Today’s pick of the web is a rather interesting roller-coaster designer that goes by the name of PaperCoaster. PaperCoaster was created by Elisée the whole idea is to create a roller-coaster which both scores you a good score whilst functioning.

PaperCoaster is a game of two halves as you must first draw the roller-coaster on the paper and then run it in real-time to ensure it works correctly. The drawing stage does take sometime to get use to, but after you get the hang of it the idea is rather straight forward.

The next stage where you must test the coaster is a little bit more difficult as you quickly begin to see flaws in your design as you try time and time again to get your coaster to the finish intact.

The concept is genius and brings about many very straightforward ideas which when put together make for a very fun game.

Average play time – 15 minutes

PaperCoaster is of such a high standard that it’s hard to believe this was designed in just a weekend. It’s a game with a great deal of potential and with some added development I could see this taking prime position on mobile devices, as the controls are very simple I feel it would be suited well to touch devices.

Of course the mobile version would need more levels and the ability for users to create and share their maps with others. Be sure to download PaperCoaster now and see what you think.

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 – ‘PaperCoaster’ Sometimes The Theory Is Different To The Reality

An overhead racer that plays out with a bumper car vibe as it aims for some serious racing fun without actually taking itself seriously. Mini Motor Racing EVO lets you nitro boost your way across sunny beaches, rainy city streets, and everything in between. Combined with a track editor, this one comes with nearly unlimited multiplayer mayhem in a non-chase cam racer!

Today’s Developer Links pass on more good PS4 vibes from indies, along with updates from games including The Witness, Clockwork Empires, and Democracy 3.

PS4 will support indies, agree optimistic devs (Develop Online)
“A number of developers have stepped forward to state their optimism about the PlayStation 4′s support for indies. Speaking to Develop individuals from companies as diverse as Gearbox and nDreams have expressed hope and positivity that, in contrast to previous sony consoles, the PS4 will be accessible and affordable for indies. Their views appear to reflect comments made to Develop by Sony Worldwide Studios SVP Michael Denny, who insisted indies are set to be core to the PS4.”

A Little Something For The Pipe Fanciers Out There (Gaslamp Games)
“From just about the beginning we’ve been into the idea that Clockwork Empires should involve running giant assemblies of pipes and cog-laden axles across settlements to transmit energy and water and completely harmless high-pressure superheated steam between various machines and factories. The basis for this came early: if we’re to embrace the aesthetic we desire we need to fully embrace the visuals of mechanization, of machines and factories and the wonders of technology of this Age of Progress & so forth. If we hide the machines inside the factories then you won’t be able to see any of the Fun gears and pipes. So, the breakthrough: put the machines, the pipes, the gears on the outside of the factory.”

Low-Light Combat Art Asset Overview (Wolfire Games)
“We recently made a charity jam game called Low-Light Combat. In this jam, I wanted to try cutting out the most time-consuming steps of the traditional art asset workflow, to see if it would make any real difference in the final product.”

iPad video update #1 (The Witness)
“Andy’s got the iPad port far enough along that you can sort of play the game now. Here’s a short video…”

More Democracy 3 simulation fun and games (Positech Games)
“The core mechanic of Democracy 3 is going to take a lot of careful explaining in tutorials and tooltips and help windows. Essentially, it’s pretty simple, in that you implement policies, and you can adjust the intensity of a policy using a slider. So with a policy like income tax, the slider adjust the rate of tax from low to high. A series of bars show you the effect this policy has on everything, such as voter happiness, GDP, and so on. Sounds simple so far right? This is where it gets complex because there are three additional factors, which are implementation times, effectiveness and inertia. I’ll explain each one…”

Even Ugly Babies Need Hugs (Dejobaan Games)
“Our good friends at Zapdot and Hybrid Mind have been working hard on Ugly Baby. Ichiro continues to rest as evidenced by this picture from yesterday. This is most excellent news because a rested Ichiro is worth at least 3 times as many points as a tired Ichiro! This week we look at visualizers and also the in-game HUD that tells you when your stunts are X-Games worthy.”

Managing Risk in Video Game Development (Gamasutra)
“How do you best manage risk when creating a game? Using this article and the attached spreadsheet, you can better identify the problem areas in your game and get a sense of whether any decisions you are making actually make business sense.”

The Language of Monetization Design (Gamasutra)
“Automobiles and computers were so simplistic in their first 10 years that today we have a hard time looking back and appreciating just what a leap in technology they were at the time. Like all technology, they benefited from the iterative process, slowly adapting to changes in allied technologies, consumer demands, and infrastructure. Today both cars and computers have components in them that did not even have names 10 or 20 years ago. Before they could be added to these products, they had to be thought about and given names so that they then could be optimized and adapted to various uses.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Dev Links: Pipe Dreams

Games based on depression, an award winning game we’ll never get to play, and other interesting titles in today’s Indie Links.

