Title: Consortium: The Tower
Developer: Interdimensional Games Inc
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Releasing late 2017
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Now developer IDGI is back with Consortium: The Tower, an even more ambitious sequel that takes what worked in the first game and evolving those elements on an impressive scale and scope.
Consortium: The Tower takes place in a near-future London, in the massive Churchill Tower, now controlled by a mysterious terrorist faction. You play as Bishop Six, an agent of the titular organization, on a mission to observe, report, and handle the situation. How you accomplish those goals are up to you. The tower is home to a whole array of different groups - terrorists, police, civilians, Consortium and other more enigmatic individuals - each with their plans and agendas. You can sky-dive to flank enemies from above and unleash devastating firepower, cloak and sneak through unseen, explore the tower for better routes and hack into terminals for useful data and hidden secrets.
But Consortium wouldn't be an immersive sim if it doesn't offer choices beyond the shooting and sneaking. The spoken word here is as powerful as any weapon or piece of technology; in fact, it'll be possible to be complete a playthrough without firing a shot. Find yourself in a tense standoff with an enemy squad and you can press the talk button (that lets you engage in conversation anytime, anywhere), throw down your gun to defuse the tension, and convince the group that you're not a threat or even to fight alongside you.
Going further than that, disobey your orders, go against the Consortium's wishes, and you're be disavowed by the agency. In another game, that would be a game over, but here, The Tower continues along, except now you're a rogue agent. That status may make you very valuable to other factions and individuals in the game.
While the game is already ambitious, the developers have even bigger plans if budget allows. Their vision for The Tower is one of a nearly fully-explorable environment, with areas ranging from malls and apartments to museums and industrial areas, essentially what you'd imagine an actual skyscraper of this magnitude would contain.
Consortium: The Tower is expected to release late next year and is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. You can learn about the game here.
Developer: Interdimensional Games Inc
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Releasing late 2017
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The ultimate single player first-person immersive sim. Explore, talk, fight or sneak through The Churchill Tower in 2042The immersive sim. It's a small subgenre of games, an eclectic mix of themes and gameplay all bound by a goal of letting you role-play as a character in believable reactive worlds that mold to your choices and actions. Deus Ex, STALKER, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, a few others, but perhaps most recently, Consortium. An ambitious sci-fi game set in the confines of a single plane, yet feeling like an expansive experience thanks to the depth of its narrative, relationships, and gameplay freedom.
Now developer IDGI is back with Consortium: The Tower, an even more ambitious sequel that takes what worked in the first game and evolving those elements on an impressive scale and scope.
But Consortium wouldn't be an immersive sim if it doesn't offer choices beyond the shooting and sneaking. The spoken word here is as powerful as any weapon or piece of technology; in fact, it'll be possible to be complete a playthrough without firing a shot. Find yourself in a tense standoff with an enemy squad and you can press the talk button (that lets you engage in conversation anytime, anywhere), throw down your gun to defuse the tension, and convince the group that you're not a threat or even to fight alongside you.
Going further than that, disobey your orders, go against the Consortium's wishes, and you're be disavowed by the agency. In another game, that would be a game over, but here, The Tower continues along, except now you're a rogue agent. That status may make you very valuable to other factions and individuals in the game.
Consortium: The Tower is expected to release late next year and is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. You can learn about the game here.
Title: Somerville
Developer: Chris Olsen
Platforms: PC
---
When I wrote about Somerville last year, I was already impressed. From its brilliant narrative framework of a teacher telling her class the story of humanity's war against an alien incursion, to its smoothly animated movement and low-poly aesthetic, the game was shaping up to be one promising cinematic platformer. Since then, the game has only evolved further, especially in the art department.
Perhaps the biggest change since the last article is visually. Somerville's environments have gone from simple test levels to atmospheric landscapes. Dark forests, midnight skies filled with menacing monolithic alien vessels, ruined churches and bridges, and much more await our hero.
But these environments aren't just static places to be explored. Wildlife roams the woodlands and wind whips at the underbrush and other loose items like leaves and tarps.
These beautiful but dangerous levels must be traversed with caution, watching out for patrolling drones, mines and other threats. But John is as versatile and ready to fight as ever, now able to wield a knife with smooth efficiency,
Somerville's development is moving at a steady pace; you can follow its progress on the developer's Tumblr and Twitter pages.
