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First-person platformer Deadcore is a sci-fi speedrun
First-person platformer Deadcore is now available on PC, Mac and Linux. Developed by the five-person French studio 5 Bits Games, the game costs $10 on Steam and Desura. Set in a mysterious sci-fi world, Deadcore has players climbing to the top of a labyrinthine tower, shooting at mechanical enemies and triggers in the twisted tower's security system to open new pathways. Deadcore features a Speedrun mode with online leaderboards, allowing players to challenge their friends' best times in the fast-paced levels. Bandai Namco handled the distribution of the independent platformer, as announced back in April. Head past the break to check out the game's launch trailer, which shows off Deadcore's jumping abilities. [Image: Bandai Namco]
CRT-themed Super Win the Game recalls the good old days
Modern, retro-tinted platformers have got the whole "classic graphical style" thing down at this point, but emulating the warm glow of CRT TVs is a rarer feat. Minor Key Games has coated Super Win the Game in the softer presentation, pairing with open-ended, exploration-focused platforming to appear as a comprehensive throwback on PC, Mac and Linux. In case you're only willing to endure a particular amount of old-timey blur and pixelation, Super Win the Game lets players tweak the CRT-themed effects to better suit their preference. If you go for Minor Key's adventure before October 8, you can scrounge for gems and keys for $11.69 (regularly $12.99) or snatch a copy bundled with the game's soundtrack for $13.49 (normally $14.99). Super Win the Game is a sequel to Minor Key's You Have to Win the Game, a free download on PC, Mac and Linux that also emulates the screens that have hosted the countless deaths of plumbers, bandicoots and hedgehogs for decades. [Thanks, Kyle!] [Image: Minor Key Games]
Flee from a toothy, clawed storm in 2.5D platformer Shu
Surely you can outrun a perilous, world-ending storm, oh proven master of the platformer genre, but what about fellow villagers that don't have your finesse? Would you just run past, leaving them for the ominous black cloud that's sporting a full set of teeth? "Of course not," you (probably) said, because you (probably) have a heart! You can lead endangered villagers to safety in Shu, a 2.5D platformer that's dashing and floating its way toward PS3, PS4 and Vita. In Shu, saving villagers gives you more than just warm, fuzzy feelings. Villagers boast unique abilities, which you'll be able to harness if you spare the time to lead them from danger. You'll need to convince them to tag along quickly though, because if the incessant storm reaches you, it'll snatch your companions one by one. You don't want to lose your adorable fellow villagers and, on a definitely-less-important note, the abilities that you can only borrow in their presence, right? Shu was originally conceived by Secret Lunch, but has since turned into a collaboration with Coatsink Software. Shu is planned to reach PlayStation platforms in mid-2015, but you can get a better sense of what you'll be running from right now in the trailer after the break. [Image: Coatsink Software]
Former Last Guardian devs' teaser trailer is so Vane
Friend and Foe Games offered a teaser trailer for one of its two introductory games this week, Vane. The Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer shows the game's desert-and-ruins environment, following a bird in flight before observing a shadowy sprinting child. The team of five at Friend and Foe Games includes credits on Team Ico's The Last Guardian, Bionic Commando, Battlefield 3 and the Killzone series. Head past the break to check out the trailer. Announced in June, the game's youthful character has an "odd ability" and is stuck in a "strange land." While the trailer doesn't shed any light on Vane's setting other than it being prone to severe lightning strikes, the child does appear to leap off a platform and morph into a bird near the end of the video. Vane is in development for PC with other consoles to follow and does not currently have a release date. [Image: Friend and Foe Games]
Shooter-platformer Rive heading to PS4, Xbox One, Wii U
When Two Tribes announced Rive in July, it revealed the 2D shooter for PC and unspecified consoles. The developer pulled the curtain back on Rive's destined systems today on Twitter, announcing its development for PS4, Xbox One and Wii U in addition to Steam. The "metal wrecking, robot hacking simulator" has players altering their enemies' behavior using hacks, leaping across levels and firing in 360 degrees. The game is the first from the studio since its January reboot, in which its staff was cut down to two, now three for the development of Rive. Two Tribes will handle the Rive's PC and Wii U development in-house and will work "closely with a porting partner for PS4 and Xbox One." The Toki Tori developer "did 90 percent of the PlayStation 4 technology late last year when we were porting Toki 2 to it," and will let its partner studio of choice "finish it." Rive is expected to launch in early 2015. [Image: Two Tribes]
Chariot drags the dead to PS4 next week
