EGX 2018 was a whirlwind of video games, stage-based livestream shenanigans, loud music and free
badges - not bad for our first gig as a video team.
There we were out and about on the show floor, dodging queues for days, playing games that
caught our eye, even interviewing in Matthew's case and chancing upon a copy of Vib Ribbon
in mint condition if you're me.
That said Matthew, Alice the Third and I have compiled a list of our favourite games from
EGX to share with you, our audience, some of whom attended the show to which we say
thank you for your support!
If you haven't already please feel free to subscribe for more videos like this.
It's not too often that we play characters, even in horror games, that make consistently
bad life decisions, much less in a calculating fashion.
So when I started playing Those Who Remain and immediately learned that the fairly unlikeable
main character, Edward, was driving to this dingy motel to cheat on his wife for the umpteenth
time, I was immediately engaged: why cheat?
Who is this mistress, who feels the need to use a false name on hotel sign-ins?
What is Edward's wife like?
Who is Edward?
Just what a supernatural thriller/horror amalgam needs… mystery, arguably this demo's main
strength.
They're all questions you have ponder while dealing with horror.
Similar to Alan Wake, the game is built around light manipulation to fight back the darkness
and progress.
The dark is pretty scary, more so than normal; it contains eerie shadows watching you from
a distance with shining eyes and if you venture too far in you can't make much sense of
your bearings at all.
Unlike Alan Wake, however, you are not so much controlling the light source with a torch
(at least in the beginning) but relying on environmental lights to clear a path.
You find fuses for generators, locate light switches and power up electrical towers so
that light bulbs and lanterns, vehicle fog lights and the like slice out a very clear
path from the darkness.
That means ambient lighting for days.
Your actions in the game also have some bearing on the 'other' world in the game, a separate
reality of sorts that I experienced in the demo for a short time - a strange place with
impeccable sound design that made it feels as though you were on a fast track to drowning.
I mean that as a positive.
If, like me, you like losing yourself in the dark, watch out for Those Who Remain when
it creeps onto PC in 2019.
Portal meets The Stanley Parable meets Firewatch.
That's what The Bradwell Conspiracy looks and feels like.
A puzzle game with a beautiful aesthetic and wonderful sense of humour is just what I've
been waiting for.
This game is based in the South West of England, making it dear to my heart, and also my home,
right next to the Stonehenge.
It's set in 2026, and The Bradwell Initiative is launching its Clean Water Initiative.
Something goes terribly wrong - when does it not - and you end up falling victim to
what looks like an earthquake, waking up among rubble, and with damage to your throat, you're
unable to talk.
The AI system does its best to try and get you out of this situation, but it's not
doing a very good job of it.
Thankfully you come across another survivor, her name is Amber, but you're both trapped
on opposite sides of this huge door.
The only way you can communicate is through a pair of smart glasses - wow, this really
is the future - and by taking pictures to send to Amber for her to guide you through
the facility.
This is where it feels most like Firewatch.
As you get deeper and deeper into the underbelly of the companies building, you start to learn
that something is amiss.
You'll be able to traverse through puzzles using a 3D printing method - super futuristic.
When you first learn how to use the 3D printing gun, you're introduced to the company by
none other than Jonathan Ross.
As a voice actor, of course, not as an actual character.
That'd be ridiculous.
Or would it?
I guess we'll find out when it comes to PC soon.
If you spend an inordinate amount of time in Animal Crossing sending little letters
to the townspeople, have an unhealthy obsession with job-simulators, think Papers, Please
is a masterpiece, or enjoy the simple life and times in a place like Pelican Town in
Stardew Valley then boy, is Willowbrooke Post for you.
That also means it is 100% for me.
In this quirky game you are entrusted a post office owned by your parents and pretty much
take up the mantle whilst they are absent with help from Pete, an old family friend.
That means running a quaint little postal service in a ye olde English style town complete
with letter writing and sending (something other characters respond to apparently in
a way that makes sense to the letter you wrote), build friendships (or not) with the people
of Willowbrooke based on your interactions, and, if you're this way inclined, opening
and reading other folks' mail!
