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Some of the best indie games ever are coming to Switch
It's clearer than ever that the Nintendo Switch is becoming the go-to console for indie game developers. Nintendo has unveiled launch plans for a spate of well-known indies in addition to launching a dedicated Indie Channel for news. You can expect classics like Undertale (September 18th), Supergiant's Bastion (Sept. 13th) and Transistor (November), the mobile hit Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP (October), and the multiplayer chaos of TowerFall (September 27th, complete with characters from Celeste). And those are the more established games -- there are other hits on the way.
'TowerFall' ups the mayhem with eight-person local multiplayer
The developers behind TowerFall are working on more than just a game about climbing a mountain. That's right: Matt Thorson has also released an official mod that brings support for up to eight players to the charming, retro (and possibly violent, depending on your friends) local multiplayer component of TowerFall. It'll run you a fitting $8.88 to download from the game's itch.io page. Thorson is quick to note, however, that this isn't TowerFall proper.
'TowerFall' team's next game is all about climbing a mountain
TowerFall may have been focused on multiplayer mayhem, but developer Matt Thorson's next project looks like a different type of chaos. Celeste is a tough-as-nails 2D platformer a la Super Meatboy about the perils of climbing a mountain. No, not dealing with vertigo or rockslides, but slippery slopes and spike-filled pits. That's assuming the game follows the groundwork of the same-named prototype Thorson and co-developer Noel Berry put on the web in 2015. The game's out next year and really that's about all we know at this point. There's a cryptic GIF on the development blog, sure, but that isn't much to go by.
The dark side of competitive archery hits 'TowerFall' in May
TowerFall Ascension is a glorious little game. It shines as a local, competitive platformer, with players bounding around levels, shooting explosive arrows at each other, dodging and grabbing power-ups such as wings and shields. The first major expansion for TowerFall is called Dark World and it's due to hit PlayStation 4, Vita, PC, Mac and Linux on May 12 for $10, developer Matt Thorson announced today. This is a hefty expansion, adding four new level sets for versus mode, four-player co-op with four original boss fights and a new Legendary difficulty setting, 10 new playable archers, and two new arrow power-ups, Trigger Arrows and Prism Arrows. The fourth and final new level set is procedurally generated, meaning it will be different every time you play. "I have to thank TowerFall players for your patience and support while developing this expansion," Thorson writes. "It took a bit longer than we were expecting but we're thrilled with the result, and we can't wait to hear your feedback."
Best of the Rest: Jessica's picks of 2014
ATTENTION: The year 2014 has concluded its temporal self-destruct sequence. If you are among the escapees, please join us in salvaging and preserving the best games from the irradiated chrono-debris. Threes Threes is ingenious. Its simplistic presentation belies beautiful, thoughtful design and butter-smooth mechanics. Threes isn't a matter of "less is more," it's fully encapsulated and pushed to the limits of what it intends to do, providing hours upon hours of repeated gameplay on that four-by-four tiled screen. On top of the brain-teasing numbers game, writer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend and composer Jimmy Hinson infuse Threes with personality, giving the numbers voices and faces, and tipping Threes from "Fun" to "Absolutely adorable. And, of course, fun."
