IndieLand 2021: Indie Developers Unite To Raise Money For Dementia Research
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Starting now, you can help indie developers, The Completionist, and The Open Hand Foundation raise money for dementia research.
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For the last several years, Jirard Khalil (The Completionist) and The Open Hand Foundation have teamed up to host IndieLand—a live streaming marathon where indie game developers share their creations to raise money for dementia research. In 2020, the event raised over $80,000 and made the jump from a 36-hour broadcast to a weeklong campaign for charity. IndieLand kicks off its 2021 opening fundraising initiative today with its $100,000 goal, while streams begin this Friday, September 24.
How You Can Help
IndieLand has already chosen its line-up of developers for this year’s event, but you aren’t limited to only watching and donating during the live streams. You can visit IndieLand’s Tiltify campaign page and register to help. There are no mandatory goals for participating, and those who do can collect challenge coins towards fundraising incentives in the form of IndieLand gear.
You can begin streaming yourself now to raise money for dementia research, using #IndieLand2021 across social media to promote your own efforts for the next week. To watch and donate on September 24 – 26, you can keep up with the event on Twitch and YouTube.
IndieLand 2021 Schedule
Indie developers will join The Completionist as they stream through one-hour time slots throughout the marathon. Broadcasts may be joined by some of the talented folks behind the projects, popular YouTube personalities, or even celebrities—Jamie Lee Curtis even showed up one year. The surprises and developer commentary are part of the fun in helping out for a good cause.
You can check out the full schedule below, and dive into more details on some of the event’s games. There’s also a Steam landing page to either wishlist upcoming indies or buy them now.
September 19, 2021 (PST)
- 10am – Boomerang X
- 11am – Toodee and Topdee
- 12pm – Gestalt
- 1pm – Demon Turf
- 2pm – Freedom Planet 2
- 4pm – Elsie
- 5pm – Sea of Stars
- 6pm – Struggling
- 7pm – Chicory
- 8pm – Berserk Boy
- 9pm – Cursed to Golf
September 24, 2021 (PST)
- 10am – Blossom Tales
- 11am – Revita
- 12pm – Demons of Asteborg
- 1pm – Camp Canyonwood
- 2pm – Oxenfree
- 3pm – Savior
- 4pm – Severed Steel
- 5pm – A Little Golf Journey
- 6pm – Unbeatable
- 7pm – Phantom Abyss
- 8pm – Victory Heat Rally
- 9pm – Sands of Aura
- 10pm – Dap
- 11pm – Terror of Hemasaurus
September 25, 2021 (PST)
- 12am – Oddventure
- 1am – Monobot
- 6am – Red Laser Z
- 7am – Sable
- 9am – Whateverland
- 10am – Haven Park
- 11am – Tunnel of Doom
- 12pm – Pupperazzi
- 1pm – The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest
- 2pm – 5 Force Fighters
- 3pm – Beard Blade
- 4pm – Axiom Verge 2
- 5pm – Spirit Swap
- 6pm – Glitched
- 7pm – Inti Creates
- 9pm – Sunblaze
- 10pm – Armed and Gelatinous
- 11pm – Grotto
September 26, 2021 (PST)
- 12am – Dros
- 1am – Toem
- 6am – The Last Cube
- 7am – Aeterna Noctis
- 8am – Valfaris: Mecha Therion
- 9am – Anuchard
- 10am – Inner Ashes
- 11am – Nobody Saves the World
- 12pm – Demon Throttle
- 1pm – Elderand
- 2pm – To the Rescue!
- 3pm – 30XX
- 4pm – Dandy Ace
- 5pm – Lil Gator Game
- 6pm – Renaine
- 7pm – Yacht Club Games
- 9pm – Crowd Control: The Binding of Isaac
Neowiz, Blade Assault, Sannabi, Unsouled, and Celeste will fill a few other late-night slots through the weekend.
Indies Participating
Aeterna Noctis, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: December 15, 2021
A striking, hand-drawn 2D art style makes Aeterna Noctis a standout in a sea of metroidvanias. The art team at Aeternum Game Studios crafted frame-by-frame animations with an attention to detail that looks thoughtful and fluid. You’ll become the King of Darkness, fighting an eternal war against the Queen of Light while struggling to regain your powers. Aeterna Noctis aims to keep things fair while maintaining a challenge, as the game’s difficulty scales while you unlock new skills and complete objectives. Its story is set, but how you get there is left to choice as the King of Darkness travels through 16 connected zones to share his journey.
