Face-Plant Adventures is a platform game with puzzle elements in which development started in 2011 as a side project the title has come a long way since its humble beginning the other year. Coming from being the finalist in Dream Build Play 2012 to the Xbox Live Marketplace by the indie developer Oddworm Games. Check out the brand new launch trailer below to start to get a feel what Face-Plant Adventures is all about:
Face-Plant Adventures looks to of shaped up to be a nice puzzle platformer with some interesting elements, you play through the game as this strange looking plant creature on a mission to traverse this unforgiving landscape. The levels are all beautifully hand drawn with a constant eerie tone set over the top making for some very beautiful and highly atmospheric gameplay.
Face-Plant Adventures contains 11 challenging levels in the adventure mode tasking the player to solve tricky switch puzzles and retrieving the lost golden leaves. The game also has the selection of three difficulty settings allowing the players of all skill level to still enjoy this crazy puzzle platformer.
Face-Plant Adventures looks to be a worthy addition to the Xbox Live marketplace adding another great title. Face-Plant Adventures is the debut title from the German team Oddworm Games and hopefully will be the first in a long line of great titles released by them. If you are interested in Face-Plant Adventures check it out on the Xbox Live marketplacehereor on your console.
I am sure that plenty of people are out there who wish that more quirky action exploration 2D platformers would come to the Xbox Live Indie Arcade, well your wish has indeed been granted now. Magicians And Looters is the interesting creation of Morgopolis Studios with the entire gaming being packed to the rafters with castles, forests, caverns, and even an underground city.
What originally attracted me to Magicians And Looters was the way this game in many ways did remind me of Dungeons Of Dredmor. The gameplay is different however the styling and humour over the top is distinctly paralleled in both titles and hopefully this game will be a blast to play much like Dungeons Of Dredmor was.
Although still in relatively early phases of its development cycle Magicians And Looters looks very promising and contains plenty of puzzles, treasure, traps, shops, obstacle courses, secrets and all manner of monsters to keep even the most diligent adventurer busy for hours. On top of the strong fundamentals that Magicians And Looters seem to include it has a lot of interesting and fun innovations as well.
Some of the ideas expressed by Morgopolis Studios are the ability to gain levels by exploring new areas, allowing you to discover secrets instead of endless hours of conventionally grinding hostiles for that sweet sweet experience fix. I feel this adds a nice touch and something that alters the gameplay no doubt to a great extent, this is not the only “gimmick” however as expect an epic rescue mission full of gnomes, wizards, and talking cats slightly unconventional. Along with an apparently abridged game mode to cut down on the walls of text you receive in game to give a general gist of the matters at hand (I am actually not certain if this is a joke but I love the idea).
This game seems to be packed with interesting fun content, i am not even done on a run down of it all just quite yet so here is some more interesting features being implemented:
Mix and Match equipment – To create a great balance of benefits and penalties to get the optimum loadouts
Touching enemies does not cause damage, unless they are covered in spikes
Play as three different characters, each demanding their own style of combat to master
No button-mashing! Melee is all about blocking, dodging and counter-attacking
Unless powered up and entering blitz mode then mash away
Magicians And Looters looks to be a very fun and quirky title coming to the Xbox Live Indie Arcade next year. Check out Morgopolis Studios site hereand be sure to check back to The Indie Game Magazine for all the latest news as it happens
After a successful launch of the beautiful Trine 2 late last year, Finnish developer Frozenbyte began work on an expansion to their excellent physics based platformer. Announced just a few weeks ago Frozenbyte has worked fast into adding more to an already substantial game. The expansion titled Trine 2: Goblin Menace features a new story adding to the Trine world.
The original Trine was interesting, because it allowed a player to control three separate characters to solve puzzles. The player would switch between each as needed, or play with two others in co-operative multiplayer. The three characters – a Knight, Wizard and Rogue, would each used their own skills to help each other move past areas. Trine 2: Goblin Menace adds six new abilities and skills to the player characters, which are useable in Trine 2 as well.
The new story of Trine 2: Goblin Menace focuses around, you guessed it, Goblins. The three protagonists will travel through heat, ice, and “the insides of a giant sand worm.” The expansion also features improved graphics, new enemies, puzzles and Steam achievements. All of the content included in Trine 2: Goblin Menace will also be available in the Trine 2 Director’s Cut when released on the Nintendo WiiU
To find out more about Trine 2, read the Indie Game Magazine review here.
You can purchase Trine 2: Goblin Menace on it’s Steam Store Page. Doing so before September 15th will earn you a 15% discount on the expansion pack. Trine 1 and 2 are also both on sale for a 75% discount. You can visit the developer’s website here, or tweet them here.
I was just searching around on the internet like you do and stumbled across a very interesting indie developer who goes by the name Winged Doom. Apparently he is a Russian developer who has been working on a string of projects over the past couple of years seeming to only develop them to a certain level before moving on which I found very disappointing considering how they look. He is currently throwing all of his effort into a title called Journey to Hammerdale which looks to be a modern day take on the classic Zelda titles on the early Nintendo systems and by all accounts looks like it will be a great title.
