the death sounds does not fit and the bunny enemy sounds like a dieing cat.

Final Grade 6.5- To be honest I do not find braid to be fun. I can see how one would enjoy it, but it just does not catch my interest. The puzzles are hard but there is no real driving reason to complete them. The controls are below par witch makes trying to beat Braid a chore instead of a fun experience. If your willing to look past the controls and enjoy tedious puzzles then by all means check out Braid. Its a cool concept and the twist is interesting but I feel most players will not find it to be fun.

 Video version of this article

Seedling Review

If you don't know already Seedling is a Zelda-esque flash game on Newgrounds.com, made by user ConnorUllmann. Who has created several games, including Quietus, Casus and Hollow. Does it deserve Zelda comparisons? Is Seedling worth your time?

Story- Seedling is based around our adventurer who happens to be a seed and his journey. He does not know much but knows he is here for a reason. "A small boy is born from the wind, appearing in front of a house. He doesn't know his purpose, but knows that this house is important. This house holds his answers--and the beginnings of an arduous journey that will introduce him to creatures and objects he has never seen, as well as bring him to question right and wrong." As stated by the developer.

Gameplay- The gameplay is essentially a RPG/ top-down dungeon crawler with various easier than it seems puzzles.While trying to navigate seedling's various obstacles, as arrow keys are set to control your movement and x and c for combat you will find your hands cramping up quite often and certain parts seem impossible after trying twenty-five times. There is no difficulty setting and is pretty straight forward with dungeon progression. Every stage can be completed as difficult as it may seem, seedling is actually more forgiving than some of his indie brothers like the binding of Isaac. There are respawn points at the entry of every room and you never loose items upon death. The level design is set up to complement your progression and move along with every new item you acquire. Bosiniad burning tremors was the most rage-inducing level for me while the bosses was defeated in 15-20 seconds tops while the first boss I could not figure out how to beat at all. But that is my only complaint as far as gameplay goes. Seedling took me about three hours to beat  the most I have spent playing a web based game with an end which is a good thing in my book.

Graphics and Sound- The graphics are as good as a flash based top-down RPG can look. The art is amazing not complex but is done very well. Every level feels alive and has an atmospheric vibe that the sound complements very well. With the exception of certain bosses every enemy when hit looks and sounds like there were hit, this is some thing a lot of flash games and even big published games have trouble perfecting but seedling has it down packed. Also the soundtrack for this game is great and fits the game exceptionally and is only 1$ on bandcamp.

Final Grade 8.5- I love this game a few glitches, puzzle bugs and misleading level design, keeps Seedling from getting a 9 or 10 but it is an amazing game and deserves a play and it is free so why not. Click here to play Seedling.

Slender Game Review

If there is one thing that has been lacking for me as a gamer is a good scare. I can only play Dead Space, Fatal Frame, Silent Hill and Resident Evil series for so long. Needless to say I was in a horror game drought until my friend told me about Slender by Parsec Productions.

Story - The game is loosely based on The Slender Man mythology. The Slender Man was created at the Something Awful Forums in a thread entitled "Create Paranormal Images." He is described as wearing a black suit strikingly similar to the visage of the notorious Men In Black, and as the name suggests, appears very thin and able to stretch his limbs and torso to inhuman lengths in order to induce fear and ensnare his prey. Once his arms are outstretched, his victims are put into something of a hypnotized state, where they are utterly helpless to stop themselves from walking into them. Not much is known, as no specific information has been found about origins, but his objective and habitat are made very clear. He has the need to kidnap children, and is seen right before the disappearance of a child or multiple children. He seems to prefer fog enshrouded streets and wooded areas as a way to conceal himself from being noticed. It should also be noted that children have been able to see him when no other adults in the vicinity could. Children also have dreams or nightmares concerning The Slender Man before their disappearance. Confiding these stories to their parents are met with the usual parental admonition: overactive imaginations. Source - http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/Slender+Man.

Gameplay - The game is played in the first person perspective. Players begin in the woods only armed with a flashlight that will run out of batteries. The objective of the game is to collect 8 pages scattered in the woods and various locations to find out about The Slender Man. Simple mission, simple gameplay and it works very well with this environment. The gameplay takes you back to the old days of walking through a haunted house, or playing a game with a time limit before the monster comes and gets you. The game does nothing new in any sense. However it brings back the feeling of being tense, not wanting to look around the corner because you think the monster is there. What makes this game really scary and a joy to play is that Slender Man is watching you the entire time. You never really know where he will appear. They will give you  little hints like having your screen go fuzzy. Other than that he will appear anytime from anywhere. Just know the more pages you collect the more faster and more relentless he will become. The game is over if he gets too close to you or you stare at him for too long.

The controls are excellent and that is thanks to the fact that you can customize the controls to how you want it. Use the mouse, the keyboard or both. I found it easier to use the keyboard for the controls and the mouse for the camera angles. Overall the gameplay is solid, old school horror and you will enjoy the simple but great scares Slender Man provides.

Gameplay Video -
Graphics - The graphics is not up today's standards. However the graphics does succeed in the environment lighting. Even though the graphic doesn't carry the power you expect from console games, the lighting in this game really adds to the beauty and feel of the game. From dark corridors, to the woods the flashlight illuminating light in dark areas are the games strongest graphic points.

Sound - The sound does a great job of adding scary elements, from the haunting sounds of the woods, to the creepy orchestrated music when Slender Man is near.The game gives you a pure horror experience.

Replay Value - The game is not too long, but has replay value of watching your friends get terrorize by The Slender Man. Since he can appear randomly you might want to explore and see where he might appear next time.

Final Grade B+/8.5 - For those looking for a more realistic scare Slender is right up your alley. No zombies, no aliens, no weapons just a flashlight, the woods and a stalker. Simple gamplay, good scares and a great soundtrack. This is one free game you don't want to miss.

Download The Game Here
http://slendergame.com/