5 standout indie games from Day of the Devs 2024

Summer Game Fest’s Day of the Devs 2024 continued the rich tradition of showcasing amazing indie games. This year featured over a dozen great trailers for almost all types of indie fans. Whether you like heartwarming, slice-of-life games, or uncomfortable body horror survival fiestas, there was something for everyone. After watching the whole collection, I wanted to put down my favorites that you should keep an eye on.

If a game isn’t on this list, that in no way means it isn’t good or worth taking a look at. These are just my personal favorites, and your most-anticipated games will almost certainly vary.

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Indie games to watch out for from Day of the Devs 2024 presentation

1) Petal Runner

Petal Runner by Nano Park has an amazing style and premise (Image via Nano Park)

Frankly, I’m torn between Petal Runner and UFO 50 for my “big winner” of Day of the Devs 2024’s indie game collection. As a veteran gamer, I remember the days of cool RPGs on the Game Boy and Game Boy Color. This game is a love letter to those days, presenting a cool slice-of-life RPG that also tells a mature story.

It combines a cute pastel color palette, an engaging story, and fascinating digital pets. The player controls a Petal Runner, someone who bikes around Sapphire Valley to deliver these pets to their new homes. It’s a charming game with a lot of heart, and I think it’s going to deliver something memorable when it finally launches.

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2) Zoochosis

Zoochosis looks to be truly horrifying (Image via Clapperheads)

To be honest, I’m not really a horror fan. Not because I get scared, but that the premise to me is seldom interesting. That’s where Zoochosis gets me. Already teased before Day of the Devs, this thriller/horror indie game is something special. The player works at a zoo, where many of the animals are infected with a mysterious disease.

It’s up to the player to figure out a cure and administer it, while they still can. There’s some real David Kronenberg stuff going on here — fans of body horror are going to love it. It immediately made me think of the classic Kronenberg film Videodrome. It’s got a fresh atmosphere and some truly unsettling animal designs. Don’t skip it.

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3) Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit

Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit just looks plain adorable (Image via Spry Fox)

Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit is one of the cutest games in all of Day of the Devs 2024. A sequel to the original Cozy Grove, it works under the premise that “all those who are lost deserve kindness.” You help cute, ghostly bears find peace while building and maintaining an adorable campsite. There are so many animals you can make into forever friends in Cozy Grove: Camp Spirit. Fans of titles like Animal Crossing will find something interesting in this game.

Furthermore, it has an amazing visual design. It’s got crafting, building, and camping content, alongside helping these huge, adorable ghost bears. It feels sad, but also incredibly hopeful and warm. This is going to be a sleeper hit, I think.

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4) Psychroma

Psychroma channels the retro side-scrolling puzzle games of old (Image via Rocket Adrift)

Psychroma features one of the most promising concepts among all the Day of the Devs indie games this year. It’s a narrative-driven side-scroller, where you play as a digital medium. Armed with the power to experience nonlinear time, you’re investigating a cybernetic house that’s haunted. You must also uncover and face your own traumas while dealing with what happened in this mysterious house.

With a sharp pixel-based art style, this side-scrolling horror game brings another fresh view to the horror genre. That’s really what it’s missing. Too many games rely on jump scares, and just, pure violence. While those games are valid and fun in their own right, Psychroma is bringing something fascinating to the genre, and I can’t wait to try it.

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5) UFO 50

UFO 50 has it all in one collection (Image via Mossmouth)

The latest Day of the Devs trailer for UFO 50 asks the question “What if Action 52 on the NES had a story, and was actually really great?” Maybe it’s not asking that, but that’s what came to my head when I saw the footage. Action 52 was one of the most unfortunate cartridges to appear on the NES, being overpriced, and most of the games not working as intended.

However, UFO 50 has 50 unique, fully finished games, with many offering multiplayer. Whether you’re a fan of top-down shooters, dungeon-crawling RPGs, or fun platformers, this game seems to have it all. The visuals are quite retro, akin to the NES-era style, and each game from the trailer looked interesting.

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Summer Games Fest rolls on beyond the initial stream and the Day of the Devs reveals, with several other companies and platforms offering announcements. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for all the biggest reveals from Xbox, Ubisoft, Devolver, and more during SGF 2024.