Upcoming Indie Games to Keep an Eye On

K, I'm not in the mood to put up pretty pictures and youtubes, so please enjoy my links:

  • StarDrive - a 4X game wherein you assume personal command of your fleet's flagship and control your forces from there.
  • Naev - An exciting looking Escape Velocity type space adventure game. Lots of fun, this one.
  • Ensign-1 - an ambitious game wherein you can control spacecraft and run around inside 'em as well.
  • ZigFrak - a spacey explorey combat game I've not tried yet, but looks pretty.
  • Miner Wars 2081 - both a single player space trading and combat game as well as an MMO, the gimmick here is that players can dig into asteroids, fly around inside 'em and so on.
  • Starfarer - A mix of both fleet-based combat game and open space adventure, this one looks ambitious and awesome.
  • Kerbal Space Program - build your own space program, your own rocket, and then fly it to the "mun" and beyond. I keep meaning to try this one.
  • Pioneer - a spiritual successor to Frontier: Elite II, and it's coming along nicely.
  • Ring Runner - gladiatorial space combat akin to Subspace, but with fantasy tropes being used for different riles (i.e. rogue, wizard, warrior, etc).
  • ScrumbleShip - Just learned about this one. Gather resources, build a custom ship, then go out there and do stuff.
  • Starlight Inception - A game currently being kickstartered, and looks to be a mix of Starlancer and Freelancer...I think.
  • Squad Wars - Just found out about this one today. Made by folks who created Jumpgate, among other games. Also being Kickstartered.
  • FleetCOMM : Operation Vigrior - Last one I'll mention for the time being, also being kickstartered. Looks to be a fleet-based action/combat game.

Hope that keeps y'all busy for a while. There are more, but these are the ones I know most about.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

The RPS review of Botanicula is up and fairly glowing. It sounds like there are still a few frustrating aspects like Machinarium had, but they are toned down.

Edit: It's on sale! They did an all Amanita Humble Bundle. Looks like all games come with Steam unlocks and soundtracks. If you pay above average, you get that short film one of the guys did.

I'm relieved that the reviews are good so far, but it boggles me why, immediately after Botanicula's release, they'd put it into a humble bundle. It seems like they'd try to make a bit of profit from the new release first.

Running Man wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

The RPS review of Botanicula is up and fairly glowing. It sounds like there are still a few frustrating aspects like Machinarium had, but they are toned down.

Edit: It's on sale! They did an all Amanita Humble Bundle. Looks like all games come with Steam unlocks and soundtracks. If you pay above average, you get that short film one of the guys did.

I'm relieved that the reviews are good so far, but it boggles me why, immediately after Botanicula's release, they'd put it into a humble bundle. It seems like they'd try to make a bit of profit from the new release first.

My guess is that they made more money or close to as much money on Machinarium in those Humble Indie Bundles. Even if they don't make as much money, this is a great way to advertise the game, get some word of mouth going, and make some money. They have made $234,946.54 so far. I wonder what the budget for the game was and what their expectations are money-wise.

I've played about an hour of the game. It brings me to my happy place. There is so much joy crammed into it.

Not exactly a new release but greatly enjoying Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP on the PC. Wonderful absurdist adventure. There are a few things they could have added for the PC like keyboard combat controls, but it's still quite good. I wish I'd gotten to the Moon Grotto before the current moon phase though. Oh well, I guess I'll start Botanicula in the meantime.

Veloxi wrote:

K, I'm not in the mood to put up pretty pictures and youtubes, so please enjoy my links:

  • Kerbal Space Program - build your own space program, your own rocket, and then fly it to the "mun" and beyond. I keep meaning to try this one.

That one has it's own thread. (I looked it up when my son discovered it last week.)

Katy wrote:
Veloxi wrote:

K, I'm not in the mood to put up pretty pictures and youtubes, so please enjoy my links:

  • Kerbal Space Program - build your own space program, your own rocket, and then fly it to the "mun" and beyond. I keep meaning to try this one.

