Every time you die in On The Shoulders Of Ancestors you’re actually a little bit closer to the end of the level. How can this be? You can find out now that the game has been released on PC.

Here’s a game that’s right up my street – it involves lots of death and has a sense of humor. Brilliant! It’s also a platformer with some puzzle elements so raise your hand if you’re interested in that? Everyone?! Okay, good.

On The Shoulders Of Ancestors is a quirky little game that involves a race of creatures called Lemonites. In the game, these pikachu-esque creatures die rapidly and also leave an egg behind as a successor. You have to die in the right place each time so that the successor, who you will control next, can use the carcass of the recently deceased as a boost to higher platforms.

If your head is spinning then you’ll definitely want to check out the trailer below.

You can purchase On The Shoulders Of Ancestors on Desura, Indievania and IndieCity, with the prices on the latter two being cheaper, at least at the time of writing.

You can find more information on the game over on its official website.

Luke Schneider, aka Radian Games, tells an amusing story about how he did absolutely nothing to bring his shiny shooter, Super Crossfire, to the Blackberry Playbook, Unity did it all for him.

Mr. Schneider is a busy chap, he has games all over the place – XBLIG, PC, Mac and iOS. Now he even has a game on the Blackberry Playbook, but unlike the other platform releases he had to none of the work, zilch.

He says in the most recent blog post that he simply sent off Super Crossfire‘s project tree to the Unity Union guys and hey presto, now it’s been ported to the Blackberry Playbook. We have images of Luke grinning and then just cupping his hands behind his head and leaning back on his big old office chair. It seems he plans of using their services again too, as he has four more Unity-based games coming to iOS in the first half of the year.

“I don’t know for sure what else will be released (or on what platforms), but I know it’s nice to have Unity and their Union team on my side”, Luke concluded.

You can grab Super Crossfire for your Blackberry Playbook right here for $4.99, more information can be found on the official website.

Renown gaming magazine Edge has teamed up with Unity Technologies to hold The Edge Create Challenge in which you can win Unity Pro Licenses and an expenses paid trip to Unite, Unity’s developer conference in Amsterdam.

To enter the competition you will need to create a game for web browsers in Unity 3.5 (free download here), the theme of the competition is edge, which can be interpreted in any way you like. You can submit your game from now until April 17th 2012 at 23:59 GMT (presumably).

You can have a team of up to 8 creatives and can use properly licensed thirdparty assets and resources, if you so wish. All of the official rules can be read here.

Once the game is made, you will need to submit it to edge.create@futurenet.com with:

• Three screenshots of your game, depicting gameplay.
• A written summary of your game.
• The name and contact details of a nominated team leader.

The listed prizes, which will be awarded in May, will be:

• Two runners up receive a Unity Pro licence including iOS and Android Pro, worth $4,500 in total.
• One winner receives a trophy, a Unity Pro licence including iOS and Android Pro, and a trip for one to the Unite conference; package to include one ticket to Unite 12 in Amsterdam, three nights paid at hotel and one economy return ticket.
• All winners will be featured in Edge magazine and website, and potentially other Future publications.
• Potential coverage on Unity3d.com and social media channels.

If you need any more information regarding the competition, your best bet is to scour this topic tag on Edge.

Indie insane studio, Vlambeer, released Yeti Hunter while they were on the GDC floor yesterday, seriously. You can play it now and as you might expect, it’s pretty darn good.

So here’s the story: while still running their booth with plenty of people running around and with one of the two man team being quite ill, Vlambeer shot up above the crowd and announced that they were going to release their next game, Yeti Hunter, right there and then because why not? By the way, the didn’t plan for this. In between scrambling to meetings and finding a power source for their laptop, they actually managed to put together a website from scratch so that you can download the game right now.

We have had a go at Yeti Hunter and found it quite terrifying actually. It’s a typical hunting game really – you have a gun in first person mode and your task is to shoot yetis. The problem is that everything is white from the heavy snow so seeing a yeti is a challenge in itself, though shooting one through the scope of your gun.

