Strategy games have been making a comeback after lying somewhat dormant for a few years. On the back of this we have seen several rather interesting Kickstarters and games coming out that have really added a great deal to the often forgotten genre.

Last week, Wastelands Interactive, a well-established Polish developer who has released a number of historic strategy games over the years, started their Kickstarter campaign for their latest venture, Worlds Of Magic.

Worlds Of Magic is Wastelands Interactive’s attempt at creating a spiritual successor to the great 4x Master Of Magic by setting Worlds Of Magic in a rich fantasy world. In Worlds Of Magic you will be able to choose from ten leaders to take control over, to rule the lands. However, there is an option to create your own if you would rather tailor the game more to your own personal style.

Wastelands Interactive is dedicated to making Worlds Of Magic the true successor to Masters Of Magic and feel they are the right team to do it. Their aim is capture a lot of what made the original great and to build upon its core foundations whilst adding in extras to really create a new and exciting game.

Worlds Of Magic is currently looking for additional funding on Kickstarter after Wastelands Interactive started up their Kickstarter earlier this month. Although there is still over twenty days left so far the funding has been very encouraging with the campaign currently raising a third of the total needed.

If you are interested in finding out more about Worlds Of Magic be sure to check out Wastelands Interactive’s Kickstarter for additional information. If you like what you see consider supporting the developer and help make Worlds Of Magic a reality.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Worlds Of Magic’ A Brand New Fantasy 4X Looking For Your Help

With over twenty days left for the Kickstarter campaign, KING Art Games is sitting comfortably above the goal they initially set. The current count has Battle Worlds: Kronos sitting just above $165,000, which is $4,500 over their starting goal. Now, the developers are trying to keep their momentum going, by pushing for success on Steam Greenlight.

Earlier this week, Valve revealed they would announce the next batch of titles to be Greenlit on Steam on April 17th. KING Art Games undoubtedly would love to see Battle Worlds: Kronos included in that announcement, and seeing the success that they found with the Kickstarter Campaign (fully funded within seven days), being approved for Steam in twelve days doesn’t seem like such the impossible feat.

“We’re blown away by the support we’ve already received on the Greenlight campaign; it’s great to know we have so many committed people behind us on this,” Said Jan Theysen, Creative Director, KING Art Games. “We’re expecting to reach our first Kickstarter stretch-goal very soon, so that with the help of our loyal backers and community, we can bring an even more amazing experience to Steam.”

On Wednesday, KING Art Games posted a new update to the Battle Worlds: Kronos Kickstarter campaign page, featuring the Greenlight announcement, as well as the second video in their Battle Worlds Academy tutorial series.

The developers plan on providing Steam keys to Kickstarter backers, if the game becomes Greenlit, at some point in the future.

“We talked to some other developers with Kickstarter and Steam experience and it looks like we’ll be able to provide enough codes for every backer interested… if we get on Steam, so please vote,” KING Art Games said in the newest Kickstarter update.

Visit Battle Worlds: Kronos on Kickstarter, and visit the game’s new Greenlight campaign page. KING Art Games has setup a donation method through PayPal, if that is preferred, which can be found on the game’s official website.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Amidst Sucessful Kickstarter Campaign, ‘Battle Worlds: Kronos’ Pushes Momentum For Greenlight Approval

It seems that King Art Games have a rather interesting philosophy when it comes to designing games, after their last game The Book Of Unwritten Tales rapidly became a success, even though it was in a genre apparently unpopular at the time.

This has given the studio a rather fantastic perspective of the market and now they believe it does not matter what is currently popular because good games will always be good games, and this is their hope for Battle Worlds Kronos.

Battle Worlds Kronos is a turned based strategy game that aims to bring back in long term planning, tactics to create a truly strategic game. Taking influence from Battle Isle and Advance Wars Battle Worlds Kronos hopes to bring back a lot of the difficult decision making and update it with modern day technology to create something altogether awesome.

The game will include a complete single player campaign that will span approximately 30 hours creating quite a substantial game just in the single player side of things. On top of this expect challenge maps, live multiplayer and even the option to play asynchronously with others.

This is such a great option that should be in ALL Turn based strategy games, due to the length of time they can take to complete it makes for a much more manageable multiplayer experience.

The guys over at King Art Games seem to have many great ideas on how to make a new turn based strategy game and even though Battle Worlds Kronos is still in the very early stages of its development it seems a promising project. King Art Games are currently running a Kickstarter for Battle Worlds Kronos and if you would like to find out more about this project besure to check out the Kickstarter page and read a little more information on it. If this project sounds like something you would like  to play be sure to support them.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Battle Worlds: Kronos’ Bringing Back The Strategy

In today’s Developer Links: web design, video game websites, and serial cross-platform development.