Chariot, Frima Studio's cooperative platformer, will launch on PS4 next week. The game will arrive on Tuesday, September 30 in North America for $14.99, though European players will have to wait until October 22 to dig into the game. The platformer has two local players (or one solo player) working together to carry a king's coffin to its resting place. However, the king's ghost is particular about where his body winds up, so players must overcome physics-based obstacles to satisfy "His Majesty." The playable characters in question are the princess and her fiancé, who "gather gold and precious gems to decorate the sepulcher" while traversing Chariot's underground environments. The developer opted for local multiplayer only with Chariot, as "direct communication is very important in the game," and that "the tricks you'll need to do with the Chariot requires a lot of precision and we felt that precision might be lost because of the latency online." [Image: Firma Studio]
Assassin's Creed Unity's season pass includes game set in China
Ubisoft unveiled a season pass for Assassin's Creed Unity today, and it includes a full standalone game. The pass costs players $30 and "opens up every piece of DLC" for the game, including Dead Kings, a story campaign set after Assassin's Creed Unity. The full game available to Unity's season pass holders is Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China, which has players hopping and skipping along the Great Wall of China. Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China is set in the 16th century Middle Kingdom and stars Shao Jun, a female assassin that trained under Ezio Auditore, star of Assassin's Creed 2. Shao Jun previously appeared in the 2011 animated short Assassin's Creed: Embers as well as the Assassin's Creed Revelations novel by Oliver Bowden. It's noteworthy that Ubisoft is opting for a female lead with the 2.5D side-scrolling platformer, as it suffered criticism for its growing lack of diversity in the past with Unity's co-op multiplayer mode prior to its introduction of Elise, a Templar in the game. Assassin's Creed Unity's season pass will also give players "over 30 new weapons, equipment and outfits" on launch day. The game will arrive on November 11 for PS4, Xbox One and PC, and the season pass content will all be released by early 2015. [Image: Ubisoft]
Pentumble really sticks with you
Pentumble is an exciting platformer where you face many dangerous obstacles in your race against time to get the most stars in each level. Players must avoid hitting spiky wheels of death, fire, and other such ominous elements in a quest to reach the star at the end of each level. This is a perilous journey most of the time as you must be very careful and strategic about your movement; overshooting a jump most assuredly mean death unless you are lucky. The game costs $1.99 and runs on all iOS devices with iOS version 7.0 or later. The pacing in Pentumble's 36 levels is interesting. There are some easy levels at the beginning which do a nice job of introducing players to the controls and obstacles fairly early on. By about level five, things start to get tense but then you are given a little breather with some easier levels. This pattern continues for some time until about the final 10 levels. Here the levels are much harder than before and you find yourself feeling stumped more often. The pacing makes Pentumble rewarding to play for long stretches of time because you feel very victorious when you complete a tough level. You become excited about the challenges awaiting you in every level that follows. If that is not enough motivation for you to keep playing, Pentumble also features a star rating system that rewards players for completing a level in a certain amount of time and this adds to the games replay value. Pentumble features a character that can latch onto platforms upside down, right side up, and even on the side. You can even walk on or around this platform and some levels require you to move your character on the platform to avoid obstacles. The controls are really fluid and you feel more in control of your actions because of this. Fluid controls also means that you have to think about your actions more. One wrong move could send your character jumping into a spiky wheel. This was an unexpected challenge, but a welcome addition as it makes the game feel more responsive and fun. The platforms themselves were creative as some could be simple panels that move in two directions. Others were bubbles that pop if you stand on them wrong. These platforms test players' skills and adaptability to the changing environments as they can show up in any combination and order. In a couple of the later levels there were some collision problems when trying to move over certain objects, such as a pipe. The character would get stuck in the object and sometimes the ground. You can get the character unstuck, but this takes some time and you are better off restarting the level. This was the only real problem I ran across while playing and it didn't deter me from playing again, it was just an annoyance. The art style in Pentumble is clean and not extravagant which works very well for this game. Even the typeface and user interface elements echoes this same clean appearance. It is visually very attractive. The music also fits very well with the overall theme. It is fun and quirky, which makes the game more enjoyable to play. Pentumble is a great platformer that features interesting platform challenges as well as a fluid control scheme and it is recommended for those who would like to test their skills with new challenges in platforming.