With a chilling, synthy soundtrack from Kozilek, the game becomes quite the scare as you anticipate being jumped on by one your camouflaged prey. When nightfall comes, we found the tension to be too much so scampered up a tree for some feeling of safety. We actually did see a yeti once and tried to shoot it but couldn’t tell you if we hit or not.

Anyway, give Yeti Hunter a go yourself by going to the official website and clicking that download button.

Amidst the chaos of GDC, Klei Entertainment have announced that they are working on a sequel to Eets, their 2006 puzzle game.

We reported on the utter failings of Klei and their previous attempt at a sequel to to their hungry 2D puzzler Eets, but now they say they are trying again even though they’ve only just released Shank 2 and even more recently announced Mark of the Ninja. Where the hell do these guys find the time?!

The sequel is not going to be a continuation of their failed Eets: Sugar Rush but will in fact be called Eets: Munchies, which is being flaunted on an iPad at the moment. No more information about this as known as of yet, but we’ll keep an eye and an ear out.

You can find more information about the original Eets over on the official website.

Thank you le Joystiq

Flurry, the mobile analytics and monetization company, have published a report that indicates that indie games, rather than games from established companies, take up most of consumers time on the iOS and Android platforms.

We’re always a bit sceptical when talking about these kinds of company produced reports – there’s usually a hidden agenda, so we’re not going to state any of this as fact. Indeed, Flurry are in the business of investing in mobile games and apps, so for all we know they could be looking for a way to elbow into the growing indie scene. Just keep your warning hats on for this one, basically.

So, before we get on to the chart, we should worm our way through what Flurry says it represents, just to warn you again, it’s worded a little odd and isn’t clear exactly what it proves.

“Flurry separated game sessions” – so this is amount of time people spent playing a game.

“between indendent game developers who started their businesses on iOS and Android” – so only those who are ‘independent’, read: developed and put the app on the platform themselves.

“versus established gaming companies who extended to iOS and Android from other platforms” – this is the tricky bit. For a start, what is an “established” gaming company? We’ll have to presume that they mean one that is not indie, we’re thinking the big players here. Not just that, but they have “extended” to iOS and Android – so companies that do not exist only on these platforms. Seems a bit of a dodgy thing to include here. Surely this leaves out big companies, who are established but did start on these platforms, no? Color us confused.

When you see the charts, you’ll notice a drop in 2011, Flurry attribute this to “a wave of consolidation by established game companies who acquired independent studios (e.g., EA acquiring Chillingo, Zynga acquiring Newtoy, DeNA acquiring Ngmoco and Gameview, etc).” Well now we know for sure who they’re classing as established and indie. The drop is because they see those acquisitions as shifting the companies from indie to the established group. Seems reasonable.

The good news then, is that there is a rise this year in consumers playing indie games, or so it seems. We don’t know which games are the most dominant or even which games are part of each sector, so we have to remain aback from these results a little. To be honest though, with the rise of indie developers on the platforms, it’s not a massive surprise if this is the case. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they are making more money than the games from the established companies, so to say they are “dominant” from these results may be a bit of a stretch, as is always the case with these reports.

You can see the whole report from Flurry over on this page.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Daniel Menard and Luke Plikaitis to talk about their upcoming game Party of Sin (check out our preview).  

Party of Sin is a puzzle platforming game made with XNA/C# and is planned for release on Steam sometime this summer. The game will feature 20+ levels, Local Co-Op play, and DLC is already planned for the title. I found the inspiration and concept for the game to be very interesting. Daniel comes from the mod community and after working for 4 years on a Half-Life 2 Mod, Eternal Silence, he felt like it was time to do something simpler.  

The game was originally conceived as a top-down shooter. Crankshaft planned to take Ikaruga’s 2 color scheme and amp that up to 7.  This number led to the 7 deadly sins. Their artist, Vince, wanted to bring the action in closer so that he could show off the designs of the different sins. When playtesting this sidescrolling action game, the team realized that people were not using the different sin powers. They were just blasting away with their guns….so they took the guns away.

Despite Daniel’s hopes that his next project would be simpler and quicker, Party of Sin has now been in development for 3 years. Be sure to check out the game in playable form at PAX East in April.

