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'Skye' exists in the soothing space between 'Spyro' and 'Journey'
In the midst of all the neon pixels, gun blasts, stylized narrative adventures and action-packed space romps scattered around the Indie Megabooth at GDC, Skye immediately caught my eye. It was crisp and bright, showcasing a rich fantasy world in a soft, cartoonish 3D style. Something about it was soothing at first sight -- perhaps it was the way the main character, a bright blue dragon, soared around the valley like a serpentine kite. Maybe it was the lush green grass draped over the landscape and its series of floating islands. Whatever the reason, this is precisely the vibe that Skye developers at Puny Astronaut are going for: eye-catching calm. And, so far, they're succeeding.
'Gunhead' puts an artistic twist on a first-person shooter game
First-person shooter games are dime a dozen, but every now and then there's one that stands out from the pack. That's exactly the case with Gunhead, an open world title from Alientrap, the same indie developer that brought you the gorgeous 2D platformer Apotheon. The game, which quietly debuted at SXSW 2018 last week and is here at GDC 2018, features visuals reminiscent of films like A Scanner Darkly, the animated sci-fi thriller from 2006. Gunhead's artwork feels cartoonish, yet polished, with dark, vibrant colors that pop as you travel between spaceships in your role as a pirate mech with a gun for a head.
'The Red Strings Club' explores the morality of transhumanism
If you had the ability to turn off all the negative emotions in your mind -- depression, anxiety, rage -- would you do it? Would you eagerly implant a device in your body that eliminates those feelings, or would you pause and consider the consequences? Without anxiety, would your drive to succeed stagnate? Without rage, would your body be primed to fight or flee in a sticky situation? Without depression, would you appreciate joy? Think about it for a moment. We'll wait.
‘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.
Sting is the narrator in 'Where the Water Tastes Like Wine'
When the story trailer for Where the Water Tastes Like Wine dropped in August, it featured the voice of one of the most prolific and famous singers of the past forty years -- and no one noticed. Sting, the lead singer and bassist of the Police and a successful solo artist in his own right, voices the wolf in Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, which basically makes him the narrator of the entire game.
'Donut County' is a love letter to LA
From 2002 to 2014, Dunkin' Donuts didn't exist in Los Angeles. Hell, during that time there was just one Dunkin' store in all of California, at a military base on the state's southern tip. Considering there were more than 7,000 Dunkin' Donuts outposts littering the United States by 2013, the dead zone was an anomaly. In fact, it was one of the first things independent game developer Ben Esposito noticed when he made the move from New York to LA. "That was a big deal to me," he said. As a native New Yorker, he grew up on chain doughnut shops, especially Dunkin', which is headquartered in Massachusetts. On the opposite coast, however, he was dropped into a new world: Mom-and-pop doughnut shops flooded the Los Angeles marketplace, each offering its own spin on the classic fried delicacy. If America ran on Dunkin', California was a thousand different countries.
'Firewatch' studio Campo Santo is building an Egyptian adventure
Campo Santo, the independent studio behind Firewatch, is working on a new game called In the Valley of Gods. It's a first-person adventure set in the 1920s that takes players through the abandoned, ancient deserts of Egypt. Here's how Campo Santo describes it: "You play as an explorer and filmmaker who, along with your old partner, has traveled to the middle of the desert in the hopes of making a seemingly-impossible discovery and an incredible film."
Merlin and Dubset strike a deal to help indie artists monetize DJ mixes
Last August, Sony Music made a deal with Dubset, a company that helps rights holders identify samples in songs to ensure they get paid. Apple and Spotify also connected with the licensing company for the streaming services' unofficial mixes, too. Now, indie label Merlin has struck a new deal with Dubset that will hopefully help independent musicians monetize their own samples.
How 'Life is Strange' landed in Deck Nine's hands
Idol Minds had been making video games for 20 years when it rebranded as Deck Nine in May. It's not just the studio's name that changed -- its entire mission refocused. Instead of working on titles like Cool Boarders 2001 and Pain, developers built a suite of storytelling tools ideal for crafting narrative-driven games. Deck Nine hired experienced writers and shopped itself around to major publishers, offering to take on emotionally complex projects with branching dialogue paths. Game director Chris Floyd didn't expect much to come of these early meetings. "And it was Square [Enix] that came back to us and said, 'What do you think about making the next game in the Life is Strange franchise?'" Floyd said. As fans of the series, developers were floored. And they were in.
Why your favorite indie game may not get a boxed edition
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is not a government entity. In fact, it was created in the 1990s specifically to keep Congress out of the video game industry, at a time when lawmakers were loudly condemning the infusion of digital violence in popular culture. The ESRB was modeled after the film industry's MPAA, doling out ratings for video games in North America. Back in the Clinton era, there were no federal laws requiring publishers to display ratings on their games, and there still aren't today. The ESRB oversees the entirety of the video game ratings system, from AAA to independent developers and specialty shops like iam8bit, Special Reserve and Limited Run Games (which release physical editions of digital indie titles). This year, the ESRB announced a change to its rating policy that rocked the very foundation of Limited Run Games' business model.
