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Lazy 8 on the Cogs behind BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution
Independent developer Lazy 8 launched steampunk puzzler Cogs on PC in 2009; that same year Cogs was an IndieCade finalist. In 2010, the game snagged an IGF nod and won $100,000 in the Indie Game Challenge, and in 2011, Cogs was released for Mac gamers. Three years later, Cogs is still picking up steam and its quality is the reason Irrational Games approached Lazy 8 to assemble BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution."The BioShock Infinite team at Irrational was already aware of Cogs, the award-winning puzzle game that we launched in 2009," Lazy 8 founder Rob Jagnow tells Joystiq. "They knew they wanted to create something similar – challenging puzzles in a steampunk style – so they approached Lazy 8 Studios in the hope that we could help design a puzzle game with the same level of polish."Turns out Lazy 8 could do just that. Industrial Revolution is available now, for free, with pre-orders of BioShock Infinite. It's a flash puzzle game that has players fight on the side of BioShock Infinite's warring factions Vox Populi or the Founders, and generates in-game goods for next year's full Infinite release. Industrial Revolution comes with its own innate depth, however: The choices players make on the first playthrough are permanent and the game can't be replayed with different allegiances."It's true that Industrial Revolution is designed to be played only once, and while you're playing, you'll be offered choices about which factions you want to support. Not every player may realize it, but the choices you make will impact how the story is told to you. And once those choices are made, you can't go back and make them again. They're permanent. While that may not make everyone happy, I think it makes for a really compelling player experience. It gives a lot more weight to your actions and their consequences."
BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution puzzle game available with pre-order [update: more retailers]
A pre-order from GameStop for the upcoming BioShock Infinite will net you not one but two games, apparently. Not only will you of course get a copy of the BioShock followup itself, but you'll also pick up a completely separate puzzle game called BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution, a Flash-based puzzle game that appears to have been created just for this promotion. Industrial Revolution places you in the shoes of a factory worker in BioShock Infinite's world, completing puzzles to support either one of the game's two factions.Industrial Revolution will have over 50 levels to play through, and will be available to pre-order sometime before BioShock Infinite releases on February 26 of next year. The original version of BioShock had its own Hacking minigame included, but this one seems completely separate, just a fully promotional tie-in title rather than an integral part of the finished release.Update: The offer is not exclusive to GameStop: Irrational has the full list of retailers here.
