Evo is about hard-nosed competition, but it’s also about community. Just as people come to Evo to compete against the best in the world,

they also come to meet up with old friends, and share a weekend with thousands of other gamers with the same passion for fighting games.

In 2012 we’re expanding this community focus by reaching out to high-five our friends in the indie game development community, who are chasing their dreams by making games on their own terms.

The chosen game developers include former Evo competitors and fans, and their games have been chosen on the basis of their skill-based and competitive designs that we think can inspire and engage any Evo attendee.

Evo 2012 will still feature all the great fighting game content that we have in the past: the tournament, the BYOC, fighting-game-centric panels, etc. The Indie Showcase goes beyond what you’ve seen before to offer you a look at the innovative work and ideas of designers shaping the competitive games of the future. Nathan Vella, president of Capy, collaborators on Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and the team behind SUPER TIME FORCE, had this to say about our collaboration.

“While on the surface EVO is a fighting game tournament for hardcore fans, dig a little deeper and you’ll learn that it’s much more than that. EVO has always pushed traditional gaming outside of the expected, and far past the norm. As an event, it represents how vast & varied gaming can be, and how much crazy fun can be had when it’s all mashed together into a weekend of tournaments & BYOC. A lot of these tenets & goals line up one-to-one with the core of independent game development. With this in mind, I’m extremely excited that EVO has partnered with the other indie game developers to showcase their games in the Indie Gaming Showcase. Plus… we all can’t wait for the FGC to absolutely tear our games apart!” Nathan Vella

Co-founder & president, CAPY

Here are the games that will be available for play on the Evo Expo floor July 6th and 7th.

Aztez



Aztez is set in the highly stylized world of the Aztecs, where the player’s job is to expand the empire with turn-based strategy gameplay, and maintain their tributaries with fast and thrilling beat ’em up gameplay. Inspired by the modern greats such as Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and God Of War, Aztez is a deep and meaningful action game wrapped up in dynamic strategy game shell.

Team Colorblind is Ben Ruiz and Matthew Wegner, two veteran independent game developers based in Phoenix, Arizona. Ben is the designer and artist and a fighting game/action game aficionado. Matthew is the programmer and businesslord, and a talented photographer and conference coordinator. They would probably like you.

BaraBariBall

BaraBariBall is a competitive sports game for two or four players. Score by dunking the ball in the water on the opposing team’s side, lose a point for falling into the water yourself.

With an emphasis on aerial acrobatics and split-second decision-making, BBB isa “that perfect mix of pixel elegance and stellar fluid motion, like watching basketball through mosaic sunglasses”. -Marc Weidenbaum, Disquiet

DIVEKICK

DIVEKICK distills the essence of the fighting genre into its most simple form, using parody and humor to make players comfortable in a fast-paced, rage-inducing game.

In DIVEKICK, players have no directional movement and only two buttons, DIVE and KICK. 1st hit wins. Sounds simple? DIVEKICK will test a player’s patience, reactions, reading, and spacing, and only the best will avoid fraud detection.

Nidhogg

Nidhogg is a violent and fast paced tug-o-war where two players face off using swords and fisticuffs. Once there is a winner the control of the camera is given to the player left standing and the other respawns a second later. If you manage to get to the goal on the other end of the map you win.

SpyParty

SpyParty is an espionage game about human behavior, performance, perception, and deception. While most spy games have you spend your time shooting many many dudes with a machine gun, blowing stuff up, and driving fast, SpyParty has you hide in plain sight, deceive your opponent, and detect subtle behavioral tells to achieve your objectives. Unlike the suave and confident spies you might find in films or books, most spies in video games are more like super powered commandos–more Rambo than James Bond. By contrast, SpyParty is a new and quite different player-skill game about the more subtle and deeper aspects of being a spy.

Super Comboman

Super Comboman is a fast action, combo busting brawler that mixes the combos and special moves of popular 2D fighters with the mayhem and action of side scrolling beat-em-ups and physics for juggling enemies.

You star as the character named Struggles, a mullet nugget headed islander who is obsessed with his favorite comic book character, Super Comboman. He applies to jobs to take care of his family. Instead of taking care of his duties, he emulates Super Comboman and smashes his co-works through the job site busting ridiculous combos along the every step of the way until he gets fired and has to take on another job.

Super Time Force

THE YEAR: 198X

LOCATION: OUTER-SPACE / 4TH DIMENSION AKA TIME

THE PROBLEM: EVERYTHING’S GONE TO SHIT!

THE MISSION: FIX IT!

THE GOAL: MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE FOR YOU AND ME + ALIENS!

THE TEAM: T.I.M.E (TEMPORAL INEVITABILITY MANIPULATION EXPERTS), AN ELITE SQUAD OF TIME-TRAVELING ULTRA-BADASSES

QUALIFICATIONS: MAXIMUM BADASSERY

ALSO: THEY HOLD PATENTS ON TIME TRAVEL GEAR

THE PLAN: JUMP THROUGH TIME AND KILL LOTS OF STUFF AND STOP BAD THINGS

FOR INSTANCE: COVERT ALIEN INVASIONS, NAZIS, SOPA

THE CATCH: ALTERING PRE-EXISTING EVENTS IN SPACE-TIME COULD HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES

THE CONSEQUENCES: TOTAL ANNIHILATION OF ALL MATTER, ACCIDENTALLY DATING YOUR MOTHER

PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS: UNCERTAIN

THE RISK: WORTH IT

WHEN DO THEY START: NOW!

A GAME FOR XBOX LIVE ARCADE BY: CAPY