PossumCoffee covers the Whitethorn showcase
Whitethorn Games is without a doubt one of my favorite indie game studios. They have a unique focus on relaxing, accessible and wholesome games. They have a variety of games and are always willing to try unique ideas for their games that appeal to me. It’s like they get me as a gamer. Thus, when I found out they were doing a showcase today, it didn’t matter that I’d just gotten off my graveyard shift, or that I had to be back at work in 11.5 hours, I knew I was going to make time for it today.
I’ll be covering the highlights here, but I highly encourage everyone to check out the showcase on YouTube, The showcase has a nice chill vibe with a lovely host and I enjoyed watching it. Additionally, I have included links to the Steam pages below. The best way to support a game you are interested in, besides buying it, is to wishlist it.
The first thing in the showcase was some updates to some of their current titles. If you’re new to Whitethorn Games, they have a pretty sizable back catalog of games that they’re actively working on to improve and add content. APICO and Calico have new content and fixes. Meanwhile, Princess Farmer has come to mobile (yes, if I buy it on mobile, it’ll be my third time buying it. But Yes, I am going to buy it on mobile.)
And then there are the game announcements, the stuff we all get really excited about.
This portion opened with a trailer for RE: CALL which is Whitethorn’s newest game. I didn’t quite get what it was about from the trailer, but I noticed that there’s some really gorgeous and dynamic character art for what appears to be a story-heavy game. Some research turns up that this game focuses on changing your character’s memories to affect the present. I think this is a really interesting topic that provides some possibilities for interesting narrative choices. For example, utilizing an unreliable narrator, etc. What the game actually does, I’m not entirely sure, but I would like to dip my toe in this at some point and see where it goes.
From there is The Forest Cathedral, which gets the Possum Award for the most unexpected announcement. I don’t know where the idea to use a first-person adventure game with third-player platforming to do a dramatic retelling of the story behind Silent Spring came from, but it’s metal as heck. As someone who lives in Ohio right now (if you know, you know) I am very in favor of a game touching on the story of Rachel Carson. Not only is it quite timely, but also the game looks really interesting, featuring a multitude of different styles integrated into the story. One more thing–an anime pixel art chibi portrait of Rachel Carson is something I didn’t expect to see in this lifetime, but I am all here for it.
There was also a trailer for Skatefish. Is it a skateboarding game? A fishing game? I think it’s both! It was just a short snippet trailer that revealed it’s coming to mobile and iOS, so I will keep my eyes out for more news.
Now the part where I screamed in joy. Once upon a time, I was a very new and budding writer who had just come to the indie scene. I discovered a game that I knew I wanted to see succeed and play for myself. There was a Kickstarter for it, and I wrote a very terrible article about it for The Geekly Grind. Ultimately, the Kickstarter failed, but I never gave up hope I would see it released someday. And would you know, that game was Whalefall. Part tactical RPG, part Dating Sim, 100% all the goodness that a fantasy story can only deliver.
Whalefall opens with one of Osfeld’s mysterious sky whales shot down from the sky. Tensions rise and war brews over the value remains. Different groups have different motivations, but one thing is for certain–our heroes must band together to stop the war-hungry Stoneshield Legion from using this event to subjugate everyone. And maybe our hero Cody can romance a lucky someone along the way.
I very much get the vibes of an indie fantasy Mass Effect game and all I can say is yes, please!
I’m not sure how to describe Tinselfly except that it looks like a whole gosh darn experience in the best way possible. Tinselfly is an adventure game that follows a space engineer named Robin. She gets trapped in a spaceship graveyard with her crew and stuff gets weird. The story promises intuitive sword fighting and character-driven puzzles, so sounds like a nifty package overall.
Magical Delicacy bills itself as a wholesome pixel art platformer and the art style alone has made this a must-buy for me. I just want to pack up, move here, and start my life anew. I’d be collecting ingredients and making dishes for my cozy town and it’d be great.
Wishlist on Steam Here
Botany Manor reminds me of Myst in a way. I mean, they’re very different games. Myst is an abandoned island exploration game with whiny men stuck in books. This takes place in a 19th-century home where you solve puzzles to make plants grow. I felt like they share a similar vibe though and they both got that first-person puzzle exploration thing going on. A wholesome chill Myst-like game is something I can definitely get behind.
Real talk, I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese. There’s been a couple of things that kept me from getting anywhere with that. Well, one thing really simple fact. Learning Japanese is very hard. Kana Quest looks to relieve a lot of the pain of the process with an extremely cute and colorful game aimed at teaching players Japanese. The soundtrack is bouncy and catchy. Overall, I feel like even if I never quite got Japanese down, I’d have a really fun time dabbling with this.
Welcome to Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island. Backpacker Alex finds himself on a deserted island where the Greek Gods are hanging out. Thing is, they’ve forgotten their memories. it’s up to Alex to put his thinking cap on, whip out his magic metal detector powered by friendship (this is literally what the showcase describes it as. I think that’s a lovely description), and jog their brains. What I find noteworthy is the game devs’ choice to forgo conventionally attractive designs for characters that look more what you expect to see in the real world, with so much diversity. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an indie game include a character in a wheelchair. That’s so rad.
Wishlist on Steam Here
Lastly was a teaser for Kernel Heart that asks–are you ready to become a star? Yes, yes, I am. More to come on this one. However no Steam page for it—yet.
The rest of the showcase featured a discussion about the different things Whitethorn Games is doing to make their games accessible. As someone with dysgraphia, this is so important to me, and I really want to dive into the discussion on how this matters for disabled gamers. I also want to highlight the good work they’re doing. That said, I feel like that’s a discussion for another post, especially as this one is running very long! So I’ll wrap up the games showcase here, and we’ll talk about accessibility in games later this week.
Last of all, a big thank you to White Thorn Games for doing this event! It was a blast; the host was so cool, and I’m glad to be a fan. Until the next showcase! Meanwhile, you can follow them here on Twitter for future updates.
