When your development studio’s name happens to be Utopian World of Sandwiches, it’s clear that you’ve got a penchant for the bizarre. With Chompy Chomp Chomp, the company’s forthcoming Xbox Live Indie Games release, that’s exactly what they’re looking to deliver.
The game is described as a “multiplayer eat-em-up,” which perhaps single-handedly sets the marker for what players can expect to gain from the Chompy Chomp Chomp experience. Much in the same vein as Pac-Man, players run around a 2D maze in search of power-ups, which allow them not only to boost their scores, but also to ruthlessly devour their opponents.
With all the usual graphic sheen and musical wonder that comes from Nitrome, Cave Chaos 2 makes makes a delightful leap on to our monitors now that it has been released. As with the first game, you’ll be controlling miners as they attempt to escape from their place of work before it collapses. Not before grabbing as many gems as you can on the way though.
A comparison with Braid can be made rather tentatively due to the floor being placed in this sidescroller as you go, though it sticks to its own pace rather than yours and soon disappears from behind you if you’re not quick enough. At times the game feels pretty slow, until you’re up against a boss or trying to grab a bunch of gems at least. You’re quite often just tip-toeing on the edge of the platforms until a bat drags the next one up.
The collection of power ups is sometimes vital, other times they can act as a hindrance; a way to prevent you from getting some of the gems. This leads to some replay value. Despite a definite lack of “chaos” at times, Nitrome have made another little delight with Cave Chaos 2 that looks a million times better than the video of it below, so do go and play it over on the official site.
More information on Cave Chaos 2 can be found on the official Nitrome website.
Dear 20+ year olds, we’ve found out where all those years have disappeared to and managed to bring back a relic for you to check it out. It’s a game called Secrets of Grindea which is like many of those SNES RPG’s you used to play, but borders on parody, looks much slicker and comes with 4 player online co-op.
We’re not sure whether it was the soundtrack, the animations or the graphics, but immediately upon watching this new trailer for Secrets of Grindea we felt a surge of energy and a lust for the game. No it’s not unique but it certainly looks very polished and every little chime and character makes our eyes glisten even more. Nonetheless, this is a pre-alpha trailer somehow, which was put together to supplement the game’s entry in the Swedish Game Awards and the Gotland Game Conference.
The type of game this is should be pretty obvious to everyone – you run around green fields and dungeons killing increasingly bigger (and cuter) enemies for items and experience that increase your abilities. There’s character customization and even the typical “something evil is afoot” storyline. You’ll actually be playing as an upcoming hero who aims to be the most famed Collector by grabbing lots of rare and valuable items. Then things take a turn for the worse and, well, you know the rest.
Check out the trailer below and get pumped, though you will have to wait until late 2012 or even 2013 for the game’s release on PC.
More information on Secrets of Grindea can be found over on the game’s official website.
The rolling gravy train on the journey to greater indie gaming coverage on Linux has been given a solid push in the right direction with the news that Gaijin Games’ delightful reflex-taxer Bit.Trip.Runner is now available for purchase over on the Ubuntu Software Center.
As far as we’re aware, the Linux version of the game is a near-perfect replica of the Bit.Trip Runner experience many gamers have been enjoying on both PC and Mac since its home computer release, having originated on Nintendo’s WiiWare service. Furthermore, owners of the fourth Humble Bundle package, of which Bit.Trip Runner was part, should now be able to run the game through Linux without having to make a second purchase. Take that, buyer’s remorse!
We’ve played Cloudberry Kingdom and as you can read in our preview, it’s pretty great. Want to play it yourself? Well, it just so happens that we have 450 codes to giveaway on a first come, first served basis. So listen up!
If you haven’t checked out Cloudberry Kingdom yet, then do so by watching the trailer below. It looks hardcore but it’s actually very accessible and very fun. We would also like to tell you that if you don’t win a free version of the game from us then you can always get access to it by funding it over on Kickstarter, you can even get a Wii U copy for doing so! There’s less than a week left to get yourself a copy though, so be quick.
