Memory of a Broken Dimension is an exploration based, otherworldly adventure through the visual representation of a damaged computer system. The player attempts to realign aspects of this virtual world in order to allow further advancement through the broken landscape.
What makes Ludum Dare special, indie RPG combat mechanics and abandonware on today’s Indie Links.
Indie Corner (RPGamer)
“Greetings, and welcome to the newest RPGamer column, Indie Corner. This is not a weekly column, but will instead be a sporadic look at the indie RPG development scene. And again, it’s not a typical column. Instead of directly reporting about indie RPGs, we’ll be bringing in the actual creators to talk about development and other aspects of the RPG scene. Interviews, in-depth discussion, talk of inspiration, and other editorial content directly from indie devs will be highlighted here. To start things off, we’ve gotten a few RPG devs to share how they feel about combat and battle systems. We talk about the most important aspects of a battle system, their inspirations, and what combat pitfalls they most worry about falling into and how best to avoid them. Today, we talk with AckkStudios, Sinister Design, Breadbrothers Games, Muteki Corporation, Zeboyd Games, Eden Industries, and Experimental Gamer.”
Surgeon Simulator 2013: death in your hands (VG247)
“Surgeon Simulator 2013 is a strange, almost morbid game that proves VG247′s Dave Cook should never be trusted with a person’s life under any circumstances. Get disturbed here.”
Unfinished Business: Super Hexagon creator reveals his abandonware (Joystiq)
“This Vine represents eight of VVVVVV and Super Hexagon creator Terry Cavanagh’s unfinished projects – the first of three like it recently posted to the game designer’s Twitter account.”
Thomas Was Alone review: Mastering the inverted fall (Joystiq)
“On the surface, Thomas Was Alone appears unremarkable. It breaks platforming mechanics down to their most basic levels, quite literally, replacing characters with colored rectangles and environments with precarious arrangements of black rectangles. To reiterate: Thomas Was Alone is a platformer starring a cast of little, colored blocks.”
Indie Pleas: Indie game crowd funding roundup for April 26, 2013 (IndiePub)
“This week’s Indie Pleas include: A.N.N.E., a metroidvania pixel art adventure; Rex Rocket, a retro sci-fi adventure; My Temple, a fun iOS fitness game; and Ghost of a Tale, where you play as a mouse in a medieval world.”
Andy Schatz talks Monaco’s delay and fan reactions (Edge)
“Last week, Andy Schatz, founder of Pocketwatch games, found a bug in the Xbox 360 build of his game Monaco that caused players to consistently get dropped from multiplayer matches. As a result, he decided to delay its release mere hours before it was slated to come out. We talked to him about the aftermath and how player reaction shapes his development process.”
Piracy or baiting? The thorny legal question of Game Dev Tycoon’s honeypot (Ars Technica)
“Earlier this week, the developers at Greenheart Games distributed a crippled version of its new game Game Dev Tycoon disguised as a “cracked” version of the full game. The little Internet experiment served as an ironic and humorous poke at software pirates and a smart way to call attention to the challenges indie developers face with piracy.”
Here’s what makes Ludum Dare so special (Gamasutra)
“Whether you’re an indie developer or not, you’ll likely have heard of the Ludum Dare 48-hour competition and game jam. Three times a year, hundreds of developers come together online to create games based on a set theme over a single weekend, and subsequently vote for a winner in the weeks after.”
Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Links Round-Up: Grandfather Clock
To round off this weeks Indie Intermission I bring you yet another fantastic little game from the Ludum Dare competition. Virtua Luge is a game that has been developed by Skwirl3014 and has you testing your luge skills in this awesomely designed game.
Virtua Luge in its name alone plays homage to the classic SEGA Saturn title Virtua Fighter, taking inspiration for the graphics used in Virtua Luge.
Virtua Luge’s gameplay is defiantly inspired by another classic SEGA title (Sonic), however it tries to add some interesting new mechanics to this already well established formula.
