puzzle-platformer
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Puzzling platformer Forward to the Sky scales Greenlight's tower
What do you get when you blend a third-person perspective, puzzles, platforming mechanics, JRPG-inspired art and a big sword together? Forward to the Sky, of course, the 3D puzzle-platformer-with-a-big-sword game from independent developer Magichnology. The Taipei, Taiwan-based developer added its first game to the list of Steam hopefuls on Greenlight, awaiting community approval for distribution on the PC platform. Starting out as a side project for the developer in September 2013, the game is set in a "sky tower ruin." Players control a princess that gathers crystal pieces while ascending the tower and learning about a disaster that seemingly erased history. Magichnology crafted six levels for the game, each highlighted by the game's "relaxing mood, bright art" and "adventurous but peaceful music." Forward to the Sky is slated to launch in Q4 of this year on PC, Mac and Linux for $10. [Image: Magichnology]
Former Last Guardian devs' teaser trailer is so Vane
Friend and Foe Games offered a teaser trailer for one of its two introductory games this week, Vane. The Tokyo Game Show 2014 trailer shows the game's desert-and-ruins environment, following a bird in flight before observing a shadowy sprinting child. The team of five at Friend and Foe Games includes credits on Team Ico's The Last Guardian, Bionic Commando, Battlefield 3 and the Killzone series. Head past the break to check out the trailer. Announced in June, the game's youthful character has an "odd ability" and is stuck in a "strange land." While the trailer doesn't shed any light on Vane's setting other than it being prone to severe lightning strikes, the child does appear to leap off a platform and morph into a bird near the end of the video. Vane is in development for PC with other consoles to follow and does not currently have a release date. [Image: Friend and Foe Games]
Escape from giant heads in this Gnah teaser trailer
Gnah is a "game about exploring and escaping giant heads." That's how Montreal-based indie developer Ko-Op Mode describes its latest project in addition to the phrase "the only way out is through" in the game's teaser trailer. Gnah is a collaboration between the Ko-Op Mode collective and designer Samuel Boucher, whose Tumblr blog is filled with attractive designs related to the game. Boucher took to an indie gaming forum to discuss the project in December, calling Gnah a "puzzle game about a little guy trapped in some weird heads called Gnahs." Gnah has players controlling the character in the heads as well as manipulating the heads themselves to help the character escape. The game is in development for PC, Mac, Linux and Ouya.
Shift the city's architecture in cyberpunk stealth platformer Interference
French artist Anthony Beyer launched an Indiegogo project for Interference, a stealthy puzzle-platformer for PC, Mac and Linux. The game has players joining a cyberterrorist organization called The Interferers, an underground group that are opposed to a totalitarian government. The group grants players access to a device known as The Glitcher, which allows players to slide pieces of the city Arachnopolis around to create paths and avoid enemies. Interference relies heavily on stealth mechanics similar to that of Klei's Mark of the Ninja, though Beyer said he wants to create his own game "with a fully-realized and immersive universe that isn't disjointed by levels." Players will unlock districts of the city similar to the Metroid and Castlevania series, but can freely traverse the open parts of Arachnopolis at will. Beyer is seeking €25,000 ($33,475) by December 11 to fund the game's development, and plans to deliver it by June 2014. He also made a pre-alpha demo available to download for both PC and Mac owners, found on the game's website. [Thanks, Andrew!]
Shadowy platformer Contrast coming November 15, says Steam
Contrast is now available to pre-purchase on Steam, which says the game will arrive on November 15. Compulsion Games tells Joystiq that the November launch date is "to be confirmed," and may change as it draws near. The game is 25 percent off ($14.99) until it launches. Contrast has players controlling a young woman named Dawn that can traverse shadows cast by all objects in the game. At the center of the 1920's noir universe is Didi, a nine-year-old and sole friend of Dawn, who unravels a story surrounding Didi's mother and absent father. Our time with the game at PAX East was pleasant, though there were a few rough spots on the puzzle-platforming side of things with Dawn's character model getting caught on the edges of shadows at times. Contrast will also come to PSN and XBLA in Q4 2013, though no solid release date has been determined for those platforms yet.
Where is my Heart? Oh, it's on PC and Mac next month
Die Gute Fabrik's indie platformer Where is my Heart? will arrive on PC and Mac in September through Steam and the Humble Store, and then on Linux at a later date. The game launched as a PlayStation Mini in November 2011 for PS3, PSP and Vita. Where is my Heart? has players guiding a family of forest spirits that live in a tree whose roots hold the world together. The game's environment is also broken into square segments that shuffle around, adding a puzzling element to the family's journey. The PC/Mac version will include a new menu system and levels. Die Gute Fabrik hasn't listed a price for Where is my Heart? yet. It will be playable in the meantime at PAX Prime in Seattle this weekend, at booth number 866 located in the Indie Megabooth (along with over 80 other games).
Tiny Brains is first project from former Assassin's Creed, Dead Space devs
Tiny Brains is the first game coming from a new Montreal-based developer called Spearhead Games, made up of developers from popular franchises like Assassin's Creed, Dead Space, and Army of Two. Developers Simon Darveau (who served as design director on Assassin's Creed 3), Malik Boukhira, and Atul Mehra are starting their company together with this co-op puzzle game in which four players, in the guise of test animals, escape a lab and defeat the scientists who have captured you. Platforms for the game are still unannounced, but Spearhead tells us it will be playable this weekend at PAX East. Given the pedigree, we look forward to seeing exactly what these guys have made.%Gallery-183228%
And Yet It Moves to WiiWare August 23
This week, Nintendo leaked the release date for Broken Rules' world-rotating WiiWare platformer And Yet It Moves before changing it back to "TBD." Today, Broken Rules sent out a press release confirming that the stylish game will be available on the Wii Shop in North America on August 23 for 1,000 Wii Points. And Yet It Moves, already available on PC, is a side-view platformer that forces players to periodically rotate the view by 90 degrees, turning walls into floors. If you haven't seen it -- and want to be unexpectedly charmed by Wii control demonstrations -- check out the trailer after the break. Actually, even if you've already played the PC version, you should watch this trailer. It looks like a lot of work went into it. %Gallery-98837%
The Raskulls screens break on through to the other side
Click image to go from half-size to full-size Halfbrick has uploaded a slew of new screens for its upcoming XBLA puzzle-platformer, The Raskulls, to the game's official site. There hasn't been much on the title yet, save for a brief trailer showing some gameplay and thoughts on the game from its art lead during our interview with Halfbrick, but these new shots show the game is coming along nicely. We have yet to get our hands on it, but if the recent trailer is any indication, it looks like a frenetic, friendship-endangering good time. Hit up the gallery below for the new screens. %Gallery-50092%
