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Massively's Third Annual Frindie Awards
It's time once again for me to throw out my awards for the best of free-to-play, indie, and oddball MMOs, a real niche-within-a-niche. It might seem that I am assigned many of these titles as though I were some modern day Mikey, but the truth is that I get a huge thrill out of finding a new game but get even more of a thrill when I realize that no one is covering it. I had to really think hard about the criteria for the awards this year, mainly because "indie" is quickly becoming one of those often hard-to-define words, alongside "MMORPG" and "free-to-play." Fortunately, I think I know it when I see it. I kept my choices to games that I have actually played this year. I wanted to avoid games that appear to be really cool. If you want a more broad batch of prizes, check out Massively's best of awards. (Side note: I voted for Defiance as my game of the year.) These awards are for games that are being created on a shoestring or independent of massive budgets. Some of them are connected to some money, of course, but instead of trying to define "indie," I will only repeat: You'll know it when you see it.
MMObility: Introducing Deepworld to Minecraft fanatics
My nephews are visiting this week; they are nine and seven years old. And if there is one truth about these two, it's that they love Minecraft. Oh, they're also creative and smart young kids, but Minecraft is always a ready topic of conversation. Jeff, the younger one, loves to drill me on my knowledge. "Did you know..." is how it starts off, followed by some cool fact about the game. John, the older one, is calmer about the situation, and he has gained the ability, thanks to his elder status, to pull his gaze away from the game (I have it running on three different PCs and three iPads) in order to maintain an air of politeness. When I ask him something, he can give me an answer that has nothing to do with Minecraft! I thought this week would be a cool time to introduce Deepworld to both of them. Deepworld is a fantastic iOS-based Minecraftian MMO that is free-to-play with optional and fantastic cash-shop items. The last time I looked at it, I bought an entire private server for only 10 bucks! I logged in this week for the first time in ages and found my server still sitting, waiting for my creations. Then I showed it to my nephews.
MMObility: Manyland is deceptively simple and surprising
Is the primitive 8- or 16-bit design movement becoming too much of a good thing? At first it presents a cool way to see and interact with the game world, and it does so with a style that is familiar but in many ways more fresh than anything we've experienced for a while. But, then we grow used to it and it starts to feel a bit dated... even though it's only been introduced (in its unique way) in recent years! If you're a designer and you design a game with mining and artwork that looks like something that came from an 80s arcade, do you risk a backlash from writers and gamers who yawn and say "ah, more Minecraft stuff?" Of course you do. That doesn't mean that fun things can't be done within the genre, and Manyland is a great example of that. It's also free and runs right in your browser, so you have zero to lose in terms of checking it out!
Deepworld now available on the Mac App Store
Deepworld is a game that I've been covering since last year's GDC, when the three guys running the game came to tell me that they were putting together a 2D, multiplayer online sandbox title, in the same vein as Minecraft but with a steampunk twist. Last year, the game launched on Mac, and then it arrived on iOS. The latest news, as relayed to me by Bytebin at last week's GDC, is that the game is now out on the Mac App Store for free. Obviously, as the game was already available on the Mac, this isn't necessarily a big thing for current owners of the title. But being on the Mac App Store will provide some more exposure for the team, and make it easier for them to put out updates, of which there have been plenty. During our quick talk at GDC, Bytebin showed me one of their latest features, a "butler bot" you can build in the game that will dig out part of the game world for you, and perform various other commands (provided you can collect the resources to design and build it). There are lots of other systems and items they've included as well, and being on the Mac App Store will let them push any future updates out quickly and easily. Next up, they're working on building in even more functionality, including player-run guilds and even some player-vs.-player features. The team also wants to build out more goals and quests to chase after in the game, so we can look for that kind of thing coming soon. Bytebin also shared with me that they've got about 1,000 daily active users these days, which isn't a huge number but does mean that there's a solid player base there. In total, the game has about 40,000 players, and being available through the Mac App Store should help them find some more fans. Deepworld continues to be a very impressive title, and the team is clearly working hard on keeping it running and filled with new content.
Rise and Shiny: Deepworld
When I first got my hands on Deepworld, a new iOS sandbox MMO by Bytebin, I knew I was holding something unique. Sure, it took some cues from Minecraft and came from one of my least favorite schools of design -- steampunk -- but it was being built by a young team of indie developers who simply wanted to make a world that was free-form, open to a player's creativity, and multi-platform. After spending some time with the game, I'd say that they have mostly succeeded. There are some issues with the game, and I have played enough indie titles to know how rough games can be when launch rolls around. So far, however, the issues are relatively minor and could be easily fixed. %Gallery-174685%
Free for All: The second annual Frindie Awards
It's time once again for the Frindie Awards, my attempt to shine some light on the best indie, browser-based, free-to-play, and unusual MMOs that are all-too-often ignored by press -- and players. This one is for the little guys! Well, mostly. It's also for those games that seem to have passed under the collective radar of Massively readers or that seem to be very misunderstood. Picking the winners this year is just as hard as it was last year, maybe even harder. 2012 was an incredible year for MMOs, so I would rather have just put together an article that highlights every single favorite. In the end, it's more helpful to make myself pick out a winner. It's a rare thing for some of these games to even receive a nod on a major website, something I still can't figure out. Either way, it's best to think of all of the MMOs on this list as my favorites from 2012. Anyway, let's get to the awards!
