Indie Game News: September 2012

Thursday, 27 September 2012

A fish called Noms...

Noms the Fish is a casual game for the PC. While it is also fun for adults, Noms is focused on being an appropriate game for kids of all ages. It allows for segmented periods of gameplay; making it easier for parents to control game time. It also features an in-game currency system that teaches kids how to handle money while still having fun building aquariums. Unlike many other aquarium games, Noms the Fish does not use microtransactions. Players are able to add fish to their aquariums simply by playing through the levels. They can then sell the fish to earn money to buy decorations, themes, and new aquariums. Players avoid larger fish and eat the smaller ones to help Noms grow through a story driven level system. The game also features achievements, twenty replayable levels, and four customizable aquariums to build.

Key Features

20 Unique Levels
95 Achievements
4 Customizable Aquariums
Add & Sell Fish
Add, Move & Sell Decorations
20 Aquarium Themes
No microtransactions!
Future updates are free!
Appropriate for all ages!

System Requirements

CPU Cores: Single Core 1.0 GHz
Minimum RAM: 128MB
DirectX Version: DirectX 8.0a
Graphics Card RAM: 128MB
Graphics Card: DirectX 8.0
Sound Card: DirectX 8
Operating System(s):
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7

Official Website

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Wednesday, 26 September 2012

"Name your price" service IndieGameStand launches today featuring puzzle-platformer Escape Goat

Two weeks ago we introduced IndieGameStand, a service that will offer a handpicked indie game for incredible "pay what you want" bargains every 96 hours. The site officially launches today, and anyone who wants a great deal on MagicalTimeBean's Escape Goat better get over there, because the countdown clock is ticking...

Escape Goat finds a headstrong goat and his crafty mouse pal confined in the Prison of Agnus for the crime of witchcraft -- help them outwit the dungeon's infernal traps, puzzles, and machinery to escape! This creative puzzle-platformer boasts nostalgic 8-bit graphics, a catchy soundtrack, and clever physics-based gameplay spanning 100 unique rooms. Plus, a built-in a level editor lets players build and share their own maniacal creations.

As with all IndieGameStand featured games, Escape Goat customers get to decide how much to pay for the game. Those who beat the average price will get a free MP3 soundtrack, and anyone who pays a dollar or more receives a code to unlock the game on Desura. Developer MagicalTimeBean has selected the American Red Cross to receive 10% of the proceeds from this 96-hour sale.

With today's Escape Goat offer, IndieGameStand kicks off a cycle that will restart every four days as another high-quality indie game takes the spotlight. The service aims to become a preferred platform for independent developers to promote their wares by providing unique ways to reach customers and build up a fanbase. In only two weeks, more than 12,000 gamers have registered with the service, and IndieGameStand is currently talking to 100+ developers about featuring their games.

To learn more about IndieGameStand and get Escape Goat for whatever you choose to pay, visit http://www.indiegamestand.com. IndieGameStand's next featured game will be revealed September 30, at 12:01am Eastern time (04:01 GMT).

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Tuesday, 25 September 2012

IGM #26 out now

Issue 26 of Indie Game Magazine is now available.

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Sunday, 23 September 2012

A bundle star rises!

Remember the SGC indie games bundle? Well that morphed into something else and has now been reborn as the Rising Star Bundle - you can order it and find out more here and the games themselves are available on IndieVania.

The bundle has been released to raise money for the Get Well Gamer's Foundation. This charity helps bring games and game systems to children in the hostpital to help provide entertainment and a proven pain aid to the kids as well as let them feel more like kids and less like patients during long hospital stays.

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Thursday, 20 September 2012

The bundle within a bundle...

Yes folks, this is the Hamlet of the indie bundle world - the Deep Space Bundle just got bigger! It now features the entire Bagful of Wrong bundle as well. I mean,just how more bundly could one bundle possibly get?!? See this post for full details.

About the Deep Space Bundle.

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LA-MULANA now available on WiiWare

20th September 2012, Barcelona, Spain. LA-MULANA is now available in America, Europe and Australia for download on WiiWare™ service.

Pricing: 1000 Nintendo Wii Points™.

Julio Moruno Managing director of EnjoyUp Games.

“Today is a great day for Nigoro and EnjoyUp, La-Mulana will be available on WiiWare after so many years of wait.

EnjoyUp wishes thank Nigoro to trust us, and Nintendo for his support. And above all, to all fans around the world who has sent us messages of happiness to be able to finally enjoy La-Mulana on the Nintendo Wii.”

