Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, aka EGLX, is Canada’s largest video game expo. Held in Toronto, last year it had 12,000 visitors attend the event.
This year, it was held at The International Centre in Mississauga and showcased all kinds of games from their retro-zone to their independent zone. It had arcades and board games. Nintendo Canada also showed up with a booth to show off current and upcoming games There were some e-sport competitions with Street Fighter 5, Super Smash Bros, CS:GO, Hearthstone to name a few. Artists Alley showed off a lot of local artists selling both their fan art to original pieces. Other than that, a lot of gaming equipment like gaming seats and to gaming hardware were also on display and for testing and purchase.
The highlight for our EGLX experience was the Indie Zone. EGLX listed about 30 indie studios showing up to present their games. While we may not have gotten around to all of them, here is a recap of 14 of the games at the expo that we tried out!
Polyball – Studio Monolith
Polyball is a game in the veins of Super Monkey Ball and features 60 levels of rolling a ball over a course towards a finish line. Each course has trophies and collectibles and there are multiple sectors in each area. It is a simple game but one that is hard to master as it gets fast paced quickly and also includes some platforming segments. Studio Monolith told us that on average, it took up to 70 restarts to complete a level. Polyball also has both single player mode and a split screen multiplayer mode. Polyball is perfect for speedrunners. It recently came out of early access on Steam.
Spectrum Break – Jason Hein
Spectrum Break is an upcoming physics games which has been in development for three years. The goal of this game is to maneuver the character with simple controls to bump all the blocks so the color solidifies. However, thinking ahead is important because if you bump the wrong block, it will start floating up and it may move too high to platform off to hit other blocks. With a colorful idea and an immersive soundtrack, Spectrum Break is a physics puzzle game that would appeal to lovers of this genre. The early levels are easy and simple as tutorials of all the functions but this solo developer assured us it would get harder very fast. Spectrum Break will be released on March 29th, 2018 on Steam.
Trinity – Maelstrom Rabbit
Trinity is an upcoming first person puzzle game. There is a slight narration which features around the themes of life and death. On first look, Trinity looks and shares some similar features of Portal. The puzzles are solved through shooting different lasers at platforms that help us get to the end of the level. The lasers change the platforms to different colors and that works in their own way to move to the next level. The developer told us that Trinity will have 10 levels plus an epilogue which should take about 3 to 4 hours to complete. It is expected for release later this year on Steam.
King of the Hat – Hyroglyphik Games
Hyroglyphik Games is making their appearance at many shows and won various awards with their upcoming multiplayer party game called King of the Hat. With the wave of party games, this one gets a lot of attention at gaming expos and rightfully so. King of the Hat is simple to play but hard to master. It can turn into a heated fast-paced competition with a few friends. It has different characters with different strengths and weaknesses as well as different levels amd even a story for the world they have created. They are working on releasing both local and online modes and is currently expected to release in early 2019. Check out our interview with Hyroglyphik Games here.
Fossil Hunters – Reptoid Games
Recently released on Steam, Fossil Hunters is a multiplayer coop game that builds around excavating dig sites and dinosaur fossil building. The game allows up to 4 players and players can drop in and out of the game without disrupting the progress. As the dig sites include a blueprint to give guidance as to what fossil needs to be completed but no game is complete without its obstacles. As expected from a dig site, there are pesky spiders (and probably other enemies in further levels) that can break the fossil pieces but they can be stunned with light and attacked with our pickaxes. At the same time, digging in the same spot too much can cause a cave in. With a good balance of obstacles and teamwork, this game might seem like a child’s game but it offers an awesome level of fun for adults as well. Fossil Hunters is currently available on Steam. Check out our interviews with Reptoid Games here.
Arrow Heads – Oddbird Studio
Arrowheads is a multiplayer game where you play as archers and battle in an arena with bows and arrows obviously.. This game is available in both competitive and cooperative modes as well as local and online play. There are lots of unlockables such as characters, bows and arrows. There is a certain level of acquired skills that needs to be mastered with its controls to fully grasp the game as it is rather fast paced. Arrowheads is currently available on Playstation 4, Xbox One and Steam.
