Genova, Italy - UNAgames, an indie game developer studio, today announces that they will run a special contest on the first two days of launch of Tapsteroids, its arcade style action shooter game for iOS devices. On Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd for every 100 copies sold of Tapsteroids a $10 US iTunes Gift Card will be given away to players. Therefore it's simple: more players, more gift cards, more chances to win!

UNAgames wants to celebrate the release of its new iOS game Tapsteroids looking to reward many of its players: subscribing with their Game Center nicknames and submitting a score playing with Tapsteroids will suffice to win the prizes. Players can subscribe using Facebook, Twitter or via UNAgames website.

About Tapsteroids:
Tapsteroids will be on sale on Thursday, September 1st and will cost just $.99. This fast-peaced space action shooter is a tribute to the classic arcade games in the era of touch. The player is assigned the important task of protecting navigation routes from dangerous storms of asteroids that infest the space, ensuring the safety of all spacecraft operating in his area and landing to his space station. Featuring over 20 achievements as well as Game Center integration, Retina Display graphics (also on iPad!), four different weapons, infinite levels for hours of gameplay, Tapsteroids will keep players entertained for a good while.


UNAgames is an indie game development studio based in Genoa, Italy, focused on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices. The team is comprised of Daniele, a cutting-edge programmer with a AAA development experience and Erika, a mathematician with a passion for graphics. 

August 29,2011 - Discord Games would like to announce the release of their debut independent title Take Arms. Featured in the Indie Games Summer Uprising promotion, Take Arms is a 2D multiplayer class-based shooter available on Xbox Live Indie Games for 240 MSP.

Take Arms delivers fast, challenging gameplay for up to 8 players over Xbox Live or System Link with stunning anime-style HD artwork, all at a smooth 60 FPS. Play as three different classes: the quick and light Striker equipped with a sniper rifle, the slow and heavy Destroyer equipped with a belt-fed machine gun, or the middle-ground Grunt with burst-fire assault rifle. Dominate three diverse locales (Bridge, Forest Complex, & Trainyard) and three game types (DM, TDM, & CTF). Practice in solo mode with bots that support multiple difficulty levels and all game types. Track your experience as you gain ranks and earn badges.

A Launch trailer is now available. Discord Games previously released a Teaser trailer featuring narration by Jon St. John, and a timelapse video documenting the design and development process of the game from August 2009 through April 2011. All 3 vidoes are below:







About Discord Games


Discord Games is an independent game studio founded by James Petruzzi and Tim Dodd in 2009. Our goal is to combine modern game design with solid, 2D gameplay. We have just completed our debut title Take Arms for Xbox Live Indie Games.


http://www.discordgames.com
http://www.takearmsgame.com

Henderson, NV/USA - August 29 - Independent developer Landauer Games has announced that their up and coming massively multi-player online video game for the PC, Star Sonata 2, will be begin Beta testing starting September 10.

A well-loved indie persists through the years

The original Star Sonata (http://www.StarSonata.com) launched in late 2004, and has enjoyed continuously increasing popularity for seven years. Current players particularly enjoy the mixture of action and RPG elements along with the persistent sandbox nature of all the bases, colonies, and trading ships that players can control. It is like a hybrid of Asteroids, World of Warcraft, and Sim City. The small development team is very active with the community and has been developing Star Sonata 2 for 4 years.

Star Sonata 2 brings "retro" back to "modern"

Star Sonata 2 improves upon the original with 3d graphics, a greatly improved user interface, RTS-like controls for your ships, drones, and bases, inter-dimensional invasions that the players must cooperatively fight, expanded tech levels, and an amazing new musical score. It transforms the retro-style of Star Sonata 1 into a polished, modern MMORPG.

FEATURES

* Action-based combat and movement
* 8 classes, 4 trade skills, and 127 total skills that the players can train as they progress.
* Almost 2000 missions
* Thousands of different items that can be obtained or constructed
* Sandbox style universe with persistent space bases, colonies, automated trading ships, and defensive drones.
* RTS-like controls for controlling your slave ships, combat drones, and bases
* Universe separated into PvP and non-PvP zones
* Players can advance economically by trading between bases, creating their own bases and colonies, killing enemies, collecting PvP bounties, or completing missions.
* The universe "resets" every 3-4 months and re-randomizes most of the galaxies creating new conflict where there once was settled borders.
* A player can "win" the game by declaring himself emperor and defending his palace successfully until the end of a universe.


