The 38 (no, really) Best Things I saw at The PC Gaming Show, Frosty Games Fest, Black Voices in Gaming (and other Miscellaneous Trailers)

PIGFACE by DreadXP and titolovesyou

I think I messed up.

When I started planning how I was going to handle Summer Game Fest coverage, I knew that I would realistically have to combine multiple shows if I ever hoped to finish. The buffet before you is the result of that questionable planning (and the inevitable outcome of my being interested in everything). 

Here is an absolute gauntlet of games that I feel deserve your attention from the summer editions of the PC Gaming Show, Frosty Games Fest, and the first ever Black Voices in Gaming showcase. 

Take my hand and come with me on a journey–a journey to discover if there’s a limit to the amount of embeds you can include on a single Squarespace page. 

Ambrosia Sky

Lately I’ve been playing more PowerWash style simulators. This trailer’s emphasis on cleaning fungal infections from spaceships sparked my imagination. If the devs have managed to pair the same sort of progression based dopamine hits with an actual story (no shade to PowerWash’s story, it’s actually quite good) I could see Ambrosia Sky spreading its spores in my most anticipated list. 

Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition

I played the wheels off the original Neverwinter Nights (on a family PC where it ran like a slideshow–I didn’t even care), but I haven’t touched any of the other entries in the series. The amateur game dev in me will probably have more fun with the included toolkit, as well. 

Neverwinter has one of the best logos in all of games. 

Den of Wolves

I think the market could support a Payday style power fantasy (especially if Payday 3 continues to be just “okay”) with a glossy and gritty layer of cyberpunk.

Den of Wolves is guilty of one of my current least favorite design decisions–levels where mental space is represented as crumbling ruins suspended in a void–but if the rest of the game plays fast and ferocious, I’ll find a way to forgive it. 

Sky Rig and Kaizen: A Factory Story

Sky Rig tasks the player with building networks of pipes and balloons to harvest elements from the clouds while Kaizen has you piecing together electronics (both snapping larger components into place and programming the automated processes to maximize productivity). Both look satisfying in their own way (and rewatching the trailers felt like taking a deep breath).

No, I’m Not a Human

No, I’m Not Human has some of the most disturbing imagery I’ve ever seen in the video game space (it has shades of Stephen Gammell’s work from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark). I can’t wait to get my hands on it and figure out what the hell is going on here. 

Mandrake

The farming aspect of Mandrake doesn’t interest me all that much, but I can feel myself being tempted by the darker side of the world that Failbetter Games is creating (and its painterly villages). 

Demon School

Demon School takes a lot of cues from the Persona series and that’s not a bad thing. When watching 500 trailers in the span of three days, I tend to prioritize style, and this project is dripping in it. 

I can’t stress enough how good the driving looks. 

It’s finally releasing later this summer. Shout-out to Alex Jaffe and Brandon Sheffield.

Railborn

Base building is commonplace in games at this point–but I don’t think I’ve ever built a train before (Choo-Choo Charles doesn’t count). The junk train cobbled together in these clips gets awfully tall. I wonder if tunnels will ever be a concern. 

Garbage Country

One of my favorites from the show!

You play as a little car–yes, you have a human portrait but watch this trailer and tell me the cars aren’t talking to each other the way they used to when you would play Hot Wheels as a kid–and collect resources while crossing a robot infested wasteland. 

I know it’s a cliche to activate radio towers in order to reveal the map but it kinda works here. 

It’s currently scheduled to be released in 2026.

DarkSwitch

I have some mixed feelings about the realistic character portraits–but I see potential in everything else. Settlement building branching from a giant tree is a decent pitch on its own, but I appreciate that it’s wrapped in a mysterious, nonlinear narrative as thick as the fog. 

Goblin America

“Ugly” games have almost become their own genre (Cruelty Squad, etc.). Goblin America looks to continue this patriotic tradition. 

To be clear, I mean “ugly” as a compliment. 

If I truly am the president as this trailer claims–how can I get on the midterm ballot? I have a lot of work to do. 

PIGFACE

Another one of my favorites. 