Developer: Chris Olsen
Platforms: PC
---
When I wrote about Somerville last year, I was already impressed. From its brilliant narrative framework of a teacher telling her class the story of humanity's war against an alien incursion, to its smoothly animated movement and low-poly aesthetic, the game was shaping up to be one promising cinematic platformer. Since then, the game has only evolved further, especially in the art department.
Perhaps the biggest change since the last article is visually. Somerville's environments have gone from simple test levels to atmospheric landscapes. Dark forests, midnight skies filled with menacing monolithic alien vessels, ruined churches and bridges, and much more await our hero.
Title: Fara & The Eye of Darkness
Developer: Spaceboy Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
In development
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Developer: Spaceboy Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
In development
---
A roguelike with a card-based spell/combat system
Fara & The Eye of Darkness is an upcoming action roguelike that combines fast-paced arena combat with deck-building/card game mechanics, as you face fierce enemies with an arsenal of powerful spells.
As the titular demon witch, you're determined to cure your world of an insidious corruption that's twisting the good animals and inhabitants into aggressive monsters. To defeat this evil and her malevolent siblings, Fara must use an expansive array of spells, ranging from speedy dashes and devastating energy blasts that scar the battleground as they barrel through enemies to fiery sprays and crackling bursts of magic that strike multiple foes at once.
Enemy encounters transports you to smaller arenas that truly test your agility and smart use of the cards in hand. Between fights, you'll explore a procedural overworld filled with towns, shops, and NPCs, and building your deck from defeated enemies, shops, and looting chests throughout the world.
Fara & The Eye of Darkness is still quite early in development, and is expected to release sometime next year. You can find more spell GIFs and follow the game's progress on Twitter.
Title: Oxenfree
Developer: Night School Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox One
Price: $19.99
---
A group of teenagers. A weird crazy adventure. Otherworldly happenings. From E,T, and The Goonies to more recently Super 8, it's a story told quite a few times in film. Oxenfree continues that tradition, telling the story of five friends, a mysterious island, and malevolent forces.
Oxenfree is a narrative-driven adventure game about Alex, a teenager still suffering from a great loss, and a group of other seniors spending the night on Edwards Island: step-brother Jonas, friend Ren, quiet Nona, and "mean-girl" Clarissa. It's a long-honored tradition in the community, hanging out on the beach, by the bonfire, drinking. But emotional turmoil and burgeoning relationships all bubble beneath the fun and small talk, and it's your dialogue choices that can make or break friendships, build or shatter trust, among more life-threatening consequences.
The bonfire drinking and games of truth or slap soon morph into a life-and-death struggle to escape the island when insidious supernatural forces are awakened. The story of Oxenfree is best experienced as blind as possible, so I won't delve into the specifics, but it's a gripping tale of coming-of-age and supernatural horror.
You won't find puzzles in Oxenfree, besides using Alex's radio to tune into different frequencies, nor moments of fast-paced action. Oxenfree is a game about atmospheric exploration and dialogue, and it absolutely excels. The landscape of Edwards Island is one of quaint shops, of colorful forests tinged brown and yellow from the autumn weather, of sheer sea-side cliffs and dank caves, of abandoned buildings holding chilling secrets. The place is as much as character in Oxenfree as Alex and the other teens, and a joy to explore.
And every moment of exploration is accompanied by some of the most natural likable dialogue I've heard in a game. Natural not just in tone and cadence, but in execution. Oxenfree evolves the choice-driven narrative genre popularized by Telltale by adopting a walk-and-talk pacing, letting you choose dialogue while on the move or in the midst of other actions. From trying to rationalize terrifying occurrences to making jokes and revealing hurtful secrets, the choices never feel like the mechanical good/bad/neutral options of other games, but natural responses to the situations.
Those situations are tinged with menace and unnerving horror. Oxenfree never resorts to jump scares or gore to be scary; instead it builds an atmosphere of dread and unease, through weird scenarios, excellent sound design, and visual aberrations that morph and contort the soft inviting aesthetic. Like a Stephen King novel or Poltergeist, the horror comes from seeing these normal characters you're invested in facing cruel ruthless evil.