That one has it's own thread. (I looked it up when my son discovered it last week.)

WHATEVS. It's a space game, so I mentioned it, end of story.

Holy crap. I finished Botanicula. It's just plain fantastic. There were a couple slightly frustrating parts in the sense that I didn't know what to do and had to wander around lots, but it wasn't nearly on the level of Machinarium or Sword & Sworcery frustration. I didn't have to look up anything online.

I can't stop tapping my foot because that music is just so damn awesome. Once again, it's hard not to keep grinning throughout the game because it's jam packed with happy.

I would really love to know what a younger kid what think watching someone play this game. For audio/visual reasons, it seems to me like they would go bananas.

Yoohoo! (I'm gonna have that audio queue stuck in my head forever. :))

I haven't quite finished it yet but I agree that Botanicula is spectacular. I really like how Amanita Design addresses the doldrums of pixel hunting that you find in other adventure games by making almost everything you could possibly click on animate and have a cute sound effect. The animation in this game really has a great style to it too. I feel like this game is a happy medium between Amanita's earlier wacky work and the more restrained design of Machinarium.

I will say though that I did get stuck and have to look for help at one point where you have to collect the 14 birds.

Spoiler:

I missed getting the food from the guy who brings it in to the chef, didn't realize clicking on him would make something happen since he moves so fast.

Also the room where you steal the light, I could not get the glass beaker to attach for the longest time. Even when I knew that's what you had to do it just wasn't working for some reason. I still don't even know why it finally worked the last time I tried it but not before.

I also wish that puzzle where you have to flick the sheep off to save the kid didn't require so much force either. That puzzle felt so designed for a touch screen device. And there was no visual feedback that pulling down was even doing anything.

I ran into a lot of situations like that, Latrine. I did find that persistence worked in those situations where it wouldn't in Machinarium. As far as pixel hunting adventure games go, this has been the least frustrating I've encountered. It's not perfect, but I think they did a pretty good job compared to most.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Holy crap. I finished Botanicula. It's just plain fantastic.

Glad to hear it. I got the game on that indie bundle a couple days ago and plan to play it this weekend.

MeatMan wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Holy crap. I finished Botanicula. It's just plain fantastic.

Glad to hear it. I got the game on that indie bundle a couple days ago and plan to play it this weekend.

To echo tuffalo, holy sh*t. Botanicula is brilliant, fantastic, and any other praising adjective you can think of. I played it all the way through in one sitting (about 8 hours with a couple short breaks) because it's so good. I never finish P&C adventure games, because I always get tired of being stuck to the point that I quit and never come back. Botanicula does have a couple frustrating moments due to wonky mouse control, and I did use a guide I found for a few places. But I'm so glad I did, because everything else about this game is pure joy.

I haven't felt this good and this gratified after playing a game since finishing RDR two years ago. Botanicula probably deserves its own thread, but I'll let someone else make that call.

I urge you all to play this. It's currently available at humblebundle.com for 11 more days. It's easily worth at least $10.

MeatMan: Your post makes me so happy. As long as a few people experience the joy, I'll be content.

As far as a dedicated thread goes, there's not really much to discuss compared to something like Journey, so I say we might as well stick to this thread. The unfortunate thing is that we can't spam people with "PLAY THIS GAME!".

Is there a way for Certis to PM everyone with that message?

Edit: They are at $450,000. I still wonder what they need to be successful.

Played Botanicula for about 15 minutes tonight to try and get a feel for it. This is probably the most serene game I've played in a while. Love the animation style (I still haven't played Machinarium or either Samarost yet). Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

http://reset-game.net/

My heart a-flutters.

Mixolyde wrote:

*reset*

Holy crap! That's how you do a trailer for a game, movie, whatever. They say it's "a single player co-op first person puzzle game". That's the icing on the cake. Shut up, and take my money!

