Gamescom 2026 | The Mix and First Days of Gaming’s Biggest Convention
Here is my recap of The Mix in-person showcase and my first 2 days of Gamescom 2026. Let’s get into the great games I played, the teams I spoke with, and all the fun things in between.
This is a recap of my week in Köln, Germany, for Gamescom 2026. Today, we will cover a handful of indie games I played, the teams I met, and a few interviews with the games that stood out to me. Lets get into it!
What is gamescom?
It’s technically the world’s biggest gaming convention, held every year in Cologne, Germany, and drawing upwards of 350,000 people over the last week of August. It was my first time visiting this massive gaming convention, meeting some amazing friends I’ve known for years on Substack, and playing all the dang games. Let’s get into the first days!
Let’s get into it with The Mix.
Before arriving in Köln, I was looking for events or parties, and this one came across my inbox: The Mix Showcase, which I’ve streamed with the community many times digitally. But this was an in-person version of that Showcase where press could get hands-on with amazing games and meet the brilliant teams behind them. It gives them a chance to show off their games even if they might not have a chance to be a part of Gamescom, and all for a much smaller fee than expected at the big show. Here are the highlights from the event.
DeadRoot | Combat, 3D, Metroidvania
Technically, I played Dead Root at GamescomDev earlier on Monday, but I gave it a focused playthrough at The Mix. A new Metroidvania souls-like where a snail is the star–I felt bad anytime I died cause he was so cute. Think equal parts Tunic meets Death Door with its own unique perspective and design. Naturally, my butt was kicked; I triggered a bug, which is totally normal for a game at this stage, and enjoyed the hell out of DeadRoot. I spoke with the team about how they managed to stand out from the games that inspired it and even felt like we may have influenced some changes with the feedback we offered. We will see when it releases in 2027*.
**🎮 DeadRoot on Steam**
🗓️ Release Date | To Be Announced
Dungeon Lurker | Dungeon Crawler, Pixel Graphics, Dark Fantasy
I told the team for Dungeon Lurker that I am extremely shallow when it comes to visuals, and seeing the trailer before even playing it already had me hooked. The extra tease of in-game manuals and a glitchy story, deep lore madness of this dungeon-crawling roguelike gave me all I needed to be fully invested. Plus, the team were such a great hang at The Mix and on the gamescom show floor. Popping up to chat shit was a nice highlight for me. XD
**🎮 Dungeon Lurker**
🗓️ Release Date | To Be Announced
BloomKeeper has a delightful world, and the developer’s passion in describing the game honestly is why these types of intimate events give a great platform for indie titles. Pouics, the little Pikmin-like seed characters, awaken to make the world bloom again. But they cannot do it alone. As the Guardian, guide these curious, naïve little creatures across a devastated land. It feels like it’s a Pikmin-like game, but it is so much more than that. It’s out this month, so perfect timing to get hands-on with the game.
**🎮 BloomKeeper**
🗓️ Release Date | *September 16th, 2026 (demo out now!)*
I played a handful more games at the mix, so here is a quick shout-out to the teams behind Hope in The City, Deep Dish Dungeon, and Hips n Noses.
Day One of Gamescom 2026
Okay, onto the big show! The first day is Wednesday, open to press and media, and only open to certain public winners, so things were honestly super chill. I didn’t book many interviews because I wanted to get a lay of the land and, to be honest, after a whole week I still didn’t know where I was going. This place is massive. What I did know was that I was heading directly to the Gameloft Brisbane booth for Bluey’s Happy Snaps. My partner in crime for the week, Harrison Polites from Infinite Lives on Substack, introduced me to his good friend Ben, who was running the booth.
Videogame industry analysis and reviews from an Australian perspective. By Harrison Polites
Shout out to Ben, who was delightful and not only hooked me up with some nice Bluey merch to flex on everyone at the show, but also assisted in getting me a hands-on session for Bluey’s Happy Snaps. The game was REDACTED and REDACTED. (embargo sorry lol)
THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE
Thomas Waterzooi Interview for Please, Watch The Artwork
After checking out Mr. Records, Wilderlings, and Petal Runner, I had my first interview with Thomas Waterzooi, aka my brother from another mother, as evidenced by this photo. He was one of the best people I talked to. He had such great energy and was so witty.
Brothers? Twins? Dad?
I asked Thomas about his previous title, Please, Touch The Artwork 2, and how he offered DLC where gamers could support him on Steam, but then become a part of the game with profile pictures and images of themselves.
“The last game, Please Touch the Artwork 2, was actually funded by my government, so that’s why it’s free to play (go get it on Steam right now). As an extra measure to get a little bit more funding lets say, for my next project, I introduced this DLC. That was the main reason, so it’s not like I'm aiming to get more DLCs. The next product will just be paid. But maybe if people would like similar stuff, maybe I would introduce it.”
I asked him whether he would recommend it to other developers and if it was ultimately a success.
