42 games you might have missed from Gamescom 2014

Papers, Please

Platform: Vita/PC

They said it couldn't be done, but the award-winning bureaucracy sim Papers, Please is coming to the Vita. Now console gamers can have a crack at turning desperate people away from a land of opportunity wait, now I'm depressed.

Goat Simulator

Platform: Xbox One/PC

The game that stole the hearts of thousands, Goat Simulator is the best game in which you play as a goat. Crash into things, blow stuff up, flip around in the air--you know, goat stuff. You will believe a goat can fly, now on the Xbox One!

Gunscape

Platform: Xbox One/PC

A overly-simple explanation of Gunscape is that it's Minecraft plus guns. But it's more than that. It lets you create the maps, the modes, the guns, the characters--pretty much everything in the game is moddable and shareable.

Massive Chalice

Platform: Xbox One/PC

Massive Chalice is the latest game from the mind that brought us the magnificent tower-defense game Iron Brigade. It's a turn-based strategy game that takes place over generations--choices you make will determine your family's lineage and the abilities you receive. It's like Game of Thrones meets Final Fantasy Tactics.

Inside

Platform: Xbox One

Playdead's Limbo was an excellent bit of atmospheric puzzle platforming, so it makes sense that its latest game Inside is so highly anticipated. Not much is known about it, save for the pedigree of the studio and the similarly bleak aesthetic, but it's almost better that way.

Knight Squad

Platform: Xbox One/PC

Currently on Steam Early Access, Knight Squad is described by the developers as a cross between the multiplayer combat of Bomberman and fantasy-fueled close-range combat of Gauntlet.

The Tomorrow Children

Platform: PlayStation 4

Q-Games has delighted gamers since the PlayStation 3's early days with their PixelJunk series, and its next release looks a bit different. It's a 3D exploration and crafting game that looks simultaneously grim and cutesy, filled with communism and giant monsters. This one's a bit weird, but I can't wait to find out more.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

Platform: Xbox One/PC

Winner of several awards (including being honored as a part of 2013's PAX 10), Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is a unique co-op game that asks players to man multiple sets of controls in a space station to fend off invading waves of fighters. You will probably die (as will your lover) trying.

#IDARB

Platform: Xbox One

#IDARB (or, It Draws a Red Box) started out as exactly that--a red box. Now, it's a fully functional eight-player jetpack-powered arena game, thanks to the fans who have submitted ideas, created characters, and influenced the development of the game.

No Time to Explain

Platform: Xbox One/PC

Starting as a free flash game, No Time to Explain evolved into a manic, super-hard platformer filled with time paradoxes, giant crabs, and lots and lots of spikes. And dinosaurs riding other dinosaurs.

David Roberts
David Roberts lives in Everett, WA with his wife and two kids. He once had to sell his full copy of EarthBound (complete with box and guide) to some dude in Austria for rent money. And no, he doesn't have an amiibo 'problem', thank you very much.