Pixelpickle Games just released a teaser for the upcoming sidescroller Lylian. Lylian tells the story of a young mental patient and her teddy bear sidekick in Hackluster Asylum. The game promises players a world of bizarre secondary characters, strange bosses and creative attacks as we’re taken into Lylian’s subconscious. The player controls Lylian’s imagination, which affects the gameworld. (Or she’s just insane.)

Here’s the teaser:

This short gameplay video blends the gothic with the goofy. The video and the available screens remind me of Merscom / Paramount Digital Entertainment’s Shutter Island and EA’s twisted American McGee’s Alice.

Lylian will be released shortly on the PC.

[Source: Lylian website, and check out the Pixelpickle dev blog for behind-the-scenes info and progress reports]

A few weeks ago, I blogged about 6th Mega’s Puff Puff for the iPhone. There’s a new update for this casual undersea game, based on the Gulf Oil Spill. The original Puff Puff blends a side-scroller with a physics game. And the Puff Puff: Gulf Spill update keeps the pinch-and-stretch bouancy challenge and the undersea environments of the basic game, and adds new challenges and events related to deep-water drilling and undersea life after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Your pufferfish avatar will encounter new challenges from leaking oil and undersea robotic cars, adding new gameplay challenges and reminding players of the effects of the oil spill.

6thMega is continuing to donate a percentage of their profits to environmental charities. 30% of profits from the Gulf Oil Spill update to Puff Puff are going towards to organizations working to restore damaged ecosystems in the wake of this spring’s oil spill.

I first heard about Say What You See from friends across the pond. This iPhone game from British indie devs Big Ideas Corp is knocking powerhouses like Bejeweled and Plants Vs. Zombies off the UK charts.

Gameplay: Say What You See presents a canvas with a music festival scene, and asks players to find band and musician names in the picture. The canvas is a rebus, so for example, a bumblebee, the number eleven and the Spanish flag would be Bee + Once,  Beyonce. The puzzles have quite a range in difficulty, from the incredibly obvious (The statue of a madonna is clearly Madonna) to thought-provoking (No example for this one, I’ll let you get the brain-tickling ah-ha moment on your own).

When you spot a band or artist name in the picture, tap it and a Qwerty keyboard comes up for you to type in your answer. You’ll get a green light for success or a red for failure. The game is pretty forgiving about spelling and punctuation. A yellow light tips you off when you’re on the right track, but not getting the right name. Usually this was me wondering if a band name had “the” or not. When you’re right, that part of the picture fades to gray to let you it’s been completed.

You gain points by naming as many musicians as possible and answering as fast as possible. Then you can share and compare your scores on Openfeint leaderboards, on Facebook or on Twitter. Sharing isn’t mandatory, you aren’t forced to share your results and you don’t need to be connected to the internet to play. And Say What You See is also great for in-person, co-op play. Pass your iPhone to friends to see if they can get the ones that stumped you.

Some of the bands and artists weren’t the most familiar to me, but that’s such a minor, personal niggle that it’s hardly worth mentioning. I’m going to chalk to that up to Say What You See being a British game, with slightly different pop charts, and not that I’m unhip. (Please don’t disillusion me on this one.)

My only issues came from my own fat-fingering frustrations on the keyboard.

Style: Take a break from 8-bit style or indie minimalism with artist Amie Bolissian‘s detailed hand-painted canvas. There’s so much to see in this game, both hidden names and tiny decorations, it reminds me what a hidden object game could be.

Zoom in for a closer look at the canvas or to get a new perspective as you look for band names.

Story: There’s no plot in Say What You See, but that doesn’t mean it’s not engaging.

New updates will include an upcoming ’80′s movie puzzle and a books-that-became-movies puzzle.

Overall: This is a nice brainteaser, and most importantly, I found myself thinking about Say What You See when my iPhone was off and coming up with band names in the shower.

In Puff Puff, the first iPhone game from new indie devs 6th Mega, players take on the role of a spiny pufferfish  — that’s diodon holocanthus to you science types — as they navigate undersea dangers.

