In Dog Sled Saga, a Kickstarted game for desktop and mobile devices, there are two things you should remember. A well-fed dog is a fast dog. A fast dog is a happy dog.
The pixilated brainchild of Dan FitzGerald and Lisa Bromiel, Dog Sled Saga is a mix of racing, reputation building and pet management. Players step into the boots of a musher climbing the racing ranks with the help of his or her dog sled team. But the concept behind the game is less about the sport itself, FitzGerald said, and more about the interaction with your pets.
"I would boil it down to the non-verbal pet relationship," FitzGerald said. "It is absolutely about getting familiar with an animal that can't talk to you. There won't be a lot of pop-ups that tell you about your dog, but there will be signs — [this...
The launch of Kickstarter-funded retro remake Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is being delayed until late June, developer Replay Games announced.
According to an official statement issued by Replay (via CinemaBlend), the game's original May 31 release date is being pushed back to allow for "additional polishing."
"Larry Laffer is one picky guy and he won't stop preening himself until every hair looks pristine," reads the statement "In order to show Larry as the true Casanova he is, and provide the best possible Leisure Suit Larry experience for fans, Replay Games has decided to hold off the launch of Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded until late June for additional polishing."
Replay founder Paul Trowe took to the official website to explain the decision to ultimately delay, adding that bugs...
A two-player version of Bennett Foddy's QWOP, the toughest track-and-field game ever made, is now available to people who backed the Sportsfriends Kickstarter at the $60 level or above.
Foddy announced the bonus in mid-November during the Sportsfriends funding drive, saying he planned to use the iOS code for the multiplayer game and tweak its controls to support gamepads. But in announcing the release today, Foddy said he rebuilt QWOP in Unity with 3D graphics and new controls. Each analog stick controls one side of the avatar's body; rotating them both clockwise is the way to go, but you'll have to time it correctly.
The multiplayer QWOP is available on Windows PC, Mac and Linux; Foddy has tested the PC and Mac versions with both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers. On Linux, said...
Reptile Games' electro beat-'em-up platforming game, Megabyte Punch,will see a launch on Linux alongside Windows PC and Mac, according to Reptile Games' official Twitter account.
In the game, players can customize their own fighter, compete in tournaments and collect parts in order to upgrade skills and abilities. The game features six different retro worlds, PvP destructible arena, 128 parts to collect, an electro soundtrack, and four player local co-op and versus mode.
Through its website, Reptile Games is currently offering DRM-free beta access for Windows PC and Mac platforms for $7.50, which also includes all futures updates for free. Megabyte Punch is collecting votes on Steam Greenlight. The game was featured at PAX East in March as part of the IndieGameStand.
Full patch notes for Blizzard Entertainment's 5.3 patch Escalation for World of Warcraft are available ahead of the patch's roll out on May 21, the studio revealed today.
The patch will add four new Scenarios, along with a new Heroic mode for the four as well as for two existing Scenarios. The patch will also introduce Loot Specialization, a feature that offers players more control with off-spec loot drops. Along with general bug fixes, the patch notes offer in-depth detail on the changes made to the game's numerous components, including bug fixes, pet battles, dungeons, scenarios and PvP.
Blizzard also has a patch 5.3 Escalation information hub where players can catch up on the patch's content and features and prepare for the roll out.
The game's last update, patch 5.2 The Thunder...
Artist Arne Niklas Jansson, who has worked on games like Cortex Command and reconceptualizes video game art on his website, Android Arts, has re-skinned [Game Boy launch title] Super Mario Land by redoing the graphics for the entire game.
Posting to his website, Jansson wrote that he played Super Mario Land for research purposes while working on another project, after which he felt an urge to do something with the sprites in Photoshop.
"I realized I could actually put the sprites in the game since the bitplane tiles are pretty easy to read and write," he said. "Then I decided to redo the graphics for the entire game, so I spent a few days doing that."
Jansson details on his website how he changed the game's color scheme, redesigned the characters and sprites, the tools he used and...
Stompy Bot Productions launched its second crowdfunding effort, this time through Kickstarter, in an effort to develop mech-centric title Heavy Gear Assault.
Heavy Gear Assault is set within the Heavy Gear universe, first published by Dream Pod in 1994. The game is a mech simulator that will feature melee combat, total customization and in-game corporate sponsorships. The video, which you can watch above, features in-game footage created over the course of three months. Heavy Gear Assault is being produced with Unreal Engine 4.
Stompy Bot is currently seeking $800,000 through Kickstarter, with reward tiers ranging from $15 to $10,000. Backer rewards include in game items, memorabilia, access to the game's beta and more.
Stompy Bot announced its plans to create a new Heavy Gear game...
New studio Waystone Games has teamed up with Machinima to shed some light Dawngate, a new MOBA published by EA that was teased last week.
