Offworlds No. 1
Some video game worlds are never far from home.🇵🇭
Hello and welcome to Offworlds! You’re reading the first of a monthly newsletter that covers the video games made and played by Filipinos, written in a digestible format.
At the top of each issue, you’ll find news and short interviews about a few video games being made by local developers, followed by other homegrown titles that may have flown under your radar. The back half is dedicated to fun stuff from the Filipino gaming community: featured content creators, game builds, art, and other expressions of fanhood for every game imaginable.
Offworlds is a solo project of mine. Apart from being a lifelong gamer (and impassioned Zelda fan), I’m also an avid consumer of news, critiques, and thoughtful pieces surrounding the industry. It’s when I started writing personal essays about the games I played that I realized how woefully underexposed I was to the games from my own country—a mistake I hope to remedy by making this newsletter. If you’re like me and want a neatly packaged run-down of local gaming news dispatched once a month to your inbox, I’d love for you to subscribe. It’s free.
Before we take off, I’d like to say thank you to my friend Jo Malinis for designing Offworlds’ identity. She’s a local type designer and the founder of Type63, an incredible showcase of Filipino-made fonts. Please give her a follow!
I think that covers all of our pre-flight messages. Strap yourselves in and let’s go see some video games. 🚀
Games on the Horizon 🌒
Himig
Himig is a cozy game in development by Arwyn Silva, a freelance game developer out of Valenzuela City. As the player, you take the role of two kids living in a peaceful town whose stories are determined by your decisions and interactions during their childhood.
What began as a game influenced by various slice-of-life manga eventually evolved into a very personal project whose themes are pulled from Arwyn’s own experiences as a child. Himig’s story will play out in small vignettes, such as “happy scenes with friends and family, a relaxing time by yourself, or ones that determines a person’s path in life,” they wrote to me.
Arwyn started learning to make games in 2013 when they played a ton of LittleBigPlanet just to build their own levels.
“It never occurred to me that games were made by people, so when I learned from my dad that I could do it as well, I pretty much kept making them everyday,” they wrote. Today, Himig is a full-time project, where they develop its code, art, and music as a team of one.
In 2020, Himig was featured in the Wholesome Games Direct, a showcase of relaxing and heartwarming indie games from all over the world. It seems exactly like the kind of place for the experiences Arwyn wants to create.
“I’d like to make games that focus on the joy found in the little things in life, and something that could instill a positive life lesson to those who played them.”
Himig comes out on Steam this year. Be sure to wishlist the game to help its visibility on the platform!
Jack Axe
Jack Axe is a platforming adventure in development by indie team Keybol Games. You play as the titular, axe-tossing Jack and her sisters across tight platforming levels set in a world infused with Norse-Filipino elements.
The game tells the story of “a young woman breaking taboo” by setting off on a quest deemed suitable only for the men in her world. This empowering tale is penned by developer Bari Silvestre along with Melai Silvestre and their three daughters.
Jack Axe was featured in last February's Steam Game Festival during a live stream that you can watch here. Aside from wishlisting the game on Steam, be on the lookout for a 3-world demo hitting soon. The fastest speed runners to participate in the trial event will win rewards, with more details to come. Follow Keybol Games on Facebook or Twitter for more information on the upcoming event!
Jack Axe is also coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Games You Can Play Now ✨
Duloga | If there’s only one game you have time for today, make it this one. Duloga is a “reverse space shooter” by Snack where you stand among a crowd of people as a cop shoots a gun in your direction. It’s a grim simulation of our reality in the Philippines for the past five years where anyone, even you, can be a target. I also wrote about my thoughts on this game. Play on itch.io
Lithium City | Developed by a team of three under lead designer Nico Tuason, Lithium City is a neon-soaked isometric action game that lets you execute stylish combat sequences using any weapon you find in each handcrafted level. I’m in awe of this game’s cool vibe thanks to its slick electronic soundtrack. Download on Steam
Potion Punch 2 | I’m a fan of anything developed by Monstronauts Inc. for the buckets of polish, charm, and attention to detail they put in their games. Potion Punch 2 is a frantic restaurant management game focused on brewing potions and prepping fantasy snacks for your colorful cast of patrons. There’s a huge amount of progression by way of upgrades, new patrons, and regularly added chapters to the game. Download on iOS or Android
Path of the Abyss: Cursed Ascension | This experimental rogue-like by Abyssal Instinct won 1st place in the Judges’ Choice Award during the Global Game Jam 2021 Online last February. You play as a spell-wielding knight who loses all his gear each time he ascends a level. The twist is that you decide in what order you retrieve each piece of gear as you traverse each chamber, adding a layer of crucial give-and-take to this otherwise straightforward action game. Play on itch.io
Community Watch 🔭
This expressive landscape illustration of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is by Gillian Galang, an environment artist from Bulacan. This artwork is one of three landscapes inspired by the screenshots she took of the game.
“Doing this makes me happy and less stressful,” Gillian mentions. Even though she’s a freelancer and only sets aside about 6 hours of work a day, she says managing herself independently is still a tough job.
Like most people I know, Gillian is very glad she made Breath of the Wild her very first game on the Nintendo Switch. By channelling her love for the game through her art, she also ended up learning how to draw better natural environments in her style.
If given the chance, she’d like to illustrate more video game environments in the future, like Valorant, a game she plays with her friends. “I also want to do Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, and Pokémon soon!”
You can support Gillian’s art on Twitter, Instagram, Ko-fi, and elsewhere.
There’s something more to these fan-made Pokémon than their adorable designs: they’re the starters of the Filipino-themed Tonbi Region, a personal project by a graphic designer and illustrator from Quezon City.
I interviewed @tonbiregion via email to learn about the story behind his project, his design process, and some of the unique things he learned while doing research. I’m particularly amazed at how rich each of his imaginary Pokémon’s backstories, abilities, and references are. You can read the full story here.
At the time of this newsletter’s release, there’s only eight Pokémon left to complete @tonbiregion’s roster of 128 monsters. Be sure to follow his project on Instagram!
Final Transmission 🛰
Soup Pot's Eccentric Play Style Is Being Accentuated by Accessibility (Jacob Creswell, CBR.com)
Pinoy-made Flash Indie Games Preserved for Posterity as Browser Support Ends (newsbytes.ph)
We Talk to the Most Infamous PS5 Reseller in the Philippines (Ash Mahinay, IGN Southeast Asia)
Play with Style: Filipino CC Creator, Luumia Creates an Exclusive The Sims 4 Lookbook (Mae Trumata, Nylon Manila)
Omg, Potion Punch 2 is made by a team of Filipinos??? Galingggg! Nakailang levels din ako sa Potion Punch 2 hahaha