Pufferfish players use a special pinch-and-stretch mechanic to maintain buoyancy (and, ok, to watch your pufferfish expand) and float through the ocean, avoiding dangers like coral reefs and hungry tiger sharks, and eating tasty sea urchins for power-ups. Different play modes offer different challenges, and scores can be shared via OpenFeint leaderboards.

Here’s the supercute gameplay video:

The finances of an independent game are usually the least interesting part, a neccessary evil in making a game, but 6th Mega has an interesting story. Puff Puff was funded when 6th Mega put out a call for investors on Prosper.com, and then received small amounts of start-up capital from many individual lenders.

Now that the game’s complete, 10% of the profits from Puff Puff’s ingame coral reefs will be donated to organizations that help restore real coral reefs, and support 6th Mega’s social mission.

[Source: 6th Mega]

Meridian Digital Entertainment, the team who created zombie hits Alive 4-ever and Alive 4-ever RETURNS and the supercute Are You Alright? has a new iToy strategy game, Armageddon. In Armageddon, you’ll be fighting against evil overlord Licinius, or you can battle a real-life opponent over wifi or Bluetooth. Either way, you’ll need to plan your military developments and organize your troops to succeed.

Armageddon is scheduled for release on the App Store in mid-July, so keep your eyes open for it!

From the press release:

Meridian Digital Entertainment, the developer behind the popular and awesome Alive 4-ever & Alive 4-ever RETURNS (among other cool games) takes tactical strategy games to a whole new level with their latest title, Armageddon, scheduled to hit the App Store for Apple iPhone™ and Apple iPod touch® by mid-July.

In Armageddon it is your job to take control and play the commander of units from Magnus in a fight again Licinius, who has turned the country into a state of inhumane dictatorship with no care or interest in its people: Licinius only cares about power and greed, and it is crucial that you successfully fight the opponent to restore peace and order to your country.

As a commander, you control the flow of your own units, tailoring them to suit missions at hand, and ensuring your own bases are secure and untouchable. The game consists of a customize commander system, unit against system, and a versus (2-player) system. You can change and equip different types of special moves that are obtained through “boss stages”, and a new special move becomes available as each enemy boss is defeated at the end of each level. The maximum amount of special moves you can achieve is 3, and survival bonuses and stage clear bonuses are awarded for excellent performance in commanding your unit. An example of a special move is the Starlight which increases your energy level with 1000 points; another cool special move is the Giant Bomber that destroys a certain amount of units within a specific range.

Armageddon features a unique and cool versus system that allows two players to battle each other through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (requires Apple OS 3.0 or later). In this mode you have the opportunity to completely destroy and embarrass your friends in the ultimate strategy game between good and evil, democracy and dictatorship!

(And, no, this whole post wasn’t an excuse for the title.)

[Source: Indie Developer Consulting, Meridian Digital Entertainment]

Coconut Dodge is a new puzzle game for the PSP and PS3 from UK indie devs FuturLab. You play as Clawrence the Crab, and your goal is to collect the flying gems, while not getting whacked by a coconut. You can play casually, in the default mode, or more competitively in Maze Master mode. Maze Master mode offers a distinct pattern of movement for players to learn and master (I’m thinking DDR for Clawrence the Crab.), and  the chance to use strategy to hit points goals at every level.

Gameplay video:

Coconut Dodge is an insanely addicting puzzle game from independent developer FuturLab, where your objective is to help Clawrence the Crab rank up a massive score by collecting valuable gems, and avoiding the blizzard of falling coconuts.

Despite its simplistic visual appearance, Coconut Dodge has already impressed the PlayStation community, and ranked up incredible reviews with its addicting gameplay, intuitive controls, and seemingly endless hours of fun throughout its 30 levels. Initial stages of the game are easy enough to complete, but the pace is quickly increased, and it will not take long before you find yourself in a crab load of trouble! The premise is simple: avoid the coconuts, collect everything else. Collecting gold tokens give you 100 points, diamonds 400 points, rubies 800 points, and gold bars are worth an astonishing 1000 points.

Power-Ups are an important part of the game: On occasion a beach ball labeled with a number will fall from the sky, and if you successfully manage to prevent the ball from impacting with the ground as it bounces around the screen (and with each bounce the number decreases), you unlock a reward that ranges from extra points to temporarily slowing down the coconuts.

