I haven't played any of them at all. Early Access program mostly for indie developers. Allows their unfinished video games on Steam. Occasionally update their games while sticking close with their communities. Every single game nominated for this award actually seems like something I wanna play. Some of them already made ridiculous amount of money despite being unfinished.
I plan to give my thoughts on all the nominees. Saving my actual vote last probably to keep you guessing lol. I'm glad Golden Joystick Awards has more indie theme awards than the other similar award shows. Especially indie developers kicking bigger game companies butts right now. Deep down we all love the underdogs.
1. skate.
This is the newest entry in Skate series. I actually never played any of them myself. All I know off hand is it's a popular skateboarding game series. This also was a free game with some additional stuff you could get. I wouldn't expect such a game be a part of Early Access program. Not to disrespect it or anything either.
Compared to the rest of the nominees it wasn't that interesting to me. I know it from a recent GrayStillPlays video. It's possible this might be out doing the newer Tony Hawk game. Which also gotten nominated in another award. Honestly, there isn't that much to say about it. Just surprised it's a free game.
2. Grounded 2
This is a follow up to Grounded. I haven't played either of them. The concept is a small group of kids gotten shrunken down to the size of ants. They work together to survive insects. I will give some credit the game looks interesting. Honestly, there isn't much else directly pulling me in. I do consider it a bit more interesting than skate. though.
In a way it has an unfair advantage since it's a sequel to a popular game. I still think since all of them are within Early Access program. It's still fair game in that regard. I do think Grounded 2 has some interesting stuff going for it despite that. Personally I find the rest of the nominees more interesting in comparison.
3. White Knuckle
Some may know it from a few Markiplier videos. This is an intense horror climbing game. This concept already more interesting than the last two I talked about. The unique art style pops along with the environment. It's a popular speed running game. You don't know what obstacles could be in your path.
You're constantly climbing or jumping your way upwards. You gotta adapt on the fly to get far. Not only that White Knuckle somehow works amazingly well. I will confess I usually don't think climbing games interesting. This particular one actually peak my interest a lot. I do think the final version going to explode in a great way.
4. Schedule 1
I know some view this as a GTA clone. This actually among drug dealer simulator style games. The goal of the game is having a successful drug empire. I was quite surprise all the possible stuff you could do in it. This has more content than you would expect from an Early Access game. It's actually possible to get into the millions through gambling.
Some criticize it because the game similar to Drug Dealer Simulator I'm serious. Yes there's some GTA aspects to the game. I gotta be honest this game blew my expectations. They recently added a new section to the map. I felt in it's current direction. The finished version going to be absolutely amazing!!!
5. 9 Kings
This is a rather unique concept for a game. I actually wanna play this myself. 9 Kings is a rogue-like army theme game. You pick one of several kings to play as. Each king has their own advantages. Just as you expect from other games in the genre. You can constantly level up to get some crazy upgrades.
Considering Vampire Survivors with a few other games killing it right now. This stands out enough from those games. This is rather ambitious to do it in putting armies against each other. I will give them a lot credit they really pulled it off!!! 9 Kings has an insane level of depth to it. I actually felt this going to change the genre in a huge way.
I actually seen some truly mind blowing videos. I would even dare to say among the most ridiculous of that style games I ever seen!!! You get a lot of ground to work with from the beginning. Honestly, I can't believe this game works this insanely well!!! I really want to see how amazing the final version going to be!!!
6. R.E.P.O. (My vote)
To clarify something no I didn't vote in last year's Golden Joystick Awards. I found out not long after I voting. Lethal Company won Best Early Access Game award. Which R.E.P.O. has some similarities to. I actually voted for it because the art design was interesting. You go around randomly generated locations to loot stuff.
There's plenty of creatures you could run into. This is meant to be a co-op game. Although I recently seen someone doing levels by themselves. You earn money following levels to spend money on upgrades. This is a rather unique co-op horror game. I am amaze this isn't even an finished game. From what I was seeing this was quite impressive.
As far I'm aware of there's no true end to the game. I don't know if there might be plans to change that or not. What I do know is it's such a massive hit on Steam. I like the actual look of the characters you play as. This is such an unique experience. I really do hope R.E.P.O. wins the award. Regardless this is among a long list of games I would love to play eventually.
Conclusion
Indie developers kept impressing me over the years. I really wish I would've notice them way sooner. Especially among seeing some of these games nominated here. Some of which are truly amazing video games. It's rather kind to have an award for games not even finished. But thousands if not more are enjoying the hell out of.
Maybe it isn't about how complete games needs to be. But rather how truly fun and in depth they possibly could get. Which is very true with every game nominated for this award. I really didn't expect my interest to explode among looking into these games. Honestly, I would consider playing all of them.
I think 9 Kings and Schedule 1 has the highest chances beating out R.E.P.O. Then again I haven't played any of these!!! I don't really know their respective communities at all. For all I know I might've voted for the most unlikely to win the award. At the same time, I do wish all of them luck. Indie developers are the future of gaming.
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