Everybody’s favorite adventuring, puzzle solving, PAX10 attending game Puzzle Bots is now available via Steam making it instantly more attainable to gamers who traditionally don’t venture anywhere else for their online game buying needs.

While I can’t go into specifics, after speaking with Erin Robinson at PAX 2010, I can definitely tell that this is a great accomplishment not only for her game, but for herself as a developer as well. So congratulations to Erin are in order.

Additionally, publisher Wadjet Eye Games has confirmed to me that they hope this is just the first step in getting any future games they create/publish onto Steam’s digital download service.

So if you were holding off on getting it before, now’s your chance to get it via one of the most popular digital download clients at half the original price.

[Steam, Wadjet Eye]

The path to making video games can often be an odd one, and for Erin Robinson it all started in school while working on a psychology degree. After an introduction to the adventure games of Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, she was blown away and wanted to make point and click adventures. “Nobody was making the games I wanted to play,” she said. So it was on to building a team that could create compelling and funny games using Adventure Game Studio. Wrangling the help of strangers on the internet she’d never met, and experiencing the pitfalls of flaky freelances, she began creating quality content with her quirky story stylings and creative drive.

First up she created Spooks, Little Girl in Underland and Nanobots, which was the precursor to Puzzle Bots. Obviously the three games weren’t cranked out as easily as that last sentence, but they were her early games that led her to the fantastic game that she’s showcasing today. You can download her first three games for free from her website. But from there she created a team of freelance contributors to create Puzzle Bots. In conjunction with indie-publisher Wadjet Eye Games she released the game in May 2010. Since then Puzzle Bots showed up at the E3 Indiecade Showcase and now as part of the PAX 10.

The game was well received by the press, but hasn’t been as successful as she would have hoped. Due to the high price point that game launched with and many adventure games dropping to under $7, it was a tough sell. But the game has now dropped to an official $10 price point. If you haven’t yet seen it, definitely go try it out. The game is about a group of robots, each with different abilities, that are working their way through the game world to solve puzzles. There is the main robot, Hero, who can pick objects up. Then there are backup robots that can bomb things, light things on fire and swim underwater. There was an additional robot who wasn’t unlocked in the section of the game I played on the PAX show floor, so I can’t speak to its abilities. But overall it makes for intriguing puzzles as you not only have to worry about what items there are to manipulate in the world, you also have to consider which robot to attempt those manipulations with.

She’s been sending the game out to a lot of competitions, and getting into the PAX 10 is no small feat. But the official Indiecade finalists were announced minus the game and she hasn’t yet heard back from Sense of Wonder Night. That sentence makes it sound like a bad thing, but it’s holding its own amidst many other contenders in these competitions. As far as PAX, in a great lineup of titles Erin stated, “[I'm] excited to be here. PAX is amazing.”

Erin’s attempting to shake things up for her next project. She’s learning how to program in Unity and currently working on a SHMUP. A far cry from a series of adventure games, but the developer who can consistently expand and adapt to the gaming world is the one that can stand out. After working on the SHMUP for a while, she found that Adventure Games present “totally different limitations.” So it’s definitely a situation to keep her on her toes and something for indie fans to keep an eye on.

Based out of Chicago, she’s helping ignite a Chicago indie scene they’re calling “Indie City Games.” You can check out their Facebook page already and they have a Game Jam coming up soon.

You can keep closer tabs on Erin at her website: Lively Ivy. And I’d highly recommend that you do.

So many great indie deals, offers and sales this weekend it simply won’t let us slack off and not tell you about all of ‘em. Everyone is getting in the mix today, a couple of developers are taking the initiative themselves along with all four major digital distributors offering something for the indie connoisseur. Let’s take a look around.

Also remember that MMO Love and multiplayer shooter Altitude are free for anyone to play this weekend only.

Use the coupon code”PUZZLEPAX” and get 50% off Wadjet’s Puzzle Bots in celebration of the adventure game earning a PAX 10 Finalist spot.

Use the coupon code “INDIEPOWER” when pre-ordering Frozen Synapse and save $6.50, bringing the price down to $19.50. Remember they’re giving an extra copy to give to a friend seeing as its a head-to-head multiplayer title.

GamersGate is offering all of the Penumbra titles and bundles at 70% off (PC/Mac). Air racing sim Ikaro is 75% off and goes for just $7.50 instead of the $30 standard.

Over on Steam, Altitude is half off and goes for just $5 (PC/Mac). Railworks is $20 off with two pieces of DLC discounted as well. King Arthur is $18 cheaper and King Arthur – The Saxons goes for $6 off. Puzzle Dimension sale is supposedly expired but it’s still going for 33% off its $10 tag.

Impulse is still offering the Gratuitous Space Battles Complete bundle (Game + All Available DLC) for $15 off.

Direct2Drive has a couple of deals on top of the same discount as GamersGate with the Penumbra Collection. They also offer Defense Grid for $6 instead of $10 and have slashed the Mount & Blade: Warband Bundle down to just $18 from $60.

After a bit of a hiatus (newborn + E3 = bizzay) we’re back with a weekend jammed full of glorious indie sales, let’s see what you’re dollar can reach today (all sales go through Sunday, June 20 unless otherwise noted):

Impulse brings a couple of deals this weekend, CID The Dummy has been marked down to $3.50 from the already low price of $5. Skyscraper Simulator goes for $16.34, a solid discount from its standard $27.24 tag.

