PITCH NIGHT IS FINALLY HERE! Today, we watched all the incredible pitches you have been working so hard on to see so we can vote on what our game for next year will be! Without further ado, these are the pitches!
An Axolotl’s Tale
An Axolotl’s Tale is a cutesy, relaxing game about the unlikely friendship between an axolotl named Lulu and a cloud named Nimby. The gameplay will be a side scrolling shooter like Cuphead’s flying levels, using water as both the health system and the ammunition. Learn more from their slides and written pitch!
Odd Jobs
Money makes the world go round! At least, that’s what they say. And how do you make that money? Through some Odd Jobs! The story is of a young woman named Maggie with little more than pennies to her name. Struggling to pay bills, you’ll be running around a street trying to find minigame “jobs” to do. You only have a minimum amount of stamina each day, so use it wisely. After all, in this world you either move up or move out! Learn more from their slides and written pitch!
Taco Cat
Alex and Jamie are two cats that are online friends, and Alex wants to meet up! To do so, Alex is going on a roadtrip in the family taco truck! The problem? Alex is heading to college! So, you gotta go fast to make sure you get there in time. The driving gameplay considers traversing hills in a 2D auto-runner style, using gas to propel the car! How do you pay for gas? By selling tacos of course! The better you do in the tacos, the more gas you’ll have for the driving minigame. Will you make to Alex in time? Or will you be too late? Learn more from their slides and written pitch!
Dreamcatcher
A girl, suffering nightmares before her first day of school because of their arachnophobia, is gifted a dreamcatcher that will help them be free of her nightmare! The gameplay consists of puzzles the player encounters in a top down 2D world designed to make the player tense, make the player think, or both! All the while she’ll gain access to cyphers that help her unlock her locker and free herself from the nightmare, helping to resolve her fear in the process. Learn more from their slides and written pitch!
Harvest
There’s no board of ethics in the apocalypse! When a morally questionable scientist finds themselves facing the end of the world at the hands of zombies, they resort to using the limbs and other body parts of their foes, augmenting their own skills in the process. The gameplay consists of a 2D beat-em-up, using body parts instead of traditional weapons. The game contains some horror and gore aspects, but plans to take on a cartoony, Sribblenauts-esque artstyle to balance out. While trying the survive, the player’s goal is to try and find the cure! Find out more in their slides and written pitch!
Heir of Death
The essence of life, the spectral core, like a fire it burns, flickers, and eventually…fades. Even Death himself fears the fading of the light, so when Death looked upon his hourglass and saw only a small handful of grains remained he knew what he must do. Death scoured the annals of history. Looking for a fitting spirit to replace him, conquerors, rulers, warriors, and scholars fell to his tests. Leaving him with you, a peasant from the 5th realm, can you prove your worth and become the Heir of Death! The gameplay consists consists of a top down hack-n-slash in an arena setting, with a style similar to games like Hades. The gameplay should be high mobility with a variety of available spells for the player to use in combat. Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Downbeat
Downbeat is a cross between a rhythm game and a fighting game, where people duke it out using their musical instruments! The fights play like a traditional 2D fighting game but: you gotta be on beat! Attacking off beat will result in either less damage or even the attack failing. Perfectly falling on the beat gives you a boost to your attack! Fights will be lead into after intro sequences which play more like a traditional rhythm game section. There will be a variety of characters designed after musical instruments with their own combos! Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Deal of the Damned
Deal of the Damned is a top down 2D pixel game focusing on Nathan, a man taken to another realm after not coming to terms with their death. Him and his friends need to try to escape after being forcibly sent there by the antagonist Draevous, who feeds of the pain of those in his realm, killing them to become stronger. The player will need to complete puzzles, avoid enemies, and manage a limited inventory to attempt to save themselves! Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Potion CATastrophe
In this game you play as an alchemist running a potion shop in an amazing fantasy city filled with daily magical events. One day, an alchemical mishap turns our main character into a cat! More importantly, they’ve forgotten how to be an alchemist! You’ll need to relearn how to make potions and how to make yourself a human again! There are two gameplay aspects: 2D platforming and potion crafting. In the platforming segments, you explore for potion ingredients! When you’ve found what your looking for, you return to the shop and attempt potion crafting. The story can be as serious or lighthearted as the writing team wants, leaving a lot of options for the game. The aesthetic will be generally cutesy, but the color scheme will reflect the direction the team takes the game (be it dark or more lighthearted). Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Escape into the Sun
Escape into the Sun is an intense multiplayer 2D platformer who need to coordinate their abilities to climb to safety! The game tells the story of two ninjas, Akira and Yu, trying to escape after pulling a big heist. Akira is stealthy and able to avoid obstacles, whereas Yu is fast and equipped with a grapple hook. Taking advantage of both abilities, the duo needs to climb high enough to be saved by their escape helicopter! Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
The Tipper
The Tipper is a first person psychological thriller taking place in 1970s Seattle. A struggling photographer receives questionable tips from an unknown source on where to take certain photos. The tips will become increasingly suspicious, leading to crime scenes where the player will need to take photos and examine for clues to try and figure out who the tipper is. Will the player properly identify the tipper, or will they get it wrong and pay the ultimate price! Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Shattered Faith
Shattered Faith is a 2D puzzle game about a person working in an old abandoned chapel. They’ve been hired by an old monk who hopes to restore the chapel. The player rebuilds the stained glass in the chapel, learning along the way some secrets and more about the hidden faith this chapel and owner are a part of. The gameplay involves interacting with the Monk with dialogue, with different choices having different results! Fixing the glass itself will also require some puzzle solving, making to properly fit the pieces and colors together. Just what is this faith that this chapel is all about? What is really going on? Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Remnants
You wake up in a stylized 3D jungle environment, looking around and seeing ruins reminiscent of an airplane crash. As you explore the ruins, you find various items that tell stories, like photos, journals, and more. You learn more about various people and their backgrounds from these, becoming worried that they are already dead. Along the way you also stumble upon various alien artifacts. As you try and piece these all together, you eventually find the crash site and learn the horrible truth. The plane crash was caused by an alien, and looking into the reflection of the plane you see that it was none other than yourself. You aren’t another victim here, you are the perpetrator. Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Devil Headed
After experiencing a major tragedy, our main character goes to sleep. However, an evil demon takes residence in the players head, wishing to take over their body. Through the gameplay of a dreamlike roguelike, you work through a dungeon to try and find the demon… only to die. When you die in the dream, you awake in the real world, entering visual novel segments where you can make new friends and establish social links. As you befriend people in the dreams, you unlock more and more in the dream world allowing you get further and further. By the end, the player has grown both in the real world and dream world, and is strong enough to conquer both the actual demon and their personal ones. Learn more in their slides and written pitch!
Welcome to Greasy’s
You play as a fast food restaurant owner, trying to investigate a rival restaurant called Greasy’s by posing a new hire. The player works through playable modules which take place in Full Motion Video! Over time, they learn more about the story through glitches in these modules and hints left by an ex-employee, leading them to learn the new restaurants gross secret ingredient. The game presents itself with a creepy and corporate 80s atmosphere, with the goal of creating a mystery that is rewarding to unravel. Since this is a game involving Full Motion Video, real acting and props will be needed for the game, adding a fun new aspect to both the gameplay and development process! Learn more in their slides and written pitch!