Top 10 Gaming Studios showcased in LVL Zero Cohort 01

India has been rapidly growing in the space of gaming. There are a lot of new games released every day with great ideas, USPs, and different financial models. However, there was a missing key in this conventional pipeline wherein the studios were building original games, but how to bring them onto the global competitive space was a huge challenge. To fill in this gap LVL Zero, a gaming incubator which is backed by MIXI Global Investments, Nazara Technologies, and Chimera VC, came up with this beautiful idea of creating an incubator that will help these budding gaming studios grow more and settle at the global platform.

This will help them provide all the resources in terms of knowledge, industrial experience, guidance, strategies, business models, and investor approach. It will also help give them access to global investors and give them the right set of ideologies and mindset that is required to sustain and grow in this gaming space. When it comes to LVL Zero’s first cohort batch, out of 240 applicants across the country,
the top 10 amazing budding gaming studios were selected, which itself is a huge credibility to their outstanding performance and competitive games. Each team received $10,000 in equity-free grants, and this was really something highly rewarding. Not only this, alongside mentorship opportunities from around 28 global industry veterans and a three-phase development sprint program which covers Ignition, then Core Build, and then Market Readiness.

It was really exciting to see the different games coming up and what Indian gaming studios are building for the gamers. There were a lot of varieties of games, whether it comes to psychological horror, puzzle games, physics, or a mix of everything. So let’s talk about the top 10 games that were featured in the first cohort of LVL Zero.

TROX The Reversal

Studio: Trojan Poductions
Co-founder: Vinil Verghese
Co-founder: Sushant Devadhe

This game was developed by Vinil Verghese and Sushant Devadhe when they participated in a game jam, which then expanded into a narrative psychological horror game that was delivered extremely well, and there is something new for the gaming audience with atmosphere, social isolation, and environmental storytelling methodology rather than traditional scary games.

Mech It Happen!

Studio: Impulse Mechanics
Developer: Siddharth Gupta

If we talk about the developer, Siddharth Gupta created a physics-based sandbox simulation game where players will build their custom machines in order to complete traversal and destruction challenges. So basically this comes under the destructive category, and it prioritises open-ended puzzle solving over fixed solutions, so the challenge is set at a very high level. This is definitely going to cater to the gaming enthusiasts who love solving puzzles.

Chicklet’s Human Products

Studio: YK Game Studio
Game Designer: Yash Kaushik
Programmer: Daksh Malhotra
2D Artist: Biswa
3D Artist: Puneet Saini
3D Animator: Ankush
3D Animator: Vikas Dubey
3D Artist: Sadananda
2D Artist: Anubhav Vaid
3D Rigging: Ritik

This is a very interesting game developed by Yash Kaushik. He flips the traditional farming simulator concept. In this game, he thought of creating something vividly different in the gaming space, so he thought of creating an environment where players control animals that actually farm products from humans. Combining a satirical point of view, dark humour, and survival, it’s a role reversal where the animals hunt and farm from humans. It’s a little brutal, but in a very satirical format, and it is interesting to play. In our entire lives we humans have been hunting and farming animals particularly when it comes to non-vegetarian food, we always talk about chicken and in this game, the roles are reversed. So it’s built on this amazing, unique perspective of life and evolution.

Stickman Infinite Kingdom

Studio: Arckon Arts
Director/ Co-founder: Rajesh Kumar
Co-founder: Praveen Kumar
Team: Dinesh Kumar

This title features real-time strategy mechanics, cinematic visuals, and dynamic combat. There is a lot of exciting story in this game, but it is mostly revolving around battles and strong game mechanics.

Metal Haven

Studio: Xigma Games

The founders Govardhan Gosavi and Himanshu Manwani were the creators of The Bonfire series and are now developing a sci-fi action strategy title. Yes, when it comes to sci-fi, the audience is even more interested and excited for it, because who doesn’t like technology, who doesn’t like science and imagine
the scenario, because Indian audiences have always been fans of sci-fi movies. So when it comes to the game, imagine the level of excitement that they will go through. This project is a perfect example of an amazing incorporation of base building, exploration themes, and multiplayer alliances, and it marks the studio’s entry into live-service, free-to-play gaming.

