IndieGames.com - The Weblog

Kickstarter Projects: Always Outnumbered (SRRN Games)

2012-05-24T14:00:50Z

Ash series developer SRRN Games has set up a Kickstarter campaign to fund the creation of its next title, Always Outnumbered.

SRRN describes Always Outnumbered as "a narrative driven Tower Defense game that explores the cultural and psychological implications of being attacked by relentless waves of enemies in a post-apocalyptic world." The game boasts a competitive multiplayer mode and integrated tournaments, and is set to be released for Windows, Mac, and potentially other platforms.

To promote the campaign, SSRN has released Always Outnumbered: Survival, a retro-styled freeware shooter available for Windows, Mac, Android, and Flash.

Always Outnumbered needs to raise $175,000 by June 7th to be funded. Digitally distributed copies of the game will be given to backers who pledge $15 or more.

Browser Game Pick: Soul Searchin' (Maxim Schoemaker)

2012-05-24T11:30:00Z

Benjamin is feeling a little on the strange side, so he decides to enter his own brain in search of the truth about his mental well being. Soul Searchin' is a platformer with a neat core mechanic - you have the ability to shrink and unshrink Benjamin via the spacebar to navigate the labyrinth of his brain.

If I had one gripe about Soul Searchin', it would be that the visuals are a little on the bland side. However, the level design is well thought through and the soundtrack is suitably atmospheric.

Soul Searchin' is a Ludum Dare 23 entry. Play it here.

Arcane Kids' Russell Honor Discusses Jet Set Radio-like: Zineth

2012-05-24T07:00:00Z

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute collective Arcane Kids shared on reddit a rather slick trailer of Jet Set Radio "esque" Zineth, showing a character skating with a robot and rewinding his mistakes. The large, colorful world; the fast, furious traversing; and the grinding particle effects (at 0:30, for instance) really caught my eye.

I was even more impressed upon finding out seven students worked on this for just a half-semester in class: Jacob Knipfing, Russell Honor, Thomas Astle, Sylvia Forrest, Thomas Lanciani, Evan Gonzalez, and Dan Spaulding. Russell Honor spoke briefly with me about Zineth's concepts, those seen and unseen in the trailer.

]]> Honor says that the player can perform aerobatic feats such as skating at high speeds, jumping far distances, wall riding on any surface, increasing gravity for quicker descents, and grinding on rails. Zineth takes place in a world absorbed by a cellphone game, and players must remind other inhabitants by distributing a zine of what they have forgotten outside of their cellphones.

And so the game's name is born, tells Honor. "Get it, Zineth... one of our group members had a father who raised him on puns; his sense of humor never evolved."

Honor also expounds on the cellphone's uses in Zineth. "What you can't see all that well in the gameplay video is that you also have a cellphone which is a hub for communication from non-playable characters (NPCs). It also has a playable version of the cellphone game, which is a mindless arena shooter, and there is also a twitter client that auto generates some of the dumbest tweets ever."

In terms of AI or opposition, the NPCs don't seem destined for complexity. "The NPCs just stand around staring at their phones, and if you happen to knock one over, they just send you a text message asking you why you would do such a horrible thing," Honor describes. "For example you will have 10 zines at one point and you will need to give them to ten people, you go from person to person for a while, they serve as a sort of marker at points of interest, so that by the time you are done you have a fairly good understanding of the environment and how you can leverage/abuse the games mechanics. Ultimately we just want people to have fun skating around with no goals but to go as fast and high as they can."

The team is still tweaking Zineth, but they hope to make it available for free soon.

Freeware Game Pick: Robot Pinball Escape

2012-05-24T02:00:59Z

A group of students enrolled in the University of Utah's Entertainment Arts and Engineering: Master Games Studio program has released its thesis project, Robot Pinball Escape, as a downloadable freeware title via Desura.

Blending elements from pinball and 3D platformers, Robot Pinball Escape puts players in the role of a robot trapped inside a gigantic pinball table. The robot is able to transform into a ball, but to walk upright, jump, and attack, it first needs to gather energy by colliding with targets while in ball form.

It's a fun little gameplay experiment overall -- it'll only take you around 10 or 15 minutes to complete, but the objectives are varied and feel appropriately pinball-y. I enjoyed it very much! It's definitely worth a download, especially if you're a pinball fan.

