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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