I mean, I personally wouldn't do that, but if you wanted to you could... just a head's
up...
I also spent some time in this demo baking an apple pie in a frankly adorable little
kitchenette, which i could give to the local chef who posted a relevant quest on the post
office board.
Or I could have just it eaten myself because it looked delicious, the same of course could
be said for the environments of this game, which are warm, minecraftian and old fashioned.
Perfect for a game about post, an increasingly antiquated custom I know I miss.
It arrives in early access some time next year - well, as long as the delivery man doesn't
mangle it on the way.
Censorship played a role in two of my favourite games of EGX.
The first was Hypnospace Outlaw, where you police the internet as it was in 1999.
Check out our standalone let's play for more on that.
But this is Obviously Inappropriate Content, where you work in a fictional eastern-bloc
country, censoring an action game that parodies Metal Slug.
I'm not sure how accurately it represents the dark arts of QA, but the job involves
playing through early builds of the game - the wonderfully titled Ural Death Machine - and
taking screenshots of obvious bugs or anything that conflicts with strict government regulations.
From my time with the game I learned that I am too bad at 2D run-and-gun games to ever
get a job testing them and that I am terrible at resisting authority figures.
You see, the more changes you request in the game, the more strain you put on your game
studio - as you'll see in daily emails and social media chats.
The challenge seems to be balancing your role as censor, by finding errors to keep the government
happy, and letting some sneaky things slip through to make life easier for your colleagues.
Personally I think they should just drop the politically charged action game and rip off
Candy Crush.
Very hard to get into trouble with candy crushing.
The demo from EGX is available to download from itch so you can see I'm talking nonsense
by playing it for yourself.
I'll pop the link in the description box.
What can I say about Sticky Cats other than it is just a good ole time?
I guess I could also say: 'man, them cats are sticky', but the game's name kind
of explains that bit.
It's one of those bizarro oddities that could been easily bypassed, had RPS word person
Matt C not stumbled out of the hall, with a wild look in his eyes, mumbling about sticky
cats.
Truth be told when I watched this game of two scrambling cats being played the first
time I had to scramble away myself to escape the hyped-up screams of the children playing
it.
That was of course until we took over.
Having to somehow steal a fish from the bowl and escape out the window with it, our cats
claws sticking into everything from the carpet to the hanging lights and houseplants, is
just too daft to resist.
I couldn't help but laugh and exclaim at the sheer joy of it.
Turns out the kids were right all along.
Why do we even hire boring adults to make these videos.
'Sticking' certainly helps movement, though you can launch into the air as well, but factor
in your opponent and cue the hilarity.
From game to game, your cats even change in size: from rumpy pumpy Tom's to little scrabbly
kittens.
It makes each game feel a little different though not so much as to be unnecessary, which
is nice seeing as the fumbling controls are designed with chaos in mind as it is.
From the bizarrely accurate animations of the scatty cats to the weird names you win
with, Sticky Cats is hilarious.
I predict many drunk parties with this as the center of entertainment.
Humans are pretty good at just chucking trash wherever they please, right?
Pajama Llama highlights this through its on-water city builder, Flotsam.
Your helpful guide is a seagull with a plastic six-pack ring round his neck called Steven
Seagull.
Bad-um-tsh.
Me being the worrier - or should I say warrior - for the planet that I am, this already made
me connect with the game instantly.
It's your task to sail the post-apocalyptic seas and scavenge any debris that you find
floating along the surface over the top of ruined, underwater cities.
Recycle everything you find, and transform all of the flotsam, various bits of rubbish,
and loads of shipwrecks, into new buildings and docks for your city.
Keep your creations safe by steering your town around with your sails, and avoiding
anything that's trying to eat you or sink your town to the bottom of the sea.
Make sure your townspeople have fresh water, lots of food, and enough scrap to keep themselves
afloat.
Ha-ha.
Geddit?
A...float…?
Because… water…?
Nevermind.
For a game that's set after the whole world collapses, one can only assume due to human
error and not recycling, it's a real feel-good, colourful, and fun game to play.
At the very least, We'll get to find out what it feels like to be Kevin Costner in
Waterworld.
