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Why the 'Oxenfree II' team became Netflix's first game studio
In early 2021, Night School was in the market for a partnership. It ended up being acquired by Netflix, becoming the company's first game studio. Now, Night School is gearing up to launch its first game for the streaming giant.
Laya's Horizon, a sandbox wingsuit game from the studio behind Alto's Odyssey, arrives May 2nd
Laya's Horizon is the next big mobile game from Snowman and it'll be available on iOS and Android on May 2nd, free for Netflix subscribers.
'Alto’s Odyssey' studio Snowman's next game is bound for Netflix
'Lucky Luna' is a platformer without a jump button.
'Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City' trailer previews the new urban backdrop
An expanded edition of the endless runner hits Apple Arcade on July 16th.
'Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City' is coming to Apple Arcade
"Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City" is coming to Apple Arcade with extra content, developer Snowman has announced.
'Pok Pok Playroom' is a handcrafted kids' app from Alto's Odyssey veterans
Say hello to Pok Pok, a new studio founded by Snowman collaborators.
'Skate City' heads to Switch, PlayStation, Xbox and PC on May 6th
Another Apple Arcade gem spreads its wings.
Alto's Adventure devs open a studio focused on 'folk' games
The development team behind the classic snowboarding endless runners Alto’s Adventure and Alto’s Odyssey have opened a new studio called Land & Sea. Alto lead artist and developer Harry Nesbitt, programmer Joe Grainger and composer Todd Baker have been joined at Land & Sea by producer Jair McBain and narrative designer Jenna Jovi. Land & Sea will continue to work with Snowman on Alto projects while developing other games.
A month on, Apple Arcade is too cheap to quit
It's been almost exactly a month since Apple Arcade launched. That means that a lot of free trials are about to expire, and it's time to decide: Is it actually worth your $5 a month? Like you, a number of Engadget editors have been testing out Arcade's various games in our spare time and, for us, the answer is a resounding "yes." The subscription gaming service has won us over in a very short time, including those that were initially on the fence. We all have our own reasons, whether it's seeing Arcade as a potential solution to skeezy free-to-play mechanics, a tool to play titles across various devices or just a way to play some good games without paying a lot. Join four of us as we dig in a little deeper, and highlight some of our favorite games from the service along the way.
'Alto's Adventure' arrives on Mac for $10
If you're a fan of Alto's Adventure, you might be pleased to know you can at long last play the revered endless runner on Mac. It's available on the redesigned Mac App Store for $10. Alto's Adventure debuted on iOS in 2015, so it's taken quite some time to reach macOS. The game's also available on Android, Kindle Fire, Android and Linux.
'Alto's Odyssey' slides onto Android next month
Alto's Odyssey, the sequel to the classic snowboarding endless runner Alto's Adventure, is headed to Android next month. Players on iOS devices have explored the Apple Design Award-winning game's gorgeous desert landscapes since February, though Android users have had to remain patient for their own chance to test their mettle on the sandy slopes. You can pre-register on Google Play now, and receive a notification when the game's available, which will be sometime in July. Alto's Odyssey is coming to Android next month! Pre-Register today on @GooglePlay and be the first to get notified at launch 💚 https://t.co/IyjbPNxrdB pic.twitter.com/VzmZ2rWmCs — Alto's Odyssey (@altosadventure) June 19, 2018
Hands-on with coming-of-age puzzle game 'Where Cards Fall'
Where Cards Fall looks like a dream. Literally, I've had dreams that feel like this game -- the world is segmented into blocky platforms covered in grass, asphalt and clouds, as if a rudimentary algorithm was asked to create cities and forests, and it spat out gorgeous geometric interpretations of the real world. The game's art style highlights this dreamlike quality, covering all those cubes and slopes in soft, hand-drawn colors and dramatic shadows while ambient music hums in the background. Playing Where Cards Fall feels exactly like it looks -- ethereal yet grounded in reality, shockingly complicated and soothing at the same time.
