[From now until early January, IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best independent and freeware games of 2008, with descriptions, screenshots, and links of the best games in each major category.]

The fifth of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we're proud to present ten of the best freeware remakes released in 2008.

From upgraded remakes with painstakingly redrawn and recolored graphics, to the most retro of downscaled remakes with blocky pixel art and noisy chiptunes, IndieGames.com has rounded up ten remakes of classic games that you should not miss the second time around.

Here's the top freeware remakes (and demakes) of the year:

Best Freeware Remakes 2008

  1. Soundless Mountain II
  2. Voxelstein 3D
  3. 3D Starstrike
  4. Left 4k Dead
  5. Guru Logic Champs
  6. Rock Boshers
  7. Ultimate Bruce Lee
  8. Kung Fu 2
  9. The Eggyard
10. Scramble

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

Links to some of the recent interviews with prolific or high-profile indie game developers of today:

The Reticule: 2D Boy Interview (text)
Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel talks about a missing sixth chapter called "The Moon", among other things discussed in this two-parter. (part 2)

GameCyte: Declarations of Independents, Lugaru and Overgrowth (text)
David Rosen quizzed on the subject of Black Shades, Lugaru, Overgrowth and future plans for Wolfire Games.

GameZone: First-Person Action/Fighting with Zeno Clash (text)
More on ACE Team's unique first-person fighting game, Zeno Clash.

GameSetWatch: Building IncrediBots With Some Grubby Geezers (text)
"Everything is made from basic ideas and simple visuals, but IncrediBots has proven popular enough to overload three servers since its beta launched in November."

GameSetWatch: On Creating XBLA’s First Claymation Videogame (text)
A special feature with just about everything you need to know about TunaSnax's upcoming XBLA release, Cletus Clay.

Gamasutra: Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin Cry Out (text)
Both Tom Fulp and Dan Paladin were interviewed for this five-page article on Gamasutra.

GameTunnel has revealed their picks for the best indie games released this year. Recommended reading.

2008 Top 10 Games of the Year
2008 Special Awards
December 2008 Indie game Round-Up

The annual Experimental Gameplay Sessions is now open for submissions. Selected developers will be invited to give a short presentation on their respective games, prototypes and ideas to an audience during GDC (this coming March 2009).

All submissions should be sent to workshop2009 [a] number-none.com, before February 16th 2009 for consideration. (source)

The Experimental Gameplay web site
GDC 08: Experimental Gameplay Sessions
GDC 08: Nuances of Design

[IndieGames' sister console digital download info site GamerBytes has been following the Xbox 360's Community Games project since its launch in November, and is proud to present the Top 10 XNA games of 2008, in association with independent site XNPlay.]

For the first time ever, a major console company has allowed hobbyists to create peer-reviewed console games, and publish them directly onto the console for worldwide download.

Thus, Microsoft's launch of its Xbox Live Community Games service in November 2008 has already brought nearly 100 free time-limited, pay for unlimited-play independent games to the service -- and a distinct need for critics and reviewers to seek out and showcase the best.

For this year-end countdown, GamerBytes is handing over the reins to Robert 'Oddbob' Fearon and his staff from XNPlay, an independent website dedicated to bringing you news, views, reviews and previews of games featured on Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Community Games program.

Here's their picks for the top XNA titles released onto the Xbox 360 in 2008, all currently available for download from the console's Community Games section:

screenshots

Update: version 0.98.1 released.

Spelunky is the new procedurally-generated 2D platformer from Derek Yu, developer of several memorable freeware games and co-creator of the award-winning Aquaria. In it, players assume the role of a treasure hunter who ventures into the Colossal Cave in search of gold coins, gems, golden idols and damsels to rescue.

Areas are randomly generated whenever you start a new game, and the money you've acquired can be used to trade for items in shops. To proceed to the next level, simply search for an exit which is usually placed somewhere at the bottom of every map. You can carry dames towards the exit for an extra health bonus, while golden idols award more money than coins and gems although you would have to watch out for the boulder trap that awaits thieving archaelogists. By lending money to the tunnel man, shortcuts to levels five and nine can be built for quick access from the start menu. (Let's Play Spelunky)

Name: Spelunky
Developer: Derek Yu
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

[From now until early January, IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best independent and freeware games of 2008, with descriptions, screenshots, and links of the best games in each major category.]

The fourth of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we're proud to present twenty of the best freeware arcade games released in 2008.

Action games usually involve players assuming a certain profession and carrying out the task they have been assigned with - whether it is taking out bad guys, rescuing cute little creatures, saving the world from certain doom, or even stealing treasure from cave dwellers, we can guarantee that you'll be having a whale of a time doing it.

Here's the top freeware arcade and action games of the year:

Best Freeware Arcade Games 2008

  1. 8bit killer
  2. Rescue: The Beagles
  3. Aether
  4. Calamity Annie
  5. Destructivator
  6. Thrustburst
  7. You Found the Grappling Hook
  8. You Have to Burn the Rope
  9. ROM Check Fail
10. Samurai Railroad Mansion
11. Virtual Silence
12. Cubes
13. Facewound
14. Pro Killer Man
15. Skullpogo
16. Night of the Cephalopods
17. Karateka Mania
18. Devil Ronin
19. Ropor
20. I Was in the War

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

More top ten lists from Bart Bonte and Edmund McMillen, plus nominees and winners for GameTunnel's 2008 RPG and Adventure Game of the Year awards.

