26 games from Finland we can't wait to play
Our round-up of every entrant to the PGC Helsinki BIP 2018
Finland is the home of mobile gaming - it's here we got Nokia, which leads us neatly on to Snake, and from there we can jump all the way to Angry Birds. No, really! It's that simple! And we're still getting great games from the country to this day.
It's always a joy to be the first to see a new indie game, to get your hands on an innovative title from a small studio way before it becomes the next big thing. Imagine being the first person to play Reigns or Florence.
That's why we set up the Big Indie Pitch. It's our regular international competition for indie developers. We run about 20 of them a year, all around the world, and they're a chance for local studios and individuals to show us what they're working on. There are prizes, sure. But the real winner is you, dear reader, who gets an exclusive glimpse at the underground hits of tomorrow.
Not so long ago, we held one of these much-celebrated BIPs at PGC Helsinki 2018, our own celebration of mobile gaming in the home of mobile games.
The clear winner was Boom Slingers, a clever mix of Worms and Clash Royale which impressed with its physics-based battling and silly, fun multiplayer offering.
But there's so much more than that, covering a wide genre of games to boot. Expect RPGs, endless runners, and a peaceful ride down a mountain. Every game we saw was a joy in its own right, and we're thankful to every developer who entered.
Want to take part yourself? Check out the Big Indie Pitch website for a list of all the upcoming pitches, and find out how you can get your game in front of our panel of judges.
1
Boom Slingers
By Tuokio
Picture Worms, except instead of shooting your fellow squirmy friends with bazookas and sheep, you're flinging spells at one another.
Now add another twist - it's a bit like Clash Royale in that you only have a set amount of magic power with which to hurl spells around per turn. What've you got? Well, Boom Slingers.
On top of battering enemies with spells launched from the other side of the screen, you'll be climbing the ranking ladders to prove to the world that you're the best against players from around the world.
2
Grand Mountain Adventure
By Toppluva
If gorgeous, open-world skiing adventures are your bag, then Grand Mountain Adventure is the game for you.
A chilled out, relaxing game, you'll be skiing down mountains, pulling of tricks and flips, landing huge jumps, and slaloming between gates to prove that you truly are the king of the mountain.
3
Quest 4 Fuel
By Evil Zeppelin
Mad Max meets mobile RPG in this 4v4 card-based battler set on the backs of cars in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
You'll be amassing a gang of terrifying warriors, destroying everything in your path on the Furious Road and levelling up with the experience you gain from every encounter you have.
4
Ocmo Origins
By Team Ocmo
Remember Ocmo? The rope-slinging platformer is back in a slightly easier edition known as Ocmo Origins, and it looks as good as ever.
Like before, you'll be swinging from platform to platform as your weird, gloopy creature, using your momentum and precise timing to reach the end of the level and absolutely obliterate a cute, white, rabbit-thing for funsies.
5
GunTruck U.S.
By Headnought
This here's another post-apocalyptic car game, but this time you're behind the steering wheel and fending off foes by blasting them away with your turrets.
Using scrap earned through battles in enormous arenas, you can level up your equipment to make yourself even deadlier and face off against bigger and scarier enemies.
6
Crazy Goose Run
By Richard Puhr
In Crazy Goose Run, players will take charge of a skiing goose as they attempt to escape the clutches of a hungry polar bear. You'll be challenged to bob and weave your way around hazards as you desperately avoid being gobbled whole.
Players can expect a fast-paced endless runner, with goofy charm to spare and much goose centric action.
7
Fuzzy Runners
By Aioni
Fuzzy Runners is a fairly simple concept - your furry creature runs along the floor, and with a tap of the screen, you can switch gravity and run along the top of the screen to avoid any traps getting in your way.
Here's the kicker - you can mess with the course as others are playing it, adding in new traps to completely throw them off and beat their times throughout the levels.
8
Engineer Millionaire
By Airapport
A twist on Airapport's Steampunk Idle Spinner, Engineer Millionaire still follows the same core idea - create an enormous money-making machine and keep growing and growing.
This time, you can expand beyond the factory itself, eventually creating droids to do your bidding and creating portals to ethereal dimensions for further money-making opportunities.
9
Medical Force: Overdrive!
By Clusterloop
With waiting times reaching ridiculous levels, Medical Force: Overdrive! introduces a radical new way of triaging patients - picking them up over your head and throwing them into exam rooms.
You'll be facing a constant tide of patients, grabbing whoever's closest, running to the nearest door without knocking too many waiting people over, and chucking your chosen prey through to get healed. Still waiting on NHS approval for this one.
10
The Tower of Egbert
By Giggly Mil Productions e.U.
Egbert is a tiny wizard who needs a hand rebuilding his home, and it's up to you to stack various bits and pieces on top of each other to build the finest tower you can.
You're given the base structure and asked to stack a bunch of items on top of it to make sure it hits a certain height and doesn't topple over - which is a lot harder than it sounds.