AVAILABILITY 
Players may sign up now for beta testing at: http://www.StarSonata2.com Beta testing will begin starting September 10. 

Get ready to dodge mouse traps and... erm... bombs? Snap Trap! is the latest game for the iPhone and iPod Touch by indie developer 8 Bit Grenade. The features of this game include intuitive and unique touch screen controls, gameplay, and concept. This game is projected to be released on the app store in the next couple of weeks.  Looks like it will have a real retro feel to it (which is only to be expected from a developer with 8 Bit in their title!).

Then read on ...

You are given a total of 15 words, from which you will choose three to play with. These will be your game words, to juggle their letters around and create as many new words as you can, so choose wisely.

You can ask for a new set of 15 words if the current one isn't to your liking. But be careful! All three of your gaming words have to be chosen from the same set, so random wisely.
You can random even after you chose your words, in case you change your mind, but you will obviously lose the words you chosen so far.

There is no time limit, no pressure, no rush. If you got a few minutes to kill, take your phone out, find a few words, put it back in and continue whenever you feel like it.

There is no remaining words counter, it's all up to you to decide if the number of words found and points gathered so far are enough and worthy to end the game and submit your score.

You want a quick game? An easy game? A challenging one?
There's an option for each of your choices; you can select from a given set of choices how many letters will the random words have, each choice having it's own Leaderboard.

Features Game Center leaderboards for each category, 5 color themes, landscape and left-handed support.

Let the best Juggler win!

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Temporality Arc 23-March 2058
The true purpose of the project was not astronomical studies, but daring spacetime-warping experiments.

When Project Temporality arrived at its posting outside Neptune and the Kuiper belt, the management announced the truth to the personnel. The protests that have arisen since have now brought the project executive, Admiral Melville, to come forward and advice everyone to behave:

"You are all among the top performers of the entire human race in your respective fields, and we should expect your qualifications to include flexibility, bravery and loyalty. The secrecy of this mission has provided security for us all, and now that it has been lifted, you should be proud to serve a cause not only more vital and more honorable than the one you signed up for, but also more so than anything anyone has done before. So hang in there, troopers! It's not like you can do anything else out here anyway."

In an attempt to soothe the public, Defrost Games, the producer behind Project Temporality, states that the project's placement outside the planetary system, and its fictitious nature, most probably will protect Earth from harm in case anything goes horribly wrong. They also add, somewhat curiously, that "any problem can be solved by a hero designed in your own image".



About Project Temporality
Project Temporality is a time manipulation based third person action game best described as “It’s Portal meets Braid on crack, with avatars.”. It was recently submitted to Microsoft’s prestigious Dream.Build.Play. competition. Where it has been selected as one of the 20 Semi Finalists.


About Defrost Games
Defrost Games was founded in 2010 and is located in Malmo, Sweden. With the mission of bringing fun, polished and thought provoking games to everyone. The focus of the studio is to produce games for the downloadable market for Consoles and PC.


www.defrostgames.com

Orange County, California - Liv Games announces 1 million downloads and a major content update to the acclaimed hybrid fantasy game, Legendary Wars, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Legendary Wars offers a unique blend of traditional RTS, RPG, and castle-defense game-play, set in a beautifully crafted, fantasy world. Legendary Wars V1.5 introduces the Legendary Arena; a unique take on the gameplay with new challenges and monsters to encounter. With new healing units, dozens of unique special abilities, and fantastic magic spells, Legendary Wars offers exciting new gameplay for everyone.

Players will battle new monsters and beasts in the Legendary Arena. Heroes can only be summoned once and monsters will drop gems that the player must collect; bringing a new twist on the popular established gameplay. To aid the heroes in the arena, a new magical healing unit joins your quest. Players can upgrade the new unit to charm and directly control monsters against one another.

A new monster difficulty has been added to challenge even the most dedicated fans. To help players through the expanded campaign, a Sunstone spell book has been added with five distinct magic spells. Players can unleash the magic of the Sunstones for dazzling full screen special effects.

Legendary Wars has a rich, unique blend of RTS, RPG and castle defense. As players journey through five mystical, they set out to unravel the secrets that surround the mysterious Sunstones of Legendaria. Throughout 50-plus stages, players can upgrade the stats of their units, fortify their castle, obtain legendary armor, and unlock even more powerful combat abilities. As the story progresses, players pit their champions against hordes of Netherworld creatures, and bosses that range from skeletons and zombies to massive frost-breathing dragons.

