Gamescom Latam: BIG Festival's Winning Games

TheBIG Festival, or Best International Games Festival, is a festival that every game developer longs for visibility for their works. As one of the biggest platforms for new game releases from Latin America to the world, this year, it happened throughout the gamescom latam festival.

The UmGamer team made a complete press coverage of the event, and we tested many games that were competing in several categories in this year’s festival. Here, we’ll bring you all the winning games from each category at gamescom latam BIG Festival!

A game that already had many prizes and amazingly positive reviews, Chants of Sennaar, developed by Rundisc, besides winning theBIG Festival, also got the New York Game Awards 2014 for the best indie game. The game brings a whole new approach to the puzzle genre, where we control a traveler who goes to many different places and floors in a really extensive tower, based on the Babel tower myth.

There are different languages spoken in the tower, and the peoples inside are isolated, having conflicts among each other. Part of the puzzles involves decipher their languages, that somehow are all connected, so the people can eventually reunite again. Another differential of the game are the different art styles and traits of each tower’s floors.

Created by the Argentinian team Furnite & Mattress LLC, it is yet another puzzle game, this time putting together many combats and exploring aspects. The main character is Jemma, on a self-discovery journey in a stagnated culture. Here, the unique aspect is the gameplay: the backgrounds move on a grid with the character, uniting all of its mechanics with a good flow and pacing. The game release is expected for July 25th this year.

By Bombservice Studios, here we have another game from the Momodora series, an established metroidvania-style game with jaw-dropping pixel art and intense gameplay. Following the events that took place at the ending of Momodora 3, this is an end for this series, where the main character Momo defends her people against demon hordes attacks. This game is a good opportunity for gamers that seek challenging gameplays, with a lot of content, considering it is a franchise with 5 games.

From the French studio UMANIMATION & UN JE NE SAIS QUOI, the focus here is on Mimi’s narrative: remembering moments from childhood with her grandmother with sounds, smells, handmade paintings and feelings. All of those also compose her journal, that keeps telling more elements and secrets for the adventure.

A German game by Slow Bros. UG, we get a unique mood: a spaceship sunk deep in an alien ocean, where researchers control this colossal place trying to find a new place for these humans to live. The uniqueness of the art involves the astonishing use of stop-motion animation: the game elements are made with sculpture and modeling techniques.

A casual comedy game developed by Triband, we control a car, but with legs! Besides being able to fish, swim and sing, you can also create stages and share them with your friends and release it online. The game has won the mobile gamers over, and is great for casual players.

Another one straight from Brazilian developers, from Studio Bravarda, Extremely Powerful Capybaras is a bullet heaven where the player controls capybaras that have to face enemy hordes and waves, getting stronger over time and unlocking new abilities. With classes, weapons and styles, the game’s differentials are many, including its unusual art style and themes.

Developed by Bonte Avond, here you learn about two clown friends who perform from town to town, trying to sneak into the Royalty theater and steal a diamond. You can decide how your performances go, and its indie music is composed by the developers themselves. The game also captivates with its simple visuals, which goes extremely well with its comedic tone.

Created by Paul Hart & Lee Williams, Cryptmaster happens in a dungeon, but everything is controlled by words. The heroes need to defeat a necromancer, solving enigmas and fighting enemies, and the players can both speak and say verbally a word that has the solution to the crisis. This also involves vocabulary dominance: if you don’t know the words used for certain spells, you won’t be able to use them at all!

Ironwood Studios brought us a survival game, but with something different: we have nothing but a car with us! Here, the car is an essential component for your longevity, and upgrade it is necessary to advance in the game. The customizing elements are another strong point, and we can adapt the vehicle for different zones and also stylize it.

Galaxy Grove made a casual game, created for the moments when it’s necessary to relax and solve things in an elegant and strategic way. We begin with some rural structures, and expand our train track roads in different regions, each time bringing a new and more vibrant ambiance. On this game, quick reflexes and thinking fast are not necessary, making strategy and patience the best way to optimize your routes.

From the brazilian team VRMonkey, the player here has the chance to experience what it feels to be inside a platformer game in VR. With mechanics to jump from platform to platform in low gravity, the game also features multiplayer tournaments, customizing and sandbox mode, where players can also create their own levels.

From Hyper Drive Game Studio, the game is a roguelike that features a card deck building, but also controlled by a chess game where magical abilities can be used (and it looks complicated, doesn’t it?). Here, as known from roguelikes, the game presents a high rewarding replayability, cards and increasing challenges.

Garoa Studios this time brings us an astronaut pig as the main character, in a retro-futuristic adventure that explores non-mapped planets with its intelligent spaceship. The game has a wide lo-fi soundtrack, with soft and direct dialogues, being a full treat for cozy game lovers. The game also features a Make-a-Beat mode, so players can compose their own songs.

We still have to cover some wonderful games that won prizes in other categories, especially inside the BIG Impact category, which addresses diversity, social and educational matters. These games can be further approached by our team in future separate articles, due to their important themes and topics, and they're true artistic masterpieces. Among the categories, we have the following:

BIG Impact: Best Diversity Game: Sibel’s Journey (Food for Thought Media)

Conclusion

Besides the developers’ opportunities to showcase their work, it is also a delight for people who love to try out new games with unique premises and ideas. It has been visible how the scene has grown internationally, and it is also very interesting to see the public interact so well with new themes and issues that hadn’t been explored. Slowly but surely, both the national and international indie scenarios are growing steadily, and we can expect an even better gamescom latam edition next year!