PIGFACE is a gritty first-person shooter–it looks like it crawled out of a dump filled with blood, broken glass, and copies of a Manhunt. You play as a woman named Exit (A+ protagonist name, by the way).  Build your loadout and GET. THE. JOB. DONE.

Early Access hits in August. There’s a demo available now and people seem to be addicted to it. 

Militsioner

Solve puzzles and navigate a small village while a giant police officer monitors your every move. It’s even more surreal than it sounds. 

ULTRAKILL - Layer 8 Fraud

I’m embarrassed to admit, as much as I support all of New Blood Interactive’s endeavors (I guess they’re more like antics and shenanigans than endeavors), I’ve never played a single minute of ULTRAKILL. A major part of this is I don’t understand its release schedule (how many layers do we have left to descend? Is it Dante’s hell? Is it nine?). 

The soundtrack bangs hard, though. It’s the perfect thing to listen to while writing game journalism. 

Grave Seasons

Grave Seasons is a cozy farming sim with a dose of murder. A few different teams are playing with this sort of dichotomy but I don’t think anyone is doing it better than Perfect Garbage (this looks like it could be legitimately scary). 

Eclipsium

Some people affectionately call Eclipsium “the hand game” (watch the trailer, it will make sense). 

I have a special interest in how different video games interpret the concept of hell–and this certainly looks like we’ll be traveling through some version of that. 

No other game has this style. 

CloverPit

Play for your life. 

CloverPit is a never-ending debt simulator–it’s also an evil rogue-lite built around a slot machine. 

Wanderburg

The final trailer in the PC Gaming Show was for Wanderburg–a charming little bit of mayhem where you play as a castle on wheels. From your keep, cruise the countryside and suck up resources through your raised portcullis and then use that gold and grain to construct cannons and build bigger ballistae. 

A tower offense is the best tower defense. 

I didn’t put this together until just now, but in Double Fine’s next game you play as a lighthouse. And have you seen Tan Ant Games’ Building Relationships? 2025–the year of sentient structures. 

My Arms are Longer Now

Pull off petty heists with your comically long arm. This looks like it will have much more longevity than those sticky hands kids love to snap to classroom ceilings (I regretfully speak from experience). 

Mars First Logistics

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts–but on Mars this time! 

Mars First Logistics tasks the player with building custom rovers to transport awkward cargo across the red planet. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It’s probably my favorite LEGO game (that isn’t actually a LEGO game) from all of this year’s showcases. 

BraveCart

When I was 18, I worked at a grocery store for six weeks during the summer. While returning shopping carts to their corrals, if you didn’t stay mobile, the rubber of your shoes would melt and fuse with the pavement. This seems a lot more fun than that. 

Isopod

Overall, there were a lot of bugs at Frosty Games Fest (literal bugs–like insects). As it turns out, when you play as a creature that can roll into a ball, you open up a world of fantastic movement and platforming opportunities. 

And apparently boss fights against bucket wheel excavators? Yes, I had to Google that. Move over Motorslice (that’s the headline I would have used if  Tactical Reload was a nineties video game magazine). 

Isopod releases on October 21st.

Tryhard

I’ve never actually understood the rules of rugby–but maybe injecting RPG mechanics into the sport will be the ingredient I need for it to finally take root (the addition of dogs doesn’t hurt). 

Your Holy & Virtuous Heretic

The combination of low poly 3D environments, 2D enemies, and pronounced pixels gives this first-person RPG a look that I can best describe as “crunchy.”

On the subject of crunchy, this is coming from the team at I Will Bite Raw Coffee Beans. I also occasionally experience that desire–which leads me to believe we have similar tastes (and I’ll probably be into their weird little game). 

Jupiter Junkworks 

How would you go about rebuilding a spaceship junkyard? Personally, I would do it by manipulating falling blocks and matching three. 

Everything about Jupiter Junkworks has personality. The character designs are fun and the gameplay with its flashing lights and feedback tickles my brain the same way that Balatro does (high praise, but it’s true).  There’s a demo available now and it goes live in Early Access in October. 