Never Alone finds a companion in November
Never Alone, the Arctic platformer that tells stories passed down by Alaska Natives, will launch digitally on November 4 for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Developed by Upper One Games, the studio created by the Alaskan non-profit Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Never Alone will debut for $14.99. The developer also offered a new trailer that discusses the game's inspirations and flashes bits of its gameplay. The game stars Nuna and her fox companion, who rely on one another to survive eight chapters that survey "treacherous ice floes, Arctic tundra, ice caves, boreal forests, cliff-built coastal villages" and more. Never Alone is inspired by Iñupiat folklore, including characters from stories handed down through generations of its people such as the Blizzard Man, Sky People and Manslayer. Players can switch between Nuna and the fox to traverse the side-scrolling landscape on their own or team up with a friend to overcome puzzles with each character's unique abilities. [Image: E-Line Media]
Toki Tori devs ar-rive with new platforming shooter
Two Tribes announced its latest game today, a "metal wrecking, robot hacking shooter" called Rive. The game is a 2D shooter-meets-platformer with "old school gaming values," in which players blast robotic enemies and alter their enemies' behavior by gathering and installing hacks. Rive's announcement trailer shows the players' tank-like hero of sorts leaping across levels and firing in 360 degrees, emphasizing the game's blend of arcade-style shooting and platforming action. Rive is the first game from the Toki Tori developer following its reboot in January. At that time, Two Tribes cut its team down to just two (now three for the development of Rive), switching its focus to publishing as opposed to development. The developer did create a hi-res Wii U port of Awesomenauts developer Ronimo Games' first game, Swords and Soldiers, which launched in May. Rive will launch in early 2015 for PC and unspecified consoles. [Image: Two Tribes]
Fluffy platformer Leo's Fortune rolls to Android
Leo's Fortune, the tablet-based platformer from 1337 & Senri, is now available on Android. The game first launched on iOS in May, and stars a mustachioed blue ball named Leopold, who is on the hunt for his missing gold. Players must leap and glide through levels with switches and spiky traps, collecting Leo's gold coins and toppling record times to perfect each area along the way. Our review of the game praised its touch-based controls as well as its creative, contraption-like level design, though Leo's Fortune is a little on the short side with only a few dozen levels to complete. The game costs $4.99 on Google Play and supports controllers and gamepads made for Android devices as well as leaderboards, achievements and cloud save support. [Image: 1337 & Senri]
Leo's Fortune looking for gold on Android next month
Furball platformer Leo's Fortune is continuing its search for missing gold, as it will launch next month on Android. It is slated to reach the Google Play store on July 10, nearly two months after it arrived on iOS in May. Leo's Fortune stars a fuzzy blue ball with a mustache named Leo, who is on the hunt for his gold coins. Players collect Leo's gold while avoiding spiky traps and other obstacles in locales ranging from ruins to snowy mountains to factories, inflating the furball when necessary to leap and float through the air. Our review of the iPad version of the attractive platform game reflected positively on its touch-based controls, though the game was a tad on the short side. [Image: 1337 & Senri]
Thomas Was Alone updated for iPad with new friends, jetpack
Minimalistic, story-driven platformer Thomas Was Alone received an update on iPad today that brings the Benjamin's Flight content to the device for free. The DLC previously launched on PlayStation systems, and includes three new characters and 20 levels. Creator Mike Bithell told Joystiq the DLC will arrive on desktop systems "very, very soon." The new levels give players additional puzzles to solve using the jetpack attached to Benjamin, a young square in search of the Fountain of Youth. Benjamin's Flight offers a "new story about hope and the wild impetuosity of youth," but honestly, we were already sold on the jetpacks part. Bossa Studios is offering Thomas Was Alone at a discount to celebrate the free update for a limited time; it is currently $5.99 (£3.99), down from $9 (£6/8 euros) when it launched on iPad in May. [Image: Bossa Studios]
