Indie Games 2014 [June] Now Voting - Post 538!

June 2013
Another retrospective look at how indie games have progressed (or not) in a year's time

Among The Sleep - Just released
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A Hat In Time - had a very successful Kickstarter, was recently shown at PAX East

Arcane Worlds - in alpha, on Early Access, regular updates

A Shepard in Dark Times - "on the backburner", idea was too big for a one-man team...

Crypt of the NecroDancer - coming 2014, regular dev updates

Demise of Nations: Rome - on Greenlit, releasing Q4 2014

Dragon's Den II: The Terranic Empire - last dev update was in September

Echoes of the Wilds - released and Greenlit

else { Heart.break() } - still in development, regular dev updates

Ephemerid - releasing in June

Fleish & Cherry in Crazy Hotel - Free demo

Frontiers - successful Kickstarter, Greenlit, available to preorder

Hate Plus - released, on Steam

Havencall - still in development, devs plan to submit to IndieCade

Hero of Many - released on IOS, Greenlit
 
June 2013
Retrospective continued

Heroes of Loot - released on IOS, PC

Jazzpunk - finished and released

Kachina - still in development

KonCraft - in alpha, available to purchase

Legendum - no updates since July

lifeless: ECHRO - currently in development

LIT - "going to sleep for a while"

Luxuria Superbia - released on IOS, PC

Malebolgia - recently Greenlit

Massive Chalice - successful Kickstarter, in development

Operation Smash - finished and released

Prisonscape - failed Kickstarter, still in development

Pulsar: The Lost Colony - alpha available

Red Rover - no recent info, devs working on GNAH!

Rehearsals and Returns - released
 
Thanks for those posts Baddy, really cool to think back on the games we were looking at a year ago and see how they are doing now.

Edit: Did I already mention that I love Echo of the Wilds? <3
 
June 2013
Retrospective continued

Remnant - on hold, developer is working on Otherworld

Rook's Keep - finished and released

Signs of Life - on Early Access, regular updates

Scheherazade Machine - no recent news, dev working on That Dragon, Cancer

Stephen's Sausage Roll - no recent news

Tangiers - in development, recently released a new trailer

Terror Okkulta - on hold, dev working on Mars Harpoon for WiiU

Tessalation - finished and released

The Bulletromancer - still in development

The Maker's Eden - has a demo, was recently Greenlit, will be out "soon"

The Novelist - finished and released

The Way of Yiji - finished and released

The Wild West - game is "hibernating", dev hopes to continue development this year
No recent images

Trash TV - still in development, "all single player levels have been made", "definitely on the last 1% to go"

Ultima Ratio Regum - still in development, latest build was released in April

Voyager3 - last dev update was in April
 
Thanks for those posts Baddy, really cool to think back on the games we were looking at a year ago and see how they are doing now.

Edit: Did I already mention that I love Echo of the Wilds? <3
Yup, same here. It's cool to learn about games I might have missed, and it's always great to see that a game was released or is still in active development a year later. And equally disappointing to learn that promising games like Lit and A Shepard in Dark Times are on hold
 
I echo the appreciation for you doing them retrospective posts M-Bad. It is always interesting to see where the games of last year have ended up, sadly not always good places but the closure is nice at least.
 
I kicked out 3D Bridge Engineer because they took down their demo. If they release another demo again, I'll feature them in the thread. Barely anyone will check it out without the demo at 15&#8364;, so I figured it should get exposure another time.
 
Reminder that you can get 8BitBoy for $1 currently on IndieGala for the next 14 hours or so. I read good things about it and I am going to check it out now myself.

And speaking of IndieGala, they have another bundle right now which gives you Hexcells Plus for $1, which is a great puzzle game.
 
Reminder that you can get 8BitBoy for $1 currently on IndieGala for the next 14 hours or so. I read good things about it and I am going to check it out now myself.

And speaking of IndieGala, they have another bundle right now which gives you Hexcells Plus for $1, which is a great puzzle game.
8BitBoy dev said he's adding achievements soonish and he's constantly improving the game.
 
