The show floor at gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show 2025.
As the global game industry marches on, one of the regions that is growing the fastest is Southeast Asia. A collection of countries as much united by common culture as divided by their differences, the likes of Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand represent a new frontier for gaming. They are both markets where domestic sales are rising, and as game development hubs with unique new creations to sell worldwide.
In October, I visited two of the main events in Southeast Asia's gaming calendar. First up: gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show, a newly merged event offering a large-scale expo and intimate business conference under one roof in Bangkok. Next, LevelUp KL, one of the premier business events in the region, was held in Kuala Lumpur.
I was also a judge on the SEA Game Awards 2025. And it was an honor to be a presenter at the awards ceremony during LevelUp KL once again. Many of the nominated games were made playable on the show floor at one or both of the events. As the local game scene matures, we're even starting to see sequels to some of the region's bigger titles.
Here are some of the best games I played at LevelUp KL and gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show this year.
No Straight Roads 2 (Metronomik/Shueisha Games)
Made by the team at Metronomik, the studio helmed by an ex-Final Fantasy XV developer, and pulling obvious influence from No More Heroes, 2020's No Straight Roads was a fun music-themed action game let down by a flawed battle system. The sequel builds on the best parts of the game: Appealing character design, with new teammate Casey joining musicians Mayday and Zuke, along with colorful art direction, vibrant urban environments, and, of course, a banging soundtrack.
The demo's new boss battle proves that all of these elements have been enhanced. Evil influencer Rama Irama oozes personality as she taunts our three heroes into facing her in a jungle arena that turns out not to be what it seems. No spoilers, but the twist to this boss battle is thematically interesting, flashy, and fun. And, it comes with another killer soundtrack.
Lost & Found Co (Bit Egg)
This charming game looks like an interactive picture book and plays like an animated Where's Wally book. It tasks players with finding a series of specific objects in increasingly crowded hand-drawn environments. As the game's development nears completion, it has already won several awards. In gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show's Thai Playvilion area, a new demo showed off the beginner-friendly valley stage, along with a newly announced cat café stage and a room editor that lets players curate their own space to chill between object-searching missions.
Even though it's a single-player game, at every event I see crowds of players working together to find the hidden objects, laughing as they go. This makes Lost & Found Co one of the most wholesome cozy games on the scene.
FiresOut! (Enmu Studio)
Taking its cues from Overcooked and Moving Out, FiresOut! is a two-player physics-based co-op game that casts you as firefighters rescuing the occupants of burning buildings. A handy fire axe allows you to smash through obstacles, but you can only carry one tool or resident at a time.
Fire spreads around the furniture and huge fireballs crash into the map, continually changing the layout, so you'll need teamwork to beat the increasingly tight time limit. Oh, and rather than a firehose, players extinguish flames with... a giant water-spitting fish poking out of a toilet? Filled with humor and some good physics effects, this student-made game was one of the highlights of LevelUp KL.
The Earth: Aftershock (Village of Lights)
Set in Bangkok in the aftermath of a massive earthquake, The Earth: Aftershock is not afraid to get weird. From the broken crust of the Earth emerge zombies, monsters, and… dinosaurs? With its impressive photo-real character models and locations, gorgeous lighting effects that send flames and sparks flying, and a Resident Evil approach to action-packed exploration and puzzle solving, this brand-new early-in-development Thai game will surely top the Richter scale when the wider world discovers it.
RAD: Repeat After Death (Exploding Soes)
In this platform action game with roguelike elements, your every move matters. That's because, as you defeat enemies or they defeat you, each respawn also brings back the ghost of your previous run ー until the screen is filled with multiples of yourself, each repeating the moves you made on that run and dealing damage to the player. And since your attacks are automated, you'll have no choice but to fire projectiles on your current run that you'll have to dodge next time.
It's a cool mechanic that makes every attempt different and makes players their own worst enemy.
In a Bit of Tales (Daybloom Project)
This anthology collects seven different short horror games, each with its own visual style and play mechanics. However, each has a shared sense of dread. I played two.
Maria is a creepy dream simulator set in a 3D maze with blocky pixelated sprites and surreal imagery, following a schoolgirl who is relentlessly bullied by her school "friends." Their endless demands and insults become ever more ghoulish as the game progresses. Butterfly's Lament casts the player as a doting boyfriend to a mysterious giantess. Then it explores the bowels of her home to find strange puzzles and uncover a shocking secret in the shadows.
Each game boasts multiple endings and beautiful pixel art that gives a nostalgic twist to the horror within.
Identifile: Desktop Dungeon (Gearbyte Games)
We all know we need to avoid computer viruses. But what if your infected PC tried to kill you? Identifile: Desktop Dungeon is a roguelike bullet-hell game that takes place on a demonic desktop, where clicking into folders may reveal collectibles ー or monsters. Once a battle begins, you'll have to frantically move the mouse cursor to avoid incoming projectiles. Then you'll wait for a gap between attacks to circle enemies with the mouse until they are defeated. It's similar to the stylus-based capture mechanic in the Nintendo DS game Pokémon Ranger. Identifile's old-school PC aesthetic and chaotic action make for a unique game.
Earth Atlantis 2 (Pixel Perfex)
Based on the arcade shooters of yore like R-Type and Darius, Earth Atlantis 2 has a familiar dose of side-scrolling stages, cool power-ups, and bullet-hell bosses, animated with the obsessive attention to detail of a Metal Slug game. However, this underwater adventure also adds more freedom, with non-linear stages, more than 20 sea monster bosses, and upgradeable weapons that let you tailor your sub (and your approach) depending on how you want to play. With one foot in the 1980s' arcades and another firmly in the present, Earth Atlantis 2 is as addictive as it is pretty.
Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream (Gamecom Team)
Taking cues from games like Like a Dragon and Grand Theft Auto, Troublemaker 2: Beyond Dream fills its open world with brutal violence and absurd humor in equal measure. The game brings life to the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia. Meanwhile, it throws in everything from gang brawls to karaoke and other minigames, offering plenty of variety.
It's impressive to see a small development team from Indonesia deliver a game of this scale. It gained a 94% positive review rating on Steam. Moreover, it won the Grand Jury Award at the SEA Game Awards 2025. Here's hoping for a Japanese localization soon.
Honorable Mentions
I first encountered the pet-taming roguelite action game Never Ending Beyond at LevelUp KL in 2022, and at last, the game is nearly ready to enter early access. I first played Grim Trials in 2024 at IGDX in Bali and loved it. So I was happy to present its publisher with the Best Game Design prize at the SEA Game Awards.
Romance-based roguelite dungeon-crawler, HellHeart Breaker, broke hearts at this year's BitSummit and Tokyo Game Show. And now at both LevelUp KL and gamescom asia x Thailand Game Show, it had lines throughout the show. In addition, the 2D puzzle-platformer, Princess of the Water Lilies, boasts beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds and carefully animated characters.
Finally, Henk Rogers ー the founder of The Tetris Company, who is now an influential climate change campaigner ー closed LevelUp KL with an inspirational keynote on how the game industry can help save the world from ecological disaster. Using his knack for game design and his business nous, the man who brought Tetris to the Nintendo Game Boy has persuaded the government of Hawaii to commit to switching to 100% renewable energy by 2045. He's now working to convince the rest of the United States and other countries to follow suit.
Imploring successful game developers to use their intellect and wealth to solve world problems, Rogers left us with this inspiring comment: "I don't have hope for the future. I have determination." It was a welcome reminder that games are not only our hobby. They can rescue the world.
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Author: Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson is the Executive Producer of IGN Japan. Follow his series, Gamer's World, on JAPAN Forward.
