Limestone Games' brawler Aeon Must Die! has won the first ever Big Indie Pitch at GameDevDays.

The Big Indie Pitch is a regular event run by the makers of PocketGamer.biz. It gives indie developers the chance to pitch their games to industry experts and journalists in a speed-dating-styled format.

Teams get the opportunity to get valuable feedback on their games, as well as win great prizes such as promotional packages and, more importantly, the coveted Big Indie Pitch bat.

We’re only into March and we’ve already seen FINIFUGU&&friends take the crown twice, alongside Triband with their anti-golf game What The Golf?, and now we can add Aeon Must Die by Limestone Games to the list of 2018 Big Indie Pitch champions as the team took first place at our most recent pitch as a part of GameDevDays 2018 in Tallinn, Estonia.

That’s not all though, as much like at GDC, the race for second place was so close that we actually awarded two games the prize for joint second place. Those games were the former Big Indie Awards 2017 top 10 finalist Tacticool by Panzergog, alongside THUMBOFF, a game created as part of a Game Jam competition in Tallinn, Estonia.

Aeon Must Die!

Aeon Must Die is like an anime come to life right in front of your eyes. Utilising a breakneck risk-reward tactical fighting gameplay mechanic that represents something of a cross between Batman: Arkham Asylum and Street Fighter 2, this upcoming Switch game offers one of the most stylish and well polished experiences we’ve ever seen.

It’s not just the presentation and gameplay that’s engrossing either, as the story also offers up a level of moral ambiguity and mystery as players go on a violent journey with a disgraced symbiotic emperor, a fuel-blooded amnesiac with a hole in his head and a sentient hoverbike.

Panzerdog

One of our most dedicated pitchers, Panerdog has long sought to earn Tacticool’s place as Big Indie Pitch royalty. Something which they have now successfully achieved by taking second place in the pitch to go alongside their top 10 finish at the Big Indie Awards last year.

As such it’s easy to recommend Tacticool when it comes out later this year bringing with it its unique blend of 5v5 battlefield action, ragdoll physics, a variety of vehicles and weapons, and an awful lot of destruction. Imagine a modern day team-based gladiatorial fight, and you’ve got the idea.

THUMBOFF

THUMBOFF isn’t your usual fighting game, first of all it’s played with just one controller between two people, as each player places their thumb onto one of the two joysticks in order to assume the roles of two thumbs in a fight to death.

From here, players can use whatever tricks they have up their sleeve to defeat their opponent in a game of thumb wars. All in all, this game takes thumb wrestling to a ridiculous extremes, where fractures and even dismemberment are commonplace.

Upcoming BIPs include:

• May 14th to 15th - The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2018
• May 14th to 15th - The PC Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2018
• Jun 12th to 14th 2018 - The Big Indie Pitch in LA 2018
• Jul 5th to 6th 2018 - The Big Indie Pitch at The Big Indie Fest in Vienna 2018
• Jul 5th to 6th 2018 - The PC Indie Pitch at The Big Indie Fest in Vienna 2018
• Jul 10th to 11th 2018 - The Big Indie Pitch at Develop:Brighton 2018
• Aug 3rd to 4th 2018 - The Big Indie Pitch at ChinaJoy 2018
• Aug 22nd to 23rd 2018 - The Big Indie Pitch at Gamescom 2018
• Sep 11th to 12th 2018 - The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2018

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