The 2016 Fantastic Arcade announced the complete list of titles for its annual free showcase of independent games, now in its seventh year, and held in conjunction with Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the world’s largest genre film festival. Confirmed guest speakers in attendance include artist/animator, Downwell creator Ojiro Fumoto, and Proteus and Forest of Sleep co-creator Ed Key.
The 2016 Fantastic Arcade Showcase selection:
Armagad (Nathalie Lawhead)
Get to know 2016 Spotlight Developer Nathalie Lawhead through Armagad, her ever-mutating suite of minigames. “It’s what the Internet does to people.”
Burrito Galaxy 65 (SwackSoft softWorks workShop)
The “Cool-talking, Neat Moving, Slap Everything” main-event that was only hinted at with 2014’s Burrito Galaxy 64. This is a fully-polished, playful first-person explorer filled with delicious *swack*.
Cryptark (Alientrap)
Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter where you take on the role of a heavily-armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks.
Daily Motions (Jenny Jiao Hsia)
Daily Motions is a collection of lightning-fast games about morning mundanities-turned-slapstick. From Jenny Jiao Hsia, the artist behind last year’s Fantastic Arcade selection Beglitched.
DUSKERS (Misfit’s Attic)
Pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard.
Emerald (Denis Novojilov)
Somewhere between a game world and a music-creation tool, Emerald stands on the vanguard of a new wave of interactive art.
Far from Noise (George Bachelor)
From the creator of Hot Date, Far from Noise is a conversation… on the edge of a cliff.
Into (Animal Phase)
From the creator of Alone in the Woods, Into is a short surreal journey through yourself.
Islands (Carl Burton)
A surreal trip through the mundane by artist and animator Carl Burton. Reveal the hidden ecosystems of ten unusual islands. Unlock an atmospheric experience while exploring strange yet familiar scenes.
Little Bug (Bela Messex)
Little Bug is a story about a little girl lost in a surreal world between life and death. Play as both the girl and her powerful firefly at the same time, harnessing their telekinetic connection to fly and break through obstacles.
Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet)
A contemplative game experience that combines colorful sandbox toy and experimental treasure hunt. Manipulate abstract tools to modify the topography and colors of an alien landscape.
The Norwood Suite (Greg Heffernan)
You arrive at the old Norwood Hotel, hoping to drop off a demo to the DJ playing in the hotel basement. Soon you find yourself thrust in the middle of a curious, memorable night of adventure, intrigue, and the surreal.
OASES (Armel Gibson, Dziff, Calum Bowen)
A final, psychedelic prop-plane ride for a long-lost hero.
Oik OS Book I (David Kanaga, E.Wolff)
From cult-hit Proteus co-creator David Kanaga, Oik OS Book I is the very first (we’re fairly certain) interactive dog-opera.
PIKUNIKU (Arnaud DE BOCK/REMIE FORCADELL)
Rebuild a community by helping the Worry People confront their fears in this absurd puzzle-exploration game that takes place in a strange, playful environment.
Sacramento (Delphine Fourneau)
Sacramento is a game about capturing fleeting memories before they fade. Drift aimlessly across time and space, and enjoy the quiet while it lasts, as life will soon resume its course.
Soft Body (Zeke Virant)
Soft Body is a meditative action game where you control two beautiful, gooey snakes at the same time, painting the world with their bodies.
Star Surveyor (Slimefriend)
Star Surveyor is a charming platforming exploration game about discovering a foreign planet and quietly observing its alien flora and fauna.
Thoth (Jeppe Carlsen)
Thoth is a challenging twin-stick shooter with minimalistic, colorful graphics combined with intense, paranoia-inducing audio that makes for an exciting mix of art and arcade.
West of Loathing (Asymmetric)
From the creators of classic net sensation Kingdom of Loathing, West of Loathing is a single-player adventure RPG set in the Wild West.
As in previous years, Fantastic Arcade will be home to some of the most exciting and unconventional live tournaments of any games festival. This year, the festival will be bringing the following tournament games to you, simultaneously broadcast on the Venus Patrol Twitch channel:
Downwell, with creator Ojiro “Moppin” Fumoto in attendance,
ARENA GODS, returning by popular demand,
NESpectre, head-to-head glitch wars on NES hardware with full audience participation via mobile phone,
Multibowl, Bennett Foddy and Alec Thomson’s new classic-game multi-mixer, with its featured tournament culminating in a final showdown at this year’s Starcade closing event, and
A secret premiere tournament that may very well go down in Fantastic Arcade history.
Every day of Fantastic Arcade will be filled with panels led by the creators of this year’s selected games as well as special guests, with confirmed appearances by Everything’s David OReilly, Forest of Sleep and Proteus’s Ed Key, Downwell’s Ojiro Fumoto, Hollow Ponds- featuring members of the team behind Fantastic Arcade 2013 favorite Hohokum and many more.
Fantastic Arcade will also be presenting some of the most exciting VR experiences in development.
Come celebrate the opening day of Fantastic Arcade with live DJ sets and games, including an exclusive peek into Kokoromi’s PlayStation VR game Superhypercube at Empire Control Room, September 26th, 9pm-1am.
On September 29th in the Highball, check out PlayStation VR titles set to premiere in October as well as a selection of cutting-edge titles for multple VR Platforms curated by Juegos Rancheros and the Austin VR Meetup group.