hothead-games
Latest
DeathSpank, Penny Arcade bundled in Hothead's Humble Weekly Sale
This week's Humble Weekly Sale sets its sights on Hothead Games, collecting several entries in the studio's DeathSpank and Penny Arcade Adventures series. The pack includes DeathSpank and its sequel Thongs of Virtue, along with On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One. Pay more than $6 and you'll also receive copies of the final DeathSpank game, The Baconing, and the second chapter in Penny Arcade's series. Buyers will receive Steam codes for all featured games.
Daily iPhone App: Rivals at War is fun but way too freemium
Hothead Games is a studio that's been all over the place -- it's a Canadian developer that started out making some interesting PC titles, but lately has transitioned over to iOS, making freemium games that recently have been more freemium than games. The company found a sizable hit with its Big Win series, combining a collectible card game with a virtual sports simulator. But now Hothead has made yet another right turn, spinning the Big Win formula into a combat game. Rivals at War is the company's latest title, and it uses Big Win's collect, upgrade and then watch mechanics to simulate combat rather than a sports game. The formula is interesting: You open up different types of soldiers that you can upgrade via the freemium currency, and then you can assemble them into teams and pit them up against opposing teams in a battle. Unlike a lot of other combat games though, this one's all about assembling that team in the right way, because once the battle starts, your soldiers just fight for themselves. It's up to you to make sure you have the right troops in the fight instead of controlling them directly. Because of that similarity to the Big Win series, Rivals at War has essentially the same pros and cons. It's definitely a well-polished game: Hothead knows how to make these by now (after making five Big Win titles), and the move to a more gritty combat setting is a welcome change for the often cartoony Big Win series. The battles are very well-portrayed. But because the series is so heavily targeted on collecting cards and spending boosts and abilities, there's way too much freemium here, and just not enough game. Watching a battle makes you want to jump in and play it rather than just sit back while your virtual soldiers fight. Hothead is a solid game developer -- they clearly know their craft, and they've got a lot of good ideas to put into action. But whether because of financial pressure or other reasons, both the Big Win series and this Rivals at War game just spin too much towards making money rather than focusing on fun, engaging gameplay. Rivals at War is worth a try if you want to see how it all works (the game is free, of course), but hopefully Hothead will make another swing back towards focusing on the fun rather than building in innovative ways to sell more in-app purchases.
Daily iPhone App: Zombie Ace flies out from under freemium clouds
Hothead Games is sort of building a new life for itself in the iOS space. The company has always been a downloadable game company, aiming for digital distribution for its titles rather than through the traditional retail stores. But up until last year, most of Hothead's work was for traditional consoles and PCs. After Hothead released Kard Combat and saw a lot of success with that freemium title, we saw the company change quite a bit. Nowadays, most of Hothead's work seems targeted at freemium casual games (the Big Win sports series has also been very popular for them), and the latest release, Zombie Ace, is no different. On the face of it, Zombie Ace is very much "influenced" by Jetpack Joyride -- it's a one-button endless runner, where you tap the screen to move upwards as you fly along in a zombie-piloted plane. But there's a lot of new gameplay here as well: You can fight as you fly, throwing zombies and enemy planes. There are certain vehicles with trails you need to stay in, that will give you bonuses and other addons. And your plane is extremely upgradeable, providing a nice progression to the title that most endless runners don't have (you're flying across the country, basically, and you need to upgrade your plane enough to make it from Seattle to New York). The whole game is very much driven by freemium purchases, which can get annoying (especially when the app asks you constantly to buy more IAP items, or sign up for TapJoy, or watch a commercial, or any of the other spammy stuff that are the model's worst offenders). But if you can make it past all of that crap, the game itself is a lot of fun, and there's a nice amount of polish on it as well. It's a little saddening to see Hothead move away from its premium history, and really depend so much on all of the spammy freemium tricks. But at least there is still some good gameplay in there, hidden under all of the IAP prompts.
