Burden defends lanes on the backs of Colossi

Does your aptitude for tower defense games leave you yawning as you wipe out pitiful waves of enemies? Well, maybe you need a bigger target to protect - something like a group of towering mechanical Colossi, for instance. Burden follows a group of engineers trying to save Mhoroa, a civilization that's harvested enough of an ancient resource for its land to start tearing itself apart. Hoping to curb their extinction, the engineers heed dreams that lead them to the Colossi, machines built by their ancestors. The Colossi simply need to be brought to specific locations and Mhoroa's land will be saved. Simple, right?

Well, maybe not. How do you tell the towns you're passing by that the monstrous, looming machines you're guiding are vehicles of salvation rather than death? With the absence of an email tips line for Mhoroa, the remaining options aren't feasible. Villagers are going to react negatively to a group of mechanical titans stomping into their field of vision, and they're going to rally together to ascend the beasts and kill them.

That's where you come in - as an ally of the engineers, you'll fend off the attacks of Mhoroa's inhabitants across multiple attack lanes on the bodies of Colossi. Burden's chapters will follow the journeys of different Colossi as they travel across Mhoroa, taking on waves of their country's people and, as a post from publisher Surprise Attack Games notes, "major foes" preventing a Colossi's progress.

A fact sheet developer PixelPickle's Burden lists a "April / May 2014" PC launch date for Steam Early Access, with Mac and Linux versions also planned. While the fact sheet doesn't list a price, Surprise Attack's post from December lists a $15 Early Access price, with the final build going for $20 when it launches later on in 2014.

[Image: Surprise Attack Games]

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FACT SHEET

OVERVIEW
Platforms: PC (Mac & Linux planned) Developer: PixelPickle Games Publisher: Surprise Attack Games Early Access date: April / May 2014

LINKS & CONTACT
Website: burden-game.com
Trailer: http://youtu.be/3GlwzBPH2WE

BURDEN
A game of tactical tower defense on multiple simultaneous battlefronts. Place shields and artillery towers on the exterior of a giant mechanical colossus whilst also juggling defences on multiple nodes - critical locations on the beast, which enemies will attempt to board and penetrate.
In the kingdom of Mhoroa, the inhabitants extract "source" from the land to power their technology. The exploitation of this seemingly limitless resource has accelerated their technological development for millennia but has now started to affect the land. The ground is becoming brittle, there have been earthquakes and floods and, most worryingly of all, the volcano at the centre of the kingdom is erupting.

A handful of source engineers follow a message in their dreams and discover the Colossi - giant beast-like machines built by their ancestors and thought to be a myth. Taking these beasts to anointed locations will save the land, but their fellow countrymen react in fear and take up arms to kill the colossi. Now they must fight through their own people in order to save them.

The game is broken into chapters, each of which is an epic journey on a different colossus. Within each chapter the player will face major foes blocking their progress across the land and many waves of enemies boarding the beast. Success depends on smart strategy and quick management of the battle as it unfolds on multiple fronts.

KEY FEATURES
• Tactical tower defense on multiple simultaneous battlefronts: juggle your attention between multiple nodes and the exterior of the colossus.
• Staggering scale: shepherd a colossus the size of a skyscraper as you fight off enemies from a tiny soldier to gigantic airships.
• An epic journey across a land tearing itself apart: explore forests, deserts, the sea and volcanoes as you struggle to save the kingdom from itself.
• Uncover the mysteries of the colossi: what were these giant beasts created for? Do the gods truly exist?
• Simple but deep tower defense mechanics: master the tight collection of towers, each with branching
upgrade paths.
• Become the ultimate engineer: unlock personal powers and upgrades to give you the edge in battle.

ABOUT PIXELPICKLE GAMES
PixelPickle Games was founded by Rob Dowling in 2008. Utilising his broad experiences in the industry, gained working for companies including SEGA, Krome and Auran, Rob contracted his skills to other indies, including animation for Mode 7ʹ′s critically acclaimed strategy title, Frozen Synapse. While providing services for other indies, a debut solo project was developed: Lylian: Paranoid Friendship. Released in 2010, Lylian is a horror- adventure game for PC.

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pixelpickle.com @pixelpickle facebook.com/Pixelpickle

ABOUT SURPRISE ATTACK GAMES
Surprise Attack Games is an independent games label focused on partnering with independent game developers to provide marketing, distribution, and strategic assistance in taking their games to global audiences on any and all game platforms. For games that operate as a service, the label also provides monetisation strategy, design guidance and operational analytics.

Launched in July 2013, Surprise Attack Games is part of Surprise Attack Pty Ltd. Its sister company, Surprise Attack Consulting is a games-specialist marketing and PR agency working primarily for games and game-related companies wanting on the ground expertise in the Australian and New Zealand markets.

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surpriseattackgames.com @supattackgames facebook.com/SurpriseAttack