Coconut Dodge features two modes of play. The default mode is ideal for casual players interested in a quick and fun “game-on-the-go”; the Maze Master mode is primarily targeted at the hardcore audience willing to explore each level to its fullest by applying strategy, wits, and perseverance on a quest to reach a specific number of points before the end of each level. In this mode there is a specific pattern of movement that can be memorized and mastered with enough experience and quick thinking, and this is where Coconut Dodge really excels: beneath its visually simple façade is a hard nut to crack as the game is loaded with addicting and varied gameplay.  The in-game tutorial is highly recommended to all audiences as it explains the various Power-Ups and their use within the game.

[Source: Indie Developer Consulting, Coconut Dodge site]

HexaLex, a new iPhone crossword game from indie developer Nathan Gray, adds a new twist to classic boardgame Scrabble. Gray’s kept the point-based letter tiles and double-word-score spaces, but switched to a hexagonal grid instead of the Scrabble squares. Gray hopes that HexaLex is familiar enough to crosswords puzzles and Scrabble games to allow casual gamers to pick the game quickly, but adds enough challenge and originality to be a completely different game.

HexaLex version 2.0, which is being released today, will allow players to pit their vocab skills against their friends with online multiplayer play. The game also makes use of Facebook Connect, to share scores and top words (and, hopefully, not to spam friends’ feeds).

From the press release:

What do you get when you turn square tiles into hexagons? You get HexaLex, the innovative iPhone crossword game by independent developer Nathan Gray. By reshaping the board and the rules, HexaLex breathes new life into the crossword game genre loved by millions of Scrabble® and Words With Friends™ players worldwide. Version 2.0, released today, introduces online multiplayer and Facebook® Connect integration, bringing a new social dimension to the game.

The HexaLex interface, board, and rules were crafted to be familiar to crossword gamers but unique enough to provide an original and enjoyable experience. The hexagonal tiles let you play words in three directions instead of just two, which poses new challenges. An innovative instant feedback system and clear tutorials ensure that experts and casual gamers alike will be laying down major word scores in no time.

With the arrival of online multiplayer, Gray believes HexaLex is poised to take the App Store by storm. “The single-player game got great reviews from users but we all know there’s nothing like slamming a 72-point triple-word bingo on your know-it-all buddy,” said Gray. “Given the enthusiasm iPhone gamers have shown for Words With Friends and Scrabble, I’m confident we’ll have a community of enthusiastic HexaLexers in short order.”

New features in HexaLex 2.0:

• Online Play: Play against anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch, and chat in-game. 2-4 Players. You can even play your online games without a network connection; your plays will be sent the next time you connect.
• Friend Finder: Easily connect with people you know. Choose opponents from your Facebook friends or your address book. Search by email address or HexaLex username. Easy access to a list of your recent opponents.
• Medals: Unlock over 30 medals for making great plays and beating opponents.
• Facebook Connect: Share your great plays, records, and medals with your friends and family with the tap of a button.
• iOS 4 Ready: HexaLex is fully backgroundable on supported hardware.

[Source: GameWire]

The guys at Assyria Games must not have gotten a lot of sleep recently. Rather than resting after releasing Mirror Maze and The Glowing Void, they’ve released Astro Dodge, a new asteroid game for your iToy of choice. Players will dodge asteroids (it’s not just a clever name!) and collect space plasma, and gather power-up technology to improve their abilities.

Check out the gameplay video:

From the press release:

Astro Dodge is like no other asteroids game you have ever come across! Power on earth is running low and it’s your mission to collect Nano-Plasma to restore power to humanity! Collecting Plasma while dodging asteroids is harder than you might imagine: You will encounter not only solar storms, but black holes on your mission to save our dear planet from ultimate destruction. Thankfully Astro Dodge offers you a handful of items to aid you; at your disposal you have a tractor beam, a “Super Shield” giving you a limited period of invulnerability, and a “Nano Plasma Attractor”, which is a device that sucks-in Nano-Plasma towards the player! More items are available, and more items will be made available in future updates!

