The IndieBeat: Desert Child storms Kickstarter with hoverbikes and ramen

The last month has bombarded us with huge games like Super Mario Odyssey, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, and Call of Duty: WWII. But away from all the internet buzz, triple-A budgets, and million-dollar TV spots, there are tons of worthwhile projects and weird games out there by independent developers, looking to raise funds on Kickstarter or stir up some attention on Twitter. They’re students, one-person teams, and tiny studios in isolated communities who can’t always make it out to big events like PAX or E3.

In this debut of a weekly column for GamesBeat, I’d like to spotlight a few of these games that are still in progress, whether that’s because they’re thesis projects or because they’re in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign. This week, I interviewed Oscar Brittain, who’s raising funds on Kickstarter for his frenetic role-playing game Desert Child, where you race hoverbikes and eat ramen. A free demo is available on his Itch.io page.