Impressions:

400 years
As someone else said, the main character is a bit slow, but I really like the idea of a platformer that revolves around waiting instead of action oriented platforming. It feels rather tranquil and could be even more of a meditative affair with better sound/graphics/production values. Still cool concept in any case that is worth checking out for the novelty factor, even if its not the most "fun" to play mechanic or control wise.

8BitBoy

Video impressions!
00BY11T.png

http://youtu.be/RYXtFD_EyIk

Hmmmm, the word I constantly had in mind when playing it for an hour just now was "competent". I can see why people compare it to the Mario games, because its pretty damn similar, but that doesnt make it the same instant classic that the Mario games have been for 20 years. The mechanics "work" just fine, with a slight caveat for how loose the jumping mechanics feel. Lots of hidden areas (huge plus), a steady amount of new hazards (plus), but also levels that feel a bit too similar. No level really stood out other than for example the boss fight (which wasnt terribly interesting either even though I completely sucked at it :P), which isnt... good. The game works as a platformer and I'd probably play through it if I had it on Vita. I obviously cant argue against it either for $1, but at 7&#8364; I'd probably have some reservations as its not the must play (even for jump&run fans) that the impressions made it out to be. Dont get me wrong, its a fun, little game that I'll certainly have more fun with whenever I'll decide to play it again, but its just nothing... special. Echo of the Wilds? Special. Hell, even 400 years feels more interesting as a concept even though its way worse executed and less polished obviously. Still, people looking for some classic jump&run action will enjoy it.

Among the Sleep
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Echoing the opinion of others, I realize that the concept they were going for here is original and interesting, but unfortunately they didnt capitalize on what the game could have been. As others have said, its more of a "crawling simulator" than an actual game, which can be fine, but especially in regard to horror games, its just not ... enough. Not to mention that the actual horror elements dont seem as well carried out as in other games. This is my experience from the Beta btw, so if that radically changed in the full version, please let me know.

>----------< Highly Recommended >----------<
>----------< Recommended >----------<
400 years
8BitBoy
>----------< Decent-ish >----------<
Among the Sleep
>----------< Bleh >----------<
 
Always sometimes monster seems really interesting, but I have the fear that it might be a bit of a one trick pony. Have some impactful decisions, sub-par writing and lots of filler content and I wouldnt know how much I'd enjoy it past the intial 2 hours of starting the game. Anyone here played it? Worth 10$ or should I wait for a bundle? (Keep in mind that the money goes to Indies either way, but 10$ might get me 2-3 other Indies this month).
 
Epic Flail
Epic Flail is also an alpha/early game. It's the kind of simple but addictive games that I love and hell, one of the few gladiator games on PC that I can think of. Epic Flail is a very simple game, in terms of controls. Using the arrow keys, you aim the direction of your dash and a button press sends you slashing in that direction. An enemy your path? Heads will roll and bodies will get bisected. The flying blood and body parts, accompanied by a few moments of slow-mo, makes each kill very satisfying

The simple controls turn the arena combat into twitchy mid-air chaos, as your enemies become more challenging, with armor and shields and various weapons. The game has a really cool lives system, where you collect armor and weapons that you've knocked off of enemies. It's fun and fast and there's also a special arena mode to unlock. The developer plans to expand Epic Flail with bosses, a story, lots of physic contraptions, and more complex levels

Freaking Meatbags
Freaking Meatbags is still early, and feels more like a foundation for a great game, but what is there is really good and very promising. For me, the strongest area of the game is the humor. The witty deadpan dialogue and descriptions are really funny and adds to the experience. The gameplay is fun, although feels unpolished and unbalanced in areas; a mixture of tower defense, RTS, and action shooter as you direct your useless humans to gather resources and you hold off wild robot hordes with defenses and your own weapons. With the right equipment, you can make those useless meatbags less useless, by combing their DNA with each other (boosting stats) or aliens (granting them special abilities like laser eyes)