Feature Highlights:
* Legendary Arena with unique gameplay and over 100 waves to conquer.
* New healer unit with 3 Tiers to upgrade and ability to charm monsters.
* Magic Spell book with 5 spells with dazzling full screen special effects.
* New monsters and bosses in the Arena and expanded Campaign.
* Charm monsters and pit them against one another.
* Monster difficulty will challenge the most hardcore Legendary Wars players.

"After 7 months of release, were still adding new content to Legendary Wars. Our whole team has been thrilled with the enthusiastic response from our fans," Livnat continues. "We truly appreciate our players, and think the new update offers exciting new gameplay that fans have been clamoring for."

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
* iOS 3.1.3 or later (iOS 4.3 tested)
* 177 MB



Pricing and Availability:
Legendary Wars 1.5 is available at a price of $0.99 (USD) exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Located in Orange County, California, the Liv Games team is an independent gaming company founded by Orian Livnat in 2009. Liv Games is comprised of eight talented developers and artists who collectively share one goal, to make fun, addictive games that remind them why they began playing games in the first place.

Stockholm, Sweden - Today Wombi released the app called The Pirate's Treasure. It's a classic memory game that has been adapted for iPhone and iPad. The majority of all apps for children are designed for kids to play alone. The Pirate's Treasure, on the other hand, has a traditional board game approach where two children will share one device and interact with each other.

"We wanted to try to create an app where the iPhone or the iPad is a game board for several players. In that sense it was obvious to develop a traditional board game such as a memory game. The technical features of the iPhone and the iPad allowed us to add animations and sound effects to this classic game, which in turn creates an entirely new game experience," says Markus Wedenborn, developer and Co-Founder of Wombi apps.

The game idea in The Pirate's Treasure - a memory game is simple: after several years of searching in the Caribbean the pirates have finally found Captain Blackbeard's hidden treasure-chest. But how are they going to divide the treasure? In a classic pirate duel of course - playing a game of memory. Players can chose between eight different pirate characters. Further, music, sound effects and animations contribute to create the perfect pirate atmosphere.

Device Requirements: * iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.1 or later (iOS 4.0 Tested)
* 14.2 MB

Pricing and Availability: Suitable for children from 3 years of age and up, The Pirate’s Treasure - a memory game 1.0 is $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Education category.


Wombi was founded in January 2011 and released its first app in March. The company consists of three childhood friends who share the ambition to create fun and educational apps for kids. Wombi produces entertaining and educational apps for kids in all ages. New products such as tablet computers and smart phones offer brand new opportunities to read, learn and play - simply interacting with information. The company aims to seize this opportunity to create apps where entertainment and education go hand in hand. 

Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA – August 25, 2011 – Reflective Layer today announced the release of Air Lane, a casual air traffic control simulator.

Air Lane is an air traffic control game that lets the gamer guide approaching aircraft to designated runways. This is achieved by drawing a path from the aircraft to the runway. Upon landing of an aircraft the gamer gets paid certain amount of money. The challenge of Air Lane is to avoid mid-air collisions as the air space becomes crowded.

The game features special points along a flight path called Speed Beads. These beads allows a gamer to control the speed of an aircraft at that point.

Air Lane ships with four types of game mode called Work Load. Each work load offers a unique opportunity for the gamer to tackle a specific situation facing the airport. An example of a work load is the United Nations Special Session. In this situation the airport is visited by Heads of State from over 12 nations. As each Head of State aircraft arrives, a ceremonial greeting playing the national anthem along with the national flag is initiated. The Head of State aircraft is totally autonomous. The gamer must route other aircraft around the Head of State.


FEATURES

Nations: Head of State aircraft from over 12 nations visits airport, complete with anthem and flag.

Play Modes: There are 4 challenging play modes.
Calm Day, United Nations Special Session, Migrating Birds, Medical Emergency.
Each mode presents a unique challenge and consequence. This is in addition to
directing aircraft safely to the runway.

Speed Beads: With speed beads a gamer can slow down
an aircraft for a specific section of its flight path.

Airports: 3 airports in unique climate zones.
Farmville, Seaside, Arctic Circle. Each airport features its own visual style as
well as runway configuration.

Aircraft: 4 aircraft types each having a
specific speed, runway requirement and purpose.



Air Lane is available for $1.99 for Android. It may be downloaded from the Google Market Place

A Mac and Windows version will be available in the first half of September 2011.