Oxenfree's story ranges from four to seven hours, varying based on how much you explore the island and its secrets. While I typically play these choice-driven narrative games only once, I'm compelled to play Oxenfree again. It was a story I didn't want to end, with characters I liked, and I'm excited to dive in again and see how the story can change with different choices.
Oxenfree is available on Steam, Humble, and Xbox One. A PS4 version is releasing later this year.
Developer: Night School Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Xbox One
Price: $19.99
---
A group of teenagers. A weird crazy adventure. Otherworldly happenings. From E,T, and The Goonies to more recently Super 8, it's a story told quite a few times in film. Oxenfree continues that tradition, telling the story of five friends, a mysterious island, and malevolent forces.
Oxenfree is a narrative-driven adventure game about Alex, a teenager still suffering from a great loss, and a group of other seniors spending the night on Edwards Island: step-brother Jonas, friend Ren, quiet Nona, and "mean-girl" Clarissa. It's a long-honored tradition in the community, hanging out on the beach, by the bonfire, drinking. But emotional turmoil and burgeoning relationships all bubble beneath the fun and small talk, and it's your dialogue choices that can make or break friendships, build or shatter trust, among more life-threatening consequences.
The bonfire drinking and games of truth or slap soon morph into a life-and-death struggle to escape the island when insidious supernatural forces are awakened. The story of Oxenfree is best experienced as blind as possible, so I won't delve into the specifics, but it's a gripping tale of coming-of-age and supernatural horror.
And every moment of exploration is accompanied by some of the most natural likable dialogue I've heard in a game. Natural not just in tone and cadence, but in execution. Oxenfree evolves the choice-driven narrative genre popularized by Telltale by adopting a walk-and-talk pacing, letting you choose dialogue while on the move or in the midst of other actions. From trying to rationalize terrifying occurrences to making jokes and revealing hurtful secrets, the choices never feel like the mechanical good/bad/neutral options of other games, but natural responses to the situations.
Those situations are tinged with menace and unnerving horror. Oxenfree never resorts to jump scares or gore to be scary; instead it builds an atmosphere of dread and unease, through weird scenarios, excellent sound design, and visual aberrations that morph and contort the soft inviting aesthetic. Like a Stephen King novel or Poltergeist, the horror comes from seeing these normal characters you're invested in facing cruel ruthless evil.
Oxenfree is available on Steam, Humble, and Xbox One. A PS4 version is releasing later this year.
Title: Swapperoo
Developer: Fallen Tree Games
Platforms: PC, IOS Universal
Price: $9.99 (PC), $2.99 (IOS)
---
I'm not the biggest fan of match-3 puzzlers outside of the genre hybrids like Hero Emblems and Puzzle Quest. So it was a nice surprise that I enjoyed Swapperoo as much as I did. Although, perhaps I should have expected it; Fallen Tree Games had proven themselves with the excellent series of Quell games and Swapperoo evolves the traditional match-3 formula in interesting ways to deliver a surprisingly strategic puzzler.
At its core, Swapperoo follows the same principals as any other match-3 game - connect three or more like items on a grid, removing those matched items from the grid, and so on - but that's where the similarities end. The first and most crucial change is that you only move certain tiles on the grid, and furthermore, only move these triangular tiles in the direction they're pointing. This change alone makes matching a strategic affair, requiring planning moves ahead and thinking if or how to move tiles around the grid,
But soon Swapperoo adds more elements into the mix. Each new addition introduces a new hazard or new caveat to the basic match-3 formula. Suddenly you have tiles that explode after a certain amount of turn, ending your game; now every move you make matters. Then you have sawblade tiles that destroy any tile they collide with; careless moves will throw your grid into chaos, but with planning and careful maneuvering, you can use the sawblade to clear the path for other tiles and set up some high-scoring matches.
And those two are only the start. Tiles that needed to be protected, tiles locked in place, and more continue to add new wrinkles and challenges to the puzzles. On top of those unique tiles, Swapperoo also gives you access to three special abilities, to be used at the most opportune moments: moving a specific tile in any direction, increasing the time on the bomb tiles, and completely detonating the grid. Powering-up these abilities require calculated matches, so each use shouldn't be wasted.
