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Day of the Devs The Game Awards edition: The full announcements from the indie showcase
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Diego Nicolás Argüello
Fielding over 1,000 submissions, the Day of the Devs group has narrowed them down into a smaller yet awe-inspiring selection. If you want to catch up on the latest trailers, reveals, and even a surprise launch, here's everything announced at Day of the Devs that's coming to the Epic Games Store.
Tankhead
In Tankhead, you take control of a Sleepwalker, a person who uploads their subconsciousness into a mechanical shell in order to enter an irradiated wasteland. The story takes place right on the cusp of a major conflict. Factions are fighting for survival, the local authority rules with an iron fist, and a new threat is emerging years after the war that created this harsh landscape.
As the title suggests, you'll be using a light tank to wander around this science-fiction world, as well as a means of defense from other hostile beings. When you're not in combat, you can use a flying robot to exit the tank and scavenge parts from defeated enemies to create your own vehicular Frankenstein monster, interchanging said parts with your tanks.
You'll be spending the majority of your time inside the vehicle, which can be customized with different wheels, weapons, motors, and abilities. "One thing we're excited about for Tankhead is how we've embraced the tank controls, leaning into what makes tanks and tank-warfare unique," developer Alpha Channel said during the livestream. "Players simultaneously control the body and turret of the tank. Keep your armored side facing enemies and protecting your vulnerable motors. Definitely takes some time to adjust to, but it's a blast to get good at."
First revealed in a series of out-of-context social media updates starting in 2019, Tankhead is a novel take on the roguelike genre. You start each run from a hub and take on missions across the wasteland. Each of these objectives culminates in a boss fight against the namesake creatures, and they each require a specific strategy.
Tankhead is being developed by Alpha Channel and it's available on the Epic Games Store now.
Bionic Bay
Brace yourself for some fast-paced platforming, but with a twist. Bionic Bay centers the experience around a so-called swap mechanic and realistic physics. This combination allows you to shift gravity around levels, promptly changing positions with enemies and objects. You might think you're getting closer to a dead end or a fatal fall, but if you're quick enough, you can turn the entire screen to turn walls into solid ground.
Bionic Bay is constantly inviting you to experiment with these ideas. In the trailer shown during the showcase, a character swapped places with crates right before the impact of a turret shooting in its direction. During another platforming section, a different mechanic that allows you to slow down time temporarily turned a spinning saw trap into an inoffensive platform to jump across without getting hurt in the process.
Whenever you want to take a break from solving the game's mysteries, there's also an online racing mode, where you compete against dozens of other players to see who gets to the finish line first. This pacing and level design are built with speedrunning in mind. If you're someone who spends hours replaying levels to get a lower time with each subsequent revisit in games like Neon White, you'll find a steep but rewarding challenge to overcome here.
Bionic Bay is being developed by Mureena and Psychoflow Studio, with Kepler Interactive as the publisher, and is set to release on the Epic Games Store on March 13.
Kingmakers
Here's a premise for a game you don't hear very often: A group of modern soldiers travel back in time to medieval England to try to change the course of history and prevent an apocalypse in the present time. This means that you'll be using cars, helicopters, and fire weapons against armies of sword-wielding and horse-mounting soldiers.
Kingmakers sounds absurd on paper, and the developers know it. In fact, they're leaning into the idea with an impressive technical approach. The game promises to have thousands of soldiers scattered around a map simultaneously, with skirmishes happening across different areas.
Speaking of the technical side of things, everything in the game is destructible. Some of the tools at your disposal include armored SUVs, grenade launchers, and air strikes. These will all help you destroy castles, houses, and other structures. That being said, you're not a one-person army, as you command your own soldiers. You can seamlessly switch between third-person action to issuing orders at any time, too.
Structures aren't there solely to be destroyed, however. As you make your way through the campaign, you'll also have to build your own. "It isn't just a third-person action game," developer Redemption Road said during the livestream. "It's also a detailed city simulator where you build cities and castles as you raise and control your armies to conquer the English countryside."
If the game still doesn't sound ambitious enough, there's also multiplayer. You can band together with up to three additional players in online co-op to siege castles or be on the defending side, with each leading their own army. As confirmed by the devs, the entire campaign can be played in co-op.
Kingmakers is being developed by Redemption Road with tinyBuild as the publisher, and will be available in early access on the Epic Games Store sometime in 2025. There will be playtests happening in the future, too, so keep an eye out for them.