Earlier today, Steam released a list of ten games which have passed through the gauntlet of approval that is Steam Greenlight. Some of the games listed, were not surprising. Anodyne, for example, just finished a large Pirate Bay promotion campaign that undoubtedly boosted popular opinion of the title. You may remember we featured Distance in an IGM Greenlight feature awhile back. We knew once people knew of Distance, they would have to get their hands on it.

I was surprised to see Receiver on the list, considering the game has been out since late last Summer, and I had not heard of any updates from Wolfire Games since Receiver’s game-jam conception and launch.

The full list of Greenlit games are as follows; we will be examining each of these games closer, in the coming weeks.

Anodyne – Sean Hogan and Jonathan Kittaka
Distance – Refract Studios
Evoland – Shiro Games
Huntsman: The Orphanage – Shadowshifters
Kingdom Rush – Ironhide Game Studio
Legends of Dawn – Dreamatrix Game Studios
Organ Trail: Director’s Cut – The Men Who Wear Many Hats
Receiver – Wolfire Games
Surgeon Simulator 2013 – Bossa Studios
War Thunder – Gaijin Entertainment

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Anodyne’, ‘Surgeon Simulator’, ‘Organ Trail’, And Others Selected For New Greenlight Batch

This coming weekend sees Send More People putting on a rather unconventional jam with the Weekend Warriors jam. The whole idea of this event is to encourage indie developers to just live stream development of their own game, it really is that simple with the grand prize just being a more complete game and a weekend well spent.

It’s a novel idea and is somewhat of a step back from the hyper competitive game jams we have seen over the past few years and focuses less about inspiration and constrains, but more about just doing. It will no doubt help many developers by allowing them to set their own goals and actually be forced to work towards them, with it being streamed the incentive is there.

The idea comes of the back of many indie developers developing in their spare time, often over the weekends. This event is somewhat of a homage to this notation, and from the looks of it a damn good one.

Send More People are literally asking the internet to send them more people for this event trying to make it something a little different. It does not matter how far along on a game you are, or your chosen method of streaming. All that matters is you send the guys your link and they will get it up.

Currently the event has a few developers including; Diado Gaming, Adam Long, U1zev and of course Send More People. For more information on how to get involved in this gaming social jam be sure to check the Send More People site and sign up for it yourself.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Send More People! The Weekend Warriors Jam Is This Weekend

Today I look at a slightly older title but one that I have managed to miss until just recently. KAIPUU is a game by Virtanen and follows your platforming adventures through life and death, love and hate. The concept is an interesting one and follows a lot of strong metaphysical elements that do in fact add a great deal to the game making it a bit more interesting than most.

The graphic style is very minimalistic however this only adds to the overall gameplay elements and creates a very moody and deep story. With the ability to switch between love and hate dimensions the simplistic graphics also factor in nicely and don’t over complicate things, creating a game that evokes a lot of emotion.

As you progress through the game you gain power ups in a metroidvania style that allow you to traverse water and darkness with ease to unlock latter parts of the game and delve even deeper into the game’s story.

Average play time – less than one hour

KAIPUU has a strong narrative element that comes out greatly at the start of the game setting up for a wild unpredictable roller-coaster through this dark place. The gameplay is interesting and proves to be  a great deal of fun although the true value with KAIPUU I feel comes from the overall story side of the game over the gameplay elements.

KAIPUU is a very interesting and different platforming game that will have you transfixed for its duration. Be sure to give it a go and download it now.

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 – Traverse Life And Death, Love And Hate In ‘KAIPUU’

Today’s game is a very interesting one that although is still under development has a rather great style to it that is definitely worth looking at. Run has been created by Graphichorse a one man development team from Norway.

Run starts off in darkness telling the story entirely via audio cues of a car crash. After the game pans in to your character standing by a burning car it is up to you to get to the end of the level. As you progress through the level you must jump and dodge your way to the end, however currently this is not too taxing.

The most striking thing about Run is the art style that has been chosen as this silhouette style on a blue background creates some striking images. Each level has its own distinctive style in art and location creating a very visually interesting game from start to finish.

It is fairly obvious once you play Run how it is still very much a work in progress as the levels feel a little empty and are not particularly challenging. However this said the fundamentals and graphics are great so with extra development I expect Run would end up being a rather great game.

Average play time – 4 minutes

Run has a lot of great ideas implemented within it and a very striking art style that really captures your attention. The levels are short and rather easy but the experience to be had playing Run is well worth it.

Run can be downloaded via the Graphichorse website.

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 – Sometimes You Can ‘Run’ Away From Your Problems

With the launch of the Ouya, there will there be a launch of new titles. The developers at Night Light Interactive are working closely with the Ouya team to produce a game for their console that will also play cross-platform with Mac, Linux, and PC. Whispering Willows is a horror puzzle adventure game across five chapters that follow Elena on her journey to find her father through the haunted halls of the Willow mansion.

With what we were able to play in this very early alpha-build, Whispering Willows definitely looks promising. It’s very rough around the edges at this early state, but it was comforting to see that the developer’s  art was well implemented and the finished project should have a very cohesive art direction.

