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Thomas was alone: a minimalist game about friendship
If you're not too busy shooting all the aliens, you might want to give a new indie game on Kongregate a go. "Thomas was alone" was made by Blitz Games Studios designer Mike Bithell on October 16th and 17th, during a span of just 24 hours. As Bithell notes, "I went from blank screen to decent puzzle platformer in less time than it takes Jack Bauer to save the world. That's a pretty cool achievement." Thomas was alone is part minimalist platformer, part geometric buddy road-trip. Things get interesting once Thomas encounters his first friend, a dull, prim-and-proper Puritan and all-around square. Also, he's literally a square. By taking control of different pals and taking advantage of their unique dimensions, you'll be able to solve simple platforming challenges and progress. Describing it as a block-stacking game is accurate, albeit unimaginative. We've enjoyed one of Mike Bithell's games before (surely you remember Visiting Day from 2006?), and while this one's bothered by slippery controls, it's an effective reminder of how simple, immediately decipherable mechanics form the basis of any worthwhile game, regardless of the presentation. The impressive 24-hour construction period is also motivational to any budding designers out there. Why, just look what Blitz Games Studios has to say on the matter: "The games you make don't have to be epic masterpieces, they don't need to make use of bleeding edge graphics. A little bit of heart and a simple idea can go a long way. Frankly though, if Mike can manage it, so can you!"
Gamestop acquiring Flash game portal Kongregate
GameStop just took a huge step into the casual online gaming market, by agreeing to purchase the Flash game portal Kongregate. According to the announcement, the site will remain under the management of founders Jim and Emily Greer following the purchase, which should finalize on August 1. CEO J. Paul Raines explained the move, saying, "Dolphin Olympics 2 is really, really wonderful." Okay, we made that up (though Dolphin Olympics 2 is really, really wonderful). Raines actually said, "Kongregate advances GameStop's digital strategy by providing a gaming platform for casual, mobile and browser games that can be promoted and played by our existing gamers. We welcome the Kongregate team to the GameStop family." GameStop has previously experimented with free-to-play online gaming with initiatives including the Legends of Zork browser game and a small "Free2Play" portal on its retail site.
Remnants of Skystone launches
If you've been waiting for a hearty fix of Steampunk in your gaming life, Remnants of Skystone may have what you crave. After a couple years of development and testing by Flipline Studios, this quirky 2D browser MMO just launched on Kongregate, and so far, it's looking solid. Players can choose between three classes: the steam-shooting Aeronauts, the blade-wielding Ferric or the whip-lashing Crags. Character creation is simple and painless, with a decent if not overwhelming selection of visual options. After that point, players enter this unique world full of Victorian gadgets and fashion to fight an alien threat that has taken over the world.
Sacred Seasons: The flash-based MMO
We're not entirely sure how this one slipped under our radar. Perhaps it was a quiet launch, or perhaps it was a flash based massively multiplayer game, but we somehow failed to mention Sacred Seasons.So now we're going to take the time to correct that error -- enter Sacred Seasons, an MMO that runs entirely in flash and entirely in your internet browser. The game tells the story of the Heartlands, a world that's much like ours except in hyperbole, where the seasons dominate so strongly that they resonate in humanity itself. The people of the world have broken off into four separate tribes, one each dedicated to one of the seasons. All of them ally together, however, to fight a plague spreading across the world -- the growing corruption of the badlands, areas of nothingness.
SXSW 2009: Games By the People, For the People
So you enjoy playing video games, right? That's what probably brought you to Joystiq in the first place. But have you ever thought about making your own? Right now you're probably thinking, "But, Kevin... doesn't that take millions of dollars and a huge development team?" Well you happen to be in luck, because the answer is no. You can pretty much do it all on your own for pennies. But what's the secret to making it awesome? 5 out of 5 panelists agree: you need to have a good story, or a really interesting idea. Simple, right? Start thinking, and find out more after the break.
Multiverse reveals a peek at their upcoming flash development platform
Imagine booting up your computer to play your favorite online game with your friend, except he's in an airport waiting for a flight and you're at home in your office chair. You see a glorious 3-D world from the comfort of your computer monitor, and he sees a two dimensional isometric view from his hunched view over his mobile phone. You use your mouse to click your action buttons and fight monsters, and he just taps the screen with his finger. You're questing together, winning battles together, except you see the world entirely in 3-D and he's seeing it in 2-D.If you're thinking that this scenario is entirely implausible, you would be wrong. MMO tools developer Multiverse has recently unveiled a sneak peek at their upcoming flash toolset by launching the flash based game Multiverse Battle.
