E3 2018: 10 Awesome Games You Might Have Missed

Colorful brawlers, moody cyberpunk, adorable adventure games, and so much more.

E3 2018 had tons of awesome games, but not all of them got time in the spotlight. Many of our favorites have popped up at other events in the past, while others were brand new and had their exciting debuts during the busy week of E3. All of them deserve your attention.

Here are 10 awesome games you might have missed at E3 2018.


I’ve never seen another game that looks quite like Sable. Its art style is simple yet striking, and the almost stop motion animations of its main character stand in stark contrast to the smooth and fast ride of its desert hover bike. It’s a game both inspired by and conceived before Breath of the Wild, and doesn’t feel derivative even if you can climb over literally any surface in the same way. Sable still seemed early on when I played it at E3, but I am extremely excited to see how it grows. - Tom


Inspired by Norse, Mayan, and countless other lore, Ashen's story is immediately intriguing and different. Its gloomy world was once illuminated by beings called Ashen, and with a spark of incandescence, there's hope the land can be washed in light once again with your help. Ashen, an action-RPG to its core, is filled with tough, methodical combat and plenty of armor, weapon, item, and accessory options. My favorite, for example, was the headpiece that increased attack power with each uninterrupted attack. - Casey

Treachery in Beatdown City


It’s been a long road for Treachery in Beatdown City, but the turn-based beat ‘em up from Nuchallenger is looking better than ever – plus, it got a surprise announcement for Nintendo Switch. Crunchy action set across vibrant city scenes mix with the tactics of RPG-style menu-based move selection, making for a colorful 2D fighter that’s as bright and punchy as it is thoughtful and calculated. - Chloi

Donut County

Donut County is from the Katamari school of puzzle games: You feed something, and it grows. Then you can feed it more! In Donut County, you’re feeding a hole. You sweep the singularity around cartoonish environments, sucking in only what can fit through your current hole’s aperture. It takes a little bit of physics to get pointier things jostled down the hole (trees, RVs), and sometimes combinations of things (fire + corn = popcorn) results in goofy solutions, but Donut County may end up as more of a charming game you play to relax than a hardcore puzzler like, say, Catherine. Also: There are a lot of talking animals, if that’s your thing. - Samuel

Desert Child

Desert Child exudes style. Every shot of you walking down its city’s windy back streets, alleys, and shopping districts adds some striking new dimension to its world and your place in it. When you’re not exploring the town hunting for ways to earn a quick buck, you’re trying to make it big in the world of hoverbike racing. Those races are intense, side-scrolling explosions of particles and powerups – a nice burst of energy in an otherwise relaxed, stylized adventure. I look forward to seeing how the two sides of Desert Child balance and complement each other during a longer play session. - Chloi

Knights and Bikes

In order to save her family from eviction, the young Demelza teams up with her new friend Nessa take on the mysteries of a small British island to find legendary hidden treasure. Knights and Bikes is immediately charming with its gorgeous storybook art, and its dedication to maintaining a fun, kiddish adventure is delightful -- so much so that we nominated it for our E3 Game of the Show. When Demelza goes to attack, she kicks up the ground and worms, not the actual enemy. When the two girls run, they make goofy noises. When one of the girls needs healing, the other can run up and give a supportive high-five. When one girl beats the other in a race, the loser gets visibly irritated with her friend. In just the short demo I saw, Knights and Bikes' pure fun and emphasis on imagination were clear, and I think it could end up being a really special co-op adventure. - Miranda

Outer Wilds

Outer Wilds surprised me in a big way. It’s a space adventure game with a charming alien summer camp theme, but it plays out like a delightful cross between Majora’s Mask and Kerbal Space Program. You have to pilot a spaceship with realistically modeled physics around a single, hand-crafted solar system, exploring its planets and finding secrets. The catch is that the solar system is caught in a time-loop that resets everything every 20 minutes. You’ll only be able to solve the mystery behind it by remembering what you’ve learned and getting further along the next time. It sounds like a big game too, and I can’t wait to explore it. - Tom

Neo Cab

Cyberpunk 2077 took up most of the spotlight at E3 2018, but it wasn’t the only cyberpunk game worth your attention. Neo Cab is an upcoming cyberpunk adventure where you play one of the few remaining human cab drivers in a nearly fully automated world. It strives to tell human stories against the backdrop of the often dehumanizing gig economy, in a dark, yet vibrant techno-noir style. - Chloi



Watching Wattam gameplay or looking at screenshots of it without context is a bit like seeing the bare bones of a whimsical fever dream. Anthropomorphic pink poop holds hands with a tiny rock, a green cube removes its hat for a colorful, magical explosion, and a giant tree eats the beings and transforms them into food. Keita Takahashi, the creator of Katamari Damacy and Noby Noby Boy, creates a delightfully strange game with Wattam that emits pure joy and fun. If I had to distill Wattam into a few words, I’d say it’s about exploring the relationships between the world’s goofy inhabitants to attract even more friends. It’s not obvious, but there is a story to Wattam too. I couldn’t stop grinning while playing Wattam, and I hope to see even more of it soon. - Miranda

Ghost Giant

One of VR’s most under-utilized tricks is playing with scale: In Ghost Giant, you actually feel like a towering giant in a tiny village populated by animals. It’s an experience reminiscent of a Disneyland ride, or an incredibly ornate LEGO display: Everything is intricate, detailed, and small, but it still stretches as far as you can see. You do indeed feel like the titular menace when playing Ghost Giant. Not only because there’s a sense that you are towering over the tiny village, but also because one little creature in particular is terrified of your ghostly aura, and is the only denizen that can see you. I enjoyed knocking down walls, prodding at animals, and causing mayhem in the tiny town – it’s like a “god game” (ActRasier, Populous, Spore) without all the menus. - Samuel

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