For more detail about Air Lane: http://www.reflectivelayer.com/airlane


About Reflective Layer


Reflective Layer is an independent strategy game developer. Founded in 2006 by Dexter Kofa, Reflective Layer is focused on providing digital entertainment with real-world elements at its core.

Moscow, Russia - Independent developer Artem Vlasko today released the updated version of his board game known as iPoints HD. The developer transformed iPad into a board with the challenging strategy game of wits and tactics for the whole family. Updated version features new graphics, further improved functionality, and new AI logic for ultimate gaming experience.

Family board games of strategy will never go out of style because people have that competitive streak in them. Certainly not a game of chance, iPoints HD is a game that involves risk, strategy, provides hours of enjoyment and competitive fun. The objective of iPoints HD is to surround as many rival points as possible before the opponent managed to do it first.

iPoints HD helps to keep brain sharp while playing against artificial intelligence in single player mode, or a human opponent in multiplayer mode. 'Play and Pass' multiplayer mode lets users play with a friend on a single device. There is also a possibility to play with a random opponent or choose a rival by name playing online. One of the landmark features of the title is that a random opponent for the player is chosen by won/lost statistics which means that both players will be of equal ability and have a fifty-fifty chance to win or lose.

"Our game is a present for all iOS devices users who enjoy a strategy game challenge. We didn't use sophisticated graphics keeping our mind on the game itself, its functionality, playability, and replay value. " - said Artem Vlasco, independent developer.

Device requirements:
* Compatible with iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 8.3 MB

Pricing and availability:
iPoints HD 2.1 is $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide, exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.


Artem Vlasko is an individual iOS developer whose main objective is to create high-quality and user-friendly games for a broad audience. He believes that the game should be challenging and with high replay value. 

London, United Kingdom - The Pixelmator Team, developers of Pixelmator - a popular, award-winning Mac image editor - today released Flapcraft, a game for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. An arcade-style game, Flapcraft lets users play as a handsome Viking doing tricks in the air by flying on a wooden log. To perform these tricks more easily and effectively, and to fly faster and further, the wooden log can be upgraded with wings, rockets, engines and more.

"Flapcraft is an adventurous, one-time project of the Pixelmator Team that was developed during beta testing of Pixelmator 2.0," said Saulius Dailide of the Pixelmator Team. "We couldn't keep ourselves from releasing it when we realized that its incredible graphics, addictive gameplay and exclusive iOS technology support meant that Flapcraft has every chance of becoming one of the most fun games out there for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch."

Comic-style graphics and attention to detail make Flapcraft not only a joy to play, but also a pleasure to look at. Thanks to complete Retina display support, the already impressive game graphics are spectacular on iPhone 4 and iPod touch. Meanwhile, exclusive support of iOS device technologies such as Multi-Touch and Accelerometer makes playing the game as easy and fun as simply touching and rotating the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.

In addition to taking full advantage of the latest and greatest iOS technologies, the game also features addictive, action-filled gameplay, quality sounds, more than thirty different levels, upgradable in-game equipment, and much more.

Pricing and Availability:
Flapcraft 1.0 is available on the App Store for $1.99 (USD) in the Games category. Flapcraft is a universal app that will fully support all iOS devices once downloaded, whether iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.


Founded in 2007 by two brothers, the Pixelmator Team develops a practical, fun, innovative, and easy-to-use image editor for the world's most sophisticated operating system, the Mac OS X.

Independant game developer Spelagon has released the second update for its logic game Heavy Hogur featuring the ability to create rooms and share them with other players on the Web. The update is free of charge for all customers. It can be installed by downloading the new installer or by in game patching which will become available during the next few days.

Colorado Springs, Colorado - Kigra Software today is pleased to announce the release of its latest mobile game for iOS and Android based devices. Orb Code is a casual puzzle game based on the traditional pen and paper game, bulls and cows. In Orb Code, your challenge is to solve the hidden code. The code will have between three and eight slots and each slot can be one of three to eight different colors. You can take as many guesses as you need, but time is limited ...

Orb Code Deluxe is available in the App Store beginning August 25, 2011. The free Orb Code and both Android versions will be available the following week. Orb Code was developed using Corona SDK, a popular mobile development platform by Ansca Mobile, that lets developers easily create games for the most popular mobile OS's - iOS and Android.