The gameplay in the demo provided teased at some elements that will have interesting repercussions when combined with more mechanics later in the game. For example, by using Elena’s astral projection ability, she can squeeze through cracks in the walls and unlock doors that are preventing her progress, although the presence of light creates an impassable barrier for her and the other spirits.

For one puzzle I needed to get a key in the attic. The ladder was too high, but I could use my astral projection to slip through a crack in the ceiling. However, even though I had made it to the attic I was unable to reach the key because my projection couldn’t go through the bright light streaming through the window. Instead of using that ability I had to move a chest under the ladder and climb up to reach it.

In the environments the player will be able to find messages and documents that flesh out the lives of the now dead inhabitants and reveal the darker secrets of Willow manor and direct the player toward the next puzzle that will move them through the game. The structure is not anything revolutionary, but the puzzles are embedded into the environment in clever ways, and I can’t wait to see what the team pulls together in the end.

Night Light Interactive has just started their Kickstarter campaign, and you can help them make Whispering Willows into the complete experience it was meant to be. Visit the campaign page or their official website to learn more.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Hands-On First Look At Horror Puzzle Game ‘Whispering Willows’

In today’s Developer Links, a publisher discusses new gaming platforms. A software engineer talks about his new baby. And two developers bring up their new projects.

Paradox CEO: New Devices, Open Platforms Offer Key Chances For Indies (Gamasutra)
“This year, an increasing trend favoring open platforms — plus loads more new hardware options — could form the new frontier for indie developers. A developer that manages to nail a great game in the emerging hardware market will enjoy near-unprecedented ubiquity, and the opportunity to have a say in the emerging landscape.”

Hunt for the Gay Planet (Auntie Pixelante)
“i’ve been saying for a while now that supposedly lgbt-friendly game developers like bioware only see queer people (lgb people, at least) as consumers. nothing could make the point more clearly than bioware’s decision to add gay romances to star wars: the old republic – on a single planet in the galaxy, which players have to pay for the privilege of visiting. pay to enter a dystopian future where queers are exiled to a far-off, backwater planet!”

Next Next Game Preliminary Ideas & Kickstarter Plans (Zeboyd Games)
“So the official first public look at Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 is tied up in bureaucratic red tape at the moment (bleh!) so let’s talk about our game after PA4! Keep in mind this is all subject to change at a whim.”

Mavis Minecraft Teaches Coding – Part 2 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“Welcome back! When I left you last week, you’d built a computer, explored the filesystem and written your first program. That was easy, so it’s time to climb the next rung on the difficulty ladder.”

Island Partition (The Witness)
“This week we’ve been having discussions about how it’s almost time to move into full-on Production Mode and start cranking out final-ish 3D models and textures … following schedules, and all kinds of organized stuff like that.”

Announcing Positech’s Next Game Will Be… (Cliffski.com)
“Firstly, democracy is a game I am very proud of. I think it’s my most original and innovative design, in terms of both mechanics and GUI. I don’t think any other game I’ve made has been so ‘out of the blue’ as Democracy. I also find it very interesting (although incredibly difficult) to work on. basically it’s a custom-build neural network with a cunning GUI on top of it. I’m also a bit of a political geek, with views that range all over the spectrum, so I enjoy the analysis and research involved in working on the game.”

POMMS: A Way To Get Your Players To Test Your Game! (Gamasutra)
“The indie elephant in the room, Minecraft, has changed the perception of what a “beta” truly entails in the mind of the average gamer. No longer do people hearing the word “beta” expect the buggy, frustrating, horribly broken, and not-fun-at-all experience they should. Instead it is now viewed as a supposedly incomplete early development milestone with a high degree of playability and quite a bit of polish. ‘Who does the actual beta testing of these milestones, then?’ you ask. Most probably not the people coming to an indie-game dev forum stating that they are qualified beta testers because they’ve ‘beta-tested Minecraft.’”

Aesop’s Games (AltDevBlogADay)
“My wife and I just had our first child. While our daughter was baking in my wife’s belly, we would talk about what kinds of video games she would like to play when she grew up or if she would wind up liking them at all. I thought long and hard about what games I would want her to play. Which games in my library would I leave on the table for her to discover, and at what ages? What I’ve been looking for are games that teach morals and lessons, particularly ones that do so in a way that cannot be done in other media. A game puts the audience in control, which brings a high level of teaching possibilities to the table.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Dev Links: Home Security

Today I am looking at a very novel bullet hell shooter with The Garbage Collector from Team Corgi Punk. The Garbage Collector was developed for The Escapist’s Indie Speed Run and has you pilot a ship through space shooting at on coming enemies. However the game is not all it seems as its key twist is this seemingly 2D game has three layers that you can switch between at will.

The layering system is fantastic and allows creative movement throughout the game as enemy ships move in one, you can either dodge them or switch and go head to head. Along side this the layers are colour coded (Red, blue and yellow) with the enemies requiring different weapons to take out that particular enemy.

