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You get to pick the next free games on Twitch Prime
Twitch has been giving away free games with a Prime membership for awhile now, but now you'll have a say in what's handed out each month. With the Indie Amplifier program, users can pick from eight indie games and the one with the most votes will be given away March 15th. Here's what's in the running:
'Dab on 'em Haterz' turns surviving the internet into a game
Last month, Dab on 'em Haterz launched on Steam, an indie game that puts the player in charge of a YouTube creator who must sift through comments and presumably stay sane in the process. It's up to our hero to give negative feedback a good dabbing that banishes it from his queue and nets him some money. But it's in his head, of course. Forever scraping away at his self-confidence and belief in humanity. Yes, Dab on 'em Haterz seems a microcosm of living on the internet in 2018.
‘Where The Water Tastes Like Wine’ arrives on February 28th
Two years ago, a trailer dropped at The Game Awards that promised a story about stories. In Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, players would trek across a dusty America, meeting vagabonds and trading tales while folk music trailed in the background. We knew the title was coming early this year even as more exciting news stole headlines, like adding Sting to the voice cast. But we won't have to wait much longer: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine will arrive on February 28th and retail for $20 on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux.
‘Diablo’ creator’s next game is a 2D dungeon crawler
If you lost hours and hours delving beneath Tristram in the original Diablo, you have David Brevik to thank, who created and programmed the classic action RPG. The veteran developer went on to co-found and head the studio that became Blizzard North, which made the even-more-successful Diablo II. After years consulting and leading studio Gazillion Entertainment, Brevik is returning to dungeons and lurking horrors in his next game It Lurks Below, which he created entirely himself and will launch later this year.
'Grand Theft Auto' publisher Take-Two opens an indie label
Take-Two is the latest major games publisher to open up an indie label. From the sounds of it, Private Division will operate like a smaller scale version of Take-Two itself, giving developers leeway to work on things at their own pace and not worry about pumping out a sea of annual sequels.
Ubisoft’s next indie game ‘Ode’ is out in the UK
A couple years ago, Ubisoft started an incubator at its Reflections Studio to make indie games -- the first of which, the delightful Grow Home, came out in early 2015. Now the same team has released a new title, the relaxing platformer 'experience' Ode.
Sony to publish indie games on Nintendo Switch and PC
The console wars are not over, but there are some signs that collaboration may yet win out. While Sony continues to opt out of the "Better Together" Minecraft initiative to bring cross-platform play to all platforms, it looks to be making games for non-Sony devices, including the Nintendo Switch. In a Japanese-language press release, the company just announced a new publishing label named Unties, which comes from the idea of unleashing the talents of game creators.
'Flower' brings its zen gameplay to iPhone and iPad
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it had snagged exclusive rights to the next game from indie studio Thatgamecompany. Sky (described as a "romantic social adventure game") will be an Apple TV exclusive. But, there's more to the relationship between the two firms. On Thursday, the developer revealed its given its indie classic Flower the iOS treatment. The game is now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, priced at $4.99.
The Indie Megashow gaming and music festival is headed to Tokyo
Indie Megabooth has long been a breath of fresh air at bloated games conventions. Gamers apparently agree. These days, thousands of attendees and hundreds of developers flock to its indie showcases. Its growing popularity saw it branch out beyond games for the first time earlier this year. Its latest offshoot, Indie Megashow, made its debut in Atlanta in July. Now, the daylong gaming, arts, and music festival is going global. As its name suggests, The Indie Megashow Tokyo is bringing the good times to Japan. And, as usual, it will feature kickass indie titles, along with a bunch of special guests.
Here's the first look at the 'Papers, Please' short film
In 2013, independent game developer Lucas Pope released an indie game called Papers, Please. Set in the 1980s, the game features an immigration inspector based in a communist country who's tasked with sorting through entry documents of those looking to immigrate to the country. As you try to decide who is sincere and who might be a spy or a criminal, the job forces you to work ever faster in order to earn enough money to support your family. If you mess up and let someone bad in, you get punished.
'Spelunky' and 'Downwell' creators have 50 games coming this fall
Good news if you and yours have long worn out Sportsfriends' appeal -- it's been a few years, so that's understandable -- and you're hankering for another collection of unique multiplayer games. Next year, the minds behind Spelunky, Downwell, Time Barons, Skorpulac and Madhouse have teamed to bring you UFO 50. "Our goal is to combine a familiar 8-bit aesthetic with new ideas and modern game design sensibilities," the game's website reads. That purview includes platformers, puzzle games, RPGs and shooters, for a total of, you guessed it, 50 different games.
Sony is losing its grip on the indie market
Here we go again. In 2011, Microsoft was the indie king. The industry was just blossoming thanks to services like Steam and Xbox Live Arcade, which introduced independent games to huge, hungry audiences. Indie Game: The Movie was about to debut, giving fans a deep behind-the-scenes look at the perils and triumphs of small-scale development. The Xbox 360 served as the foundational platform for the film's major projects Super Meat Boy, Fez and Braid. And then, the pendulum swung -- in 2012, Journey landed exclusively on the PS3. It served as a lightning rod for discussions about emotion and art in video games, and it gave Sony the momentum to transform its indie ecosystem. By July 2013, Sony had opened up its processes, allowing indie developers to self-publish their games on the company's next console, the PlayStation 4. Even Microsoft still required indies to partner with established publishers, at this point. Microsoft attempted to regain its indie dominance with the ID@Xbox program, though that turned out to be more complicated than most developers would have liked. The launch of the Xbox One was a low-key disaster while Sony continually dropped the mic, showcasing indie games at E3 to widespread acclaim while Microsoft played catch-up. As recently as E3 2015, Sony's head hung heavy with indie jewels.