Device Requirements: * iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.1 or later
* 11.4 MB

Pricing and Availability: Orb Code is available in two versions. The basic "Orb Code" is a free, ad-supported, single player game. "Orb Code Deluxe" is ad-free and adds an exciting head-to-head 2-player game mode and will be available for $1.99 with a special introductory price of $0.99 for the first 30 days. Both are available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. An Android version will be available soon. Review copies are available upon request.



Founded in 2009, Kigra Software is a veteran-owned, independent software company focused on utilities and casual games for mobile platforms. Kigra Software is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1.     Premium or Collector’s Edition - This edition includes a built-in strategy guide, bonus level and bonus content (character art, concept art & music soundtracks).

2.     Standard Edition – This edition is currently only available on Big Fish.

3.     Strategy Guide – offered as a separate downloadable with over 500 large, detailed images and fantastic instructions.

See also: my review of Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart

Graduate Games’ casual indie card game, Best in Show Solitaire, is now available for Pre-Order. Pre-Purchasing the game gives you instant access to the closed Beta of the game and will save you 25-50% over the final release price.

Best In Show Solitaire is now available for pre-order. Best in Show Solitaire is an addictive casual card game currently in-development for PC, Mac and Linux by independent game studio Graduate Games. Best in Show Solitaire features over 40 different breeds, unique abilities for each dog, RPG elements, a pet store, achievements, and a light-hearted story about becoming the top dog trainer in the region by winning Best in Show at the National Eastminster Dog Show.

You can pre-order the game from Graduate Games’ website  and get instant access to the Beta. But that’s not all you get for preordering. Graduate Games is including the full version of Best in Show for Mac, Linux, and PC DRM Free to all early purchasers and is also throwing in its Level Editor Tool, and a Strategy Guide as a bonus. You can learn more about Pre-Ordering by visitinghttp://www.graduategames.com/dogsolitaire/preorder.php

Trendy Entertainment’s revolutionary cross-platform tower defense game, Dungeon Defenders, is coming to PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade on October 19. The release date for the PlayStation Network version of the game will be announced soon.

Trendy Entertainment is one of the first game developers to take part in GameSpy Technology’s Open program, where indie developers are given full, free access to GameSpy Technology’s full suite of online game development APIs. Trendy and GameSpy Technology worked together closely to implement amazing cross-platform multiplayer functionality that allows PC, iOS, Android and PlayStation players to join in a game of Dungeon Defenders simultaneously. Dungeon Defender’s game experience has been modified to best suit each individual platform, making the game just as fun to play on a portable touch screen as it is with a mouse and keyboard or Dual Shock 3 controller.

During PAX Dev in Seattle, Trendy and GameSpy Technology will share key learnings from their experiences, discussing technical approaches to building out forward-thinking features while also exploring the business rational for making games - especially on emerging mobile platforms like iOS and Android - cross-platform. You can catch this presentation during PAX Dev on Wednesday, August 24 at 1 PM in Grand Ballroom B.

DUNGEON DEFENDERS ENTERS THE COMBAT PHASE, ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE WITH SQUIRE CLASS TRAILER

Highly-anticipated tower-defense/action-RPG will attack Xbox LIVE Arcade and Windows PC October 19, 2011; PlayStation®Network to be announced soon!

Twain Harte, CA–August 23, 2011– Mark your calendars, all you would-be wizards and warriors! D3Publisher, Reverb Publishing and Trendy Entertainment announced today that their highly anticipated video game Dungeon Defenders will launch on October 19, 2011. The game is coming to Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®Network and Windows PC.

With its one-of-a-kind action-RPG take on tower defense, players everywhere can look forward to jumping into what Official Xbox Magazine called, “…exciting and habit-forming - 9/10”, and Electronic Gaming Monthly said, “… burrows into your brain and refuses to leave - 9/10”.

“It’s been a long time coming, but the day is finally here to announce when we’ll be unleashing the full console version of Dungeon Defenders upon the masses, and we couldn’t be happier,” said Jeremy Stieglitz, COO and co-founder of Trendy Entertainment. “The console version of Dungeon Defenders has more content, more depth and more challenge than many full retail boxed games, so we can’t wait to get it into players’ hands so they can experience this epic role playing game as it was intended to be played.”

Dungeon Defenders is going to be playable at PAX Prime! Gamers, come check out what everyone is talking about at the Reverb Publishing booth #3652.