2008 Top 10 Web Games (www.bontegames.com)
The Top 10 Edmund McMillen Releases of 2008
2008 RPG of the Year (Game Tunnel)
2008 Adventure Game of the Year (Game Tunnel)

Out soon on iPhone and iPod Touch for only $4.99. The scheduled release date is January 2009, although the game itself could arrive as early as next week. (source)

[From now until early January, IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best independent and freeware games of 2008, with descriptions, screenshots, and links of the best games in each major category.]

The third of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we're proud to present ten of the best browser arcade games released in 2008.

Fancy a 100-metre sprint event? Hit Benzido up. Thinking about dino racing? Get acquainted with Pixeljam Games.

Or itching for some sword action? Babarageo has just the thing for you, in this special round up of the best links you could possibly have as your favorite browser bookmarks.

Here's the top browser-based arcade games of the year:

Best Browser Arcade Games 2008

  1. Cursor*10
  2. QWOP
  3. Top Spinner
  4. Dino Run
  5. Ginormo Sword
  6. Minotaur China Shop
  7. Gravity Hook
  8. Rose and Camellia (Shockwave version)
  9. Maverick
10. Robokill

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

Steam is currently running a holiday sale from today until January 2nd, 2009, with the offer extended to their collection of indie games as well. Here are some indie picks from their stable of games:

Audiosurf $4.99 (from $9.99, 50% off)
World of Goo $14.99 (from $19.99, 25% off)
Trials 2 Second Edition $2.49 (from $9.99, 75% off)
Defense Grid $14.99 (from $19.99, 25% off)
Portal $4.99 (from $19.99, 75% off)
Multiwinia+Darwinia $7.49 (from $14.99, 50% off)

Indie Games on Steam (source: Retro Remakes)

[From now until early January, IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best independent and freeware games of 2008, with descriptions, screenshots, and links of the best games in each major category.]

The second of the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog, we're proud to present another slightly novelty -- and pretty insane -- chart, in the form of twenty of the best freeware games released by cactus in 2008.

Known for his broad variety of freeware games, Swedish designer Jonatan 'cactus' Söderström says that much of his work are small experiments dressed up as games. Nonetheless, he has made more than twenty of them over the last twelve months.

So we're presenting you with a selection of his best works released this year, for your gaming pleasure:

Freeware Games by cactus 2008

  1. Ad Nauseam 2
  2. BlockOn
  3. Cactus Arcade
  4. Deep Wing Break
  5. Kryzta
  6. Life is a Race
  7. Lovecraft Game
  8. Minubeat
  9. Precision
10. Protoganda 2
11. Psychosomnium
12. Retro 4
13. Seizuredome
14. Shotgun Ninja
15. Stallions in America
16. Stench Mechanics
17. Vicious Cycle
18. Xoldiers
19. xWung
20. Unfinished Games

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

[From now until early January, IndieGames.com: The Weblog will be counting down the best independent and freeware games of 2008, with descriptions, screenshots, and links of the best games in each major category.]

We're starting out the 2008 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com blog with a couple of tongue-in-cheek charts - and thus, we're proud to present ten of the best freeware games released by Jesse Venbrux in 2008.

What we know about Jesse Venbrux: aged 22, originated from Netherlands, a big fan of Nintendo, studied at the Utrecht School of the Arts, did his internship with Q-Games, uses the versatile Game Maker for development purposes, and has an unhealthy obsession with the subject of death.

He also makes decent games - lots of them, actually. You could read more about him on his most recent interview with anna anthropy, on the auntie pixelante site. Here's his top games of the year:

Freeware Games by Jesse Venbrux 2008

  1. Deaths
  2. Execution
  3. Karoshi
  4. Karoshi 2.0
  5. Karoshi Suicide Salaryman
  6. Karoshi Factory
  7. Mubbly Tower
  8. Paperblast
  9. Torque
10. You Made It

[Got feedback? Reasons to disagree? Post a response and we'll do a special 'best of reader comments' round-up at the end of our chart countdowns.]

Brainpipe is an action game viewed from a first person perspective, in which you must navigate around obstacles inside a tunnel and collect glyphs to elevate yourself from one level to another. Any impact will cause the wireframe iris to grow thinner, and the game ends when you've taken too much damage from collisions without allowing yourself some time to heal automatically. You can reduce your travel speed temporarily by holding down the left mouse button.

This short demo has two playable levels only, and glyphs will stop appearing after the second stage. The game also speeds up drastically once you've reached the third state of consciousness.

Name: Brainpipe
Developer: Digital Eel
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from Armature Studio, NetDevil, Sony Online Entertainment, Longtail Studios, and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

How? Simple. Submit a name and email address using the form on this page (remember to select the platform of your choice), then click on the submit button to receive an email with the serial number almost immediately. To register your copy of Lugaru after you've downloaded it from the Wolfire Games' site, first install it, then run it, and click on the quit button. You will be shown an option to enter the registration code.

