Future of Play Direct 2022: Everything Announced and Revealed

Colourful sound-surfing platformer Onde will arrive on Nintendo Switch and iOS in the second half of 2022. It was released on PC in March from publisher Mixtvision and currently has a 9/10 on Steam, receiving praise for its abstract take on platforming that sees players move through visual representations of soothing music.

Love Shore – Release Date

Developer Perfect Garbage has announced that its visual novel Love Shore is coming to Steam and Xbox on October 21. The player must explore a cyberpunk metropolis as they meet and mingle with robots, gods, and humans alike.

Spiral – Xbox Platform Announcement

Folklore Games’ Spiral, a third-person narrative drive exploration game, is officially coming to Xbox. Players follow a man named Bernard as he explores his family home, reliving the past from childhood to his current, ageing state in what looks like a super impactful but super sad indie.

The Cartomancy Anthology – Release Date Trailer

Developer Compact has announced that The Cartomancy Anthology, its virtual tarot reading collection where each arcana is its own game, will be released for Steam and itchi.io on August 9. Each game is completely different to the next, allowing players to play through a series of unique “introspective digital experiences” all under one title.

ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area

Another visual novel confirmed for Nintendo Switch is ValiDate: Struggling Singles in your Area. With a demo already available on Steam, the game is being fully released in August and will see players follow 13 lonely adults as they navigate the ups and downs of romance.

Railbound – Release Window

Fans of trains and puzzles can enjoy Railbound this September. Golf Peaks and Inbento developer Afterburn showed off new gameplay and finally unveiled the release window for its track-connecting game that includes more than 100 puzzles for players to solve.

Hill Agency: PURITYdecay – New Gameplay

Achimostawinan Games has shown off its new detective mystery game Hill Agency: PURITYdecay, coming August 21. The trailer revealed new gameplay and story details for the game, in which players take on the role of a tough as nails P.I. as they explore, interrogate, and sift through evidence across the world.

Cook Serve Forever – New Gameplay

A new trailer highlights the story and gameplay of Cook Serve Forever, sequel to 2013 hit Cook, Serve, Delicious. Players must cook their way through a bustling solarpunk city as they work their way from a food cart chef to the culinary queen.

Creature Keeper – New Gameplay

Creature Keeper is a top-down, pixel art, monster farming RPG that lets players explore a bright and colourful world. A new trailer showed off the different types of monsters players can collect and battle with.

Kabaret – New Gameplay

Persona Theory Games has revealed new art, characters, and gameplay from its dark fantasy folklore adventure game, Kabaret. Players follow a cursed child named Jebat as he finds himself in a cruel and unforgiving realm of monsters.

Malice & Greed – New Gameplay

Alongside gaining XP when defeating enemies in Malice & Greed, players also gain the monsters themselves. Players build up a new team on every run of this roguelite, turn-based RPG, and a new gameplay trailer showed off mechanics including capturing monsters, selling them, and butchering them to steal their skills.

Rocket Rumble – New Gameplay

PixelNAUTS Games has revealed new levels coming to its combat-racing party game Rocket Rumble. Players can now take battle through a steampunk inspired world, a lush green forest, and a classic speedway. The developer didn’t say exactly when the game would leave Early Access but did confirm that it’s currently gearing up for the full launch.

The Wandering Village – New Gameplay

Survival RPG The Wandering Village is still without a release date but developer Stray Fawn Studios has revealed new gameplay showing off the game’s scavenging mechanic. Players must collect items to build their village on the back of a giant, wandering turtle-type creature called Onbu while defending themselves from an ever-threatening toxin.

Lab Rat – New Release Window and Publisher

Long-delayed puzzle game Lab Rat is officially coming to Steam in late 2022, with Klei Entertainment now publishing the game. Coming from developer Gwen Frey (BioShock Infinite, Kine, The Flame & The Flood) the game combines meticulous puzzles with a clever, hand-crafted narrative.

Calico – Expanded Edition

Cat-cafe building game Calico is receiving a big update this summer called the Pawsome Edition, which includes a revised, expanded version of its cooking minigame, new animals, and a new UI.

Everything Else Shown at the Future of Play Direct

The 30 minute showcase was full of announcements, also including new trailers for Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Infinite Guitars, Lost Twins 2, Mossfield Origins, OU, Pen Pal Princess, Skábma-Snowfall, Soundfall, Spells & Secrets, Spirit Swap: Lo-Fi Beats to Match-3 To, and The Pale Beyond.

Breeze in the Clouds, Button City, Circuit Superstars, Dorfromantik, Kitori Academy, Loddlenaut, and Midnight Girl all made an appearance during the showcase as well, but with no new information.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.