Towerfall expands into the Dark World on PS4 in 2015
Towerfall Ascension's forthcoming Dark World expansion will arrive on PS4 early next year, developer Matt Thorson revealed via PlayStation Blog. The update adds new playable archers, four levels, power-ups and more to the archery combat platformer. The developer also upped the number of team deathmatch levels per tower to five in the expansion. Thorson announced the Dark World update in September, and has since detailed several improvements to the game via his blog. Dark World will add the Vainglorious Ghoul red archer to the game's roster along with her ghostly ship as one of the levels, The Amaranth. The final tower of Towerfall's expansion, known as Cataclysm, features procedurally-generated levels to keep the action fresh for multiplayer bouts. Dark World will also include power-ups such as Prism Arrows and Trigger Arrows, the latter behaving like remote mines. [Image: Matt Thorson]
Towerfall lets arrows sail on Mac, Linux
The mechanically simplistic, extraordinarily competitive Towerfall: Ascension has coated Linux and Mac devices with bramble arrows. Whether you're on PC, Mac or Linux, you can celebrate the spread of Towerfall's frenzied, archery-driven deathmatches by buying a Steam key directly from Matt Makes Games for $9.99, 33 percent lower than the normal $15 asking price. You'll need to decide sooner rather than later though - at the time of this writing, there's about 20 hours left to get in on the sale. If you need to be swayed, Senior Reporter Jess Conditt's review describes Towerfall as a "whole-brain game with minimal controls," and she adds that it's "the most fun I've had with a bow and arrow since The Year Of The Bow – or even the 1980s." [Image: Matt Makes Games]
'Towerfall,' OUYA's most popular game, only sold 7,000 copies
If you're looking for a metric for the OUYA's (lack of) success, then the developer behind one of the platform's best selling games can help you out. Towerfall creator Matt Thorson has revealed that despite being the number-one title on the Android platform, the game has sold a measly 7,000 copies. In a conversation with Eurogamer, the developer said that the title was a smash hit on PS4, with PC sales coming in a close second, but added that "being the best game on OUYA isn't a huge deal, but it is nice" -- ouch. In response, OUYA's CEO Julie Uhrman has said that her company "helped put Towerfall and Matt on the map," adding that the company is "finding the next great developers and making them household names." That said, we suspect that since PS4 and PC sales account for nearly 80 percent of Thorson's $500,000 in revenue, we imagine the next great developer might just choose to bypass OUYA entirely.
PlayStation Blog details Towerfall: Ascension's Quest, Trials modes
Towerfall: Ascension is picking up Quest and Trials modes along with its subtitle in its upgrade for PC and PS4. While one of the modes was announced in Ascension's previous reveal trailer, a recent PlayStation Blog post offers details on actual gameplay elements from each style of play. In Quest mode, players can team up or fight on their own against varied waves of monsters, which the PS Blog notes range from "scythe-wielding warriors to leaping globs of slime." Some enemies will also have unique abilities, like the rival archers that can send arrows shot at them right back toward their origin. Trials mode is a solo affair, pitting players against dummy targets and a timer. The faster players kill off their inanimate opponents, the more prestigious their rewarding medal will be. The PS Blog describes Trials stages as "addictive as they are difficult," but adds that restarting a challenge takes less than a second, which should keep the frustration focused on the game instead of loading screens. Ascension will take its shot at PS4 and PC this week and has come a long way from its vanilla verison's Ouya-exclusive debut last year. [Image: Matt Thorson]
Catch arrows in Towerfall Ascension on PlayStation 4 this March
Those without an Ouya will be happy to hear that Towerfall, one of the nascent console's best games, is headed to the PlayStation 4 in the enhanced form of Towerfall Ascension on March 11. The original version of Towerfall mates the pixel-heavy aesthetic so popular with indie game developers with frantic, four-player multiplayer combat. In lieu of guns and a series of corridors, players are each given archery equipment, then dropped into a 2D stage rife with platforms and pitfalls. Think of it as a cross between the frantic combat of the Super Smash Bros. games, and the exacting, retro platforming and chunky aesthetic of Spelunky. Towerfall Ascension improves upon this basic template by adding 50 new Versus arenas, "a bunch of new variants" for the game's stages and a few new power-ups. Additionally, Ascension brings with it a new Quest Mode that allows two players to cooperatively battle waves of monsters spawned from portals. The gameplay here is similar to that seen in the game's core multiplayer modes, but as designer Matt Thorson notes, Quest Mode fleshes out Towerfall as a whole by adding "a bunch of new content to explore even when you don't have three friends around." As of now there is no price point attached to Towerfall Ascension. That March 11 release date only applies to the United States, but Thorson claims that a European release "shouldn't be far behind." [Image: Matt Makes Games]
Towerfall: Ascension coming to PC, online play not planned for launch
Towerfall: Ascension was announced for the PlayStation 4 during Spike's event for the console's launch, but we weren't sure if that was the same version as the one that was planned for PC earlier this year. Now that Matt Thorson, the sole designer of Towerfall, posted the above trailer on his YouTube channel this week, that seems to be the case. While it's mostly identical to the one shown just before the PS4's launch, the intro and outro graphics note both the PS4 and PC as planned platforms instead of just the PS4. Ascension's revealing trailer notes a co-op quest mode, new powerups and 50 new multiplayer maps. Although the game's focus lies in multiplayer, Thorson responded to a fan on Twitter to clarify that there "won't be any online at launch, sorry. It's really meant to be played together with friends." The vanilla version of Towerfall was launched as an Ouya exclusive back in July.
