Indie Art Spotlight | Screenshot Saturday

A look at some of the incredible GIFs, screenshots, and video clips recently posted to social media by indie developers.
May 15, 2020 1:06 PM by Morgan Shaver

Indie developers regularly post about their games under the #screenshotsaturday hashtag on Twitter. Other popular hashtags used include #indiedev and #gamedev which can be used in conjunction with #screenshotsaturday to help promote their work.

I don’t know about you, but I love exploring these hashtags as I’m able to discover hidden gems and examples of video games as a form of art, not just entertainment. While I regularly retweet these discoveries to IndieObscura’s Twitter account, I feel like they can get buried beneath the weight of weekly game news.

With this in mind, I thought it’d be a good idea to share several examples of #indiedev, #gamedev, and #screenshotsaturday posts for this week’s feature. Rather than use words and lengthy paragraphs, I’m going to let the visuals do all the talking.

Header Image: Planet of Lana from Wishfully Games

Indie Art Spotlight | Screenshot Saturday

Showcasing some incredible indie art like this serene watercolor piece from the upcoming indie game, Dordogne.
© Dordogne from developer Un Je Ne Sais Quoi

The games shown below are a mixture of upcoming games, ones that have already been released, and examples of the incredible things indie developers are able to create.

To learn more about any of the games seen below, simply click on the Twitter embeds and you'll be taken over to Twitter where you can view their full profile with additional information, images, and so on.

With that out of the way, here are some of the incredible things you can find under the #screenshotsaturday, #indiedev, and #gamedev hashtags on Twitter! 

Frostwood Interactive previously released another must-play indie called Rainswept, a murder mystery game described as follows:

"Rainswept takes you on an emotional adventure in a small town affected by a double shooting. Join Detective Stone and unravel threads of love, relationships, and unresolved trauma in this character driven murder mystery game."

The footage shown by HappyJuice Games is from their upcoming indie, Lost in Play. On the developer's official website, Lost in Play is touted as an adventure game following a brother and sister who lose their way and must journey home through "imaginary and surreal landscapes." 

Gestalt: Steam & Cinder is an upcoming steampunk action/platformer RPG developed by Metamorphosis Games scheduled to release sometime later this year. To admire even more of this game's gorgeous pixel art, and stay up-to-date on its release, be sure to wishlist the game over on Steam! 

Mortal Shell is a heavy-hitting indie RPG from developer Cold Symmetry and publisher Playstack set to release in Q3 of 2020 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For a closer look, check out Mortal Shell's badass announcement trailer on YouTube and visit the game's official website. 

Astronaut Curve is an artist and game developer who regularly posts their stunning pixel art pieces and surreal clips to Twitter. 

Memory of God made the game Stillness of the Wind which you can play right now on Nintendo Switch, PC, and iOS. For more on Stillness of the Wind, head over to the game's official website. Also be sure to follow Memory of God for more impressive pieces like the one seen above! 

If you want to be treated to some out of this world pixel art on a regular basis, I highly recommend following 128 MHz on Twitter. Right now, they're developing the game Brass Bellows set to release sometime later this year. 

Lucky Mountain Games showed off a serious level of finesse with this low poly art scene. Want to see more? Check out Hotshot Racing from developer Lucky Mountain Games, Sumo Digital, and Curve Digital! 

Evgenia is a 3D low poly artist from Russia who created a stunning "drag and drop game about a frog house" that's playable right now on itch.io!

A set of stills from developer Wishfully Games and their debut title, Planet of Lana. The game is described as a cinematic puzzle adventure featuring Lana, a girl who sets off to rescue her sister.

The header image for this article is one of Planet of Lana posted by Wishfully Games, so huge shoutout to the team for crafting such a cool looking game.

I highly recommend following Wishfully Games so you can follow the game's development and see even more art like the pieces seen above! 

Dordogne from indie developer Un Je Ne Sais Quoi features stunning watercolor art and a compelling narrative which boasts the following description on Steam:

"Dordogne is a narrative adventure game in which you play as Mimi, a young woman visiting the house of her recently deceased grandmother who left her letters and puzzles to solve. To do so, Mimi will revisit her childhood memories and reconnect with the little girl who marveled at everything."

Dordogne will release sometime in 2021. To ensure you grab this game the moment it's released, be sure to wishlist Dordogne on Steam. You can also follow Un Je Ne Sais Quoi on Twitter to catch even more examples of the game's watercolor art. 

Louis Waloschek is making The Gecko Game which lets you play as a stealthy lizard and wriggle your way around some gorgeous environments. You can see more of the places you can explores as a cute little lizard by checking out Waloschek's Twitter. His pinned tweet in particular blows me away every time I see it!

Last, but certainly not least, here's a look at the upcoming game Crab Champions. As you'd expect from its name, Crab Champions lets you play as a crab and compete in modes like Survival, Racing, and Duel.

It recently clawed its way through development to a confirmed release date of August 20, 2020 and yes, you can wishlist it on Steam right now.

If the crabs look familiar to you, it's because the game is from Noisestorm, the people behind that viral Crab Rave video which I've embedded below. It brightens my day every time I watch it so I figured I might as well share it with you as well.

Crabs are pretty rad, aren't they? 🦀 

If you like what you’ve seen, I strongly encourage you to follow these accounts on Twitter and show them your support.

Even the simple act of engaging with a single post and sharing it with others can help promote an indie game that may not have the resources to spend on the sort of marketing you see from larger developers and publishers.

Social media is a powerful tool, and it’s wonderful to see so many indies come together to not only promote their own games, but support other creators as well.

To see this in action, search for the #screenshotsaturday, #indiedev, and #gamedev hashtags on Twitter and browse through the results. I guarantee you’ll be blown away!

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