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

Deep in a dark room all you can hear is the puncturing sound of a heart melodically beat, over and over. Today I look at Save a game created for the Global Game Jam 2013 by TrueBlueCreature.

Save is a maze game in which you must navigate largely based on the sound of the heart. It’s an interesting idea and one I feel can work very well, however it did feel that Save had some issues with this method of navigation. The biggest problems came on the latter levels where the heart would beat you to the person but failed to take into consideration there where now teleporters.

The graphics choice being created in such a minimalistic manner is great and emphasises the character much more.  Although the colour pallet does feel a little bit grey the overall idea was a good choice, even if the colour pallet was not ideal in my mind.

Average play time – 10 minutes

Save is quite the innovative little game that adds a whole other level to puzzle games by changing the focus from visual clues to audio ones. It’s a great idea and one that with added time can be fleshed out a bit more and with the addition of power-ups and more varied levels Save could become a very interesting little game, maybe for mobile.

Check out Save’s GGJ2013 page and give it a go.

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 – ‘Save’ How A Bat Must Feel

If like me you have had quite a lot of fun with super hard platformers such as Super Meat Boy and maybe unlike me are actually good at them then today’s pick is just for you.

Taken from The Escapist’s Indie Speed Run jam Spin Cycle is a great platform game created by The Brave Companions and has rightfully be placed in to the final ten as a People’s Choice selection.

Spin Cycle is a beautifully created platformer that will force you to spin and jump your way to the end, it’s a whole load of fun if not very difficult. Although the game may only last a couple of minutes (if you are competent). However it is much more likely you will rage quit in annoyance after only a few minutes, but it’s all fun and games.

Average play time – 10 minutes

Spin Cycle has great graphics and solid gameplay, although the keyboard controls leave a lot to be desired the controller support is great and as they say at the start it is the way you are meant to play it.

If you love Super Meat Boy and other ulta-hard platformers be sure to check out Spin Cycle on 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 – ‘Spin Cycle’ Spin Your Way To Victory

Following on today with more Global Game Jam 2013 games I bring you Amidos Entertainment’s entry, Simple Love. Following the theme of a heartbeat Amidos takes the concept rather literally as you navigate around this maze by following the sound of a heart beating.

In my opinion the heartbeat idea is an interesting one. However in Simple Love the heart beating did feel a little over engineered as the maze was very straightforward, and short. I assume this comes down to the game being made in just 48 hours. But I think this concept could be elaborated on and worked into a game to revival secrets and such.

The art style was very nice, it was very minimalistic but suited the game perfectly – and I have a thing for minimalistic games. With a puzzle game that takes such a minimalistic approach there is always the problem of creating room after room of the same thing, luckily this was not the case here. The game progresses nicely and even though being a top down game Amidos introduces a jump mechanic that I personally quite enjoyed, it just added a nice extra challenge and worked surprisingly well.

One of the biggest weakness however comes from Amidos not being a native English speaker. This becomes ever more apparent with the text seen throughout the game which suffers from being written by a none native English speaker. It is because of this it falls short of being romantic, and even occasional borders on the creepy side. No doubt the game being done in such a blitz didn’t help this and I feel the writing suffers a little because of it.

Average play time – 5 Minutes

Simple Love is a charming little game that plays surprisingly well. Of course being created within 48 hours getting a game from a blank screen into a working model can be very challenging, however Simple Love feels rather good for a jam game. Of course there is still a fair amount of refinement to be done here and there but overall Simple Love is a solid entry into the competition.

You can play Simple Love on Newgrounds (or other sites), The Global Game Game 2013 page for the game can be found here and Amidos entertainment”s site can be found here.

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 – ‘Simple Love’ Jump For My Love

So one of the things we’ll be doing this year is giving away games to our insider subscribers on a weekly basis.  First up, we have the epic RPG series the Geneforge Saga (1-5).  The keys below are first come first serve to Insider or Insider Plus subscribers only.  You can subscribe to our website here.

[This Content is Exclusive for Insider]

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Geneforge Giveaway for Insiders

Today’s game was created a little while ago and was even covered to some degree on the site. However this was before I got here and felt after reading Amidos’ year in review for 2012 it was only appropriate to look back over one of his best games from the year (that I didn’t cover) The Power.

The Power is a very interesting metroidvania game that has a very interesting and unique art style, created by Amidos and Alexitron. The art style is fantastic and very retro as everything appears to have been created in a vector manner, with all manner of smooth empty shapes really harking back to very early video games.

