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Indie Royale's ten-game Mystery Bundle could be anything
Well this is awkward. See, we were hoping to tell you about Indie Royale's new "Mystery Bundle," but there are only two confirmed games we can really talk about. We can say for sure that the ten-game bundle features The Sun at Night and Hero of the Kingdom, PC games packed with Steam and Desura keys as well as DRM-free download options available to buyers. While Indie Royale values the bundle at $70, it's available now for the pay-the-minimum price of 99 cents. Here's the catch: Indie Royale will reveal a new game in the bundle each day and will increase its price by 30 cents with every reveal, so those buying in today while the bulk of the games are unknown will get the whole lot at its lowest price. We hate to speculate, but what if Indie Royale is pulling an Oprah on us and one of the eight other games is actually a new car? What if one title is the leg lamp from A Christmas Story, or the concept of love? The possibilities are endless. The Mystery Bundle ends on Wednesday, October 15. [Image: Indie Royale]
The Sun At Night reaches Steam on August 1
Following a lengthy stay in the proving grounds of Steam Greenlight, Minicore Studios' alternate history platformer The Sun At Night will debut on Steam proper come August 1. To celebrate this release, Minicore plans to offer The Sun At Night at a 15 percent discount for its first week of availability. Normally priced at $15, those who purchase the game immediately after it appears will only spend $12.75. Before you budget the necessary funds, however, keep in mind our middling-at-best review, which claims The Sun At Night features both "bland gameplay" and an "awkward, convoluted story." Those waiting for news on The Sky Below, the second part of Minicore's Laika trilogy, will be saddened to hear that development on that episode is now on hiatus. "[T]he team has decided to see how Steam sales of The Sun at Night go before committing further resources to that project," reads the studio's official statement. [Image: Minicore Studios]
The Sun at Night, Bulb Boy among 75 games accepted by Steam Greenlight
The latest group of games, 75 in total, have been granted distribution on Steam thanks to the approval of the Greenlight community. Included in the newly-picked games is The Sun at Night, Minicore Studios' run-and-gun game that stars Russian space dog Laika. The game first launched in February and is the first of three parts in the series. The second chapter, The Sky Below, is slated to arrive in October and will incorporate feedback from The Sun at Night into it. Also approved for Steam is Ojtam Games' horror adventure game Bulb Boy. Inspired by Amanita Design's Machinarium and Sierra's 1991 adventure game Gobliiins, Bulb Boy stars a lightbulb-like boy that wakes from a nightmare to find his "Grandparaffin" and "Mothdog" missing. The game is currently raising funds to wrap its development via Kickstarter, seeking $40,000 by July 27, of which it's earned just over $7,500 as of this writing. [Image: Minicore Studios]
Minicore heeding feedback for The Sun at Night sequel The Sky Below
Minicore Studios is roughly 30 percent of the way through The Sky Below, a sequel to The Sun at Night and the second installment in The Stray series. The Sky Below again stars Laika, the robot space dog with a big (and probably mechanical) heart, and it takes place directly after the ending of The Sun at Night. Minicore is taking into account feedback from players of The Sun at Night. Tweaks to The Sky Below include the addition of three Laika Support Suits, one defensive, offensive and utility. Each suit has a specific weapon and passive ability boots, and they all build upon existing skill trees. The map will be streamlined into a 2D design, and the art will be ramped up in a way that makes it clear which areas are platforms and which aren't. The Sky Below is due out in October 2014 for PC, Mac and Linux, and the team is looking at PS4, Vita and Wii U. [Image: Minicore Studios]
The Sun at Night review: Bark in the USSR
The Sun at Night raises many questions. Is it moral to experiment on animals? Is communism practical, or will it always lead to corruption? How viable are old-school, indie side-scrollers in 2014, several years into the retro nostalgia indie revival? Can we accept a cybernetic space dog as the lead character in a game that is otherwise dreadfully serious? The Sun at Night turns the real life story of Laika the Russian space dog into a rote run-and-gunner. Laika's one-way trip to space in 1957 was a show of force for the Soviet space program, and either a depressing abdication of man's responsibility to animals or an inspiring step forward for science, depending on how you feel about murdering a dog for nebulous reasons and minimal scientific gain. The game speculates an alternate history in which Laika survives, returns to Earth with a robot suit and the ability to speak, and becomes an ersatz Samus Aran. It's not quite a true heir to Metroid – there is much back-tracking through twisting tendrils of shafts and corridors, and there are many upgrades to acquire, but the game's divided into a handful of discrete levels that don't connect to one another. Still, like Metroid, it's a sprawling adventure with re-traversal elements, and you'll spend most of the game running toward the blinking spot on your map, juggling between your guns and an invaluable shield in order to survive the Russian attack.