However out of all his products he is working on the title Stealer took my by complete surprise because although still in very early stages it looks fantastic, the art styling is just exactly what I would love to see in more games. Be sure to check out the video concept below for the sequel to Stealer (same art style).
Stealer is billed to be a run and gun type platform game focused greatly on the atmosphere, set in a highly stylized Sci-Fi setting where a malevolent faction controls the populous forever expanding its borders into uncharted space engulfing all that it comes in contact with. Stealer is set in this universe although now the overlords have become fractured and the empire is in the throes of a civil war, the story seems sound enough and is still in development much like the rest of his game.
Stealer is just one of many titles that Winged Doom is currently working on all of which look fantastic, with his chosen style to be creating games that have much more of a retro art styling which is undeniably fantastic and very eye catching. I hope no one has gotten their hopes up too much as it is hard to say if he will ever complete a project, he seems to be unable to settle on just one but from the way his titles look I would say he has potential to come out with some great titles.
That said I am sure if he worked on all the visuals and stories maybe with another programmer he could get some great titles out into the indie market, as there is quite the buzz for Stealer over at the TIGForums. Winged Doom’s website can be found hereand I suggest for all of you who like the look of his stuff to actually get him motivated to finish these fantastic looking games.
Today brings sights and sounds of Andrew Morrish’s upcoming release of Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe. It’s a wonderful thing, really, involving two of gaming’s greatest genres – the puzzler and the platformer – mashed together and served up for those who know they want to play something thinky and something jumpy but just can’t figure out which one to plump for.
Spawned originally as a flash game without the fancy ‘Deluxe’ tagging, Morrish has evolved what I like to term his original ‘puzzformer’ into an entirely new beast. It’s currently in development for PC and OSX (or so the developer has recently confirmed via Twitter) and besides what made the original game so fascinating (i.e. falling blocks and shooting blocks already fallen) we’ll be getting more guns, more obstacles to dodge and a definitive multiplayer mode with which to thrash friends and family. What more could you ask for? Oh yes – the trailer:
No release date has yet been given, but this latest update suggests it’s not too far off and something tells me a lot of people will be keeping an eye out for this entering Greenlight.
As always, be sure to check out the dev’s blog for crucial updates. And, if you haven’t played the original iteration, then now’s the time to do so. For my money it’s smartly designed and taps directly into that nostalgic 16-bit thrill that so many modern indies attempt to replicate but so often full short. It’s also free and just two clicks from being in front of your face. So what are you waiting for?
This week has been very interesting, I have found many great games from new developers showcasing some amazing ideas in their shorts. Below is a brief round up to finish off this week showing the titles from this week just incase you missed any and hell it is sunday it is not like you really have anything better to do. For the original article click the title and for the game click the image.
An interesting game from T J Hughes where you play as a fish and must eat smaller fish to evole, a fun game to while away a couple of minutes with some nice visuals. With addition of a scoring system this game would be so much fun.
A great concept showing that puzzle games can still contain elements that are very unexpected. The concept is fantastic and I hope Daniël Haazen takes the idea created and produces a full game featuring similar design elements.
Beautiful pixel-art graphics and lovingly created environments Limit is a fun platformer with a great concept focusing on evolution. A fun short that has potential to be developed into a full game by Sakuyan.
Another great looking game, nice distinct stages as you evolve each level offers new challenges and rewards. A great working model which could easily be taken further into a dynamic and interesting platform game by Jussi Simpanen.
A frantic and fun platformer where you are continually fighting against the virus who has invaded the system. A fun game with great visuals making this virtual battle arena very fun to play in and well worth your time so give it a go, from the creative mind of Juan Karlo Licudines.
Fantastic little puzzle platformer what relies quite heavily on interesting uses of sound in combination with key pressing combos making for a nice take on puzzle games. The game has a great art styling lovingly put together along with very fun and interesting unique gameplay dynamics by Mark Foster.
Be sure to check back tomorrow for the start of next week’s Indie Intermission looking at more great fun indie games short enough to be played over your coffee break.
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!
Frozenbyte earlier announced the long awaited expansion pack for their sensational action, adventure platformer Trine 2. This latest installment Trine 2 : Goblin Menace will be available from September 6th although for anyone lucky enough to already have the Trine 2 Collectors edition will get immediate access to the beta containing two levels from Trine 2 : Goblin Menace available until September 6th. Frozenbyte hope to get valuable feedback from the beta of which is directed here, be sure to check out the Gamescom trailer below to look at how this expansion will improve Trine 2:
Don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on Trine 2 : Goblin Menace on launch as the original Trine 2 will include lots of new updates including new skills along with cross compatibility multiplayer with Trine 2 : Goblin Menace “We wanted to give our loyal fans something extra and also get some early feedback before the official launch.” said Lauri Hyvärinen, Ceo of Frozenbyte. Much of the Trine 2 update has already been applied totaling 2Gb of fixes and ground work to ensure that as soon as Trine 2 : Goblin Menace is released multiplayer functionality will be fully up and running.
