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Indie Fund goes for artistic award-winner Gorogoa
Gorogoa is heralded for its intricate, hand-painted art and unique approach to puzzle gaming, aspects that have earned it the top prize from the Good Game Club in 2013 and an award for Excellence in Visual Art from the 2014 IGF. These have also helped make Gorogoa the next game to receive support and financial assistance from Indie Fund. With the Indie Fund backing, Gorogoa is due out on PC and Mac in early 2015, with a mobile launch to follow. Gorogoa is the first major release from developer Jason Roberts. On the surface, the game appears to be a straightforward point-and-click puzzler, but it becomes more complex as players pull scenes from one panel into the others, crafting tightly woven stories as they go. "Gorogoa is just jaw-droppingly beautiful, and this is especially remarkable because it's one person doing the programming, design and artwork," Indie Fund partner Aaron Isaksen says. "If this was a children's book it would win the Caldecott Medal. The gameplay is also quite intriguing; the connections that you make between locations, objects, and visuals is deliciously non-linear in a way we don't experience in the real world." Download a demo of Gorogoa on the game's official website. [Image: Jason Roberts]
First-person synthesizer Fract debuts April 22
Ambient first-person puzzler Fract is gearing up for a PC release later this month via Steam, Good Old Games and the Humble Store, developer Phosfiend Systems announced this week. In Fract, players build and shape their surroundings by solving puzzles, bringing derelict machinery to life against a backdrop of customizable electronic music. Fract's development was backed by Indie Fund, a company that previously supported indie standouts Monaco, Dear Esther and Antichamber. Fract will be released for Windows, Mac and Linux on April 22. Pre-orders are available now at a 10 percent discount. [Image: Phosfiend Systems]
Indie Fund backs comic-style noir adventure, Framed
Indie Fund – the financier behind Monaco, The Swapper, Antichamber and Dear Esther, among others – is backing Loveshack Entertainment's comic book-style narrative game, Framed. It's a silent, noir adventure cloaked in style and story: Players move panels of a graphic novel to alter the outcome of certain scenes, ideally making life easier for the protagonist, a trenchcoated detective. Framed is due out in 2014 on Steam and iOS, and it's already received an influx of awards and nominations from IGF China, Freeplay Independent Games Festival and Tokyo Game Show.
Double Fine's Spacebase DF-9 makes up $400K Indie Fund investment in 2 weeks
Double Fine's sci-fi social sim Spacebase DF-9 has recouped its initial Indie Fund investment, earning over $400,000 within two weeks of joining Steam's Early Access program. The investment marks Indie Fund's most expensive venture to date, requiring assistance from Humble Bundle, The Behemoth, and other outside sources. "A typical project for us has been in the range of $50k - $150k," organizers note. "We've also funded a few projects for smaller amounts, but never a project the size of Spacebase DF-9." Headed up by indie luminaries like Jonathan Blow and Ron Carmel, Indie Fund supplies promising game projects with flexible-budget funding, helping developers stay financially independent without seeking the aid of publishers. Other recent Indie Fund success stories include Pocketwatch Games' Monaco and The Swapper, both of which earned back their investment within days of their initial release.
Indie Fund backs synth-based puzzler Fract OSC, out this year
Indie Fund has put its faith and money behind Fract OSC, the beautiful and abstract game about puzzle-solving with synthesizers and electronic music, developed by Phosfiend Systems. Fract OSC features an open world like Myst and broken-down, lit-up graphics inspired by Tron, combined into puzzles that give players real-time control of synthesized sounds. Fract OSC started as a student project, picking up the IGF award for Best Student Game in 2011 and grabbing an Honorable Mention in IGF 2013 for Excellence in Audio. With Indie Fund's investment, Fract OSC should be out this year on Steam for PC and Mac. Indie Fund has seen success with previous investments in games such as Monaco, Dear Esther, Antichamber, QUBE and The Swapper, among other notable indies. Fract OSC certainly sounds like a winner.
Two new Double Fine projects being funded by Indie Fund
Indie Fund is funding two original projects with Double Fine. The news was announced during the Horizon conference by Indie Fund's Kellee Santiago and Double Fine producer Greg Rice. Santiago didn't offer any additional details, saying only that there would be more revealed in "the coming months." Double Fine is currently very busy, working on two Kickstarted games – Broken Age and Massive Chalice – the music game DropChord and now two more games with Indie Fund.
Monaco made good on Indie Fund $100K before launch, what it means
Since 2010, Indie Fund has helped launch high-profile games such as Dear Esther, QUBE and Antichamber, each one recouping investment within days or even hours. The first game in which Indie Fund ever put its faith (and money), Monaco, launched last week and made back its $100,000 investment in negative time, before the game went live on April 24.Developer Andy Schatz opened Monaco pre-orders via the Humble Store in December, and Steam pre-orders went live on April 17. By April 20, Monaco had grossed $120,000, Schatz said, exceeding its Indie Fund investment a full four days before the game launched."For me the most significant thing about the early success with regards to Indie Fund is that it shows that there are many ways of approaching funding, from crowdfunding to investment models like Indie Fund, to personal loans – I know a number of devs that have taken loans from other devs – to the traditional publisher model," Schatz told Joystiq. "More options means the studios can customize their relationships to fit their personalities and their projects."Schatz used the Indie Fund investment partially to pay contractors and then to sustain himself and company expenses, including trips to PAX. Regardless of the cold, hard numbers, we thought Indie Fund's investment paid off particularly well with Monaco.
