Gamescom 2014 – ID@Xbox

• #IDARB by Other Ocean – Couch competitive eSports mayhem for 1-8 players! #IDARB is the world’s first crowd-sourced-platform-hockey-soccer-basketball-rocket pack game, inspired by games like Super Smash Bros., Bomberman and NBA Jam. Features a limitless character creator and a mechanic where spectators can play along using nothing but their Twitter account.
• Aztez by Team Colorblind – Aztez is a real-time action and turn-based strategy hybrid set in the world of the Aztecs. Push on the borders of the empire and manage political chaos with thrilling combat segments, where victory or defeat has immediate ramifications in your burgeoning empire.
• Below by Capy Games – An atmospheric and mysterious exploration and combat game, Below will be coming to Xbox One next year.

• Blues and Bullets by A Crowd of Monsters – Blues & Bullets is an episodic noir story, where the player will need to survive thrilling shootouts, dark investigations, difficult decisions to make and unexpected story twists in the skin of Patton, a former detective who struggles with his own demons trapped in a decadent city.
• Chariot by Frima Studio – Chariot is a humoristic physics-based couch co-op platformer in which a brave princess and her suitor carry a funeral wagon through ancient caves, fending-off swarms of looters while amassing riches, to bury the King’s remains in a worthy gold-filled tomb.
• Cuphead by Studio MDHR – Cuphead is a single player or co-op run-and-gun platformer, heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by 1930s cartoons, the visuals are hand-drawn and inked, and the music is all original jazz recordings. Cuphead & Mugman traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves and uncover hidden secrets.
• Dungeon of the Endless by Amplitude – Dungeons of the Endless is neo-retro adrenaline-fest; a fresh mix of Rogue-like and Tower Defense with a pinch of RPG! Your team of heroes must protect the generator of their crashed ship while exploring an ever-expanding dungeon, all while facing waves of monsters and special events as they try to find their way out… so what could go wrong… open the door!
• Fenix Rage by Reverb Triple XP, Green Lava Studios – Fenix Rage is an inspired, frenetically-paced, challenging and aggressively addicting 2D-platformer that will keep your palms sweaty, your thumbs fatigued, and your wits sharp. Gamers take on the role of Fenix, whose village is decimated by a huge explosion, leaving only two survivors – Fenix and Oktarus, a mysterious figure who manages to elude Fenix’s best efforts at capture.
• Flockers by Team 17 – New from the creators of Worms, Flockers is a modern day take on the classic A-to-B puzzle genre with a generous helping of dark humor for good measure. Held in captivity within the evil thrall of their diabolical masters, the sheep are finally making a dash for freedom. But without your guidance they are destined to die in the most horrific ways as they follow each other into diabolical traps, giant meat cleavers, spikes and other deadly obstacles.
• Funk of the Titans by A Crowd of Monsters – Funk of Titans is an addictive and fun action/platform game. The player will control Perseus through use of the Greek mythology, jumping platforms, collecting vinyl, beating enemies, riding Pegasus and confronting the evil Music Titans in epic dance battles to recover the real and only holy music: the funk!
• Ghost of a Tale by SeithCG – Ghost of a Tale is a third person action adventure game set in a medieval world inhabited only by animals. The story follows the quest of Tilo the minstrel mouse – searching for his lost family. With highly immersive visuals, it weaves an epic yet intimate story.
• Gunscape by Blowfish Studios – At its heart, Gunscape is an FPS construction kit: a game with solid action gameplay, a welcoming approach to map building and a huge toolbox of iconic weapons, monsters and level elements that can be extensively combined to create new and exciting gameplay experiences.
• Goat Simulator by Coffee Stain Studios, Double 11 – Goat Simulator is the latest in goat simulation technology, bringing next-gen goat simulation to YOU. You no longer have to fantasize about being a goat, your dreams have finally come true! ABXY to write history.
• INSIDE by Playdead – From the creators of LIMBO, Playdead is bringing INSIDE to Xbox first in 2015. For more information, visit playdead.com/inside.