Misc. A Tiny Tale

I’ve never had a chance to play Chibi-Robo! (hopefully that will change soon thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online catalog), but until that day arrives, Misc. looks like it will fill that tin can robot shaped hole in my heart. 

Parasensor 

Here’s a second injection of isopods for you. 

I’m not sure how this will play (and barely understand what it’s about) but the trailer is haunting and grabbed me from the opening shot. A smaller detail, I especially like how the characters look against the backgrounds.

Tossdown

I worry a bit about this staying fresh over multiple runs, but “Crazy Taxi crashing into Jet Set Radio” is a strong pitch (and the perfect way to get my attention). 

Happy 25th anniversary to Jet Set Radio, by the way. 

Shadows of Chroma Tower

Another first-person RPG–but what sets Shadows of Chroma Tower apart from its peers is the direction the developers chose to take with its graphics. The dungeons and death traps on display here manage to be both gloomy and colorful at the same time. 

Watch the trailer, you’ll need to see it in motion to truly understand. 

Advent NEON

Why yes, I do find meaning in unlocking a million things, thank you very much. 

Advent Neon is a 2D platformer built around going fast. The extended look at Black Voices in Gaming revealed so many thoughtful design decisions (everything from the colorful trail that your character leaves in their wake to the moments the camera pulls back). It has grind rails? I feel confident in saying this might be the best Sonic the Hedgehog game we’ve received in years. 

Before moving on to my other selections for this article, I wanted to mention that TMNT: Tactical Takedown and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 were also featured in the Black Voices in Gaming showcase. Both are Strange Scaffold projects and they consistently put out good work. 

Here are some other miscellaneous trailers that crossed my YouTube subscriptions over the last couple weeks. They didn’t have an event to call home, so I’ve decided to adopt them. 

Lost Resolve

Speaking of going fast…

Lost Resolve is a speedrunning 2D platformer made in Godot. The developer also has an excellent, ongoing series of devlogs on their YouTube channel which I’d recommend if you’re thinking about taking the plunge and making your own games (you can find him at Swinkly). 

Bloodthief

Speaking of going fast…

Bloodthief is a gory, medieval speedrunning playground–imagine a greased up version of Quake. Every level has the potential to be a slip and slide. Interestingly enough, it’s being made in Godot, as well. 

The developer also has an excellent, ongoing series of devlogs on their YouTube channel I’d recommend if you’re thinking about taking the plunge and making your own games (they’re probably the current belt holder for my favorite devlogs–you can find him at Blargis). 

And no, I didn’t copy and paste this description from the previous entry. What can I say? I have a type of project that I like to cover. 

Screamer

I’m continuing to do my part to bring attention to new titles in the increasingly sparse racing genre. 

The gameplay appears to lean closer to arcade than sim and the world sports a subtle cel shading (not full blown Auto Modellista levels, but it’s especially noticeable in its effects, nonetheless). 

It’s out next year. 

Petal Runner

Just seeing the choice of color palettes and Game Boy style graphics in Petal Runner is enough to make me happy (and that’s something I think we could all use these days). The gameplay being a combination of classic Pokemon and micro-games is the Cherubi on top. 

Oh, and one of the developers has an excellent series about pixel art on their YouTube channel. You can find them at  Brandon James Greer (I’m retiring this bit for now, I promise). 

Artis Impact

I’ve covered Artis Impact recently but it’s one of my most anticipated titles and this trailer has new footage. Have I mentioned how adorable the protagonist looks when she shrinks down to traverse the overworld?

If you made it this far, congrats! You are a real gamer. 

You receive bonus points if you watched every trailer along the way. 

You will be able to cash these points in at a future date for a self-esteem boost. 

You can also become my friend for no additional charge. 

Contrary to what the evidence would have you believe (by “evidence” I mean I’m still working on these write-ups weeks later), I haven’t been defeated by event season, yet. I considered throwing in the towel, but with how bleak the current state of the industry is (especially today, July 2nd, because of Microsoft’s incompetent leadership), I feel like there is real value in pushing forward. Finish the things you start. Share the games you love.

So! In that spirit of resilience, I have two articles to go. 

See you soon.