According to engadget, the 2025 Day of the Devs: The Game Awards Digital Showcase was an hour-long event featuring 22 upcoming indie games. The showcase, organized by Double Fine Productions and iam8bit, included six world premieres and three release date announcements. Highlights included world premieres for Virtue and a Sledgehammer from Deconstructeam, the horror title UN:Me from Shueisha Games, and Scramble Knights Royale from Funktronic Labs. The event also announced that Corgispace from Finji’s Adam Saltsman is out now, and it concluded with the revival of a long-lost NES game called Xcavator 2025. Proceeds from the Xcavator 2025 cartridge will benefit the Video Game History Foundation.
Deconstructing Deconstructeam
Okay, so Virtue and a Sledgehammer is maybe the most on-brand title for Deconstructeam yet. This is the studio behind The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, after all. They’re known for heavy, philosophical narratives, and this looks like no exception. But here’s the thing: they’re making a huge stylistic leap. They’re ditching their signature pixel art for 3D, cel-shaded graphics and a third-person perspective. That’s a massive shift. The core idea—smashing your hometown with a sledgehammer to uncover memories—sounds incredibly cathartic. And the fact that the environment is “highly reactive” makes me think this isn’t just a visual gimmick; the destruction is probably core to the storytelling. It’s slated for 2026 on Steam, published by Devolver, which is basically a seal of quality for weird, brilliant indies.
Horror, Battle Royales, and Mirrors
Now, let’s talk about the stuff that really stuck with me. UN:Me sounds utterly terrifying in the best way. A protagonist with four souls fighting for control, each representing a different primal fear? And you have to choose which to eliminate? That’s a psychological horror premise with serious legs. The “sterile, illogical hallways” description gives me major Control or Silent Hill vibes. You can wishlist it on Steam now. Then there’s Scramble Knights Royale. A VR studio making a non-VR battle royale that starts with you riding a turtle to shore? And it has local split-screen? That’s wild. It sounds less like a pure last-player-standing shooter and more like a survival adventure where PvP is just one element. The “clay-like” art style is a fantastic contrast to the supposedly deep combat. Could be a sleeper hit in 2026.
Chill Vibes and Instant Gratification
Not everything was about tension, though. Mirria looks like pure, atmospheric puzzle therapy. Comparing it to Kentucky Route Zero and Monument Valley sets a sky-high bar, but the core mechanic of aligning mirror worlds by tweaking small details sounds wonderfully meditative. That’s a 2026 title I’ll be watching for when I need to unwind. On the complete opposite end of the timeline is Corgispace, which is out right now. Adam Saltsman saying there are “no secrets” is the biggest tell that there are absolutely secrets. This collection of janky, joke-y 8-bit games feels like a direct callback to the early, experimental web game scene. It’s a delightful palette cleanser. You can grab it on Steam or Itch.io.
Frogs and Lost History
But maybe the most immediately fun concept is Frog Sqwad. Former Fall Guys devs making a co-op sewer frog game where you vomit to shrink and use your tongue as a grappling hook? That’s a recipe for hilarious, physics-driven chaos with friends. Procedurally generated levels are a smart move to keep it fresh. And finally, that Xcavator 2025 announcement is just cool. It’s not often you get a genuine piece of recovered gaming history. Reviving a never-published game from a legend like Chris Oberth and selling it as a real NES cart to fund preservation? That’s a classy way to end a show all about celebrating developers. If you want a piece of that history, the cartridge is up for pre-order at iam8bit. Basically, this showcase proved, once again, that some of the most interesting ideas in games aren’t coming from the big studios. They’re in the indie scene, getting their moment in the spotlight at Day of the Devs.