“I think I did it too late, almost a year after release, so the initial spike is gone. It didn’t make that much money, but they can always try.”
He features artists in all of his games, and he shared details on who is highlighted in Please, Watch The Artwork and a tease of what’s coming in Please, Touch The Artwork 3.
Please, Watch The Artwork | Steam
“This game, Please, Watch The Artwork, is a spin-off because it’s a bit darker, I guess, and you are not touching the artworks; you're just watching. I am going to make a sequel to the Please, Touch the Artwork franchise, part 3. There, I am going to focus more on Impressionist painters. So, post-impressionist but also impressionist, other than the first two games, which feature one kind of artist. The 3rd one is going to be a mixture of these impressionists. But this game features American realist Edward Hopper.”
Thomas and I spoke a bit before and after the interview about the release, and he is experiencing a bit of friction over the rights to Edward Hopper’s work for use in the EU, which could delay the game, so I am hoping it gets sorted because the game is fantastic and deserves to be seen by all. No release date set yet, but it has a 2027 window.
**🎮 Please, Watch The Artwork**
🗓️ Release Date | To Be Announced
Team Crescendo Interview on Memoria Wake
The Indie Arena Booth, which is a massive collection of indies, is where you could honestly stay all day and still not get your fill of games. I spoke with Cole Savitz-Vogel, the Creative Director on Memoria Wake. I played the demo before heading to Gamescom and was curious to learn more about their process, the game’s accessibility, and how everything came together. Let’s start by exploring how the game can differentiate itself from titles like Tunic and Death’s Door, which it’s often compared to.
“Aesthetically, we do take a lot of inspiration; I mean, isometric does create a pretty established style. But we can’t even compete with Tunic’s puzzle-solving; that's not the team we are. We do have puzzles in our game, but they're meant to introduce a wide variety of combat mechanics that people can use to overcome really difficult enemies. We love overtuning our enemies. They have expansive movesets even for being the basic enemy of a particular level. You have a ton of different ways to approach a boss, and even though there is probably one really good way to take them down, we don’t want to limit players to be forced to use that build. They can use whatever they choose as their favorites.”
Memoria Wake | Steam
It being a souls-like, I know when I recommend these games to gamers who don’t like the genre, I feel they are missing out on an experience. This is why I asked if they spent some time on the accessibility of the game.
“As you heard earlier (off camera before the interview), I am not a big Souls-like fan. If I lose one or two times, I'm okay; 3 or 4 times I'm pushing it; 5 times and I am putting the controller down and taking a break. Luckily, when it comes to playtesting within our team, we have gamers of all skill levels, so we try to make it generally consistent. We offer difficulty levels from easy for a more story mode focused, but for hardcore gamers is a hard mode and one of those extremely hard modes,” Chasing a real challenge? “Yeah, beware, beware. We have brought 2 boss fights to Gamescom and a secret 3rd one if you get that far, but there are times it can be very difficult.”
Cole gives perspective on why a game being difficult isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“...of course part of the story of the game is overcoming difficulty in the character’s life, so we don’t want people to breeze through, and we want everyone to be reasonably challenged.”
This is a young team, and Cole even shared he had just graduated from University that week. Congrats Cole!! 🙌
“We are a team of 9 from Pittsburgh, and we all met at university. We have come from a ton of different non-gaming backgrounds, but we all want to use our art or technical skills to make video games. We’ve been learning a lot and working on it for 3 years. We’ve had some previous game developers on the team, like Daniel, who helped me locate the microphones that I lost during the show. Long story short, I owe a lot to the Memoria Wake team haha. “I would recommend that if you want to make a game and don’t know how, just start making one and keep working on it. Don’t give up!”
**🎮 Memoria Wake**
🗓️ Release Date | Q1 2027
Day Two of Gamescom 2026
Bad Magpie Interview, Joe’s New Game, and meeting the team at 8bitdo.
Bad Magpie at The Wings Booth
Bad Magpie Interview with Daisy Fernandez, Design Director of Milktooth
I was off to the Wings booth, which was designed like a cozy living room with picture frames for the games you can demo. They also hired a nail artist to make custom designs, set up next to the game, which was a nice touch. This was where I had a chance to finally play my most anticipated game of the show, Bad Magpie by Milktooth. This game was delightful. I was giggling to myself right from the start, which was something I connected to Thank Goodness You’re Here, though it isn’t the same game by any measure; I was clearly on to something, as Daisy Fernandez, the Design Director, shared.
“Having a bird as a main character is quite a funny thing because they are so expressionless, so if you have the player concocting some kind of mischievous sequence of events, the visual of it is quite immediate. We are friends with Will and James, who made Thank Goodness You're Here and were very inspired by how much comedy can come out of the single peck. They encouraged us to pursue that line in the game design. Because the themes of the game are so emotional, the game for me is about loss and avoidance. Having the moment-to-moment gameplay be funny and light is really important to stop the feeling to be dower and heavy-handed.”