Cursed to Golf, Platforms: Steam, Itch.io, Release Date: Coming Soon
Armed with only three clubs and a golf ball, you’re a cursed golf professional trapped in a purgatory dedicated to the sport, trying to make it out alive through “golf-like” gameplay. Cursed to Golf is a whimsical, inventive take on revisiting activities or games we’re familiar with and turning them on their head into something more inviting to the unfamiliar. Developer Chuhai Labs’ pixel art mayhem sends you through 80+ ridiculous holes filled with hazards that defy the laws of physics.
Dap, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: September 29, 2021
Developer Melting Parrot’s project presents you with an unnerving union between horror and Pikmin as you gather and protect a group of vulnerable little sprites called Daps. However, unlike Pikmin, Dap’s world is intensely frightening, and its threats don’t come in the form of big, goofy creatures. Instead, Dap will pit you against hellish threats in a pixelated spirit world that’s far crueler than its Nintendo cousin. Shepard your Daps to safety, ushering them through puzzles along the way, but take care to make sure they don’t fall victim to otherwordly influences and turn on each other.
Demon Turf, Platforms: Steam, Epic Games Store, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, Switch, Release Date: TBD
At the tender age of a thousand years old, little demon Beebz busts her way through gangs of underworld baddies and turf leaders to crown herself the Demon Queen. In Demon Turf, Developer Fabraz is crafting a world where 2D models meet 3D environments to create a distinct aesthetic that broadens the scope of Beebz’s adventure. It’s platforming with a little demon flare, as your tiny hero’s journey offers big rewards for revisiting levels already conquered through new environmental changes and secrets.
Elsie, Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Release Date: TBD
Elsie is a technicolored action-platformer that throws rogue-like challenges your way in a dazzling sci-fi universe. Developer Knight Shift Games borrows the best parts of rogue-like appeal in its level design, random bosses, augments, treasures, and difficulty. As the game’s namesake, Elsie, you’ll wreck your way through robotic foes and carefully crafted rooms with a flashy kit of melee weapons and fiery beams. There’s no extensive roster a la Megaman classics, but Knight Games reinvents its crafty hero again and again via its leveling system. As a result, you’ll begin every playthrough kitted out in new ways, focusing on parry options, running and gunning, or hybrid builds.
Freedom Plant 2, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: Spring 2022
As a sequel to its namesake, Freedom Planet 2 returns with its classic Sega Genesis platformer aesthetic, but with a renewed focus on its own identity while parting with nostalgia. Freedom Planet’s original cast returns with Lilac, Carol, and Milla, as their planet, Avalice, faces the threat of war after its leaders have dark secrets revealed. Developer GalaxyTrail seeks to deliver its biggest adventure mode yet, sending you jumping, spinning, guarding, and parrying through an experience that’s twice as long as the first.
Inner Ashes, Platforms: PS4, Release Date: TBD
Developer Calathea Game Studio follows in the steps of other emotional journeys like Firewatch and That Dragon, Cancer with its first-person narrative about life as an Alzheimer’s patient. You’ll witness the daily struggles after an early on-set diagnosis as Henry, a middle-aged man trying to tap into memories of his only daughter, Enid. Henry faces the challenge of recalling why he’s separated from her, and you’ll explore his mind as different stages of the disease begin to set in. Henry will discover the truth in fragmented pieces, visiting colorful and unique worlds that hide those secrets along the way.
Renaine, Platforms: Steam, Switch, Release Date: TBD
Renaine introduces you to The Phoenix Knight, Aine, a precious protagonist with a lot riding on her shoulders. Aine faces the classic fairy tale battle of knight versus dragon, but she’ll need to overcome her own failures before saving the day. Developer Octosoft packs a lot of personality into its adorable, pixelated world with silly character designs and gorgeous pops of color. Renaine also wants to feel as good as it looks, boasting a smooth 60fps and tight set of controls that are made to appeal to anyone chasing speedrunning records or just looking for a fun, platforming time. The 2D action adventure also has a demo available out now on Steam.