Being developed in just one weekend means Virtua Luge -although a great game already- lacks some ambition. I feel with more development Virtua Luge could be a rather awesome little mobile game. If Skwirl3014 where to increase the speed, add some more animations, and add power ups I could see this being a great little time waster on the move.
Average play time – 3 minutes
Virtua Luge is a great little time waster that really captures the early Sega graphics perfectly. Although not a perfect game, considering this was created in one weekend Virtua Luge really provides a very fun experience.
To play Virtua Luge head to the Ludum Dare site and download it. If you enjoy the game be sure to vote for it on Ludum Dare also.
If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!
Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission – ‘Virtua Luge’ A Homage To The SEGA Of Yesteryear
Indie Links today has freeware before commercial, personal instead of professional and hot Monaco on Monaco action.
Four perspectives on personal games (Gamasutra)
“The personal games movement is providing an important, exciting new avenue for expression and a new understanding of design, many believe. At the Different Games conference in New York this weekend, four panelists presented on the theme of personal game-making and why it matters to them.”
Review: Starseed Pilgrim – A Game of Discovery by Droqen (IndieGameReviewer)
“You could be forgiven for initially dismissing Starseed Pilgrim as little more than a curiosity. Droqen’s latest endeavor is a strange, abstract title that does little to endear itself to new players; spending ten minutes with the game might leave you with the vague impression that something is missing. Spend an hour with it and you may come to the conclusion that it was designed with the specific purpose to bewilder and confuse its audience. If you stay a little longer though, you’ll begin to see something compelling and altogether worthy of your time emerge from the blankness.”
Analog Investigations in Arkham (Gnome’s Lair)
“Deduction, despite what Sherlock Holmes would have you believe, is not a science. It’s a method. A method that could arguably make the life of all fictional investigators much easier and can definitely be applied to board-games as the classic Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective so effortlessly proved over 30 years ago. What’s more, deduction is what you’ll be using when playing the freshly released and rather excellent Arkham Investigator.”
Why Vlambeer won’t stop making freeware first, products second (Polygon)
“Earlier this week, Vlambeer — an independent developer who receives as much ink for their critically acclaimed titles as they do for unscrupulous developers’ tendency to copy them — got hit once again. SkyFar, an iOS game from Bangalore’s Rubiq Lab, was criticized for nearly duplicating Luftrausers, a browser-based Flash game Vlambeer released in 2011, which the studio later planned to turn into a full retail release.”
Live Free, Play Hard: The Week’s Finest Free Indie Games (RPS)
“Heterosexual narc. More than a few games about the demise of balls. CANDY ANT PRINCESS.”
Two Game Developers Travel The World, Playing Games And Helping People (Kotaku)
“Earlier this year, Battlefield producer Daniel Matros and former colleague Tim Kjell set up something called Charitystream. The idea was simple: stream games online, raise money for charity. It’s a noble goal, yeah, but it’s also something countless others are engaged in.”
Monaco made good on Indie Fund $100K before launch, what it means (Joystiq)
“Since 2010, Indie Fund has helped launch high-profile games such as Dear Esther, QUBE and Antichamber, each one recouping investment within days or even hours. The first game in which Indie Fund ever put its faith (and money), Monaco, launched last week and made back its $100,000 investment in negative time, before the game went live on April 24.”
Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine offers the thrill of the heist (Shacknews)
“Andy Schatz’s IGF award-winning Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine is all about staying in the shadows and avoiding detection. In fact, it’s succeeded almost too well, remaining out of the spotlight since it first took the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at IGF 2010. After years of tireless work and dedication, Monaco has finally been released and like a fine French wine, it was worth the wait.”
Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Links Round-Up: New Heights
Residue is an intelligent, story-driven 2D platform adventure in which you control three different characters, exploring an abandoned excavation site in the remains of the Aral Sea in present-day Uzbekistan. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea is now an arid wasteland, a victim of decades of Soviet cotton irrigation. To some, it is the prime example for humanity to stay out of nature’s business. To others, it’s a world waiting to be saved.
