Cave Chaos 2, unstable platformer

As you may have already noticed, I'm not a huge fan of browser games but, damn, today I got really something worthy.
Cave Chaos 2, by Nitrome, is a freshly published platformer that really deserves a little try.

Nitrome


Nitrome is a huge "indie" company that releases every once in a while high quality browser games characterized by an indistinguishable pixel art that I'm sure, no one can dare to dislike.
All their games are easily playable directly on their site, which is more like a colourful collection of free to play browser games, delicious! Check this awesomeness here at nitrome.com.

On the main topic


Why did I decide to talk about a browser game for the very first time?
Maybe because I had so much fun playing it! Cave Chaos 2 is an excellent combination between casual platformers and hardcore ones.
The way to follow is brought piece by piece by some flying bats and guess what, after a short amount of time they even take away parts of the platforms. You'd better be fast or you'll be facing a horrible death!
And since I'm pretty sure that I couldn't describe the simple gameplay the way I wanted, here's a long walk-through of the game:



I really was a bit skeptical about Cave Chaos 2, the environment never changes, neither the music does. But, as I already told you, the strenght of this game is the "rushy" gameplay, how can you think of the monotony while you have to jump and dodge all the time without being even able to take a break?

Play the game here!

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Funding Sunday, Kenshi

Today's Funding Sunday feature is Kenshi, and also a question that is twirling in my mind: why isn't this game getting all the funds it should deserve?

Lo-Fi Games


We're talking about a 1-man game development studio. Who's actually working alone for already a long time on this quite innovative concept of gameplay, mostly based on freedom, from what I see.
Lo-Fi Games, as it is also stated in the indieGoGo campaign, don't have any other previous game to prove the trustworthiness of the ambitious project, except this alpha game which looks good enough, being honest.

I heard you like free-roaming


Or at least, I do.



So, Kenshi is a single player free roaming squad based RPG, where you will be able to become really, whatever you want.
Also, the game is flavored with RTS elements, which basically means that you are not supposed to be stronger than anyone and, you'll have to gather up allies as long as creating your base, if you wish to survive through the days.
You can find the full list of features, news up to date and everything more here: lofigames.com, but don't forget that Kenshi is in need of YOU, catch your chance to be a contributor on indiegogo.com.

But now, regardless of what I've said till now, if you've checked the funding campaign you can clearly see that it isn't going pretty well, but what's really disturbing is that, I've seen thousand of games worse than Kenshi, gathering all the money they needed in the matter of a month.
So, what's wrong with this? Is this a problem of bad advertisement? Something else?
Guess I'll never know.

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Kyoto plays with your senses

Hello!
I'll be spending just a couple of minutes to remember you guys that Kyoto reached its beta stage and you know what? It's downloadable for free!

But, what's Kyoto?

I must admit, I totally didn't get the point of the whole game, in the beginning.
This happened probably because it was my very first approach with an interactive ambiental musical visualizer.
I can't really say that the game is actually "fun" to play, but if you're that kind of people that loves design concepts, and ambiental music, Kyoto is probably an experience for you.
Also, please, give it time! Kyoto is not a rushy game, take your time while figuring out if the surrounding elements do anything, poke them with your mouse, patience is all you need;
I swear, you won't regret!

If you're into coding and things like that, well, the game is developed in C++ with the help of OpenGL in a game engine of their propriety called "FunkEngine"; Definitely a quite powerful combo if it permits to create things like this!

Get a free copy HERE, and show to the three indie developers some love!

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Some apologies

Yeah, I'm here just to tell you in a couple of lines what is it going to happen.

I doubt that I'll be able to write any other post till June, exams are really close and since I always wait to do something instead of studying a bit each day, I'm incredibly in troubles. My studying schedule for this semester failed badly in the beginning and now, well, I must take care of me and my future life.

(Don't worry, I'll be coming back at least as cool as Jesus!)

P.S: Yeah, Diablo III is really coming out in 4 hours <3

~Luce

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All-Stars Bundle!

Alright guys, I love bundles, that's a fact, and that's also why am I writing about All-Stars Bundle even if I should be studying 24/7.

But hey! whats different?
Indie All-Stars Bundle is a music bundle, where you can get the amazing soundtrack of VVVVVV, a phenomenal indie game that should be already known to many of you (shame on you if you don't know it!).
Beside that, there's also available Pac-Man Fever by Buckner & Garcia.