I'm really looking forward to antichamber
http://www.antichamber-game.com/

and FRACT
http://fractgame.com/
The old FRACT prototype is pretty interesting

And of course The Witness
http://the-witness.net

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Mixolyde wrote:

*reset*

Holy crap! That's how you do a trailer for a game, movie, whatever.

Yep. Understated, intriguing, leaves you wanting to know much more. That's how trailers should be done.

DanB wrote:

I'm really looking forward to antichamber
http://www.antichamber-game.com/

and FRACT
http://fractgame.com/
The old FRACT prototype is pretty interesting

And of course The Witness
http://the-witness.net

QFT

If anyone wants to spoil a little of what's in store for them in Antichamber, look up the Hazard demo for UDK. Absolutely genius.

Banished - "Banished (name subject to change) is a game about building a city, guiding your population of citizens in survival against the elements, and deciding how to best utilize limited and non-renewable resources.  The game is being developed for the PC."

Odonata - "It's quite an unusual type of game which doesn't quite fit into a defined genre, but it's probably hovering somewhere between a third person shooter, a rogue-like and an RTS. The main gameplay will be a sandbox-survival-strategy-shooter, you will be striving for loot and gaining resources to fund your tools of death against swarms of enemies. "

ebarstad wrote:

Banished - "Banished (name subject to change) is a game about building a city, guiding your population of citizens in survival against the elements, and deciding how to best utilize limited and non-renewable resources.  The game is being developed for the PC."

Cool. Kind of reminds me of a Anno/Settlers/Tropico. RSS'd!

clever id wrote:
ebarstad wrote:

Banished - "Banished (name subject to change) is a game about building a city, guiding your population of citizens in survival against the elements, and deciding how to best utilize limited and non-renewable resources.  The game is being developed for the PC."

Cool. Kind of reminds me of a Anno/Settlers/Tropico. RSS'd!

Agreed! Love city builders! Thanks for this!

Chasing Aurora (from the makers of And Yet It Moves)

Drop from the cliff and ride the wind from peak to peak. Fight for the beacon of light in the hostile environment of the Alps.

Chasing Aurora is an explorative 2D aerial action game about the dream of flight.

Early video of multiplayer mode

So, there's an indie game released today (4th of May) that I remember really, really wanting to play and I've completely forgotten what it was. Does any have any suggestions what it might be?

I appreciate that is not a lot to go on but the only thing I can currently recall is that I was really looking forward to May 4th.

Tagging this thread so as not to miss items which are relevant to my interests. On a related note, Kickstarter is quickly starting to rival video game podcasts for most massive drain on my limited financial resources, I should really cut myself off from the internet.

for those with ps3s, The Unfinished Swan is a platform exclusive on the way "sometime in 2012"

DanB wrote:

So, there's an indie game released today (4th of May) that I remember really, really wanting to play and I've completely forgotten what it was. Does any have any suggestions what it might be?

Orion: Dino Beatdown?

shoptroll wrote:
DanB wrote:

So, there's an indie game released today (4th of May) that I remember really, really wanting to play and I've completely forgotten what it was. Does any have any suggestions what it might be?

Orion: Dino Beatdown?

I don't think it was that, but that does look kinda cool.

e2a: I still can't remember what that game was, this is going to annoy me for days.

I'm not finding any full-on releases for the 4th. A Valley Without Wind was end of April, Kenshi announced a crowdfunding effort, Age of Decadence released their public beta, Minion Master apparently released an update...

Gremlin wrote:

I'm not finding any full-on releases for the 4th. A Valley Without Wind was end of April, Kenshi announced a crowdfunding effort, Age of Decadence released their public beta, Minion Master apparently released an update...

I know. It's weird. Maybe I'm just making it up or maybe it was some DLC for something completely different.

Blockscape: Minecraft-style sandbox game with blocks of multiple sizes and angles and better default textures. Edit: You can pre-order for about 10 Euros.