Check Out the First 7 ‘First on Discord’ Indie Games

Discord’s first attempt at selling exclusive games directly to its users is about to begin. With the First on Discord program, indie developers allow Discord the right to launch and promote their games before they’re available on any other PC storefront (i.e., Steam). The catch here is that the First on Discord games are only available on Discord for 90 days after release. This seems to just affect PC releases, as Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption releasing on consoles October 18, with a TBD PC release date on Discord, and then presumably 90 days later on Steam.

Discord recently revealed the first seven games to utilize the First on Discord program. They include a variety of genres from the aforementioned, Dark Souls-inspired, Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption, to more brighter adventures like the card-based Minion Masters. There’s also a viking-filled roguelite, a robot-based sports game, and even a multiplayer brawler about hats.

The seven games don’t have a set release date yet, though going by Sinner’s October 18 console release, I imagine that these First on Discord games will launch sometime around that date.

Minion Masters

A card-based multiplayer game that looks similar to the immensely popular mobile game Clash Royale. This one is set to be a free-to-play game so expect microtransactions, though it wouldn’t surprise me if Discord users got some freebies to celebrate the launch of Minion Masters.

Last Year: The Nightmare

Five players must work together to avoid or defeat a sixth player who is hunting them as one of three potential antagonists. Based in an American high school setting, Last Year: The Nightmare looks strangely violent, considering these are supposed to be high school students getting axes buried a half-foot into their skulls. If you can stomach it, and have enough willing friends, Last Year: The Nightmare looks like a pretty interesting multiplayer experience.

King of the Hat

Players who enjoy wild fighting games like Super Smash Bros. or Stick Fighter will likely be interested in King of the Hat. The game is set in a world where player’s souls are bound to their hats, and people can only die if their hat gets crushed. So get your friends together to try and crush each other’s hats and destroy their souls. That’s what friends are for.

Sinner: Sacrifice of Redemption

Sinner: Sacrifice of Redemption previously caught my attention due to its “level-down” mechanic where the protagonist gets weaker as the game goes on, making the player’s chosen path gradually harder over time. As a soldier trying to redeem himself for forgotten sins, players go up against sin itself in this Dark Souls-inspired adventure game.

At Sundown

Of all the games in the First on Discord program, At Sundown is the one I’m most interested in. As a top-down shooter, the game is both a game of Hide and Seek and Deathmatch, with players invisible in the dark until they attack. It’s easy to understand the mechanic once you see it in action so I encourage you to watch the game’s trailer.

Bad North

Bad North has players leading groups of peace-seeking villagers away from vicious, barbarian hordes. With procedural generated islands, the game functions as a roguelite game where players must travel island-to-island, gathering resources and saving what islanders they can before the relentless wave of barbarians arrive.

Mad Machines

Fans of Rocket League who wish their rocket cars were a bit more versatile may find Mad Machines to their liking. The game looks like it’s best described as Battle Bots meets football (the soccer kind). Discord stated that Mad Machines is in Early Access (I’m guessing they’re referring to the game’s status on Steam) so I don’t know if they plan on launching the full release, or if Mad Machines will essentially be launching their price-gated beta on Discord.

Keep your eyes on the front page of your Discord app in the coming weeks as these games are likely to become available by the end of October.