Revita, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: Available Now
Revita is out right now, but the melancholy roguelite continues to deliver content updates after its early access debut. Developer BenStar propels you through a delightfully gloomy clocktower as a nameless child looking to restore their lost memories. Revita’s levels are procedurally generated, sending you into encounter after encounter of fast-paced challenges with a massive arsenal of powers. How you ultimately choose to proceed is up to you; it’s all a game of trial and error for your unnamed protagonist as they can go full glass cannon or opt for tankier builds.
Spirit Swap, Platforms: Steam, Itch.io, Release Date: 2022
Spirit Swap is an endlessly charming, colorful match-3 action-puzzler from developer Soft Not Weak. You’ll mix and match combos to a soothing, lo-fi hip-hop soundtrack by artists Meltycanon and eyesonbrandon, casting spells and unlocking powers as you go. Its cast of queer witchy demons turn the Tetris experience into something far more magical, as Spirit Swap’s puzzles accompany a narrative of party planning, concert crashing, and flirting. Your adventure doesn’t have to be solo, either—Spirit Swap has versus modes so you can turn those strikingly vibrant challenges into a group affair.
Struggling, Platforms: Available Now, Release Date: Steam, Switch, PS4, Xbox One
Struggling—perhaps the most relatable game title of our generation—is a co-op, physics-based platformer where you control a horrifying abomination with a friend. This thing is a fleshy amalgamation of two faces and two arms that are grossly stuck together in a strange ball. It’s a hilariously disturbing experience in teamwork as you control one arm and your friend wields the other, latching onto objects and pulling yourself about in a world that’s just as unsettling as your weird little creature. It’s gross, and you’ll struggle, but at least you’ll make weird new memories with a friend.
The Last Cube, Platforms: Steam, Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, Release Date: Q1 2022
The Last Cube is probably the most intense game about a three-dimensional square you’ve ever seen. Improx Games drops you into the aptly named cube-world—as a cube— for sessions of brain-teasing puzzles in a peculiar universe. Your whole purpose is to save this strange world, collecting stickers with unique abilities to propel you to the next level. The Last Cube sports over 100 puzzles, and its brilliance turned Improx into an award-winning developer for its sticker system gameplay.
The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest, Platforms: Steam, Itch.io, Release Date: Late 2021, Early 2022
It may look familiar, but this isn’t Castlevania. Instead, The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest is a love letter filled with parody and homage for games of the NES era. There’s a lot of heart that goes into recreating our limitless nostalgia for cartridge-based adventures of decades past, and developer Programancer packages it all up in a bundle of cheeky writing and classic combat. Simon Quest, and his hunt for Stan Helsing, revisits an age when Konami was king—promising a modern, faithful tribute to the things that kept you glued to old CRT setups for hours past your bedtime. If you’re itching to give it a shot now, you can check out Programancer’s demo on Itch.
Toodee and Topdee, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: Available Now
Developer Dietzribi is combining 2D platforming and top-down perspectives in a way you may think wouldn’t work—but it absolutely does. Toodee and Topdee acknowledges as much with its meta humor in a charming wink and a nod to its hybrid mechanics. You can grab a friend to help swap between perspectives, bending genre rules and conquering transdimensional challenges as you go. Toodee and Topdee is silly in the best ways, promising to deliver a journey full of secrets and headscratchers as a reward for overcoming its perplexing trials.
Unbeatable, Platforms: Steam, Release Date: TBD
Music is illegal, but you’re a criminal here. Developer D-Cell Games’ dynamic world of pastels and action follows a young girl on a rhythmic adventure where music has been outlawed for reasons we just don’t know yet. Unbeatable takes inspiration from anime action sequences and pairs them up with tight rhythm game mechanics to get you fighting to a beat. While Unbeatable is keeping a lot of its big story beats close to its chest, D-Cell Games says it’ll be a narrative-driven, emotional experience. You can’t play for yourself just yet, but it does have a demo available now on Steam listed as Unbeatable[white label].
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/indieland-2021-charity-how-to-help-donate-dementia-research/