I mentioned that I was already laughing after just a few steps as our little magpie, and then suddenly setting the forest on fire and picking flowers. I was curious about how dark the game can get.
“The darkness is more existential, so the narrative is basically about this magpie with one wing who gets abandoned by a flock, and then meets a fallen star and becomes completely obsessed with it. Pins all of her anxiety into winning the love of this star. The story is kind of her going to all of these lengths to distract herself from her abandonment, so maybe that hints a bit at the emotional stakes of the game. The birds aren't in peril, but it’s more just her having to face up to these truths that she’s running away from.”
How can you not want to hug this little magpie and forgive her wildly destructive spree after hearing all that? Thanks to the team for chatting during a busy session at the booth, and to Daisy for taking this impromptu interview. They are onto something very special. I’m so excited for everyone to try the demo!
**🎮 Bad Magpie on Steam**
🗓️ Release Date | 2027
Joe’s New Game: The End of Allegoria!
The End of Allegoria Booth
When I left the booth to head out, I happened upon a friend of the channel, Joe’s new game, The End of Allegoria. We met as I was starting GGL and he was launching his first game, The Edge of Allegoria, on Kickstarter. This sequel is a fully revamped visual output with tons of new gameplay mechanics, witty dialogue, and that classic Joe charm. Go wishlist this game if you have a funny bone in your body and love old-school RPGs; it is definitely for you.
**🎮 The End of Allegoria**
🗓️ Release Date | 2027
Black Screen Records and 8bitdo + Terranigma Gameplay
At the tail end of 2025 I bought a small record player so I could begin my gaming soundtrack collection so naturally I had to stop at the Black Screen Records booth/shop to get that new tote bag, pick up the Wattam soundtrack for a low discounted price of 15 euros, and get the yearly Gamescom limited edition vinyl packed with songs from many indie titles like the aforementioned Memoria Wake and one I’m obsessed with, Denshattack. The team was pleasant, the vibes were immaculate, and the booth was packed with vinyl heads skimming for some of the best soundtracks around.
Then I made my way to the 8bitdo booth, which had a gorgeous setup, and it’s one of my favorite gaming peripheral companies, so I booked time to chat. Joe Huang, the Business Partnerships Manager, gave me a tour of the latest releases, including the FlipPad, Arcade Controller Pro, and the latest collaboration with Xbox, like the Ultimate 3E Controller and Ultimate 3 Controller. Their latest designs, enhanced pro features, and some of the best presentations are why they are leaders in the controller space.
The booth was buzzing with people eager to jump into fighting game matches, with plenty of goodies up for grabs. I’m really excited for everything they have planned for the future. The best part was that the booth was shared with Clear River Games, giving me the chance to try out Terranigma and snag a gorgeous poster, which is now proudly displayed at home.
GTA VI Netflix Extravaganza
What better way to end the night than to hold up in a Mexican restaurant, huddled around Harrison’s phone, watching the GTA VI reveal on Netflix. Honestly, a big shout-out to Harrison Polites cause he was my partner in crime throughout the whole week, and to finally meet Katya Ryabova who is the world’s biggest Witcher fan and was getting some of the best gift bags of the show—dates with hazelnuts in them were amazing! Go check out their Substack and subscribe right now. Okay, back to GTA VI.
*Katya’s feature on CD Projekt Red’s surprising updates to The Witcher 3 for MobileSyrup*
I know it’s not an indie game—far from it—but I can’t help loving this series. The first glimpse of the missions, gameplay, and insanely good-looking graphics took my hype from high to off the charts. Come November, I’ll be fully immersed in this game, so if there are no updates from me, just assume I’m working out, driving, and causing chaos in GTA VI.
Another rapid-fire list of amazing indies I had a chance to play includes RECUR, Mutter, Tanuki Pon’s Summer, Dance of Theseus, and Casette Beasts 2002. The latter of which I had more time with, but you can read more about it in Harrison’s recap here.
No GTA VI, no Final Fantasy VII: Revelation. But Gamescom still demoed some killer games
Thanks for checking out this recap! Be sure to tune in next week for interviews about three highly anticipated games published by ICO Partners. For now, we’re diving into Firewatch this month, and you can find all the details below. Don’t have a copy yet and want a chance to win one? Drop a comment with these emojis: 🔥⌚ and you might get lucky! ;)
Gaming Club | Firewatch by Camp Santo
Want to play Firewatch? We are playing it in the GGL Gaming Club. Join the Gaming Club! It’s like a book club, but for games. Each month, the community picks a new game to play, and we discuss our experience!
Firewatch is a single-player first-person mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness, where your only emotional lifeline is the person on the other end of a handheld radio.
Want to join the club? Join my Discord here. We chat about what we are playing and watching, share pet pics, and I share all my greasy food pictures, the Gaming Club picks, and more with a cozy group of gamers.