Tag: Indie Games
-
Indie Appreciation on the Switch
This past holiday season was a good one for the Nintendo Switch. Mario Party, Super Smash Bros, and Pokemon Let’s Go were huge successes. Many a person’s January was spent running through these titles. Now though, it’s February. The holiday excitement has worn off, but there are still weekends to be filled. So what is…
-
The Epic Games Store Is a Mixed Blessing for Indie Games
The indie gaming landscape becomes more crowded every year. Usually, these games are primarily sold through Steam. The platform becomes more bloated by the day. Itch.IO has made significant inroads in the last few years by offering developers a better deal than Steam, but the Epic Games Store is still a game changer. As the amount…
-
Blockbuster Games Should Be Treated Like Blockbuster Movies
Red Dead Redemption 2 has brought to light a specific philosophy of game design used in blockbuster games that emphasizes technological achievement over everything else. Rockstar has unapologetically perused a line of development in which the creation of the most life-like atmosphere in a game is the most important factor in crafting an experience. Chasing realism…
-
Is Dead Cells’ Hero Secretly a Gamergater?
Upon its release into 1.0 last month, Motion Twin’s Dead Cells took the gaming world by storm, finding commercial and critical success. And what’s not to love? With satisfying hack-and-slash gameplay, a grimly colorful neon world and a compelling upgrade system, Dead Cells is a compulsively playable, aesthetically pleasing and accomplished “roguevania.” But, one thing…
-
Art as an Evocative Tool: A Talk with Lucah Developer melessthanthree
On Tuesday, August 21st, indie game developer melessthanthree released their new title, Lucah: Born of a Dream. A Kickstarter funded action-adventure game that combines the powerful aspects of storytelling, role-playing, and survival-horror, Lucah tells the story of the Marked Child, cursed to have their personal demons manifest as real demons wherever they go. Lucah must face…
-
Creating Meaning in Heaven Will Be Mine
Heaven Will Be Mine is a 2018 visual novel by Mia Schwartz and Aevee Bee. It is the spiritual sequel to 2016’s We Know the Devil, taking with it many of the first game’s naming conventions and decidedly queer romances while shifting the story to space in an alternate universe’s 1981. It’s a gorgeous masterpiece, and you…
-
Embracing Emotional Spaces in The First Tree
The First Tree brought me to tears. I find emotional reactions in games natural, as they often signify a desire for something greater than our immediate reality. This kind of escape is an important part of gaming for all of us. Sony’s old PlayStation 3 marketing slogan invites us to “Play Beyond” what we directly…
-
Honest Mental Health and Night in The Woods
Video Games don’t have a fantastic record of depicting mental health. The increasing attention on plot focused games has shown the medium is pretty far behind. As well as fantastic LGBT representation, Night in The Woods depicts mental health in an honest and relatable way. It makes the characters seem real, while still not defined by…
-
Catching Kitties, Abstract Art & Monitoring the Market: Inside Jam for Change 2018
Jam for Change was a game jam that took place during London Games Festival on Saturday 7th and Sunday the 8th of April. It was an event in support of the charity women’s aid, who provide services and give and help to women and children who are victims of violence and domestic abuse. Anyone could…
-
A Bestiary of Delphic Feels
If you’re yet to read Nathalie Lawhead’s blog on her experiences showcasing interactive zine Everything is Going to be Ok at Day of the Devs, do that thing now, and come back. Yeah, me too. It’s this that got jammed in my craw the hardest: “What the fuck is this, what the hell, weird ass game,…
-
Elizabeth LaPensée on Thunderbird Strike, Eco Terrorism, and Other Bad Behavior
Recently, the lobbying group Energy Builders released a statement accusing the 2D side scroller Thunderbird Strike of attempting to ‘encourage eco-terrorism or other bad behavior’. Naturally, the alarmist press lapped it up with all the predictable zeal of a Pavlovian pooch. Boundary-pushing design and unique auteurial vision is a major draw of the indiesphere, but rarely…
-
Kill the Walking Simulator
Imagine this hypothetical scenario; In a parallel universe, I am not merely an imposter with a penchant for thesauruses who once played Bubsy 3D for twenty minutes and feels that grants me the inalienable right to pontificate endlessly about games on the internet, but an actual game designer with, you know, talent and vision and…
-
Town of Light Dev’s $10k Take This Donation is Another Win for Mental Health in Gaming
‘Although we’re ok, telling each other about our gaming experiences, we’re not really comfortable talking about ourselves, things we think will make us seem different’ That’s how journalist Susan Ardent introduces the idea behind Take This, a non profit started by herself and fellow writer Russ Pitts. Founded in 2013, the charity seeks to inform…
-
Weapon Dating Sim Boyfriend Dungeon Looks Bae AF
I’ve never really clicked with dating sims like Boyfriend Dungeon before. Not because I’m an emotionless husk with no ability to forge meaningful relationships. I mean, yes, but that’s not why. It might be because I’m too susceptible to this sort of thing, and once I digitize my love life along with everything else, there’s…