The game features both a hefty selection of handcrafted levels, with unique objectives ranging from simply making a certain number of matches to only making matches with specific tiles, and 38 randomized challenges to truly test your skills and offer long-term replay value.
Swapper is available on Steam, as well as IOS; an Android version is expected soon.
Developer: Fallen Tree Games
Platforms: PC, IOS Universal
Price: $9.99 (PC), $2.99 (IOS)
---
I'm not the biggest fan of match-3 puzzlers outside of the genre hybrids like Hero Emblems and Puzzle Quest. So it was a nice surprise that I enjoyed Swapperoo as much as I did. Although, perhaps I should have expected it; Fallen Tree Games had proven themselves with the excellent series of Quell games and Swapperoo evolves the traditional match-3 formula in interesting ways to deliver a surprisingly strategic puzzler.
At its core, Swapperoo follows the same principals as any other match-3 game - connect three or more like items on a grid, removing those matched items from the grid, and so on - but that's where the similarities end. The first and most crucial change is that you only move certain tiles on the grid, and furthermore, only move these triangular tiles in the direction they're pointing. This change alone makes matching a strategic affair, requiring planning moves ahead and thinking if or how to move tiles around the grid,
And those two are only the start. Tiles that needed to be protected, tiles locked in place, and more continue to add new wrinkles and challenges to the puzzles. On top of those unique tiles, Swapperoo also gives you access to three special abilities, to be used at the most opportune moments: moving a specific tile in any direction, increasing the time on the bomb tiles, and completely detonating the grid. Powering-up these abilities require calculated matches, so each use shouldn't be wasted.
The game features both a hefty selection of handcrafted levels, with unique objectives ranging from simply making a certain number of matches to only making matches with specific tiles, and 38 randomized challenges to truly test your skills and offer long-term replay value.
Title: Fictorum
Developer: Scraping Bottom Games
Platforms: PC
In development
---
Fictorum takes place in a world ravaged by a magical apocalypse that left millions dead and the land shrouded in a killing mist. The remnants of society have retreated to the highest peaks and travel by portals and ley lines to avoid the mist-choked lands. It's in this ruined civilization that you enter, the descendant of the infamous Fictorum, the order that destroyed the world. Hunted by the Inquisition, you travel from city to city, increasing your strength and embarking on a quest for vengeance.
While other games like Lichdom and Skyrim have featured flashy first-person magic, Fictorum turns each spells a spectacle of destruction. Ice spikes shear buildings in half. Lighting storms leave gaping holes in structures or reduce them to rubble. Houses are set aflame by streams of fire unleashed from your hands. Entire squads of enemy soldiers can be destroyed with a gesture, frozen solid or slaughtered by destructive explosives.
Fictorum lets you adapt and alter your spells in real-time through a unique spell-shaping mechanic. With a button press, time slows and you can select the attributes of each spell based on three pre-selected runes. A simple fireball can be changed to an explosive multi-shot blast or a focused attack to unleash increased damage on a single foe. Randomly-generated runes, artifacts, and equipment can further enhance the effects and potency of your magic.
Fictorum is currently in development; a Kickstarter is slated for May. You can learn more about the game and follows its progress on the main site and Twitter page.
Developer: Scraping Bottom Games
Platforms: PC
In development
---
Become a powerful mage in a world shattered by magicIn RPGs and other fantasy games, there's perhaps nothing more satisfying than unleashing mystical chaos on your enemies as a mage. In Dragon's Dogma, you can conjure tornadoes and call down meteors. In Magicka, you bend the elements to your whim. And Fictorum enhances that mage power fantasy by letting you adjust your spells on the fly and literally raze the environments to the ground with your magic.
Fictorum takes place in a world ravaged by a magical apocalypse that left millions dead and the land shrouded in a killing mist. The remnants of society have retreated to the highest peaks and travel by portals and ley lines to avoid the mist-choked lands. It's in this ruined civilization that you enter, the descendant of the infamous Fictorum, the order that destroyed the world. Hunted by the Inquisition, you travel from city to city, increasing your strength and embarking on a quest for vengeance.
