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'Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes' no longer requires VR on PS4
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes is a clever application of VR, as only one headset is required (for the bomb defuser) while everyone else explains how to deactivate the device. Now, you'll be able to play the game on consoles without a headset, as it is coming to PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo's Switch. Pre-orders start today at noon ET, with an official release date of August 16th.
Pneuma pneuma, yay: First-person puzzler hits Xbox next month
Pneuma: Breath of Life will launch on February 27 for Xbox One, developer Deco Digital announced. The first-person puzzle game is currently on Steam Greenlight, seeking community approval for distribution on the PC service as well. Pneuma will be console-exclusive to Xbox One for its first 30 days. The game features environmental challenges based in a fairly mysterious setting, as seen in the trailer after the break. In it, players "progress through a narrated story of self-discovery, exploring the fundamental nature of being," according to the developer. Pneuma: Breath of Life's puzzles are expected to "force players to think outside the box and explore beyond what they know as reality through the eyes of a god," with voice-over work provided by Jay Britton. The PC version of the game will support Oculus Rift. [Image: Deco Digital]
Monster head-turner GNAH changes name to GNOG
Someone pass the Eggnog – or just the GNOG, if you're feeling saucy. Montreal gaming collective KO-OP Mode has changed the name of its new puzzle game from GNAH to GNOG because of a trademark dispute over the original title. KO-OP Mode tweeted the name change and co-founder Saleem Dabbous broke it all down in an email to Joystiq: "We changed the name since there was a trademark dispute with a company that owned the mark 'GNAH,' so we decided to go with GNOG, which is short for gnoggin (the "G" is silent). It's always difficult to change the name of something you love, but GNOG has really grown on us after a few months of secretly using it, and it's hard to look back." GNOG is a blend of Rubik's Cube puzzles and Polly Pocket, where players explore the miniature worlds within the heads of themed creatures, clicking and pulling on the inside of a head to impact the face and vice versa. During the Horizon conference at E3 2014, KO-OP Mode showed off a new version of the game, playing through a series of giant floating monster heads.The monsters included one shaped like a boat with lifesavers as eyes, and a rotating ship's wheel and cabin on the inside of the nautical monster's head. See a short, off-screen video of that monster below.
Hack 'n' Slash changes its IndieCade 2014's Grand Jury Award variable to True
Hack 'n' Slash, Brandon Dillon and Double Fine's adventure that pushes players to solve problems via hacking and tweaking variables, has penetrated IndieCade 2014's databases to grant itself the Grand Jury Award. Indie Game Reviewer's recollection of the ceremony's winners notes additional victories, including the Twitch chat-driven Choice Chamber, which won the Technology Award, and the comic book-style noir adventure Framed, which won the Visual Design Award. Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Rock Band series creator Harmonix, was also awarded the Indiecade Trailblazer Award, with N++ earning the Special Recognition Award. Hack 'n' Slash follows 2013's Grand Jury Award winner, Quadrilateral Cowboy, which beat out Towerfall, Nidhogg, Gone Home and Kentucky Route Zero (all of which still earned alternative recognition). [Image: Double Fine]
Hexcells, Hexcells Plus now available on Steam
Hexcells and its standalone expansion, Hexcells Plus, are now available on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux users. Both games play a bit like the Picross series - players are presented with designs made out of hexagons at the start of each level. The black, numbered hexagons tell a player how many pieces of the final design are touching the black spaces, but players need to determine which of the orange hexagons are extra black hexagons and which are hidden blue hexagons. As players mark each orange space, the correct choices will turn blue, while miscalculations add to the Mistakes counter of a level. Each game is $2.99, but they can also be bought in a bundle for $4.99. Hexcells seems like the sort of puzzler we would laugh off the complexity of, right before frying our brains over levels like this. [Image: Matthew Brown]
Strata is a colorful, relaxing puzzler with a unique personality
Strata is a puzzle game like none that I've ever played, and since I spend a good deal of my time specifically looking for unique puzzle games on the App Store, that's saying something. There are no fun little characters, no bright lights or flashy graphics; it's just colorful ribbons and some soothing music, and it's a fantastic way to unwind. Your objective in Strata is to layer colored ribbons over a grid in such a way as to color the blocks underneath. You can lay your ribbons in two directions, and when two ribbons overlap the top ribbon color is the one that gets carried through to the block below. Each puzzle grid consists of a square with anywhere from four to 36 blocks, and as you might imagine, the difficulty increases exponentially with each grid size. Depending on the number of colors involved, puzzles can take just seconds or several minutes to figure out, but the point here isn't to rush through each challenge. The game rewards you for taking your time and thinking out each ribbon placement ahead of time. Scoring a "Perfect" rating means layering the ribbons the exact correct way with no re-dos. This is a lot more difficult than it might sound. The music of Strata is perfect for the type of relaxing puzzle experience the game provides. Soothing tunes ripple and sway as with each ribbon you place and when you mess up, the music will squawk in an unappealing fashion, alerting you to the error. Strata costs US$2.99, and there are currently level packs available for a couple of extra bucks. There are also "Hint packs" you can purchase to help you through the trickier spots, but I'd highly recommend ignoring this option, since the feeling of accomplishment when you best a challenging puzzle is really what the game is all about.
