Summer Game Fest 2025 was definitely a weird one, but even with everything going on outside, the games on display were still immaculate. My favorites, the ones that I live for, are small, unique, and made for pure love of expression. Being able to see that love so clearly on display, expressed through such painstaking and often thankless work, and also being able to show them to our audience who might not otherwise encounter them, is the defining privilege of my job. That’s what I love about Summer Game Fest, weirdness and all, and hopefully when these games come out, you’ll check ‘em out too.
Escape Academy 2 - TBD
I loved the first Escape Academy and vibrated through my chair seeing that Coin Crew Games had returned to Summer Game Fest with a bigger, more expansive sequel. Instead of selecting levels, now you can explore an open world, solving puzzles as you discover them in a college campus setup. I love this new direction: the open-world exploration better melds the quirky / cute storytelling of Escape Academy with the actual act of solving puzzles.
In the short demo I was introduced to a cat who lived in my dorm room and wanted a snack. As I explored the campus, I found the cafeteria was closed but the special of the day was fish and milk. I solved the puzzle to open the cafeteria and was rewarded with my feline dorm-mate following me around campus for the rest of the demo and hopefully the full game. There’s no release date yet, but whenever it’s out, I’m enrolling.
Petal Runner - TBD
Speaking of pet companions, Petal Runner is a somber exploration of the tension between the joy of owning a pet and the inevitable devastation that comes with that, only disguised as a lighthearted pixelated Pokémon-like minigame-a-palooza. You, as a newly minted motorcycle courier, are tasked with helping people with their living Tamagotchis known as HanaPets. Install them, feed them, and bring them items while along the way you explore your relationship with your own first-generation HanaPet, who might not be around for much longer. I did not expect to sit down and play this game, which had all the hallmarks of a quote-unquote “wholesome game,” and be emotionally devastated. It ruined me... 10/10, can’t wait to play.
Relooted - TBD
When I tell you I sat the hell up seeing Relooted’s trailer. Here’s a game, stuffed full of African folks, talking about stealing back their cultural artifacts??? Hell, and I cannot stress this enough, yes. Relooted really captures the feeling of pulling off your own Ocean’s Eleven-style heist. You have a team of experts with their own specialties, and before your heist, you have to position them strategically so that the right person is in the right place to hack locked doors and help you reach unreachable places for a smooth escape.
While some of the Black members of the game’s African developer team couldn’t secure the visas they needed to attend SGF, Ben Myres, the creative director who I was able to speak to, said that each item you’re stealing is a real-life artifact currently being withheld from its country of origin. Each gets its own encyclopedia-like entry giving you its history, where it is now, and where it actually belongs. Nathan Drake, Lara Croft, Indiana Jones are all weaksauce compared to these heroes.
Directive 8020 - October 2nd, 2025
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