Pwnee, the developers, want you to test out the beta of Cloudberry Kingdom, hence why we’re doing this giveaway. If you get a Steam code you’ll have immediate access to the game in it’s current state and will continue to have access to it through updates, including the final version as well.
To win a code, send an email to chrispriestman@indiegamemag.com with the Subject Line “Cloudberry Kingdom Giveaway” today (May 21st 2012) from 2pm GMT / 9am EST / 6am PST onwards.
All of the codes need to go today so they will be sent out as the emails come in – you’ll need to be quick!
Any emails sent before the stated time will be disqualified and not win a code at all, even if they send a code after the stated time. Only one email from each address will be accepted, any more than one email from the same email address will lead to an automatic disqualification. If you don’t enter the Subject Line correctly then your email won’t get through, so be extra careful.
Here’s a message for those who are successful from Pwnee:
“Hail beta tester!
We’re excited to finally get the beta rolling for Cloudberry Kingdom. We’re making rapid progress on finishing the game, but we need your help to really polish it and make it shine.
We’ve just signed on an art studio to redo the game’s art, so expect regular art updates moving forward. For now we want to focus the testing on the game play and general functionality. Let us know what’s cool and what sucks, what’s too easy and what’s ridiculously impossible. We’re really striving to make a game that can scratch everyone’s itch for an awesome platformer.
Join us on reddit to talk trash, report bugs, make suggestions, or give us virtual hugs (aka programmer fuel) reddit.com/r/CloudberryBeta/
Unfortunately, we are currently functional on PC only.
We’re working on integrating an installer for these frameworks into the game, which should be ready by next week.
In order to use the beta key: open up Steam and click on the Game’s tab, select “Active a product on Steam” and enter your beta key. That’s it!
How to play:
Arrow keys move, duck, and jump. Press up to go through doors. Spacebar is quickspawn. Escape/Backspace will bring up the main menu or navigate backwards. Enter selects something on a menu. Enter during the game brings up the powerup menu.
A lot of menus say ‘press A’ or ‘press X’. That’s for the Xbox version (PC version coming soon). If you’ve got a gamepad you can plug it in and use it (you can plug FOUR in and play multiplayer!)
To customize you character, press the “H” key, and to randomize your character press “C”
What to play:
The game is a bit unstructured now. The campaign is still under construction, but the arcade games are good to go. We recommend starting with Escalation. Hero Rush is our favorite, but it’s a bit confusing at first. We’re still working on an intro-tutorial to smooth it out.
Updates to expect soon:
Optimizations! If the game is running slow on your computer, fear not! We are constantly streamlining our code, and already have a lot of optimizations in the pipeline for an update later this week.
Leaderboards! Think your score of 563,279 on Hero Rush is impressive? Wait until you see our programmer’s 1,000,000+ scores show up on the leaderboard. We’ll be announcing some beta tester only competitions in the coming week, so start training!
Prettiness! We’ve partnered up with Tigar Hare Studios, the guys that did cinematics for games like Call of Duty, Red Faction, and Lord of the Rings Online. Expect some awesome updates to the graphics over the next few months!
PC Version. Right now you’re playing the ‘Xbox’ PC version. We’re wrapping up the code for a real PC version, with mouse support, multiple resolutions, fullscreen/windowed options, and keyboard remapping. Expect this within a week.
I’m looking forward to getting feedback! I hope you enjoy the beta.
Cheers,
TJ Lutz, Team Lead and Community Manager”
More information on Cloudberry Kingdom can be found over on the developer’s official website.
Claiming to evolve its tower defense roots through “increasing the strategic depth and the complexity of what you can build”, Eye3ware are confident that those looking for a challenge will enjoy their new puzzle game, Sky Alchemist.
Sounds like quite a creative experience via the header image and game title, but in Sky Alchemist you’ll be spending more of your time placing a range of tools around a path upon which 58 types of matter will travel. You’ll have to cool, melt, break and then collect all of this matter and then sell it so that you may purchase more effective tools and ones to attend to matter you couldn’t previously affect.