Hopefully without the wee drinking.
I can see myself sinking many hours into this game once it SETS SAIL next year.
Eh, yeah?
That one was good, right?
Give me that one at least.
My next pick is Kine, a game where you navigate a blocky city with a set of musical instruments.
On paper, a trombone or accordion may not sound like a great choice for explorer.
There's a reason Lara Croft hasn't got legs made from brass tubing.
But a few minutes with the demo reveals them to be remarkably able heroes.
They mainly roll, but are able to extend and contort - as instruments do - to reach across
gaps or vault to new areas.
Each character has a different movement pattern and is exploring parts of the world designed
for them, but the really clever bit is where their paths intersect and they team up to
push or carry each other to safety.
At any point in the game you can pause your progress with one instrument and zoom out
to the world map to dive back in and tackle another part of the route.
It really feels like you're chipping away at one massive puzzle, rather than just solving
a chain of self contained obstacle courses.
And, of course, it has a killer soundtrack that gradually layers up as different musical
devices come into play.
If you were into the rolling conundrums of Stephen's Sausage Roll then you'll enjoy
this - it's like that game, only with pianos instead of a meat tubes.
I know which I'd rather listen to.
No firm release date yet, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one.
The Snap Hunt has a lot going for it: I'm talking beautiful Firewatch-like visuals,
dynamic music and an intriguing premise all wrapped up into a cat and mouse chase with
the mysterious Wendigo: a mythological monster of Algonquian folklore.
Put together in a mere ten weeks it's a competent piece of terror gaming.
On first glance, and going in without a clue, you wouldn't expect anything too weird to
happen - of course I've ruined that for you now but I have to recommend it and something
tells me: 'you take pictures of mauled tents' isn't enough to give you an accurate idea.
So spoilers?
In The Snap Hunt you walk around a lovingly realized woodland setting with a camera and
search about for clues before taking snaps, which are ranked - you are one of those strange
folks who jump into a campervan and travel to the Rockies for a weekend on the hunt for
bigfoot.
This idea of an encounter is actually what drives this game, rather interestingly - walking
about and collecting photos of odd things that catch your eye is gently engaging but
builds this buzz of hope for a Wendigo-shaped shadow for your film roll.
That is until it actually happens.
Fog and reactive music (that creeped me out quite a bit) are telltale signs you are in
danger but you may not actually see the Wendigo… and you start to wonder if those items of
clothing or the weird symbols made from antlers weren't actually traps to bait you in.
At which point you feel like the character in a horror film that decides to go back to
the car with catchphrases like 'maybe this wasn't such a good idea' and 'it's
not funny anymore!'
If you feel a warm buzz of nostalgia from such tropes, then keep an eye out on The Snap
Hunt.
The thing that drew me to Meridian Line was the fact it's set in the London Underground,
and I have a massive love/hate relationship with those subterranean trains.
Oh, and the developer's business card was a train ticket, that they actually punch a
hole into when they give you it.
It looks pretty creepy and I was trying to avoid shrieking too much on the EGX show floor,
but I survived long enough to get a feel for it.
You play as a girl called Alice - I'm already sold - as she looks for her urban explorer
brother who has vanished in the train tunnels.
It's a first-person thriller game where you navigate the underground - at night, no
less, hooray, my favourite - where you solve puzzles to piece together what really happened
to your brother.
It was in the super early stages when I played it at EGX, but the b-roll they sent over,
what you can see here, has a lot more to it.
Your brother is looking for an undocumented ghost station called Sanctuary, an obsession
that may have taken him to bad places.
You have to pick locks, travel around the tunnel network, use black light to find messages
from other explorers, and use many other skills to reach abandoned stations.
In case this sounds bit too easy, there are also odd figures in the shadows that feel
like they're watching you.
I'm not sure what is worse: shadow beasts or people who leave their evening paper strewn
over the spare seats.
Either way, I'm intrigued to play more...
PHOGS – the game that turns two-headed science experiments gone wrong into an adorable, not
to mention challenging, co-op experience.
