Dungeon-Hearts
Latest
Indie Pinata sale invites you to take a swing at similar games
The Indie Pinata sale offers discounts on 10 Steam games hand-picked by independent developers, available through July 26 at 10AM PT. The catch: You have to purchase or already own one of the games in the sale to get the discounts. That Steam backlog is looking pretty handy right about now. The 10 lucky games are Monaco, The Bridge, Flockers, MouseCraft, 10,000,000, Super Splatters, Dungeon Hearts, Jack Lumber, Triple Town and Contraption Maker. Indie Pinata is put on by Crunching Koalas, the team behind MouseCraft, so this sale features games similar in style to that memorable, puzzle-y tone. "Thousands of games available on Steam make it difficult for enthusiasts of certain game genres to find games that they really enjoy," Crunching Koalas writes in the sale's FAQ. "That's why we teamed up with developers that create games that are somehow similar to MouseCraft. Games we have chosen can be similar in terms of graphics, gameplay mechanics or general feel and we think that if anybody owns at least one title from our list, there's a high chance they will like every other game from our campaign. This is our proposition on how curated storefronts should look like." [Image: Crunching Koalas]
Celebrate freedom from DRM with Humble Bundle July 4 sale
The Humble Store is currently hosting a particularly patriotic event, dubbed the DRM Freedom Sale, to celebrate the Fourth of July. The sale features games like Broforce, Surgeon Simulator 2013 and Retro City Rampage, discounted by up to 85 percent. Not only can you feel free to use the money you'll save on some sweet explosion-rockets, but you can feel good about yourself too, as 10 percent of the proceeds go to charity. You might want to hurry though; like a red, white and blue firework in the night sky - this deal will only exist for a short while. At the time of writing, there are just more than three hours left. [Image: Humble Store]
Indie Royale Choices 2013 bundle includes A Valley Without Wind, Cognition
Indie Royale's latest pay-the-minimum priced bundle is available now until January 15. Currently sitting at $3.79 and slowly rising in price, the Choices 2013 bundle features eight games in total, including Arcen Games' side-scrolling action/adventure game A Valley Without Wind and its sequel. The bundle also includes the first two episodes of Cognition, Phoenix Online Studios' point-and-click adventure series. The other four games in the Choices 2013 bundle are as follows: Dungeon Hearts by Technobabel, Pid by Might and Delight, Owl Cave's Richard and Alice and Waveform by Eden Industries. Every game is available on both PC and Mac via Steam and Desura save for Richard and Alice, which is limited to Windows users through Desura, though the game is currently vying for Steam distribution if it earns community approval on Greenlight. Those that pay at least $6 for the bundle will also receive the "Slipstream Vol. 1" chiptune album by Cold Storage.
Indie Royale 'Lunar' bundle gathers Pid, Back to the Future and others
A new Indie Royale bundle, called the Lunar Bundle, gathers several "out-of-this-world" indie gems, with an initial offering of four games and spots for three more to be added throughout the next six days of the promotion.Pid is first on the list, the puzzle-platformer about a lost boy stranded on a strange planet from ex-Grin folks at Might and Delight. It's joined by Cargo Commander, an action-platformer from Serious Brew, in which your goal is to loot expensive cargo in the alien-infested reaches of space. The final two are Telltale's Back to the Future, which takes place six months after the events of the third film in the series, and Dungeon Hearts, a hybrid strategy and pattern-matching affair from Technobabel.All four games are Windows and Mac OSX compatible, and available as Steam codes for those who pay the minimum asking price or above. Agreeing to pay $8 more for the bundle will net you an additional perk: the album Reawakening from C64/Amiga chiptune artist TDK.
'Pitch Fork Parker' winner Dungeon Hearts out March 28
Dungeon Hearts, the game Devolver Digital found in the back of a bus last year, is coming to PC, Mac and iPad on March 28. Cube Roots' game combines RPGs and match-three puzzles, allowing you to perform attacks by matching "runes" on the "Fatestream." The effect is visually similar to Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, although the scrolling line of icons has a different meaning in this game than it does in Square Enix's rhythm RPG. Dungeon Hearts has the advantage of having a title made up entirely of real words, as well.Dungeon Hearts will launch on Steam and assorted other digital distribution services for $2.99.%Gallery-180878%
Indie publishing styles: The 'Hey, kid, take a ride on my bus' tactic
The week after E3's blockbuster bombardment from high-profile, mainstream publishers seems like a proper time to step back, take a breath and remember that for many indie developers, getting a game made has nothing to do with fog machines, loud on-stage demos or awkward celebrity banter.Sometimes, indie publishing involves standing on a shady street corner in San Francisco until a bus pulls up and offers you a beer and a ride.At least, that's how it worked out for Chris Pavia, a developer who recently quit his mainstream industry job to create indie titles under his own studio, Cube Roots. Pavia's first game, a puzzle RPG called Dungeon Hearts, got picked up by Devolver Digital during its Pitch Fork Parker project at GDC earlier this year.Pitch Fork Parker had indie developers vie for a spot on Devolver Digital's bus, where they would ride around for a while and try to sell their indie games to the publisher. Pavia earned a spot on the bus with Dungeon Hearts' cohesive art style and character designs alone, and in the month before GDC he hired an animator, had his musician tweak the audio and spent all his time refining every detail he could in the first few minutes of the game.%Gallery-155933%
Dungeon Hearts was made in the back of Devolver Digital's bus, out early 2013
Devolver Digital has teamed up with Cube Roots to publish the indie puzzle RPG Dungeon Hearts on PC, Mac and mobile in early 2013. Before any of you smart alecks ask: No, it's not a mashup of Dungeon Defenders and Kingdom Hearts.Dungeon Hearts features a "nostalgic" blend of classic RPG elements and match-three puzzle mechanics for a "wholly unique experience," Devolver promises. It has 99 character levels and 16 unique environments, and players will use the matching game to perform powerful attacks in the game's mystical world.At GDC in February, Cube Roots founder Chris Pavia got on a bus with Devolver Digital's Fork Parker as part of the Pitch Fork Parker Project. Pavia pitched Dungeon Hearts, left the bus, and by the end of the night his game was signed."The original pitch was for Dungeon Hearts to be a medieval brothel simulator," Parker said. "I recommended we shift development toward the puzzle/RPG hybrid because medieval brothel simulators just don't sell anymore."%Gallery-155933%