Fictorum lets you adapt and alter your spells in real-time through a unique spell-shaping mechanic. With a button press, time slows and you can select the attributes of each spell based on three pre-selected runes. A simple fireball can be changed to an explosive multi-shot blast or a focused attack to unleash increased damage on a single foe. Randomly-generated runes, artifacts, and equipment can further enhance the effects and potency of your magic.
Title: Broken Puppet
Developer: iDec/UPF student team
Platforms: PC
---
I've played a lot of freeware games. Long before I started writing about games or checking out the more known, mainstream indies, it was freeware games from Digipen and various sites that introduced me into indies, from ASCII roguelikes to the neon futuristic cityscapes of Nitronic Rush, Broken Puppet has some of the most impressive visuals I've seen in a freeware game and, while featuring some janky controls and physics, offers a fun and atmospheric physics-based puzzle-action game.
Broken Pupper puts in the worn faded shoes of puppet Katherine, replaced by a new pupper performer and left in the forgotten shadows of the basement. But she is determined to return to the stage and must ascend through the dreary dilapidated levels to destroy her replacement.
The game centers its puzzles and action around using threads; threads act as both a grappling hook to pull objects or a tether that can connect two points. This allows you to knock down heavy cabinets to activate pressure plates, support broken bridges, and even fight the weird puppet enemies that roam the basements. Soldiers charge you with swords, spinsters collect the needles you fling, and other threat lurk.
But Broken Puppet's most impressive element is its atmospheric aesthetic, build with a custom engine rather than Unreal or Unity. The ruined halls, the dim industrial rooms, the eerie arrangements of discarded toys and parts make for an engrossing world to traverse through the game's six levels.
You can download Broken Puppet from IndieDB and GameJolt.
Developer: iDec/UPF student team
Platforms: PC
---
I've played a lot of freeware games. Long before I started writing about games or checking out the more known, mainstream indies, it was freeware games from Digipen and various sites that introduced me into indies, from ASCII roguelikes to the neon futuristic cityscapes of Nitronic Rush, Broken Puppet has some of the most impressive visuals I've seen in a freeware game and, while featuring some janky controls and physics, offers a fun and atmospheric physics-based puzzle-action game.
Broken Pupper puts in the worn faded shoes of puppet Katherine, replaced by a new pupper performer and left in the forgotten shadows of the basement. But she is determined to return to the stage and must ascend through the dreary dilapidated levels to destroy her replacement.
The game centers its puzzles and action around using threads; threads act as both a grappling hook to pull objects or a tether that can connect two points. This allows you to knock down heavy cabinets to activate pressure plates, support broken bridges, and even fight the weird puppet enemies that roam the basements. Soldiers charge you with swords, spinsters collect the needles you fling, and other threat lurk.
But Broken Puppet's most impressive element is its atmospheric aesthetic, build with a custom engine rather than Unreal or Unity. The ruined halls, the dim industrial rooms, the eerie arrangements of discarded toys and parts make for an engrossing world to traverse through the game's six levels.
Title: Sublevel Zero
Developer: SIGTRAP Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $14.99
---
The six-degrees of freedom subgenre of shooters had an illustrious start thanks to the Descent franchise, but in recent years, the genre has laid relatively dormant, not yet rising anew like the space sim and CRPG outside of minor titles such as NeonXSZ and Kromaia. But while the Kickstarter success of Descent Underground offers some competitive 6DOF action, Sublevel Zero blends the genre with the looming tension of a roguelike, to stellar results.
The story merely serves as a framework for the action. Reality has been crumbling for centuries, parts of the universe vanishing from existence and appearing elsewhere or not at all. The secrets to discovering why space-time has been torn asunder and saving the ravaged universe rests inside a mysterious facility.
Finding that secret won't be easy. Throughout cramped technological tunnels and lava-lit caverns where it's easy to lose your bearings to cavernous crystalline quarries, mechanical threats lurk at every turn. Enemies range from drifting slow-firing drones to wall-crawling tanks, and you can't take any lightly. Permadeath looms over every new room and every unknown corner, so each encounter must be tackled like it could be your last. An aggressive offense is the best defense here: deftly weaving between projectiles, boosting past enemies to spin around and unleash a storm of energy as they're turning to lock onto you,
Agility and speed will only get you so far in Sublevel Zero, and a vast arsenal awaits you. Autocannons and miniguns that fire out bullets at a lightning pace. Railguns, flamethrowers, devastating shredder shotguns. Grenades and homing rockets. Each weapons has unique stats - Marksman class being more accurate, Relentless having better firing rates and damage - and by combining two weapons, you can create a new weapon that inherits those two. This simple crafting system expands your array of weapons even more, unlocking powerful firepower like the ion beam, plasmacaster, homing missile swarm, magnetic explosives, and more.