Rise and Shiny: Goodgame Empire
Goodgame Empire, by Goodgame Studios (makes sense, huh?) is a pretty casual MMORTS that sports some nice art, tempting cash-shop items, and the accessibility that still comes with Flash-based MMOs. Despite the beating that Adobe's baby took over the last year, Flash-based games do still offer some great benefits. Primarily it's the ability to play a Flash-based game from almost any configuration of PC that makes it worth it, but that's a delicate line to toe. Often Flash-based MMOs have issues and crash browsers. I had no such issues with Goodgame Empire, but that's probably due to the lack of intense, real-time animations. The game looks great. I love stylized games, and love it when all of the art within a game fits together. Many Flash games look fantastic; Goodgame Empire does too. All of the tiny units, map icons, and bits of UI match each other and look fun. But great art does not save the game from suffering from some common MMORTS blues.
Daily iPad App: Deepworld pulls off some very impressive multiplayer magic
Deepworld is a very impressive title, and I told the creators as much back when I met them at GDC earlier this year. In fact, it was so impressive that I kind of doubted they could pull it off. A full 2D server-based Minecraft multiplayer game, running on the iPad? Sounds good, but good luck, is what I essentially told the Bytebin team. But I'm happy to eat crow on this one, because they've done it. After releasing on the Mac earlier this year, Deepworld is now available on the iPad, and it's every bit the game that I was promised back at GDC. If you've played Minecraft, Junk Jack or any of the many clones in this up-and-coming sandbox style, you'll probably know how this all works: You get to guide an avatar around a world (in this case, a 2D and apocalyptic world), hacking away at blocks and collecting items of various types. The items you collect can then be crafted and combined into other items, and piece by piece you get to shape the world to your own ends, trying to fight off monsters and build a safe haven as you do so. Deepworld's biggest benefit along these lines, however, is the aesthetic: It's a very steampunk-style setting, so not only are you building candles and pickaxes, but you can put together pistols, turrets and even engines as well. I haven't figured it all out yet, but really industrious players can build things like portals, bombs and other fun gear. The other big bonus is that Deepworld was built from the ground up with multiplayer in mind (unlike the mobile version of Minecraft, which is getting it soon). So when you jump into a game, you can randomly be thrown in with the public, with you and other players picking your way across Deepworld's wasteland setting. A few of the devs behind the game are originally server administrators, and it shows: Multiplayer runs brilliantly, which is a feat in itself on iOS. Plus, Deepworld is available for the great price of free, with a premium membership and / or in-game currency available via in-app purchase. Do not pass this one up -- you'll need an iPad 2 or above (as this is a fairly intensive game), but Deepworld is an impressive undertaking, offers a really amazing world to experience and conquer.
Deepworld, You Don't Know Jack, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, and more available now
We're deep in the holiday season at this point, and right now that means dozens (if not more) of game developers out there are getting their best and brightest titles out onto the App Store, making sure they're all ready to download when the Christmas rush rolls around. Here's a look at some of the biggest new App Store releases today. Deepworld isn't brand new, but it is out for the iPad -- it's a great sandbox-style building game that we've been covering here at TUAW for quite a while. It's available as a free download right now. Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy is a great music game that originally appeared on the 3DS, but has now brought its Final Fantasy-based music/RPG gameplay to iOS. It's available as a free download with two songs to play, though if you want more, you'll have to buy them with in-app purchases. You Don't Know Jack has been on iOS before, but today we've got a brand new (free!) version of the title that appears to be ported from the Facebook version. It features the same old quiz show gameplay, now with updates from your friends through the big blue social network. Fluxx is a really incredible card game, and it's now been ported over to iOS as well. You can buy the whole thing for $2.99. Mike Lee's new Lemurs Chemistry game is available for $1.99. SNK has released a port of the original Metal Slug as a $1.99 game. As expected, Disney's Monsters Inc. Run has appeared. It's a mashup of Mega Run and the great Pixar movie, available for 99 cents. Zooniverse is a brand new free-to-play zoo building game from Chillingo. This isn't a new app, but Finger Tied finally got its big level sharing update, so definitely download that and check it out. If you don't have it already, the app is 99 cents. And finally, for those of you who appreciate soccer/football and managing it, Football Manager Handheld 2013 was released by Sega. The game's $9.99, and... it looks complicated. There you go! Stay tuned for full reviews and more insight on these apps and all of the others due out this holiday season here on the site.
