Devolver has been going robust for 15 years now and has established a popularity for publishing high-quality indie video games from world wide throughout a variety of genres. From the early days of Critical Sam and Hotline Miami, to newer hits like Cult of the Lamb and Inscryption, the writer has a observe file of permitting small, inventive groups to flourish.
To have fun their fifteenth birthday, Devolver is internet hosting an enormous sale on their complete catalog of video games from Could 16–23 on Steam. Since they’re turning 15, we figured it solely made sense to showcase 15 lesser-known gems from their roster you can get for tremendous low cost throughout the sale:
On sale for: $2.59 (80% off)
Launched in 2015, Ronin is a turn-based action-stealth platformer created by Polish developer Tomasz Wacławek whereas he was working as a designer at Shadow Warrior studio Flying Wild Hog. Impressed by the likes of Gunpoint, Ronin is a couple of younger lady decided to strike down 5 distinguished figures of a robust company, one by one. Over its 15 missions, you rigorously plot your actions to arrange the proper strike earlier than retreating again into the shadows. Throw in a handful of ninja devices — together with, in fact, a trusty grappling hook — and Ronin is effectively value its quick and sharp playtime.
On sale for: $2.59 (80% off)
Greek mythology has all the time been ripe for satire, and 2016’s Okhlos joined in on the enjoyable. Set in historical Greece below the all-powerful rule of Olympian gods, you’re tasked with mobilising individuals bored with the abuse suffered by the hands of their rulers by philosophical teachings, convincing them to break away from the chains of Mount Olympus and set up an ochlocracy — literal mob rule. Going from metropolis to metropolis, gamers look to recruit warriors, peasants, slaves, and even livestock to topple the established order by eight procedurally generated areas. As you progress, you may unlock particular models or swap them for one among 100 legendary heroes to improve your mob and enhance their savagery. Every run is completely different, and you might end up taking command of the likes of Heracles, Leonidas, Pandora, and even Socrates to flip your mischievous gang right into a formidable military. It’s complete anarchy within the birthplace of democracy!
On sale for: 80% off (Soundtrack Bundle)
First exploding onto the indie scene with roguelike shooter Heavy Bullets, Brazilian developer Terri Vellmann and American rapper Doseone teamed up as soon as once more for 2017’s Excessive Hell. It’s a neon-soaked, arcade-action first-person shooter that sees you descend upon an underground prison enterprise with essentially the most blessed of shotguns, bringing deadly salvation to those that have fallen from the sunshine. Righteous fury and fancy footwork are essential to surviving an escalating, absurd sequence of outlandish missions. Don’t be shocked to end up popping brainwashed chimps, defacing company effigies, and dismantling the enterprise dealings of the unrepentant cartel on this vibrant, psychedelic remix of the traditional first-person shooter.
On sale for: $3.99 (80% off)
Lengthy earlier than the critically acclaimed, award-winning OlliOlli World and Rollerdrome, UK-based studio Roll7 dipped its toe into the world of motion platforming with 2015’s Not A Hero, a raucous ballet of blood, bullets, and a political incumbent calling himself BunnyLord. You play as Steve, a former murderer turned marketing campaign supervisor, despatched out by BunnyLord to clear up town by “capturing crime within the face.” You add further crew members because the marketing campaign picks up steam, together with the shotgun-toting Cletus, hip-thrusting SMG grasp Jesus, and the dangerously enthusiastic katana-wielding Kimmy. You rapidly end up murdering your approach by gangs and law enforcement officials alike within the pursuit of profitable the mayorship. Shoot, slide, dive, and duck behind a political platform constructed on ethics, accountability, and an inordinate quantity of gunfire.
On sale for: $0.98 (67% off)
SPACEPLAN is an experimental piece of interactive fiction primarily based partly on developer Jake Hollands’ complete misunderstanding of Stephen Hawking’s A Temporary Historical past of Time. Launched in 2017, SPACEPLAN began life as an idle, browser-based “clicker” sport (this was a factor again within the late 2010s) however quickly expanded right into a full sport that was ultimately launched on each PC and cell platforms. The sport is gorgeous in its simplicity: use guide clicks and the passage of time to create and launch potato-based units and probes out of your nondescript satellite tv for pc orbiting a mysterious planet. Primarily, you may both spend this time unlocking the mysteries of the galaxy or simply kill a while.
