The Philippines is a country that's almost impossible to love. It is perhaps the embodiment of wasted potential; worms ate the country inside-out, and now it's exiting the global sphincter as a massive piece of shit.
This can be seen in the country's gaming ""industry"". Despite brimming with talent, the nation as of yet still sees 'gaming' as equivalent to 'gambling sites' and 'offshore' or 'outsourced work'. As the country's potential economic growth gets continuously squandered by political powers, the potential of the country as an artistic forefront is squandered by the overwhelming cultural powers brought by the globalized world. The path that a creative must walk in this nation hangs in the balance. It is our imperative to pull ourselves forward by the bootstraps. Therefore, as a Filipino game developer myself, it is my prime mission to seek out, participate with, and contribute to the local gaming scene, one so underrepresented and undervalued.
You will notice a common theme, of sorts, with the four games I shall recommend today. In some ways, they all grapple or play with Filipino identity. Unlike the gaming titans of the 'developed' world, who can afford to remove any trace of identity to maraud a globalized audience, works from the countries who own smaller pieces of the global pie tend to keep and even highlight their local/cultural identity. The Philippines is a prime example of this. Filipino artists and creators are almost behooved to be assertively Filipino; in part to scream into the world of our existence, and in part to understand our identity in the first place, a problem still unsolved by a nation still colonized. I will highlight how Filipino identity manifests in the four games. But I like to view this Filipino-ness not as weakness, but as opportunity, and importantly, beauty.
This is really why I want to show off local games: I think they're beautiful. They tug my heart in ways that are feverishly close. Somehow, it's like these games are not stranger to me, like I could freely let them into my home. Because they are my home. Because despite the shittiness of it all, art remains. We remain. I hope I can convince you to love what remains.
If you've been craving a bit of the Pinoy taste, these are short titles with lots of variety and could be good places to start. Combined, they'll take barely an hour to finish. Without further ado, here are four short Filipino games that I've played throughout the week which I quite liked.
goodbye by artsybarrels
CW: Depression, Suicide
This one hurt. This one really, really hurt. Playing goodbye does not take much time, but as I'm sure you could piece together, it's about a young person on their way to commit suicide. Tread lightly with this one, please, and stay safe out there.
I've read a few stories like this one in the past, but this is the first time it's ever hit like this. Being told that I am loved in my mother tongue—by a fictional mother—is a spear chucked right into my soul.
To understand this short game, one must understand the state of mental health awareness in the Philippines. Here, mental and emotional health are still severely underdiscussed and misunderstood. The largely conservative and 'resilience'-centric culture does not recognize depression. From my experience, depressed friends and peers are viewed as the problem rather than the ones facing a problem; they are 'lazy' and 'lacking in willpower'.
As well, institutions lack the capability to handle or address psychoemotional problems. Academic institutions, for instance, uphold rigid laws not designed to handle challenges in well-being, so 'support' or 'assistance' systems merely end up becoming apathetic apparatuses whose existence likely only comes from compliance. In-campus 'guidance' clinics or counselors—if they exist—may not be well-trained or funded. Top-down, the whole thing is a societal and structural nightmare. Those who suffer from mental health issues must go through hoops to get the assistance that they need, that is, if they hadn't yet been demonized by people around them. The fact that the mother and father of goodbye's main character are responsive to them is important, but it's too little too late, which really sadly is quite often the case.
There is an alternate route in the game, if the player may choose it, which is to break down and open up to the mother at the beginning before attempting. This underlines the importance of having support systems who are willing to listen to you, hug you and help you in times of need. If you are struggling through a mental health problem/crisis, try to find people you can trust. Try to consider contacting key hotlines. For now, know that you're not alone.
If you want more lighthearted games which still pull your heartstrings, artsybarrel's other games are definitely worth checking out. I recommend pauwi sa amin, which barely takes two minutes.
You can play goodbye here: https://artsybarrels.itch.io/goodbye
DOT (Tuldok) by Murushii Studios
DOT describes itself as a "short existential dread horror game that was made in one day" and it certainly fits that entire bill. It is a 5-10 minute long game where you click on dots that appear randomly on the screen. As you click on the dots, the gray background gets enveloped by black streak marks until your whole screen becomes black, at which point Filipino-dubbed narration occurs, telling you that you have become the dot. After this narration ends, the game cuts to a first person 3D platforming section through a long, dark corridor, which ultimately ends with you going into a gray screen: the same gray screen that greets you at the start of the game.