Except for these two, all the rest are not exactly related to indie gaming, but it's also a way to support indipendent music in general, the second thing I'm fond of, basically.
Currently, the price to beat, in order to unlock even more albums is 7.46$, which is pretty doable, in my opinion.
Do not forget about the charity! like many others, Indie All-Stars Bundle let you split what you want to pay between the artists and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Get PPPPPP (soundtrack of VVVVVV), and many more worthy songs here at: indie-allstars.com

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Funding Sunday, Turf Battles - Reawakening

Hello guys!
For our second episode of Funding Sunday I chose Turf Battles, and, even if they have already reached the aimed money, remember that everyone can still help them by giving some more.
So, let's start by saying why did this project amazed me enough to bring it here.

First of all, the indie development team Envision, is already funding the entire project since the very first day from their own pockets, bringing already something to show that is more than a concept. Everything is getting done in their free time and all the money requested will be used to license their game engine and to get help from outsourcing artists and programmers.

So what's this all about?




I mean, the brilliant graphics should just be enough to get Turf Battles live.
Anyway, we're talking about an MMO focused on the fast paced PvP system that characterized Diablo 2, as the developers said, excluding also the commont pointless grinding that makes every MMO equal to each other.

Find more about the story, features and many more on their funding page hosted by indieGoGo.com.

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Hartacon, a quite interesting RPG project

Being italian, I really MUST talk about Hartacon, one of the most promising indie projects that I've ever seen in my country (it makes me proud, somehow). Hartacon is being developed by Daniele Messina under his alias (Charlie Fleed) and a small group of people, including his brother. The original game was going to be created in RPG Maker but they decided to export it in XNA, in order to release it on Xbox and PC.

But what is Hartacon Tactics?



Hartacon is an isometrical tactical RPG just like Final Fantasy Tactics, if you know it. As you can see from the video above here, this game is characterized by colourful graphics, and a free zooming/rotating camera.
It still lacks of any audio and the sprites in use are just a rip from another game but, you can't really say that it isn't a tasty plan, am I right?
A multi-player mode has been scheduled either through the internet or via LAN as long as an alliances system not yet clear.

Follow the development on the official youtube channel!

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Funding Sunday, The Red Solstice

Hello fellows!
Today its Sunday and its finally time to start with: Funding Sunday EP. 1!

Between a lot of cool projects, I decided to pick The Red Solstice, a tactical co-op indie game in development that is in need of contributors on indieGoGo.
So, let's see what does this game offer:



While the game has its singleplayer mode, the developers want to clearly point out that The Red Solstice is basically made for the multiplayer experience, where 8 people, after having chose one between 8 unique classes, will be battling endless waves of zombies.
Okay, it may seem a generic survival game but, have you guys seen the video?
I guess that it's one of those games that we can't really forget about, even because the programmers as long as the artists have been working on this for already 3.5 years.

Help them getting those $10.000 to let them finally take The Red Solstice developing as a full time job!
Show some love: IndieGoGo funding campaign!

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SpyParty - A revolutionary espionage game?

Hello!
Today I'll be spending a couple of words trying to present SpyParty, an indie game developed by Chris Hecker .
Even though the game is still in its paid beta stage, most of the playtesters as long as its developer claim that there isn't anything close to the kind of experience provided by this title, hopefully I'll be able to see this by myself in some days (as soon as I afford some spare cash).

Revolutionary?

So, what does this game offer?
SpyParty is an innovative multiplayer stealth game far away from the usual traps, explosions, gadgets that characterize a common spying game.
You are a spy that has to accomplish his objective wandering around a party, steal objects, talk to accomplices without making your purpose too obvious because, on the other side, the player you're challenging is waiting to kill you from the outside. So, if you're impersoning the sniper, all you have to do is to spot the enemy and shoot him to death!
Enough interested to be a beta tester? get your own copy at 15 bucks HERE!

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Some thoughts, projects, ideas

Hello readers!
It's sunday afternoon and I've got nothing to do at all, so, I just thought that I could share what I've been thinking in the last days.

First of all, I consider my Indie Gala coverage closed! I know, I'm still missing a game and the extras as well, but, I think that I've been spending already too many time on it, plus, it feels like that the real central core of the bundle has been already covered. Will be looking forward Indie Gala 4!

Second, I really want to thank you for reading my, often ungrammatical, posts, thank you for sharing some of my work on twitter, reddit and everything else. You guys really keep me going!

