What was the verdict on Brigador? In gameplay videos it seems kind of slow wandering around the maps. Trailer trickery?
I don’t remember it being slow, at least not in a negative and boring way. I think the lighter much suits were faster. But usually you wanted the controlled slowness to avoid pulling in too many swarms.
Still, if you had to run back to to pick up some health or something it didn’t take too long.
Crows, Crows, Crows has released another free game.
Mu Cartographer is a bunch of knobs and a slice of landscape that becomes an intriguing, if mystifying, treasure hunt. Been playing it for an hour or so tonight and I’ve gotten the hang of a few of its tricks, but I’m still perplexed on one or two others. In fact, since it comes with no instructions and is meant to be understood through experimentation, I’m not 100% positive that there ARE any other tricks for me to learn. I’m just gathering so from some UI clues.
It’s definitely unique, has a rich and disquieting soundtrack, and will show you a lot of colorful (sometimes retinally damaging) pictures as you play.
I did end up figuring out all the ins and outs of Mu Cartographer. That’s basically the gameplay, is working out what each thing does. After that, there’s a lot of just finding all the hidden things with those tools. Each one you finds adds a little breadcrumb to the story. I really enjoyed my time with this modest little game.
35MM is moody, tense, and very Russian. The exploration-based gameplay isn’t as fun as it sounds, but it has a decent story and it’s only 3-4 hours long.
The Real Texas, a 2012 cute indie game about the nature of cowboyism, is getting a surprise Steam release.
The game isn’t the tight gaming experience you have come to expect from ‘indie games’, but it’s got a lot of heart, if you are in the right mood.
The sequel to my second-favorite game of 2015, Grow Home, is out… Grow Up! I have purchased it (maybe the first game I’ve bought for full price in two years) but haven’t played it. But I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt that it’s about as good as the first one. Which means, it’s totally worth playing!
Maze Lord is a tiny little puzzle game about clicking on stuff in a dungeon in the right order. So, it’s sort of like Desktop Dungeons, except smaller and much easier. It’s on sale on Steam this week for fifty freakin’ cents. If you’re looking for a light puzzle game, pick it up.
Streets of Rogue describes itself as the “world’s first RPG roguelike action stealth shooter brawler co-op megagame” is free during alpha, will be published by tinyBuild.
I’m not usually a fan of rogues/rogue-likes but this one really grabbed me thanks to the variety of the character classes and the multitude of methods in achieving the missions on the city maps…you can use stealth, guns, bombs, distractions, hacking, etc. For example, as the “Gang Member” character you start with a boombox that when placed on the ground starts playing a beat so irresistible that NPC’s within earshot will be drawn to it and will dance uncontrollably. Thereby allowing you to slip past them into areas they were guarding (theft mission)… or maybe you want to draw them out to stab them in the back (neutralize mission)… Or be a Vampire and suck blood when you need health… or a scientist with a Shrink Ray…
Maps and missions are procedural and pretty much everything is destructible.
NPCs are active and have their own agendas.Many can be recruited…for a fee or with the right trait.
Combat is fast, bloody and brutal and hilarious
Items are fun as well as useful (eat a banana to heal, then toss the peel to trip up a foe…shrink a dude and stomp on him…)
UI is quite good and easy to control with keyboard/mouse
I’m really impressed and can’t wait to see more from this developer.
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It’s a shame that this game now posses the name 'Streets Of Rogue’s, when that name clearly described a roguelike version of Streets of Rage.
I’m having a blast with Streets of Rogue as well. Anybody know what I’m missing with the seemingly useless class of Bartender?
I am really, really loving Streets of Rogue my own self as well. Great combination of randomness and missions, which I just love love love.
The last humble bundle had a game called Expand. It was minimalist, where you play as a square, and you travel through geometry. Very simple art, sublime music, and great design. I highly recommend it. It took me 2.5 hours to finish, according to Steam, so it won’t take you away from your AAA backlog for too long and it’s worth it.
I really love this approach to art design so much better than pixel art. Just plain lines and smooth curves and start contrasting colors. Lovely.
I noticed a Double Fine-published game also just came out last week with a similar art style called 140. Has anyone tried that one. It’s only $8, so I’m very tempted.
Last I checked, it wasn’t published by Double Fine, but 140 is an excellent rhythm-based platformer. Gets pretty tough at places, but some really lovely design and I seem to recall some neat boss levels. I’d recommend it.
I actually found out about it because of an email from Double Fine. In it they said “Double Fine presents 140 a challenging minimalistic rhythm based platformer out now on Xbox One and Wii U, out on PS4 next week with 3DS and Vita versions coming later this year.” They also mentioned in the email that it was original released by Carlsen for PC in 2013. So I suspect they’re just publishing the console versions of the game. They’re also publishing his new game Thoth, which they mention in the email will be out in October for PC and Mac.
Thanks for the positive impressions. I think I’ll pick it up on Xbox One soon.
Oh yeah, looks like they’re publishing the console versions. Awesome! Hope you like it.
Well, I started playing Virginia at 11pm and now it’s 12:45am.
So what that should tell you is that it’s a short but fascinating game. I saw a lot of Gravity Bone (or Thirty Flights of Loving) in it, but with a little more relatable setting and characters. The story is interesting, if perplexing. The way the characters communicate without words is very well executed. The camerawork is spectacular. And all these are eclipsed by the symphonic score, which punctuates everything with precision and drama.
There aren’t a lot of choices, there’s not a lot of gameplay. Just a story that hooks you very hard, very quick.
By the middle I started to realize that there are some collectibles to be found. And I still don’t quite know if there are bigger branches than there appear to be (I would guess no, but can’t be sure).
I recommend it, although it’s sure to be criticized by many for its length and non-interactivity. Neither of these bothered me at all.
Book of Demons deserves more love than it’s currently receiving. Read their very refreshing EA postmortem.