The surprising Islamic beauty of 'Engare'
The first question I ask Mahdi Bahrami is, "How do you say the name of your game?" He laughs and responds smoothly, "Yes, it's called En-gar-ay." Engare is an eye-catching game. In Steam's sea of gritty multiplayer shooters, pixelated platformers and cartoonish RPGs, it immediately stands out. Engare is sparse yet richly detailed at the same time, filled with looping lines and delicate curves. It's a game about geometry, art and architecture. Put simply, it's a game about beauty. "When I see these mathematical shapes in a mosque or some other places, I feel like I can see the rules behind it, I can see the mathematics of it," Bahrami says.
'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' arrives on Xbox One December 12th
For Xbox One owners, the wait to play PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) will end December 12th. The battle royale game consistently racks up 2 million daily players on Steam, and in just over a month it will transition to the Xbox Game Preview program as a work in progress, with studio Bluehole leaning on players to help guide the game's development. "We can use it like Steam Early Access where we can develop on console with the community, and that's going to be really essential -- in our view -- for getting a really great version on console," creator Brendan Greene told Engadget.
'Aztez': The bloody indie brawler that should've been big
Imagine: It's 2012 and Matthew Wegner is sitting at his desk in the back of a one-bedroom apartment in Tempe, Arizona, pounding away at a keyboard. It's night, but thick black drapes are pulled over the window; the room is suffused with dim yellow light, casting sickly shadows over the papers tacked to the walls. Most of them are emblazoned with the name Aztez, depicting bloody battles among ancient Aztec warriors. Wegner's fingers fall still as he closes a line of code and reviews his work. His computer hums, hot. A ball of blinding white light suddenly explodes in the middle of the room, shooting sparks to the ceiling and singeing the carpet -- Wegner jumps up and stares, wide-eyed, at the intrusion. As the glare fades, a familiar shape emerges. Wegner is looking at himself: a little older, a little more weathered, but definitely himself. "Don't do Aztez!" the second Wegner says, frantic. "I'm you from five years in the future. Trust me, stop working on this game. It doesn't go well." The original Wegner finds his voice. "But everyone says it's going to be great! We already have a lot of buzz." "It's a trap. Quit Aztez. Now!" The light returns and swiftly envelops the second Wegner before popping out of existence entirely. His final words reverberate around the tiny, smoking room. Wegner blinks and shakes away his shock. He pulls out his chair and sits down. Moments later, his fingers are flying over the keyboard again, coding combat combos into Aztez.
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.
'Travis Strikes Again' puts 15 indie titles in one Suda51 game
Nintendo went all out this week showcasing a slew of high-profile games heading to the Switch, 3DS and 2DS -- titles like Doom, Wolfenstein II and Pokemon Gold. But, just last month, Nintendo was all about indie love. That's when the company and renowned ultra-violent game director Goichi "Suda51" Suda revealed Travis Strikes Again, the third title in the No More Heroes series. And, this time around, he's brought 15 indie video game creators along for the ride. Suda51's studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, debuted No More Heroes on the Wii in 2008 as a pop-culture-infused, cel-shaded, hack-and-slash adventure game starring Travis Touchdown, an anime-obsessed assassin with a lot of sass. And a glowing beam katana. Of course.
‘Journey’ studio brings a dreamy fantasy game to iOS and Apple TV
At Apple's iPhone 8 announcement event today, founder of Thatgamecompany Jenova Chen went onstage to introduce a new title coming exclusively to Apple TV: Sky. Calling it a "romantic social adventure game," players will use the set top box's remote to control a character careening peacefully through the air.
George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' will soon be a video game
George Orwell pretty much invented the dystopian future genre, with novels like 1984 and Animal Farm still finding relevance and new readers today. The latter novel, however, is set to become an indie video game. The team includes gaming veterans who have worked on I Am Bread, Fable, The Witcher 3, and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and will have the support of George Orwell's estate. "Our our motley crew of multi-award winning game creators came together from various companies to create this one game together," developer Imre Jele said in an email to Engadget.
Paranormal thriller 'Oxenfree' teased for Nintendo Switch
We love Oxenfree around these parts. The paranormal thriller captures the awkwardness of being a teenager incredibly well, tasking players to uncover the mystery of an abandoned military base while managing relationships with friends along for the ride. It's already available on mobile, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but the developers at Night School Studio have started teasing that it'll appear on Nintendo Switch as well.
'Super Meat Boy Forever' lands on Nintendo Switch next year
Super Meat Boy Forever, the sequel to successful twitch platformer Super Meat Boy, will hit Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, iOS and Android with a squishy, bloody splat in 2018.
'Volume' developer launches a surprise, bite-sized sci-fi game
Subsurface Circular came out of nowhere. Well, that's not entirely true. Mike Bithell, the developer behind Thomas Was Alone and Volume, tweeted a prescient question in April, asking followers if they'd be interested in paying $5 for a unique, hour-long video game. He didn't mention that his team at Bithell Games was already building Subsurface Circular, a bite-sized, reasonably priced experience for PC and Mac.
