9 Israeli Indie Game Developers to Watch For

BOOTLEG SHELF
Jul 24, 2017 · 4 min read
The Indie Game Section at GameIS 2017 (photo credit: Nir Miretzky)

I came out of the annual GameIS convention full of hope, and plainly speaking: freakin’ excited. Mainly thanks to the indie developers that showcased their games.

GameIS is the leading game industry convention in Israel. Established in 2008, it has been growing steadily. It’s a mix of juggernauts like Playtika and Plarium, medium sized studios with big dreams like Jellybutton and Ilyon, and indie developers with passion that could melt steel beams. In a country obsessed with technological innovations and the startup culture, a gaming scene emerged.

(photo credit: Nir Miretzky)

Rami Ismail wrote an excellent blog describing the “Six stages of game dev community development”, If we had to place Israel in that model it appears it is somewhere between stage four and five, where shit gets real.

Rami Ismail:

During this phase, a territory evolves a more cultural perspective on games as the goal shifts from trying to prove game development is a feasible expense of time to making interesting content. As the community grows more comfortable, games become more personal and less utilitarian.

Playing the games on the indie showcase at this year’s GameIS, one could argue we are already there. I wanted to spotlight some of those interesting games/teams (in no particular order)

Let’s go.

BUCK | Wave Interactive

Speaking about games becoming more personal, BUCK is as personal as it gets. The game is based on the pet dog of it’s designer: BUCK.
It’s a heavily styled story driven action game, with a combat system similar to Klei Entertainment’s Shank.

BUCK is now available on Steam Early Access

Volcano Tower | Ugly Cake Games

Volcano Tower is an immediately engaging endless action platform game, where you struggle to stay alive while bricks in various patterns fall from above. It’s simple and full of charm. The level of polish this team of two achieved is remarkable.

Volcano Tower is currently in Beta (Android).

INFINIROOM | Lonebot

Lonebot are the Israeli Vlambeer.

There is a lot of hyperbole in my previous statement, but examining their ever growing catalog at itch.io I can’t help it.
INFINIROOM is an excellent action platform game where you need to survive various traps in an ever changing room with one of four characters, each equipped with it’s own unique ability. It’s balanced, challenging, and a goddamn gaff and a half.

INFINIROOM is available to download on their itch.io page, though it’s not the latest version.

INIFIROOM is targeted for mobile devices only for some reason.

Pudica | Inbal Netzer / Dan Sivan

Pudica is a quirky mobile title where you swat away prying hands and other vermin from your naked body. It’s short, funny and somewhat disturbing.
A great example of the variety we are starting to see in the Israeli scene.

You can download Pudica here

Press up up down down left right left right B A B A to get to the secret Trump level

Fort Triumph | Fort Triumph Team

Fort Triumph is a wonderfully witty version of XCOM set in a fantasy world.
It has everything you can expect from a modern day XCOM game plus some innovations. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, fort Triumph is set to be released Q2 of 2018 on Steam.

Fort Triumph’s demo is available on Steam.

KAPIA | Port 5

KAPIA is a 3D episodic adventure game created by a small family team.
The game is inspired by the personal experiences of it’s creators and brings those experiences to life in a peculiar SCI-FI world. I can’t say much about the gameplay itself as I haven’t played it, but it looks refreshingly original and promising.

KAPIA has been green lit on Steam.

Talking to cyborg cats in KAPIA

Bad Pad | Headbang Games

Bad Pad is a one man passion project by Headbang games that oozes with charm and the love for little details. Super Meat Boy players will feel right at home with it’s tight controls and demanding difficulty, but that’s not to say that Bad Pad does not have it’s own unique style. It’s a labor of love and you can tell that by the hilarious intro with music composed by the game’s designer.

Bad Pad is available on Steam Early Access.

Woodways | SEN Games

A clever puzzle game with a unique game mechanic. You guide different animals to their goal by controlling all of them at once.
Each animal reacts to the environment differently which creates some surpirisngly challenging puzzles for this innocent looking game.

Woodways is Sen Games first game together as a team, hopefully we see more from them in the future.

Runewards | Reaver Games

Runewards is somewhat of a mystery to me. Located at the indie showcase sits what may easily be mistaken for a Blizzard title, but it was made entirely as a private venture by a few independent game developers.
It’s a cross between the aesthetics of Hearthstone and the game play of Gwent. It also has ZERO buzz around it, but if the right publisher picks it up it can go places.

Runewards is free to play and available to download now.

Will someone show Reaver Games how to market their game?

This is just a small list of games I experienced during the convention, and by no means a comprehensive list of all interesting projects currently being developed in Israel. If you are thirsty for more, head over to indiegi (not maintained by me) for more Israeli indie games.

Thanks for reading.

BOOTLEG SHELF

Written by

Game Design/Indie Games blog, sometimes I spill Tahini on myself.

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