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From indie development to Guerrilla Games: The 'Gravity Ghost' story
Erin Robinson Swink knows when someone has actually finished her game, the hand-painted physics-based adventure called Gravity Ghost. "I can usually tell if they played it until the end based on the way they say that to me," she said. "Like, 'Yeah, I played your game.' Or like, 'I played your game,' and then they look off into the distance. OK, that person played to the end."
Gravity Ghost swirls through Steam's solar system today
Ivy Games' Gravity Ghost is on Steam today for PC, Mac and Linux for $15, a reasonable price for a trip through the stars. Plus, it's two-for-one, forever – pay $15 on Steam, get two game codes. "Why?" Gravity Ghost Designer Erin Robinson asks in an email. "I'm encouraging everyone to give that second copy to someone special in their life who doesn't play video games. My hope is that it will open the door to this amazing hobby and allow people to share that joy with their loved ones." Gravity Ghost is a physics puzzler with a twist (or a twirl): Players soar around planets, using gravitational pull to gain momentum, alter direction and collect pieces of a shattered galaxy. There's no "fail" state, though there is a rich story with hints of darkness, plus voice acting by Ashly Burch (Borderlands 2), Logan Cunningham (Bastion) and Sarah Elmaleh (Gone Home). The soundtrack comes from FTL composer Ben Prunty. See the story trailer after the break. GRAVITY GHOST IS LAUNCHED I LOVE YOU ALL! http://t.co/69UeajfNCF - Erin Robinson (@Livelyivy) January 26, 2015
Gravity Ghost finds footing on Steam in January
Gravity Ghost is a gravity-bending dreamscape and physics puzzler featuring a space fox and the voices of Bastion's Logan Cunningham, Hey Ash's Ashly Burch and Gone Home's Sarah Elmaleh, with music by FTL composer Ben Prunty. It's due out on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux on January 26, 2015. Gravity Ghost comes from independent studio Ivy Games. Anyone who pre-orders directly from Ivy gets $5 off (that makes it $10), plus an extra copy of the game to give to a friend. Ivy bills Gravity Ghost as a relaxing puzzle experience, with no way to fail, no killing and no dying. "Gravity Ghost is a peaceful gravity hopper: Run, jump, and orbit your way through a handpainted galaxy," the game's Steam page says. "Join Iona the ghost as she searches for her lost best friend, the ghost fox. Explore a shattered galaxy and rescue its survivors, armed with powerups and mysterious terraforming powers. Meet the seven magical guardians and best their challenges." See a new, short story teaser for Gravity Ghost after the break. [Images: Ivy Games]
Voices of Transistor, Gone Home, Hey Ash in Gravity Ghost
Gravity Ghost, the adorable planet-circling physics game, is getting some high-caliber voice talent from Ashly Burch of Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin'? and Borderlands 2, Logan Cunningham of Bastion and Transistor, and Sarah Elmaleh of Gone Home and Resonance. The full voice lineup with background information on all of the actors (and sound clips) can be found on the Gravity Ghost dev blog. Gravity Ghost is the "bastard child of The Little Prince and Mario Galaxy," as Designer Erin Robinson puts it. Players take on the role of Iona, the game's 12-year-old protagonist tasked with exploring and restoring her galaxy. She encounters seven magical guardians and must navigate the gravity fields of their planets to complete physics puzzles. Plus, it's pretty in a childlike, fantastical way. The gallery below shows off images from three of the game's 20 story cutscenes. Players discover the scenes in any order. "In this way they'll have to make sense of the story themselves," Robinson says. "Like Pulp Fiction, but cuter." Gravity Ghost is up for pre-order now for 33 percent off, $10. It's due out this year for PC, Mac and Linux.