If you're not keen on the idea of switching windows to retrieve the serial number from your email, then don't forget to write it down on a piece of paper before starting the game.

Jason Rohrer's critically-acclaimed work Passage is now available on the iPhone and iPod Touch for a low, low price of 99 cents. The free version for Windows, Mac and Linux can still be downloaded from the official page for the game. (source: Braid News)

Lexaloffle's stable of games are now $5 cheaper, and if you purchase two or more games you'd get an automatic 20% discount on all items. Mac versions are available for all releases, and if you're looking for a free game and haven't played Swarm Racer then be sure to download that as well. All purchases are covered by a 30 day money back guarantee. (source: TIGS)

In other news, Pocketwatch Games is offering Venture Arctic as a free game until 1st of Jan, 2009. All you have to do is click on the buy now link for the system of your choice (Venture Arctic is available for both Windows and Mac), then enter the code CPN5867042685 to get a full discount. The next page will request for personal information, but you can just about enter anything and submit to get a download link to the full game instantly generated for you. (source: Indiegamer)

Holiday Special :: All games $5 off (Lexaloffle Newsletter)
Venture Arctic is free until New Years (Pocketwatch Games)

According to an article posted on 1UP yesterday, Hudson has made plans to publish Crayon Physics Deluxe on the iTunes marketplace as early as 1st of Jan next year. (source: Kotaku)

XNPlay also had an early look at the Xbox360 port of Ultratron, although no indication has been given as to when Puppy Games' arena shooter will be made available on the Community Games marketplace for download. (trailer)

Crayon Physics Coming to iPhone in the New Year (1UP)
Hands On: Ultratron for the Xbox360 (XNPlay)

Defense Grid is a tower defense game released on Steam a week or so ago, and since I've made a tower defense game myself and am a fan of the genre I was happy to try it out, especially because its visuals look so nice.

One particularly nice element that 3D allowed this game to do is lines of sight: positioning towers is more realistic than in other tower defense games because towers can only shoot at what they can see. If you place one tower in front of another, it will partially block how the one behind it can fire, which leads to interesting strategy considerations.

Unfortunately, there's no demo, so buying it is kind of an act of faith. If you like tower defense games in general you'll probably like this game. The only disappointment to me was how low the challenge level is: compared to other games in that genre, it feels much easier. But the high-score tables make up for that, allowing you to create your own challenges, e.g. by trying to get in the top 100 in the rankings for every level.

There actually is a fairly competent story, too. It's brief, and amounts to an ancient computer reminiscing about the taste of raspberries and his missing son, but it's nice, and its voice-acting is well done.

[Still blasting with IGF Mobile in its second year, thanks to organizer Mathew Kumar, and here's who we have judging the cellphone, iPhone, 'homebrew'/indie PSP and DS competition this year.]

Organizers of the Independent Games Festival Mobile have named the judges for the second annual Independent Games Festival Mobile.

IGF Mobile (created by Gamasutra parent company Think Services) is the event which celebrates innovation in games for cellphones, the iPhone, and other mobile devices, including Sony’s PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS.

This year, the event is proud to announce that the list of judges will consist of independent mobile game developers -- including several winners of IGF Mobile awards -- and leading journalists working within the mobile games industry.

They are to help award $30,000 in prizes -- including a $10,000 Best iPhone Game award -- at this sister event to the IGF, and to take place at Game Developers Conference 2009 next March in San Francisco.

Confirmed judges for the second annual IGF Mobile event are:

Mr. Chubigans, who created Ac!dbomb/Shellblast, Sandbox of God, Vivid Conceptions, Ore no Ryomi, and other classic Game Maker games, has released a Match-3 style game, Spirits of Metropolis. I played through the demo and it kept my attention longer than most games in that genre do. Even if you hate casual games it might be worth checking out, as the gameplay was a bit more varied and challenging to me than most games in that genre.

Petri had already started sending out the beta version of Crayon Physics Deluxe as an early Christmas gift to customers who pre-ordered the game. You can also pop by the newly-installed Kloonigames forums to discuss about CPD, post feedback and even share levels with other users before the game is officially released sometime next year.

Crayon Physics Deluxe Beta is here (Kloonigames)

Here it is - ten of the best freeware indie games released in 2008, as voted by you.

Free Indie of the Year 2008 (Bytejacker)
Top 10 Indie Video Games for the Holidays (Wolfire Blog)
2008 Strategy Game of the Year (GameTunnel)
2008 Action Game of the Year (GameTunnel)
2008's Best Indie and Overlooked (The Offworld)

Another preview clip for cactus' next game in the Mondo series.

Mondo Teasers (Cactus Squid)

An early Christmas gift in the shape of a medley for all you Bit Blot fans out there.