Daily iPhone App: Fold is the most original iOS puzzler in years
As iPhone puzzle games go, Fold is a bit of a strange duck. It's not particularly flashy or funny or action-packed, but it still manages to be worth a look simply based on its originality. In Fold you are tasked with removing lines of colored blocks from the screen simply by tapping on them, but that description betrays how difficult the game can actually be. It's actually quite challenging to explain exactly how a typical level in Fold plays out. Lines of blocks can be cleared by tapping on one of their ends, causing the line to collapse until just one of the colored blocks in the line remain. The very early levels are exceedingly easy, with just a few lines of blocks and only a couple of taps required to clear them, but as the level count mounts the difficulty follows suit. Before you know it you're tapping the screen dozens of times to clear a single level. A "link" mechanic is introduced fairly early on, where lines of blocks can actually move other colored groups as they collapse, which just serves to make things even more complex. The same goes for blank colored blocks that take on the color of the blocks around them. Ultimately, when a level ends you need just one of each color of block on the screen in order to obtain the gold rating, with lesser feats earning silver and bronze scores. If you perform particularly poorly you'll have to try the level again before proceeding. If this all sounds a bit confusing, there's a good reason for that: You've probably never played a game even remotely like this before. That's a pretty big compliment, especially for a puzzle game on a mobile device. The fact that I can say that the game is dripping with originality is a pretty big feat on its own, and the fact that it retained my interest through dozens and dozens of levels is just icing on the cake. Fold is free to download but charges $.99 to unlock the full game once you've completed a few of the tutorial levels. If you're looking for a unique puzzle experience that will undoubtedly help you pass the time on a lazy afternoon, a short break at work, or the subway, Fold is a fantastic choice.
Rovio's Amazing Alex arrives on Android and iOS July 12th, bosses everywhere weep for lost productivity (video)
It's finally happening: after roughly two and a half years, Rovio Mobile is weaning itself off of its addiction to avians. The company's first non-bird title in what feels like an eternity, Amazing Alex, will be reaching the official stores for both Android and iOS come July 12th. Strictly speaking, Rovio is taking something of a shortcut to bringing this Incredible Machine-style puzzler to market: it bought the rights to Casey's Contraptions and enlisted the developers, Miguel Friginal and Noel Llopis, to bring the title into the Rovio family. While that means it's not quite as fresh as it could be, the game has already piqued our interest and could be exposed to many (many, many) more players. While we wait, we'll pour one out for the managers and supervisors bound to lose hours of work from staff trying to finish just one more level.
Quantum Conundrum review: First rule of physics, don't talk about physics
Back in February, Airtight Games creative director Kim Swift told us that she wanted Quantum Conundrum to play like a Saturday-morning cartoon – lighthearted with a slapstick edge, similar to Looney Tunes or Cartoon Network programming. This may be why I found it so unnerving that Quantum Conundrum reminded me more of Fight Club than any kid-friendly cartoons.The standard-edition DVD of 2002's Fight Club has a looping menu that plays a round of light, elevator-style percussion music while the screen flickers invitingly on the Play button; this lasts just long enough to lull the passive listener into a false sense of tranquility, before it smashes into a measure of jarring electrical guitar and pulsating images for a few terrible seconds. Then the screen clears, and the torture repeats.One night in my wayward youth, I fell asleep watching this Fight Club DVD. For hours after the movie had finished and returned to the menu, I would be jolted awake just enough to know nothing about what was going on, only to immediately fall back asleep once the soothing interlude picked up again. For hours. It was disorienting, sinister and, looking back on it, kind of hilarious.Quantum Conundrum's soundtrack may be similar to Fight Club's menu screen's, but the game itself rides those same waves of frustration, persistence and disjointed comedy – the game is lovely, but the story is jarring. Some of its story elements are almost funny, some of the narrative almost make sense, all of it almost reaches a realm of lucid clarity. And yes, it does this for hours.%Gallery-158844%
World of Goo makes Android debut, Angry Birds consider slaying ink blobs
Anyone else feel like that pig-slaying pack of temperamental birdies has finally jumped the shark? Yeah, us too. Which makes World of Goo's official bow on Android especially timely. Gaming addicts have long had the option to build with blobs of these living globs on Mac, PC, Wii, and iOS, but now the architecturally-focused fun is ready to make nice with Google's legion of mobile mitts. You can snag the puzzler on the Android market now, so long as your handset's sporting FroYo and up. Unfortunately, this good time pastime doesn't come gratis, so you'll have to fork over three dolla dolla bills, y'all. Of course, you can always get your digits dirty (and prime that budding addiction) with a demo and live in the über-frugal land of forever level one.
