Dublin Comic Con Summer Edition 2024 had a lot to offer audiences, and one corner of the Convention Centre Dublin was packed with Irish talent.
Up on the 2nd Floor was the Game Dev area, where plucky independent teams rubbed elbows with industry juggernauts such as Black Shamrock and Larian Studios.
There were so many great developers there, and here are some of them:
Battleclaws by Lauren Morgan, Jess Kelly, Rachel Appleyard, Thomas West and Eva Kondela
Battleclaws, the local multiplayer claw machine competitive game, has become a staple at conventions around the country in recent months. The dedicated team of 5 are always working their hardest to refine and expand the game, with a recent “Clawsmetics” update focused on giving players costumes for their claws, such as a toilet (Yes, I’m serious).
The game is in Early Access on Steam right now, and you can buy the game here.
Axyz by Space Lion Studios
Axyz is another game very familiar to anyone who is a regular at Irish conventions. The game showed off a new level of their perspective warping, vapourwave world. Kids and adults alike were drawn in by its striking aesthetic and its quite unique gameplay mechanics.
The game can be wishlisted on Steam here.
Coffee Bot by Four Sided Studios
Sergio, the Team Lead at Four Sided Studios, responsible for Coffee Bot (Forklift Certified), sat down with me to discuss the work his team has been doing on his debut title :
“I couldn’t be prouder of the work they’ve all been doing. Everyone playing the game over the weekend had nothing but good things to say about it. Keep following to see what this team has in store.”
The current demo version of the game is available on the team’s Itch.io page.
Leaf Blower Sim by Lift Indie Games
Fans of cleaning games beware, a new challenger is on the horizon! Leaf Blower Sim looks to fit quite neatly into the niche of the gaming market carved out by the likes of PowerWash Simulator. A pleasant gaming experience, where the goal is to clean up leaves as quickly and efficiently as possible, or… to try to make shapes with them, which isn’t easy with a leaf blower as your only tool (I wasn’t the only one to try doing that okay).
You can wishlist the game on Steam here.
Sol Drift by Mad Moon Studios
In this game you can pilot a variety of spaceships in combat to defend your fleet from attack! Sol Drift features a variety of game mechanics familiar to dogfighting space game veterans, such as radars to detect incoming enemies, projectiles, and even asteroid storms?! With a competitive edge in the form of player ranking via a leader board, this game’s future is looking as bright like the Sol.
You can follow development of the game on their website.
Forbidden and Side Souls by DeskRage Games
The team over at DeskRage has a passion for darker themed titles, and their love of From Software shines through in their first two offerings.
Side Souls is a side scroller mashed up with the original Dark Souls. The art style perfectly pixelates a beloved classic.
Forbidden is an original title in the Souls-like genre, with 3D third person perspective and a story forming behind the scenes as to why these “Soul Anchors” are scattered across a desolate world.
You can check out both games on their Itch.io page.
Vault by Justin-Lee Morrison
A table top card based hacking simulator, VAULT tasks players with obtaining three pieces of data by manipulating a random number generator. Players have to transmit their data to their handler via generating the correct number on the table top. Did I mention it comes with an awesome mat?
For more information about VAULT, you can check it out here.
Rhythm Strike by Radar Games
And while they weren’t demoing at the event, the team behind Rhythm Strike was present and checking out their fellow devs games.
Rhythm Strike is a VR rhythm game that tasked players with beating enemies to the beat! Use your weapons and armour by moving your hands to attack, defend, and most importantly, dance!
You can keep up with Rhythm Strike here.
Various Games by TOG Hackerspace
An Amiga Emulator running Doom on a Raspberry Pi within a custom made case, single and multiplayer memory games, and a 1-Dimensional Game made from a door stopper, a gyroscope, and an LED strip?!
You can see what the mad lads over at TOG Hackerspace are up to at their website.
Baldur’s Gate 3 by Larian Studios
And even though this game should require no introduction, I’m going to do one anyway!
The critically acclaimed, multiple award winning Larian Studios had an entire section of the game dev floor to show off their magnum opus, Baldur’s Gate 3, which was partially developed in their Dublin studio. Cosplayers performing as their characters were playing the game, as their characters, in game. The incredible effect this game has had on pop culture ever since its release cannot be understated.
For more information, Larian Studios can be found here.
Black Shamrock – A Virtuos Studio
Black Shamrock had a bunch of PC’s ready for players to demo the many games they’ve worked on including Grounded and The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition. There was a non-stop stream of activity at their space on the Game Dev floor. A staple in the local games industry in Ireland.
For more information check out Black Shamrock here.
And that was it for Dublin Comic Con 2024! The organisers did a wonderful job of supporting local talent and giving them a chance to show off their hard work to the general public. We hope they continue this part of the event for years to come.
Contributed by Craig Walsh.