I wouldn't recommend Freaking Meatbags at the moment, not because it isn't good, but because feels kind of bare bones. It's certainly a game to watch and I'm eager to see how it expands and grows.
---
1. Epic Flail
2. Freaking Meatbags
 
Impressions:

The Last Tinker: City of Colors - Just finished this one. It harkens back to a lot of the great 3D platformers of yesteryear. Nintendo 64 comparisons could be made in spades. There's also a bit of Sly Cooper within the traversal - albeit more of a hold-one-button, on-rails approach, some Ratchet-like grind rails, and a bit of early Jak & Daxter in the combat. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, and even those single elements are a bit inferior to their originals. Regardless, it sets itself apart enough from its influences and is a joy to play. The art direction is phenomenal, the audio is catchy, and creativity runs rampant. It's the coffee grounds to modern video games - a real palate cleanser. Plus, the story - which seemed a bit silly in the beginning - wraps itself up nicely at the end of the 8 hour journey. Kids at heart attracted to the pretty colors should find plenty to enjoy.

A Story About My Uncle - A game with enjoyable mechanics and a lovely surreal world. Story, voice acting, some odd looking NPCs, and difficulty spikes toward the end tried to derail my enjoyment, but the fun experimentation that the jump/grapple/rocket mechanics encouraged kept me wanting to see where I would go next.

ibb and obb - It's a great co-op game, but not many people talk about the solo mode. Hearing it would be difficult, I tackled it when it released on PS3. Puzzle platformer fans who are up for a good, patience-requiring challenge in multitasking should try it. Both characters are controlled independently using only the analog sticks. It's one of my most satisfying trophies, and one of my rarest at 0.2%. Visuals are minimalistic yet stunning. Level themes change throughout and take a few interesting turns, as does the gameplay. I walked away from it feeling very accomplished and very impressed.

Where is My Heart - Dabbled with it years ago when it was a PS Mini. It was okay, but bigger and brighter things came along, and I never got back to it. Maybe I should.

Among the Sleep - Like others, from my experience with the demo, it just didn't pull me in. The toddler perspective was interesting.
 
Freaking Meatbags

Freaking Meatbags is still early, and feels more like a foundation for a great game, but what is there is really good and very promising. For me, the strongest area of the game is the humor. The witty deadpan dialogue and descriptions are really funny and adds to the experience. The gameplay is fun, although feels unpolished and unbalanced in areas; a mixture of tower defense, RTS, and action shooter as you direct your useless humans to gather resources and you hold off wild robot hordes with defenses and your own weapons. With the right equipment, you can make those useless meatbags less useless, by combing their DNA with each other (boosting stats) or aliens (granting them special abilities like laser eyes)

I wouldn't recommend Freaking Meatbags at the moment, not because it isn't good, but because feels kind of bare bones. It's certainly a game to watch and I'm eager to see how it expands and grows.
---
1. Epic Flail
2. Freaking Meatbags

Hi I'm the developper of Freaking Meatbags. If you have any suggestion, I will be happy to hear it !
You can send me a message with http://www.wildfactor.net/contact . Thanks!
 
Impressions:

The Last Tinker: City of Colors - Just finished this one. It harkens back to a lot of the great 3D platformers of yesteryear. Nintendo 64 comparisons could be made in spades. There's also a bit of Sly Cooper within the traversal - albeit more of a hold-one-button, on-rails approach, some Ratchet-like grind rails, and a bit of early Jak & Daxter in the combat. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, and even those single elements are a bit inferior to their originals. Regardless, it sets itself apart enough from its influences and is a joy to play. The art direction is phenomenal, the audio is catchy, and creativity runs rampant. It's the coffee grounds to modern video games - a real palate cleanser. Plus, the story - which seemed a bit silly in the beginning - wraps itself up nicely at the end of the 8 hour journey. Kids at heart attracted to the pretty colors should find plenty to enjoy.

A Story About My Uncle - A game with enjoyable mechanics and a lovely surreal world. Story, voice acting, some odd looking NPCs, and difficulty spikes toward the end tried to derail my enjoyment, but the fun experimentation that the jump/grapple/rocket mechanics encouraged kept me wanting to see where I would go next.

