The Story-Rich Showcase — hosted by publisher Fellow Traveller — provides a place for slower, narrative style games to shine, away from more action heavy game trailers. The debut showcase exhibited dozens of upcoming games with a particular focus on storytelling.
Here are the five that caught our eyes the most:
The Telwynium
Point & click adventure The Telwynium is the next game from The Drifter developer Dave Lloyd. The 16 color EGA pixel art takes me right back to some of the formative games of my youth, like The Secret of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
It’s retro high fantasy at its best with modern gameplay elements that streamline the process. Play as multiple characters such as two-headed rogue and a necromancer who can summon an army of skeletons!
The Telwynium is coming to PC next year.
The Hearth & Harbour
In narrative-driven management-sim The Hearth & Harbour, you play as a refugee escaping war to follow your dreams of opening a restaurant. After pouring every last penny you have into purchasing a run-down building in the bad part of town, you have to make this place work.
You’ll need to renovate and decorate the restaurant, visit food suppliers to purchase fresh ingredients, and set the menu. Reputation is key; vendors offer more ingredients and recipes as you get to know them, which affects the type of menu you create, and which characters will be attracted to your restaurant.
In turn-based tactical gameplay, you’ll manage customer orders, keep the food flowing in a timely manner, and make sure staff and customers remain happy… Satisfied customers means bigger tips and new connections in the city.
The Hearth & Harbour is due to release on PC this year.
Wicked Delights
Fictional characters on an old VHS tape bleed into reality in Wicked Delights, a rhythm horror visual novel! The variety of fictions escaping the old tape are showcased beautifully using an eclectic mix of art styles, and it’ll be interesting to see how they all marry together in the game.
It comes from developers Hiding Spot, the creators of one of my favourite indies of 2022, Beacon Pines, so I’m especially looking forward to this one.
Wicked Delights will release on PC sometime in the future.
The Mermaid Mask
Point-and-click crime thriller The Mermaid Mask sees the return of detectives Grimoire and Sally as they investigate the mysterious death of Captain Mortuga, found inside a locked room upon a peculiar submarine.
To solve the nautical mystery, you’ll need to inspect the crime scene, examine clues, and question the sketchy crew members — who are all fully voiced.
The Mermaid Mask is coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch on July 17th.
Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists
Thousand Hells is a hand-painted, text-based CRPG where a team of adventurers perform a high-stakes heist in the literal underworld! Self-described as an ‘anthology of mythic journeys’, the game will feature a variety of quests, multiple underworlds to delve into, and more than 200 narrative encounters to experience.
In a mix of strategy and narrative gameplay, you pick your party from a selection of procedurally generated heroes, each with their own fears, desires, and personalities. Warriors, shamans, spies, singers… Your party make-up will determine what sorts of challenges you’re prepared to face.
Thousand Hells is set to release on PC later this year.
On a quest for more games? Check out the Story Rich Showcase in its entirety below:
