Culture

All of the absolute bangers from the Annapurna Interactive showcase including The Artful Escape

Jul 30 2021
Written by Ed Nightingale

Stray. (Annapurna Interactive)

Annapurna Interactive only publish bangers, and their first ever Showcase was no exception.

From the award-winning Outer Wilds, to queer favourites like If Found and Sayonara Wild Hearts, the publisher has a knack for discovering incredible indie games.

This showcase gave us a look at some upcoming games from around the world and partnerships with new developers. Here are all the games you need to know about from the Annapurna Interactive Showcase.

The Artful Escape

Games don’t get more psychedelic than The Artful Escape. It’s a colourful platformer that sees a rockstar wannabe creating his stage persona; travelling through wildly creative worlds. The star-studded cast includes Lena Headey and Mark Strong and is set to feature an incredible soundtrack. It’s coming to Xbox and Steam on 9 September.

Stray

A cyberpunk game where you play as a cat? Count us in. Fans have been hankering for more information on Stray since it was first announced and this showcase finally gave us a deeper look at gameplay. As the cat, you’ll need to navigate a cruel world, solve puzzles and uncover mysteries of the world’s human-like machines. The cat is as mischievous as it is adorable with playful interactions with robot residents, rivalled only by companion robot B12. We can’t wait to play more when it arrives on PlayStation and PC in early 2022.

Solar Ash

From Heart Machine, the makers of Zelda-like Hyper Light Drifter, Solar Ash has a stunning aesthetic that immediately grabs attention. Colossal creatures, platforming, puzzle solving – this is shaping up to be a must-play. It’s coming to PlayStation and the Epic Games Store on 26 October.

Outer Wilds DLC

An expansion to Outer Wilds is on the way that will feed directly into the existing narrative. The space time travel game doesn’t necessarily lend itself to more content, so the trailer remained pretty cryptic. It’s coming on 28 September, plus the full game will be on Switch this holiday season.

Neon White

From the creator of Donut County comes Neon White, a single player speedrunning first person shooter. With godlike parkour moves you’re tasked with purging heaven of a demonic invasion but you’re racing against others to stake your place. Using cards gives you movement abilities, but discarding them gives one-off special abilities too. The short levels are perfect for speedrunning and the striking aesthetic looks gorgeous. It’s coming to Switch and Steam this winter.

A Memoir Blue

Described as “a journey into the depths of memory”, the showcase gave us a brief look at this melancholic, wistful narrative game. It’s coming soon to Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, mobile and Steam.

Storyteller

Storyteller is an imaginative game that challenges your… imagination. You’re given a title, settings and characters and then it’s up to you to tell the story. As such, it’s like a puzzle game but with multiple solutions. It’s coming soon to Switch and Steam, with a demo available now on the latter.

Skin Deep

When you smell, you’ll need to wash. There’s fair logic behind first person sci-fi puzzle game Skin Deep that sees you infiltrating a space pirate spaceship and solving puzzles to defeat enemies…and wash yourself. It’s coming soon to Steam.