Each weapon feels powerful and satisfying to use, tearing through the levels in overwhelming streaks of colorful energy. You never know what weapons you might come across, so improvising with what you have on head is key to survival. One minute, you might be a sniper taking out enemies from a distance with a railgun; later, you'll be softening up drones with lasers before boosting in to finish them off with a shredder blast.
But all those weapons wouldn't matter if Sublevel Zero's movement was as fun and responsive it is. Thrusting down its serpentine tunnels or flipping around a junction or retreating from a relentless ground of enemies is always satisfying and you always feel in control.
Sublevel Zero combines the claustrophobic tunnels and hectic action of Descent with the looming tension and unpredictable nature of the roguelite, each playthrough delivering reckless flights down tight corridors and relentless firepower. You can purchase Sublevel Zero on Steam, Humble, and GOG.
Developer: SIGTRAP Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $14.99
---
The six-degrees of freedom subgenre of shooters had an illustrious start thanks to the Descent franchise, but in recent years, the genre has laid relatively dormant, not yet rising anew like the space sim and CRPG outside of minor titles such as NeonXSZ and Kromaia. But while the Kickstarter success of Descent Underground offers some competitive 6DOF action, Sublevel Zero blends the genre with the looming tension of a roguelike, to stellar results.
The story merely serves as a framework for the action. Reality has been crumbling for centuries, parts of the universe vanishing from existence and appearing elsewhere or not at all. The secrets to discovering why space-time has been torn asunder and saving the ravaged universe rests inside a mysterious facility.
Finding that secret won't be easy. Throughout cramped technological tunnels and lava-lit caverns where it's easy to lose your bearings to cavernous crystalline quarries, mechanical threats lurk at every turn. Enemies range from drifting slow-firing drones to wall-crawling tanks, and you can't take any lightly. Permadeath looms over every new room and every unknown corner, so each encounter must be tackled like it could be your last. An aggressive offense is the best defense here: deftly weaving between projectiles, boosting past enemies to spin around and unleash a storm of energy as they're turning to lock onto you,
Each weapon feels powerful and satisfying to use, tearing through the levels in overwhelming streaks of colorful energy. You never know what weapons you might come across, so improvising with what you have on head is key to survival. One minute, you might be a sniper taking out enemies from a distance with a railgun; later, you'll be softening up drones with lasers before boosting in to finish them off with a shredder blast.
But all those weapons wouldn't matter if Sublevel Zero's movement was as fun and responsive it is. Thrusting down its serpentine tunnels or flipping around a junction or retreating from a relentless ground of enemies is always satisfying and you always feel in control.
Title: Flywrench
Developer: Messhof
Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: $9.99
---
Almost two years ago, I wrote about the allure of difficulty, how the looming challenge of roguelikes and hard-as-nails platformers offer a unique kind of satisfaction by demanding the utmost focus and skills from the player. How each failure sharpens your skills until you finally pull off that white-knuckle, honed-to-perfection finish. Flywrench encapsulates that perfectly, in a stylish psychedelic package.
In each stage, you guide a rectangle through claustrophobic gauntlets of gates, projectiles, rotating barriers, and more. Your default movement is a simple floating descent; flapping and flipping round out your moveset. While you only have three movements, they compliment each other, letting you pull of acrobatic evasive maneuvers with ease. You're always in control, especially once you master the feeling and physics of the movement. Learning how to time your flaps and flipping or the amount of upward movement you'll gain from each flap, and maintaining your momentum are all crucial to weave between the tricky array of hazards that Flywrench throws at you,
But evasion isn't the only thing you have to worry about. Each movement is color-coded - default being white, flapping is red, and flipping green - and you can only pass through same-colored barriers. This adds a slight puzzle element to Flywrench's precision flapping, as you figure out the best route through each level, when it's best to flap, flip, or float, when you need to act to build momentum or bleed off speed to fly around a corner at the perfect angle.
