The festive buzz begins to fade – in part due to dwindling booze reserves already heavily depleted by family gatherings. Without the guiding light of alcohol, we’re just going to have to turn to that everpresent fallback for our daily endorphin boost; videogames – and the retail therapy so closely tied to them. Just a few days left to hoard for spring, and today is a big one – here’s the indie picks of the day:

Botanicula is Amanita Design’s newest game and, seeing as how they won DIY’s 2009 Game of the Year with machinarium, it’s pretty safe to say that I absolutely can’t wait to get my hands on this one. If Machinarium is anything to go by, Botanicula will not only be incredibly challenging, but also beautiful… luckily we’ve got some screenshots to prove it.

In case you hadn’t, uhh, noticed our site is looking a little differently today as we try out some new ad spots. I know, I know (boo! hiss! ads!) but we need em to survive! In any case, I’m happy that our very first site skin ad is something that’s very relevant to you guys, as indie gamers.

Last week I asked for your favorite developers and we got quite an eclectic mix of developers! It was really fascinating to see which developers were chosen and why. This week, however, I’m looking for your favorite indie game and which one inspires you most.

And that’s that. Amanita Design has confirmed to Eurogamer that their indie point and click hit Machinarium will not, after all, be appearing on Nintendo’s Wii console as it was originally confirmed.

According to the Jakub Dvorsky:

Amanita Design, the guys who created the fantastic Machinarium point and click adventure game, were on hand in Nottingham’s GameCity festival to premiere their newest game Botanicula which we’ve already covered a bit in the past.

According to Eurogamer, Botanicula is “more simple and accessible than Amanita Design’s previous adventure games. It is based on humour, not complex puzzles.” Which can be taken either way depending on how challenging you thought Machinarium was.

Amanita Design knows point and click exploration games. They made this amazing game called Machinarium which is available on practically anything electronic. The team has paired up with Jára Plachý to create another point and clicker called Botanicula. The music and sound effects are created by Czech band DVA.

Jakub Dvorsky describes it as the following: “It’s about a bunch of five friends – little tree creatures who set out for a journey to save the last seed from their home tree which is infested by evil parasites.” Sounds like a pretty noble journey!

The animation, artwork, and music all look fantastic, and I imagine they are all representative of what we’ll see when we get to play Botanicula soon!

Check out the trailer below:

Release of Botanicula is planned for early 2012. The dev states its headed for  PC, Mac and probably also for iOS and Android.

The imagination factor seems to have hit a 12 on a 10-point scale, but maybe that’s just me fan-boy gushing. What do you make of the teaser?

[Amanita Design]

Amanita Design announced that its multiple award-winning point-and-click Machinarium has released on iPad 2 today. Since Machinarium has earned a “Best Indie Game of the Year” nod from many sources, it’s probably a good idea to check it out sooner rather than later. The game should be an audio and visual treat, as well; it’s won the Excellence in Visual Art award at the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival and the Best Soundtrack award from PC Gamer in 2009.

To commemorate the release of Machinarium on iPad 2, the developers have released a special trailer:

I think we can all agree that Mirek Zavičar should be hired to play any iPad 2 game and filmed. He makes me want to purchase an iPad 2 all over again, along with more stylish winter caps. Linda Čihařová did a great job filming and editing, as well.

Non iPad 2 owners who happen to have PS3s, you’re the next lucky gamers to receive a Machinarium port later this year. Those who own the latest iPad tablet, go and grab Machinarium for iPad 2 for $4.99 today!

Amanita Design’s Jakub Dvorský has passed on word that in addition to other upcoming console ports, his award winning adventure game Machinarium will see a release on iPad as well. Even better, that version could be out as soon as August. Why, that’s tomorrow!

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, August is also 30 days from now as well. Still, Dvorský sounds hopeful that the title could land on the App Store as long as the remaining (small) bugs are wrangled and it’s properly tested.

The WiiWare (Q3 2011) and PSN editions (August 2011) are presumably still in the works and on track for release; though they were not mentioned.

[via PocketGamer]

Texas has a ton of indies, and rightfully so;  it’s a huge state with many thriving cities such as Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Austin-based cinema chain Alamo Drafthouse had begun since last year the Fantastic Festival which celebrates the indie spirit,and within it, indie games are celebrated at the Fantastic Arcade. The festival runs September 22-29.

Gamasutra reports that the festival hosts panels with game developers and recognizes outstanding indie titles with audience awards and a juried competition.

“Last year’s selected Fantastic Arcade titles included Andy Schatz’s Monaco, Mark Essen’s Nidhogg, Amanita Design’s Machinarium … and two dozen other independent games.”

Developers can submit their original projects until August 1. Fantastic Arcade’s programmers will judge playable titles based on their art, story, characters, gameplay, and “connection with the character of Fantastic Fest”.

Another great reason to attend the Austin, TX event is that a huge traditional arcade is nearby, one that supports the event. Canabalt’s Adam Saltsman on Twitter stated that Arcade UFO brought custom arcade cabinets for the festival. With Fantastic Arcade and Arcade UFO, you can visit two great arcades in one trip!

Source: Gamasutra