And now, I would really like to make an announcement:

From today, I'll be bringing to you the FUNDING SUNDAY!
Willing to find some great games in development that are maybe in need of you to get the work done?
I'll be personally browse indiegogo.com and kickstarter.com to give you some great projects to put your money on!

Later, today, will take place the first episode of Funding Sunday! Stay tuned!

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Indie Gala 3, Twin Sector

Twin Sector, the second startin bonus of Indie Gala 3, totally amazed me!
And when I say so, be sure that there must be something really unique to talk about.
But before starting, I really want to throw a question out there: What's up with this Valve's Portal concept that is characterizing all the latest 3D puzzle games?
I'm not saying that Twin Sector has anything to do with Portal, I'm just wondering why does every single game of the genre reminds me a bit of that!

DnS Development


DnS Development was founded in 1996 in Bremen, Germany.
We're in front of a real company that, except Twin Sector, and the partecipation at the development of Sacred 2 (loved that game), they are generally focused on innovative 3D games and video editing applications. Stands out among the titles also the first person shooter Rage Hard, for more, sarge-sdk.com

Not the usual post-apocalyptic future




(I know it's from machinima, but, I found it pretty self explanatory)

You, in the role of Ashley Simms, are suddenly awaken from a sort of forced sleep system by the Central computer of an underground station where plenty of other humans are sleeping waiting to go back to the unlivable Earth surface. According to O.S.C.A.R, you were the only person that could have been woken, therefore, the only one who can save the station from a system failure; 10 hours to save your and everyone else's life by repairing the main generator.
If you're fond of thrilling storylines, interacting with the environment and puzzles, then Twin Sector is what are you looking for. This game made really Indie Gala 3 an unmissable bundle, even because, (forgive me here) Ashley's voice actor is cute as hell!

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Indie Gala 3, Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes

As soon as exams come closer it becomes harder to find some spare time to play some games. Anyway, this morning I spent some minutes to check how did Grotesque Tactics look (which was one of the bonus game in the last Indie Gala bundle). Being honest , it was a great first impression, the storyline looks gorgeous, but, everything is even cooler whent it's all surrounded by stunning graphics.

Silent Dreams


This is a German development company founded in sommer 2006, you can't really imagine how did my face look when I discovered that their leader programmer, Carsten Edenfeld, was also the senion programmer of the famous Gothich series. Silent Dreams develops on their own, or even on commission, for almost every kind of game console; even though they are generally focused on producing action-RPGs genres.
While the sequel of their main game is on its way to be done, you can always read more about them on their official website silentdreams.de.

And what about the irony?

So, Grotesque Tactics is an ironical turn based RPG game, I'm afraid that you are in need to play it in order to really get what does "ironical" means in this context.
The game resembles a Final Fantasy play-style along with hilarious components that will feature the battles where you, and the party of heroes that you've gathered along the way, will face evil minions and extremely hard dungeon bosses.
I can agree with the people saying that this is just a classic RPG, but, there are too many elements that make it distinguish between the masses even though I can't really list any evident one; Forgive me about that.

Unfortunately, Indie Gala 3 sales ended definitely yesterday but you can still get it at its full price on Steam!
SHAME ON YOU IF YOU DIDN'T PICK THE OPPORTUNITY!

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Indie Gala 3, FlatOut

It really passed a lot of time since a game could keep me an entire day on my computer, but well, today we're going to be looking at FlatOut, a rather old game that was included in Indie Gala 3 after the first week.
I've also have to add that I'm really not a huge fan of racing games, probably because I've never been good at them.

Bugbear Entertainment


Its an indie team based in Finland founded in 2000, except FlatOut series they developed other games like Ridge Racer Undounded (released this year), Sega Rally (2007) and Glimmerati (2005). They are mostly known for having redefined the whole genre of "action racing"; Find more about this multi-platform developing team on bugbear.fi!

Get on the car!

I know many of you knew already FlatOut but, It deserves its place between all the other reviews mainly because I really enjoyed the whole experience.
So! Do you love speeding, crashing, jumping and... dying?
Then FlatOut is definitely what are you looking for, the game was released in 2004 and it has already a sequel. We're basically talking about a standard racing game featuring the usual stuff like, unlocking new circuits as soon as you get a good placement on the previous ones, limited upgrades and a fair amount of unique cars to drive. But, there's something that makes this game really uncommon, everything is filled up with EXPLOSIONS!
There are also a huge variety of funny challenges that may generate a stand-alone game by themselves so, why not playing it?