Indie Fund backing 'whimsical physics toy' Kachina
Kachina is a game by Ben Esposito, who did level design on The Unfinished Swan with Giant Sparrow, in which you control a hole in the ground that moves around, swallows up animals and deposits them elsewhere. It's a game about a hole, and a game "exploring the relationship between modern American and indigenous Pueblo cultures through themes of erasure & discovery."That seems like a wide-ranging set of goals for a small game, and Esposito is getting help in realizing those goals from the Indie Fund, which revealed Kachina as its next project. Originally a Molyjam creation, the "whimsical physics toy" is planned for commercial release on PC, OSX, and iOS.
QUBE takes a spin on Wii U, 'quite possibly' Vita
QUBE, the first game to come out of (the pockets of) Indie Fund, is on its way to Wii U and maybe Vita, according to a series of messages on the game's official Twitter. Toxic Games reveals a picture of QUBE running on the Wii U (shown above), along with the note that it "can't wait to get this out." As for a Vita version, Toxic responds to an inquiry with, "Quite possibly!"QUBE launched on PC in December 2011 – and we found it to be "a delightful on-screen Rubik's Cube" – and made its way to Mac one year later, in December 2012. The game recouped its $90,000 development cost in just four days, selling more than 12,000 copies on Steam in that time.
The Swapper takes a spin on Steam this spring
The Swapper, an indie marvel more than two years in the making, is coming to Steam for PC this spring, and later to Mac and Linux. If the gameplay demonstrated in The Swapper's Steam launch trailer looks funky to you, that's because it is – developer Facepalm created the entire game using photos of real-life clay models. The above video offers the first glimpse at gameplay since May 2011.The Swapper is backed by Indie Fund, the company behind high-profile indies Dear Esther and Q.U.B.E., and it already has a wall full of accolades, including a featured spot in PAX Prime's PAX10 last year and IndieCade's Special Recognition award.Facepalm previously mentioned PC, Mac and "maybe something else" as potential platforms, and co-founder Olli Harjola tells Joystiq he's looking at other, mysterious consoles: "Let's say I'm currently open to putting the game on new platforms where we don't need to make compromises regarding the experience. There's nothing concrete yet."The Swapper will be a part of Indie Megabooth at PAX East (which starts on Friday, March 22), along with an appearance at GDC the following week.%Gallery-183342%
Indie Fund backing Global Game Jam hit Mushroom 11
Mushroom 11, from 2012 NYU Global Game Jammer Itay Keren, is an experiment in mobility and art design, and it's caught the eye (and wallet) of Indie Fund. Keren won the Best Game Design award at GGJ 2012 with Mushroom 11, and has since focused on fleshing it out into a more polished, complete game. Check out some preliminary art and that wild gameplay mechanic in the above video."The design space being explored by Mushroom 11 is not something we've seen before," Indie Fund writes. "It's engaging and tactile and we're excited to support Itay and see where his design exploration leads!"Keren has previous development experience for mobile devices, but there is no word on potential platforms for Mushroom 11.
Indie Fund breaks its own rules to finance ports of The Splatters
Indie Fund generally doesn't invest in ports. If a game doesn't succeed on its first platform, then there's no motivation for Indie Fund to back more iterations of it – it says such a tactic "may not be a wise investment." However, Indie Fund makes an exception for SpikySnail's XBLA game The Splatters, and is looking to bring it to PC, Mac and Linux."SpikySnail aren't just making a port," Indie Fund says. "They've learned from their design and believe they can improve it. They want to release a better game on a different platform."The Splatters sales on XBLA didn't generate enough revenue for SpikySnail to be self-sustaining and Indie Fund wants to help make that happen.SpikySnail intrigues Indie Fund because the team has a low overhead and is focused on design. Indie Fund believes "focus on design isn't just an aesthetic preference, but an important factor in creating a financially successful game." If The Splatters does well with a design overhaul, Indie Fund's philosophy will be supported.Read SpikySnail's take on the investment on its blog.
Antichamber and Indie Fund: A match made in M.C. Escher's basement
Antichamber mastermind Alexander Bruce enjoys screwing with people's perceptions of reality, on the screen and on the show floor of PAX East. As part of the Indie Megabooth, Bruce had full reign to make attendees perform a mystery challenge as part of the Megabooth's signature rally. Bruce gave every hopeful participant that approached Antichamber a simple command: "I need you to stand on your hands."A few people removed jackets and dropped their bags in preparation for the inevitable fall they'd suffer trying to perform a handstand in the middle of a crowded Indie Megabooth; one young man guessed he would probably kill someone with his gymnastics. Before anyone attempted the actual handstand though, it hit them -- this was Alex Bruce, and he wanted them to stand on their hands. So they stepped on their fingers and Bruce signed their punch cards, grinning the entire time, every time.