The union of Scale, Gravity Ghost and the indie devs making them
Scale and Gravity Ghost share a surprising number of characteristics, especially considering how different their core mechanics are. They're both serene, soothing experiences, at least at first: In Gravity Ghost, players control a girl as she flows around the gravity fields of planets, searching for her fox, collecting stars and bits of the universe that were destroyed in a recent black hole. It's a physics game and an odd type of platformer, and it can be a simple exercise in circling planets or a completionist's dream, completely up to the player. Scale is a first-person shooter, but the gun is a shrink-and-grow ray, allowing players to suck the size out of one object and blast it into other objects. Doing this, players can either complete esoteric challenges or simply play around in bright worlds of flowers, pretty houses, green grass and happy trees. Gravity Ghost and Scale are made by Erin Robinson and Steve Swink, respectively, and both games were selected to participate in the PAX East and Prime Indie Megabooth this year. Robinson and Swink both live in Arizona, in the same city, in the same house, and they have been dating for four years. This month, they got engaged. To each other. See – so much in common.
Phoenix Art Museum hosts indie game showcase on Sept. 21
The Phoenix Art Museum will be overrun with 20 indie games from local developers on September 21 from 10AM to 4PM, the final weekend of the museum's The Art of Video Games exhibition. The Arizona Indie Game Showcase is hosted by the Phoenix IGDA and Game CoLab, a productive collective of developers in the city. Scheduled for display at the showcase is a slew of high-profile indies, including Indie Megabooth participants Gravity Ghost from Ivy Games, Scale from CubeHeart Games and Aztez from Team Colorblind. Other developers include Kyle Pulver (Offspring Fling), Corey Nolan (Growing) and Abstrakt Games (Protein Pirates), with music madness in the hands of Adventureface. Connect with the Game CoLab and RSVP for the Arizona Indie Game Showcase on Meetup.
Indie Megabooth starlet 'Gravity Ghost' opens pre-orders on Aug. 26
Gravity Ghost has been on our radar for more than a year. It's a whimsical physics game about flinging yourself around planets and collecting stars in an effort to reassemble the universe. It's not a game about dying, killing or destroying – but it is about to come out as a pre-order, on August 26, from the Humble Store on developer Ivy Games' website. Pre-orders are for PC, Mac and Linux. Gravity Ghost has music from FTL: Faster Than Light composer Ben Prunty, and it snagged a spot in the PAX Prime Indie Megabooth, scheduled to touch down on the show floor from August 30 to September 2. To prepare for PAX Prime, Game Designer and Artist Erin Robinson made "swag" – miniature bottle dioramas starring the Gravity Ghost fox, Voy, in a bell-studded, glittering environment of colorful sand. See the intricate, cute process on the Ivy Games blog. The swag bottles will be available at PAX Prime, and one of them includes a ghost girl, rather than the fox. Gravity sold separately.
How a couple of indie devs snuck into E3
Two days before E3 began, Steve Swink and Erin Robinson finalized plans to attend the convention. They packed their laptops with the latest builds of their games, Scale and Gravity Ghost, threw some clothes in a suitcase, and started the six-hour drive from Phoenix, Arizona to Los Angeles, California. This is a process similar to what thousands of developers go through before showing up at E3, but there was one thing different about Swink and Robinson's trip. They didn't have passes.
Made in Phoenix indie game night was a cool party in a hot warehouse
On Saturday night one warehouse in downtown Phoenix was overrun with independent games, developers and players, backlit by bumpin' live music and an array of food and drinks. It was the first Made in Phoenix: Indie Game Demo Night presented by local indie game incubator, Game CoLab. Projected on two giant screens, party-goers played Ivy Games' Gravity Ghost and Team Colorblind's Aztez, while Retora Games' Oculus Rift project about exploring the surface of Mars lurked astride one wall. Other games on tablets and laptops littered the tables beyond, including Kyle Pulver's Offspring Fling and Abstrakt Games' Protein Pirates. Game CoLab established residence in this warehouse in May, offering game developers a place to create their dream projects while surrounded by inspiring people and ideas. Saturday night wasn't the last party planned for the space, Game CoLab founder Joseph Darnell told me. He saw Indie Game Demo Night as a success, and with a packed house, smiling players and games all around, it certainly felt like one.%Gallery-192780%