'Aztez' let me live my fantasy of being an Aztec warrior
When I heard someone had made a beat-em-up game based on the Aztec civilization and that I would be getting the chance to play it at this year's E3, I couldn't have been more excited. As someone of Mexican descent who's passionate about his culture, I can immediately appreciate a strategy side-scrolling brawler that turns you into an Aztec warrior on a mission to take down Spanish conquerors. In a nutshell, this is the idea behind Aztez, an indie title from developer Team Colorblind that's been in the works for about six years. The PC game, which is finally set to hit Steam in mid-July for $20, features a black-and-white theme with hints of blood-red every time your Aztec warrior slashes opponents.
Indie games invade the art world at the Megashow festival
The Indie Megabooth, a bastion of independent games at conventions around the world, is growing. Again. But this time around, things are different: The Megabooth is expanding beyond games. The Megashow is the first standalone festival to be spun off from the Megabooth proper: It's a roaming, daylong fair designed to highlight local creatives and bring communities together around video games, art and music. The Megashow will make its debut at the Tabernacle in Atlanta on July 15th. "Our initial goal was to expose new audiences to indie games and show them that there was this whole other side to game creation," says Megabooth leader Kelly Wallick. "Over time, we've moved so far past that to the point that we have fans and press who specifically come to the Megabooth area to discover content and reconnect with teams and games they love, which is amazing. But on the flip side of this, it has become more challenging to reach new audiences."
'Bastion' studio's 'Pyre' will be exclusive to PS4 and PC July 25th
Last we'd heard of the next game from Bastion and Transistor studio Supergiant Games, Pyre, there wasn't much to report in terms of concrete info. Today we have a bit more information, including when you'll finally be able to play it: July 25th exclusively on PC and PlayStation 4 and you can pre-order it right now for $20. The party-based role-playing game has some lofty narrative ambitions, too. Creative director Greg Kasavin writes on the PlayStation Blog that failure won't stop your progress through the game's story.
Classic puzzle-platformer 'Fez' is coming to iOS
It might be five years old, but Fez remains a masterclass in indie puzzle-platforming. The bright pixel art, the mesmerizing Disasterpiece soundtrack and perspective-shifting gameplay comes together in a wonderfully mysterious and serene collectathon. Following its release on Xbox 360, PC, Mac and various PlayStation hardware, Polytron is bringing the game to iOS. In a short teaser trailer, the eyepatch-wielding Geezer tells Gomez, the main character, how the "adventure is ready." A flashy cube appears in the sky, before the entire scene pans out to reveal the game running on an iPad. So yeah, you can expect a tablet-optimized version.
Double Fine's mesmerizing 'GNOG' comes to PS4 in May
If you thought that Persona 5 would be the most stylish game you'd play this Spring, you might want to think again. In a move set to please PlayStation owners, Double Fine has announced that it's bringing the beautiful puzzler GNOG to PS4 and PSVR on May 2nd. Developed as a collaboration between toy maker Samuel Boucher and Canadian art collective Ko_Op, this stunningly realized puzzle game sees players exploring a strange world of interconnected heads. With an achingly cool soundtrack complementing GNOG's gorgeous visuals, players are tasked with solving various physics-based puzzles as they attempt to find their way to each head's exit.
'Yooka-Laylee' is at the heart of a 3D platformer revival
A few years ago, the 3D platformer was in a bad place. Mario was still around, but the genre had little support elsewhere. Colorful games like Crash Bandicoot, Pyschonauts and Jak and Daxter had vanished in favor of grittier, more realistic adventures. There was the occasional surprise, like the papercraft-inspired Tearaway, but nothing close to the breadth of games found on the N64, PlayStation and PlayStation 2. The market had moved on, publishers thought, and it no longer made sense to fund ambitious, big-budget projects like Beyond Good and Evil.
Nautical horror game 'Sunless Sea' heads to iPad
Aquatic RPG Sunless Sea has been a big win for British indie developer Failbetter Games. The well-reviewed game has sold half a million copies since its 2015 PC release, and soon, iPad users will be able to get in on the Victorian Gothic adventure. Not long after sequel Sunless Skies very quickly exceeded its Kickstarter funding goal, Failbetter Games announced that Sunless Sea is headed to iPad on March 23rd.
Watch the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards right here!
They may not be of the same magnitude as the Oscars, but the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival Awards are happening tonight in San Francisco. The events are going to be hosted by Double Fine CEO Tim Schaefer and Tacoma Games' Nina Freeman, respectively, in an evening where the best AAA and indie developers will be recognized for their work. Will Super Mario Run win the award for Best Mobile/Handheld Game? Tune in to find out at 6:30PM PT/9:30PM ET; there's a livestream below, and you can also go to the GDC's Twitch and YouTube pages.