An overhead racer that plays out with a bumper car vibe as it aims for some serious racing fun without actually taking itself seriously. Mini Motor Racing EVO lets you nitro boost your way across sunny beaches, rainy city streets, and everything in between. Combined with a track editor, this one comes with nearly unlimited multiplayer mayhem in a non-chase cam racer!
Today I revisit the Ludum Dare competition once more trying to cram in as many great games as possible. Today’s game is cGame from deeJayUA and this game is rather different.
In cGame you must look at the colour grid and remove the most common colour from the grid. Although this alone can be quite difficult you must also select the correct RGB colour code, this makes finding the specific colour on later levels quite the chore indeed.
Each level the RGB codes become more complex creating more variables and therefore more verity greatly increasing the difficulty. It really is quite the ingenious game as it forces you to match the correct colours to your grid.
cGame is a very simplistic and minimalistic game however it does offer a great deal of fun from the get go offering fun challenging puzzles that gradually increase in difficulty as you progress.
Average play time – 10 minutes
If you’re a fan of brainteasers cGame should be right up your ally as it offers many substantial fun challenges. cGame offers a unique experience that should keep any puzzle fiend happy for a substantial amount of time.
Be sure to play cGame online now. If you enjoy the game consider voting for it on the Ludum Dare site.
If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!
Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission – ‘cGame’ It’s All About Perception
Today’s Indie Links include a Boston Festival of Indie Games Kickstarter, a Javier Cabrera interview and what indie means to Thomas Was Alone dev Mike Bithell.
Tha Javier Cabrera Interview (IndieGames.com)
“Javier Cabrera, 50% of the Cabrera Borthers and one of the staunchest supporters of indie gaming I have ever met speaks about the indie community, developing games, The Free Bundle, Cypher and much more. Oh, and he does also mention some interesting plans on the future while never forgetting the past. So, set aside 30 minutes, make yourself a nice cup of tea and read on.”
Boston Festival of Indie Games seeks Kickstarter funds for expanded 2013 event (Polygon)
“Organizers of the 2013 Boston Festival of Indie Games have taken to Kickstarter to raise funds to cover the costs of the expanding celebration of independent studios in the Boston area, according to the event’s Kickstarter page.”
Today I Played: Monaco (Polygon)
“There’s no honor among bumbling fools. Here’s the thing about Monaco: If you’re not an expert, you’re going to have a lot of trouble understanding what the hell is going on in the above video. The stylistic, minimalist HUD and graphics are not exactly friendly to newcomers. That’s a bit of an issue when you’re playing the game, and even more of an issue when you’re watching four zany minutes of goofballs attempting to master its complexities.”
Thomas Was Alone Dev: Indie Means ‘I Get to Do Exactly What I Want’ (Kotaku)
“Mike Bithell’s had a crazy year. He went from being one of a few dozen developers at U.K.-based Bossa Studios to becoming a solo indie creator supporting a game on multiple platformers. What prompted the drastic lifestyle change? The steady climb of acclaim around his minimalist platformer Thomas Was Alone.”
Wot I Think: Don’t Starve (RPS)
“I starved. I feel as bad about disobeying the order as I do about losing my character. A negative imperative – ‘don’t starve’ – is so much more affecting than a positive one ‘orcs must die’. There’s a sense of threat in it, far more of an ‘or else’ than any form of Go Ahead And Do This. Don’t Starve really is about trying not to starve too: not eating is simply not an option. The cold fingers of personal famine are forever on one’s shoulder, and it’s crucial to remember that even as another kind of hunger, the familiar craving for better loot and gear, tries to seize control . When my own imperative was not ‘don’t starve’, and was instead ‘get stuff’, I last significantly less time. All I had to do was not starve: how could I lose sight of that?”
