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Akupara Direct Celebrates 10 Years of Indie Publishing
Akupara Games has marked a decade of indie publishing with its first Akupara Direct, packing new game reveals, release dates and a new publishing initiative into a 30-minute showcase. Hosted by AlphaBetaGamer, the presentation looked both forwards and backwards as Akupara celebrated a catalogue that has grown to nearly 60 games since the publisher was founded in 2016.
The biggest new reveal came from the developers behind Cryptmaster, while Airframe Ultra finally received a launch date and Rain World confirmed its Nintendo Switch 2 debut. Here is everything you need to know from the showcase.
Bonespire Turns a Wizard Tower Into a Crafting Sim
Paul Hart and Lee Williams, the duo behind Cryptmaster, revealed their next project with Bonespire.
The darkly whimsical crafting simulation hands players an ancient wizard tower and asks them to make something useful out of it. That involves forging artefacts, brewing suspicious potions and deciphering scrolls while recurring visitors arrive to trade.
There is a broader world beyond the tower too. Choices made from within your lofty home can change what happens to the lands below, even though players observe much of that impact from their windows.
Bonespire is currently coming soon to PC.
Airframe Ultra Launches November 5
Videocult, best known for Rain World, has meanwhile set November 5 as the PC launch date for Airframe Ultra. Its retro combat racing sends players speeding across Megacity West on hovering Airframes while attacking opponents with pipes, chains, katanas and whatever else happens to be lying around.
Getting knocked off your ride does not end the race either. Players can continue fighting on foot before stealing somebody else’s Airframe and getting back into the action. Online multiplayer will form a major part of the experience when Airframe Ultra launches later this year.
Rain World Is Getting a Nintendo Switch 2 Anthology
Videocult had another major announcement in store for Rain World. The new Rain World Anthology Edition combines the base game with both the Downpour and The Watcher expansions, with physical editions being produced alongside Serenity Forge.
PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch versions are planned, while a dedicated Nintendo Switch 2 edition will mark the survival platformer’s debut on Nintendo’s newer hardware.
A Collector’s Edition adds an artbook, knitted Slugcat scarf, linking keychain, Shaker standee, holographic stickers, soundtrack download and collector’s box. Pre-orders are already open.
AOKAKI Introduces Akupara’s New Kallisti Games Label
Akupara is also expanding how it publishes games. The company introduced Kallisti Games, a new publishing sub-label, alongside its first project, AOKAKI.
The 2027 PC release is a retro-feudal platformer centred on insect-inspired characters and fast movement. Players will dash, pogo and parry across a war-torn land while attempting to reclaim it from a shogun.
Akupara has yet to detail exactly how Kallisti Games will differ from its primary publishing operation, but AOKAKI will serve as its debut release.
Darkside Detective and Kumitantei Get New Updates
Spooky Doorway also returned with another look at The Darkside Detective: Backside of the Moon. The third game in the supernatural point-and-click series arrives on PC in 2027, with the Akupara Direct teasing a new case involving werewolves and the apparently even more horrifying prospect of traffic. A demo is available now.
Mango Factory’s episodic murder mystery Kumitantei: Old School Slaughter also received a date for its second episode. Episode 2 launches on November 12 for PC following the first chapter’s release earlier this year.
Montabi Is Moving Onto Your Desktop
Perhaps the strangest reveal involves a game we have covered extensively already. Mankibo is turning its creature-collecting RPG Montabi into a free desktop companion called Working with Montabi.
Players can decorate their virtual room with different objects to attract Montabi, including rarer Legendary creatures, before filling out a Montapedia as more appear. It is not purely decorative either. The companion includes a to-do list, Pomodoro timer and lo-fi music player, while your on-screen avatar types whenever you do. Working with Montabi is coming free to PC and Mac.
For Akupara Games, its first Direct works as more than a birthday celebration. Between Bonespire, a new publishing label and updates for several existing projects, the publisher clearly intends its second decade to be considerably busier than a victory lap.