EA Indie Bundle challenges your definitions, is live on Steam now
The EA Indie Bundle (yes, we assure you, it is barely-100-percent-mostly-ish possible for EA to have an indie bundle) is live on Steam, offering 70 percent off a package of six titles from four indie developers, or half off each individual game.Included in the sale is Warp, Shank, Shank 2, DeathSpank, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue and Gatling Gears. The DeathSpank titles are $7.50 individually and are available on PC and Mac through Steamplay, while the rest of EA's indies cost $5 and are PC only.Indie Game Magazine first spotted the bundle in the super-secret Steam registry files this morning. The sale is now officially on, set to disappear from Steam in one week on May 9.
Hothead Games looks for a Big Win on iOS
Hothead Games is actually an old company by most iOS standards: As marketing director Oliver Birch told me at GDC last week, the company is actually turning six years old this week. Previously, they mostly made PC and console games (most notably the Penny Arcade Adventures, and Ron Gilbert's Deathspank), but recently, Hothead has been pushing more and more towards Apple's App Store, and Birch says that while Hothead definitely "supports all of the games we've got out there, really, we're all about mobile now." Which makes sense -- between the collectible card game Kard Combat, Jetpack Joyride-alike Sea Stars, and the excellent Gem King (formerly known as Kickin' Momma), Hothead already has a nice run of iOS hits. And the company is now looking to follow all of that up with a new game, out now, called Big Win Soccer. Big Win Soccer is probably unlike any soccer game you've played before -- in fact, it's more of a collectible card game than anything else. The idea is that you have a team of players (represented by cards), and you can activate various stats and abilities on them (also represented by virtual cards). When you play a game against someone else online, you don't directly control the players. Instead, you watch the game play out, and the various abilities and stats you chose to represent your team go into the final outcome. After the game, you can earn coins, which can be used to buy and win even more cards, making your team stronger and better. It's ... an interesting idea, though if you're turned off by the trappings of freemium games, you will find plenty of them here: You have a certain amount of energy to play with per day, and can't play beyond that point, and of course the collectible card system is also driven by (optional, admittedly) in-app purchases. Hothead wants you to spend money, it's clear. While there is a card game to be had here, the strong suggestion to supplant your normal play with money is always there. In its short life on the App Store so far, Big Win Soccer has been a huge success, so much so that Birch says the game melted a few of the company's servers (I don't think it literally turned wires to liquid, but Birch wasn't clear). The overwhelming demand for the game on its server software means that Hothead hasn't publicized the game's launch much, but apparently it hasn't had to, given how many players are trying to log in. Reviews for the title are stuck down around two or three stars only, but most of the reviews talk about the servers going down, not the actual gameplay itself. If the game turns out to be a success, Hothead is all ready to follow up: Birch also showed me Big Win Hockey, and it's probably a safe bet that Hothead will expand the line as much as it can, allowing fans of all sports to play their favorite games through the various card collecting mechanics. Birch also showed off a few other titles, each at various stages of development (including one which isn't quite ready for the press yet, he says). Zombie Air is Hothead's next release -- it's a freemium title that also plays sort of like Jetpack Joyride, but instead of just an endless run game, it actually consists of quite a few different levels, as zombies take to the air to fly in customizable planes across a post-apocalyptic United States. The game has a fun and cartoony look, but the freemium model is very evident here as well -- Birch said Hothead is using a lot of the "learning from Sea Stars" to put this one together. So Hothead clearly has a nice slate of titles ready to go. When the company was working on the console, Birch explained, they used to take twelve to eighteen months to put games together, and these days, "we can make a game now in weeks." Is that such a good thing, though? Deathspank and the Penny Arcade Adventures were both interesting, original titles, not bogged down by the trappings of freemium, and Hothead's latest titles, while very well-produced and colorful, don't skimp on the monetization. Birch agrees the concern is there, but says that Hothead needs to be profitable, and wasn't necessarily so back in the console days. He also admits that the company is learning along with its audience just what works best. "We're trying to work it out," he said: How the audience can really enjoy and appreciate Hothead's games, but also make sure that "we get something out of this as well."
