Play NYC 2019: Dean Razavi and His Trio of Games

Published: August 24, 2019 2:00 PM /

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play nyc 2019 graffiti games - insufficient adjectives 1

Dean Razavi is a man that I've met more than a few times at past Playcrafting events. We first met while he was showing off his then-upcoming game Vidar, an interesting title where a town is mysteriously suffering the death of one of its residents every night. Since then, he's been working on From Rust, producing Outpost Delta, and creating his Graffiti Game Insufficient Adjectives.

I decided to catch up with Razavi and see what exactly he had going on these days. What I found is a man mildly overwhelmed with the prospect of juggling three booths at one convention. Thanks to some help, he was able to manage just fine. Let's go ahead and look at the three games he was showing off!

from rust shrapnel whirlwind

From Rust has Co-op Card Game Action

We first covered From Rust at Play NYC 2018. Back then, this was the first time that many people were seeing this upcoming game from Razbury Games. What's happened in the time since then? In short: a whole lot of waiting.

From Rust is a co-operative card game that pits 1–4 players against various challenges in a post-apocalyptic wasteland (hence the name). Most digital CCGs focus on the PvP aspect, but Razavi tells me that this is something he isn't keen on putting into this particular game, emphasizing his penchant for bucking convention wherever possible.

Development has been happily chugging along, but he admits that they've hit one particularly aggravating bottleneck: the art. That's not to say that he doesn't like it; rather, he loves it. The problem is that his artist of choice is only one person and a game like From Rust requires that art for hundreds of cards is made.

Monthly alpha tests have been going on for From Rust since May of this year via Razbury Games' Discord and will likely continue until the game's eventual launch. When it does release, it's set to be a premium game with expansion packs. You won't find any Hearthstone-style booster packs here, no sir. Just buy the game and play it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHU9iTIAVUY

Outpost Delta is the New Kid on the Block

Outpost Delta represents something new for Razavi of Razbury Games: serving as a producer. While he showed off Outpost Delta at Play NYC 2019, it was a game that he was minimally involved with outside of his role as a producer.

Developed by Hidden Achievement, Outpost Delta is a Metroidvania game that has you fending off an alien invasion by yourself with the help of a nigh-omniscient A.I. in the facility you're trying to save.  Ranged combat is done in the style of games like Terraria, where you can aim with the right stick/mouse and move with the keyboard/left stick.

I tried my hand at Outpost Delta and found it to be a pretty interesting game, although it's still a bit early in its development for me to form a solid opinion on it. From the few minutes I spent with the game, I think people who enjoy Metroidvanias will find something to like in this game.

You can watch the B-Roll above to get an idea of how Outpost Delta plays. If the devs can keep things on track, we should be seeing it launch sometime around late 2019/early 2020.

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Insufficient Adjectives was a heck of a lot of fun to play.

Insufficient Adjectives will Launch Soon

The last game (and in some ways, the most important) showcased by Razavi was Insufficient Adjectives, one of five special "Graffiti Games" at Play NYC 2019. The Graffiti Games were all purpose-built for this year's show, funded by Playcrafting and created by LGBQT+ developers. Razavi elected to create Insufficient Adjectives, a game that's all about delivering packages to the right place.

Essentially, Insufficient Adjectives gets its name from how difficult it is becoming to describe people and their relationships. That concept was used to make a game that's all about interpreting adjectives and using them to complete objectives. Trucks spawn, each with a few words describing their contents. You must place roads to get the trucks to the correct destination without them crashing—and you'll have to juggle multiple trucks at once.

I played Insufficient Adjectives for a few minutes and basically caused several multi-car pile-ups. It was genuinely a disaster on my part, and that's why I was happy to hear from Razavi (via e-mail) that this game is definitely going to get some sort of public release. When it does, you should absolutely play it. Just make sure to take your blood pressure medication.


If you'd like to get in on the From Rust alpha tests, you should go ahead and join the Razbury Games Discord. Don't forget to swing by the websites of Razbury Games and Hidden Achievement!

Check out what else we saw at Play NYC by going to our Play NYC 2019 Coverage Hub.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N