Trine 2 : Goblin Menace will expand on much of what Trine 2 implemented include an all new campaign spanning six unique levels along with additional skills creating a great reason to pick Trine 2 back up and battle through this promising new instalment. The News doesn’t stop there as anyone eagerly awaiting the release of the Wii U as all this additional content will be included in the Trine 2: Director’s Cut along with several enhancements and Wii U exclusive features, additional information will be released closer to the release on the Wii U platform and after all news of Trine 2 : Goblin Menace on the PC should hold everyone over until the Wii U is launched.
Trine 2 : Goblin Menace will be available for PC and Mac from Steam on September 6th at the cost of $7.99 however expect a small launch discount for early birds. Expect to see Trine 2 : Goblin Menace coming to Mac App Store and Linux in the not too distant future.
Earlier today I got an email from Juan Karlo Licudine asking me to check out his game developed for the Ludum Dare 24 and of course I could not resist. Complexitivity is a very interesting spin on the theme of evolution by delving into a system invaded by an ever evolving virus.
In Complexitvity you play what I can only assume is the anti-virus software trying to repair holes within the system that the virus develops. You fill the holes by picking up repair kits from the ground and after collecting enough to fulfill that levels criteria the virus will evolve creating holes at a much more rapid rate making this game quite the hectic platformer.
The Arena design is very clever giving you a great sense that you are doing battle with this unseen menace trying to continually throw you out of the system. Having the virus visually represented on the monitors around the area is a great design choice feeling like a throw back to classic hacking films whilst creating a sinister atmosphere for the arena overall.
The graphics are nice with plenty of attention to detail creating a setting fulfilling the Sci-Fi theme with a hint of Tron, which is very apt for a game essentially set in a computer system. Complexitivity is great fun and very frantic as you progress with this game making it a great addition to LD24 please check it out hereand if you like it as always rate it.
Average Time to complete – Less than one hour
If you are interested in more games from Juan Karlo Licudines his site can be found here, currently he has a few games in development with Run, Panda, Run! catching my eye and we will have information on this title as and when it develops on The Indie Game Magazine.
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!
Today I am going to be looking at yet another game placed in the Ludum Dare 24 following the theme of evolution, similar to my last entry Limit, Tiny Evolution Adventure starts you out as a basic organism and forces you to battle for survival by eating you wat quite literally up the food chain.
The games overall gameplay is very well put together and makes for a solid platformer that changes as you level up most notably from the second to third stage with spiders seeming to be these colossal monsters at the top of the food chain, only to become a tiny species with you frequently eat on the following level after your evolution. The evolution of the stages I feel was one of the strongest elements behind this game and made for fun gameplay.
The overall art style is very nice, cartoony which lends itself to the overall game flow with a lot of great detail being apparent in the scenery and sprites making for a very nice visual game with distinct stage designs. The music is also very nice with each stage having its own music which is one thing that is often missing from these small indie games, but the changes in music makes for a nice distinction between stages and prevents it getting too repetitive.
If you are a fan of platformers then Tiny Evolution Adventures is for you, developed by Jussi Simpanen for Ludum Dare 24 you can play the web version here and if you enjoy it of coursevote for it.
Average time to complete: 10 minutes
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 ontwitteror shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!
Do not be confused; the title is literal. Okay, now be confused, because the title is literal. Face-Plant Adventures from Oddworm Games, named such because of a plant with a human mouth for a main character, is a side-scrolling platformer in which players will perform a variety of platformer-related activities. Turns out Florence Face-Plant, an inhabitant of Plantylon and our gallant main character, enjoys a few mundane activities; clock collecting, swimming, wall jumping, rail sliding, gliding, and, of course, dying over and over again. Activities which we all crave and to which we can relate.
The origin of Face-Plant Adventures stems from an entry into Microsoft’s Dream, Build, Play 2012 Challenge. As a top 20 finalist, Oddworm Games’ Face-Plant Adventures gained permission for release on the Xbox 360 come September. In joyful celebration Oddworm Games released access to a Youtube video for all us public to see:
The video showcases Florence Face-Plant’s abilities and shows promise of classic 2D platformer gaming. To complement the 2D side-scrolling functionality are 11 levels to explore and defeat, unlockable medals and awards, switch puzzles, three difficulty settings, and online rankings. Accompanying all the features is an original soundtrack.
Face-Plant Adventures appears to be a promising platform adventure which combines elements we all crave. Even though that plant-face hybrid freaks me out a bit. If you are interested in picking up Face-Plant Adventures, it will be available for the Xbox 360 off of the indie game’s marketplace in September for a mere 80 Microsoft dollars, err points. You can check out Florence and the Oddworm Games crew on Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, Oddworm Games’ official website, or ever follow Florence Face-Plant on Twitter.