Official website

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Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Dawn of Fantasy joins the Indie Bundle

Toronto, Canada – 20/09/2012 Developer Reverie World Studios have announced that their MMORTS Dawn of Fantasy is now available for a limited time at IndieBundle.org as part of the Get'em Greenlit Bundle. Dawn of Fantasy is joined in the bundle by two other games - The Sparkle 2: Evo and Depth Hunter. With a total retail value of $53 for all three games, the $5 price for the bundle is an absolute bargain.

All three games are currently listed on Steam Greenlight, Valve's initiative for having the game playing community vote for the games to be released on Steam. Dawn of Fantasy comes with a “Steam Guarantee if Greenlit”, which means that when the game receives the greenlight, existing players will be able to activate their copy on Steam without having to buy another copy.

Reverie World Studios CEO, Konstantine Fomenko, was quoted as saying “This isn't just about getting more votes, we want to reward the people who are supporting us and voting for us by letting them get the game cheaply now, even before it's released on Steam”.

With it's recently announced free expansion pack - Siegeworks and the possibility of being released on Steam, the future is bright for Dawn of Fantasy.

Dawn of Fantasy is one of the first full 3D MMO titles with real-time siege combat. Offering an evolving online environment, in which you will be gathering resources, constructing buildings and walls, directing your citizens, completing quests in the service of mighty nobles and fiendish rogues, and managing your economy - all within an online realm that grows, works, lives, and breathes even when you log off.

The Get'em Greenlit Indie Bundle can be found here: http://www.indiebundle.org/getem-greenlit-bundle/

Dawn of Fantasy's Greenlight page can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92931949

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Dustforce is Now Available DRM Free on PC, Mac and Linux

Brisbane, Australia – September 19th, 2012 – Independent studio Hitbox Team is proud to announce their indie hit Dustforce is now available DRM free on PC (Windows), Mac and Linux. Dustforce and the OST are currently being featured in the new Humble Bundle, a package deal which allows gamers to pay what they like for six indie games; letting them specify the way their money will be split between developers and charities.

Dustforce is a 2D platformer where players are called to fight against the forces of dust and disorder. Play one of four acrobatic janitors and clean up the world in style. Leap and dash off walls and ceilings and deftly traverse over 50 precarious environments that vary in difficulty.

Complete for the best scores and times online via the leader-board where you can instantly watch replays of everyone's best attempts. Download user-created maps via the Level Sharing Server and use the in-game level editor to create your very own dirt smothered world.

The update also includes two brand new in-game levels. In addition to the new levels, there are over 300 user made levels on the Level Sharing Server.

Since Dustforce’s debut in January of 2012, there has been increasing anticipation for additional platforms and a DRM free build. “We’re excited to release the game on Linux,” states Hitbox Team’s Woodley Nye. “Dustforce has been a long journey, now we’re looking forward to focusing on our next project.”

Dustforce is now available for a limited-time price of PAY WHAT YOU WANT on the Humble Bundle Store. Dustforce is also available on Steam for PC (Windows), Mac and Linux (Dustforce is regularly priced at $9.99).

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Dustforce earned an Honorable Mention for art in the 2012 Independent Games Festival, and also took the Grand Prize at indiePub’s Independent Developer Competition in 2010. The popular game was released January 17 th on Steam for $9.99.

About Hitbox

Hitbox Team is an independent game development studio comprised for 4 people based in Brisbane, Australia. For more information on Hitbox Team and their upcoming projects, visit their blog (http://hitboxteam.com)

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Conclave Extends Free Beta for Duration of Kickstarter

Boston, MA - September 18, 2012 - Indie game studio 10x10 Room announced that it has opened up its free beta for Conclave, its tabletop-inspired cooperative RPG that can be played at any pace from any browser. Free play will last for the duration of the Conclave Kickstarter, which ends on Saturday, September 22nd.

The Kickstarter’s fundraising goal is $75,000. It will fund a set of major new features for the game, as well as doubling the amount of content available for play.

"Our Kickstarter has created a surge of interest in Conclave, with daily signups twenty times what they were before the Kickstarter began," says Nick Branstator, co-founder of 10x10 Room. "We're also thrilled by the positive things being said about Conclave by industry veterans like Richard Garfield, and by major games publications such as GameSpot and Rock Paper Shotgun. We invite everybody to come see Conclave for themselves, play as much as they want, and see what’s got people excited. If they then decide to pledge, so much the better!"

Kickstarter rewards include full access to all new features and content, original game artwork painted by fantasy artist Chris Rahn, and autographed CDs of the soundtrack as composed by the award-winning Sam Hulick of Mass Effect 3 and Baldur's Gate: Extended Edition fame.