Daily iPhone App: Sea Stars
Sea Stars is Hothead's latest game on the App Store, and it's really good. You play as a little fish who can swim and jump through water with a touch of the screen. Your goal is to swim as far as possible while avoiding obstacles. It's quite fun and well done. There's just one big issue: The game is basically Jetpack Joyride. Now, it's not exactly Jetpack Joyride, since you're not riding a backpack, and in practice, the controls are more or less upside down from JJ's float-up-when-touched controls. But the other similarities are undeniable. First, you collect coins which can be spent on upgrades (coins can also be bought via in-app purchase). You'll also find "friends" which work like JJ's vehicles, making you survive an extra hit and switching up the control scheme. Finally, the obstacles move and turn like the electric spheres in Jetpack Joyride. It's possible Hothead was working on this before Halfbrick's big title, but not likely. This game is essentially Jetpack Joyride re-skinned. That's not necessarily bad. Jetpack Joyride is a great game, and if you've already prestiged in that one a few times, Sea Stars will definitely float your fish (though I do have to say that I don't understand the "hurt your tail" reference when the game ends, whatever that means). But this is a blatant ripoff. I would rather have seen Sea Stars try to improve on Halfbrick's great formula rather than borrow it. Perhaps I'm complaining too much, especially considering the app's current price. Sea Stars is a great title that just happens to be free thanks to a promotion in the App Store right now.
Kard Combat, Spy Mouse, more push big updates
Hothead Games' great freemium card game for iOS, Kard Combat, has gotten a big update this week in the App Store. The biggest new feature is a new "pass-and-play" multiplayer mode, which allows for two players with one iOS device in the same place to play their cards out, and then pass the device on to the next person. Obviously, it requires a little bit of honor on the part of players, but if you just want to play a friendly game of Kard Combat, it's a cool mode to try. Game Center multiplayer has also been added to the game to work inside iOS 5, and there are new UI updates and a few other new features in there as well. Firemint's line-drawing stealth game Spy Mouse has also gotten an update, bringing in new global leaderboards, new challenges, and a few other bug fixes and other tweaks. Kiska, the in-game cat which will help you get past some of the tougher levels, can now also be used once per hour rather than just once per day. Artistic platformer Contre Jour also got a nice update, adding 20 new levels to play through, featuring a cool opposite visual style from the rest of the game. And finally, while it hasn't been updated recently or anything, I'll also just mention that Super Stickman Golf is free today as well. If you haven't picked up this great little 2D fantasy golf game for iOS, now's the time.
Kickin' Momma becomes Gem King, Hothead tells us why
I am a fan of Hothead Games' Kickin' Momma, a colorful, Peggle-style title that appeared on the App Store a couple months back. Just recently, that game disappeared from the store, and in its place now is a new title called Gem King. It's free to download and employes a freemium, in-app purchase system. A few of the comments on that game accuse Hothead of some questionable business practices in making the apparent switch to the new title, so TUAW spoke with Hothead's Oliver Birch and Joel DeYoung to figure out exactly what happened. In short, Kickin' Momma, while a good game ("Our highest rated game yet," they told me), didn't do as well as expected. "To be honest with you, it just didn't achieve nearly the downloads that we were hoping it would. We had a plan to add new content, new levels," said DeYoung, "but it wasn't enough downloads to really justify making that new content." Hothead liked the game a lot, however, so they came up with a solution to get more people playing it. "We figured the best way to do it is to just take it free." The team already had an update planned out for iOS 5, and there were some bugs and inconsistencies in the gameplay they wanted to fix, so they decided to "reboot and reimagine" Kickin' Momma, and then release it as a free title. Perhaps the biggest and most obvious change in the game is that Momma is now a dude, a King nonetheless. Hothead said that they originally just went nuts with Momma's collectible accessories, which got them into trouble. "When we were coming up with ideas of the little dress up things," DeYoung said, "it was like well, she kicks her babies so she's