On sale for: $2.99 (80% off)
Nostalgia has all the time been a giant factor for avid gamers, and that’s obvious in 2018’s Crossing Souls, developed by Spanish indie studio FourAttic (named after their “workplace,” which was actually an attic). Impressed by the dreamlike, Spielbergian marvel of traditional ’80s fantasy, sci-fi, and coming-of-age films, Crossing Souls takes you on a cinematic journey by California within the midst of a supernatural occasion that rocks a small neighborhood. Taking management of 5 associates, each with their very own expertise and fight kinds (not to point out usually ’80s character traits), you’re charged with flitting between every character on the fly, utilizing every child’s specialties to overcome obstacles and the unhealthy guys’ weaknesses. That includes a nostalgia-inducing cinematic rating that evokes peak John Williams, wonkily animated cutscenes, and dozens of easter eggs, Crossing Souls is a joyful journey again to when VHS fuzz was the worst of your issues.
On sale for: $1.99 (80% off)
Gods Will Be Watching is the primary full-fledged launch from narrative-driven developer Deconstructeam. Initially developed as an entry for the Ludum Dare sport jam again in 2013, Gods Will Be Watching caught the attention of Devolver, who stepped in to assist flip it right into a full sport. The end result divided opinion upon its launch in 2014, with some critics and gamers discovering it troublesome to get previous the sport’s deliberately punishing mechanics, regardless of acknowledging the crew’s expertise. Pitched as a minimalistic sci-fi point-and-click thriller centred on despair, dedication, and sacrifice, this was maybe to be anticipated. However, Deconstructeam quickly applied The Mercy Replace as a approach of serving to gamers make the robust selections that have an effect on their complete crew’s wellbeing. It stays an progressive departure from the standard point-and-click journey, happening in six intimate, tension-filled situations linked collectively by a story of interstellar espionage.
On sale for: $1.99 (75% Off)
2019 launched Devolver-owned studio Doinksoft to the world with the Oregon outfit’s debut title, Gato Roboto. That includes traditional NES-inspired monochromatic visuals, the sport follows a cat named Kiki trying to save her proprietor after they crash land on an alien planet, forcing Kiki to don a mech go well with and discover the planet’s depths. Pet-troidvania, Meow-troidvania, Mechtroidvania…no matter your genre-bending description of selection, Gato Roboto sees you exploring the underground labyrinth of a deep house outpost, uncovering the dastardly deeds that unfolded earlier than your arrival. Curiosity will typically get the higher of your feline instincts, as you’ll additionally want to enterprise outdoors your trusty mech and danger all 9 lives to discover in any other case inaccessible areas. Secrets and techniques abound on this purrfect ode to traditional puzzle platformers.
On sale for: $5.99 (40% off)
Smooth, thrilling, and splendidly merciless, Bleak Sword DX is a darkish fantasy motion sport by Spanish developer more8bit, in any other case generally known as Luis Moreno Jimenez. Initially launched for Apple Arcade in 2019, Bleak Sword DX builds on the unique sport, providing expanded gameplay mechanics, narrative components, and atmospheric world-building. Its distinctive, condensed artwork type is paying homage to 8-bit classics, however with a contemporary twist that blends 2D sprites with 3D environments. The sport is centred round 12 chapters of cursed diorama battlefields, the place your hero should raise the curse of the legendary Bleak Sword by eliminating the hostile creatures in every surroundings. Considerably soulslike in its levelling system, you acquire expertise factors by clearing levels however lose these not used for levelling up after dying twice in a stage. Not for the faint of coronary heart, however a hell of plenty of enjoyable.
On sale for: $1.49 (90% off)
Talking of soulslikes, what occurs when an indie developer takes the brutal “another strive” philosophy of that style and provides a boss rush on prime? Effectively, Titan Souls is your reply. Conceived and prototyped throughout Ludum Dare #28, Titan Souls is an open world, top-down action-adventure, the place your hero’s solely weapon is a single arrow and you may solely take one hit. The purpose is to defeat 20 big monsters (21 on exhausting mode) known as the Titans. Similar to you, they solely take one hit to die, however additionally they solely have a technique to be defeated. During fight, you need to determine how every Titan behaves and establish their deadly weak spot. The twist is that your single arrow should be charged earlier than it may be shot and has to be retrieved earlier than it may be reused. Oh, and you may solely carry out both motion whereas not transferring, making you a sitting goal for the Titans. Did we point out it’s fairly exhausting?