Dungeon Defenders blends up tower defense with action-RPG for a perfect puree of four-player co-op goodness. Players control one of four distinct classes in an epic bid to fight back an ancient evil. A combination of real-time strategy and fast-paced hack and slash action must be used to prevail! With drop-in/drop-out four-player co-op online or off, character customization, lootastic gear drops, tradable pets, tons of game-play modes and gorgeous visuals, this is one dungeon you and your friends will never want to leave!

Fans can visit www.dungeondefenders.com or facebook.com/dungeondefenders to receive updates regarding the game and join the community discussion at http://forums.trendyent.com/ to participate in forums, read upcoming developer diaries and stay apprised of all the latest Dungeon Defenders news.

Developed by Trendy Entertainment, Dungeon Defenders will release October 19, 2011 on Xbox LIVE Arcade from D3Publisher and Reverb Publishing and on Windows PC. A release date for PlayStation®Network will be announced soon.

###

ABOUT D3PUBLISHER:
D3Publisher is a leading video game publisher for the Wii™system, Nintendo DS™ and Nintendo 3DS™ handheld systems, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. D3Publisher has operations in the U.S., and Japan. The company also owns development studio Vicious Cycle Software, Inc., and its technology platform, Vicious Engine 2™. For more information about D3Publisher and its products, please visit: www.d3publisher.us.


ABOUT REVERB PUBLISHING:
Founded in 2010, Reverb Publishing offers digital publishing to independent game developers on PSN, XBLA, Wiiware, Steam, iOS and Droid, by combining production and business development support paired with the proven public relations and marketing agency expertise from its parent company, Reverb Communications. Reverb Publishing’s unique business model is form fitted for studios, ensuring that they receive the majority of the game’s revenue and maintain ownership of their titles while Reverb handles all the non-developmental tasks including production support, navigating QA, and preparing for product submission.


The PR veterans at Reverb Communications have worked on recognizable brands like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, The Beatles: Rock Band, Dance Central, Star Trek Online, as well as stellar digital titles like ZEN Pinball, Battle Slots, Army of Darkness, BloodRayne Betrayal, Kung Fu LIVE and many more.
For more information about Reverb Publishing, please visit www.reverbpublishing.com


ABOUT TRENDY ENTERTAINMENT:
Trendy Entertainment is an independent Florida studio focused on rapid, low-cost development of broad-demographic games for digital distribution. It is composed of the co-founders of Artificial Studios Inc. and former directors of Ignition Entertainment, who have together released numerous titles for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 system, including Monster Madness and Cell Factor. For more information, please visit http://trendyent.com/

VVVVVV is a game in which you play space captain Viridian, a viridian-coloured pixel-man who in in charge of a ship of other pixel-people with names beginning with V, which also happen to be the colours they are. The ship crashes and all the crew mates are scattered about to different parts space, your goal is to find them all and, through teleporters, take them back to the bridge.

As for gameplay, coupled with the usual left and right movement keys, you have the ability to 'flip', this allows you to change your gravity so that you are stuck to the roof, and make gravity normal again. unfortunately you can only do this when on a surface, not in mid-air. you run around a big complex of puzzles where you flip to avoid spike traps, disappearing floors, and more spike traps. the gameplay is quite fun but it can become very frustrating, very quickly if you come upon a level that you find difficult. Some levels have special elements, like moving spikes and having to move a crew member in specific ways, and this keeps the game interesting, although it does mean higher chances of frustration on some of the more difficult ones. If you play this game, you will die. A lot.

Music in this game was by Magnus Pålsson and is exceedingly good. for me this is one of the best things about the game...although if you don't like 8-bit sounding music you're out of luck, because there is no volume control (something that I find very annoying). The music is very well made and fits the pixilated style of the game perfectly.

The graphics are fairly good, mainly because they fit with the style of the game and don't cause any difficulty in gameplay.

The game has player designed levels, along with a level builder, which is something that really helps this type of game last a long time.

Some things I dislike about the game are the lack of any sound options, the occasional frustrating level and the fact that, because there are so many checkpoints, you can get completely stuck on a level you can't beat and in some cases aren't allowed to go back to a different level without restarting the entire game.

Since the beginning of time, man’s worst enemy has plagued households around the world. The Dust Bunny! These dastardly creatures are extremely dangerous in large numbers and have been known to spread like wildfire. Armed with a broom and dust pan, only you can save the world from this torment.

