Trailer: Samorost 3

By: Derek Yu

On: April 24th, 2015

A third Samorost game is “coming later this year”, according to Amanita Design, who released a lovely trailer for the game this month. You’ll definitely want to watch this one fullscreen to see all the little details in the artwork.

Botanicula

By: Derek Yu

On: April 19th, 2012

Botanicula is the latest adventure game from Amanita Design, the creators of the Samorost series and Machinarium. It was released today as part of a Humble Bundle that includes all of their titles, but you can also purchase the game from GOG.com.

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Trailer: Botanicula

By: Derek Yu

On: October 17th, 2011

This is a trailer for Amanita Design’s Botanicula, a point n’ click adventure about five little creatures trying to rescue their home from evil parasites. The game is slated for an early 2012 release.

The trailer coincides with an announcement that the Czech studio is also working on the third game in the Samorost series. Additionally, their last game, Machinarium, is now available for iPad 2.

TIGdb: Entry for Amanita Design

Holiday Music

By: Derek Yu

On: December 10th, 2009

Just ‘cause it’s Christman/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus doesn’t mean you have to be listening to Jingle Bells and all that festive stuff (although you’re very welcome to!). Here’s some music from the indie game world to rock your stockings as we approach the new year!

The Aquaria OST – Alec put together an amazing production for the Aquaria soundtrack, which he composed. This 2-disc, 50-track beast comes with an 8-page booklet that features artwork by myself and Marian artist Katie De Sousa, as well as an 8-panel mini-poster featuring screenshots from the game and liner notes. It’s a really beautiful package that comes in 3 flavors: unsigned, signed, and digital.

Fez Demo EPs – The mysterious Polytron Corporation has released 3 demo tracks from Fez, their upcoming XBLA game. The tracks, composed by Jason “6955” DeGroot, are available as a free download, or can be ordered as a limited-edition CD (250 copies). Check it out if you like chiptunes.

Zeno Clash OST – The Zeno Clash OST was released yesterday. Composed by Patricio Meneses, the soundtrack features 18 tracks and can be downloaded via iTunes or purchased as a CD.

Machinarium Bonus EP – Amanita Design has released five free bonus tracks for their incredible adventure game Machinarium. These are available as mp3s. The full soundtrack comes with the game if you buy it directly Amanita’s website (what are you waiting for?).

Game music 1 – Finally, the legendary indie chiptune artist Phlogiston released a free compilation of music he wrote for various games, like Bisse’s I Was in the War, cactus’s Air Pirates and PING PONG, and Darthlupi’s Wonder Bounce. He invites indie game designers to contact him about releasing their soundtracks through his label Pause. You would be amongst good company.

Well, that’s a lot of great indie game music right there. Hope you all enjoy these stocking stuffers. Please be sure to post any good soundtracks I may have missed that came out recently.

Happy Holidays!

Machinarium

By: Derek Yu

On: October 19th, 2009

Amanita Design’s Machinarium was released last Friday. The game is superb. It’s a beautiful adventure game set in a unique world populated with all kinds of lovable, crazy robots (the protagonist is especially endearing). In my opinion, the visuals are peerless – every room is gorgeous, and filled with little details and surprises that ignite the imagination. The puzzles can get pretty difficult, but by and large I found them to be relatively intuitive and well-done. They’re quite varied, too, and include a mix of hotspot-hunting, inventory-management, timing, and mini-games.

Machinarium marks a very high point in the adventure-gaming and I highly recommend it. Even people who are put off by the slow pacing of most adventure games should try it, as there’s no dialogue in Machinarium and you are sucked into the game itself very quickly (even the title screen is fun!). You can play the demo right in your browser on the game’s website. The full game is $20.

TIGdb: Entry for Machinarium

Machinarium Sketches

By: Derek Yu

On: October 14th, 2009

The indefatigable Brandon Boyer has posted some lovely concept art by Amanita Design. These are sketches for Machinarium, their adventure game which is coming to the PC and Mac this Friday. You can download a short demo and also pre-order the game from the Machinarium website.

Having played it, I can safely say that it is a must-buy for fans of adventure games.

Upcoming

By: Derek Yu

On: August 27th, 2009

Grapple Buggy, by Mommy’s Best Games (Xbox 360, 2010)

And Yet It Moves, by Broken Rules (WiiWare, Fall 2009)