TowerFall Ascension coming to PS4
TowerFall Ascension, a significant update to Ouya's Towerfall, will be "exclusive" to PS4 and launch in early 2014. Towerfall is also scheduled for PC, but we're going to need to get some clarification if that version is a port of the Ouya game or of this Ascension version planned for PS4. "Brand new levels, we got 50 new levels coming. All kinds of new modes," said SCE America VP of Publisher & Developer Relations Adam Boyes on tonight's Spike PS4 launch special. Developer Matt Thorson writes on the PlayStation Blog, "50 new versus levels, 4 more playable archers, an all-new, twelve-player cooperative Quest mode, 6 additional power-ups, and more. We've even gone back and refined everything in the original release. It feels like a whole new game." Update: Incorporated info from PlayStation Blog post.
IndieCade 2013 rolls out Red Carpet for winners
IndieCade announced the winners of its Red Carpet Awards, highlighting a number of indie standouts chosen by show attendees and a panel of judges. Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving developer Blendo Games took home the festival's Grand Jury Award for its hacking-themed adventure game Quadrilateral Cowboy. Nevernaut Games won the hearts of showgoers with SlashDash, earning it the Audience Choice Award. IndieCade's Media Choice Award went to Matt Thorson's Ouya-exclusive TowerFall, and Joshua DeBonis and Nikita Mikros won the Developer Choice Award with Killer Queen. Other honored games include Messhof's Nidhogg, The Fullbright Company's Gone Home, and Cardboard Computer's dual award-winning Kentucky Route Zero. A full list of winners follows after the break below.
Ouya-exclusive Polarity reaches Steam Greenlight, offers Oculus Rift support
BlueButton Games' first-person puzzler Polarity will add a chamber to its labrynth-like vault for the PC with Oculus Rift support if it's voted onto Steam Greenlight, Eurogamer reports. Craig Littler, founder of the one-man studio, claims he "wasn't asking for much" when he tried to negotiate with Ouya, Inc. for the necessary revenue to retain Polarity's Ouya exclusivity. Littler says "they were fairly resistant to change and as such I think there will be plenty of devs who just use them as 'another platform' rather than committing to them exclusively." While Littler knows Polarity isn't a blockbuster, he wants "as many people to play it as possible so I can fund my next project." Polarity follows TowerFall as the next Ouya exclusive to call off its engagement and launch on additional platforms. We noted both as highlights during the Ouya's launch.
Towerfall PC aims for a complete single-player mode, more content
Towerfall on PC will have a "fully fleshed-out" single-player mode, creator Matt Thorson tells Shacknews. Towerfall launched as a multiplayer-centric game on Ouya and we noted it as one of the console's stand-out titles. The PC version will have a ton of new content, Thorson says. The PC version will include two new towers, balance changes, and new power-ups, archers and variants, Thorson says. He adds that the solo mode is for people without any friends – or at least friends who enjoy Towerfall. "It's going to be a massive update. I can't wait to see how people react," Thorson says. Recalling the game's Ouya demos, he said, "It's always great to see the moment when players realize that they can catch arrows, and the gameplay implications of that. At the Ouya booth at E3 I saw a little girl get super excited about the game and drag her mom over to show her; that was almost too much for me." Towerfall PC will take "a couple months" to develop and, afterward, he wants to work on Mac and Linux ports. The PC version may cost $20, at most, if the new content justifies a hike from its Ouya price of $15, Thorson says. Towerfall made it into the PAX 10 lineup, as one of 10 indie games chosen by a panel of 50 industry experts to be featured at PAX Prime in Seattle from August 30 to September 2.
