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All 16 upcoming games from the Big Indie Pitch at Develop

The greatest as-yet-undiscovered titles, from Pocket Gamer's big night at this year's Develop conference

All 16 upcoming games from the Big Indie Pitch at Develop
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It's been described as speed dating for indie developers. The Big Indie Pitch is an evening of rapid-fire presentations where small dev teams showcase their in-progress work to gamers, journalists, publishers, and advisors from the industry.

This year alone the Big Indie Pitch has visited London, San Francisco, Bangalore, Vancouver, Berlin, and now Brighton. It took place last week as part of the renowned Develop event, with sponsorship and prizes from Amazon Appstore and Chillingo.

As always, there was a range of exciting experiences on offer, from point-and-click adventures to shoot-'em-ups and puzzlers.

The challenge (and those tasty prizes, which included Fire TV goodies) was ultimately won by Fat Fish Games thanks to Tiny Striker 2. But here below is every game that entered. Look out for them on a device near you soon!

Space Krieg by We Heart Dragons
Due out: 2017 The Big Indie Pitch

A turn-based, squad-level spaceship dog-fighting game, Space Krieg removes the need for lightning reactions by getting up to six players to submit their orders in advance before they're simultaneously carried out.

If you've played the tabletop game X-Wing Miniatures you'll understand the mechanic.

Pumped BMX 3 by Yeah Us Ltd
Due out: September 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

The side-scrolling bike stunt game features 60 levels over six worlds. Hold the pump button and tilt your device to pull off crazy stunts over tall jumps and steep dips.

Surprisingly for an indie game, it already boasts licences for 15 of the world's top BMX brands and BMXers for your to customise your bike with.

Vostok Inc by Nosebleed Interactive
Due out: February 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

This ambitious space exploration game is a mix of twin-stick shooter, retro mini-games, and idle clicking, wrapped up in a satirical storyline about predatory business.

"Think The Wolf Of Wall Street in space," says developer Andreas. There are 40 planets which can generate income for you while you hire and fire business managers before blasting off into space again.

It's multi-platform too, so you can play on your console, hit cloud save and continue on your phone.

Starbeard by Leviathan Creative
Due out: June 2017 The Big Indie Pitch

An intriguing take on the match-three genre, Star Beard tasks you with sending heroes against a dragon who lurks at the top of the screen. Coloured gems are matched by dragging down to the bottom, sliding along to the new row and releasing.

Tiny Striker 2 by Fat Fish Games
Due out: July 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

WINNER! You can read more about the winning game elsewhere on Pocket Gamer. It boasts a meta game interface similar to Clash Royale including Tiny Striker TV match replays - but the main game is a very intuitive flick-to-kick penalty shoot-out.

Monster Rush by Protophoenix
Due out: September 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

Built as a university degree project on PC, the team are porting this isometric shoot-'em-up to Android right now. Its distinctive blocky style hides a frantic battle game where you move, strafe, shoot, and grab power-ups.

Twisted Lines by Megagon Industries
Due out: August 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

Fiendishly simply sliding puzzle. Move the block around a maze, making sure it's the right colour when it reaches its destination - the only way to change its hue is to cross its own tail at the right point. With 118 levels spread across nine chapters, there's plenty to tease your brain.

Hardballers by Playback Interactive
Due out: December 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

This top down strategy game uses paths and rebound mechanics to treat brutes like billiard balls. It's "table football meets Call Of Duty" according to the developer.

Characters like private detectives and police offers brawl in a number of locations using a turn-based mechanic where you set them on a path and watch them run towards and hammer as many opponents as possible.

Run From the Sun by Ant Workshop
Due out: November 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

Second place went to this infinite flyer set in space. You leap up the screen from planet to planet, aided (or hindered) by gravity and with some limited after-touch ability to steer.

Behind you, the sun grows in size... Instantly rewarding fun. You can read more about Run From The Sun elsewhere on Pocket Gamer.

The Last Time by Big Cow Studios
Due out: August 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

This point and click adventure delights both with its blocky 8-bit style, and its story in which the hero is an old man.

The decision to make it about a 70-year-old frail retiree was taken deliberately to contrast with the typical indestructible hero characters from modern games. At a £1.99 premium download price, this is one for fans of smart retro storytelling.

King Of Karts by Popclaire
Due out: December 2016 (out now on PC) The Big Indie Pitch

If you're familiar with Mario Kart (and let's face it, who isn't?) then the mechanics of this ambitious mobile driving game will come as no surprise. It's a single or multiplayer, online or split-screen, racer with quirky maps, drifting and power-ups.

Outrager by Thumbfood
Due: 2017 The Big Indie Pitch

Outrager calls to mind SEGA racing games of old, like a blocky mash-up of Outrun, Roadblasters and Spy Hunter. You leap between car and speedboat to dodge and shoot your way through a chunky voxel game world.

It has a straightforward three-button control system and was originally planned for consoles before the team ported it to mobile so that a younger audience might discover it too.

Hyper Sentinel by Hewson Consultants
Due out: 2017 The Big Indie Pitch

Remember Uridium, the frenetic 8-bit classic? This is a spiritual follow-up to that, from the sons of Andrew Hewson who created the original.

The top-down side-scrolling shooter we saw was 90% complete. It has 12 levels with a boss at the end of each, and five medal challenges to complete per level.

Princess To The Rescue by A Little Red Panda
Due out: Unknown The Big Indie Pitch

This side-view platformer is aimed squarely at kids, particularly young girls who want an aspirational game to play with their parents.

Its pastel colours and sliding-block puzzles give it an accessible feel and the level demonstrated on the night was a fantasy castle. Your task is to lift the curse affecting a once-prosperous kingdom.

Cyglide by Sizeable Games
Due out: December 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

Inspired by Pilot Wings, this early build demonstrated an endless world flying game where soaring landscapes are navigated by pitching up and down to build up speed.

It's very much about momentum not combat. The intention is to release it as an affordable premium game for PC and mobile.

Dr Harrison And The Blood Crystals by Asobi Tech
Due out: September 2016 The Big Indie Pitch

This simple but fun run-and-jumper came third, and you'll find more about it elsewhere on Pocket Gamer. It's a familiar mechanic: your character runs from left to right across the screen and you have to time his jumps to avoid the dangerous crystals.

But there's an unusually strong sense of urgency to the game and our judges became quite competitive trying to get the best time. There are currently 15 levels but it will be 50 by the time of release.

If you're a developer with a game in progress, why not enter our next Big Indie Pitch? It'll take place in Cologne at Gamescom in August, and there'll be prizes as well as a chance to get valuable feedback on your project.
Dave Bradley
Dave Bradley
Dave is "management", but he's also been writing about games and films for over 25 years, so we suppose he's earned it. He claims to prefer big-budget RPGs with epic storylines but is commonly discovered tapping away at hypercasual indies. Currently obsessing over Marvel Snap.