Minecraft-esque Galaxy 55 Enters Alpha 2

2012-05-23T22:00:41Z

While the controls for Galaxy 55 are still kinda wonky, it's hard to refute the fact that the game looks like it may have potential for the future. Helmed by the good folk at Twinoid, Galaxy 55 has been described by its developers as a 'Minecraft-esque' adventure in space. When we first took a look at the game, there was very little to do. However, the developers have recently released Alpha 2 of the game and it appears as though we'll be able to customize spacecrafts and tinker with the crafting system now.

Curious about how it all works out? Check out the game here.

Kickstarter Projects: Kitaru (Aoineko Studios)

2012-05-23T20:00:34Z

A cyberpunk RPG set within a war-ravaged planet, Kitaru follows a somewhat familiar formula. There's a gorgeous, red-headed protagonist who is, coincidentally, a prodigy in the arts of assassination. Though headstrong and popular, she is also a somewhat sheltered creature. After petitioning for a chance to prove herself, she sneaks off and eventually uncovers a reasonable nefarious plot. According to the description on Kickstarter, the game will be a narrative-driven experience that will feature turn-based active-time battles, covert operations, diplomatic duties and a world that has been in development for over five years.

There's a fairly comprehensive amount of material available on the Kickstarter site. Those interested in taking a look can find it here.

Kyttaro Games Debuts Bundle In A Box: Adventure Bundle

2012-05-23T19:00:42Z

Kyttaro Games (a studio that employs our own Konstantinos Dimopoulos!) has kicked off its first Bundle In A Box campaign, collecting a variety of indie adventure games and launching the new title The Sea Will Claim Everything in a pay-what-you-want software bundle starting at $2.99.

In addition to hosting the worldwide commercial debut of both Jonas Kyraztes and the Lands of Dream series with The Sea Will Claim Everything, the bundle includes the adventure titles Gemini Rue, Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition, Time Gentlemen, Please!, 1893: A World's Fair Mystery, The Shivah and Metal Dead.

The core bundle features five games; Metal Dead and The Shivah are available exclusively to buyers who pay more than the bundle's current average price. All games are available as DRM-free Windows downloads, and Steam and Desura codes are provided for Ben There, Dan That!, Time Gentlemen, Please!, and Gemini Rue. The collection additionally includes Desura codes for Metal Dead.

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Proceeds from Bundle In A Box support Perivolaki - The Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family, a non-profit charity helping mentally ill children and their families in Greece.

Bundle In A Box will also award a cash prize to one selected indie developer at the campaign's conclusion via the Indie Dev Grant. "For every 15,000 bundles sold $2,000 will be added to the fund and the whole sum will be given to one developer selected by vote at the end of the bundle," organizers explain. "The Indie Dev Grant is open to everyone."

A number of bonus extras will be added to the bundle for every 10,000 sales, including the Bundle In A Box-exclusive Metal Dead Making Of PDF booklet and soundtracks for Gemini Rue and The Shivah.

Tower Defense Sequel Fieldrunners 2 to iOS first, then Steam

2012-05-23T18:00:00Z

Remember that Fieldrunners Steam beta last month, and their tests for an upcoming game? Well, those tests were, in part, for Subatomic Studios' IGF Mobile winner follow-up, Fieldrunners 2. The not-yet-priced game will hit iPhone at the end of June, with an iPad version available shortly afterwards. Subatomic's Alec Shobin says the team is focusing on the iPad version before bringing the sequel to Steam.

According to the press release, the sequel will contain 20 hand-painted levels spanning four distinct zones, more than 20 upgradeable towers and customizable loadouts, and over 30 different types of enemies. Fieldrunners 2 adds puzzle maps and sudden death maps to customary survival maps. I could use some more puzzles in my tower defense experience!

Check out the official website for more luscious art.

Mobile Game Pick: Spheris (Lodehed Labs)

2012-05-23T14:00:45Z

App Store newcomer Lodehed Labs has released Spheris, a colorful, rotation-based puzzler for iOS platforms.

In Spheris, players rotate the playfield to match incoming blocks with like-colored segments. The app boasts multiple gameplay modes, and includes Game Center leaderboards and achievements.

Spheris is priced at 99 cents. A free Express version is also available.

Browser Game Pick: Download Incomplete (trq)

2012-05-23T11:30:00Z

The data in sector No.0x23F0 has been corrupted. To fix the data, all missing bytes must be found.