This one carries an entry fee of $100 so be very careful that you definitely want to enter.  This is the 3rd annual contest of this competition.

Wallop! Back of the net. Indie football game New Star Soccer 5 has over 10,000 registered players.

Oxford, UK – August 22nd 2011. New Star Games are excited to announce that over 10,000 players have now signed up for the free-to-play indie football game, New Star Soccer 5. Creator, Simon Read said, “I’m over the moon, y’know? I’ve worked my socks off and given 110%, so this is a great result. It’s the first of many milestones, and now I want to push on, keep working hard, y’know? I mean, at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, really, taking it one game at a time, y’know?” You can join in the football fun over at http://www.NewStarSoccer.com.

About New Star Soccer 5
New Star Soccer 5 is the latest instalment in the award winning indie sport series. Live the life of a young football star as you try to achieve success on the pitch and gain the respect and adoration of your team-mates, fans and friends. You can play in a whole host of leagues from around the world and compete in national tournaments such as the World Cup and the European Championships. Gaining the skills to help your team lift the ultimate trophy will take time but you will have a blast getting there! You will need to train hard and score goals to move up the online leaderboard as you compare your transfer value against real-life players from around the world. Off the pitch you will need to manage the media and keep the boss, girlfriend and everybody happy as you try to become a footballing star and legend!

Visit http://www.newstarsoccer.com for more info and to view the official trailer.

See also my review of New Star Soccer 5.

Brisbane, Australia - Game development team, Minimega Pty Ltd today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Pot Smash 1.0, their first new mobile gaming title for iOS devices and Android. Pot Smash uses visual scanning, word skills and quick reactions to crack and smash pots.

MiniMega Founder/Creative Ben Huxter says it's the game's addictive tactile nature that will see users returning to the game to challenge their high scores. "Pot Smash is a simple casual game that piggybacks on a fundamental human truth, we all love smashing stuff." said Ben Huxter. "Pot Smash is a tension-releasing, instant gratification, feel-good game. We needed a project that was simple with a quick turn-around time because this is our first title for a mobile device. We're very interested to see what happens after the game goes live."

Pot Smash is the first independently-funded project for MiniMega, who established their offices in Brisbane in February. Brothers Ben and Punya Huxter started developing brand-engagement games while working together at Sydney advertising agency M&C Saatchi. Ben worked as an Art Director while Punya worked in a Flash development role. Adam Corney, who joined the team this year in a business role, also worked with M&C Saatchi group. Together, the team has a unique understanding of interactive marketing tools for brands.

"We use games and games thinking to help brands achieve marketing objectives, and we also work on independent projects," Adam said. "Games are all about play. They have to be entertaining, but must also serve a broader need, be it educational, social, or even motivational. Of course ultimately, a game has to be fun."

Relocating to Brisbane was a logical choice for the team, who say the rapidly growing strength and diversity of the city's game development industry was a major draw card for them. "We made the game using the Corona framework, allowing us to easily build for both iOS and Android. The support we've received from others in this rapidly changing industry is really encouraging." Punya said.

Pot Smash 1.0 is only $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. It is also available in the Android Market for free.

It is with great pleasure that I announce our win of Best Game Writing for MacGuffin's Curse at Freeplay11 last night. Of all the awards on offer, Best Game Writing was the one we most wanted to win. Not only because it’s something that rarely has its own award, which in itself is a shame, but because it's the one area where Brawsome feels it can compete at the same level with other games.

We feel that being given the Best Game Writing award for a comedy game is significant, as comedy is often overlooked as a worthwhile area of writing, even though it's arguably one of the most difficult areas to write well.

I'll keep this brief as we're still frantically making the most of every hour we're able to work on the game, but you can check out our blog if you're interested in a few more words on last nights win: http://www.brawsome.com.au/blog/index.php/2011/08/21/macguffins-curse-wins-best-game-writing-at-freeplay11/

And also remember there's a video preview by MMGN you can check out here: http://pc.mmgn.com/Articles/MacGuffins-Curse-Preview-World-Exclusive

Launching Pad Games has just released a huge update to their side-scrolling iOS game Mighty Fin, which follows a determined little fish's travels on Shady Sal’s suspiciously cheap Round the World Tour. With today's update, Mighty Fin gets eight new levels, 32 new costumes, and a brand new soundtrack. Even better: Mighty Fin is now a Universal app with full iPad support, in addition to iPhone and iPod touch.  Press release below:

Might Fin Screenshots (iPad)