You might not reach the finish on your first attempt, nor your second or third or perhaps even your thirtieth. But Flywrench throws you right back to the start a split-second after each failure and like with the best in the genre, soon your losses start to feel less like losses and more like learning. With each reckless collision with a wall, you learn to slow down a second earlier to gracefully reverse direction and keep moving. Each crash into a spinning barrier trains you to flap earlier or later to better maintain control, or to flip now to ricochet at just the right angle to careen through a narrow passage a hair's-breadth from danger. Each loss improves your mastery over the controls, until perhaps you can enter a level for the first time, study the hectic arrangement of lines and color, and pull it off in a single flowing maneuver.
The aesthetic and music certainly make tackling Flywrench's challenges much more enjoyable. The game is pure spectacle of color and motion, as you leave a fluid trail of red and green and white in your wake, distorting the background with each movement. The soundtrack, with music from artists like Daedelus, Dntel, and Goodnight Cody, perfectly complements the arcade action. You might even find yourself flapping and flipping to the beat.
Rounding out its sizable selection of 170 levels with time trials, leaderboards, and even a level editor to craft your own gauntlets, Flywrench offers hours of content for the fans of the genre. Tight responsive controls, a colorfully minimalist aesthetic, and a rapid-fire pace that demands honed skills makes for an always tough but satisfying arcade experience.
You can purchase Flywrench on Steam.
---
The game is currently on sale for $6.49 (35% off) during the Steam Winter Sale.
Developer: Messhof
Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: $9.99
---
Almost two years ago, I wrote about the allure of difficulty, how the looming challenge of roguelikes and hard-as-nails platformers offer a unique kind of satisfaction by demanding the utmost focus and skills from the player. How each failure sharpens your skills until you finally pull off that white-knuckle, honed-to-perfection finish. Flywrench encapsulates that perfectly, in a stylish psychedelic package.
In each stage, you guide a rectangle through claustrophobic gauntlets of gates, projectiles, rotating barriers, and more. Your default movement is a simple floating descent; flapping and flipping round out your moveset. While you only have three movements, they compliment each other, letting you pull of acrobatic evasive maneuvers with ease. You're always in control, especially once you master the feeling and physics of the movement. Learning how to time your flaps and flipping or the amount of upward movement you'll gain from each flap, and maintaining your momentum are all crucial to weave between the tricky array of hazards that Flywrench throws at you,
But evasion isn't the only thing you have to worry about. Each movement is color-coded - default being white, flapping is red, and flipping green - and you can only pass through same-colored barriers. This adds a slight puzzle element to Flywrench's precision flapping, as you figure out the best route through each level, when it's best to flap, flip, or float, when you need to act to build momentum or bleed off speed to fly around a corner at the perfect angle.
The aesthetic and music certainly make tackling Flywrench's challenges much more enjoyable. The game is pure spectacle of color and motion, as you leave a fluid trail of red and green and white in your wake, distorting the background with each movement. The soundtrack, with music from artists like Daedelus, Dntel, and Goodnight Cody, perfectly complements the arcade action. You might even find yourself flapping and flipping to the beat.
You can purchase Flywrench on Steam.
---
The game is currently on sale for $6.49 (35% off) during the Steam Winter Sale.
Title: Clustertruck
Developer: Landfall Games
Platforms: PC
Releasing early 2016
---
Your goal in Clustertruck's levels is easier said than done: survive till the end. You're riding on the back of a massive truck convoy as it recklessly careens through the stages, crashing, tumbling, and jackknifing in glorious pile-ups. And through it all, you need to deftly run and leap through the physics-based vehicular chaos.
Planning your route through the mayhem would be tough even if that's all Clustertruck threw at you. But the levels themselves are just as hectic, ranging from dense forests and boulder-strewn deserts to multi-tiered crisscrossing roadways and passages between towering towers that threaten to crush you as they draw inward. Destructible structures crumble and litter the ground with debris. Laser grids slice the air and rotating obstacles offer only the narrowest of gaps to pass through, forcing you to time your leaps. Thankfully, you have trusty slow-motion to activate at those tense moments when you need to stick a landing or precisely angle your descent.