"When I look at where [MOBAs are]," says the game's lead producer David Cerra, "It sort of reminds me of where shooters were in the mid-90s. There was a lot of recreation of design over and over again, and then the genre just exploded: larger maps, larger team sizes, vehicles and verticality; all these different dimension came into play. I feel like that's where [MOBAs are] right now."
"From the beginning, we said the map itself has to have a story. As has been said often, in a MOBA the map is a [gameplay mode]," says Cerra, "and in a way ... the map is also another character in the game." From the brief glimpses seen in the video, Dawngate...
In Plants vs. Zombies Adventures, players will still protect their home from an army of cartoonish zombies with defensive plants, but now they'll also take to the road, traveling in a beat-up RV to zombie hot spots where they'll have to defend their home on wheels from zombies that can attack from any direction. And those defensive plants now have to be grown ahead of time.
The game brings with it ten new zombie types, 11 new plants, and most importantly, a personalized neighborhood that players will work to customize, expand, and, yes, defend from roving bands on zombies.
Where the original Plants Vs. Zombies had the player defending from zombies that always marched across horizontal lanes of grass, this new Zombies game has the zombies attacking along cobblestone pathways that...
Super Hexagon and VVVVVV creator Terry Cavanagh's new project is a 'proper, meaty puzzle game' tentatively titled Halting Problem, according to an update on his website.
"A proper, meaty puzzle game is something I've wanted to make for ages, and I'm having lots of fun just messing around with the mechanics for this one and seeing what I can make out of them," Cavanagh wrote. "It's inspired by DROD, but also things like Qrostar games, Zachtronic games, and my flatmate Increpare's games."
Cavanagh wrote that he is "really excited" about Halting Problem and that he is going to make it "my main focus for a while."
In April, Cavanagh posted a Vine clip showcasing several cancelled projects, including a first-person shooter and a dance-based role-playing game. Last year, Cavanagh's retro...
American McGee's Spicy Horse studio's new title based on The Wizard of Oz is titled OZombie, according to its official Facebook page.
Spicy Horse first revealed The Wizard of Oz-based game earlier this month, with the studio stating that "This is not, in any way, shape or form the title from 2004," referring to the game cancelled by Atari in 2004.
OZombie will feature Dorothy, Toto, Lion, TinMan and Scarecrow as a brain-loving bad guy. The game will be a cross-platform title for tablets, Windows PC, Mac and Linux, and will be based on the Oz series, which consists of 14 episodes.
A Kickstarter campaign for the title is underway and Spicy Horse currently has a second Kickstarter campaign for Alice: Otherlands. Which title gets developed depends if Alice license holder Electronic Arts...
Guild hosting service, Guild Launch, is giving away thousands of closed beta keys for Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming free-to-play massively multiplayer online game, Dragon's Prophet.
As the game's exclusive distributor of closed beta keys in the U.S., those interested can grab a key by heading to Guild Launch's website. Users can then visit the official Dragon's Prophet site, log in or create a Station Account account and download the game once the code is confirmed.
Keys are for U.S. accounts only and Guild Launch announced that it has removed one key per IP address restrictions.
Set in the world of Auratia, the Runewaker-developed MMORPG will feature more than 300 different dragons to ride, fight and train. It has three traditional character classes: Ranger, Sorcerer, and...
Among the Sleep, Krillbite Studio's first-person horror adventure game, ended its Kickstarter campaign at $248,358, surpassing its $200,000 goal.
In Among the Sleep, players see the world from the perspective of a two-year-old child. Exactly 8,110 backers contributed to the campaign, which began on April 18. Among the Sleep reached its funding goal on May 16, two days before its end on May 18.
The campaign achieved three of its proposed stretch goals: ice cream for the team, Oculus Rift support and an additional commentary track featuring anecdotes from the developers. The campaign just fell short of its $250,000 goal, which would have added free downloadable content developed in collaboration with backers.
Krillbite released a free playable alpha last week that allowed users to try...
The self-taught one-man show has made a name for himself over the last few years by creating 8-bit-styled "de-make" mashups of games like Halo and Team Fortress 2. He's done it on the side, as a hobby. To date, he's given his games away for free because, for Ruth, creating video games is a labor of love.
Eric Ruth has a dream, a plan and a goal — but not a job.
His dream is to develop games for a living, but developing full-time takes money, something he's not drowning in right now after leaving his day job to focus on development. He's executing on his plan now by taking an original game to the crowdfunding site Indiegogo. His goal is toto raise $35,000 to develop a multiplayer, 2D side-scrolling MOBA hybrid called Hauntlings.
"It's like an introductory course to MOBAs, utilizing...
Guild Wars, ArenaNet's 8-year-old MMORPG, will no longer receive new content and is switching its support to automated, the developer announced via the game's official website.
