Capybara Games
Latest
Super TIME Force trailer makes a big mess, saves a few lives
Capy Games' Super TIME Force now features an overhauled time mechanic different from the last time we saw it. Rather than making players go through the entire stage again to reach the point they died, thus resuming their progress, players can now jump around a timeline and respawn anywhere.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes lays siege upon Android
Clash of Heroes, Capybara's excellent match-three adaptation of Might and Magic strategy, is available now on Android. After coming out on DS in 2009 and moving onto consoles and PC in 2011, Clash of Heroes marched onto iOS earlier this year. It's taken a little while, but Clash of Heroes continued its journey onto Android, and like the iOS version is priced at $4.99. However, unlike on iOS, the Android version doesn't feature online battling, although local multiplayer is supported.
Capy flies 'Below' the radar on the Xbox One
Microsoft's E3 press conference yesterday was full of gigantic new titles like Titanfall, Ryze, and Metal Gear Solid 5, but in among the blockbusters, there was one little announce that stood out in a big way. Below is the latest game from Capybara Games, the indie Canadian studio behind Critter Crunch and Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, who most recently won all the awards with the beautiful iOS title Sword and Sworcery EP. Below is about as far from an early next-generation console title as you'd imagine: Instead of bombastic, flashy, and loud, it's quiet, subtle, and slightly menacing. "You are small," Capy co-founder Nathan Vella says while smoking a cigarette outside a Microsoft E3 showcase last evening. "Death is at every turn if you are not smart about it." Below is "a roguelike like," he says, focusing on sending the player through a series of randomized, one-screen dungeons, with a sword, shield, and some other not-yet-revealed tools and weapons.%Gallery-191148%
Capy's success and sworcery catchphrase: 'It's getting there'
At the conclusion of his GDC 2013 panel, Still Kicking: The Viability of Paid Apps in the Era of F2P, Capybara Games co-founder and president Nathan Vella offered unique insight into the trials endured by the company. The developers were pushing for creativity and originality in their games, but were beset by problem after problem."It's getting there" quickly became the company mantra, a mission statement of sorts and catchphrase that succinctly sums up the Toronto development house's endeavors.
Capy Fine Racing GP is a game on a floppy disk at PAX East
We never believed that in the year 2013 we'd be talking about games found on a floppy disk, but Capybara Games has proven us wrong. The developer is bringing 3.5 inch floppy disks to PAX East housing copies of Capy Fine Racing GP – a new racing game featuring characters from games created by Capy and Double Fine.Capy co-founder Nathan Vella told Edge that both developers teamed up to create the game, which seems like an excellent offering for the two studio sharing booth space in Boston. The game itself is described as an "OutRun-style racer."If you won't be at PAX, the floppy disk will also be included in the 200 retail versions of the Double Fine/Capybara Games Steam collection. Those that get hands on the disks are encouraged to share."It's just something we did for pure fun and loving the idea of doing cool shit with our friends, in the spirit of the Capy Double Fine PAX combo. While it's totally a real game, it's also not at all a real game," Vella said.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes out now on iOS
Capybara Games' Might and Magic Clash of Heroes is available now on iOS for $4.99. As noted in our mini review from earlier this month, an Android version should arrive sometime after nowish.Clash of Heroes, a DS game that was HD-ified and ported to several other platforms, is a match-three puzzle game with fantasy armies. It's pretty... and pretty wonderful. If you've somehow missed it on every other platform up to now, don't miss out on it in its re-portableized version.%Gallery-175269%
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery now out on Android
If you missed your chance to grab the Android version of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP during its surprise spotlight in the Humble Android Bundle 4, now's your time to pounce. The Android version is the full game, unchanged from its iOS and Steam siblings.Sword & Sworcery on Android requires devices running OS 2.3 and higher, and is available as a $1.99 download on the Google Play store right now. It's a great game and, in the humble opinion of this editor, one of 2011's best.