Apparently the game’s engine is capable of producing thousands of missions for you to try out various different formations of matter, to which you can build your intricate production lines. Though you won’t be taking to the skies in this title, Eye3ware say that this is a seminal game; introducing the world to players with which they intend to release further games within that allow for feature exploration, tactical and strategic airship combat and more.
Some players who have started up Sky Alchemist have become a little lost in its complexities, so to alleviate that there is a tutorial walkthrough to consult.
You can purchase Sky Alchemist from its Desura store page for PC and Mac for £5.99.
More information about Sky Alchemist can be found over on the game’s official website.
Ukrainian developer Sergey Mohov is a man with a plan, and it’s gratifying to know that that plan involves piano keys, butterflies and video games.
Coming in June to the PC, Mac and iOS devices, Dédale is a marvellously charming game that sees a brightly-coloured butterfly fly from piano key-to piano key amidst a series of over 100 mazes, which is pretty logical when you consider that “dédale” means “maze” in French. It’s also the name of a mythological Greek inventor credited with the creation of the labyrinth designed to imprison the legendary Minotaur, but let’s forget about that. Anyway, players must colour every key in a given maze by guiding the butterfly onto them in order to progress to the next level at the ivory-laden lovefest.
It’s always a sobering moment of piteous self-degradation for every young upstart when they realise that their long-held dreams of space travel fade into non-existence alongside their hopes of running for President, securing a respectable career and engaging in a symbiotic member of the opposite sex before withering away unloved and unnoticed until the day they meet their unheralded demise.
Thankfully, there’s always the reassuring sense of escapism afforded to us by video games. The mouse, keyboard or control pad now serve as magical conduits from hands to screen, allowing us to realise our late-dormant longing for space conquest within a virtual medium, which is probably why we’ve been inundated with so many space combat games over the years. And after a while, repetition breeds stagnation, and stagnation breeds disinterest.
CSiS, the product of the creative endeavours of Felix Caffier, Micha Pfeiffer and Wolfgang Reichardt, aims to reinvigorate the world (or should I say universe?) of space shooter frolicking by letting players loose in a variety of multiplayer game modes set in the vast reaches of outer space. Running on the A7 3D Game Studio Engine, the game boasts five separate game modes, including traditional deathmatches and co-operative missions, in which admirable performances are rewarded with the in-game cash required to access upgrades and equipment bonuses.
One thing can be said about Exato Games, and that is that they seem to be having fun as they blend elements from Minecraft and Call of Duty into one game. While their previous trailer for Guncraft aimed squarely at the shooteriest of first person shooters, this one announcing the start of the closed beta of May 21st decides to blow the head off of Minecraft, in quite a literal sense.
If you’ve played Ace of Spades before, or the two aforementioned games and then imagine them together, you already know what Guncraft is. If you’re not sure what we’re getting at then imagine a first person shooter which utilizes building structures block by block, in fact, imagine the whole game made up of 1
Positech’s long-awaited real-time strategy supernova Gratuitous Tank Battles has finally been released for Windows PC through Steam.
Retailing at at temporary 10% discount, the game will set customers back £13.49 until 24th May, after which it will hike up to the standard £14.99 price point. While that may seem fairly hefty for an indie release, it’s worth bearing in mind that the game’s spiritual predecessor, Gratuitous Space Battles, originally cost an equivalent of around $23 US, putting it roughly on par with Gratuitous Tank Battles‘ marketing model.
Gratuitous Tank Battles is a highly-anticipated hybrid of both the tower defense and real-time strategy genres, bringing two seemingly disparate, yet unerringly compatible schools of thought together in one explosive package. Set in an alternative future in which the First World War was never resolved, players are kitted out with a bombastic array of Mechs, lasers and, of course, tanks. With one’s devastating arsenal of weaponry in tow, what ensues is a series of frantic, unabatedly tense skirmishes across a wide variety of terrains and environments, with players being forced to think several steps ahead of the curve in order to triumph over adversity.