Pajama Jam #1 - Aquaria

A rare interview with Al Lowe (conducted by Phil Reed), in which they talk about everything other than his past involvement with Sierra. Read about Al's thoughts on game development, puzzle design, marketing your product on a shoestring budget, and the AGS scene in this lengthy article posted on Noise to Signal a couple of weeks ago. (source)

The NTS Interview: Al Lowe

First gameplay video from D-Pad Studios' Owlboy, an upcoming 2D platformer for Windows and Xbox Live Arcade.

Owlboy makes his game footage debut (Destructoid)
Destructoid interview: Owlboy

A length interview with Edmund McMillen about education, Gish, and his CD - This is a Cry for Help.

Edmund McMillen Interview (Bytejacker)

The 1UP crew previews thatgamecompany's upcoming PSN release, Flower.

1UP Show: Flower Preview
Flower videos, Flower trailers

[Over at big sister site Gamasutra, we've just opened nominations for the 2008 Choice Awards, so if you're a developer and would like to vote on the best games of the year, with winners showcased at the big GDC ceremony in March - now's the time.]

The 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards has now opened nominations for the best games of 2008, with awards given out at GDC 2009 and Gamasutra members able to help decide nominees.

Next year’s 9th Annual Award Ceremony, will be hosted on March 25th, 2009 in the Esplanade Room in the South Hall of San Francisco’s Moscone Center, as part of Game Developers Conference 2009.

The Choice Awards, the most prestigious honors in video game development, are now available for you to nominate, after logging on with your main Gamasutra.com user ID. (You can register for free if you do not currently have one.)

The Game Developers Choice Awards recognizes excellence in the art of game creation in any genre or platform. Last year's event saw Valve's Portal the recipient of three major honors, including Game of the Year, with three awards also going to 2K Boston/2K Australia's BioShock.

The 2009 award categories currently open for nominations until January 5th, 2009, are:

Aquaria makes its debut on Steam today, and at $15.99 the award-winning 2D exploration game is now cheaper by half of what it was selling for last week. The 20% discount offered by Steam is only valid until 31st of December, 2008. (trailer)

Aquaria on Steam

The strengths and flaws of Chronic Logic's unprecedented physics-based 2D platformer is examined in detail by David Rosen this week. Edmund McMillen (co-creator of Gish) also makes a guest appearance on the special episode of Free Indie Rapid Fire to reveal his three indie game picks. (YouTube video)

Gish design tour (Wolfire Games)
Get a Free Copy of Lugaru (Wolfire Games)
Free Indie Rapid Fire 12/15/2008 (Bytejacker)

screenshots

Kung Fu 2 is a remake of Spartan X (known as Kung-Fu Master in the States), where you assume the role of a martial arts master on a quest to save his girlfriend from the evil clutches of Mr. X. Controls can be configured from the settings menu, and pressing the escape key switches between full screen and windowed mode.

You can shake off enemies by tapping the left and right cursor keys rapidly. The competition build has six complete stages, with the boss encounter in stage seven currently unbeatable. A full release can be expected sometime next week. (forum thread)

Name: Kung Fu 2
Developer: KNPMaster
Category: Action, Arcade
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

The Eggyard is a single-screen art game mashup of Custer's Revenge featuring Dizzy as the main character. In it, players attempt to guide our old buddy to the end of a short level without being hit by coffins falling from the sky.

Use the right arrow key to move, and press F1 to bring up a help page. You can also switch between full screen and windowed mode with the F4 function key.

Name: The Eggyard
Developer: Yxxa Zu, Monochrome
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Ultimate Bruce Lee is a remake of the Commodore 64 platformer with updated graphics, new gameplay modes, unlockable extras, and the original 1984 release recreated faithfully to please fans of all things retro. You assume control over the legendary martial arts master on a quest to retrieve the elixir of immortality hidden deep inside a wizard's fortress. This will involve collecting lanterns, jumping over traps and defeating numerous evil minions as you make your way from one room to another.

Use the cursor keys to move, duck and jump. Press the Z key to strike at an enemy. Collect all lanterns from the first three screens to reveal a hidden passage to the next area.

Name: Ultimate Bruce Lee
Developer: Trevor Storey, Stuart Collier, Chris Nunn (music)
Category: Platformer
Type: Freeware
Size: 30MB
Direct download link: Click here (mirror)

screenshots

Devil Ronin is an original C64-style game created for the Retro Remakes 2008 competition, where players assume control over a rebel oni (demon) who has sided with humanity and seeks to rid Japan of the demon scourge plaguing the entire country. This will involve travelling from one prefecture to another as he makes his way north for the final showdown with his ex-master, the Demon Shogun.

Use the cursor keys to move, press the left shift key to attack, and hold the space key to jump when in castle combat mode. Visiting areas with a story scene rewards your warrior with a suit of armor or full health. To navigate the map, simply press the corresponding arrow key shown under the name of any neighbouring prefecture.