Hm, that sounds like The Last Tinker is actually fulfilling the promise of a good 3D plaformer. I am also a bit curious about A story about my uncle, but everything I saw didnt make it differentiate it much from the myriad of other 3D puzzle games with physics. What makes it different?
 
Well, fuck, I'm 22 now...

On one hand, it's exciting, another year down. And on the other, it's kind of terrifying because it's another year closer to having to be out in my own, job, place to live, etc, etc.
 
Well, fuck, I'm 22 now...

On one hand, it's exciting, another year down. And on the other, it's kind of terrifying because it's another year closer to having to be out in my own, job, place to live, etc, etc.

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I cant imagine becoming 30 in the next few years, yikes. Congrats though ;)
 
So many games, so little time.

I've recently started a youtube channel where I'll be playing about 30 minutes of an Indie game each week.

Let me know if ya'll are interested.
 
So many games, so little time.

I've recently started a youtube channel where I'll be playing about 30 minutes of an Indie game each week.

Let me know if ya'll are interested.

Might as well post it and throw a post in here every week.

Also: Have you SEEN Titanf... Echo of the Wilds?
 
That's practically the unwritten IndieGAF motto :p

Or PC gaming in general. I am sure our brethren over in the Steam thread are fairly acquainted with that motto as well.
 
Might as well post it and throw a post in here every week.

Also: Have you SEEN Titanf... Echo of the Wilds?

Yeah, I've got Brothers on there right now. But I don't like how it split into 3 parts. My next uploads will be just one video per game, each running about 30 minutes. I figured that's a good indicator for whether someone is interested in the game, then they can buy it and play the rest. I'm hoping to give a lot of games coverage and allow people who might not be interested in buying the game to see what it's all about and hopefully help the Indie community out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/qlieustudio
 
Well, fuck, I'm 22 now...

On one hand, it's exciting, another year down. And on the other, it's kind of terrifying because it's another year closer to having to be out in my own, job, place to live, etc, etc.

Happy birthday! Don't put to much pressure in yourself trying to accomplish all these goals or it's not going to do well to your health, personal experience.
 
Yeah, I've got Brothers on there right now. But I don't like how it split into 3 parts. My next uploads will be just one video per game, each running about 30 minutes. I figured that's a good indicator for whether someone is interested in the game, then they can buy it and play the rest. I'm hoping to give a lot of games coverage and allow people who might not be interested in buying the game to see what it's all about and hopefully help the Indie community out.

https://www.youtube.com/user/qlieustudio

Just in case you are interested, my own channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmWatA0sf5dvgj-vpz76FHQ
I try to post 2-3 games per month from this thread, usually either very good ones or games that I figured others might have an interest in.
 
New Groupees bundle is pretty good
http://groupees.com/bm13

For a minimum of $1 you get:
* Legend Of Dungeon
* AntiSquad
* Alpha Kimori 1

For a minimum of $4 you also get:
* Nekro
* Miasmata
* The Longest Journey
* Spate
* Mystery Game

Oh neat. I want LoD...and AntiSquad (I meant to play it for the june thread anyway)... and Spate!
 
Oh neat. I want LoD...and AntiSquad (I meant to play it for the june thread anyway)... and Spate!

Nekro is also good, been a while since there's been a good minion master type of game. Made me buy the bundle just for that game.
 
Nekro is also good, been a while since there's been a good minion master type of game. Made me buy the bundle just for that game.

Yeah, I downloaded that game too, but I cant remember reading much about it yet.
 
Yeah, I downloaded that game too, but I cant remember reading much about it yet.

Totalbiscuit made a nice video impression of it, but apart from that it hasn't received much media coverage. Most of the gameplay videos I found was from the dev's youtube although this may have changed since its now possible to purchase it.
 