Mythic and Kongregate team up for Warhammer Online contest
What do you get when you pair Mythic Entertainment with Kongregate, the site that provides over 11,000 free web games? Apparently, you get a Warhammer Online contest called the WAR Series Challenge, where 5 winners will receive a copy of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and a 6-month subscription to the game. In order to win, you need to achieve goals in three of Kongregate's games: Hit level 5 in Sonny Store up 50 gold in Talesworth Arena: Death Watch Slay 10 enemies in Hands of War If you think that's easy, then don't wait to jump in and hit these goals to enter the sweepstakes, as you've only got until January 22, 2009 to rack up these achievements.
Kongregate opens labs to teach you Flash
If you're a fan of Flash games at all, you've no doubt visited Kongregate, which makes web games even more delectably clickable by adding achievements and other rewards. Now you can be a crack dealer err, creator of Flash games with a tutorial section of the site just launched called "Kongregate Labs."By walking you through creating a game of its own design, the site says it can take complete Flash newbies and have them making complete games of their own by the last of the eight tutorials (or "Shootorials" as the site calls them). Oh, and the best mod to its template game could win some cash. We're sure that pales in comparison to the gift of bringing joy into people's lives, but, hey, it doesn't hurt.
Joystiq Free Game Club: Epic War
Video games based on the Lord of the Rings franchise have been a mixed bag at best, but, as you know, there's one sure-fire equalizer when it comes to quality: Freeness (or is it freeosity)? Using that logic, Kongregate and ArtLogicGames' Epic War, an LOTR-inspired strategy game, may just be the best of the lot.The premise is simple: you defend your castle with a turret and an army of Tolkien-created creatures, all the while trying to get your forces to the enemy castle to demolish it. No, it's not exactly canon, but that's good news, because it means you can inexplicably throw out an army of dwarves, elves and hobbits with no worries of watching a favorite character die.As you progress through the battles on the world map, you'll earn experience you can use to train your units, acquire new types like wizards and dragons and gain new powers for your turret. It's hard to break the addiction cycle when the upgrade or character is just a quick battle away.Give it a whirl, let us know what you think. And if you know of a free game that you'd like us to feature, let us know in the comments.
Lila Dreams blog posts an interview with Jason McIntosh
Lila Dreams is a tiny little MMO that we've been following somewhat closely here at Massively -- from the descriptions we've seen so far (of an entire virtual world set inside the dreams of a little girl), it seems like an intriguing experimental departure from your standard online game. And now, over on their blog, they've got an interview, translated from Portuguese, that sheds even more light on this innovative little online game.Unfortunately, there's not too much new here, but the interview does follow some familiar and interesting news about the game: players will be able to actually change Lila's moods using game mechanics, and the setting of the game will change based on whatever mood she has at the moment. While there probably won't be the videogame standbys of swords and plasma guns (though apparently there will be "a mix of modern, medieval, and future stuff"), we are told that players will be able to wander instanced areas with groups, so there will be some MMO conventions in there, tweaked as they may be.Lila Dreams remains a unique little blip on our radar for now -- the game, as we've said before, will eventually be hosted on Kongregate as a 2D Java and Flash game. There's a long way to go until release -- at least a closed alpha, beta, and then an open pre-release period, but we continue to look forward to it.
Kongregate to bring its service to Facebook
We don't talk about it a lot, but we have a secret love for online Flash service Kongregate. Not only does it offer achievements (truly the only good reason to play games) but it's brought us Flash obsessions like the soul- and time-sucking behemoth that is Desktop Tower Defense.Now, the service is expanding into one of our other, even more secreter, loves with the Kongregate Facebook Challenge application. Though the features are limited at the moment, you'll soon be able to challenge friends to games through the Facebook service. You know, because the internet just wasn't distracting enough.[Via 1UP]
Dragonlings invade Metaplace!