Aside from the interesting graphics and nice bit tune music the game plays out very intuitively and you will fluidly move throughout the many areas in the game. The Power is a game that is great fun from start to finish and proves to be a worthy addition to the genre.

Average play time – Less than one hour

The Power has been lovingly crafted from some of the finest shapes around. It provides a really fun experience throughout and although the music may slowly start to get repetitive you can mute it so this is not too much of a problem.

I managed to stumble across The Power whilst reading over Amidos‘ year in review and it was a compelling read, documenting the ups and downs of indie development. It really is a must for any budding indie developer as it delivers a full picture of what it’s like to try to break into the industry.

Be sure to play The Power now as you won’t regret it, and if you want to read Amidos blog or just look over some of his other games check out his official 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 ‘The Power’ Back

Welcome to the third installment of IGM News Recap, where we go over the biggest indie gaming news every other day. Like what you see? Be sure to LIKE the video and SUBSCRIBE to the channel to be notified of our latest content.
Here are the stories for this week:

The nominees for the Independent Games Festival 2013 are…

The Free Bundle offers five indie games for…Free!

‘Hartacon Tactics’ Bringing multiplayer RPG strategy to Xbox Live, PC

IGM Mobile-The Best 3DS & Vita indies of 2012

In today’s Indie Links: Making a video game out of paper, the end of a doomed journey, and why making your players suffer can be a good thing.

FTL: The Fatal Frontier – The Last Stand (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“These were the voyages of the Starship Moggy. Its eight-sector mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new weapons and new system upgrades, to boldly go somewhere no-one has come back alive from before (apart from save-scummers).”

The Benefits Of Making Your Players Suffer (And Maybe Throw Up) (Gamasutra)
“Bennett Foddy, creator of QWOP, GIRP, and CLOPamong others, likes to play with his players, and he suggests that more of us should be doing the same. At the top of his talk at IndieCade on Friday, he asserted, ‘I’m going to try to convince you to put more suffering in your games.’”

Double Droids And The Wonder Of Game Development (Hookshot Inc.)
“This weekend I made an award-winning video game. I should probably clarify that.”

Video Game Origami: ‘Derrick The Deathfin’ Goes From Paper To Playstation (The Verge)
“There’s an incredible diversity in the kinds of graphics that video games have presented us with over the years, but developers are still managing to find ways to surprise us. Derrick the Deathfin is a new downloadable title launching today on the PlayStation Network that not only looks it was made out of paper, at one point it actually was. In order to make the art style as realistic as possible, the team at developer Different Tuna crafted papercraft models of each object before making them part of the game world. It’s a lengthy process but one that adds a sense of realism to a game about a cartoon shark. Or as Different Tuna’s Gordon Midwood says, it creates ‘something that’s kind of organic, that doesn’t look like every other video game.’”

TIGSource Devlog: Dom2D’s Visual Showcase Of Awesome New Games, Issue #1 (Venus Patrol)
“Since 2005, TIGSource has hosted the largest forum dedicated to independent game development. Its devlog section, in particular — where developers show their work-in-progress and get feedback from the community — has proven to be a goldmine for amazing design, gorgeous art and constructive criticism. As a game designer and an artist myself, I find these quite inspiring and feel these projects deserve more attention.”

iOS Hit Nihilumbra Coming to PC (IndieGames)
“Beautifun Games’ iOS puzzle platformer hit Nihilumbra is coming to Windows and Mac. Our own Cassandra Khaw appreciated the iOS version’s 10+ hours of gameplay. Additions to the PC versions include improved atmospheric and weather effects, new HD textures, an improved and fully remastered soundtrack with a new song, and minigames.”

Kickstarter Katchup – 6th October 2012 (Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“It’s glum in the Katchup this week and I’ve been spending most of this fine Saturday morning wiping the tears from my eyes with a twenty pound note. If only I’d pledged it to the promise of a game instead of using it as a handkerchief for all these long months. If only! Two of my personal favourites have fallen by the wayside and there’s only one winner, although it is an interesting one by virtue of not being an obvious success story, powered to victory by the presence of a celebrity developer. There are a few projects on the verge of success and if I were writing this on Monday, the ‘Winners’ column would probably be much more satisfactorily populated.”

