What a difference just a day or two can make. Earlier this week, indie developer Pere Albacar put out a social media post promising followers a free Steam code for his upcoming release Sands of Hope, but only if Team Cherry’s highly anticipated sequel Hollow Knight: Silksong got an announcement during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct.
The post soon garnered a lot of attention online, attracting over 34k replies – which would have been a lot of free Steam codes! In the end, though, Silksong was once again a no show at yesterday’s Direct, but that didn’t matter to Albacar.
“I was very nervous during the Direct… you can imagine,” Albacar told Eurogamer with a laugh, adding his initial post “started as a joke and got out of control very quickly”. The developer and Guateke Studios founder added he tried to answer comments for the first 20 or so minutes, but after that they very quickly “started coming in by the hundreds”.
Things have calmed down a bit now, but even so, this week has done wonders for Albacar’s own indie release, Sands of Hope, which in the last two days has been added to over 3000 wishlists and is now appearing on Steam’s homepage in the Popular Upcoming list, all thanks to that one social media post.
Sands of Hope is set to release on 4th August, via Steam. “Explore the sandy landscapes of Cydonia as you use your ancestral powers to build and attach magnetic cubes, find energy cores to restore the land’s water flow and meet other villagers with the help of a loyal dog,” reads the upcoming game’s description (and, yes, you can pet the dog).
“I’m so grateful for the reception of Sands of Hope by the community,” Albacar continued. “Some of the most repeated comments were ‘Even if there’s no Silksong, I will get Sands of Hope’ and ‘I didn’t know about your game, but it looks great!’… We’re a team of only two, with no publisher, so all this attention on our tiny game a few days before release could be game-changing.”
Albacar has been developing games since 2018, and taught himself coding along with “all the dozens of skills needed to make a game solo or with a tiny team”. Sands of Hope will be his commercial game, which he developed alongside his friend, Frankie. The duo has self-funded the project, with work on it starting in February last year.
“We had talks with many publishers, but the industry climate, and our plan to keep the development time short and release in 2025 made it very difficult to close a deal,” Albacar said. “I believe that to survive as an indie in this time, you’ve to be very smart and efficient in the game you make and how long it takes to finish it with a good quality.”
Albacar closed: “It’s very risky to make an indie game, and we have to stand out with creative and innovative ideas that the big companies are not willing to make. And that’s why I think we are seeing so many indie hits in recent years, gamers will always be waiting for new and fresh experiences.”
A demo for Sands of Hope was released earlier this year, and reviews for it are currently looking pretty good overall. “Lovely puzzle game, I like the visual style and the humour. Looking forward to the full release,” reads one review from the demo. “This game is very promising,” another added.
So, while we may not have Silksong just yet, if you are looking for something to scratch that indie itch, Sands of Hope may be worth checking out.