Ouya game developers sound off on disappointing sales numbers
The Ouya has been on shelves for nearly a month now, and developers have had a chance to gauge initial sales numbers of their games. Gamasutra polled several developers on their earnings so far, and a handful obliged with straight sales numbers. Adam Spragg, creator of Hidden in Plain Sight – one of our favorite Ouya launch games – has brought in $4,381 on 1,900 purchases sold at a pay-what-you-want price (minimum $1). The port of Foddy's Get On Top has earned $728 off of 9,700 downloads and 520 purchases. BombSquad creator Eric Froemling didn't provide financial numbers, but noted that he "peaked at close to 200 sales per day and [is] currently sitting at around 70" for the $4.99 game." That's not to be confused with BombBall, which creator E McNeill says is making "a little over $30 a day" before Ouya's 30 percent cut. Organ Trail's Ryan Wiemeyer may be the harshest critic, saying that his game "sold about half" of his low-end predictions. The Ouya version of Organ Trail accounts for 500 sales, a meager portion of the 400,000 the game has sold across its available platforms. "I don't even know if it was worth the man hours yet," said Wiemeyer. Meanwhile, TowerFall, probably the most well-known Ouya exclusive, has garnered "about 2000 sales so far at $15 each," creator Matt Thorson told Edge. "Launching on Ouya got me a lot of attention, and the sales have been better than expected." It earned enough attention, apparently, that Thorson is now bringing the game to PC as well. Finally, developer NimbleBit's David Marsh told Edge that its mobile hit Nimble Quest has been downloaded 6,508 times with 122 purchases, earning $427. Since Nimble Quest uses the Unity engine, it was "a snap to port," said Marsh. He recommended the Ouya to any independent developers who already port games to Android. "It's probably not going to be a huge source of income compared to other platforms, but it's dead easy to submit a game and get it into the store."
Ouya exclusive TowerFall on its way to PC
Ouya exclusive TowerFall is on its way to PC, developer Matt Thorson announced on Twitter this evening. The game stood out as one of the highlights in newbie console Ouya's launch lineup. "Yes, I am working on TowerFall for PC. But it's going to take a couple months. There's going to be a ton of new content," said Thorson. Unsure about the price of the PC version, he said it would "probably" cost $15, or perhaps $20 if the new content justifies it. The game is currently $15 on Ouya and supports the PlayStation 3's DualShock 3. Thorson was quick to protect TowerFall's debut console in follow-up to his announcement, saying, "Ouya version is doing great! Just want to expand." Thorson's statement of PC expansion comes shortly after June's NPD data called sales of the Ouya "relatively light for a new console."
EVO 2013 Indie Showcase features Towerfall, Aztez, SpyParty, 6 more
EVO, the annual fighting game convention and tournament, packs an underground punch this year with nine games in the Indie Showcase, bringing in four new titles and five returning champs. The four new games are Towerfall, Treachery in Beatdown City, Samurai Gunn and Super Space ____ (pronounced "Super Space Blank"), and the repeat offenders are SpyParty, BariBariBall, Nidhogg, Aztez and Super Comboman. Towerfall caught our eye on the Ouya, Aztez has been creating buzz around conventions local and otherwise, and SpyParty has a special connection with EVO – its current No. 1 player first saw it at last year's convention. The EVO 2013 Indie Showcase is organized by Nathan Vella, President of Capy Games (Below, Sword and Sworcery), and the entire show runs from July 12 - 14 in Las Vegas. Aaaaand FIGHT.