Head Rush – Jellyware Games
Imagine you had to navigate through all the junk in your brain, Head Rush is an upcoming time trial flying game developed by a student team that takes its players through the process of maneuvering through the obstacles of the brain in each level. There are different added elements to use like focus which slows time and certain levels have wormholes that help redirect sharp turns. The final game will have 7 levels and will be available for free on Itch.io.
The Floor is Made of Lava – Salvadora Studios
The Floor is Made of Lava is an upcoming third person platformer. It tells the story of boy who is looking for his brother in a game of hide and seek until his imagination runs wild and he enters a dangerous world full of lava and literal dust bunnies and vicious bats. At least those are the enemies we saw in the demo. There are similar mechanics to nostalgic platformers like jumping on enemies heads to kill them however the character will acquire weapons. Packed with cute character designs and a decent amount of challenge in its different level designs, there is a lot of potential. The Floor is Made of Lava will have 64 levels and will be released on Steam later this year.
The Dungeon Crew – Clockwork Kraken
Mobiles games was a rare sight at EGLX but Clockwork Kraken shows up with The Dungeon Crew, a mobile side scrolling real-time tactical role-playing game. The controls are easy to pick up with two attack ways: tap and hold. Each character has their different roles as well as different attacks for their own characters. The characters proceed as enemies come on the screen gradually and the team has to make it through alive. RPGs and side-scrolling games are not exactly a novel idea however, The Dungeon Crew works well for a mobile with engaging battles and it makes for a nice game to pick up on the go.
Riverbond – Cococucumber
With a studio named Cococucumber, it’s hard to imagine the game it made to be anything but cutesy. Riverbond is exactly that. It isn’t only packed with different adorable pixelated characters but it is also a cooperative multiplayer game. It’s mostly a hack and slash where everything in the environment is destructible however, its a quest-based adventure packed with finding hidden keys, rescuing captives and fighting big bosses. If you like Minecraft pixelated game designs and action-based quests, Riverbond might be a game that will have you intrigued. You can see more info and follow them on Steam to know when the game will release.
Wolf Gang- Nylon Blonde
Wolf Gang is an upcoming turn-based game which features the odd pairing of a wolf and a black sheep and their adventures against other animals. You can call it a mix of Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem. The art design of the characters are complemented by the extra accessories that can be unlocked which makes them even more unique to the players. Wolf Gang will have a story campaign that will take six to eight hours. It is currently in Steam Early Access and expects to be released in 2019.
The Blobs Fight – SkyPyre Studios
EGLX is the perfect expo to show off multiplayer experience. The Blobs Fight is a multiplayer game which features multiple different modes from teams to versus and much more. The mechanics are quite simple. The blob can move in all directions with the controller and dash to attack or it can also jump and smash down on the other blobs to absorb them to grow bigger until all the blobs are completely diminished. Its fast paced and competitive however, being a game still in development, the precision and accuracy of the blob movements still need a little polish. The Blobs Fight is looking at release on Steam in May 2018.
The Forgotten Void – Voidless Studios
The Forgotten Void is an upcoming 2D turn-based puzzle role-playing game which resembles a little of The Witness and Fire Emblem. It has been in development for 3 years. The system here allows the characters to work with different modules to maximize the abilities. The Forgotten Void will be released in April 2018.
Luna: The Shadow Dust – Lantern Studio
Luna: The Shadow Dust is one of the longer demos presented at EGLX. Lantern Games presents this upcoming point and click adventure which tells the story of a boy falling into a different world and solving puzzles to escape the different areas with the help of a cute little creature. Its puzzle plays with dimensions and observations and other mechanics. Luna has a beautiful art style and look and moving music and puzzles that ramp up in difficulty to create an immersive and thoughtful experience. It is one of our most anticipated games from EGLX 2018.
Here is a list of the other games we spotted but didn’t get a chance to check out at EGLX:
- Wanderfall – Grabby Thing Games
- Godsend – Patchwork Games
- Sky rogue – Fractal Phase Games
- Skies of Iris
- Grand Vault – Dead Cells Games
- Roll Together – Mindwax Studios
- Plastic Rounds
- Robo X – The Pixel Crushers
- Solstice Moon 3D – Jitterware