About Conclave

Conclave takes all the key elements of tabletop RPGs -- party-based play, tactical combat, and group decision-making -- and brings them to a fast, easy-to-access "webtop" environment. Conclave transitions seamlessly between synchronous and asynchronous play: If you're online at the same time as other players in your party, you can take turns in realtime; if not, you can take turns whenever you have a free moment, Words With Friends-style. No Flash means it’s playable from smartphone and tablets, and turns take a matter of a minute. Conclave makes it simple to access roleplaying fun on demand -- perfect for gamers who miss tabletop RPGs and MMOs, but have trouble finding time to play them.

As GameZebo put it: "It's hard to think that anyone who grew up on Dungeons & Dragons won't immediately have warm memories flood back while trying Conclave."

Links:
Kickstarter - http://kickstarter.com/projects/10x10room/conclave
Game - http://playconclave.com
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33TjPQfSngM
Press kit - https://s3.amazonaws.com/conclave/Conclave+Kit.zip
Blog - http://10x10room.com
Guiding principles - http://playconclave.com/principles
Staff - http://playconclave.com/staff
Twitter - http://twitter.com/10x10room
Forums - http://forums.10x10room.com

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Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Price Drop! Adventures of Shuggy now $5 on PC

Following the launch of Gateways on Steam, Desura and XBLIG, the price of Smudged Cat’s previous hit title, “The Adventures of Shuggy” has been permanently lowered to just $5 on PC. The game is available through the Smudged Cat website, Steam and Desura. And with the extra “Shuggy’s teleporting troubles” level pack on the way in time for Halloween it’s the perfect time to grab a copy of the game if you’ve missed out on it so far.

DRM-free version (includes Steam key) – www.smudgedcat.com/shuggy.htm

Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/211440

Desura - http://www.desura.com/games/the-adventures-of-shuggy

When Shuggy launched on PC in June it received a warm reception from critics with Indie Game Magazine giving it 93% and calling it “Bitesized Brilliance”. GameZebo said it was “A fantastic, fun game that deserves to be a big hit” and gave it 4.5/5 while Gamezone marked it 8.5/10 and said “If you haven’t already played it, go do so right now”.

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A weird new game genre has been born!

Ayopa Games is turning golf into a fatal sport with Death Golf, soon to be released on all iOS platforms!

Developed by talented Finland-based indy team Mobilive, Death Golf combines fast-action platfomer gameplay with skillful golf precision to create a brand new game genre! Head onto the course to combat ferocious predators and avoid devious traps. Use devastating Death Golf power-ups and colossal point-boosting combos to head for the hole! You can duck into the clubhouse and upgrade your gear before heading back out to conquer more than 35 levels with fantastic scenery, creatures and effects! Game Center leaderboards and achievements mean you can track your progress against other fearless Death Golfers!

Death Gold Trailer:

Death Golf Screenshots:

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Monday, 17 September 2012

Winter Wolves Visual Novel Bundle

Winter Wolves is running a huge visual novel bundle sale on Groupees.com right now. The promotion is meant to be a fundraiser for the Rainforest Alliance.

http://groupees.com/ww

*Pay what you want to get up to six games (Vera Blanc, Vera Blanc 2, Heileen, Bionic Heart, Always Remember Me, and Planet Stronghold)!

$1.00 - Heileen, Vera Blanc, and Bionic Heart

$5.00 - Heileen, Vera Blanc, Bionic Heart, Helieen 2, and Always Remember Me

$10.00 - Heileen, Vera Blanc, Bionic Heart, Helieen 2, Always Remember Me, and Planet Stronghold

If they manage to sell 1,000 bundles, they will also throw in Spirited Heart. 20% of sales goes to the Rainforest Alliance.

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Saturday, 15 September 2012

Introducing 1931: Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum

Black Chicken Studios, creators of Academagia, have released a new visual novel / RPG called 1931: Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum

"Henry and Morgana Keating were archaeologists and adventurers who never came home. Now their daughter intends to follow in their footsteps...

It's 1930, and as the world slides ever deeper into the Great Depression, Scheherazade 'Sadie' Keating sets out on her first year of college - a year of travel, romance, danger and discovery. Together with friends and family, she'll chase her parents' last mystery across five continents, and choose a future for herself along the way."

*Over 100 hours of gameplay, over 50 story arcs!

*Acquire dozens of skills and inspirations

*Seek friendship or romance with five mysterious and dangerous prospects

*Adventure from the streets of Manhattan to the jungles of India

*Overcome obstacles to unlock 11 different endings

*Pursue your parents' unfulfilled dreams...or divert to your own destiny!

