Trailer: Intrusion 2

By: Derek Yu

On: April 20th, 2012

Impressive physics on display for Intrusion 2, a Flash-based run n’ gun that’s “coming soon” from vapgames.

The Splatters

By: Derek Yu

On: April 12th, 2012

I played a little bit of Spiky Snail’s The Splatters at GDC this year, and it seemed quite promising. The game progresses across a series of levels where the goal is to ignite bombs by splattering them with water-balloon-like blobs. Much of the player’s role lies in the initial launch of each blob, but you can also earn various “stunts” that will let you change their direction mid-air and increase your combo meter for more points.

The Splatters was released on XBLA yesterday for 800 points.

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Teaser – Octodad: Dadliest Catch

By: Alehkhs

On: March 5th, 2012

Indie studio Young Horses has released a teaser trailer for their sequel to 2010’s fumbling physics game, Octodad. Titled Octodad: Dadliest Catch, this sequel continues the story of an octopus posing as a human as he tries to accomplish everyday tasks with, and for, his oblivious human family. No task is easy however, when all you have to work with are boneless, suction-cupped arms. Additionally, there’s now a catchy theme song that I’ll no doubt have lodged in my head for quite some time.

The original game is still free for download, and anyone who hasn’t hopelessly smacked every household object in the room onto the floor while trying to turn off an alarm clock played it yet should go give it a try.

The teaser trailer states that Octodad: Dadliest Catch will be arriving on shore in 2013. As a fan of the first game and all things cephalopod, I’m looking forward to getting my two, perfectly human hands on it.

Vessel

By: Alehkhs

On: March 1st, 2012

Vessel, Strange Loop Games’ gorgeous physics-based puzzle adventure platformer, has been released and is available for purchase on the developers’ site or the game’s Steam page (there is also a demo on Steam).

Three years in the making, Vessel puts the player in the shoes of inventor M. Arkwright as he controls liquid automatons known as Fluros and tries to complete his greatest invention, the mysterious “Accelerator.”

Strange Loop Games estimates about 10 hours of gameplay, and I can easily see myself getting immersed in such a colorful world (let alone one with liquid physics, one of my weaknesses!). And for the aurally stimulated, the game is scored by composer Jon Hopkins (Monsters).

Kerbal Space Program 0.12 – Now with more Mun

By: Alehkhs

On: November 25th, 2011

Kerbal Space Program‘s alpha has now reached release 0.12, which introduces a new goal for players: a moon (or “Mun,” as Kerbals spell it) now exists in the game, orbiting the Kerbal homeworld and daring players to try landing on it.

Even in its alpha state, KSP has already established a rather dedicated following, largely due to its ability to be easily modded. Fans are regularly making new parts, allowing for players to construct everything from historical rockets such as NASA’s Saturn V or Roscosmos’s Soyuz, to modern and near-future spaceplanes. Other notable fan contributions range from the game’s 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired loading screen (done by Riess, of Our Intrepid Crew) to the amazing fan trailer seen above, by KSP fan Dippeggs.

0.12 is the second-to-last free version of the game (0.13 is planned to mostly be bug-fixes and optimization) and gives players a great taste of what’s to come. For players who purchase the game, the planned features beyond version 0.13 include more stellar bodies (such as planets and asteroids), space stations, trainable AI crew to man the missions, and even a “story mode,” which will challenge players to complete various goals on a limited budget.

If you haven’t yet played Kerbal Space Program, you can check it out here.

Trailer: Incredipede

By: Derek Yu

On: September 18th, 2011

Colin Northway, creator of the popular physics game Fantastic Contraption, unveiled his latest project at Sense of Wonder Night in Tokyo last week, as part of the Tokyo Game Show. Incredipede is a physics-based platformer where you control a little creature that can be built and rebuilt using jointed limbs and muscles. The game will put various obstacles in front of you that you have to overcome with your creations. From the looks of it, you’ll have a lot of options in terms of what you can make and how you want to get past each obstacle!

Colin has made it clear that Incredipede is very much work-in-progress, and the graphics do not reflect the final look of the game. A video of his SOWN presentation can be found below (the noisemakers are provided to the audience to sound their approval).

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Octodad 2

By: Alehkhs

On: July 11th, 2011

Octodad, last year’s amazing docudrama (and award-winning game) following the life of a secret cephalopod, is getting a sequel!

Several of the members from the DePaul University team that created Octodad last year have founded a new indie studio: Young Horses. In addition to announcing their new studio, they’ve also announced Octodad 2, which promises to deliver more of the wacky, out-of-control, physics-based gameplay as the free original, but now with a “much more polished, full-featured and longer game!”

To help raise development funds and meet their planned release schedule of next year, Young Horses has opened a donation page on Kickstarter. Based on their donation, supporters are also eligible for anything as simple a pre-order of the game or early beta access, to t-shirts, plushies, and even a full-sized, framed oil painting. Not only is it a great way to help get this dream game off the ground, but also an open door to fans who want to show their love of Octodad, so head on over to the game’s Kickstarter page for more information, including a teaser trailer.

For those of you who never played the first game, download it for free from the Octodad website.

Kerbal Space Program 0.8.0

By: Derek Yu

On: July 11th, 2011

Kerbal Space Program is an in-development simulation game that lets you operate your own space shuttle program. In the current release, you can build a multi-stage rocket out of various parts (e.g. propusion systems, decouplers, and fins), launch it, and operate it as you try to take your adorable astronauts higher into the stratosphere… or blow them up as creatively as possible. There aren’t a ton of parts available right now, but the game is easily moddable, and fans are already developing their own on the game’s forums.

Eventually, creator Felipe Falanghe wants to let players hire and manage crew, take missions, and even build space stations on different worlds.

(Source: Something Awful Forums)

Previews: Lovely Physics Puzzlers

By: Derek Yu

On: May 28th, 2011

Here are a couple of nice-looking physics games on the horizon:

In Spiky Snail‘s Confetti Carnival your goal in each level is to ignite confetti bombs by splattering them in creative ways, earning point bonuses for performing stunts and combos. No release date announced.

Eko Software’s Storm has you guiding a seed to fertile ground using the elements of nature. The game is slated for a Summer 2011 release on PC, XBLA, and PSN at $10.

Preview: Blockade Runner

By: Alehkhs

On: April 24th, 2011

It’s undeniable that Minecraft is currently a large force in the indie gaming world, and while the topic of any new Minecraft-inspired games is a fanatically touchy subject with many gamers, I am always excited to see where developers might expand the gametype to next: It’s an important part of the advancement of game to take some already established ideas and use them in new environments. Last week, Ace of Spades utilized the place/destroy nature of voxels in a trench warfare game of capture-the-flag, and last week the formula began, quite literally, traveling to a new frontier.

Inspired by both the open-source Infiniminer and the wildly popular Minecraft, Blockade Runner aims to have players constructing spacecraft – complete with electronics systems, engines, crew stations, weapons batteries, and more – in a zero-g environment, then using them to explore the universe, either peacefully or struggling against fellow players. The game will also include a fluid algorithm for liquids as well as gasses, so if an enemy weapon happens to breach your ship’s hull, you’d better seal the hole quickly before all your air escapes into the vacuum of space.

Currently little more than an early (very early) prototype, Blockade Runner is being actively developed by ZanMgt, a dev-team comprised of six siblings. Their development schedule is split into 6-month release cycles, with weekly updates in between each major release. The current build (Release 1, Week 2) mainly only allows allows for the placement and removal of blocks of varying texture. Next week’s build plans to add propulsion systems to the ships.

Time will tell if Blockade Runner will soar to its full potential, but I’ll certainly be following the development closely.

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