Inside My Radio - Free Jam version (PC)
5611-shot2.png

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-23/?uid=5611

In this game you play the guy who's in charge to keep the rhythm in a boombox. All the moves you perform must be synchronized with the tempo of the music
Full game in development

Substratum - Free (PC, Mac, Linux)
20641-shot2.png

http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-29/?action=preview&uid=20641

Ludum Dare entry from the developer of Boson X
A puzzle game about a marooned astronaut exploring an uncharted planet. Be careful where you point that laser gun!

composition 83 - Free (PC, Mac, Linux)
2T54u8.png

http://nuprahtor.itch.io/composition-83

A short first-person exploration game

Fignermukcre - Free (PC)
TB5ehY.png

http://wly_cdgr.itch.io/fignermukcre

"Fignermukcre is utterly fantastic, a simple action game ruleset that keeps yielding more and more nuance. The first thing setting it apart from a lineage of collect-and-avoid games is its novel control scheme, but eventually the controls become intuitive and even then the game feels both magical and meticulous." (RockPaperShotgun)
 
That's cool. Would you be interested in featuring eachother's channel?

Considering the size of our channels, it might actually make more sense to sit together and talk whether we can work something out to do videos for the same channel instead. More regular content, gives more regular viewers so that might benefit both of us for these videos.

Oh and btw, your videos dont work :p
 
Played a few missions of Nekro, it's really good. I love the art style, really unique and interesting and the levels end up littered with blood and body parts by the time you're finish

The gameplay is great. It's a mix of action and RTS elements and there's a strategic element as well, since you're advised to gather resources and plan your tactics before attacking towns and villages.

I think the Groupees bundle is worth it for Nekro alone. The game wasn't even on my radar, but I'm happy to have gotten it now.

Nekro - $19.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
SS03-1024x576.jpg

http://darkforgegames.com/nekro/

Raise demons and spawn unholy weapons of war as a powerful Necromancer with an insatiable blood lust. Customize your minions to your liking and perfect your ideal "monster loadout." Tear your enemies limb from limb and harvest their corpses to strengthen your dark magics.
 
Considering the size of our channels, it might actually make more sense to sit together and talk whether we can work something out to do videos for the same channel instead. More regular content, gives more regular viewers so that might benefit both of us for these videos.

Oh and btw, your videos dont work :p

Thank you for the offer. After thinking about it some, I think I'm just gonna keep it a solo project. Its mostly just a way for me to share stuff I feel should be played by more people and not necessarily something I want to spend too much time and energy into. However, I would be more than happy to talk about your channel in my videos to help you get more exposure.

Not sure why the videos aren't working. I've tested the videos on multiple computers and they all play fine.
 
Thank you for the offer. After thinking about it some, I think I'm just gonna keep it a solo project. Its mostly just a way for me to share stuff I feel should be played by more people and not necessarily something I want to spend too much time and energy into. However, I would be more than happy to talk about your channel in my videos to help you get more exposure.

Not sure why the videos aren't working. I've tested the videos on multiple computers and they all play fine.

Yeah, this: " Its mostly just a way for me to share stuff I feel should be played by more people and not necessarily something I want to spend too much time and energy into." is exactly what I am thinking as well. I am not trying to promote it hard and usually only post it here in the thread, but its still easier and makes more sense to have it under a single channel in my opinion instead of having multiple channels each with 2-4 videos per month. Not trying to monetize or heavily push it either, but I just figured I'd mention it since having more content on a single channel will automatically reach more people, which in turn gives these games more exposure.

As I said, no big deal but feel free to ponder that idea.
 
Did someone make a post for the release? Or was it already released previously?

There was an official thread made but I don't know if anyone made a summary post in your format. I believe the LD-build was featured back in like August or September, would that block it?
 
Hm, that sounds like The Last Tinker is actually fulfilling the promise of a good 3D plaformer. I am also a bit curious about A story about my uncle, but everything I saw didnt make it differentiate it much from the myriad of other 3D puzzle games with physics. What makes it different?

Both games sold me mainly with their art direction. Just seeing where I will travel to next in a game has always been a huge carrot on a stick for me. A Story About My Uncle does a good job introducing its mechanics that allow you to create momentum. First, a large super jump. By the end you get 3 grappling hook shots and a rocket boost from some boots. Linear trials make way for open areas that give you more choice. Sometimes abilities are restricted or completely taken away. There's a lot of trial and error that results in falling to your death, but finding that right combo of mechanics or nailing the perfect line for a grapple swing is very satisfying.
 
