Tokyo Game Show 2017 Special! Part 1

To make up for the lack of a Twitter Roundup last week, I'm gathering up the Japanese games from the Indies Corner at Tokyo Game Show this year! I only got a chance to play a few, but trust me, there's a reason they were on display!

Note: games may not be free/ have a release date.

In alphabetical order by developer name...

[RPG] StarMined
by 4th cluster
for iOS / Android
to be released by end of 2017
free

An RPG for smartphones. Interestingly, the random encounters of RPGs are there, but proceeding through the map is a totally different experience. Instead of a chibified version of your character, you have only a pinhole view of the screen and proceed between glowing points. We'll see as it gets closer to the release date!

Japanese Language Difficulty: ★★★ (3/3)


[Card] The Fiend with 17 Faces
by Alpha Code
for iOS / Android
to be released
price undecided

Among the VR games at TGS, this one felt the most like a party game. Your goal is to catch the fake detective by looking at the suspects on your screen and matching their features with the cards on the table in front of you. I can totally imagine this being played at a board game cafe- as long as everyone has a smartphone- of which there are several in Tokyo, not to mention other cities in Japan. With the majority of VR games at the moment focusing on a single player's immersion, often involving horror/suspense or nausea-inducing motion, this game took a stab at the social game arena and, in my eyes, succeeded.

I have a feeling it's just an updated version of their previous game, SPYvsSPYvsSPYvsSPY, but, hey, it works!

Japanese Language Difficulty: ★★★ (3/3)
There's a lot to keep track of! Once you figure out the rules it should be possible to go through the motions without understanding the text, but you'll want someone there to explain for at least your first try.

[Sim] TINY METAL
by Area35
for Switch / PS4 / Steam
to be released Autumn 2017
price undecided

I simply could not write a post about Tokyo Game Show's indie scene without including the title my friend fell in love with while there. It's a turn-based strategy game- haven't seen one of those in a while!- developed by self-described "grizzled" developers. The graphics look cute, but it's definitely a war game, and a polished one at that.

Japanese Language Difficulty: ☆☆☆ (0/3)
It will come out in English as well!


That's all! Feel free to ask for more information about any of these games or this year's TGS through my Twitter account (to the right).