Snapshot released for PC

By: Lorne Whiting

On: August 30th, 2012

Retro Affect’s puzzle-platformer Snapshot is now available for Windows on Steam at the modest price of $8.99.

Snapshot is based around storing objects in photographs which can then be placed in the world at will in order to solve puzzles, but a video is worth an indeterminately large amount of words so the trailer above shows the mechanics far better than I can describe them. The game was designed by Kyle Pulver, who began working on it all the way back in 2008 after finishing the excellent Bonesaw, and will be coming to several other platforms– Linux, Mac, Playstation 3, and PSVita –in the near future.

Offspring Fling

By: Derek Yu

On: April 3rd, 2012

Offspring Fling is a new puzzle platformer from Kyle Pulver, the creator of Bonesaw and Depict1. You play a mother whose children have gone missing – the goal of each level is to bring your children to the exit and then exit yourself. True to the game’s title, you can fling your children horizontally to move them around and set off switches, among other things. Multiple children can be carried at once, which is sometimes necessary but limits the player’s freedom of movement.

The flinging mechanic is simple but is executed quite well – the timing and sound effects are quite satisfying. There are quite a few interesting things you can do with it, too, like stun enemies or perform mid-air catches. Throughout the game’s 100 unique levels you’re introduced to a lot of these concepts, and the finer properties of the game’s physics must be exploited to beat the developer’s speedruns (displayed as a black ghost during replays).

The one fault I find with the game is that it’s quite easy and doesn’t force you to use enough different tricks in each level. Even the final stages can feel like introductory ones, since many of them still revolve around a single concept. After beating Offspring Fling in a couple of hours, I couldn’t help but feel like some of the earlier levels could be combined to free up room for more tricky ones in the late game.

Still, there’s a lot of fun to be had here, and with the replay system and flower system I’ll definitely be enjoying the game for a while longer… especially since the graphics and Alec Holowka’s soundtrack are so delightful. Hopefully, a level editor or sequel will see the light of day so that more involved flinging can be done!

TIGdb: Entry for Offspring Fling

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Holiday Trailers

By: Derek Yu

On: December 16th, 2010

As everyone knows, the holidays are a very sexy time of year. And in the spirit of such an occasion, I bring you five very sexy indie game videos to watch while you drink hot marshmallows and launch missile toes at your loved ones. Enjoy!

To begin: here’s some new footage of thatgamecompany’s latest project, Journey. It looks beautiful, natch. But also so very ronery…

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Jottobots

By: Derek Yu

On: June 15th, 2009

Dammit, I did not realize that the latest Attract Mode/Giant Robot gallery game was premiering last night at the GR2 store in Los Angeles. Jottobots is a team-up between the illustrious indie game developer Kyle Pulver (Bonesaw, Snapshot) and developing indie gamer and renowned illustrator J.Otto Seibold. Are there any photos up from the event?

Snapshot Teaser

By: Derek Yu

On: January 16th, 2009

Here’s a short teaser video for Kyle Pulver’s Snapshot, which has been nominated for Excellence in Design at this year’s IGF. Kyle is best known as the creative force behind Bonesaw, Verge, and Diamond Rider.

BONESAW!

By: Derek Yu

On: February 14th, 2008

Yo, guys and gals… Bonesaw is here! This eagerly-anticipated platform game saw some delays this week as a few Multimedia Fusion-related bugbears creeped into the works last minute. Thankfully, these issues have been addressed. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here, would we!

The game, inspired in part by Nintendo’s Kirby series, combines fast-paced platform action with frantic beatings (and some occasional puzzle-solving). If you saw the trailer Shabadage posted earlier, you pretty much know what to expect: bombs ‘sploding, springs bouncin’, balls flyin’… monsters big and small getting pounded with fists as well as the mighty BONESAW. The fact that it stars a hockey player who’s going after an evil referee just makes it that much better.

This thing is fresh out of the oven right now, so get it while it’s hot!

And head over to the creator’s blog for some insight into the ideas behind the game.

EDIT: The soundtrack, by Josh Whelchel, is available from Josh’s site here.