Championing new undiscovered talent is what the Big Indie Pitch is all about, and what better way to do that than by heading to brand new regions and locations.

One of these brand new regions for the competition happened only last week, as we headed to Seattle for the first ever Pocket Gamer Connects in the emerald city.

This event saw over 650 delegates soak in two days of talks, meeting, and fringe events. Two of which included our trademark bumper Very Big Indie Pitch and its sister competition The PC Indie Pitch. Two competitions which combined saw more than 30 developers pitch their games to a panel of expert judges.

For those not in the know though, 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-style 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.

This time around we saw 17 exciting indie developers from across North America take to the floor to showcase their latest developments to our panel of expert judges.

From CCG dungeon crawling to a brand new take on the match-three genre, and even parkouring your way across the rooftops of Paris, this pitch showcased an incredible amount of undiscovered talent and definitely more than one game that you should keep your eyes peeled too.

As always though there can only be the one winner and that was Time Crisis meets Rainbow Six blend SIERRA 7 by SHD Games. A game that the judges described as having some of the tightest most enjoyable shooting mechanics ever found on smartphones.

Of course, SIERRA 7 as you already know was the winner, but we always award prizes for the top three, and even highlight fourth and fifth at Pocket Gamer Connects. So read on to not only find out more about SIERRA 7 but the top five as a whole too.

First place - SIERRA 7 by SHD Games

SIERRA 7 is an action orientated on-rails shooter that focuses on fast-paced action and tight precision controls.

Taking inspiration from classics such as Rainbox Six and Time Crisis, SIERRA 7 has completely adapted the first-person shooter controls to work intuitively on smartphones in what the judges considered revolutionary.

What's more, by removing the movement controls, this allows players to focus not only on the action-packed gameplay but also the stylish comic book presentation too. 

Second place - Knights of the Card Table by Ponywolf

In this dungeon crawler card game, players will have to master the use of their dungeon cards in order to navigate their way through over 100 dungeons spanning three worlds.

Through this players will have to use all of their tactical know-how by rearranging dungeon cards to collect loot, all before rolling dice to slay foes with your weaponry.

There are lots of choices to make, so make sure you think carefully as otherwise you may find yourself wishing you'd drank that milk before taking on that vampire cat.

Third place - Cosmechanics by Cafe Interstellar

Cosmechanics is a frantic local multiplayer couch co-op game. One in which one to four players must work together to maintain a spaceship, by rapidly completing urgent tasks.

The game features a very charming and engaging style and gameplay. Additionally it also features randomly generated customisable characters, each one with their own comedic backstory, in order to make every single game just that little bit new and unique.

Fourth place - Martian Mixer by Little Ghost Games

There's something quite unique about Martian Mixer. You see, on the face of it, Martian Mixer might seem like any other match-three, however look a little closer and you'll see that not only is it the exact opposite, but that it has actually done something very unique with one of the world's most popular mobile game genres.

That's because this time around you're tasked with mixng rather than combining the colourful little aliens, in order to throw killer parties. The more you mix them up and encourage them to interact with other martians the happier they will be and the more the party will keep on rocking.

Finally, the game was also created to have a subtle, pro-diversity message, something that adds even more happiness into this fun, unique little game

Fifth place - MouseHunt World by HitGrab

"Think Pokemon Go, but with a storyline and the ability to catch whimsical creatures all over the globe," says the developer about MouseHunt World.

An extension of its previous MouseHunt games, this title sees you going out into the real world to collect mice using a variety of traps that are at your disposal.

Want to show off your exciting new game? We host Big Indie Pitch events throughout the year, so be sure to keep an eye out on our events page for an event near you.

Upcoming BIPs include:

• July 9th 2019 - The Big Indie Pitch at Develop:Brighton 2019 (Mobile / Portable)
• July 17th - 18th 2019 - The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Hong Kong 2019 (Mobile / Portable)
• August 21st 2019 - The Big Indie Pitch at Gamescom 2019 (Mobile / Portable)
• August 21st 2019 - The PC Indie Pitch at Gamescom 2019 (PC)
• October 1st to 2nd - The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki 2019 (Mobile / Portable)
• November 2nd to 3rd - The Very Big Indie Pitch at Pocket Gamer Connects MENA 2019 (Mobile / Portable)

More coming soon so make sure to regularly check our upcoming events page here and over on BigIndiePitch.com.