How Jason Rohrer Won The Game Design Challenge (RPS)
“A real high-point of every GDC is the Game Design Challenge. Well, was. Sadly the tenth year of this annual treat was the last, with organiser Eric Zimmerman bringing proceedings to an end. And wow, did it go out in style. With the apposite topic, “Humanity’s Last Game”, some of the biggest names in the industry put forth their pitches for the last game we’d ever need. And one man entirely stole the show. For a second year, that man was Jason Rohrer.”

Voiceless and forgotten: facing depression through play (VG247)
“Depression Quest and Actual Sunlight are two games based on depression. Dave Owen speaks with their creators to find out how they can help.”

The Cat that Got the Milk sequel revealed, leaps from freeware to commercial (IndieGames.com)
“The Button Affair super stylish developers, now called Modern Dream, have announced The Cat that Got the Milk will receive a sequel. Titled Abstract No.3, it will expand on the series’ twitchy, path-weaving gameplay and will be the team’s first commercial release.”

Mobile review: Ridiculous Fishing (Shacknews)
“Fishing is a tough endeavor, one that isn’t as easy as it looks on TV or in the movies. Homer Simpson once had an idea to dump a plugged-in bug zapper into a lake and it resulted in a whole lot of easy-to-catch (if somewhat high voltage) fish. That’s a ridiculous idea. Yet it’s not as ridiculous as some of the heavy artillery that’s used in Ridiculous Fishing, the latest iOS title from Vlambeer (Super Crate Box), Greg Wohlwend (Puzzlejuice), and Zach Gage (Halcyon).”

Storyteller preview: In the eye of the beholder (Joystiq)
“”Wait, save that. No one’s done it that way before. You made it more complicated.” Daniel Benmergui reached out to grab the mouse and save a screenshot of my panels in his comic-book narrative game, Storyteller, where I had just concocted a tale of love and loss based on the page’s prompt, using a trio of static characters. One click and Benmergui let me regain control – he resumed his place over my shoulder in a quiet room off of the main GDC concourse, paper and pen in hand, taking notes on my visible thought processes as they played out on-screen.”

Preview: Hiversaires (TIGSource)
“After years of releasing engaging short-form games, prolific digital artist Aliceffekt is nearing completion of his first independent commercial project, Hiversaires, for iOS. Committing himself to full time development at the beginning of February, Aliceffekt has worked solo on the game, handling design, code, art, and music.”

Little Inferno scores big sales (Destructoid)
“Little Inferno didn’t have a lot to help it become a financial success. A fireplace simulator made to parody and critique current trends in videogames isn’t exactly what the big publishers would call “a surefire hit with a huge pre-installed fan base.” Thankfully, word of mouth, positive reviews, and the reputation of the game’s all-star development team seemed to have made up for any lack of marketability.”

Second Thoughts with the Chick – Terraria (Indie Gamer Chick)
“I reviewed Terraria for PlayStation Network/Xbox Live Arcade. I said that I did have fun playing the title, but I didn’t recommend it because it was too glitchy and unfinished. I also said that I had lost interest in the game. Since then, there hasn’t been a review up at my blog. Why? Because I’ve been busy playing Terraria. So allow me to eat some crow and do a 180 here. Terraria IS worth your time, glitches and all.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Links Round-Up: Intangibles

Remember the days before online multiplayer? Your group of friends would huddle around the television screen with wired controllers, trash talking and laughing while giving you the occasional, jovial shove. With online multiplayer changing how we play our games together, few games have been able to achieve the same level of comradery as the pre-internet console era did. But the Columbus-based start up Multivarious Games aims to change that with their game on Kickstarter, Dangerous.

Dangerous is a two-dimensional action platformer and shooter designed for local multiplayer on the Xbox 360. With an ancient island realized in watercolor as its landscape and local multiplayer as the vehicle, Dangerous is aiming to bring back the best in competitive gaming: with your friends in your living room.

Multivarious Games’ design sensibilities are inspired by the best competitive classics such as Worms, Goldeneye, Mario Kart, and Bomberman. With this competitive attitude in mind, development started in 2012 with the creation of a  physics engine that would support the amount of adaptability the developers wanted for the action. The environments feature destructible terrain to allow the unique world to play an important role in the game. If you’re trapped, you can channel water to push your enemies back. If you’re pinned by a sniper, you can shoot off a tree limb or cropping of rocks above them to take them out. By allowing so much freedom in each level and adding in other dynamic elements in the environment, the action is sure to keep you on your toes.