Crankshaft left us with 2 tips for Indie Developers:

• Don’t do 3D – it makes things way more complicated
• Don’t give up!

You can find out more information on Party of Sin over on the official website.

Finally there’s a game that encourages players to engage in sin rather than warning of the damning consequences. Party of Sin puts players in control of the seven deadly sins. In case you need a reminder, they are wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. The sins are on a quest to escape the depths of hell, but they are now without Lucifer’s protection. Players must take control and guide them through the various landscapes to reach the ultimate goal of Heaven.

Party of Sin is a hack-and-slash adventure crossed with puzzle segments and elements. Along the way, players have access to all sins and their unique capabilities and traits. Switching between the various characters is a necessity; each sin is useful in combat and puzzles, but has its own strengths and unique special attacks. In puzzles, each sin has a speciality. Players are tested to work out the order in which sins are to be used and the ways in which their special abilities come into play. It’s an interesting dynamic that requires players to master each individual to help the collective.

The fear could be that Party of Sin is trying to be a jack-of-all-trades, but it has blended the action and puzzle sides together well and both work individually. While Party of Sin is a hack-and-slash title, there are moments when combat can be approached with some thought. There are times when it is better to sit back and bide your time, as some enemies do not see eye to eye with others. As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Players can take advantage of this as those enemies will fight among themselves allowing players to sneak up and attack at the right moment or simply pick off the victors who are worse for wear.

Certain sins’ special abilities may come in more useful than others at times, but all can handle themselves in a fight. Envy can shoot down flying enemies with her lasers, Lust can stun enemies making them easier to wipe out and Sloth can slow them down in their tracks. On the other hand, you can simply charge into battle as your sin of choice and dispatch enemies up close and personally. The fighting is often chaotic as the player occasionally gets besieged by enemies with melee weapons, firearms, fireballs or grenades.

One of the more pleasing elements of Party of Sin is the character design. Each sin looks suitably different with a unique look that ties into the particular deadly sin that they represent. Lust is portrayed by a blonde scantily clad vixen, Pride takes on the look of a stereotypical Prince Charming, Greed is laden down with enough bling to make 50 Cent jealous, and Gluttony waddles around looking eternally bloated. They are distinct enough that players will never get confused as to who is on screen at any given moment.

Two brains are often better than one when it comes to solving puzzles, but do you know what’s even better than two? Four brains; Party of Sin allows for up to four players to play co-operatively. If you do have a favourite character, this is where it comes into play as other players will not be able to switch to any that are in use. This makes certain puzzles easier as the timing becomes less strict. Players can position themselves strategically rather than busting a gut trying to get from one switch, onto a platform and then across a gap in the space of seconds. Some characters’ unique characteristics also come to the fore in multiplayer as they can be used to reward or punish other characters. Has one player been a weak link in a particular segment? Why not bump them off into the lava before they get a chance to become the group’s undoing once again.

Party of Sin is looking like it’s going to be good fun, but challenging at the same time. Local co-operative play is a great addition and will take some of the pressure off the individual player in certain circumstances. When faced with an onslaught of enemies, sometimes you need a little help from your friends. The company is extra beneficial when it comes to figuring out the order of a solution or what the solution actually is. If ever there was a time to over-indulge in one of life’s deadly, yet tempting sins, Party of Sin could be the perfect excuse.

Party of Sin recently acquired full funding via Kickstarter. More information about the game is available from the official Party of Sin website. The full title will be released early in 2012, although a precise release date has not yet been announced.