11
Irradiant Core
By Sekvensoft
An action-shooter with real-time strategy elements, Irradiant Core sees you controlling a variety of tanks and turrets through a war-torn battlefield, trying desperately to destroy everything in your path.
Alongside all that, there'll be the chance to level up your units and give them new gear to make them deadlier, and multiplayer is being considered further down the line, so you can fight off your friends too.
12
Atomic Journey
By Impact Unified
Atomic Journey is kind of like what golf would be if the balls were sentient and they were actually atoms that you were knocking around the universe.
It's been made by a team of folk who have PhDs in maths and physics, so everything in its infinite number of procedurally-generated levels is scientifically accurate. Except the smiling electrons, I'm sure.
13
CyberHero
By DISTRICT 22
An intriguing cyberpunk shooter, CyberHero has you facing off against your friends in dark, seedy alleyways, blasting them away with superior equipment to prove your skill.
You can equip new and better weapons and armour as you progress, and there's a deep clan system to get involved in and bring a sense of camaraderie to proceedings.
CyberHero at @BigIndiePitch 2018#indie #indiedev #indiegames #IndieGameDev #cyberpunk #Helsinki #gamedev pic.twitter.com/bMmkIboWvj— CyberHero (@CyberHero1337) February 22, 2019
14
Sunset Falls
By Stolen Shoes Entertainment
Shadowlings are coming for your loot, and you've got to stop them by shining the sun on them until they die.
A high score chaser to the end, Sunset Falls pitches itself as relaxing and simple to play - well, as relaxing as destroying Shadowlings can be.
15
Million Lords
By Million Victories
Feel like your MMORTS needed more furries in it? Million Lords is your answer.
Take on kingdoms around the world with your army led by your chosen humanoid creature (humans are included too if you don't want to play as a tiger with breasts), building up your forces and defending your own castle as you go.
16
Jetpack Jumper
By Yummy Digital Arts
What's better than an endless runner? How about one where you have a jetpack and you're trying to get as far as possible without running out of fuel?
That's Jetpack Jumper - you'll be launching yourself from as high as you can, then maintaining your descent, trying to get as far as possible before you smoosh into the ground and record your final score.
17
Rebuilders
The world has been destroyed by climate change, and it's up to you to rebuild the entire planet in Rebuilders.
Everything can be customised, from the vehicles you drive around in right down to your character's face. You then take your newly crafted war machine into online battles against other players, destroying them to help rebuild the planet, I guess.
18
Cattle Royale
By Fat Tail Productions Oy
Get it? Cattle Royale? It's like Battle Royale but with cattle. So you're playing as a bunch of cows trying to eat each other up and avoid an incoming storm.
More like an io game than a battle royale, you'll need to eat everything in sight (including opponents) to grow your already enormous cow and come out on top among the herd.
19
Boom Ball: Boost Edition
By Virtual Air Guitar Company
Boom Ball is something of a classic for the Xbox Kinect, and now it's making its way to Switch to show us what we've been missing out on.
It's a bit like Breakout, with you controlling two bats and trying to smash your ball into a series of 3D block puzzles, all while stopping the ball from flying back into your face and ending your run. Silly fun for the whole family.
20
LOONEY INVADERS
By SIN & REMORSE Oy
Space Invaders, except the enemies are notorious world leaders. You can choose your weapon for each battle, and you can earn 3D printable rewards if you do well enough.
21
Rooster Booster
By Add Inspiration
This is an idle clicker in which you'll need to swipe a screen of chickens to collect their eggs and rack up that sweet, sweet money.
You can build new rooms to unlock more chickens to tickle, and it looks silly enough to keep you smiling as you swipe.
22
THUMBOFF
By Headshot Labs
Remember doing thumb wrestling with your friends as a kid? Now you can do it without touching each other.
Thumboff has you and a friend attacking each others thumbs with same-screen gameplay and power bars. No points if you punch your friend in the stomach to steal victory.
Truly social gaming experience. Game for two players on same device or controller by @HeadshotLabs pic.twitter.com/VVUzOLd90n— THUMBOFF (@thumboffgame) May 21, 2018
23
Heroes of Venturia
By Riimu Games
Like a fantasy take on Fallout Shelter, Heroes of Venturia sees an old legendary warrior set up a tavern and start sending out the new breed of heroes to complete quests.
You'll be hiring heroes at your tavern, then sending them out on text-based adventures for as long as they can handle it, before calling them back to share the loot with you.
24
Bobsu
By DieNo Games
Bobsu is kind of like a bubble shooter, except you've got fluffy bugs and they're falling down instead of being fired up. See the video for more.
25
ShakyTown
By ShakySoft
Run and jump as far as you can before the incoming laser wall kills you. The twist is that the entire world is shaking as you do so, making your platforming a bit harder.
26
Bridge Battles
By Lumberjan
Unfortunately there was no information on this entry available for the round-up. Thanks for entering the Big Indie Pitch!