VVVVVV is still vvvvvvery difficult on iOS
Are you looking for a game that will challenge you? No? How about a game that will frustrate you? Still not interested? How about a game that will, at times, make you wish you could snap your iPhone in half, cover it in gasoline, melt it into a puddle, then scoop up the remains and throw it into a river? Aha! Well then, VVVVVV is exactly what you've been waiting for. VVVVVV is an indie platform title that was originally released for PC way back in 2010. It quickly gained a reputation for being sadistically difficult thanks to its gravity-switching mechanic and wealth of murderous spikes that litter the game world. Simply navigating from one side of the screen to the other can be a serious challenge, and that's with the physical buttons of a keyboard at your disposal. You can imagine the challenge when you add a touchscreen to the mix. You play as Captain Viridian, a static stick-figure-like character that slides across the screen in search of his spaceship crew after a horrible accident that has landed him in an alternate dimension. As Viridian, you'll navigate a massive, confusing world filled with traps, disappearing platforms, and huge open voids. Instead of jumping, you have the ability to reverse gravity, causing your character to fly upwards and land on whatever happens to be above you. Oftentimes you'll land on spikes that you didn't see coming, but luckily you're given the ability to restart at various checkpoints indefinitely. You might think that endless lives makes the game a bit easier, but you'd be wrong. The controls of the iOS version are a bit more sketchy than that of its PC counterparts. Your movement is dependent on sliding your finger left or right, which can often lead to overshooting your destination and, as usual, dying on a bed of spikes. But as frustrating as it is, the journey to find your missing friends is still a blast, and the Commodore 64-inspired graphics look great on the iPhone and iPad. The retro soundtrack, humorous text dialogue, and instant respawns after your death make the game extremely addictive, and although you may have an urge to destroy your device from time to time, besting a difficult sequence offers a feeling of accomplishment that few games can match. The game is US$2.99, and you'll get more than your money's worth out of the lengthy adventure. Simply put, it's a brutal, sinister, unforgiving game that still somehow finds a way to make you smile.
SteamWorld Dig to pan for gold on Wii U
Mining adventure game SteamWorld Dig will receive a Wii U version, developer Image and Form announced today. The game first launched on 3DS in August 2013 before arriving on PC and Mac (seen above) in December. PS4 and Vita versions were announced in February, and are expected to launch this year. SteamWorld Dig is a 2D platform game that blends the action of Mr. Driller and Mossmouth's Spelunky, in which players dig beneath the town of Tumbleton to uncover secrets in its mines. Players search for cash to upgrade their abilities and valuable minerals such as coal to keep their lights going. Image and Form isn't sure how it will use the Wii U's Game Pad and Miiverse in SteamWorld Dig yet, but is certain the game is "perfect" for the console. [Image: Image and Form]
Oculus-only platformer coming from Words with Friends co-creator
Words With Friends co-creator Paul Bettner's new development company Playful Corp will show off its introductory game at E3, Lucky's Tale. The game is a third-person platformer with an intriguing twist: It is exclusive to the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Along with his brother David, Bettner left Zynga in October 2012, nearly two years after the publisher purchased their former studio, NewToy. Lucky's Tale is one of two games in development at Playful Corp, the other being an open-world sandbox game known as Creativerse. Playful expects to bring Creativerse to the Oculus Rift following its launch on Steam "later this year." Oculus VR also announced the hire of former Valve employee Jason Holtman today, the "driving force" behind Steam. [Image: Playful Corp]
Terraria leaping to PS4, Xbox One sandboxes later this year