Over on Steam Dark Water Studios’ recently released flying action game DogFighter has been released carrying a 25% discount–now $12.74 instead of $17–which ends the same time as the rest of these offers. RPG Numen: Contest of Heroes has passed its one week launch discount period, but as of this writing still carries the 10% discount offered.

Seems like it is every week GamersGate has Bob Came in Pieces for 50% off, as it does again this time around. Paradox’s RTS Perimeter: Emperor’s Testament is 60% off and is now $4 instead of $10. Wadjet Eye Games’ Puzzle Bots has been given a 10% pre-order discount as well.

Note to Direct2Drive: Where’s the love?

As always, if you know of any independent sales going on that we missed please comment or email: erik[dot]johnson[at]diygamer[dot]com.

Just dropping by quickly to let you know what’s going on with those discounted indie games this weekend. The major digital distributors provide the lion share of the oomph today, but if you know of any developers running their own personal sales, please comment or email them over so we can add them to the list. Oh, and on that note: remember that Jason Rohrer’s pay pretty much what you want sale for Sleep is Death is still going on.

On Steam, Altitude, Killing Floor and Madballs are all 50% off to celebrate Mac releases (you can play the games on either OS.) Quantz is still $3, Flotilla is a dollar off, and a ton of RailWorks DLC is on sale at a variety of discounted prices.

Impulse has a nice discount for the just released RPG Eschalon: Book II that I touched on here, taking the $25 title down to just $18.72 through the weekend, Bob Came in Pieces is 50% off at $5.

GamersGate has the same 50% off deal for Altitude and 25% off of Max and the Magic Marker throwing in both PC and Mac copies of the games. Puzzle Bots gets a slight pre-order discount as well.

Long time fans of the adventure game genre have hit a bit of a lull lately. While, yes, there are plenty of offerings from Telltale Games and Zombie Cow Studios, beyond that significant releases are few and far between. That makes this genre especially susceptible to excitement for new releases.

Well, if you are one of those people, then I’ve got some good news for you, Puzzle Bots, the adorable adventure puzzler from Wadjet Eye Games has finally released. Those with a sharp memory will also remember that Puzzle Bots was included as one of my own personal “Top 10 Break Out Indie Games of 2010.” Only time will tell is that’s true, or not, but it’s still a pretty exciting game to look forward to regardless.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about here’s a brief description of the game:

There’s a big secret at Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. When the inventors aren’t looking, their tiny robots go on big adventures. They never expected to stumble onto a plot so diabolical it threatened their very existence. With lasers.

It all starts when Zander – possibly the world’s most absent-minded inventor – trips over a metal box buried outside the factory. When no-one can figure out how to open it, the robots sneak out and try it for themselves. What they discover is the first step to a grand adventure, leading to a mystery as old as the factory itself.

Join the robots as they outwit mischievous children, curious animals, and dysfunctional inventors in their quest to find the truth. Will the robots solve the mystery before it’s too late?

Does that interest you at all? Good! You can try the game, or buy it for $14.99 via Wadjet Eye’s website. If you do give it a spin, let us know how you like it in the comments below.

[buy/try from Wadjet Eye]

Vote on Your Favorite Indie Game!

We here at DIYgamer.com have started our very own bracket-styled tournament to find the best indie game, as voted on by you, the gamers. So head on over to our tournament page to vote on your favorite games!

The Tournament
Love(MMO) vs. Adanaxis
Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude
Ben There, Dan That vs. Don’t Look Back

Puzzle Bots, a game we’ve been covering since last November has finally been issued a real, officially official release date. And this is directly from the lead designer of Puzzle Bots, so if it gets delayed or otherwise changes… blame him, not me. Anyway, for interested parties, Puzzle Bots can be found for purchase come April 30th, just a little over a month from now. Price still pending, but if I had to wager a guess I’d say between $10-$20.

For those who know nothing about Puzzle Bots, we did a little expose on the title in our old list article from last year concerning the top 10 break-out indie games of 2010 — hint: Puzzle Bots was one of them.

Anyway, feel free to check out the trailer and tell us what you think in the comments. I know, as a classic adventure fan, I’m really excited for this game, despite having a somewhat childish-looking story. We’ll see…

[read more at Wadjet Eye Games]

Check out our Top 10 Break Out Indie Games of 2012!
Check out our Top 10 Break Out Indie Games of 2011!

Indie Games don’t get a lot of media attention. At least not from the big guys — IGN, GameSpot, Joystiq, Kotaku. However, every now and then an indie game will “break out” from obscurity and be fully recognized by the gaming press and the masses. When all is said and done I’d say only about ten indie games a year are ever really discussed and played by people outside of the indie gaming culture. Which is a shame because so many great ones come out each year!

Anyways, games like Trine, Machinarium, and Torchlight were some of 2009′s break out hits, but what about 2010? What do we have to look forward to for the upcoming year and what, if any, will get picked up by the mainstream press and the common gamer? Well, while we are no scientific analysts, here’s our prediction of the top 10 break out indie titles for 2010: