Nearly 100 indie games will be on display during Saturday’s Wholesome Direct, the Nintendo-style indie game showcase that spotlights “thoughtful, uplifting, and compassionate” games.
The one-hour broadcast is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. EDT on Twitch and YouTube, the latter of which you can watch here, embedded above. It’s the third year for Wholesome Direct, which debuted in 2020 after in-person industry events, like GDC and E3, were canceled. It returned in 2021 with a second broadcast that highlighted 75 indie games across a variety of genres.
The Wholesome Direct isn’t only exclusive reveals and new footage; it will also include developer interviews among the debuts and release dates. Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, Coffee Talk Episode 2, Terra Nil, SCHiM, and Mail Time are some of the games expected to be showcased Saturday.
“One of the goals of Wholesome Games is to change how we think about which games are taken seriously,” Wholesome Games organizers said in a news release. “For many years, the most critically acclaimed titles have been the ones with the darkest themes and grimmest depictions of life, but there’s also a whole world of hopeful video games with rich storytelling, innovative gameplay, and beautiful art and sound.”