Name: Devil Ronin
Developers: Howard Kistler, Paul Pridham (sprites), Mike Fraley (music)
Category: Action, Arcade
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

Dylan Cuthbert, Dylan Fitterer, Kyle Gabler, Ron Carmel and David Hellman were all recently interviewed by Geoff Keighley for a Spike TV special feature. Parts two, three and four in the extended. (source: David Hellman)

Mountain Dew is also currently sponsoring 7,000 downloads of nominated games for the Best Independent Game of the Year category. This would require submitting your name and email address for a random drawing, with winners to be notified by mail within three days after the game giveaway entry period ends (on 14th of December, 2008 at 9PM ET). Games up for grabs are: Braid (XBLA), Pixeljunk Eden (PSN), World of Goo (WiiWare) and Audiosurf (Steam).

Dew the Download Giveaway Sweepstakes (Spike TV)

The best free games to play (GamesRadar)
A six-page article with select indie and freeware games, although some of the titles were mentioned previously on the same site, while others (e.g. Eternal Daughter, 2 BC *) have been around for several years now. There might be a couple of games in it which I'm sure a few of us had missed, so the list could still come in handy for the holidays. (source: Paul Eres)

2008 Puzzle/Sim Game of the Year (GameTunnel)
Nominees and winners for GameTunnel's 2008 Game of the Year in the puzzle and simulation categories have been announced.

Aquaria 1.1.1 for Windows Released for $20
Bit Blot's award-winning debut commercial release is now cheaper by a tenner.

Scrap Collector (messhof)
A new 2D platformer by the developer of Flywrench and You Found a Grappling Hook.

Best Of 2008: Top 5 Indie Games (Gamasutra)
Editors' picks for the top five independent games of 2008, with ten more notable indie games getting honorable mentions.

* BC - before Cave Story

Links to some of the recent interviews with prolific or high-profile indie game developers of today:

Interview: Petri Purho (text)
The first of three interviews conducted by Erin Robinson at the recent Gamma3D event.

Interview: Alec Holowka (text)
Alec Holowka chats with the developer of Nanobots about Aquaria and their new startup, Infinite Ammo.

Interview: Jonathan Blow (text)
The inspirational Jon Blow, talking about his inspirations.

The Reticule: Cliff Harris Interview (text)
Cliff on the usual topics of DRM and piracy.

Kivi's Underworld: Mac Game Development (text)
Steven Peeler discussing about the advantages of releasing your game for both Windows and Mac platforms.

Destructoid interview: Nathan Fouts (text)
Brad Nicholson talking to the developer of Weapon of Choice, again.

In this round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from Insomniac Games, Planet Moon, Activision, Telltale Games, and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

Two new gameplay videos taken from thatgamecompany's upcoming PSN title were posted on GameTrailers today, further fueling speculation that the game is basically done and on track for a release sometime next year. (source: Offworld)

screenshots

Minotaur China Shop is a new physics-based time management game from the folks who made Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and Jetpack Brontosaurus. In it, players can choose either to serve the needs of their customers by fetching the goods they request for, or destroy as many fragile objects in the shop as they can before the local enforcement arrives to arrest our protagonist for misbehaviour.

Your hard-earned cash can be spent on stocking up shop inventory, advertising, more insurance coverage, improving physical abilities and even unlocking new moves at the start of each day. Each ability is assigned to a key, with the corresponding alphabet shown in small text at the bottom left corner of a symbol for every move. (launch video)

Name: Minotaur China Shop
Developer: Flashbang Studios
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Interview: Steve Swink (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

The Majesty of Colors is a short puzzle game created by Gregory Weir, where players can arrive at any of the five separate endings by experimenting with different action (or inaction) for each scene. (walkthrough)

Name: I Fell in Love With The Majesty of Colors
Developer: Gregory Weir
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

A transcript of the friendly chat I had with Daniel Benmergui, developer of Storyteller and I Wish I Were the Moon. Both games were recently chosen to be presented during the first Sense of Wonder Night event (held at Tokyo Game Show); the latter game was also well-received by the Kongregate community, regularly lavished with praises and applauded for managing to tug at the heartstrings of many. (interview archives)

Hi Daniel, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you're currently residing in, what it is exactly that you do for a living, and what games have you made.

My name's Daniel Benmergui, and I'm from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Some of you might know me as the developer of experimental games such as Storyteller and I Wish I Were the Moon.

Right now I'm living off the money I made while working in the mainstream games industry. This complete freedom started six months ago, and it's due in another six months. I'm trying to do as much as I can during this time. I'm also the organizer of CODEAR, a Hispanic indie games contest (which we've just launched the Single Boss Challenge by the way).

How did the inspiration for I Wish I Were the Moon came about? And why did you choose that name as the title? Did you consider other names for that particular work?

It was actually a combination of two things which inspired me to make the game. One was from Italo Calvino's short story "The Distance of the Moon", which left me feeling like I had a knot in my stomach after I had reached the ending. Then one day while I was listening to Enigma's "Sitting on the Moon", and I was struck with an image in my head. The game as it is now looks exactly like that image I had thought of at that moment. I had no idea where I was going gameplay-wise, although the camera mechanic was something I already had from an old prototype.

I wanted a name that hinted at what's inside. I could have called it "The Moon" or "The Affair", but "I Wish I Were the Moon" tries to tell you that it's not the usual game.