According to the announcement post, the developer wants the game to be "in a place where it's able to take care of itself."
"Over time, our focus has shifted to updates that not only help maintain Guild Wars but help the game maintain itself," the post reads. "With this focus in mind, we'll no longer be releasing any new content for the live game except in support of automation. Our goal is to get the game to a place where it can continue to run and be available to all of our fans. We have a lot of love for Guild Wars — it's the game that made us what we are today — and we want to continue sharing it with...
Metanet Software released version 2.0 of N, its challenging and highly addictive ninja platforming game, for free through its official website, adding a host of new features, including local co-op multiplayer and built-in level sharing.
The game is playable on Kongregate and is also available as a free download for Windows, Mac and Linux.
The latest version of the Flash-based platformer adds new levels, including selected highlights from the Xbox Live Arcade, PSP and Nintendo DS versions of N+. Users can also create their own levels with Ned, N's built-in editor, which has graduated from its beta. N version 2.0 lets players share, rate and play custom levels from within the game itself. Players can also share the URL to custom levels through social media services like Twitter and...
In The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, players take on the role of a hero who builds and fortifies a castle, which stores the treasures and loot they collect. Players then venture out to attack castles that belong to others in the hope of looting their treasure vaults. The game operates on an attack and defend loop: players use their coins and gems to buy creatures and traps to stop enemies from penetrating their castle and accessing their treasure and, in turn, players have to navigate through other people's castles that are also filled with creatures and traps.
Speaking to Polygon, Ubisoft Montreal's Matt Zagurak said the studio wanted to make a game that was competitive and based on user-generated content because it thought it would be a fun idea to have "hundreds of thousands of...
The latest update for Team Fortress 2, a major content release dubbed Robotic Boogaloo, is different from the dozens of similar updates from Valve. Like previous updates, it features a comic that ties into Team Fortress 2's increasingly complex and evolving backstory, a new animated short and all-new items for players to collect and craft — 57 virtual items, many of them hats, naturally.
What separates Robotic Boogaloo from earlier additions is that it's 100 percent created by the Team Fortress 2 community. Valve's involvement, at least in terms of content creation, was minimal.
What started as a small, community-driven content push for the free-to-play shooter became something Valve-sanctioned and promoted on the TF2 website. Community members even put the official website hub...
Online retailer Green Man Gaming now offers a variety of Telltale Games titles, the website announced today.
Downloads of the Windows PC and Mac versions of games such as The Walking Dead, Back to the Future: The Game and Tales of Monkey Island are now available from Green Man Gaming. Players can track their progress and achievements through the Green Man Gaming-owned social service Playfire.
"We are delighted to partner with Telltale Games to offer their current catalogue and future titles to our hungry [Green Man Gaming] audience," said Martin Baxter, executive vice president of trading at Green Man Gaming, in a press release today.
You can check out Green Man Gaming's full offering of Telltale titles here.
The second hero reveal trailer for Trendy Entertainment's tower defense action role-playing game, Dungeon Defenders 2, showcases the Man and Machine hero in action during the game's PvP mode.
Man and Machine's abilities include Pocket Rocket, which is good for far off enemies and Incendiary Grenade which is great when enemies are tightly packed. Commanding Shout will get "troops moving double time" and Frenzied Bombardment rains down damaging elements at a target. His hero spell is Smokescreen, which emits a low visibility haze.
The competitive mode is a multiplayer online battle arena where five players must protect their respective towers from other players. Alpha gameplay footage of Dungeon Defenders 2's cooperative mode was released in March and more information about it will be...
CEO of XE.com and head of Dracogen Strategic Investments, Steven Dengler, is investing the remaining funds required to finish Hidden Path's Defense Grid 2, GamesBeat reports.
The strategy tower defense game was successfully crowdfunded in August last year, receiving a total of $271,726 in pledges from 6,291 backers, surpassing its $250,000 goal. However, the game required further funds for polish.
On the topic of independently funded games, Dengler told GamesBeat that he thinks what is "broken in the industry" is that publishers want game developers souls, so self-publishing "has to become a better option."
"Jeff didn't have to twist my arm," he said. "I'm not in this to make my fortune. This gets a game out there that people want to play. I don't want to own part of the company. I...
The Swapper, Facepalms' side-scrolling puzzle platformer, is coming to Steam on May 30 for Windows PC and Mac.
The game requires the player to create clones of themselves and swap from one body to the next using The Swapper device. Many clones are destroyed as the player explores the abandoned research station and progresses through the levels.
Along with traditional development techniques, clay models and everyday materials were used to create the game's handmade assets. The Swapper was a 2012 Indie Game Challenge finalist, received IndieCade's Special Recognition Award and was featured as part of PAX East's Indie Megabooth in March.
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