Popular 2D sandbox platformer Terraria will arrive on Xbox One and PS4 later this year, publisher 505 Games announced on the game's forums. Developed by Re-Logic, the PS4 version will feature Cross-Play and Cross-Save functionality with its Vita counterpart, which launched in December. Next-gen players will have access to Terraria's version 1.2 content, including its various improved gameplay mechanics and graphical upgrades that arrived on Xbox 360, PS3 and Vita in April. The publisher says the Xbox One and PS4 versions will also feature "some brand new functionality," though it's unclear just what that means. Terraria is currently free on Vita for PlayStation Plus members this month, which will bolster its already strong download numbers; it reached 1.3 million downloads on mobile devices and one million across PS3, Xbox 360 and Vita as of March. [Image: 505 Games]
Humble Weekly: Mark of the Ninja, King Arthur's Gold
Stretch out your clicking fingers and get ready for some mad platforming action in the latest Humble Weekly Sale. Available for the week for any price you want are Shank 2, Blocks That Matter and Bit.Trip Runner. For $6 or more, grab Runner 2, Megabyte Punch and Fly'n. Add in King Arthur's Gold and Mark of the Ninja: Special Edition for $10 or more. All of these games individually would run $119. They're all either DRM-free downloads or on Steam, except for Fly'n, which is Steam only. As always, split your payment among the developers, Humble itself or charity, in whichever percentage breakdown you desire. Charities this time around are the American Red Cross and Child's Play. This week, Humble launched a new way for you to get your cheap-game fix with Humble Daily Bundles. Today, May 15, grab The Banner Saga, an artwork pack and The Banner Saga: Factions for $15 or more. Humble will run new daily bundles through May 26. [Image: Humble]
Minecraft creator's game jam entry is Drowning in Problems
The latest online game jam in the popular Ludum Dare series carries the theme "beneath the surface," and recently ended with a total of 2,497 entries, 1,493 of which were created in 48 hours for the two-day competition. One entry comes from Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson, and is called Drowning in Problems. The browser game is two parts Cookie Clicker and one part The Sims, as players click basic text links to progress through life and "solve" issues like stress, love and money. As players grow, their attention divides among the myriad of problems to solve in their lives, spending their knowledge, money, friends, loyalty and more to receive increasingly-advanced concepts like crushed dreams and broken hearts. Completing Drowning in Problems shouldn't take more than roughly 15 minutes, though it's a thoughtful little excursion. Another attention-grabbing entry in the Ludum Dare 29 competition is The Valley Rule by Ryan Carag with music and sound provided by Bill Kiley, seen above. Created in 72 hours, the platformer gives off strong Fez and Cave Story vibes, challenging players to unlock a large door to get to the surface of the game's world, searching for keys in the area to do so. Along the way, players find abilities such as the "will to climb" that grant them access to new areas. The post-jam version of The Valley Rule is available to play at Newgrounds. Ludum Dare 29 is currently in the judging phase, which ends on Monday, May 19. [Image: Ryan Carag]
Twitch funds chat-driven game Choice Chamber
Twitch matched funds pledged to Studio Bean's chat-driven Kickstarter project, Choice Chamber. The developer's crowdfunding campaign ends Sunday evening and raised nearly half of its $30,000 goal, and Twitch's contributions put it near the finish line. According to the project's reward tiers, the game is expected to launch in December. Following up the success of Twitch Plays Pokemon, Choice Chamber is a PC and Mac game that is designed to be played while streaming live on Twitch. Described as a "real-time, crowdsourced, procedurally generated game," it allows stream viewers to use Twitch's chat functionality to either aid or hinder the progress of the game's primary player by voting on game-changing polls. The player, who can choose to go the single-player-only route with offline mode, navigates an "endless series of dangerous chambers" while wielding a variety of weaponry with which to defeat enemies. In the prototype version of Choice Chamber, viewers vote on said weapons in addition to powerups, abilities and special maneuvers, though Studio Bean plans to add many more modifiable elements. [Image: Studio Bean]