Download Incomplete is a traditional platformer, in which you must use your jetpack to collect bytes, while avoiding enemies. All the bytes in each level must be collected to move onto the next. The slight twist is that each new level is just an expanded version of the first. If you die, whether it be from accidentally coming into contact with an enemy or falling off the screen, you will be sent back to where you first began. This means that you will have to venture further out in different directions in each level.

The game has a slick aesthetic, however towards the end, hunting down every last byte starts to become a grind.

Download Incomplete is a Ludum Dare 23 entry. Play it here.

Fairy Well (Wide Pixel Games)

2012-05-23T09:00:00Z

Fairy Well, a brand new release for the venerable Commodore 64 and the winner of RGCD's 2011 C64 16KB Cartridge Game Development Competition, has finally made it onto, well, a cartridge. A properly boxed cartridge packed with a manual and a sticker to be precise, and a cartridge you can actually buy right here. Yes, in 2012. For the Commodore 64.

What's more, you can also download Fairy Well for free over here and use the excellent, freeware VICE emulator to enjoy it.

The game is a procedurally generated flick-screen shmup/platformer that plays a bit like the classic Cybernoid, featuring impressively huge maps, a multitude of enemies and more than a few bosses. Somehow, all this has been crammed into 16 mere kilobytes of memory.

DrinkBox Studios' Mutant Blobs Attack is in Beta for Steam

2012-05-23T07:00:00Z

DrinkBox Studios' multiple award-winning physics-based Katamari-like platformer, Mutant Blobs Attack, has finally reached its beta phase of development and is close to release on Steam for Windows. I was late in acquiring a PlayStation Vita, but this game for me was the funnest, most-polished, launch title for the system. The charming music and early '50s sci-fi movie art retro vibe complement its solid controls and light puzzle tasks.

Those who participate in the beta process are asked to provide feedback and describe any new issues found, in exchange for a Steam code redeemable for a free copy of the full game once it is released.

The estimated minimum required specs are listed after the jump.

]]> OS: Windows 7 / Vista / XP
Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
Memory: 2GB System RAM
Hard Disk Space: 500+ Megs
Video Card: AMD (ATI) / Nvidia card with at least 256 MB Dedicated Graphics Memory, must support DX 10 or 11
Sound:DirectX compatible

Those interested can find DrinkBox's email here to sign up. Fingers crossed co-op metroidvania Guacamelee comes to as many platforms as possible, too!

Kickstarter Update: Jason Rohrer's Diamond Trust Of London Successfully Funded

2012-05-23T03:00:56Z

The recently renamed Nintendo DS strategy title Jason Rohrer with Music by Tom Bailey: Diamond Trust of London has reached its Kickstarter funding goal of $78,715, and copies of the game are scheduled to ship to backers in September.

The project earned the remainder of its funding earlier today, after being featured on Kickstarter's front page as a staff pick. The game's Limited Edition has proven especially popular during the course of the campaign; as of this writing, very few copies are still available via pledge tiers starting at $400.

Diamond Trust of London's regular edition is still available for a pledge of $35 or more. The funding campaign will conclude May 26th.

Groupees Launches Pay-What-You-Want 'Build A Bundle' Featuring 12 Games

2012-05-23T01:00:42Z

Be Mine bundle organizer Groupees has kicked off its new Build A Bundle campaign, offering buyers their pick among 12 included games for one pay-what-you-want price (minimums apply).

Build A Bundle features Elecorn's third-person action title Caster, Grendel Games' puzzle-platformer Diamond Dan, Burut CT's World War II FPS Ubersoldier 2, Eclipse Games' action title Lightfish, 1C's World War I FPS Necrovision, and Darkling Rooms' first-person adventure game Dark Fall: Lost Souls.

Returning from previous Be Mine bundles are Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals, Sideway: New York, The Ball, Post Apocalyptic Mayhem, Xotic, and BEEP, all of which are available as optional purchases.

Twenty percent of bundle proceeds will be donated to Polar Bears International, a group dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the endangered polar bear and its habitat.

Tech Demo: Pioneers (Eigen)

2012-05-22T22:00:02Z

Composed of only four colors, Pioneers is a pretty sweet little turn-based game that will have you taking command of a bold contingent of explorers. Faced with the challenge of investigating a new world, you and your merry band of helpless NPCs must brave diseases, fatigue, bears, wolves, angry beavers and the perils of communicating with foreigners. Yes. Bad things are bound to happen here, folks.

While still painfully early in the development stage, there's already a tech demo available for those who simply must experience the basics of the game. As for everyone else, there's a fairly detailed devlog over here.