Crimsoness is a visual novel which tells the story of a girl with plenty of bottled up rage caused by pressure of studies. A tense exam pushes her over the edge, and players are given a total of three minutes to help our protagonist with crucial decisions on how to go about wrecking havoc in her school premises.

Left click to advance text, and hold the left mouse button to activate the autoclick feature. The Rage Gauge Limit shown at the top of the screen increases with time, but taking certain actions and paths can raise this limit even further. Use the auto-click function on the Rage Gauge Limit to increase the counter quickly. (source: Insert Credit)

Name: Crimsoness
Developer: Porn
Category: Visual Novel
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here (installation required, comes with uninstaller)

[This blog's owners are helping to organize the Game Developers Choice Awards again for GDC 2009, and for all game developers reading GSW, it's time to go nominate for Lifetime Achievement and other special awards for the big developer ceremony.]

The 9th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards has launched a call for nominations for its three Special Awards, including Lifetime Achievement, Pioneer, and Ambassador Awards, with nominating power for Gamasutra members.

Voted on entirely by game professionals, next year’s 9th Annual Award Ceremony will be hosted on March 25th, 2009 in the Esplanade Room in the South Hall of San Francisco’s Moscone Center, as part of Game Developers Conference 2009.

As the first part of this year's voting process, three special Choice Awards - the Ambassador Award, the Pioneer Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award - are available for nominations after logging on with your main Gamasutra.com user ID. (You can register for free if you do not currently have one.)

These special awards honor individuals whose achievements have made an impact on games and the game community as a whole, and not necessarily only over the past year:

A Let's Play video for Mac users out there who are still waiting for the OSX version to drop.

download Rara Racer
Rara Racer - Finished (Ludum Dare)
Freeware Game Pick: Rara Racer (IndieGames)

Data Realms' Cortex Command is now out on the Mac. If you've already purchased the game then the same key can be used to play all versions. Mod support is included in this version (build 23), while the Windows version will be getting the updated build not long afterwards.

Apple Mac users can also expect to play a lot of Game Maker games very soon.

Cortex Command for Mac OSX is here
Game Maker 4 Apple Mac Update

The second design tour video from Wolfire Games is up, this time with the spotlight focusing squarely on Nifflas' Knytt Stories. David Rosen continues to scrutinize over a new indie game each week, as he points out more noteworthy technical and design aspects which aspiring developers can study and learn from.

On a related note, Jeff has announced that Overgrowth will be distributed on Steam once the game is released. No word yet on interest from other publishers or distributors, but you can get all three versions (Window, Mac and Linux) from the Wolfire Games' site when Overgrowth is made available for download.

Knytt Stories design tour
Overgrowth is picking up steam

Vertigo is a physics-based rock climbing game with ragdoll characters, where players can decide which hold to grab or step on as they make their way up a treacherous mountain (video is from an outdated build). There are plans to include features such as:

- extrusion for holds, highlighting of reachable and non-reachable holds
- indoor climbing wall for tutorial and practice purposes
- multiplayer(!)

Mark has promised to post a playable demo soon, so if you're interested in games like Toribash or the Dismount series then this is a thread to keep an eye on.

Vertigo (Blitz Showcase)

The You Testament is a fitting swan song to Mat Dickie's decorated indie game development career, in which players are invited to experience life as a disciple of Jesus and witness the birth of Christianity with their own eyes. You start off by designing a suitable look for your avatar, then proceed to guide your chosen disciple on a long and arduous journey of self-discovery and revelation. This may involve lots of meditation to gain divine powers, preaching, stealing, drinking, fathering children, beating sense into people, submitting to torture (or dishing them out), and perhaps even perform a miracle or two.

Note that the demo allows you to play the game up to three times before locking it, with further access only granted after you've purchased the license. (gameplay videos)

The You Testament (MDickie.com)

Ropor is a simple one-switch game which involves collecting the minimum number of treasures required to reveal the warp gate exit in each level, shown as a dark green counter at the top of the screen. Press the action key to weight yourself down at the apex of a swing, then tap the same button to release and hopefully propel the robot towards the next swing point which it can tether itself to.

Hold a button to select an option from the main menu, or tap it repeatedly to cycle between menu choices. Each difficulty level contains ten stages with slightly different area layouts. You can remove the glow effect by decreasing the glow brightness slider setting all the way to zero.

Name: Ropor
Developer: Tom Beaumont
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Night Cruising is an arcade game which tells the story of a troubled man who goes for a short drive on the highway to help him forget his worries for a couple of hours. Use the cursor keys to accelerate, decelerate and switch lanes. Press the space key to advance cutscene sequences and select menu choices.

This remake of Road Fighter was created in under three days, hence the lack of additional development time to tie up loose ends such as minor bugs, gameplay balance issues, and missing sound effects.

Name: Night Cruising
Developer: Calvin French
Category: Arcade
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

cactus had posted six incomplete games of varying quality on his site today, citing that these projects should really be treated as experimental works instead of full releases due to their lack of polish. Some of the games posted are worth downloading if you're a hardcore cactus fan, especially since they aren't included in the Cactus Arcade compilation released a couple of months ago.