There was an official thread made but I don't know if anyone made a summary post in your format. I believe the LD-build was featured back in like August or September, would that block it?

Yeah, probably no one made a post here, which is why we miss quite a few games. Creating these threads by hand takes 15-20 hours, and I really dont have the time for it, which is why I have a program crawling the thread for properly formatted posts, and without those, games wont be added.

I can add the game to the OP now though, give me a few minutes.

And if you guys see interesting Indie Game threads on GAF, make sure to post a formatted post here as well so it gets picked up and archived next month!
 
There was an official thread made but I don't know if anyone made a summary post in your format. I believe the LD-build was featured back in like August or September, would that block it?

Nope we usually feature the games more than one time, like if it releases an alpha/concept build first then later a complete game. Must have been an oversight from our part.
 
Nope we usually feature the games more than one time, like if it releases an alpha/concept build first then later a complete game. Must have been an oversight from our part.

See post above, we cant remember everything :P If we had more than just the regular 3-4 guys posting everything, we'd probably miss less. I really wish GAF as a whole had a bit more interest in this thread and would crosspost any Indie announcements from their individual threads here as well.
 
8BitBoy


Video impressions!
00BY11T.png

http://youtu.be/RYXtFD_EyIk

Hmmmm, the word I constantly had in mind when playing it for an hour just now was "competent". I can see why people compare it to the Mario games, because its pretty damn similar, but that doesnt make it the same instant classic that the Mario games have been for 20 years. The mechanics "work" just fine, with a slight caveat for how loose the jumping mechanics feel. Lots of hidden areas (huge plus), a steady amount of new hazards (plus), but also levels that feel a bit too similar. No level really stood out other than for example the boss fight (which wasnt terribly interesting either even though I completely sucked at it :P), which isnt... good. The game works as a platformer and I'd probably play through it if I had it on Vita. I obviously cant argue against it either for $1, but at 7€ I'd probably have some reservations as its not the must play (even for jump&run fans) that the impressions made it out to be. Dont get me wrong, its a fun, little game that I'll certainly have more fun with whenever I'll decide to play it again, but its just nothing... special. Echo of the Wilds? Special. Hell, even 400 years feels more interesting as a concept even though its way worse executed and less polished obviously. Still, people looking for some classic jump&run action will enjoy it.

Thanks for these. Game kinda rubs me the wrong way, to be honest. There's tons of iOS J&R that are just as competent and just as non-essential. Also, according to your video description, it's the same game as Echo of the Wilds. ;p
 
See post above, we cant remember everything :P If we had more than just the regular 3-4 guys posting everything, we'd probably miss less. I really wish GAF as a whole had a bit more interest in this thread and would crosspost any Indie announcements from their individual threads here as well.

We posted at the same time. xD

I always try to post info about Indie games in this thread, but you're right there are only a few of us so it's hard to cover everything. I also wish that more GAF members could participate in this thread.
 
See post above, we cant remember everything :P If we had more than just the regular 3-4 guys posting everything, we'd probably miss less. I really wish GAF as a whole had a bit more interest in this thread and would crosspost any Indie announcements from their individual threads here as well.

Dang, I should have made the Shütshimi post then. For some reason I thought we had already included it previously. My bad!
 
Thanks for these. Game kinda rubs me the wrong way, to be honest. There's tons of iOS J&R that are just as competent and just as non-essential. Also, according to your video description, it's the same game as Echo of the Wilds. ;p

Wild is every, echo is thing.

Thanks, corrected it.

And yeah, I dont quite get the universal praise the game got from some impressions. Its good, sure, but so are plenty of other Indies in the genre that arent too different either.

Dang, I should have made the Shütshimi post then. For some reason I thought we had already included it previously. My bad!

Haha, no worries. We featured it previously with the demo release, but not the full version.
 
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