[Source: Assyria Games, Indie Developer Consulting]

I’ve blogged before on making your own shmup with the super creative ‘Sketch Nation Shooter’ (And so did Arsen.)  Now Engineous Games is offering new add-ons for their popular iPhone game. A new ‘Download Game’ option will remove Facebook as the middleman to grab new games for Sketch Nation Shooter. And new art packs will make it even easier for the creative, yet unartistically inclined, players (I’ll not name any names here…) to build their own levels and games. There are six art packs, including two free download packs, one of sci-fi ships and one of the art from Sketch Nation’s ‘Under the Sea’ game. Paid downloads — at a modest $.99 — include artwork by Ray Hargreaves of ‘2P Start!’, and a collection of gears for challenges with rotating pieces.

This video shows off some of the new art, and, to be honest, just makes me want to play some more.

From the press release:

Engineous Games today announced the latest update to their award-winning iPhone game, Sketch Nation Shooter. Available for $.99 on the App Store, the imaginative shooter lets users easily create original games using their own sketched artwork – and with the update, they can choose from several art packs to help build their latest masterpiece.
With the addition of a brand new ‘Download Game’ interface, the update removes the requirement to connect to Facebook in order to download games, streamlining the process and making it easier than ever to access the over 2,000 games available in Sketch Nation Shooter’s growing library. Players can browse through games based on popularity or user ratings, or they can use the new search feature to find the title they’re looking for.
Six new art packs are available, including two which are available for free, and four for $.99 each. Among the packs is a special set of artwork prepared by Ray Hargreaves, the artist behind the popular gaming webcomic ‘2P Start!’, available for $.99. The other packs include:
• Free: A new set of inspired sci-fi vessels, dubbed ‘Space Ships 2’
• Free: Art from one of Sketch Nation Shooter’s popular games, ‘Under the Sea’
• $.99: Gears – great for creating games with rotating obstacles and enemies
• $.99: Modern and Cold War-era jet fighters
• $.99: Historical, modern and futuristic passenger jetliners
“In addition to thousands of incredibly creative games, the wonderful Sketch Nation Shooter community also provided invaluable feedback. I took the users’ critique to heart and added a new way to login without using Facebook,” said Nitzan Wilnai, CEO of Engineous Games. “And by adding six awesome art packs – as well as some technical tweaks that improve image quality – we’ve made it even easier for Sketch Nation Shooter game designers to perfect their latest gaming masterpieces.”

[Source: GameWire and Sketch Nation blog]

Pet Puppy is a cute new iToy game from Battery Acid Games. Players will be able to raise and play with a customizable pocket puppy on their iPhone or iPod Touch.

I think there’s a lot of potential in a cute virtual pet game for the iPhone. A good one would blend all the adorable options of a Tamagotchi (remember those?), with the ease of an iPhone interface and touchscreen, and a great game would let users exchange items or let me bring my virtual pet to play with your virtual pet if we were in the same place. Anyone have a pocket pet to recommend to me?

To celebrate the new release, Battery Acid is also offering their previous music and patterns game, Simone Says, free on the app store.

From the press release:

Who can resist the temptation of having their very own cute and cuddly puppy? Puppies are adorable, beautiful, fun, loving and offers even the heartless an oasis of endless joy! From developer Battery Acid Games comes “Pet Puppy”, just released on the App Store, compatible with your Apple iPhone™ & Apple iPod touch®.

In Pet Puppy you have the ability to customize your very own puppy, and you are invited to bring along your fluffy friend to Puppy Springs, a luxurious new park made just for the two of you! Feed, play, and accessorize your puppy to keep it healthy, happy, and active. You can earn puppy points by satisfying your friend’s needs, giving you the option to purchase new items and activities! If you are a true dog lover then perhaps, if you are caring and loving enough, you will succeed as a dog owner, and assemble the entire collection of available toys and accessories!

In addition to customizing your very own puppy and bringing it to life, you will participate in real-world actions like petting and playing catch! It doesn’t get more cutesy and fun; Pet Puppy has a fantastic inventory system for maintaining and using various items in the game. You will also find a general store in which you can purchase not only the best puppy food, but also toys and other accessories. The game has Facebook integration allowing you to share your experience with friends online, and also features an award system for completing various tasks!

[Source: Indie Developer Consulting, Battery Acid Games site]