going to need boots, and then it kind of went on from there." The first unlockable in Kickin Momma was a moustache, which led to confusion about just what Momma was. So in Gem King, the character is obviously male, and obviously a king, which opens him up to even more personalization. Did Hothead purposely choose a male character because they thought that would get more downloads? "I don't think we thought of that as a factor, necessarily," said DeYoung. The decision was more based on what's clear and fun than actual gender preferences. "There were suggestions about a backstory, maybe she got a sex change or something, but we didn't take it that far. Of course it's not meant to be taken so seriously." In the iTunes reviews for Gem King, some players are complaining about Hothead putting Gem King up at a higher price, and then dropping it to free to try and get on price charts. DeYoung confirmed that yes it did launch at a price higher than free, but he said that the company wasn't doing anything but standard price testing on the App Store. "It gives us a lot of interesting data about price sensitivity and that sort of thing, and that's something you see fairly typically on the store." From the beginning, however, Gem King was set up to be free. "The intention was let's reboot or reimagine Kickin' Momma as a free game. And that's what we did. It was free within 12 hours or something very quickly after that. A few people, I think, jumped on, and jumped to some conclusions." At any rate, Gem King is now free on the App Store, and it offers the gameplay and levels of Kickin' Momma, along with a freemium design and the new features of iOS 5. If you already have Kickin' Momma installed, you can keep it and it will still work, but of course any updates will go out to (the free to download, of course) new version.
The Baconing review: Hacked and slashed
"The only constant in this world is change." Wait, no, that doesn't work. "You can't change the past, but you can work to change the future." Nope, that doesn't do the trick either. "War. War never changes." No, wrong game. Hm. Here's the thing: The Baconing has a lot more of the same DeathSpank flavor you're likely used to, but without a lot of the stuff that made DeathSpank good. I guess there's not a cliched "change" quote that quite works there, huh? Sure, the self-obsessed hero of Hothead's first two DeathSpank games is still there. There's still a whole bunch of quests strewn throughout a whimsical and colorful world. And yeah, the writing is still laden with puns and excretory humor, and is presented by a cast of solid comedic voice actors. The hero to the downtrodden still gets wacky loot like the mafioso-looking Pinstripe Platemail as he hacks and slashes his way through bizarre enemies. All that stuff is still there -- but, sadly, it's hidden under a mound of major problems. %Gallery-130182%
The Baconing begins on Aug. 31 on XBLA
You and Deathspank need a fresh start. Sure, you've had a lot of fun in his last two games, no one's trying to deny that. But there's ... a certain distance that neither of you can ignore. He's ready to change, though. He's so committed to the new beginning that he's dropped his name from The Baconing. It's not just about him, anymore ... it's about the both of you. And even though he'll be involved with a big PSN promotion when he launches on Aug. 30, he's not going to make 360 owners wait for him. That's the sort of thing the old Deathspank would have done. The new Deathspank is going to get up the very next day, put on six multicolored thongs and launch on XBLA on Aug. 31. And if you should notice him swinging his sword just a little harder as you look on, or reaching further than normal for a pun, just know ... that's him trying.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy app coming to the iPad, Don't Panic decal not included
Canadian indie developer Hothead Games is producing a Hitchhikers Guide app, aiming to replicate the titular guide itself (rather than the novels). When it arrives this fall, we can expect beautifully animated sequences describing the Babel Fish and Vogon Poetry -- but just a single word about planet Earth (the addition of the word "Mostly" should come in a second, more sinister update). Visit the holding page and you'll hear the unmistakably honeyed tones of Simon Jones who played Arthur Dent in the original TV and radio series. If he's voicing the guide then this will be a must-have for fans, taking over a role made famous by Peter Jones, and later Stephen Fry in the movie. As the app is iOS only, Android users should probably still panic -- or make a trip to their local laser etching station.