• Knight Squad by Chainsawesome Games – Knight Squad is a one-to-eight player action game that can be described as Bomberman meets Gauntlet. Play as a Knight in the arena and defeat your opponents using epic weapons and power ups. Challenge your friends in the Versus mode or play as a team as you complete the challenges on each floor of Destiny’s Tower.
• Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime by Asteroid Base – The game is a frantic co-op platformer-inside-a-shooter, in which players work together piloting a neon-drenched battleship to save space animals, explore the galaxy, and fight evil robots. Deep space is a dangerous place, but at least you don’t have to face it alone!
• Massive Chalice by Double Fine Productions – Massive Chalice is a single player turn-based tactics game within a multi-generational strategy campaign built for replayability. Massive Chalice is structured into two main layers: strategy and tactics. In the strategy layer, you oversee your kingdom, arrange royal marriages, conduct research and make the far-reaching decisions that will determine the fate of your legacy. In the tactics layer, you fight brutal turn-based battles to defend your kingdom using small squads of customizable heroes.
• Never Alone by Upper One Games – Built in partnership with the Alaska Native community, Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) delves deeply into the traditional lore of the Inupiat people of the Arctic to present a game experience like no other.  An atmospheric puzzle platformer of wondrous adventure and survival in a place where survival shouldn’t be possible.
• No Time to Explain by tinyBuild – “I am you from the future, No Time To Explain, follow m-ARGHAWAWAA.” A game about time travel, jetpack guns and enemy crabs. Random things happen when you from the future interrupts your dance session and drags you away by a giant crab, only to leave a futuristic jetpack gun behind.
• Overruled! by Team 17 – Overruled! is a multiplayer brawler like no other – players change the rules as they play, directly influencing the dynamics and direction of combat. Choose from a diverse cast of characters and challenge up to three friends to a battle with both local and online multiplayer! All you have to do to win is score the most points by the end of the game. But the rules are yours to play with and with over 25 change ‘em up cards, you’ll never know how the battle will go and no game is ever the same!
• Plague Inc: Evolved by Ndemic Creations – Plague Inc: Evolved is a unique mix of high strategy and terrifyingly realistic simulation. Your pathogen has infected Patient Zero – now bring about the end of human history by evolving a deadly, global Plague whilst adapting against everything humanity can do to defend itself!
• Pneuma: Breath of Life by Bevel Studios, Deco Digital – Pneuma: Breath of Life is an enthralling first person puzzler putting gamers’ minds to the test in a visually stunning world using Unreal Engine 4. Pneuma provides players with an unrivaled sense of adventure and a relentless determination to solve each puzzle and progress through a story of self-discovery, exploring the fundamental nature of being.

• Rivals of Aether by Dan Fornace – Rivals of Aether is an indie fighting game set in a vast new world featuring a unique roster of characters – rivals. Instead of looking toward traditional fighting games, Rivals of Aether is primarily inspired by the platform fighting series Super Smash Bros.
• SlashDash by Nevernaut Games – SlashDash is a competitive party game for up to four players. Combat is fast paced, strategic and deceptively simple. The first game mode is Capture the Flag, where two teams of ninjas slash and teleport their way to flags and glory. Cooperation is key — when your teammate has the flag, slash them to make them dash!
• SMITE by Hi-Rez Studios – SMITE is a third-person action MOBA. Instead of having a traditional isometric view (RTS), you are IN THE ACTION with a tight third-person camera. Enjoy detailed graphics and visual effects. Experience ACTION combat, dodging, and aiming with almost all attacks being skill-shots. SMITE is Free-to-Play but not pay-to-win.
• Space Engineers by Keen Software House Ltd – Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining. Space Engineers utilizes a realistic volumetric-based physics engine: all objects can be assembled, disassembled, damaged and destroyed. The game comes with two game modes: creative and survival.
• Spectra by Gateway Interactive – From new studio Gateway Interactive and Chipzel (the amazing chip-tune artist behind the Super Hexagon music) comes Spectra, a fast paced retro style racing game destined to get your heart pumping and test your skill like no other!
• SpeedRunners by tinyBuild – In a city filled with superheroes, getting to crimes becomes a competition on its own. Fortunately there are enough rockets, bombs, grappling hooks, spikes, and other goodies lying around — to make the competition fun and fast. Welcome to SpeedRunners.
• SUPERHOT by SUPERHOT – SUPERHOT is a unique first-person shooter where time moves only when you move. Hails of bullets and unrelenting enemies freeze in place as you carefully plan the choreography of destruction around you. Take your time. You have as much as you want.

• The Escapist by Team 17 – The Escapists is a time management prison escape game that gives you the “freedom” to live the life of a prison inmate, ultimately plotting and pulling off a daring escape!
• Threes! by Sirvo / Hidden Variable – Threes! is a tiny game about matching numbers that grows on you. Learn it in a minute. Play it for a lifetime. Featuring cute, charming characters, a catchy score, and deceptively deep gameplay, Threes! is a tiny game that will wrap up your heart and mind in a warm hug and never let go.
• Volgarr the Viking by Crazy Viking Studios – Return to the Golden Age of arcades with an all-new hardcore action experience that pulls no punches. Volgarr the Viking possesses all the hallmarks of the true classics – simple controls, high challenge, and meticulous design – combined with hand-made pixel animation, an epic soundtrack, and buckets of blood.

A pretty big list I think you will agree. Some of the standouts for me are Below, Space Engineers, Ghost of a tale, Pneuma: Breath of life and INSIDE. Indie gaming on Xbox One is looking pretty good for the future.

– Will