TUAW's Daily App: Cogs
Cogs is a 3D puzzle game that was originally released on iOS over a year ago, but it has just arrived on the Mac App Store. It's a good one, featuring a completely "mechanical" interface and sliding tile puzzles that build various contraptions of varying difficulty. The app is US$4.99 on the Mac App Store, but it's even cheaper on iOS; it's completely free on the iPhone right now, and it's $2.99 on the iPad as Cogs HD. Unfortunately, even at those prices, the Mac App Store version is probably your best bet, as it comes with all 50+ levels unlocked and ready for play, while the iOS versions require separate level pack in-app purchases to get access to everything. Still, the free version comes with 10 levels anyway, so if you just want to test out the gameplay, you can. Unfortunately, there's no Game Center integration at all (the app was originally released before that), but maybe now that the Mac version is live, we'll see an update in the future. Whatever happens, if you haven't played this one before, it's definitely worth a look today.
Henry Hatsworth's brilliant return
Disappearing off the map shortly after it was introduced last February -- and briefly reappearing at E3's Into The Pixel exhibit -- EA Tiburon's mystery puzzle/platforming DS game has finally been officially announced as Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure. To jog your memory, the colorful 2D title follows British adventurer Henry Hatsworth as he explores 30+ levels over five exotic worlds, hunting down artifacts that will grant him new powers and ultimately unlock a golden mech suit. And that's just the top screen! On the touch screen, players are presented with a puzzle game which can be used to gain power ups and helath, as well as transform Hatsworth into different forms. Jump past the post break for videos of the game that were debuted earlier this year at GDC. %Gallery-29510%
E308: EA Tiburon's quirky 2D platformer/puzzler reappears
Remember this khaki-clad British explorer, Hatsby? EA Tiburon's Kyle Gray introduced the character's charming sprite and his untitled puzzle/platforming DS game at GDC earlier this year, but we haven't seen or heard any news from him since! All we have had to go on all these months were the videos he left behind, which we've embedded past the break!Artwork for the game has mysteriously popped up on the official site for Into the Pixel, an art exhibit collecting exemplary works of video game art and scheduled to open to the public at October's E for All Expo. The piece, titled "Puzzle World Twilight" and submitted by EA Tiburon concept artist Jay Epperson, shows Hatsby taking to the nighttime skies against a backdrop of Chinese paper cut outs. Though we were already excited with the hybrid game's promises of an opera-singing boss, a robotic construct of Big Ben, and some unexplained touchscreen puzzle running alongside the platforming action, after seeing this gorgeous art, we can't contain ourselves! Tell us your secrets, Hatsby, you magnificent bastard!
China's forgotten gamers
Frank Yu over at Gamasutra wrote a piece recently that didn't exactly slip through the cracks, but was certainly overshadowed by more pressing concerns that affected online gaming in Asia. Yu's 'China's Forgotten Gamers' -- from his China Angle column -- is a look at the invisible population of gamers in the country that industry demographics simply cannot account for. In North America and Europe, subscriptions, registered downloads and box sales provide an accurate picture of who's playing a given title; China is a different story altogether. Credit cards are nowhere near as prevalent among the Chinese as they are abroad; box sales have largely been a failure due to piracy. Added to the mix is the fact that not everyone can afford to play games legitimately, and so some Chinese gamers find ways to play outside of the system. Although the reported numbers of gamers playing the various titles in China are large, Yu says, "In China, we track game players by subscriber or registration numbers, or by the amount of money they spend giving companies revenue. If they don't register or pay money, they are somewhat invisible to the industry or, from the business viewpoint, irrelevant."