Kard Combat gets four new mages and two new modes in free update
Have you already burned your way through the four main campaigns of Hothead's recently released iOS strategy title, Kard Combat? First of all, you need to slow the heck down. How are you supposed to enjoy anything in life if you consume it with such terrible avarice? Secondly, you'll want to update the game through the App Store as soon as humanly possible -- the developer recently launched a massive update for the title, which notably adds four new decks to the mix: Demon, Chaos, Deception and Arcane. These new decks and campaigns (as well as a new Challenge mode and Timed Multiplayer mode) are free to anyone who purchased the full game unlock -- as all future deck expansions to the title will be. We're glad every other TCG on the planet isn't quite as generous. We're not sure the support struts of our house could withstand the weight of all those metric tons of Pokémon cards.
Hothead's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy app coming this fall
Hothead Games is working on an interactive version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy for iPhone and iPad, available this fall. This isn't an adaptation of the beloved series by Douglas Adams, mind you, but of the guide itself. Meaning, attorneys from Megadodo Publications -- the established publisher of the original guide -- should be sending a cease and desist letter through an interdimensional portal at any moment to stop the app's production. There are those who will argue that such a legal maneuver would be impossible, given the fictitious existence of the publisher, but we'd posit that such a tactic is merely improbable and, therefore, likely to happen. The developers plan to take "the standard repository for all knowledge and wisdom" and make it available to the mostly harmless masses of Earth. We, at Joystiq, would like to warn all those reading that if humanity gets its hands on this device, it will accelerate the question to the answer of 42. Therefore, we advise nobody panic. Simply grab your towel and find the first alien you can with transport off this rock before the Vogon construction fleet shows up.* *Yes, we understand that there is a correlation vs. causation debate to be had here, but would you rather argue the point or grab a drink at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe?
Daily iPhone App: Kickin Momma
Kickin' Momma is Hothead Games' latest iOS title, and it pretty blatantly borrows some gameplay setups from Popcap's popular Peggle. That's actually ok from a gaming standpoint, though, because the game is executed very well, and there's just enough newness here to really enjoy the proceedings. The idea is that "Momma" kicks her little spawn off into a little series of circular pegs, and your goal in each level is to pick up as many little red gems as possible. Hothead uses a Chillingo-style rating system for each of the 36 levels, and there are other little mechanics that pop up later on, like explosive and multiplier pegs to hit. There's a whole lot of sparkle and flair to the game's design, with lots of particles kicking around and flashy graphics to enjoy. You can earn accessories for Mama as you play, and there's full Game Center integration for both leaderboards and achievements. Kickin' Momma is a great game with a lot of style, and while yes, it does re-use some ideas from Peggle specifically (though Peggle is kind of based on Plinko from the Price is Right, no?), there's enough care and work put into this one that it's well worth the purchase. You can buy a standard iPhone version for US 99 cents, or a universal HD version for both the iPhone's Retina Display and the iPad for $1.99.
Kard Combat bringing out big update, talks IAP conversion and community
Kard Combat is a recent iOS release from Hothead Games that's been doing very well on the App Store, and the title is set to see its first big update today. Four new mages are being added for players to play through, including card decks based on Demon, Chaos, Deception, and Arcane magic, and two new game modes. Challenge mode adds additional challenges and goals to the standard gameplay, and timed multiplayer requires that multiplayer turns be taken within three minutes, making for relatively quick games. The update also includes a number of new options and features -- most of the standard features will obviously be free for anyone who's already downloaded the app, though of course the new campaigns will be available via in-app purchase. Anyone who's purchased the full game already for US$9.99 will of course get all of the new content for free. As I said, Kard Combat has been doing very well -- Hothead producer Hamish Millar tells TUAW that while they can't reveal actual numbers behind in-app purchases, "we have a very active multiplayer community of which most have made a purchase." The most popular option so far has been the $2.99 purchase for the first four decks. Millar also says that Hothead's very happy with how the game has been received and reviewed, picking up a very committed player community and lots of feedback to go with it. This game's a little more hardcore than something like Angry Birds, so I wouldn't expect it to be quite that big. Still, Hothead seems to have a nice hit on their hands, and the card game model is something already proven to use DLC as a successful way of extending a game's life over a long period of time. Kard Combat looks like it's well on the way to being a very popular and profitable iOS IP.