Some old games I never finished (Cactus Squid)

A map pack for Jonathan McEntee and Edmund McMillen's Meat Boy was released just today, featuring seventy new levels designed by the community (one from Tom Fulp himself), four new skins, and four new endings. (PC and Mac standalone)

On a related note, Edmund McMillen will also be making an appearance on next week's episode of Bytejacker via webcam videoconferencing, so if you have any questions, praises, challenges or comments you'd like to be read on the show then be sure to send it in via any of the four methods highlighted in this post.

Meat Boy Map Pack (Newgrounds)
Special Guest Next Week: Edmund McMillen (Bytejacker)

Braid has been ranked a prestigious no. 2 in TIME's Top 10 Video Games of 2008 list, beaten only by Rockstar Games' titanic bestseller Grand Theft Auto IV. Hunted Forever is also an interesting inclusion (in at no. 8), proving that you can make a game with little or no budget and still get to mix it with the big boys of the industry.

Jonathan Blow on the cover of TIME magazine soon?

Four indie games were also featured in Gamasutra's Best of 2008: Top 5 Downloadable Games list, posted just today. A sign that indie games are making an impact in a very big way indeed.

Top 10 Video Games (TIME magazine)
Best of 2008: Top 5 Downloadable Games (Gamasutra)

Shown above, a compilation of short gameplay clips from selected Commonplace Book Competition entries. Download links to all thirty-three games can be found in TIGSource's voting forum thread.

Bytejacker's Free Indie Rapid Fire feature is delivered to you in a new widescreen format this week, while iPhone owners can now catch the show on the go without missing a single episode. Games featured today: Cipher Prime's Auditorium, Miguel Sternberg's Night of the Cephalopods and Antony Lavelle's Seppukuties.

Free Indie Rapid Fire 12/08/2008

Rara Racer is a short action game which involves navigating your race kart around cones haphazardly placed around the track. Use the arrow keys to move, and press the space key to start a race from the main menu.

The game automatically quits back to the desktop once your two minutes of play time is up.

Name: Rara Racer
Developer: increpare
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

cactus had started up a new blog to update fans on his latest projects, art, releases and even collaborations, while Jesse Venbrux's blog was created nearly a month ago for similar purposes as well.

Cactus Squid
Jesse Venbrux's blog

Preview clip of Cryptic Sea's No Quarter, an album of games inspired by retro arcade classics.

Postmortem: The Graveyard (Gamasutra)
The postmortem on Tales of Tales' experimental game was recently reprinted as a ten-page feature on Gamasutra.

The (Free) Spirit of Christmas (The Escapist)
A list of freeware and browser game recommendations for the holidays, with more to be found under the comments section.

IndieCade Roundup (Eurogamer)
An article on Indiecade's selection of games this year.

Everyday Shooter Blasts onto PSP Today (PlayStation.Blog)
Jonathan Mak blogging about the PSP port of Everyday Shooter.

Edmund McMillen's Game Art (Good Times)
A write-up in the local paper about Edmund and his recent releases.

Analysis: Why Dangerous High School Girls Can't Be Ignored (Gamasutra)
An article about Mousechief's social board game, written by Emily Short.

2008 Game of the Year Awards (GameTunnel)
GameTunnel's annual feature is back, with nominees for the 2008 Sports Game of the Year already posted to kick things off. (schedule)

You might know Mark Johns (Doomlaser.com) from his indie titles like Space Barnacle. Here, he talks to IndieGames.com about his recent involvement in the development of Tap Tap Dance.

This new touch-based music game for iPhone and iPod Touch features visual themes designed by fellow indie creator cactus and Kevin Coulton and a soundtrack that includes The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx, and more.

Can you provide some background on how Tap Tap Dance came about, and how you became part of the development team?

Before Apple released it's officially sanctioned SDK, a team of hackers figured out a way to reverse engineer their way past the security on the device, and opened up a path for developing unofficial apps for 'jailbroken' iPhones. One of those apps was a rhythm game called "Tap Tap Revolution", written by Nate True.

Not long after Apple released the official SDK, Tapulous, an iPhone based startup, bought the game, rechristened it Tap Tap Revenge, and released it as a free game on the iTunes App Store. Since then, the game has been downloaded by over 3 million different people, and something like 100,000 unique people play it every day. As of today, it is the most popular free application on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Tap Tap Revenge, as it is now, is written in straight Cocoa, and all its graphics are rendered in software on the CPU. It works pretty well, but it's slow compared to what what can be done if you take advantage of the 3d graphics chip on the phone.

I was hired to rewrite the game from scratch in OpenGL, actually to supplement work with a very talented guy in Montreal, named Guy English, who had already begun to put it together. Tap Tap Dance is the first game we're releasing which takes advantage of this new engine. The first thing you'll notice is that it plays a lot smoother, and we have the power to do lots more nice little effects without chugging down the machine.