Coloring in Plop Invaders
Plop Invaders can be very fun and rewarding, provided that you actually know what you're supposed to be doing. Even if you're completely clueless, though, as we were for the first two hours when trying it out, the homebrew title is still quite addictive. Luckily for you, we'll be going over the basics so that you're not left in the dark by the game's French tutorial.The match-three core is deceptively simple -- slide a row or column to zap a batch of "plops" off the screen. Knocking out one of the smiling pieces changes its background color until it finds a hue to settle on. Once you've painted the entire grid, you advance to the next level. We weren't aware of this mechanic at first, as we mistook it as a graphical glitch. You can imagine how frustrating this got towards the later, larger puzzles.The battery on the right acts as a timer, recharging slightly with each cleared clump or combo. When the timer runs out, the level ends, sending you back a few puzzles. There are two helpful power-ups that you can get after a long chain of popped plops, one of which recharges the battery, while the other starts you off with a fresh set of pieces.After the fifth level and an animated cutscene (!), the game starts to randomly litter the playing field with what appears to be dog poop. Contrary to common sense, bagging up the excrement is actually inadvisable, as eliminating too many of them leads to an automatic loss. Leaving too many scattered, however, severely limits your ability to clear plops. Even at its .51 build, the puzzles are tremendously satisfying, and we highly suggest that you try Plop Invaders out. Considering that the homebrew game is available for free to play on your DS or emulator of choice, do you really have any excuse not to?
Rumor: Puzzle Quest coming to Wii?
The latest mumbling amongst mumbling folk is that a Wii release might be planned for Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Amazon has listed a Wii version of the Bejeweled/RPG hybrid at a budget price of $29.99, due this September 25th.So what can we hope for with this port? New content? Honestly, we don't expect much beyond bug fixes. Added waggle controls, then? Not if we're lucky. Online battles, at least? Though this is implemented in the upcoming XBLA version, and the new product page mentions the ability to "Battle other Warlords for supremacy via wireless multiplayer," this seems like a fool's hope. That bullet-pointed feature was most likely gleaned from a previous press release, and it seems far too early for a niche release on the Wii to support online multiplayer. You'll find no truer friends of Infinite Interactive than us, but there are just so many ways a port like this can be messed up.[Via Joystiq]
A puzzling connection
Setsuzoku no Puzzle, or Puzzle of Connections, is worth a playthrough just for its synthy score; besides, downloading the homebrew game and listening to the music tracks takes little to no effort. Actually clearing a level or even learning how to attack the puzzle, however, will require a considerable amount of work.Modeled after Match It, a 1989 arcade game, you'll have to knock out 140 tiles against a timer. Each multicolored square has a symbol -- moons, stars, and other Lucky Charms marshmallows -- that you can link with an identical piece to remove them both. Though your connecting line can stretch all the way across the playing field, the catch is that the link must turn no more than two corners to be valid. You'll suffer several frustrating losses before you get to the point where you've trained your eyes enough to spot similar tiles, but the satisfaction that comes after everything "clicks" and you complete a level is ample reward. If you get stuck, you'll be able to hit X to have the computer eliminate a match for you several times. Head past the post break for more screenshots of the homebrew puzzler.
Lumines II downloadable demo
Longtime PSP Fanboy readers know that we love Lumines II. For the unacquainted, this puzzler from game guru Mizuguchi combines music and highly addictive gameplay for a truly mesmerizing experience. Try this new demo, fresh from the game's Japanese website.1. Download the demo EBOOT file.2. Connect your PSP to your computer using a USB cable. 3. Go to the PSP/GAME folder.4. Create ULJM05232 folder. 5. Copy EBOOT file into the ULJM05232 directory. Check out our new demos site:demos.pspfanboy.com
Word wrapper's delight
We go nuts over puzzle games that put our near-limitless lexicon to good use, so we take every opportunity to highlight releases like Bob Fossil's Word Wrap. His homebrew project digitizes the word hunt games found in daily newspapers where you have to form as many words as possible with a restricted set of letters. The end result is not only fun, but it manages to improve on the traditional pencil/paper experience. You spell out your text by tapping the characters on the touchscreen, sending them to the top screen's list of completed words. Jumbling the letters to get a new perspective of your selection has also been simplified with a "wrap" button. Call us lazy if you want, but this setup beats the pants out of having to write everything out by hand!There are two Time Attack styles where you can work against the clock by either finding the longest word or collecting a specified amount of words. There's also an Endless option where you can sift through the shuffled letters at your own pace. Each mode comes with three difficulty levels, but being the word geniuses we are, it's "go hard or go home" for us. [Via Drunken Coders]
WRUP: More puzzles than you can solve edition
For us Americans, we received quite the puzzling update this week. Not puzzling in the sense of confusing, but puzzling because they were basically all puzzle games. Those with a thirst for word and number puzzles are in for one grand old time, apparently.So, what will you be playing this weekend? Plan on taking the DS out into the wide world to get your game on? Or will you be enjoying the plush comfort of your home with your dual-screened buddy this weekend?Previous posts: What were you playing?
