When it comes to showing off unique games, no showcase can top Day of the Devs. There are three showcases annually, with this being the last of the year. (See you next June!) As always, this edition of Day of the Devs features world premieres, first looks, and deep dives from the developers themselves. And of course, there are those curiously odd titles that are both expected and unexpected — I’m looking at you, Blippo+!
Five minutes before the show begins, Daniel AKA C418 appears on screen. He is best known for the Minecraft soundtrack, but for the past few years he’s been composing the score for Ivy Road’s Wanderstop. He introduces a new trailer for the upcoming narrative-driven tea shop management game. In it, the score plays as visuals of the mysterious tea shop’s peaceful grounds are shown.
Developed by Ivy Road and published by Annapurna Interactive, Wanderstop will be released for PC via Steam and PlayStation 5 on March 11, 2025.
Game highlights
Note: Blippo+ earned the number one spot in my heart when it comes to today’s showcase. Learn more about it here.
Faraway
Immersive, procedurally generated game Faraway is an audiovisual experience about creating constellations. It is both chill and challenging. And very little is actually known about it outside of the above reveal trailer. The developer is known for Eliss, one of the first iPhone games I can recall.
“I am a shooting star! A spark meant to shine and vanish in a blink. But I will travel! I will mark my trail in every firmament. I will live to see the universe.”
Developed by Steph Thirion and published by Annapurna Interactive, Faraway will be released for PC via Steam in 2025.
Sleight of Hand
I was in awe when Sleight of Hand was announced. The innovative third-person card-slinging occult noir stealth sim is unlike any game I’ve seen before, bringing together genres that are generally not combined as one big group. Lady Luck is an occult detective. Her fate? Take down her former cover following a less-than-amicable split. Her cursed cards cast a smoke-based menagerie of magic.
Today’s trailer featured the tactical espionage gameplay of Sleight of Hand. Use the cards to see through walls, blind opponents, or vanish in a puff of smoke. If you fail to be stealthy, attack with curses and combos. Upgrading your deck unleashes powerful abilities and synergies.
“Tight alleys, secret occult rituals, and hidden speakeasies make Sleight of Hand a treasure trove of hard-boiled mysteries,” said Joshua Boggs, Game Director and Founder at RiffRaff Games, in a press release. “Lady Luck’s journey through Steeple City’s underworld blends stealth-action with deckbuilding elements in unexpected ways, giving players the freedom to carve their own path through the game.”
Developed by RiffRaff Games, Sleight of Hand will be released for PC via Steam/Microsoft and Xbox Series “when it’s ready.”
LOK Digital
LOK Digital began life as LOK, a little physical puzzle book by Blaz Urban Gracar. Ferran Ruiz Sala first discovered the book online and loved it so much that he reached out to Blaz with a prototype of the game in digital form. And LOK Digital was born!
Learn the rules as you play, uncovering how each new word has a special ability that changes the world in deep, surprising ways. There are 15 worlds, each with a new gameplay mechanic to shake up the way you solve puzzles. Return every day for new procedurally generated puzzles.
LOK creatures come to life as you spell the words that shape their world. They live only on blackened tiles, so their world expands each time you solve a puzzle. You will help their civilization thrive.
Developed by Letibus Design and Icedrop Games, and published by Draknek & Friends, LOK Digital was released for PC via Steam/itch.io today. It will launch for iOS/Android in early 2025.
inKONBINI
First announced in April, inKONBINI is a cozy, narrative-driven sim game with themes of connection, nostalgia, and the beauty that every new day brings. Play as Makoto Hayakawa, a college student who finds herself working at a small-town convenience store inspired by Japan during the early ’90s.
Today’s trailer brings you to Tokyo, where the developer is in a convenience store. Talk about convenience, right? In inKONBINI, you can pick up and examine every inch of every item on every shelf — finally, commercial graphic design and game design meet!
Craft your own ways of managing the store find happiness in your daily routine and help customers with their lives through branching conversations. Choices matter! As the game progresses, you will see how those day-to-day decisions affect the lives of your customers. Accessible mini-games faithfully recreate a store clerk’s tasks, including stocking products, making phone calls, scanning goods, and checking your customers out.
Developed and published by Nagai Industries, inKONBINI will be released for PC/Mac via Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series in 2025.
Full list of featured games
- Faraway (Steph Thirion) — launching for PC via Steam in 2025
- Ultimate Sheep Raccoon (Clever Endeavor) — launching for PC via Steam and consoles in 2025
- Sleight of Hand (RiffRaff Games) — launching for PC via Steam and Xbox Series “when it’s ready”
- Demon Tides (formerly Project Tides) (Fabraz) — launching for PC via Steam in 2025
- Kingmakers (Redemption Road) — launching for PC via Steam/Epic in Q1 2025
- Recur (kaleidoscube) — launching for PC via Steam in 2026
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb) — launching in Spring 2025
- Incolatus: Don’t Stop, Girlypop! (Funny Fintan Softworks) — launching for PC via Steam soon
- LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games) — launched for PC via Steam/itch.io today, coming to iOS/Android in early 2025
- Neon Abyss 2 (Veewo Games) — launching in Early Access for PC via Steam in 2025
- Crescent County (Electric Saint) — early playtest available via Steam/itch.io
- PBJ – The Musical (Kamibox)
- Curiosmos (Celine & the Silly Stars) — launching for PC via Steam
- Bionic Bay (Psychoflow, Mureena) — launching for PC via Steam/Epic and PlayStation 5 on March 13, 2025
- inKONBINI(Nagai Industries) — launching for PC/Mac via Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series
- Feltopia (Wooly Games) — launching for PC via Steam
- Blippo+ (Yacht, Telefantasy Studios, Panic) — launching for PC via Steam, ^^(`~*, and ?’%^*9 soon
- Hyper Light Breaker (Heart Machine) — launching in Early Access for PC via Steam on January 14, 2025
- TankHead (Alpha Channel) — launched for PC via Epic today
Watch the showcase
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