Fez programmer Renaud Bedard joins Capy
Capy Games announced earlier this afternoon that Fez programmer Renaud Bedard has joined the team at the Critter Crunch, Clash of Heroes and Super TIME Force developer. Bedard was one half of the Polytron team, with Phil Fish, who put out the critically acclaimed game, Fez. The game's lengthy and volatile development was chronicled in Indie Game: The Movie (on Netflix streaming)."The remaining employees of the Polytron Corp. would like to say goodbye and thank you to [Bedard] for all the years of amazing work," Fish tweeted out.Asked for more details on how Bedard came to Capy, studio founder Nathan Vella told us that the company wasn't saying anything beyond the tweets it put out.
Canadian Indie Bundle on Steam: Superbrothers, Shanks and more
Our brothers and sisters in The Great White North are getting some time in the spotlight today with a new bundle on Steam. The Canadian Indie Bundle packages together games from Klei Entertainment, Capybara Games, Gaslamp Games and more for $14.99.Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, Shank and Shank 2 highlight this Canadian Indie Bundle, joined by Space Pirates and Zombies, Waveform, Hoard, Dungeons of Dredmor and Capsized. Many of the games in the bundle offer SteamPlay between Windows and Mac OSX.
Critter Crunch barfs up on Steam Sept. 11
Capybara Games' colorful puzzler Critter Crunch is gonna puke rainbow chunks September 11 all over Steam."The game will be available for both PC and Mac, support mouse/keyboard or controller and have all the great online modes – including the ability to play PC vs Mac and vice-versa," Capy founder Nathan Vella told us today. "All for the same $6.99. And barf. Rainbow barf."Critter Crunch began life many moons ago as a mobile game, then became a high-profile PSN game and struggled in the the sales department. Critter Crunch was also available as an iOS title for a brief time, but due to complications at a higher level, Vella can only say, "The publisher chose to remove it from the app store."
Clash of Heroes free-to-play this weekend on Steam
Capy, which has been making ripples in our continuum with Super TIME Force, will host an earlier effort, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, for half off and free to play this weekend on Steam.Regularly priced at $14.99, the color-matching puzzle RPG will be $7.49, with the ability to try it out for free until Sunday at 1PM Pacific. Our review suggests you take Capy up on the offer.%Gallery-96062%
The benefit of making mistakes in Super T.I.M.E. Force
Super T.I.M.E. Force puts a fresh emphasis on the process of encountering an obstacle, dying and then returning with the knowledge to overcome that hazard. The game's central mechanic lets you rewind the scene and start again, playing alongside the ghost of your past self.
Report: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP coming to Steam
Capybara Games' award winning iOS action/adventure title Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP may be making the leap from mobile to desktop, according to a report at IGM. While no port has been officially announced by Capybara, a Steam registry crawler has uncovered its listing in the service's database, which indicates a release "in the next week or so."We're keeping our fingers crossed, because contrary to popular belief, there are actually people in the world that don't own iPhones, iPads or iPods. Several members of the Joystiq staff fall into that category, as a matter of fact, and we're getting pretty dang tired of having critically acclaimed iOS games like Sword & Sworcery EP held over our heads by the other editors.
Super T.I.M.E. Force infiltrating PAX East
When you first enter the outskirts of the Boston area, you may feel a certain sensation. Relax, that's not another Highlander in the vicinity, it's your body knowing that something special is about to happen. You're about to attend an awesome gaming convention and possibly come hang with your pals at Joystiq!Today, we're glad to report the show will be even better: Capybara Games will have a playable build of Super T.I.M.E. Force at its booth, the developer has revealed. Super T.I.M.E. Force is an IGF 2012 entry and won the XBLA prize this year, meaning we'll see it arrive on Xbox Live Arcade eventually.Capy will be situated at booth #764, so stop by if you want to play. You may have to push us out of the way, though -- fair warning and all of that.
Capy Games wins 'XBLA Award' and guaranteed MS publishing deal for Super T.I.M.E. Force
Capy Games, developer of adorable guzzle-'em-up Critter Crunch and the gorgeous Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP, has won the Microsoft-sponsored "XBLA Prize" during the 14th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards, held this evening in San Francisco. The recipients receive a rare digital copy of the now-delisted advergame, Yaris.No, wait, it says here they get a guaranteed first-party publishing deal via Microsoft's Live service, including Xbox Live Arcade, Windows Phone and Windows ... Computer. In this case, the game headed to XBLA is Super T.I.M.E. Force!The award comes with a few other bonuses too: Microsoft will provide funding to complete the game if necessary, and augment its development with several first-party support services, including usability, testing, and a guy who never looks up from his Blackberry.