The Misadventures of Spaceman Biff

Studio: Prescription Studios
Game Director: Vignesh Sathyamoorthy

It is developed by Vignesh Sathyamoorthy, who is building a 2D rage platformer about a stranded space trucker trying to navigate through difficult obstacles and obstructions while having to deal with unhelpful customer support agents.

Twin Flames

Studio: Rudrac Games
Game Developer: Venkatesh Muskam

It is developed by Venkatesh Muskam. This is a cooperative puzzle adventure game which comes under a mythological theme and revolves around the principle of connection and duality. This narrative draws inspiration from the story of Savitri and Satyavan, adapting it into a fantasy setting for the players. This is going to be very interesting since the theme itself suggests twin flames, the emotional support as well as the strength of duality retained throughout the game. This has been a great masterpiece of an idea, strategically placing mythological stories around the game.

Raahi

Studio: Kalp Studio
Co-founder: Rishabh Raj
Co-founder: Akshat Sinha
Co-founder: Mannat Jain
Lead Concept Artist: Roseena Sakya
3D Artist: Ved Nadkarni

This beautiful storytelling game was founded by Rishabh Raj, Mannat Jain, and Akshat Sinha. It’s a cozy narrative game that is set around and revolves around Goa in the early 1990s, where players drive an auto-rickshaw and interact with various passengers. This game is focused on slow-paced, character-driven storytelling. When the game becomes about storytelling and brings you to discover and explore the old cities, which is also highly relatable and a favourite theme for the youth, it’s definitely going to create a buzz in the market.

Their website is a must visit, not gonna lie its amazing! have it a try while clicking the button below:

PHi: The Broken Strings

Studio: Kyrel Games
Founder & CEO: Mayank Singh
Game Designer: Manish Ghadi
Game Designer: Apoorba Majumdar
Game Designer: Harkirat Singh
Game Developer: Pranay Rapartiwar
Level Artist: Supriya Singha
3D Artist: Rishab Gond
3D Artist: Pooja Rajput

This was founded by Manish Ghadi and Mayank Singh. Kyrel Games developed a 3D narrative puzzle platformer set in a puppet universe. This beautiful game uses its environments and characters in order to represent emotional states like grief, attachment, and acceptance. This is done using puzzle design to deliver a story-focused experience to the audience and gamers who believe in emotion and love to play games that deal with real-life themes they’re going to enjoy this beautiful mixture.

Last Day Lockdown

Studio: Wrought studio
Technical Game Designer: Srujan Pant
Art Director: Kunal Negi
Sound Designer: Hardaat Singh

Founders Kunal Negi and Srujan Pant set their 3D ideas and converted it into an escape room mystery in a standard corporate office setting. This idea is astounding because who imagines a corporate office inside a game? But yeah, this game focuses on themes based on nostalgia and career endeavours, showing the transition of the different phases of a career, which also expects the players to pay close attention to all the conversations, interactions, and clues scattered across the workplace environment. This is a new addition to Indian Gaming genres because conventionally, games involving a corporate environment were not something visible. But this idea is going to be very captivating since the audience is going to relate, because all the youth are dealing with work-life balance, and corporate is definitely going to be an interesting genre for them, the environment particularly, and the challenges inside the game.

All the games displayed at the LVL Zero Demo Day, which was held in Bangalore recently, were extremely stunning. These games had great scope, huge global ambitions, and unique ideas that will drive gamers all across the globe. On top of that, the mentorship from industry veterans and the global exposure being provided by the LVL Zero incubator team is definitely going to help them reach their games to greater heights. We would highly appreciate it if all the Indian gamers give their utmost support and encouragement to these budding studios, who carry the pride of Indian gaming.

Do check out our YouTube Channel for the entire Gameplay Trailers from LVL Zero Demo Day.

For more Technical Insights and Financial Analysis into the Indian gaming industry, stay tuned to The Indian Game Journal.