'Alto's Odyssey' took three years to make, and that's all right
It's been three years since Snowman, a tiny independent studio based in Toronto, launched Alto's Adventure on iOS devices. Back then, the Alto crew was three people -- Ryan Cash, Harry Nesbitt and Jordan Rosenberg -- and Alto's Adventure was their first real game. They didn't know what to expect when they published it in the App Store for $2.99 in Feb. 2015, but the team hoped for the best. That launch changed everything. Alto's Adventure was a huge success. Players devoured the serene, soothing experience set on the slopes of a snowy mountain range -- it was an endless-runner snowboarding and llama-herding game, and its only mechanic involved tapping the screen to jump. Though gameplay was simple, the atmosphere and art told a larger story about comfort, risk and the warmth of home. Apple users ate it up, and the next year, Android players got a taste as well.
'Alto's Odyssey' arrives on the App Store a day early
The buzz around Alto's Adventure sequel Alto's Odyssey has been brewing for over a year and now it's finally arrived -- a day early. Originally slated for release on February 22, keen-eyed fans have spotted it in the iTunes store today, meaning players have the opportunity to lose a whole extra day to the addictive infinite runner. As with the game's predecessor, though, Android users will have to wait before they can contend with the fresh challenges presented by Alto's desert landscape. In an email to Android Authority, Ryan Cash from Snowman, the team behind the series, said, "We aren't committing to a release date at the moment, but we're hoping to get an Android version out in the months ahead."
The hidden depth of mobile puzzle game 'Where Cards Fall'
We're sitting in a circle on the floor of a decadent San Francisco hotel lobby, crowds of people milling around the couches and stairways. The young men of Snowman, the studio behind Alto's Adventure, watch as Sam Rosenthal sets up a small iPad, preparing to show off his latest game, Where Cards Fall. Rosenthal is the co-founder of the Game Band, a small Los Angeles studio working with Snowman to bring its new project to iOS, Apple TV and Steam this autumn. Rosenthal flips through a slideshow of character designs, explaining the premise as he goes. Where Cards Fall is a top-down, 3D puzzle game that has players build houses of cards to navigate tricky environments. It follows a handful of teenagers over the course of 10 years, from adolescence to college and finally adulthood. The art is cartoonish yet polished, as if the designs of Oxenfree had been transformed into 3D.
The sequel to 'Alto's Adventure' arrives this summer
Last week, Snowman -- developer of beloved snowboarding game Alto's Adventure -- announced that its next game, Where Cards Fall, would be out this fall. However, we're going to get another game from the studio before that. Alto's Odyssey, the sequel to Alto's Adventure is set to launch this summer. From the brief teaser trailer released today, it looks like Odyssey will change things up in at least one significant way: Alto and his crew will be visiting the desert.
'Alto's Adventure' studio will launch its new game this fall
Indie game developer Snowman has built up quite a reputation based mostly on one game: Alto's Adventure. But we now finally know when we'll get to see the studio's next creation. Where Cards Fall, a game the company has been teasing for a few years now, will be out this fall for Apple TV, iOS and Steam. If you haven't seen any of the gameplay yet, Snowman has also released a new trailer today that gives a pretty extensive look at what to expect when the game arrives.
The developers of 'Alto's Adventure' are building a skateboarding game
Snowman, the creator of ultra-chill snowboarding game Alto's Adventure, is keeping busy lately. In addition to the sequel Alto's Odyssey, it is also working with studio The Game Band for Where Cards Fall and partnering with Australian studio Slingshot and Satchel to build Distant. That's an ambitious workload for a small studio, but that isn't stopping Snowman from announcing yet another new title in development: Skate City. The all-too-brief trailer and Instagram clips show it to be a side-scrolling skateboarding iOS/Android game with the same chill vibe as Alto's Adventure.
This is the world's smallest and happiest snowman
The holiday season gets bigger and more hectic every year -- and maybe you're looking for a smaller, more adorable way to celebrate. Here's one: the world's smallest snowman. This microscopic frosty was built by the nanofabrication lab at London's Western University. He's adorable, but you'll need an electron microscope to see him in person: according to the lab's Tumblr page, the snowman stands at just three microns tall, or about 0.003mm. For comparison, a human hair is about 75 microns thick (0.075mm).
'Alto's Adventure' zen mode is built to help you relax
Alto's Adventure is already something of a tranquil experience between its endless snowboarding and beautiful pastoral landscapes, but developer Snowman wants go even further. It's introducing a "zen mode" to Alto that removes scores and lets you continue from wherever you crashed -- all you have to do is enjoy the experience. There's also a more relaxing soundtrack in this mode, and you'll even get a photo tool that lets you zoom in and peek behind foreground objects that might clutter the scene.