Murushii Studios has a knack for 3D, low-poly horror games. I had half a mind to include one of their most popular games, Christmas in our Fears, which features a twisted caricature of Philippines' very own Jose Mari Chan. It even parodies the title of one of Jose Mari Chan's albums, Christmas in our Hearts. What I liked about Christmas in our Fears is how it showcases the uniquely local art of caricature, which in gaming blends perfectly with the mascot horror genre.
But I chose to higlight DOT because it spoke to me in different ways. The first reason is that it is rather unique. Its premise moves away from the primarily 3D/mascot horror that would fit in Murushii's wheelhouse. DOT's concept and its narration are gripping, and the limited use of 3D in the end, I find, does not take away from its simplicity, but rather complements the game's abstract nature and cosmic dread. There is someone, something out there who is looking for you, hovering over you, waiting to click on you, the dot that you have become. The only way out is through. For the narration portion, though, might I recommend putting the narration along with the dot-clicking section? Interweaving it with the clicks? See Daniel Foutz's Video Tennis for prime inspiration on what I'm talking about.
The second reason I chose DOT is quite funny. The first section of the game, where one clicks on dots on the screen, reminded me of an analog horror video I made titled Follow the Red Dot. In that video, the viewer must look for an ever-shrinking red dot on the screen, before coming to a jumpscare when the red dot is so small it's practically invisible. It's a stupid video, yet it's my most liked video. I just thought the resemblance was funny. There really is no such thing as an 'original idea', huh?
You can play DOT (Tuldok) here: https://murushii.itch.io/dot
CRINGR by Kulam Studio
I love this game and the way it encapsulates Filipino meme culture. Pinoy humor is a thing hard to describe, but you'll know it when you see it. Slapstick, absurd, full of references, slightly unhinged, but most importantly, Filipino meme culture is incredibly vibrant and staunchly political—a beautiful resonance with the nation at large. CRINGR embodies most of this in its never-ending stream of meme dating profiles, killing you not in one punchline but by death of a thousand cuts. Right when you think it stops, the laughter just keeps on going. Perhaps the only thing missing in CRINGR is the political nature of Filipino meme culture. Photos of Kitty Duterte's wake-and-bake or Senator Bato dela Rosa's attempted escape from an ICC warrant would have been cherries on top.
Notable, too, that CRINGR was made for the Manila-based Bad Game Jam. I got the amazing opportunity to listen to one of the founders(?) of Bad Game Jam, Agustin Crisostomo (@agooseteen), who was invited to speak at Ateneo de Manila University. His talk piqued my interest to the jam. The Bad Game Jam focuses not on making good games for players, but on cultivating a fun creating experience for the developers, even if the end result is a 'bad game'. It appraises video game development as an artistic process and a communally shared experience rather than a production of commodity, which is something I can get behind. If you're interested in more games like CRINGR, where the developer/s clearly had fun in making the game, definitely peep the Bad Game Jam and its submissions. I'd love to throw my hat in the ring and join the jam this year myself.
You can play CRINGR here: https://tokwalover666.itch.io/cringr
Biyaya Baybay by SpiralDaisies
Biyaya is a Tagalog word that means 'blessing', and this small yet home-like game is just that. In Biyaya Baybay, you play as Biyaya who goes out with her friend Himig (melody) to the beach. On the beach, you interact with booths, buy Himig some flowers, collect some shells, then end the hang-out by going home. This game feels down-to-earth. Its soothing chiptune music, pastel colors, and quaint slice-of-life story paints a simple picture in a way quite reminiscent to home.
I like Biyaya Baybay for three reasons. The first is that it's a girly game—notably, it's a submission for the Girly Game Jam #2—in a tropical setting, but it silently does away with the typical exoticization prevalent with works of such kind. Biyaya Baybay treats its Filipino beach as home, as yet another place for commerce or activity, than something of a tourist destination. Likewise, its 'girliness' is depicted as status quo, virtually normalized in a local context that would normally delimit or ostracize it.
Secondly, if I'm not mistaken, Baybay is a GB Studio game! We don't see this particular style very often, especially where I'm from. As a pixel artist myself, I love seeing works in the Gameboy graphics style.
Thirdly, I like the way it plays with language. If the proud translations of "biyaya" and "himig" in the game's description are not proof enough, its "Filipino first" (translation second) approach to dialogue puts the local tongue front and center, making it the primary language of the text. This is an especially important decision to have made in a global, mostly Western game jam context. It is thus quite proudly Filipino.