(Not) Getting Noticed On Steam Greenlight: Incredipede’s Story (Joystiq)
“In the indie world of secret handshakes and underground brunch meetings, there’s a specific phrase for the following complex process, as described by developer Colin Northway: ‘Apply to Steam, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by Valve, release on Steam.’ This is widely accepted as the ‘Offspring Fling’ submission process. It takes the name of Kyle Pulver’s retro platformer, which launched on Steam in May, months after not launching on Steam, despite Pulver’s attempts. Northway shares this rejection jargon with us in terms of his own puzzle game, Incredipede, and Steam Greenlight:”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie-Links Round Up: Construction Crustaceans

We hear a lot about fundraising on Kickstarter, but today’s Developer Links include an article on how to take advantage of the alternative crowdsourcing site, Indiegogo.  Plus, crafting systems, prototyping, and the future of games on Windows 8.

Don’t Look Back Now Available For iOS And Android (Distractionware: Devlog)
“About a week ago, I took a day out from working on Super Hexagon stuff to do a fun side thing – I ported one of my old games, Don’t Look Back, to mobile. It’s available now on both iOS and Android. (It was a pretty simple port, thanks to Adobe AIR’s mobile exporter.)”

Indiegogo Interview – Tips For Crowdfunding Success (Independent Gaming)
“It always saddens me to see a crowd-funding campaign (an indie game or otherwise) go down the toilet so I contacted Danae Ringelmann, the Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Indiegogo, to give us some tips on how to have a successful campaign. NOTE: Information from this article applies to non-indie gaming projects as well.”

The Next Twenty Years: What Windows 8′s Closed Distribution Means For Developers (Gamasutra)
“For the first time in the history of the PC, Microsoft is rolling out a new Windows ecosystem for which they will be the sole software distributor. If you buy Windows 8, the only place you will be able to download software that integrates with its new user interface will be the official Windows Store. Microsoft will have complete control over what software will be allowed there.”

Lunar, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Gravity Rush, and Radiant Historia! (Zeboyd Games)
“Time for some random thoughts on various games I’ve been playing!”

Building A Crafting System (Computer Games)
“Recently I’m working mostly on the visual novel Heileen 3 but in reality, I always work on 2-3 projects at once. I’ve been thinking about a crafting system, since 3 of my upcoming games (and maybe more!) could use it.”

Indie Tools: Quest (IndieGames)
“Having already covered my dear Inform 7 and the excellent Twine, Indie Tools now presents you with another, radically different tool for your text-adventure needs: Quest. Unlike Twine that can almost exclusively be used for choose-your-own-adventures and Inform 7 whose attempt at a natural language scripting environment can alienate, Quest uses a menu-driven system supported by a very simple scripting language. Truth be said, most basic stuff can be achieved via almost intuitive pointing-and-clicking, meaning you can have a simple first game ready in minutes.”

Rapid Prototyping: Tips For Running An Effective R&D Process (Gamasutra)
“So you realize that it’s important to prototype your ideas before launching into production — but how do you do it? Arkadium’s director of R&D, Tom Rassweiler, lifts the veil on his company’s process and explains why it shifted to central R&D for new game prototypes.”

Where Do You All Come From? (Unknown Worlds)
“We spend 99% of our time working to make Natural Selection 2 awesome, so we do not often think about ‘corporate’ stuff. We do however have an Unknown Worlds motto: ‘Unite the world through play.’ Throughout the development of NS2, there has always been the sense that the game was a global phenomenon.”

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Dev Links: Red Woods

It wouldn’t really be Halloween if I didn’t include at least one game with scary weird possesed kids in, would it. Shadow Tag really does like to throw you into a maze (literally) of possessed kids. Armed only with your flashlight you have to find the keys and progressively more items to get the hell out of there.

It really is quite remarkable that the game was created over 48 hours for the Newgrounds Cabin Jam as the end result is so well crafted you would never of known. From the fluid and well designed graphics and animations to the ultra spooky and very awesomely designed audio Shadow Tag really does send a  tingle down your spine.

For me even though the graphics are perfect the audio really sold me this game. It is no overdone but being added subtly. You will hear all sorts of ambiance along side creepy kids voices calling to you. It really does an amazing job of setting the scene and to me really sets this game apart from many horror games.

The premise of the game is to find your way around the maze and acquire all your belonging to escape in the car before the children can catch up to you. This can be very difficult as they home in to you continually like little pests unrelenting in their assault.

Even the best prepared person can be quite taken aback by the startling shock you get when the kids finally find you, it is quite… Terrifying.

Average play time – 2 minutes per level

Shadow Tag really does a great job at setting the creepy horror mood via the audio and fantastic visual design. I still find it hard to wrap my head around this game being designed in 48 hours, but the developers must be a very talented bunch. Play Shadow Tag this Halloween on Newgrounds here. Shadow Tag was created by the great bunch at Elvidian.

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 – ‘Shadow Tag’ Embodies Everything That Is Creepy About Children