In this round-up, Gamasutra highlights some of the notable jobs posted in its industry-leading game jobs section, including positions from RedOctane, Backbone Entertainment, Sparkplay Media, Airtight Games, and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted in each market area this week include:

The final version for Rescue: The Beagles was released just today, and it was also hinted that Linux and Mac ports are currently in the works as well. Changes and additions include:

- gamepad support
- new placid flow bonus: additional 200% added to total level score for not harming enemies (excluding vivisectors carrying beagles)
- improved HUD
- beagle location indicators
- new splash screen, main menu, story and instructional pages

Daniel Remar's Iji will also be getting a substantial update in the form of a new version soon (numbered 1.3). Documented changes include customizable weapon cycling keys, pacifist modifiers which allow players to complete the game with zero kills, script improvements and a couple of minor bug fixes. (full list of changes from the GMC thread in the extended)

Überleben is a hotseat party game with support of up seven players on keyboard, mouse and joypad. In it, participating skydivers must attempt to reach the ground safely by navigating around obstacles while collecting rings to increase their mobility and attack strength. The space key can be used to restart a level quickly.

Name: Uberleben
Developer: Beau Blyth
Category: Action, Multiplayer
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Metro Rules of Conduct is a game about public transportation, but not in the way you would normally expect it to be. Based on Kian's experiences of commuting in Stockholm, the game involves finding something to stare at during the idle time you will have waiting to arrive at your intended stop. Train seats are placed in such a manner that passengers would be facing each other to encourage social interaction, but it is the exact opposite that most people would do by avoiding eye contact whenever possible, and the developer has sought to simulate this feeling of discomfort by creating a game around it.

Use the cursor keys to look around, and stare discreetly at the accessories or pieces of clothing worn by the other passengers for points. Time is limited, so you will have to score as much as you can before reaching the final destination of your trip.

Name: Metro Rules of Conduct
Developer: Kian Bashiri
Type: Arcade
Type: Browser

Unfortunately, we've had to disable comments on all our blogs for the short-term, due to spam-related issues affecting the efficacy of the server we're hosting Think Services' game blogs on. We're hoping to switch to a new commenting system in the very near future - in the meantime, posts will lack commenting capabilities.

- The Management.

[UPDATE: And we're back up with comments on this blog. We think we've fixed the problem but will continue to work to improve comment posting speed - you may notice it's a little slow over the next few days.]

What we know about Joakim's new game (pictured above):

- it is called "Solar Plexus"
- not about punching people in the stomach
- a 2D platformer with puzzle elements involving blocks
- uses the mouse as one of the control inputs
- small stages
- has a world map
- the main character is a woman in a suit
- 640x480 resolution (Noitu Love 2 is 320x240)
- most of the graphics in the game are drawn by hand
- expect awesome boss fights

Konjak's new site
IGF information page

We've been meaning to interview the developer of Mighty Jill Off and Calamity Annie for a while now, but alas Eegra and Lesbian Gamers got to her first. Still, better late than never as the old saying goes. What follows is a chat transcript of our discussion about fanart, art games, indie games, IGF, IFs, and more. (interview archives)

Hi Anna, how about we start off with a short introduction of who you are and what it is exactly that you do.

i'm anna anthropy. my nom de game is "auntie pixelante." i make games.

When did you start making games? And how many games have you made since then?

i started making games when i was little, with whatever tools i could get my hands on: zzt, stuff like that. i still use whatever i can find to tell stories. i like games that allow for creativity as much as destruction, so i spend a lot of time with games that have level editors. my own games i usually put together in game maker, which isn't ideal but is easy and cheap, which is why it's brought a lot of people into game design who wouldn't otherwise be.

Which of your creations are you most proud of?

mighty jill off seems to be the game i'm most associated with, though i'm just as proud of other projects. calamity annie is important to me, as it came out of a time of trial for me -- i'd just gotten kicked out of game school for using the word "art" to refer to something other than photoshop and i felt a drive to prove myself. i made a game this past weekend, a one-switch version of mighty jill off called "jill off with one hand," and maybe i'm still in the afterglow but i'm very proud of that right now.

A 2D platformer created by Wilson Saunders, the objective of Insomnia is to reach the top of a tower before you collapse from deprivation of sleep and get dragged down by tentacles into their cold embrace for a really long nap.

Use the cursor keys to move, press the Z or space key to jump, and hold the up arrow key to hook on to the surface of a wall or a ledge. You can also restart a game quickly by pressing the enter key.

As time passes, our energetic protagonist will begin to feel sleepy. Negative effects from drowsiness include impaired view, reduced jump height and decreased mobility. Grab items which increase awareness to counter these illl effects, but try to avoid using syringes or pills unless absolutely necessary as taking medication causes the tentacles to reach higher.

A short congratulatory screen is shown if you manage to reach the top of the tower. (forum thread)

Name: Insomnia
Developers: Wilson Saunders, Anthony Curry (music)
Category: Platformer
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

A new video series in which David Rosen (of Lugaru fame) takes a look at a different indie game every week, emphasizing on technical and design aspects which aspiring game developers can learn from.

World of Goo design tour (Wolfire blog)

Gameplay trailer for RunMan: Race Around the World, a 2D platformer currently being developed by Tom Sennett (RunMan's Monster Fracas) and Matt Thorson (An Untitled Story, Jumper series).

development journal
IGF student entry page