Russia's lost space dog returns with a vengeance in The Sun At Night
If Minicore Studios' newly released The Sun At Night proves anything, it's that no one can keep a good dog down, not even megalomaniacal mustache aficionado Joseph Stalin. The game's star, Laika, was an adorable pup shot into space aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 rocket in 1957. Unfortunately, at the time the Soviets hadn't mastered the reentry process so little Laika was doomed to perish in geocentric orbit. While our reality's version of events is a gloomy glimpse at Soviet science worthy of a Sarah McLachlan commercial, The Sun At Night presents an alternate history where Laika instead picks up an arsenal and proceeds to dismantle Stalin's forces with the tenacity of a scorned pooch. Minicore Studios describes The Sun At Night as a "2D action platformer," but as you can see from the above launch trailer that description is a bit lacking. The Sun At Night clearly draws inspiration from the highlights of its genre, including Metroid and Contra, while mating these well-worn ideas with modern technological and aesthetic accoutrements. More information on The Sun At Night can be found at Minicore Studios' official site, or you can purchase the game by visiting this page and dropping $15 into the developer's coffers.
Russians and Neo-Stalinists chew apart The Sun at Night's Soviet past
On November 3, 1957, under leader Nikita Khrushchev, the USSR launched Sputnik 2 into Earth's orbit with Laika the dog on board. Laika was not expected to survive the mission and she died of overheating hours after takeoff. This is where Minicore Studios begins The Sun at Night – by imagining a scenario where Laika doesn't die. Instead, she returns to Earth with robotic enhancements – including speech – and joins the fight against Soviet forces, which have conquered the world using a mysterious energy source. Some people don't like this premise. They're not upset about seeing an animal harmed in a digital world, they don't mind that the true story behind the game is kind of upsetting, and they're fine with the suspension of disbelief required to play as a talking robotic animal who crash-lands on Earth. They don't like how Soviets are portrayed in The Sun at Night – and they want Minicore to know. Of all the comments that Minicore receives on The Sun at Night's websites and email, 5 - 8 percent are from upset Russian nationals, non-Russian Communists or Neo-Stalinists who believe the game paints Soviets in an unjust light, studio founder John Warren tells me. "[They've] decided, after being given very little information about the game's premise, that it's a very pro-USA, anti-communism kind of narrative – which it really isn't," Warren says. "I mean, the Western countries like Britain and the US don't even really factor into the narrative at all. The game itself isn't really an indictment of any one political ideology or anything like that. At the end of the day, it's still a sci-fi platformer about a robot space dog."
Russian space dog Laika's 'The Sun at Night' launches Feb. 4
Laika Believes, the upcoming indie game from Minicore Studios, has a new name now: The Sun at Night. In addition to the new moniker, Minicore Studios has also announced a final launch date for the game: February 4, 2014. The Sun at Night is a 2D action-platformer about an alternate history for a very real dog named Laika. The Soviets had sent Laika off into space – the first animal in space, to be exact – back in the '50s and this game poses a very fantastical "what if...?" scenario for the long-lost pup's fate. Unfortunately, the Soviets never figured out a way to bring Laika back. The Sun at Night is also vying for votes on Steam Greenlight right now, if you'd like to help push for a Steam release.