Remember, 3 days until the end! indiegala.com

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Indie Gala 3, Trapped Dead

Today, we're going to finish the regular games coverage, those that you can get nearly for free, considering that some extra time has been added. There is still 5 days till the real end of sales, get your Indie Gala 3 here: indiegala.com.

Back on topic, Trapped Dead, a survival real time strategy has been developed by Crenetic studio and published by Headup Games.
Unfortunately, I couldn't really find anything else about the developers so, let's get this started.

The zombie apocalypse!




The story takes place in the early 80's where, as usual, a new virus rapidly infected the inhabitants of a small town. Two college boys, in search of gas, are fastly pulled into a horror scenario where they will have to fight for their life instead of enjoying their trip.
The player controls the character in a 3rd person view while dealing with an incredible game atmosphere filled up with surprise elements, traps and lots of unique weapons to crash thousands of zombie heads.
What's really cool, or I think that would be, is the multiplayer co-op action; Sadly, I still didn't find anyone to play with.
But, and don't get me wrong here, there's maybe just one issue, Trapped Dead is actually a really short game; This! is pretty much why you can't really miss Indie Gala, you can obtain this, along with everything else for LESS than the real price of Trapped Dead.

I really want to end this up by mentioning the awesome visual art around this game, see by yourself in the official website under the section "artworks": trappeddead.com.
Stay tuned!

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Indie Gala 3, Last 2 days!

I'm already late to report that every single bonus is unlocked, but, considering that this april will be remembered as the IndieGala-April, an article regarding the bundle at its full potential was extremely needed!
Currently, the average price is 4.69$, you know what does this mean?
Means that you can get 7 games, 4 music albums and for the first time even an indie comic for just 5 bucks!
But now let's check what have they added during these two weeks starting from the games:

FlatOut


A spectacular car racing game, the best indie in this genre, as most of the people claims. Innovative gameplay along with incredible high quality 3D graphics and physics.

Gear Grinder


The only steamless game.
An arcade racing game where you'll be controlling a truck provided with massive weapons to create devastation wherever you want! A challenge for every kind of gamer, complete all the 45 different missions!

Not only music!

Now, let's try to say something about Sonia The Cruel, I must admit, this is a quite unexpected bonus.
It's an indipendent comic book revealed the last month; The artists and producers also want to make clear that this is not going to be an imitation of any kind.
So, you got two days (if you haven't bought it yet) to see the first prologue chapter or read something about the project here: soniathecruel.wordpress.com.

For the series, "last but not least" here is all the music you can get!

• Electric Children - All Night Party
• DJ Cutman - Chiptune Hero
• F777 - Viper EP
• F777 - REMOTION Vol. 2

Last call! Get everything here: indiegala.com

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Indie Gala 3, Future Wars

Hello there, today's topic is going to be Future Wars, my second pick between Indie Gala 3 bundle. A quite interesting Strategy game that didn't let me sleep till 3am yesterday night. A typical game "easy to learn, hard to master", as I read somewhere.
So, let's get this done!

Radon Labs, a sad story


Radon Labs, the german developer company based in Berlin was founded in 1995 and, died in 2010 (the year they released Future Wars) for financial troubles. It was also bought by Bigpoint GmbH a browser games publisher.
I'm pretty sure that they will probably be remembered for their open source 3D engine, called Nebula Device; Other than that, I really don't know what to add, sadly.

But now it's time to play some Future Wars

First of all, I want to apologize with you, Future Wars is not an RTS, like I have written HERE, it is a turn based strategy game.
An indie game with just one aim, reopen the strategy gaming to a wider audience, obviously, they have totally hit the point without making the gameplay too easy.
Played it yesterday, didn't go far, I can only say that this can really be one of those games that could save a a boring day.

The 3D graphics (right above here!) are ok, and the plot is fairly rich even though I can't confirm this; I can only say that I'm not done with Future Wars.

If you feel enough interested, find me about it here: headupgames.com, or just buy Indie Gala 3: 4 DAYS LEFT!

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Indie Gala 3, GREED: Black Border

I just decided to start off with my Indie Gala 3 coverage, the first game I'll be presenting it's, in fact, GREED: Black Border. Picked this game between the starting five for absolutely no reason and didn't regret, so, here are my thoughts.