Dangerous also boasts a hand-drawn, watercolor art-style. The game is still running off of place holder assets at the moment so it’s hard to gauge what the final product will look like, but what the developers have shown so far in their videos looks promising. This visual style will make the set of customizable characters even more exciting. After choosing one of the two factions, either the outsiders or island natives, you build up this character’s strength through multiple fights. During battle, you can acquire new weapons, power-ups, and other character altering items which will alter your character over time as they become stronger, but also let you specialize in different abilities like the use of heavy weapons or lighter, quicker weaponry. At the same time, the character modifiers can be disabled so that everyone can join in the fun at the same level and enjoy a purer experience.

Black Annex from Man Fight Dragon is an upcoming isometric espionage action game. Currently, the developers are seeking support through Greenlight, and developer Lance E. McDonald’s Twitter feed is always full of Black Annex media.

Black Annex official website

Announced last May, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing has received a promotional “Pre-order and play the Beta” trailer, for the game’s impending May release. Neocore Games put The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing through a make-over last fall when they announced that the original concept of playing as young Van Helsing didn’t feel adequate. They allowed fans to choose from three new character-concepts (The Mysterious Stranger, The Chevalier, and The Veteran) and fans ultimately chose The Mysterious Stranger concept.

“Being indie is a great challenge and a very exciting experience with incredibly long working hours and plenty of difficulties,” Neocore says on their developer’s blog, “but it’s worth it! We consider it a gift that we can create something permanent and fun. Independence allowed us to keep you up to date during every phase of the development. Thanks to you, now we already have a very supportive and active community who are eagerly looking forward to the launch of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing.”

Visit the official website, where pre-orders are being taken. Pre-ordering gets access to the current Beta-build as well.

Gunpoint Gadget has been floating around for awhile now. For at least two years, Tom Francis has been developing this quaint spymaster game that relies on player’s cunning to successfully complete the missions presented. A recent trailer, narrated by Francis, demonstrates a number of the tools at the player’s disposal, to solve the various puzzles in each level. In the trailer, Francis also reveals that Gunpoint Gadget will be coming to Steam, when the game launches. Steam contacted him awhile ago, but now is the first time he’s been allowed to say anything about it, Francis explains in the video.

Visit the official website to learn more, and follow the game on Twitter.

In today’s game you take control of a somewhat unheroic child caught out in a storm. It is your job to guide him away from all the rain and keep him dry for as long as possible in Don’t Rain On Me by Matthew38940.

Along with the basic movement controls you also get power-ups in the form of rain coats and umbrellas which will give you more chances to hit the rain before failing. Of course it will be important for you to get all the power-ups you can as after a short time out in the rain it will start to literally rain cats and dogs.

The added animal obstacles really make the game ramp up in difficulty as you must also jump over the frightened dogs and cats along with avoiding the rain falling from the sky.

Don’t Rain On Me is a delightfully simple game that offers a great distraction from you day as a fun arcade game with some simple yet fun mechanics.

Average play time – 5 minutes

If you are looking for a minor distraction from your day Don’t Rain On Me may very well be what you are looking for as it offers a short yet fun arcade game.

Don’t Rain On Me can be played on Kongregate.

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 – ‘Don’t Rain On Me’ The Exploits Of The Least Heroic Child

Although not really a conventional game Cow Clicker is more of a commentary on the casual Facebook game market that has grown over the past couple of years.

Cow Clicker distills the fundamental mechanics down from Facebook games and puts them into a new setting that involves the mundane activity of clicking on cows.

Like every social game in this genre you must wait a predefined length of time before you can click your cow again and of course you are encouraged to invite friends so you can click their cows to improve your own game play.

Cow Clicker was created by Ian Bogost as his take on Zynga and their style of games found on Facebook. He has even included numerous microtransactions for speeding up the time in between clicking on the cows along with various cosmetic items for your cow.

Average play time – 20 minutes

Cow Clicker really is a very ingenious game that helps to sum up what the whole industry is about by showing the genre in its true mundane light. Cow Clicker really is quite the eye opener showing Ian Bogost’s true genius.

You can play Cow Clicker on Facebook for free, however if you would like to find out more about the game check out Ian Bogost’s site now for more insight into why he created this very interesting title.

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 – ‘Cow Clicker’ A Cynical Look At The Causal Game Industry

Discord Games is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter for Chasm, a 2D action-RPG featuring procedurally generated Metroid-like dungeons and stylish pixel art. A demo is available for Windows/Mac/Linux on the Kickstarter campaign page, and Discord Games plans to release the game in early 2014, if the campaign is successful. Chasm is inspired by the 2D platformers of the past, and will utilize gamepad support to compliment the game’s retro art-style.

“…this game can not be made without your support,” Discord Games says on the campaign page. ” We’ve been waiting forever for a game like this, but game publishers today just aren’t interested in projects like this one. With your support, we will be able to finish the game ourselves and give you a truly amazing experience.”