On sale for: $3.99 (60% off)
Heave Ho duties up to 4 gamers with a easy purpose: don’t fall to your dying! Created by French developer Le Cartel and launched in 2019 for PC and Change, gamers take management over a gurning disembodied head with a pair of stretchable arms, utilizing their iron-like grip and the outstretched fingers of their associates to grapple throughout every stage on their approach to victory. Clambering throughout each other’s dangling our bodies and swinging your friends to security in a wobbly mass of limbs is made all of the extra foolish by customising your character with all method of ridiculous equipment and zany accoutrement in a useless try to bear in mind who you’re.
On sale for: $4.49 (70% off)
One other French developer noticed their sport printed by Devolver in 2021, although it got here by means of Japan. Thomas Olsson conceived his debut sport Olija after transferring to Japan, collaborating with a crew they dubbed Skeleton Crew, a Japanese saxophonist, a shakuhachi participant, and his spouse to deliver his imaginative and prescient to life. Impressed by Moby Dick, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Prince of Persia, Olija is a sport about Faraday, a person shipwrecked after which trapped within the mysterious nation of Terraphage. Armed with a legendary harpoon, he and different castaways strive to depart this hostile nation to return to their homelands. The sport mixes exploration and quickfire fight by using Faraday’s Harpoon, difficult you to rethink motion by platforming, puzzle, and fight. Impressed by swashbuckling tales and cinematic journey video games, Olija is a narrative about going through the unknown in adversity.
On sale for: 75% Off (Soundtrack Bundle)
Persevering with the theme of weapon-based traversal in 2021, Boomerang X from developer DANG! is sort of a rollercoaster trip of fast-paced first-person capturing taken from the traditional hardcore boomer playbook. Armed with a magical boomerang, slice, fly, and dive by flocks of evil Ghibli-esque creatures on this acrobatic enviornment boomer(ang) shooter. As you catapult your self by the air, the ability drawn from the creatures you defeat can be utilized to sluggish time and recalibrate your airborne assaults. They actually ought to have known as it Doomerang.
On sale for: $2.59 (80% off)
Pikuniku is a puzzle-exploration sport that takes place in a wierd however playful world the place not all the pieces is as blissful because it appears. The brainchild of French-British indie collective Sectordub (Arnaud De Bock, Rémi Forcadell, Alan Zucconi, and Calum Bowen), Pikuniku sees you are taking management of the titular Piku as he helps peculiar residents overcome their mundane struggles, uncovers a deep state conspiracy, and begins a bit revolution on his pleasant dystopian journey. Nearly all of puzzles contain kicking and pushing objects to open doorways and entry rooms, however Piku can even lasso his legs to swing from hooks or curl right into a ball and roll, permitting you to transfer round sooner and attain larger or beforehand inaccessible areas. Pikuniku additionally incorporates a native co-op mode with 9 ranges, during which a second participant controls Niku, Piku’s orange pal.
On sale for: $1.99 (80% off)
Developed by No Code, the Glasgow-based studio spearheaded by John McKellan (Alien: Isolation) and Omar Khan, 2017’s Tales Untold is a narrative-driven experimental journey sport that bends the style into one thing distinctive. Combining a mixture of traditional text-adventure, point-and-click, and first-person puzzle video games, 4 quick tales are packaged collectively right into a single mysterious anthology that pulls collectively ’80s retro nostalgia, progressive and experimental gameplay, and tense, psychological horror.
On prime of this sale, Devolver can be celebrating its fifteenth birthday by dipping into its archives for a sequence of blogs on its official website that make a journey down reminiscence lane. In the event you’ve ever questioned which Devolver Digital T-shirts modified the sport for online game merchandise, what their prime 15 soundtrack entries are, their favorite sport trailers, and even what their most spectacular occasion areas are from through the years (who may neglect their iconic E3 parking zone house?), then marvel no extra.