Humble’s new lineup of indie games is full of beautiful animation

May 07, 2023

By Andrew Webster, an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

For the second year in a row, Humble Games — the publisher best known for its charitable bundles — held a showcase to show off some of its upcoming releases. As a label, Humble has built a diverse lineup over the years, with everything from the puzzle / home decorating game Unpacking to the sci-fi survival horror of Signalis, and the games on show today showed a similar range in style and genre.

There was a quirky action game about a teen vampire hunter and a beautiful platformer based on Japanese folklore. But there was a common thread running through the presentation: some absolutely gorgeous animation. Oh, also, there was a surprise launch, with the first-person Metroidvania game Supraland Six Inches Under out now on PlayStation and Xbox (including Game Pass).

Here are the rest of the highlights:

#Blud seems like what would happen if you mashed up Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Dexter's Laboratory. The dungeon crawler is the debut title from studio Exit 73, and it puts you in the role of a high school girl who has to balance her normal life with hunting vampires. In motion, though, it barely looks like a game, more like a long-lost Cartoon Network classic.

Another debut title (this time from Squid Shock Studios), Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus is a slick side-scrolling action game with a painterly art style. It's set in a world inspired by Japanese folklore and gives players shapeshifting abilities to fend off the various monsters. You can even brew teas to unlock new abilities.

From Stormy Nights Interactive, Breeze in the Clouds is a 2D action game where you fight your way through a world based on the weather where the bad guys are looking to pollute the place. It looks gorgeous and has a great soundtrack, but more importantly, it stars an absolutely adorable corgi who knows how to throw down.

Bossa Studios has a, let's say, eclectic history, with games ranging from I Am Bread to Surgeon Simulator. Lost Skies looks completely different from any of that: it's a co-op survival game set in a fantasy realm made up of floating islands. It’ll support up to six players, and you can even craft your own airship.

One of Humble's original success stories, the fantasy roguelike Wizard of Legend is getting a sequel. This time, development is being handled by Dead Mage (with original developer Contingent99 in a consulting role), and the new game will feature updated 3D graphics alongside online co-op for four players.

Now for something a little darker (but no less pretty), we have Digital Sun's Cataclismo, a strategy game where you build structures to defend off waves of medieval horrors.

Finally, we got one more look at the previously announced Stray Gods, which is described as "one part narrative-driven adventure and one part interactive musical." Whatever it is, it both looks and sounds great, and it's launching very soon.

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