Indie Fund backs Antichamber in an attempt to make the impossible real
Antichamber is the seventh title to receive the financial backing of Indie Fund, who has recently helped in the success of such titles as Q.U.B.E. and Dear Esther. Antichamber has won almost as many awards as the number of years it's been in development -- casually since 2006 and full-time since 2010 -- and has been nominated for three more than that. We'll wait while you calculate that one (remember to carry the two).Developed by Alex Bruce, Antichamber is a practice in psychological, philosophical, impossible puzzle games that has captured the attention of festivals and reviewers for years, and with Indie Fund backing we're looking forward to seeing this one finished sometime soon.
Indie Fund selects The Swapper as next investment
Eerie and remarkable puzzle platformer The Swapper, last seen at Indiecade last year, has been chosen as the next financed title by the Indie Fund. The fund, put together by a team of indie developers, is designed to make sure developers of great games get the money they need to reach players. Past recipients of the Fund include games like Q.U.B.E. and Dear Esther, both of which recouped their investment very quickly.So if you weren't already on the lookout for The Swapper, time to get out the telescope. The game is made by two young developers from the University of Helsinki (who told Joystiq that the title's unique graphical look was made using pictures of models built with clay), and though they've said it will likely arrive on "PC and Mac, maybe something else," they haven't announced release plans just yet.
Dear Esther turned a profit in just 5 hours, 30 minutes
Last year Indie Fund voted to support Dear Esther, a rebuild of the popular Half-Life 2 mod, and it gave developer thechineseroom $55,000 in one lump sum. Indie Fund had its reservations: In an email to thechineseroom's Dan Pinchbeck before handing over the money, Indie Fund said the Steam audience may not understand Dear Esther and it proposed a release on PSN instead. This didn't happen, and thankfully so.Dear Esther recouped Indie Fund's $55,000 investment yesterday in just 5 hours and 30 minutes, selling 16,000 copies and becoming the top-selling title on Steam for the entire day. This means all the sales now are going directly to thechineseroom, whether to fund another game, add to this one or take a team-building sky-diving trip, we'll have to wait and see.
Q.U.B.E. moves 12K copies in first four days, recouping full Indie Fund investment
Beyond being a game we're quite fond of, Q.U.B.E. is also profitable as of right now. Well, okay, a little bit before now, as the folks who funded the project -- the major league indies who comprise the "Indie Fund" -- have already recouped their expenses, according to a recent blog post at their official site. "We are happy to announce that Q.U.B.E., the first Indie Fund-ed game to market, took only four days on Steam to generate enough revenue for Toxic Games to repay the full investment amount of $90k," the post reads. The project was originally supposed to cost just $42K, but the eventual budget ballooned to $90K, paid out in several big chunks. Thankfully, that investment paid off with 12K sold copies since the game launched last week. The post also notes that Toxic Games is already discussing the possibility of moving Q.U.B.E. "beyond PC," though it's unclear whether that just means "to OS X" or to somewhere even more enticing (XBLA/PSN, perhaps?). We've asked Toxic Games for more info, naturally.
Faraway coming this fall, backed by Indie Fund
Little-Eyes' iOS game, Faraway, in which a shooting star loops around other stars to trace constellations, has was first announced in early 2010, and has had no hint of a release date until now. The website gives the game a "Fall 2011" release date -- and also features the lovely trailer above, which is "all coded, no video editing," according to creator Steph Thirion. Helping the game get to that release window is the Indie Fund, which announced today that Faraway is the fifth game to receive its support. It also announced that Faraway will be playable at PAX, sharing booth 878 with Spelunky. That sounds like a pretty good booth. You should maybe think about checking out that booth.
New Faraway video trailer, game coming to PAX
After an extended wait, here's some news on Steph Thirion's long-awaited iOS title, Faraway. I played it at GDC last year, and it's won several awards since then. Thirion then worked to refine and update the gameplay. It looks like he's satisfied, because a brand new, amazing Faraway trailer posted on the official website. Thirion says the game will be playable at PAX in Seattle this week, and an iOS release will be announced soon. He's gotten some financial support as well. Faraway has been selected as the fifth project supported by the Indie Fund, a funding source meant to offer indie game developers a little extra help with getting their games together. It's good to see that this one is headed back towards the spotlight -- I really liked it when I saw it last year, and was a little disappointed to hear that it had been delayed. Hopefully Thirion's put together the game he wanted to make, and we'll see a full release on iOS soon.
Indie Fund assists with Monaco, Qube, and Shadow Physics
One year in, the Indie Fund is currently providing money for the development of three games. Nathan Vella, Ron Carmel, and Kellee Santiago of the Indie Fund – all established indies themselves – and fundees Andy Schatz (Monaco), Steve Swink (Shadow Physics), and Daniel Da Rocha (Qube) gathered in a panel to discuss the successes and failures of the alternate funding method, which is designed to "put itself out of business as soon as possible," as Vella put it, to promote self-sufficient indies.