Kickstarter Katchup – April 28th 2013 (RPS)
“Jagged Alliance: Flashback arrives in the Katchup this week. I’ve expected (and hoped for) a Jagged Alliance crowdfunding attempt for some time now. As soon as it became obvious that Kickstarter was a place where old franchises could revive themselves, every week that the mercenaries didn’t appear was slightly more unsettling than the last.”
Magnetic By Nature (Indie Gamer Chick)
“Magnetic By Nature is the latest game from students attending the University of Utah. I know what you’re thinking. “Hey, wait a second. What do people from Utah know about having fun? Didn’t they ban their only form of that in the 40s?” Actually, inappropriate polygamy jokes aside, they know plenty about fun. Atari founder Nolan Bushnell discovered the medium of games as a student at the University of Utah. So in essence, we owe the gaming industry as it exists today to their beautiful, boring, Pac-10 devaluing institution. It makes me happy that the science of creating games is taught there to this day. It would be wrong otherwise, like if Harvard stopped teaching law, or Fresno State stopped teaching binge drinking.”
Recommended Game: Electro Bobble (Independent Gaming)
“Unbeknownst to humans, the insides of thunderclouds harbor entire ecosystems. Small beings called bobbles live off the electricity and leap around as if the clouds were composed of a series of platforms. Sometimes, an invasive species, known as meanies, takes over and sets up house, forcing the native bobbles to find another thundercloud. But one day, one bobble decided that it wasn’t going to be thrown out. This is its story.”
Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Links Round-Up: Cruel Summer
It has been a busy month for Krillbite Studio, the developer currently working on the horror title, Among The Sleep. Their Kickstarter met it’s funding goal just days before the campaign ended, the team announced Oculus Rift support for Among the Sleep, they have released a public Alpha for the game, and Studio Jory (The Walking Dead, Tales of Monkey Island) has joined the team to do the game’s dialog.
In an email sent out to media outlets earlier today, and posted to Among the Sleep’s Kickstarter, the Krillbite Studio team is seen celebrating the recent funding success of their game. Hard work does pay off.
“What happens when you mix a child’s perspective and imagination, with the surreal nature of dreams?” asked Krillbite Studio on Kickstarter. “Quite a lot, I guess, but we think one of those things is an interesting premise for a horror adventure.” Nearly seven thousand backers think so too.
The game puts players in the perspective of a two-year old, who cannot fight back, and simply must hide to survive. The concept is akin to the hide-or-die mechanic seen in Amnesia, but in Among the Sleep players are even more vulnerable, since they are playing as a baby.
“We’re aiming to include some puzzle and adventure elements as well, but our main focus lies on exploration, atmosphere and horror.”
Players interested in checking out the Alpha build can find PC, Mac, and Linux downloads available on the Among the Sleep Kickstarter campaign, which currently still has a couple days left.
Today’s game is yet another game from the latest Ludum Dare, although this time we see a minimalistic sports game. Radius Minigolf created by Nico Saraintaris and Damian Troncoso is a very interesting new take on the classic past time.
The whole idea behind Radius Minigolf is you must hit the ball by drawing a line around the ball creating a radius, and believe me it’s much more tricky then you might expect.
This new dynamic makes Radius Minigolf very different to regular minigolf games as the power and direction both come from the radius you draw around the ball with the line. This makes for some very interesting moments when you are out on the green – or grey in this case.
Although the radius hitting mechanic is novel and offers some rather fun shots it can get very frustrating. Managing to hit the shots can really take a bit of time to get use to, although after a few failed attempts you do start to get the mechanics down.
Average play time – 2 minutes
Radius Minigolf is a highly creative approach to sports game very much embracing the minimalistic approach of this competition. Along with the great minimalistic graphics style Radius Minigolf also introduces a great new radius mechanic that really does add the crazy to the golf.
Radius Minigolf can be played online for free. However if you would like to vote for the game be sure to check out the Ludum Dare site.
If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!
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