The Baconing preview: New blood
Producer Mike Inglehart and his team at Hothead seem to be serious about making The Baconing the best entry in the Deathspank series yet. Prior to jumping into my demo, director of marketing Oliver Birch showed off a 17-page Word document filled with complaints and ideas for improvement, taken directly from their community. You talked, and Hothead says it listened. But one of the biggest changes is the addition of producer Inglehart, who recently joined Hothead and has been tasked with overseeing this third entry in the irreverent series. The Next Level Games transplant dove headfirst into refining the The Baconing, creating what he thinks is not only a funny game, but also one that is less monotonous than its predecessors. One thing is certain: it's definitely more challenging, as several deaths during my demo will attest. %Gallery-130182%
Kickin' Momma is Hothead's new iOS game
Hothead, developer of DeathSpank and Kard Combat, has announced its next project, Kickin' Momma. The company released the first trailer for the game, showing off what looks like something of a cross between Angry Birds and Peggle. Kickin' Momma features a large "momma" creature – who looks an awful lot like a Swarmite – who kicks her tiny offspring into a field of pegs in order to gather precious gems. The game is slated to arrive as universal iOS app on August 4.
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Kard Combat
Kard Combat is a new universal iOS title from Hothead Games, the folks behind the Penny Arcade videogames, DeathSpank, and the iPhone's Bunny the Zombie Slayer. As you may have guessed from the name, Kard Combat is a Magic The Gathering-style card game, where you use a deck of cards that represent magic spells or creatures and fight them against each other. To be honest, Magic the Gathering isn't really my thing, so I can't compare the two super closely. But Kard Combat offers some innovation, I think, in the way the cards are laid out -- any cards summoned to your side first attack cards laid across from them, and then the health pool of your opponent, so there's some interesting positioning strategy involved. You also oversee a few different types of mana that grow over time or based on certain cards you have out, so that provides a lot of complexity to the gameplay. There's a lot of content to play through as well -- four decks, each with their own single player "Tower" campaigns, and then of course multiplayer gameplay. The game's business model is almost tougher to figure out than the actual strategy -- currently, the title is a free download with five single-player missions unlocked, though an in-app purchase of $2.99 will unlock everything. After that, there are more decks and cards to buy, of course, and more to come. In the end, Kard Combat is an excellent little turn-based title. It's definitely worth a free download, and then if you consume all the content there, you can see if you want to dive in deeper.
Portabliss: Kard Combat (iOS)
Did you know that you can download handheld games now? That's amazingly convenient! The only inconvenient part of it is finding the right games to buy -- and that's where we come in. Three times a week, our new Portabliss column will tell you about a downloadable game on the iPhone, iPad, Android device, DSi, 3DS, PSP, etc. Today: Kard Combat! Considering the microtransactional crossover between traditional trading card games and iOS apps, it's astonishing the two haven't blown up into their own, obscenely lucrative industry. Not that I'm complaining -- my wallet can't afford to be gripped by the plaguing addiction of another Magic: The Gathering or Pokémon TCG. Perhaps that's why I enjoy Kard Combat as much as I do; not only is it an excellent, compelling game, but it also won't send you into an inescapable spiral of bankruptcy, which is awfully nice of it. This mercy is surprising, considering the involvement of Magic creator Richard Garfield, whose influence can be seen in Kard Combat's every mechanic. The game actually plays like a smartly boiled-down version of Wizards of the Coast's TCG: two players summon creatures using mana to attack the opposing team's roster or, with luck, the other player themselves.%Gallery-126811%
The Baconing trailer features a bored DeathSpank
The only problem with saving the world, it seems, is boredom. With all the monsters slain and damsels (sort of) saved, there's just nothing left to do. Thankfully, something evil is on the horizon in the latest trailer for The Baconing. The AntiSpank, perhaps?