MMObility: Free-to-play and mobile at GDC Online, part 2
Let's continue my look at how free-to-play and mobile gaming showed at GDC Online this year. If you missed the first part, you can check it out in my last Free for All column. There was so much to cover that I had to wrap it into a two-parter. I truly think this was the best mobile showing since I first went to GDC Online four years ago, so be sure to check out all of the games I mention. Mobile is growing, as is free-to-play, and it couldn't be more obvious than when we get to witness so many good games being developed. If I have anything to do with it, I will be playing these games ASAP. That means that you get to read what I think about them, and you get to play along as well!
Deepworld officially launches on Mac, coming soon to iOS
I saw Deepworld in action in March at GDC in San Francisco. It's a Minecraft-style 2D sandbox game, with lots of fun steampunk elements and mechanical contraptions to make. A little while later, the game's developers held a Kickstarter to try and get a Mac beta off of the ground, and though that Kickstarter didn't get funded, the team has moved forward to a launch anyway. Deepworld for Mac is now available for purchase on the game's website. For just US$5, you can get a game license that will eventually be good for all of the game's platforms, and if you buy right now, you can get in on some "early" purchase items, like special avatars and other goodies. Deepworld has looked great ever since that first viewing at GDC, and congrats to the team on an official launch. Go check it out for sure. Next up: The iOS version. The developers are still looking for a few more beta players for the iPad version of the game, and if you're interested, you can sign up right over here. The beta will kick off next week, and I'm told that the iOS version is targeted for a release sometime as soon as November (though of course, given how complicated a game like this is, delays can always happen without notice). But if all goes well, we should see this game out and playable on Apple's mobile devices relatively soon. Looking forward to it!
Deepworld launches Kickstarter project to help fund a Mac beta
When I first met the guys making Deepworld, a 2D sandbox-style building game similar to Minecraft, at GDC in March, I told them that the project would be bigger than they thought. They do have extensive experience developing software and servers, but running a game this big requires a significant investment. It looks like they now agree. The game has spawned a Kickstarter project to try and raise some early funds for servers and development. The group is offering several prizes to supporters, including your own personal servers and worlds, art books and other swag, plus the possibility of getting your own items, name, or even pictures in the game itself. The goal is US$20,000, overall, and as of this writing, the guys have raised about $4,000. They say they want to take the project full-time, and this money will help them do that. I definitely wish them well. Deepworld looks good, and as I said when I first saw it, the Mac (and iOS) would benefit from a game like this.
DeepWorld is a 2D Minecraft-alike coming to Mac and iOS
If you threw a bunch of gaming catchwords in a hat and then pulled them out one by one and put them in order, you might have an approximate description for the upcoming Deepworld. It's a 2D, steampunk, post-apocalyptic sandbox MMO, with Minecraft-style creation, and block graphics that open up to a quite varied and vast game world. Deepworld is almost a game that sounds too good to live up to its promise, but its developers Bytebin (consisting of three guys who have a ton of experience in server architecture, but not quite as much in game development and design) understand they're promising a lot. But the version they kindly showed me at GDC last week definitely lived up to that promise, as least as just two of their characters wandering around the world together. Deepworld's graphics may not look great in screenshots (they're ... "stylistic", you might say), but as you explore more and more of the world, there's a charm there that can't be denied. Only after a makeshift shelter was built, complete with lanterns spreading pools of light, and a storm began in the background, with lightning flashing across the sky and acid rain coming down hard, did the game's beauty really make itself evident. There's a lot of beauty in the various mechanics, too, though. One of the devs describes the title as "a game based on a sort of scarcity," and that scarcity refers to all of the various resources in this originally barren world. As you dig down, lava can be found, which creates steam, which can then be transferred into pipes and used to power technology. There is a crafting system, but unlike Minecraft (where items have to be discovered and built), the game basically just offers up a menu of what's available to build from the various resources you've collected. The interface is nice as well -- you can build whatever you want just using the cursor on the Mac version, and while the iOS version is still under development ("There's a few kinks with touch," Bytebin says), being able to "draw" creations on the iPad's screen will be nice. The biggest issue with Deepworld probably isn't in the game, however: It'll probably be with keeping the servers up. The title is subdivided into 1200x800 block "zones," and the devs are hoping to limit those zones to a certain number of players (and maybe eventually even charge players to customize and save those zones). But there will be a metagame of sorts in "improving the ecosystem" of each zone, so it's not hard to see that Bytebin may run into trouble, if the game turns out to be uber popular, in keeping its servers afloat. Bytebin understands the concern (and again, the team's background is in running large servers for corporate software, so they have a fighting chance at least), but we'll find out for sure how they do when the game goes for an open beta later on this year. Alpha is set to take place "in a few weeks," and there's a beta signup for the game available now. Deepworld looks really fascinating, and it's a title we will probably be proud to have on Mac and iOS.