The aim of the game is navigate lovely levels as this super stringy sausage dog with two
heads - one head for each thumbstick on a controller - whilst feeding giant snakes with
apples, watering enormous funghi through a fire hydrant, or swinging across hills on
rings.
You can thankfully grab onto items, making proceedings much simpler than just wrapping
your body around a thing and drag until you can drag no more.
Though that works too.
It's a co-op game that is fun first…
second and third.
It's gorgeously realised with bright colours and squishy things you want to roll in like
huge mattresses and pillows.
But it also stands on the right side of mechanical complexity in that it is actually very simple,
in theory.
It's in the execution that the real fun begins.
Think: Octodad or QWOP.
Although in QWOP I'm fairly sure I wanted to hurl my keyboard at the screen rather than
laugh my way through a challenge.
Another thing I like about this game, is that you don't even really need a second controller,
just have each person control a stick and relevant trigger buttons, it is just as fun…
in fact more so because of the limitations it presents.
I love a good on the couch co-op experience and the sillier the better.
I also thought it a good idea to balance out the feline fumblecore of Sticky Cats with
the canine fumblecore because the RPS YouTube channel caters to both cat lovers AND dog
lovers.
Originally designed for a Game Jam with the theme of waves, Wavey The Rocket tethers its
hero to a sine wave and has you steer him past danger by controlling the amplitude and
wavelength of the curve.
Increase the amplitude and you can swoop over or under obstacles, while stretching the wavelength
sees him zip along even faster - good when you're racing against the clock for leaderboard
domination.
It reminded me a bit of the Bit.Trip Runner series in the way it pushes ever onwards,
though there's also much more room here for experimental play and daring score chasing
tactics.
It's a real head-messing experience at first, as you try to line up the curve on the right
hand side of the screen, forgetting that Wavey is still travelling along it on the left,
causing him to crash into endless obstacles.
But at a point it clicks and you begin to to place the curve so you can swoop through
enticing lines of collectibles.
I'm a big fan of games that allow for graceful play - that is, games where the reward of
high skill play is that it looks amazing to watch, as if the player was seeing through
the code like Neo in the Matrix.
I was nowhere near hitting that kind of slickness in my demo, but I can easily people repeatedly
playing the stages to turn their runs into one balletic maneuver.
Kinoko is exactly the kind of thing you want to find at a bustling consumer show.
In amongst that light haze of dry ice and the sticky heat of bustling crowds, this is
a game so relaxing you can happily lose yourself in it.
I know I did.
Inspired by games such as Flower and Journey and Awith a touch of unspoken context that
has become synonymous with the games of Fumito Ueda, this world is one you take at your own
leisure.
It's designed to be enjoyed without needless exposition or meddling.
You play as this thing, which reminds me of a more charming, mage-like, genderless Jack
Pumpkinhead, who brings spring back to a series of beautifully imagined islands blanketed
in snow.
And as a few adorable little forest sprites tell you (all voiced by the team of students
who made the game, believe it or not) or rather babble and motion via a series of animated
drawings, you can interact with certain objects in the environment: a pile of snow, a mound
of dirt or a tree.
And as you clear the snow and ice island-by-island, more work is required.
The joy of this game is in small discoveries; finding an underground cave with glowing mushrooms
and a little bay filled with giant purple flowers, I frankly forgot I was perched on
an awkward little stool with people uncomfortably peering over my shoulder as I played.
You can zoom out into an overhead view of the map but from what i could tell it didn't
point you in the direction of every snow-clearing activity, so that leisurely stroll remains
relatively uninterrupted.
Kinoko is the work of a student team, and I'd be very interested to see where they
take it from here.
Thank you for watching our list of games we enjoyed on the show floor at EGX 2018 - did
you attend the event?
What did you like the most?
Please let us know in the comment section below.
If you want to know more about any of the games we've picked, pop your questions down
there and we'll answer those too.
If you enjoy hearing about the quirkier side of PC gaming, please don't forget to subscribe
ro Rock Paper Shotgun, and click the notifications bell so you know the moment we upload.
We do lists, essay-style reviews, previews and let's plays and there will be plenty
more to come!
Thanks again and we will see you soon.
Goodbye for now.
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