For the first time, this year’s Summer Game Fest featured a Southeast Asian Games Showcase (SEAGS), with announcements and updates from developers in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as games from across the globe by Southeast Asian diaspora.
The 45-minute-or-so show went on to highlight dozens of titles, but at the same time was a bit of a muted affair, which seemed to be leaning more into quantity than quality. Nevertheless, while the show didn’t quite set the floor on fire, it did feature a few exciting-looking titles and updates, and hopefully marks the beginning of a new chapter in Southeast Asian games reaching a wider audience.
So, much like the showcase itself, let’s get right into it. Here are the titles that caught our fancy, and we’ll be keeping an eye on:
First up is the newest instalment of Coffee Talk, the beloved visual novel cum coffee brewing and talking simulator (aka a barista simulator), Coffee Talk Tokyo. Set in an alternate version of the megacity where humans and yōkai share stories in a café, the game also features a lo-fi soundtrack and the now-signature cosy vibes. The title is set to release later this year.
Up next was perhaps the show’s most ambitious, meta, and interesting-looking game, Let’s Build a Dungeon. Here’s how developers at studio Springloaded describe it: “Manage a game studio making the world’s greatest MMORPG. Hire designers, coders, and testers, create a fantasy world, then welcome hundreds of virtual players. If they get bored they will cancel their subscription and your investors will have your head. You can even play the game you create”. And it looks every bit as fun as it sounds.
Polychroma Games’ 2024 title Until Then was one of Story Mode‘s favourite games of the year, and is now headed to Nintendo Switch on June 26. Not only that, the studio seemed to tease a new DLC coming out later this year. Exciting days.
Next were a couple of visually arresting titles in the form of Shepherd’s Plan and The Fractured Shimmer. While the former is a noir-inspired office puzzle game blending point-and-click and visual novel elements, where you investigate your corrupt company for revenge after being fired; the latter is a 2.5D pixel-art survival horror adventure where you follow a journalist investigating a string of unsettling murder cases.
Speaking of unsettling, there was HO! Games’ Am I Nima. A psychological-horror where you must convince your mother that you really are her daughter (I guess life be like that sometimes). The game featured an interesting-looking mechanic where you explore, uncover and then combine words together “in your brain” and use them to talk.
Also in the mix was Nightmare Circus, an action-adventure title where players control a “Puppeteer” trapped in the “Nightmare Realm”. Using the “Puppet String” mechanics, players fight enemies, rescue troupe members, and uncover mysteries while navigating a twisted world.
Next up was the beautifully cosy Bathhouse Creatures, by Sleepy Rocket. A charming pixel-art management simulator where you renovate and run bathhouses for quirky animals like ducks, capybaras, and hippos. You manage tubs, heat water, clean, and keep some mischievous characters in line. The game released a few days ago and is available now on PC.
And finally, it was the absolutely gorgeous, Lost and Found Co, by Bit Egg Inc. A cosy hidden object adventure game where players control Ducky, a duck transformed into a human intern at a magical startup dedicated to finding lost items. The game features vibrant, detailed scenes, puzzles, quirky characters, and even a tiny dragon!
And that’s it from us. Although if you wish to check out a few more titles, here are a few that didn’t quite make the cut but still looked interesting enough for a definite second look down the line: I Need Space, Urban Jungle (out already), Mirth Island, Not Monday Cafe, Whisper Mountain Outbreak, Eat the Rich, Grim Trials and No Straight Roads 2. And you can watch the showcase in its entirety below.
