Factsheet:

Developer:

Imaginary Friends Games LLP

Based in Kent, United Kingdom

Release Date:

September 2nd 2021

Platforms:

Windows (Steam & itch.io)

Website:

www.imaginaryfriendsgames.com

Regular Price:

USD $7.99

GBP £5.79

EUR 6,59€

Languages:

English only

Shindig Press Kit

Description:

Not all heroes wear capes – sometimes folk just need a helping hand. In Shindig, YOU can be a low-key hero, by organising a party to cheer up the glum populace of your new neighbourhood.

In this optimistic, fully-voiced narrative adventure, help out a rainbow of quirky characters with their troubles, gather all the bits for a brilliant bash, and bring the community together for a joyous party. You've got this!

History:

Imaginary Friends Games are a happily married couple who've been together since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, who also happen to have been in and around the games industry for about that long. (Truly, 20+ years.) During that time we've variously worked as game designers, voice actors, Quality Assurance technicians, technical testers, writers/editors, marketers, analysts, corporate strategists, team leaders, and business development professionals.

We know what makes great games, and we've helped make plenty of other people's games great as part of our jobs – but we've never made a game from scratch with our own four hands. We've always dreamt of making games together, and putting our own indie creations into the world, but held back from that dream because...who's gonna draw it? (Neither of us are artists.) Who'll write the code? (Neither of us are coders.)

We set up Imaginary Friends Games in 2019 and so far it has been a journey full of growth and learning - culminating in the release of our debut title, Shindig!

We want to make games that make people smile, make people think, and make people feel.

Features:

Explore a hand-drawn, picturebook setting, accompanied by an original soundtrack stacked with bops, and full English voiceover!
Enjoy a short narrative adventure presented in a point-and-click style. Shindig takes just a few hours to play - about the length of a feature film
Choose your look from a range of skin tones and hairstyles, and select between a masculine(ish) and feminine(ish) player character voice. (We're just two devs. It's literally us.)
Chill with cosy, low-stakes gameplay, and some light puzzle-solving
Meet a diverse cast of characters who want to talk about their big boggles
Chortle at idiosyncratic humour throughout – with a couple of silly songs, and a side-helping of real talk
Tweak your settings with independent controls for SFX, voice and music volumes, and a Closed Captions overlay option that calls out many nonverbal sounds for our HoH players
Shindig's bright presentation belies a narrative touching on a variety of deeper emotional topics – if that’s not your bag, much of the serious stuff is in optional hangouts that you can ignore if you want to
Embark on a little, linear adventure with zero choice pressure and only one ending – the GOOD ENDING!

Reviews

“Imaginary Friends Games did a fantastic job with creating a wholesome experience for young and old audiences with Shindig. It’s a unique adventure driven by fun (and flawed) characters, well-written and performed dialogue, and packaged with a fair amount of passion. It might be a short experience, but it’s one that you’ll enjoy.” 9.5 out of 10 Digital Chumps

“…one of the most wholesome games I have played in a long time and I thoroughly recommend it!” Indie Hive

Review quotes from Steam users:

“Not a challenge, but a delight. Full of character, humour and heart - more than this jaded old gamer was expecting.”

“What a lovely, wholesome game this is. Full of warmth, inspiration and humour. If you're looking for something lighthearted and uplifting to play, this is it!”

“If this game doesn't put a smile on your face, I honestly don't know what will.”

“Shindig is a lot more than its simple premise and visuals belie.”

Videos

Images

Download zip of all images

Logo

About Imaginary Friends Games

Boilerplate:

Imaginary Friends Games was co-founded in 2019 by Fay & Martyn Maillardet, a married couple who’ve variously worked at Nintendo, Sony and Codemasters, pursuing their dream of making small and heartfelt video games. We make our own fun!

Logo: