Six upcoming indie games we loved at EGX Rezzed 2016

From 7-9 April 2016, at London's Tobacco Docks, EGX Rezzed celebrates the best of gaming's thriving indie scene. No show like it – including its elder cousin EGX, last held in Birmingham last year – offers as great a variety of video games, from co-op breakfast making, to a giant, monolithic police officer patrolling a city, to a quirky multiplayer dodgeball game starring a ton of Scandinavians.

Having trawled through the dozens upon dozens upon dozens of games available to play at the event, we at IBTimes UK have picked out a few of our favourites. If you're venturing down to the show this weekend, be sure to check them out, and even if you're not these are games you'll certainly want to keep an eye on.

Hue (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

Developer Fiddlesticks' puzzle platformer Hue could be the indie gem of 2016. The way it takes simple concept – being able to switch out the colour of the game's background – and then uses that as the jumping off point for an entire game, is indicative of the very best game design. Hue is a stylish puzzle platformer, and one that feels – after a short demo at least – worthy of comparisons to Braid, Limbo and the best of the late Noughties indie boom.

Seraph (PS4, PC)

Seraph is a 2D acrobatic platformer with gunplay, but which doesn't require its players to aim. Aiming is handled automatically as soon as you press the right trigger to shoot. It's a conceit that initially baffles, but in practice it works splendidly. The impetus of the game is instead on movement: dodging enemies and positioning Seraph, the player character, creating balletic shoot-outs.

Giant Cop (HTC Vive)

In Giant Cop you play as a giant cop, whose gargantuan size is never explained and rarely addressed and who clears up the streets of Micro City by picking up criminals and lobbing them into a huge Police Station bin-thing. The virtual reality game is being demoed with a proof of concept rather than a vertical slice of the final product, which will have a story and a more open city to make use of the Vive's room-scale VR.

LastFight (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

LastFight is an instantly-accessible fighter that has potential to become a modern local multiplayer favourite. Its initially simple, but takes time to master and offers a good range of 10 characters and 8 square stages littered with items to throw and power-ups to collect. There's a story mode as well, of course.

Stikbold: A Dodgeball Adventure (PS4, PC)

Another local multiplayer favourite in waiting, Stikbold is the dodgeball game you never knew you needed. Like LastFight it's a simple game to grasp but there are certainly thrills in mastering it. The feedback when nailing an opponent with the ball is great, for example. What helps Stikbold shine though is its tone, which is one of good humour and knowing weirdness. The story mode is a delight.

Tokyo 42 (Platforms TBA)

An isometric action game about modern day assassins in a bustling, vibrant take on the Japanese capital. It appears to start sluggish, as players take their first steps, collect their first weapons and take out their first targets, but once the action really kicks off it finds a higher gear, becoming a challenging, pulsating twitch shooter.