ClockStone STUDIO

This is an Austrian developing company not only focused on gaming but also on 3D animations founded in 2006. They are an experienced core of programmers and artists that, looks like they can actually live off this job, wouldn't this be the dream of every indie developer?
As you also may imagine, GREED is not their first job, lots of other interesting projects are kept on their official website which is: clockstone.com.
But there's more! All the research I've made lead also me to another interesting discovery, GREED, just as many other great indie games are sold online on headupgames.com, an online platform of indipendent games publishing, check it out!

An intense hack'n'slash experience




A science fiction game set in a world where the five largest colonial powers are fighting each other to obtain the control over a new element called Ikarium, a source of unlimited energy recently discovered.
You'll choose your character between three completely different classes divided basically by the range of the attacks, and personally, I loved the sniper gameplay.
The huge variety of levels combined with the endless possibilities to upgrade your gear; Without forgetting the cool skill system involved, don't let you feel bored even after hours of playing.
Killing robots and minions has never been this cool!

Don't forget, you're still in time to get this through the phenomenal Indie Gala 3!

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Indie Gala 3, something that you can't miss

It is time for another "PAY WHAT YOU WANT" indie games bundle!
During these days (till 8th April) we will be able to purchase the latest bundle promoted by, in fact, by indiegala.com that features some great games, but also music, for the price you can really feel to pay.
Also, you don't have to forget that, by buying this, you can also contribute to a good cause donating some of the money you paid directly to charity. But, hey! There's even more: Paying more than the average grants you instant access to two more games; You may wonder how high could this price be, right?
Well, as I'm writing, it's set as $4.57 and, if I have to be fair with you, the real price of the entire list is actually more than $60.
But now, let's see shortly what are the title we could obtain:



Trapped Dead
The first tactical zombie survival game, comes with single and multiplayer modes, a 3rd person zombie shooting experience made by Crenetic team.

Greed: Black Border
A sci-fi action/RPG ambiented in the universe of Greed, if you ever wanted to go through an interstellar travel, then this is for you, brought to us by Clockstone Studio.

Future Wars
A strategy game rebuilt to be open to everyone, you won't need anymore that micro effort that every other RTS requires. made by Radon Labs.

Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes
A 3D satirical RPG with a nice strategic combat system, somewhere close to Final Fantasy, made by Silent Dreams.

Twin Sector

I'm sure that I'll love this one, a first person action story including puzzles, enemies and a complete interaction with the environment, made byDnS Development.

I'll personally review these games in the next days, also, be sure to buy Indie Gala 3!

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CraftStudio, create your own indie game

Recently, indipendent game developing started to inspire continuously more amatorial teams to create their own game. Nowadays we can find thousands of game projects made by people that, not even a year go, didn't know a single line of coding. And that's basically why we are finding tools and engines more and more user-friendly; These, are finally permitting almost everyone to create what they always wanted, even with a very low knowledge base.

CraftStudio


Sparklin Labs apparently made the process of creating a game, a game in itself!
CraftStudio was created from this simple idea, it combines high quality development tools with an editor clearly inspired by Minecraft. This may actually lead us to a new indie game generation when home-made projects will be competitive and gain success without big money bugets nor months of work without even seeing the main character moving around in the desired environment.

Of corse, to see this released, we will have to wait, and don't forget that the life of this ambitious project is stricktly connected to the funds campaign on indieGoGo.
I don't think there's anything else, check it out and watch this!

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What would Molydeux? MolyJam 2012!

As you probably have already understood, today I'm not going to talk about a game, today's topic is What Would Molydeux, a quite uncommon indie game jam that is going to last 48 hours which is going to take place from 30th March to 1st April.

First of all, you need to know a little bit of story; Everything started when someone decided to create a fake twitter account (with permissions, I guess) of Peter Molyneux, a well knows british game designer. This account, currently called @petermolydeux achieved recently 30.000 followers thank to its impossible game ideas, but I really suggest you to read some of them by yourself, I really found them pretty entertaining.

And here's the idea, game developement teams from all over the world, will have to create a game in 48 hours  based on any petermolydeux's tweet and, if you have read any of them, now you're understanding why I called previously this game jam, "uncommon". Till now, 16 teams/singles have signed up, fortunately for them, the author gave some tips on this competition in his personal blog (molydeux.tumblr.com), aren't they crazy as hell?

You can anyway read the latest news on the official MolyJam site: whatwouldmolydeux.com; If I were you, I'd bookmark it, is there anything else?
Get ready for an epic contest!

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