Bastion‘s Argument For Doing Away With Cross-Platform Development (Gamasutra)
“In a talk at the DICE Summit on Wednesday, Supergiant Games co-founder and studio director Amir Rao (Bastion) talked about the year-plus his team spent taking Bastion to different platforms. Along the way, he urged the audience to get away from the concept of simultaneous ‘ports’ and ‘lead SKU’ and towards a thoughtful, non-parallel multi-platform development process.”

Apple Pie Chart (Mommy’s Best Devlog)
“Serious Sam Double D XXL is super close! Go go go! Time to let people know! What’s so cool about it? Let’s tell everyone! That’s what most of my time is devoted to currently and it’s getting very exciting! We’ll be heading to PAX East to promote the game and we’re even throwing a pretty big Mid-West game dev launch party here in Louisville on March 1st!”

What’s In The BattleBlock Theater Beta? (The Behemoth Development Blog)
“The BattleBlock Theater Closed Beta will be here sooner than we think. We’re still locking down all the details, including the beta testing dates, but we do have an exciting update to share! In addition to story levels and the level editor, we’ll be giving Beta Testers access to all the arena modes!”

A Week As Webdesigner (Computer Games)
“Probably not many of you know that before going indie, I was a (rather poor to be fair) webdesigner. Many people probably think that being a webdesigner is a creative job but the reality is that after you do the 100th website, you start to have enough… Anyway, this week I was waiting for some people to send me assets (writing, art, music, etc) so I was idle. If wasn’t Winter I would have use this unexpected “free time” to do some trips around here to relax, but since it is, I thought to finally begin the redesign of my website, something I’ve been procrastinating for too long!”

Going Forward With Drox (Soldak Entertainment)
“First off, we have Drox Operative on Steam’s Greenlight. If you haven’t already, go vote for Drox Operative on Greenlight so we can get the game on Steam. Please tell all of your friends, family, and anyone else that will listen to do so also.”

The Video Game Kickstarter Report – Week of February 8 (Zeboyd Games)
“Big week for new kickstarters! Let’s get started!”

Good Morning Gato # 109 – Warm Kitty (Ska Studios)
“PAX East is 42 days away! Ska Studios will once again be exhibiting, keeping with our trend of showing at every single PAX East there has ever been. When will this dang Charlie Murder game ever be done?! You’re asking, our friends are asking, and even our moms are asking. We still can’t tell you but we can sure show you what we’ve done so far. Come see us and play and listen to us expertly dodge the “when will it be done” question! We may just have a different answer for you by the end of March (disclaimer: we also may have the same answer for you by the end of March).”

Big List of Top Video Game Websites (PixelProspector)
“I have just updated the Big List of Top Video Game Websites. All ~130 sites offer now some basic info (Country, Platforms, Coverage, About). Furthermore I have also created a spreadsheet that you can download here.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Dev Links: Candy Stripes

We’re on fire with today’s Indie Links! There’s a game about burning things in a fireplace, a game about Santa Claus lighting houses on fire… and a game where you have to treat a customer right or you’re fired.

Recommended Game: I Get This Call Every Day (Independent Gaming)
“I Get This Call Every Day is a Gordian knot that resists being cut. It’s an intractable situation that some people, such as the game’s author, have to deal with on a daily basis without getting fired. David S. Gallant’s latest game (and the first one that’s being sold and not freely distributed) is an autobiographical tale of workplace absurdity.”

Free Picks: Happy Little Murder Friends, Fistful of Gun (Farmergnome) (IndieGames)
“Under the Garden and Under the Ocean developer Farmergnome (Paul Greasley) sure makes pretty games, no matter the size. He just released substantially updated, free builds for his recent Ludum Dare game for Windows, Happy Little Murder Friends, and another side project called Fistful of Gun.”

Feedtank’s Pangolin: Anteaters FTW (Independent Gaming)
“Sounds like a platformer? You’d be surprised. This vivid, surreal indie ios game by the 2-man devteam at Feedtank, is …NOT a platformer.  In fact, it’s the very antithesis of a platformer. You don’t control this loveable anteater who looks like a bowling ball. Rather, he is entirely at your mercy as you bounce him around the world with trampolines.”

Little Inferno Is A Delightfully Grim Tale, But Its Best Story Is A Hidden One (Kotaku)
“Maybe it’s because Little Inferno doesn’t present the side of Armageddon that we’re used to seeing in games, but you might not even pick up on its apocalyptic storyline. Yet as I burned prize after prize in my Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace, a thought tugged at the back of my mind: why am I doing this?”