Along with the very novel and fun gameplay you also get a great graphics style as The Garbage Collector aims for this futuristic almost 3D looking style that works fantastically within the game. Team Corgi Punk have managed to put in an original soundtrack that is very in keeping with the overall games theme.

Average play time – 3 minutes

The Garbage Collector is quite a short game and does feel very unfinished, however it’s a great start for a potentially great game and well worth your time. To play The Garbage Collector head over to the Indie Speed Run 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 – It’s Time To Take Out The Trash In ‘The Garbage Collector’

After a successful Kickstarter campaign in September of last year Danish indie developer Logic Artists are gearing up for their second pc game. Expeditions: Conquistador is a tactical roleplaying game with strategic resource management and some choose your own adventure thrown in for good measure.

Expeditions: Conquistador is set in the shadowy Spanish past of the empires colonial days, A part of history not really explored from the Spanish side. You will take up control of a Spanish Conquistador in South America around 1520.

You must select the members of your expedition and explore the campaigns maps that are actually based on topological maps of Hispaniola and Mexico. With compelling and strong dialog throughout expect a deep and rich narrative.

Expeditions: Conquistador also includes an interesting tactical combat system that encourages even greater depth and brutality. The system allows you to manage the individual troops in battle and even adds far reaching ramifications to your campaign.

Each solider has a past and a personality that creates a face for these otherwise unknown characters. This should add a great deal of depth and of course the discussions you make in battle will affect their moral. Wounds and afflictions will carry over into the world map and must be cared for correctly or risk taking heavy losses.

Expeditions: Conquistador sounds a very deep and engaging roleplay game that tries to simulate this Spanish campaign of 1520 as actually as it can. With two campaigns, 70 random events, ten character classes, 28 characteristic weapons and various character abilities expect one large game with Expeditions: Conquistador.

Expeditions: Conquistador is due for release at the end of the month. To find out more be sure to visit Logic Artist’s website.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Expeditions: Conquistador’ Gearing Up For Release At The End Of The Month

Pixelry is an in-development title from Evelend Games that puts players in a pixelated suit of armor, on a pixelated horse, and has them jousting to win the pixelated heart of a princess.

As is tradition in the land of Pixelville, the champion of the jousting tournament gets to take the princess out on a date. The King will simply have it no other way…the stubborn old buggar. Players will have to practice their skills and level up attributes in preparation for the “Big 5″ confrontation that is the final trial standing in between them and their beloved princess. Along the way there are mini-games to partake in like hammering steel and horse racing. I don’t really understand how hammering steel can be considered a game, but I’ll leave it up to Evelend to make it fun.  After all, who would have thought another indie game about digging holes in the ground would make some guy a millionaire?

Evelend Games plans to have players able to customize their characters to a certain degree. Currently, it is planned to have players able to customize their heraldry (coat of arms), their horse, and their armor. If the forthcoming Kickstarter campaign is successful, Evelend will be able to integrate even more customization options into Pixelry. Evelend Games plans to roll out a Kickstarter campaign for Pixelry next month, but currently players are able to support the development of the game through alpha-funding purchases on both Desura and Indievania.

The developers are two brothers, Emilio and Andre Mari, who were born in Argentina, raised in Spain, and now live in Thailand and Japan respectively. Emilio handles Pixelry’s programming, while Andre is responsible for the audiovisual aspects of the game. If Pixelry’s visual style looks a bit familiar, you might recognize it from Super Tower Rush, a game that Andre designed the visuals for, which was released earlier this year.

A fifteen-minute demo for Pixelry is available to give interested players a taste of the game before they decide to pick the game up from either of the previously mentioned outlets, or to wait and pre-order the game through the game’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign.

Visit Evelend Games‘ official website, and follow the developers on Twitter.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Win The Joust, Win The Princess, in ‘Pixelry’

For all of you puzzle fanatics out there here is one just for you. Cross-Side is the latest game from Room 1 studio, a one man development team.  Cross-Side is the sequel to the studios highly successful iPhone release Ocarbot.

Set in the same world as Ocarbot expect things in Cross-Slide to get even crazier than the original. After a silly accident in the Lobot Lab two bots Ebot and Rbot have been inextricably linked. Now it is up to you to control these two robots in a way that will allow them to circumvent the many puzzles that lie ahead.

Cross-Side has been created in a distinctly NES style that creates a great retro vibe about the game and provides a rather challenging puzzler. It looks funny, colourful and zany but what is not to love about a game like this?

With 60 levels that spread the gameplay over five zones, expect even the most hardened puzzle veterans to find challenge here. Along with the levels you get 12 in game achievements to strive for along with a variety of silly hats (what else) to unlock.

Cross-Side is currently available for pre-order from the official site  for £1.49 ($2 approx)but is due for release on March 11^th. Cross-Side is to be released on iOS, Mac, Windows, Windows 8 and Android available from pretty much every app store.

If you would like to see Cross-Side on Steam you can vote for it via Steam Greenlight and get it onto the popular platform.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Cross-Side’ New Zany Puzzler Now Available For Pre-Order