Shack Chat: What was your favorite game from the Shacknews E6 Indie Showcase?

Greetings, Shackers. It's Friday, and that means we're coming at you with another Shack Chat question. While we typically focus on things happening outside of Shacknews, this week is a bit different. Earlier this week during Shacknews E6 2022, we held a Shacknews Indie Showcase. Dozens of games were shown off, and our wishlists grew drastically with each passing trailer. Now that the showcase is over, we wanted to reflect on our favorite games that were shown off, and get you to weigh in on what caught your eye as well. If you missed the showcase the first time around, we've embedded the YouTube replay below. Be sure to hit us up in the Chatty comments and share your picks.

Question: What was your favorite game from the Shacknews E6 Indie Showcase?

Power Chord - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Indie Aficionado

If this week has shown anything, it's that we at Shacknews love music. We love music games, we love music covers, we love metal, and we pretty much love anything that will melt our faces off. With that said, Power Chord looks like it's right up my alley. Combine rock music, dive bars, and deck-building and I'm totally in. The future is already looking bright for music games with titles like Metal: Hellsinger coming down the pipe and I love seeing a game like Power Chord join that list of titles.

Frogsong - Donovan Erskine, now a major frog fan

If you’ve been watching all of the summer gaming events, you may have noticed the oddly high volume of games about Frogs. Well, one of these games popped up at our showcase! Frogsong looks like an exciting adventure through the backyard. The color palette is gorgeous, and I really dig the designs not only on the protagonist frog, but the different amphibians that you meet on your adventures. Just one of many games from the showcase that are now on my Steam wishlist!

Increment - Blake Morse, Co-EIC

I don’t really know what Increment is, but it definitely left an impression on me during the showcase. From what I can gather, there’s a button in a dark room and when you push it insanity starts happening around. It looks like it goes from zero-to-sixty as far as the sensory overload aspect goes. There wasn’t really any sort of real information given from the intro or the trailer, but as someone who loves VR titles like Accounting Plus I am intrigued and want to learn more. 

Where Birds Go to Sleep - Sam Chandler, Unsettling music sold it

With so many exciting games revealed in the Shacknews E6 Indie Games Showcase, it’s hard to nail down just one that I want to play, but I must. To that end, I’ve opted for Where Birds Go to Sleep. What sold me on this was the creepy and unsettling music and atmosphere depicted in the trailer. I love a good story, especially one where I get to shape the protagonist. Plus, any game that hides a secret message in its Steam page is a winner in my books. Make sure you add Where Birds Go to Sleep to your Wishlist!

Tape to Tape - Bill Lavoy, Grinder

There were so many good games shown off at the Shacknews Indie Showcase. I could pick 10 and feel good about those choices, and I’m depending on my colleagues to mention those with their picks. I’m going full Bill Lavoy Canadian here and picking Tape to Tape, a roguelike hockey game that gives me hope for the genre. What it loses by not having official licenses and rosters it seemingly makes up for with charm and originality. This game had me hooked from the hop, and I cannot wait to experience something different in the frozen puck space come December 30. If you’re as interested as I am, wishlist Tape to Tape on Steam.

Block Buster VR - TJ Denzer, wants to be an angry dinosaur in VR

It was hard as heck to pick a single game out of our Indie Showcase, but one game spoke to me on a level of gaming and immersion I have wanted since I was a child playing with building blocks and sandcastles… or rather, knocking them over and stomping on them after I built them up. Block Buster VR! It’s a game where you get to be a kaiju! Knock over buildings! Throw them at airplanes! Wreak havoc! Goodness gracious if you told a 5-year-old Godzilla loving me that this would be possible someday on a VR headset, I would have squealed for joy. At 33 years old, I squeal a bit less, but I am nonetheless giddy for everything Block Buster VR has offered to let me do. Can’t wait to show the virtual city who’s in charge. It’s me, as a kaiju. I’ll be in charge.

Tape To Tape - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo Show

Shacknews held its first Indie game showcase this year during E6. This presentation shows that the indie gaming scene is growing everyday and continues to get better and better. That being said, there were quite a few games that caught my attention during the show, some I had the luxury to play at PAX East this year. There was one that totally surprised me and that was Tape to Tape. If you have watched any of the Stevetendo show livestreams,, you know that I love Hockey. I live in New Jersey and am a big Devils fan. When I saw a Hockey game pop up on my scene, you had my attention. When I found out it was a roguelike and had a blacksmith wearing a goalie mask, it became a game I wanted to check out. Then I heard the goal horn in the game, as some Hockey games don’t have them and I wanted to check it out even more!

Little Ghost - Dennis White

Little Ghost really left an awesome impression and that’s saying a lot because I’m usually into platformers very much. For starters, what a catchy track in the trailer! I love the artstyle and mixed mediums on display and it seems like they are really trying some different things with how they present challenges and fun to the player in the game. I can really tell that a lot of love and passion is going into the game and I’m thinking about checking out the demo soon now. Also who doesn’t love cute ghosts? If one is bringing those kinds of bangers with a haunting, sign me up!

Increment - Asif Khan, Great with numbers

I really enjoyed all of the games featured during the Shacknews Indie Showcase, but Increment’s trailer really resonated with me. As a CPA, I am all about numbers, and increasing numbers incrementally just really seems fun and exciting. This upcoming VR game looks like a great and chaotic experience with a really neat art style. 

All of them! - Morgan Shaver, lover of indies

Given that I helped put the showcase together with Greg and am familiar with everything shown, it’s super hard for me to pick a single standout favorite. It feels like I’m being asked to choose a favorite child here lol. First, shoutout to all of the devs who participated, all of them are amazing. Second, a few games that come to mind in terms of me liking them in a personal game genre preference sort of way include Frogsong, Love, Ghostie, Little Ghost, Power Chord, Potionomics, Lost In Play, and Where Birds Go To Sleep.

Those are our picks for our favorite games from the Shacknews Indie Showcase from E6 2022. We want to hear what you thought of the showcase, and your selection as your favorite trailer. Let us know in the Chatty comments below.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.