I just got back from the IGF awards and Game Developers Choice Awards.  One of the highlights of the awards ceremony were the videos by Mega64. Check them out when you get a chance.  Below are the nominees and winners in bold.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

• Dear Esther
• Fez
• Frozen Synapse
• Johann Sebastian Joust
• Spelunky

Excellence In Visual Art

• Botanicula
• Dear Esther
• Lume
• Mirage
• Wonderputt

Technical Excellence

• Antichamber
• Fez
• Prom Week
• Realm of the Mad God
• Spelunky

Excellence In Design:

• Atom Zombie Smasher
• English Country Tune
• Frozen Synapse
• Gunpoint
• Spelunky

Excellence in Audio:

• Botanicula
• Dear Esther
• Pugs Luv Beats
• To the Moon
• Waking Mars

Best Mobile Game:

• ASYNC Corp.
• Beat Sneak Bandit
• Faraway
• Ridiculous Fishing
• Waking Mars

Nuovo Award Finalists:

• At a Distance
• Dear Esther
• Fingle
• GIRP
• Johann Sebastian Joust
• Proteus
• Storyteller
• WAY

Student Showcase Finalists:

• The Bridge
• Dust
• The Floor Is Jelly
• Nous
• One and One Story
• Pixi
• The Snowfield
• WAY

There’s been a fair amount of reporting over the last few days about a number of ‘controversial’ matters concerning the IGF. It was all ignited when a certain developer discovered that the IGF judges barely took a look at their game when judging it for the competition. A lot of arguments were triggered between some key IGF folks and some indie developers who weren’t happy with the IGF’s procedures. Most of it was about the apparent unfairness of the judging and of the competition in general, some arguing that not everyone was given an equal chance. Some form of controversy like this happens every year.

A lot of anger was spewed concerning Polytron Corporation’s re-entry of Fez into the competition, having already won an award in 2008. The IGF organizers have said that re-entries will not happen again in the future though, so hopefully that has calmed a few heated people.

All of that is something we would like to steer clear of to be honest, merely because it doesn’t really involve us at all so we’re not going to intervene when we don’t need to. Some refer to it as “scene drama” and yes the expanding of the indie scene is coming with some growing pains it would seem. However, these arguments seem to have blown over into something entirely unrelated – the GDC Pirate Kart.

There’s no definite point where this come about, but the Pirate Kart‘s organizer, Mike Meyer, seemed quite upset that the “Pirate Kart was seen by some as a direct protest against Fez’ re-entry” (source) or, as Phil Fish of Polytron puts it, “a big ‘Fuck You’ to the IGF”.

After reading this, Mike tweeted, “Something is way wrong with this festival/community if trying to be a part of it is seen as protesting.”

We do seem to have a problem here, especially when you cross reference it to what Mike says and what we have come to know what the Pirate Kart is about. He held a microtalk during GDC that outlines what his meaning with the Pirate Kart is, you can read it all here, but let’s take some extracts:

“Together, you and I will bring the true spirit of indie gaming back. Yes, you! For this site is about nothing, if it is not about getting off your ass and creating.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve got talent, so long as you’ve got gusto. Your game does not have to be coherent — but it does have to be finished.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how to get that message out to people who aren’t already in game development communities. Indie Game: the Movie was fucking amazing and will help with that, but it also only shows game development as something that consumes your life and I think it’s important to show that making games can be a very casual thing and you don’t have to destroy yourself to do it.”

“One of the things we need to do differently is we need to stop expecting that because they are joining US in OUR hobby that they need to do it the way we do. Don’t think “us vs. them” and don’t think that just because we are the game development community, that we get to decide what making games should be like. We need to welcome games that don’t seem like “real” games and ways of making games that aren’t “real” game development.”

As you can clearly read, the Pirate Kart philosophy and cause for being is concerned only for game development and its spread in what can be understood as a truly independent manner. The idea that anyone can make a game by themselves is the message, one that is also inspired within Anna Anthropy‘s upcoming book Rise of the Videogame Zinesters (which is fantastic by the way).

What has happened is that Anna and Mike are being seen as ringleaders of an angry Pirate Kart army, where in fact those feelings they hold are entirely separate to what the Pirate Kart is and do not inform its being at all.

We’re not taking sides here because there are no “sides”. There’s no conflict going on, at least between the Pirate Kart and anything else there isn’t. There may be conflict coming from its organizers to some extent, but that shouldn’t be interpreted to be part of the Pirate Kart and certainly not as any form of “protest”.

Now, let’s all just breathe a little, release this tension and celebrate indie games as we’re supposed to be doing, yeah?