Mew-Genics Is Multi-Platform, One of Which Is iOS (Joystiq)
“Mew-Genics will be available on iOS devices, but that’s not all. Well, actually, that is all for today. The weekly Mew-Genics teaser simply says that the game will launch on multiple platforms, one of which is iOS, as demonstrated by the accompanying iPad mock-up. Considering the mobile angle and Edmund McMillen’s recent involvement with Sony, we’re personally hoping for a Vita release as well.”

Indies Met Challenges, Learned Lessons In 2012 (Gamasutra)
“Recently, I spoke to a number of well-known independent game developers to find out if they too shared the sense that this has been an extraordinary year for indie games. Part of that conversation focused on the lessons other small teams might learn, as indie games move from niche to mass-market, via digital distribution hubs on consoles, mobile and PC. What have they learned this year as they strove to get their games noticed? How have they been able to find success?”

Holly Jolly Pyromaniac: A Christmas Game With Villainous Spirit (Polygon)
“Indie developer Underground Pixel is no stranger to gamemaking.Holiday Havoc and Pastry Panic, known for their retro, arcade play-style are proof of that. Fresh off its second Ludum Dare jam, the developer is proud to present its latest title: Holly Jolly Pyromaniac, a holiday-themed title brainstormed and built in just 72 hours.”

Review: La Mulana (Re-Release) (Indie Game Reviewer)
“La-Mulana is a room-based side-scrolling Metroidvania adventure game released in 2012 by EnjoyUp for the Wii. This Indiana Jones-inspired action title is a remake of the 2005 game of the same name by the same developers: GR3 project with updated graphics and ‘decreased difficulty,’ as the original was notoriously unforgiving. While at first this seems like another cash grab by a developer doing the whole ‘HD’ remake thing that was so popular in 2012, they actually bring some improved and interesting new features to the title, one of which is support for XBOX 360 controllers (PC). It doesn’t sound like much, but the feature adds a lot to the game’s playability and shifts it from a keyboard-mashing platformer to a smoother experience, though unfortunately it inherits all of the original’s control issues.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Game Round-Up: Log Jam

Today, Jet Set Games proudly announced the release of their turn-based strategy game, Highborn, for PC and Mac users. Previously, Highborn was an iOS and Android game, but now the game is available through Steam, and discounted 25% off for the duration of its release week.

Highborn has players participating in top-down strategic gameplay, set in a fantasy setting. The PC/Mac release sees the inclusion of both redesigned levels and artwork, now that the game can take advantage of the powerful hardware powering most PCs and Macs. Jet Set Games originally built Highborn for mobile devices, so it was made for gamers on the go. This works for well for the game in that it provides a strategic fix for gamers, while not requiring a good deal of time to get used to how the game works, as is the bane of some strategy games.

“Many of Jet Set’s employees have a long history of building strategy games for the PC, and it feels great to be developing for this platform again,” said Rade Stojsavljevic, president and co-founder of Jet Set Games. “We chose to bring Highborn to Steam, not only to satisfy our customer’s demands, but also because we knew we could take advantage of the processing power of the PC to really showcase the amazing graphics and improved gameplay that we’ve put into this re-imagined version of Highborn.”

Gamers interested in the whimsical strategy game can pick it up on Steam. For more details visit the official Highborn website and follow Jet Set Games on Twitter.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Former ‘Command and Conqueror’ Devs Release Lighthearted ‘Highborn’ For PC And Mac

I hope by now everyone is fully aware of the fantastic FPS Natural Selection 2 (NS2). Released last year by Unknown Worlds NS2 was the long awaited sequel to the original mod and one of the best asymmetrical FPS of all time.

Unknown Worlds have been working tirelessly over the past year to develop NS2 continually post release along with fostering an e-sport community,  and considering it is an online only shooter this is vital. Amongst all of the new maps and updates that have come out over the past few months we now see the actual Decoda integrated development environment (IDE) being released to the public. Decoda was the IDE used to create NS2 with, no doubt many developers have eagerly anticipated this day.

Unknown Worlds co-founder Max McGurie stated the studio was now in a position to give something back to the community and felt Decoda would be a great open source asset for all. Unknown Worlds hope the community will now look to play around with NS2 and their own games using this powerful development platform to create something awesome.

This is great news for developers and modders looking to tinker with some of the tools in the IDE or to start developing their own projects using this powerful system. This should also encourage user mods for NS2 and in time maybe a whole new genre defining game itself.

It’s really great to see Unknown Worlds opening their IDE to all, who knows what next. You can always find out more about Decoda on the official Unknown Worlds site.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Unknown Worlds Release Decoda IDE Open Source

In what looks to be another great success story born of Kickstarter, Conifer Games has raked in $27,000 in a matter of hours for their empire-builder, At the Gates.