*Interact with a cast of hundreds and encounter skilled rivals

1931: Scheherazade at the Library of Pergamum is the latest story-driven RPG from Black Chicken Studios, Inc., spinning tales of pulp adventure, exotic locations, occult horror, and sweet romance that'll require well-honed skills and a whole lot of inspiration."

http://www.scheherazadegame.com/

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Friday, 14 September 2012

Tryst for PC Launches on Steam

September 14^th, 2012 – Tryst (www.TrystGame.com) is now available for PC on Steam! Tryst is a fast paced RTS with two unique races and up to 8 players per match in classic team or free for all modes. Included in the launch edition will be a free short single player campaign as well, encompassing the human’s side of the story and the war. Complete multiplayer matches with skill ranking and many custom settings allow for complete flexibility of play.

Tryst is a competitive RTS in which players experience reactive environmental dangers, a breadth of unique units and most importantly the A.R.M. - the Augmentation Research Mechanism. This last feature allows the player to equip units with specific load-outs to change their natural advantages and disadvantages.

Two races battle for supremacy, first is the Humans, which play like traditional RTS style races with several main buildings and a broad series of expansion options. The Zali, on the other hand, are completely unique, and expand by converting their own units into more powerful and specialized ones. They have the option of either a broad expansion with many flexible options or a very narrow one, making super specialized units.

These features are built on the classic RTS archetypes and topped off with fast paced play that awards aggressive grabs for power. In Tryst you’ll be charging for resource points and blasting your enemies far more often than sitting idle building a super fortress. Each race plays completely differently, allowing for a variety of complex strategies that are unique to each individual player style.

Find out more about this upcoming RTS and sign up for the closed beta at www.trystgame.com.

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War of the Human Tanks Available Now

War of the Human Tanks is now Available on PC!!

September 14th, 2012 – Independent game localization company Fruitbat Factory is proud to announce their story driven strategy game War of the Human Tanks is available for purchase worldwide on both Desura, Gamersgate and Indievania at a discounted price of $8.99 (Regularly priced at $9.99). A free demo version of the game is also available for download.

War of the Human Tanks is the first game of the "Human Tanks, Charge!” series. The series pits a group of Human Tanks commanded by the player against the opposing Commanding Officers and their forces in a campaign fought on a series of grid-based maps. Players will have to use their wits to upgrade their units and utilize them to the best of their abilities in order to progress throughout the game.

Features of the full game include:

Fast-paced strategic battles in over 30 maps
Use resources earned from battles to develop new tanks
Customize your tanks with various modules to deadly effect
Multiple endings based on your performance
Replay the story keeping your previously earned units and resources
Free battle mode to practice and gather extra supplies
English localization features two all-new bonus maps, hand-drawn battle backgrounds and an improved user interface

War of the Human Tanks is heavily story driven with multiple routes and endings, but you can also skip the story and enjoy dozens of hours of snappy combat," says Ozhan Sen, Localization Manager for Fruitbat Factory. “The Japanese mix of adventure and strategy genres will be a fun and unique experience for many gamers.”

"There's more to this game than Human Tanks," Adds Yoshifumi Ishii, Lead Translator "You also unlock fun special characters as you play and many other exciting secrets are there to discover. Hidden units, upgrades, maps and story chapters just to name a few."

War of the Human Tanks was popular in the Japanese indie scene, but has been unavailable for English speaking audiences until now. "In addition to the faithful localization, we've polished particular gameplay features like menu design, and we’ve added new content such as hand drawn battle backgrounds and two additional maps not included in the original,” explains Jakke Elonen, Lead Editor. “Our goal was to take a great game and make it even better. We can’t wait for people to play the free demo and share their thoughts with us!”

War of the Human Tanks is now currently available on PC for 10% off its full price, $8.99 (regularly $9.99) on Desura and Gamersgate, and Indievania. there is also a free demo of the game available for download.

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Gateways launched on Steam, Desura and XBLIG

Gateways has been launched across the digital landscape today and is now available on Steam and Desura for an introductory price of $4 and on Xbox Live Indie Games for 240 MS points where it forms part of the third Indie Games Uprising.

Steam - http://store.steampowered.com/app/216290/

Desura - http://www.desura.com/games/gateways

XBLIG - http://marketplace.xbox.com/games/media/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550bea

A DRM-free version of the game is still available from the Smudged Cat Games website which also includes a Steam key – http://www.smudgedcat.com/gateways.htm.

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Blue Libra 2 released by Orator Games

Blue Libra 2 is a sequel to a real time space strategy game released last year for PC Windows, MacOS, Linux, iOS and Android. The game met with a warm welcome from players, and developers Orator Games, after receiving positive feedback, have decided to make a sequel.

BL 2 improves on the original concept, adds more depth to the gameplay and features multiplayer option.

You take command of a Libra class space carrier and travel the universe fighting against alien invaders, capturing planets, performing researches and upgrades, building your economy. Game is a mix of fast paced action with economy and fleet management.

There is a single-player campaign and multi-player feature.

Official Website

Read our review of the first Blue Libra game