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Joystiq Streams: Full Bore snuffles up a Steam code giveaway [UPDATE: Relive the stream!]
When he was a young boar/He found that platforming had a certain appeal/He could clear puzzle stages with serious skill/He's a sensitive soul though he seems thick-skinned/And it hurt that my friends doubted his ability to win! Whole Hog Games fills a gaping hole in the gaming landscape. Last week, anyone desperate for video games starring explorer boars who solve devious puzzles had nowhere to turn! This week, Full Bore hits Steam, soothing the savage boar-obsessed beast that lives within us all. A puzzle platformer where you explore a civilization brought low by an ancient boar-related catastrophe, Full Bore is precisely the sort of truffle Joystiq Streams loves to sniff out. We'll be streaming Full Bore today at 4PM EST right here on Joystiq.com and on the Joystiq Twitch channel. Not only that, but we'll be giving away a stack of Steam codes for the game to folks in the chat. Joystiq's Ludwig Kietzmann will be steering the game while Anthony John Agnello hangs out, doling out the freebies and answering your burning questions about the game. Joystiq Streams broadcasts every Tuesday and Thursday at 4PM EST right here and on the Joystiq Twitch channel. [Images: Whole Hog Games]
Full Bore continues its puzzle-focused dig on May 6
There are plenty of open world adventures to be had in gaming, but they typically follow human, weapon-wielding heroes. Full Bore's four-legged protagonists, Frederick the boar and Heidi the sow, are a change of species pace. Players lead both animals through an open labyrinth of block puzzles, digging toward an underground reminder of what the game's Steam page calls "Boarkind's darkest hours." The first half of Full Bore has been available since September, but developer Whole Hog Games is combining the second half's May 6 release with Full Bore's Steam debut on PC and Linux. The Steam page notes that more than a hundred areas are spread between Full Bore's halves, with one third of them hidden behind secrets and puzzles. Using brainpower to clear hurdles will help Frederick and Heidi reach new areas as they dig ever closer to Boarkind's forgotten past. Full Bore's Steam version, which includes both Part 1: The First Dig and Part 2: Into Hard Earth, is priced at $14.99. [Image: Whole Hog Games]
Full Bore: The First Dig unearths a release date of Sept. 10
Full Bore: The First Dig launches for PC and Linux on September 10 for those who pre-order the full game, which is currently discounted to $8. The First Dig is the completed first half of Full Bore, the block puzzler and exploration title from indie studio Whole Hog Games. There's an obvious theme going on here, but we'll spell it out in case you missed it: Holism. OK, and boars. Mostly boars. In December, we asked Whole Hog co-founder Jake Federico the one question on everyone's mind: Why boars? "Full Bore was conceived in reverse," he said. "We started with the name of our studio, Whole Hog Games, and jokingly thought that Full Bore would make a great title for a game about, naturally, boars that bore. The three of us kept talking about this world of digging boars underground, fell in love with the concept, and decided Full Bore was the game we should be making." Full Bore is due out in full this year, and it's itching (and snorting and kicking) for a spot on Steam Greenlight.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Full Bore
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Whole Hog Games' Jake Federico talks fundraising for Full Bore, a platformer about friendship and, well, boars. What's your game called and what's it about?Our game, Full Bore, follows the story of a young boar named Frederick as he gets caught up in the troubles of the Full Bore Mining Company.You can try the demo of Full Bore here, or visit the website to see a trailer, preview the soundtrack and see more screenshots.The game is an open world, where players explore the old tunnels of the Full Bore Mining Company in search of ancient secrets, treasure and things better left undisturbed. The mechanics of the game are created by the interaction between Frederick and the various blocks that make up the world.The challenge of the game ramps up as block types are introduced and the player must figure out how to combine their unique behaviors to traverse the world. Exploration in Full Bore is driven by knowledge, instead of arbitrary goals and item collection.We are running a Kickstarter for Full Bore. If all goes well, we will be releasing in March.What will you do if your Kickstarter doesn't succeed? How about if it does?If our Kickstarter isn't successful, Full Bore will have to become our side project. All three of us would have to get full time jobs and work on the game part-time. We would finish it eventually, but there's no way we would be able to make our goal of a March release without severely compromising the quality of the game. We love Full Bore, but it could take years without some outside help.If funding succeeds, two team members will work non-stop to complete the game in time for March. Last member will work a day job to help pay for food.