With all that being said, the creator of Biyaya Baybay admits that the game is unfinished due to game jam-related time constraints, and it shows. The runtime is rather short, plus the bugs and lack of signposting make it abundantly clear that there were more planned for this game initially. In the future, I would love a game in this style that is more fleshed out, polished, and complete.
You can play Biyaya Baybay here: https://spiraldaisies.itch.io/biyaya-baybay
A Surprise Fifth Game?! Ligayang Litrato by team 'Peanut Butter and Bread'
Wait, what?! A fifth game?
Actually, this article was originally meant to have five games, the fifth one being Ligayang Litrato by team 'Peanut Butter and Bread', made for the UP Computer Science Guild (UPCSG) 2026 game jam. Problem is, I couldn't complete the game! You'll see why in a moment.
Ligayang Litrato is a simple game about restoring lost images. To do so, you must cast a spell using the red amulet (see image above) and say the three necessary requirements: (a) the nature of the restoration you're attempting to make (is it restoring something lost or removing something added?); (b) the type of damage done to the picture (was it a coffee stain, was the image torn? etc.); and (c) what is the name of the subject in the photo? I got to Lola's third photo (see image above), but unfortunately I could not figure out who the man in the photo is! I don't think Lola says his name. I'm supposed to listen to what Lola is saying, but there's no way to reread her dialogue after she's finished talking. Worse yet, I have to redo the previous two photos to get a chance at the third one every time I mess up. Am I missing something?
I liked Ligayang Litrato because of its charming artstyle, its assertively Cebuano roots, and its cozy, picturesque vibe that reminded me of Strange Horticulture. But I don't feel quite right including it in the list if I can't even complete it. Perhaps you could give it a shot and try it? If you get past the third photo, scroll down to the "Contact Me!" section of this article and let me know!
You can play Ligayang Litrato here: https://moomewie.itch.io/ligayang-litrato
Some Upcoming Filipino Games I Look Forward To
I realize that all of the recommendations I've given here are short games from one creator or small teams. Most importantly, these games are fairly lo-fi and small in scope, not the types of long-form, fleshed out content one might expect. You can reasonably finish these four or five games within an hour or so. Truth is, we don't have that many 'big, sprawling' video games as of the moment; that's the nature of game development here. Still, some are making upcoming, big strides, and I'm so excited. I'd like to share some stuff I look forward to.
ShaggyBearGames' Lost and Found is a Gumball-style mystery-adventure game that seems to be set in the Philippines. It won GameDev.TV's $500 Indie Fund which makes me happy, because it looks so cool and may just be the 'spiritual successor' to the equally beautiful Until Then. And it's solo-developed! What the hell! Very excited for this one.
Team Soleil's Dogwood is a "cooking action RPG where battlefield is the wilderness and home is the restaurant you built from nothing." I'm pulling from the Steam description because I can't even describe the game. It looks so gorgeous! Not to mention, Team Soleil is a team of siblings who proudly exclaim Dogwood being a Filipino-made game. Super excited.
Good Knight Collective's Keyboard Warrior Stickman - Typing Beat 'Em Up is a, well, fighting typing game. A "fighting typing game." I have no words. Still, though, this looks tons of fun.
Outside of the medium of gaming, Filipino artists and creators continue to cook, too. A Filipino animated film titled THE LOVERS, which seems to me about lesbian yearning between a chef and a sirena, is planned to premiere at the 2026 Annecy Festival. Of course, I must also mention Forgotten Island, which got quite a bit of buzz when it was first announced. A whole DreamWorks/Universal 3D animated film about Filipino folklore and culture! I find it really, truly incredible. I hope that we can get this level of budget and representation in the gaming space in the future.
As I hope you can see, Filipino games are quite diverse, beautiful, and creative. In my effort of discovering these games, I've come to appreciate more the sheer amount of 'diamonds' that lie in the very big 'rough' that is this country. I hope that you, Filipino or not, can see just how much potential we have and how much we are capable of. This journey of exploration and creation, in a medium and industry still undersupported locally, is truly a matter of national importance. But I want to take it one game at a time. Highlight, talk about, and share one game at a time. Make one game at a time. One story at a time. One artwork at a time. One at a time, this is how we can make change. It's not game over! No, the game is just getting started.
Contact Me!
By the way, if you're one of the creators of the games I've listed here and you want something added, changed, or removed; if you have suggestions for locally produced games I should check out; or if you've some-freaking-how figured out that aforementioned puzzling photo, contact me!
My email is arddelacruz@gmail.com, and my discord is @cookiejar2025.
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