Hands On: 10 of Our Favourite Games from EGX Rezzed 2018

EGX Rezzed is the little brother of the UK's biggest games exhibition, and it's a great venue for smaller games to spend some time in the spotlight. Indeed, we usually discover a number of titles we'd never heard of before. We attended the event across all three days, playing as much as we could to find out what to watch out for from independent developers and smaller publishers. We've already written about some of our favourites from the show, but below is a list of games we simply had to highlight.

More from EGX Rezzed 2018

• Hands On: Onrush is an Action Packed, Addictive Arcade Racer
• Hands On: Roguelike Adventuring in The Swords of Ditto on PS4
• Hands On: Guacamelee! 2 Brings Mexican Madness Back to PS4
• Hands On: Windlands 2 Adds Co-Op, Weapons to Virtual Reality Platformer
• Hands On: Strange Brigade Is a Punchy, Pulpy 1930s Shooter

Bad North

Strategy titles can be tricky customers on consoles, so it was a real treat to play one with such concise controls. In fact, everything about Bad North is extremely streamlined; you simply order different factions of your army to appropriate locations on the gorgeous diorama style islands you're defending, and watch as they automatically take care of the invading forces. The challenge comes from the need to be in multiple places at once, creating a tense push and pull that's satisfying to play.

Children of Morta

We were instantly reminded of Hyper Light Drifter when we sat down with Children of Morta. The lovely pixel art, the top-down perspective, and the punchy hack and slash combat were all reminiscent of Heart Machine's brilliant adventure. The difference here is a more straightforward form of storytelling and roguelike elements, plus you can play as several members of the Bergson family, all of whom have different abilities and strengths. 

Dead Cells

This mixture of Metroidvania style exploration, roguelike procedural generation, and simple, tactile combat is undeniably a potent concoction. There's a touch of Soulsborne style gameplay thrown in for good measure, with safe rooms where you can upgrade your proficiency with different weapon types and more. It's fast paced, has a flicker of humour, and provides a stern challenge that fans of roguelikes or Souls games will appreciate.

Dead End Job

With a visual style inspired by the likes of Ren & Stimpy, this has a unique style that we quite enjoyed. This time, you're a ghost hunter for hire, first shooting ghouls into submission, then vacuuming them up. The objective is to explore each location and clear them of ghosts, rescuing bystanders along the way either alone or in two player co-op. It isn't doing anything particularly new or clever, but what's on offer here is great fun.

FAR: Lone Sails

In this post-apocalyptic world, the water has all but disappeared, and the rest of humanity has left you behind in pursuit of survival. You'll be spending the game playing catch-up, crossing dried up seabeds in your rusty but reliable landship, which you need to maintain, refuel, and repair along your journey. Its eerie atmosphere and muted art style gave us strong Inside vibes, and the upkeep of your ship proved to be very compelling. This is definitely one to watch.

Forgotton Anne

Though we've played this before, this year's demo was extended and improved. Living in the Forgotten Lands where lost inanimate objects find life, Anne and her mentor, Bonku, are trying to make their way back to the human world, but a rebellion force stands in their way. The hand drawn art style is still a visual treat, while the light puzzle solving, platforming, and dialogue choices make for a unique adventure that we're excited to see more of when the game launches next month.

Grip

If you remember the old Rollcage games, you'll be right at home with Grip, which feels like a modern reboot in all but name. This is a fast and chaotic arcade racer with open-wheel vehicles that aren't affected by being flipped over, and you can even drive along walls or ceilings. It can be a bit too mad for its own good sometimes -- we careened off the track numerous times, forcing us to reset our car -- but we still had a lot of fun tearing around the courses, firing off rockets, machine guns, and other power ups in the chase for first place.

Knights and Bikes

This game continues to be delightful in its new demo, which saw us taking Nessa and Demelza for a bike ride to a scrap yard in search of clues to the whereabouts of the island's missing grown ups. This playful, imaginative adventure game looks great and plays great, with simple controls from its bike riding to its combat. The child-like glee permeates not only the game's dialogue, but also its systems; you high five each other to regain health, for example. We're excited to see if the final game can keep up this level of whimsical charm.

Moonlighter

Moonlighter's mix of dungeon crawling and shop-keeping is a stroke of genius. The items you plunder from the dungeons behind your sleepy village can be put on the shelves of your shop. A dynamic market means that pricing these items correctly is important, as shoppers will soon make it clear if you're over- or under-charging for your goods. More money means upgrades and better equipment, which in turn means you can delve deeper and find rarer items. This loop is very addictive, which you'll soon discover when the game launches next month.

Morkredd

Morkredd felt like it could be a little while away, as performance issues were fairly prominent during our play time, but the core concept is quite interesting. You and up to three other players must guide a ball of light through pitch black environments, but leaving the ball's glow or straying into shadows (including the shadows of your partners) means death. The handful of short levels we played were fairly straightforward, but the creepy atmosphere coupled with the need to work together was a potent mix.

There were dozens of interesting games at this year's EGX Rezzed, but these were some of the standouts for us. What do you think of the above games? Did you attend the event, and if so, what were your favourites? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.