The London Games Festival is back for 2023, and today they’ve announced the Official Selection of games they’ll be showcasing across the event. There are 32 games in the line-up this year, which will be highlighted in a series of online and in-person events running from March 29th to April 8th. I’m particualrly pleased to see some of our own most anticipated games make the Selection, including Black Salt Games’ eldritch fishing sim Dredge and Necrosoft Games’ Demonschool.
Starting on March 29th, the Official Selection games will be highlighted in a number of ways across the Festival. Some will have free demos to try across the week and a half, others will be discounted, and some will also be releasing “special content” during the Festival period as well. No details yet on exactly what that special content is, but there you are. The LGF will also be releasing special profile videos on each game as well, so watch out for those if you want to find out more about them.
For those in the vicinity of London itself, each game will be getting its own exhibit at the gaming bar Platform over in Shoreditch, and if you’re heading to W.A.S.D. this year, which is taking place at the Truman Brewery from March 30th – April 1st, you’ll be able to play some of them there as well.
Here’s the Official Selection in full, across its five categories:
Best Of British
- Sentry (Fireblade Software)
- Time Team Games (Shadow Tor Studios)
- John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes (Charisma Entertainment)
- Mechinus (Huey Games)
- Glam Pursuit (Larkylabs)
- Rhythm Towers (Innoloop)
High Energy
- Kaku: Ancient Seal (BINGOBELL)
- Robobeat (Simon Fredholm)
- Fool’s Gold (Solar Flare London)
- SquadBlast (UltraHorse)
- Demonschool (Necrosoft Games)
Historical Adventures
- Let Me Out (4Happy Studio)
- It’s a Wrap! (Chanko Studios)
- Brewess (Fairer Games)
- Mexico, 1921: A Deep Slumber (Mácula Interactive)
- Crime O’Clock (Bad Seed)
- Castle Craft (Twin Earth)
- Midnight Girl (Italic)
International Innovators
- Lost Twins 2 (Playdew)
- Stories of Blossom (Soft Leaf Studios)
- Paleo Pines (Italic Pig)
- Forever Lost (Altered Gene)
- Dredge (Black Salt Games)
- Bramble: The Mountain King (Dimfrost Studio)
- Arctic Awakening (GoldFire Studios)
- Gift (Toydium)
- LetterMe (Undone Games)
Pixel Power
- Vessels of Decay (Aurora Punks)
- Bilkins’ Folly (Webbysoft)
- The Tartarus Key (Vertical Reach)
- Mega City Police (Undreamed Games)
- Gourdlets (Aunty Games)
Lots of interesting games in there, for sure. I just hope they keep Dredge and The Kraken Waves far away from each other. No good can come of two supernatural fishing games sharing the same waters, lemme tell ya. You never know what terrible horrors might slip into the Thames…
To see what else is happening during the London Games Festival, head on over to its What’s On page.