The original plan: Sword and Sworcery in seven months for $110,000
The best laid plans ...GDC is a great place for budding developers to learn from other, more seasoned developers. During a postmortem focusing on the success of Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, Capy president and co-founder Nathan Vella admitted the game ended up going over budget and past its planned launch late -- it's more common than you think in game development.The original plan for Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP was a seven-month development cycle, with a budget of around $110,000. In the end, the game ended up costing "around $200,000" over the course of 18 months. As of today, 350,000 individuals have spun some vinyl.After his talk, I got some face time with Vella to ask him about a personal curiosity: Twitter integration. Some games have caught flak for it, but the smart implementation and voice of the tweets in Superbrothers -- written in the same narrative style of the game -- caused a new trend in iOS gaming."The intention was always to give people the ability to broadcast something they enjoyed about the game," Vella told me. "I love that about the game. I even loved it when people were talking shit about it like crazy. I think the Twitter part of it was important because people loved the dialogue, the way that Craig wrote it, and blast Twitter -- it's important to me and it's important to the project, to know that we made something that somebody wants to put out there. And it was always a choice: you choose to press two buttons to tweet something, if you care about it. I would definitely make that call again."Finally, when asked by another attendee about a PC port of Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, Vella slyly replied, "No comment on that question."
Sword and Sworcery EP: 350K units swold
iOS title Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has sold 350,000 units life to date, Capy president Nathan Vella revealed at GDC 2012 today.The long-form game, which took 18 months to develop, has done incredibly well on the app store, despite having "small amount of birds, no fruit, limited water," which have all become cliche requirements for iOS success."Everyone isn't a demographic," Vella noted. "Target a niche due to iOS scale, niches can be huge."He said two-thirds of all sales were on the iPad universal app and that three quarters of revenue were made on the universal app. He also noted that the title going on discount only accounted for 10 percent of sales, meaning the game had a potential audience that was willing to pay full price for the experience.Vella feels Sword & Sworcery is a good case that longer experiences can fit on the iOS platform and targeting "everyone" isn't the only way.
Find the time to check out Super T.I.M.E. Force
It's an IGF 2012 entry and, now that we've seen it in action, easily one of our most anticipated games. Super T.I.M.E. Force looks like distilled chaos, only in space. With guns. And giant explosions. Obviously this teaser piqued our interest, so we talked to Capybara Games president Nathan Vella for some more info. He wouldn't budge on platforms, but told us we shouldn't expect to see this on iOS platforms. He told us he hopes to see the game in "lots of places," but "until we have ink on paper" he can't say with any kind of certainty. Vella says the idea for the game originated at the Toronto Game Jam, where three of Capy's guys came up with the concept. It's been expanded since, though Vella says there isn't a rush to get this out the door. The studio is taking its time with it, so don't expect to get your hands on it anytime soon.
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes lines up on Steam
Developer Capybara Games has confirmed that Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes will be available for download on Steam today -- wait, scratch that. It's available for download right now! The Steam version of the game will set you back $14.99, only supports Windows (sorry, Mac users) and boasts full Steamworks integration, including achievements, leaderboards and cloud saves. If you've yet to hear about Capy's wonderful title, might we point you toward our review? In addition to the launch of the actual game on Steam, you can also snag the I Am the Boss DLC for $2.99. Great, now we've got that damn song stuck in our head again.
Sword & Sworcery EP and LP on swale today
To celebrate the equinox, the magical Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and LP are on sale today. The regularly priced $4.99 iPad edition and $2.99 iPhone version of the EP video game are down to $1.99 and $0.99, respectively. The soundtrack, which is usually $7.99, is discounted to "pay what you can." What happens if you miss this sale today? We're going to bet the next major discount will occur during the solstice in three months. Call it a hunch.