At the Gates is set back in history, just before the Dark Ages set in. The Roman Empire is collapsing, tribes of barbarians are “at the gates” (get it?), and everything that was once stable in the Roman-occupied territories is now a teetering disaster waiting to happen. Luckily for players, from the comfort of their 21st-Century homes, they will be able to avoid the pillaging, pestilence, and the general chaos that took over the region by experiencing it through Conifer Games‘ flagship title.

Players will take on the role of a barbarian leader, looking to establish a foothold in the power-struggle that is engulfing the region. At the Gates boasts ever-changing landscapes that react to the seasons, a situational-request system to reinforce alliances, and all the tactical combat one would expect from a game of this type.

At first-glance, At the Gates doesn’t look like the kind of game that would rake in so much money, so quickly. The graphical style looks about the norm for an indie strategy game, and the Kickstarter reward tiers are all pretty average. However, things take an interesting turn once it’s realized that the Jon Shafer associated with the project (who funded Conifer Games out of his own savings) is the same Jon Shafer who was the lead designer for Civilization V, a.k.a. one of the most popular history-focused strategy games, ever. Things are beginning to make sense.

Currently, the Kickstarter campaign is sitting at $28,495, but that figure will surly have climbed by the time I finish writing out this article. Conifer Games is looking to collect $40,000 total, so essentially they have reached the half-way mark, in a little over a day. While a playable prototype is complete, Conifer Games wants to put more effort into solidifying the artificial intelligence in the game as well as polish the game’s visual style further.

“We’re not sitting on a massive pile of cash,” Shafer explains on the Kickstarter page, “we don’t have a publisher and, as of right now, any future expenses will come directly out of the team’s pocket…$40,000 is not a large budget for a game with this kind of scope. But it’s sufficient to finish At the Gates because we’ve already made significant progress, and have a very small development team. Raising more than that would let us add even more features to the game than we’ve talked about here, so we’re certainly hoping to not just meet this threshold but shoot beyond it!”

Conifer Games plans to have At the Gates ready for Alpha testing this July, with a closed Beta available in January of 2014. Access to both the Alpha and the Beta builds are available as Kickstarter funding rewards. Visit the Kickstarter page for At the Gates to keep up with the game’s development, and check out Shafer’s dev blog, which he plans to keep up with in the coming weeks.

We’ve finally hit the point where XBLIG games are jumping ship to PC before they’ve even come to XBLIG. They Bleed Pixels by Spooky Squid Games has long been one of the most eagerly awaited releases on Microsoft’s beleaguered indie development platform, but it looks like it’s going to be hitting our big desktop boxes before then. Check the spooooooooooky announcement trailer OF DEATH:

And here’s another (older) trailer, showing more of the gameplay and featuring a bunch of guest levels by other indie developers. Also, Ponycorns and an apology for the game running late.

Doubly amusing: The game has since missed the second release window they put forward in that trailer. Oops? Either way, the game looks great. A mixture of hardcore spike-dodging platforming and a vaguely Devil May Cry-esque combo system, all wrapped in slightly tongue-in-cheek Lovecraftian horror stylings. Just look at that little girl’s gleeful smile as she grows mystical blood-spikes instead of hands.

Looks like they’ve dropped the XBLIG release plans entirely, but given the pitiful sales figures on there for anything that isn’t Avatar Minecraft Zombiefest 2012 these days, I’m not surprised. No fixed date on this one (probably for the best), but with an official Steam Windows/PC release window worked out, their vague guesstimate of ‘soon’ should probably be accurate enough for now. Keep an eye on the official site and (of course) IGM for more details as they surface, writhing unfathomably from the blasphemous, tenebrous depths.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Eldritchly Gibbous Platformer ‘They Bleed Pixels’ Announced For Steam

Chucklefish’s Starbound has been rapidly clawing its way up my ‘most wanted’ list, and this latest development video makes me want it even more. Billed as being kinda like Terraria, but going much further with the idea of procedurally generated worlds and creatures, they seem to be trying to cram in everything and the kitchen sink as far as features go. One key feature has been mentioned a few times, but never really demo’d until now. Here’s some teaser footage showing off how water behaves in the game:

Impressive stuff, with the flow of water able to drag players around, and pressures of various levels being possible. With sufficient mechanical parts, you could probably create some impressive water-powered machinery. You can read more about it in this official dev-blog update. The developers are also keen to point out that they were running that test online, and despite the players being spread out across three countries and two continents, nobody was experiencing any lag.

The ‘blocky’ look of the flowing water is just a placeholder effect, and apparently it’ll look a little more liquid-like in the final build. On that note, there’s no release date set on the game yet, although I’d be quite surprised if we didn’t see the first publicly playable builds released by the end of the year. We’ll be keeping a very close eye on this one as it develops.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Terraria Successor ‘Starbound’ Boasts Fluid Dynamics, Slick Netcode