Itch.io Spotlight: Waker

It’s 2019 and everyone is talking about the battle of stores on PC, namely Steam and the new competitors Epic and Discord. However, this spotlight wants to dodge the fight and shed some light onto another PC gaming platform: Itch.io. Largely unrecognized by the mainstream gamers, it is still one of the most popular storefronts for small indie developers due to its extremely fair conditions and accessibility. Thus, a lot of game makers from Southeast Asia tend to use it for their projects. Most of them are free, many are work-in-progress and some of them are available on other platforms too. Here is one highlight from itch.io that you can not find anywhere else: Waker.

Waker is minimalism. This shoot’em-up comes with clear and simple graphics and basically consists of lines and lights of various colors. Players control a vessel, try to dodge millions of projectiles while shooting the “enemy”. To do so, it isn’t simply enough to spam the shoot button, but players must target their foes until the weapon lock-on is activated. This simple but interesting mechanic adds a lot of variance to the other wise well-known elements of the game. Combos, boss-fights, and unlockable classes round up the package. Fast-paced gameplay, simple mechanics and the pumping electronic music combine into a nearly trance-like experience. Don’t get us wrong: Waker is extremely difficult but rewarding to those who dive into the game. Before we forget, the game is called Waker because our goal in the game is to awaken humanity from cryo sleep. But don’t worry, the cryptic story won’t get in your way too much…

Waker is still in development. The current build (0.4.1) is available on itch.io for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Waker was made in Malaysia by akirassasin. You can find more than 250 games from Southeast Asia on itch.io. Check out our extensive and growing collection.