Cross a government Systems-Analyst with Areae's Metaplace, and you might get dragons. At least get if you're Metaplace alpha tester "chooseareality". Areae's latest community spotlight shines upon "chooseareality" and her new game, Dragonlings. She used the Metaplace game-creation toolkit to make an adventure game where you, as a newly-hatched dragonling, must make your way through the world, learning, exploring and growing to full adulthood. "chooseareality" had tried several times to make this game and others using conventional tools, but until she'd started with Metaplace, had never been able to leap the learning curve enough to actually get a game written. Metaplace's tinting and scaling tools helped extend a few original pieces of art into the dragonling characters for the whole game.Do Metaplace, VastPark, Kongregate and others that showcase and help with the creation of player-written games popping up all over mean a new Renaissance for gaming? Finding the best games out of the hundreds we're sure to see would probably be a worthy game idea all by itself....
First Look: Remnants of Skystone
One particular flavor of science fiction that's gotten short shrift by MMOs is Steampunk, the variant that combines our love of gearwork with mad science. Fortunately, Flipline Studios will redress that omission with its upcoming 2D, side-scrolling adventurer, Remnants of Skystone. Set in a future wherein an alien race called the Mimics have claimed the Earth as theirs, covering it with a poisonous miasma called the Haze, humans have taken to the skies in the floating city called Nidaria. Players can expect a game experience somewhat in the manner of MapleStory, where players may team up to explore and retake the ground from the alien menace.No word yet on whether this will be free-to-play or subscription, but it does mention it will be for PCs and Macs. Remnants of Skystone is set to release late this year on kongregate.com. For a full look at how this title's developing, check out the RoS blog. The site also features screenshots and a bit of world history, so whet your appetite and getcher goggles on -- full steam ahead![Thanks, Tony!]
SXSW08: The Female Takedown of Casual Gaming
A panel of game publishers, analysts, and investors met at this SXSW presentation to discuss the numbers and trends involving the female audience for casual games. For this talk, "casual games" comprises mostly web games and downloadable shareware games, and not, say, Wii party games or console downloads.Parks Associates' Michael Cai began with some charts. According to the data, female gamers heavily prefer computers to consoles: female gamers spend an average of 70% of their gaming time on computers, versus male gamers' 56%. Female gamers make up 62% of the casual game audience, and this group, especially those age 13-17, play more sessions per month. There is less diversity among genres for female gamers as well: across age groups, puzzle and card games are the most popular casual games.
Lila Dreams devs are blogging up new MMO insights
Back in late January, Eliah posted about an interesting little MMO called Lila Dreams, that was intriguing for a few reasons. Not only is it being developed as a 2D game in Java and Flash on Kongregate.com (a website probably most known for the extremely popular Desktop Tower Defense game), but the premise sounds terrific: the game takes place all inside a little girl's dream, with platforming and "gardening," and "mood-based world altering." Sure, it might not appeal to the Counterstrike crowd, but to experienced game players and developers that just sounds perfect.Since we first posted about it, the developers of the game have been blogging, and now there's quite a bit to read there about the process behind the game, including some good tidbits about how to make an RPG without a grind, and how to include microtransactions that vibe with both players and the people who want to make money from them.It'll definitely be interesting to see what comes of this. It certainly seems new, and as a great movie once said, the new needs friends.[Via KTR]
Lila Dreams: a different kind of MMO
Most of the big MMOs that are coming up fit in the basic Tolkien-derived fantasy mold: Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, and so on. There's nothing wrong with that per se; I'm with the many who believe WoW is the best MMO yet, and I recently started playing the Mythos beta and having a lot of fun with it. However, every once in a while, something comes along that breaks the pattern and stands out, like a refreshing breeze. EVE Online, as I'm told, is one such game.Here's another: Lila Dreams, by Creatrix Games, "a small game development studio located all around the world." It's set to launch this year on Flash gaming site Kongregate; the game's back end will be in Java, and the interface will be Flash. Here are some things I could glean from the blog: No magic (though there might be "psychic powers") No level grind No fantasy setting or races 2D platforming combat with "RPG-like mechanics" Gardening -- but "in a surrealistic game world where plants are not just plants" Players will apparently be inhabiting the mind of an 11-year-old girl named Lila Mood-based world-altering as a result of player cooperation It sounds interesting, anyway. For more, check out the concept art or the blog on the game's site. This is one game I would love to play in beta.[via Boing Boing]