Clustertuck will include 100 hazard-filled levels across 10 different worlds, but if those aren't enough, there'll also be an endless mode to truly test your skills and even a level editor to design your own hellish highways.
Clustertuck is expected to release around April 2016. You can learn more about the game here and see a plethora of footage on the developer's Youtube page.
Developer: Landfall Games
Platforms: PC
Releasing early 2016
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Reach the end of each level without falling off trucks driven by terrible driversJumping. A whole stampede of trucks. Tight tracks and levels littered with obstacles. That formula is the DNA of upcoming first-person platformer Clustertruck. It's definitely a simple formula, but sometimes that's all you need for some chaotic over-the-top fun and Clustertruck looks like it delivers that in ample spades.
Planning your route through the mayhem would be tough even if that's all Clustertruck threw at you. But the levels themselves are just as hectic, ranging from dense forests and boulder-strewn deserts to multi-tiered crisscrossing roadways and passages between towering towers that threaten to crush you as they draw inward. Destructible structures crumble and litter the ground with debris. Laser grids slice the air and rotating obstacles offer only the narrowest of gaps to pass through, forcing you to time your leaps. Thankfully, you have trusty slow-motion to activate at those tense moments when you need to stick a landing or precisely angle your descent.
Clustertuck will include 100 hazard-filled levels across 10 different worlds, but if those aren't enough, there'll also be an endless mode to truly test your skills and even a level editor to design your own hellish highways.
Title: Planet Nomads
Developer: Craneballs
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
In development
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Sprawling deserts, freezing tundras, colorful wilderness...Planet Nomads is home to all manner of biomes and dangerous fauna. Supplies are slight and your only hope of surviving is to construct a space ship and get off this isolated planet. Thankfully, you have the engineering skills to make those plans a reality. With gathered resources and tools, you can construct bases and outposts, powerful defenses, and new equipment. But the most versatile tool is a mobile one: building whatever vehicle you can imagine to travel the planet.
The developers released the Editor a while ago and it's complex, deep, and surprisingly user-friendly. Essentially, it's Space Engineers for land-bound vehicles. Nodes, armor, wheels, control modules, weapons, and much more lets you construct everything from simple buggies and tanks to gargantuan sandcrawlers complete with helipads or even a recreation of the War Rig from Mad Max. But your best option is a mobile base, a self-sufficient home on wheels.
You'll need every piece of armor and weapon, because the worlds in Planet Nomads are not friendly. Subzero temperatures are a constant threat in icy regions. Meteor showers bombard the surface. Fierce predators lurk everywhere, from hulking beasts to massive worms lying in wait underground.
Planet Nomads is coming to Kickstarter in January, with a playable alpha expected to be ready by the summer. You can download the Editor here and learn more about the game on its main site.
Developer: Craneballs
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
In development
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Go further and become a true planet nomad – put all your energy into mastercrafting a huge self-sufficient mobile fortress with all the facilities needed to survive on the roadBoth the survival genre and the building genre has grown incredibly popular in recent years. From Ark to DayZ, Space Engineers to Besiege, there's a plethora of titles for fans of the genres to enjoy. The upcoming Planet Nomads combines the strengths of those genres into a single sci-fi package, as you construct vehicles and bases to survive hostile worlds.
The developers released the Editor a while ago and it's complex, deep, and surprisingly user-friendly. Essentially, it's Space Engineers for land-bound vehicles. Nodes, armor, wheels, control modules, weapons, and much more lets you construct everything from simple buggies and tanks to gargantuan sandcrawlers complete with helipads or even a recreation of the War Rig from Mad Max. But your best option is a mobile base, a self-sufficient home on wheels.
You'll need every piece of armor and weapon, because the worlds in Planet Nomads are not friendly. Subzero temperatures are a constant threat in icy regions. Meteor showers bombard the surface. Fierce predators lurk everywhere, from hulking beasts to massive worms lying in wait underground.
Title: Devouring Stars
Developer: Nerial
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, IOS Universal
Price: $9,99 (Steam), $4.99 (IOS)
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You've waged war on land, air, and sea. And more than a few real time strategy and tactical games take place in space. But in Devouring Stars, your conflicts don't just occur among the cosmos. Here, the cosmos are your weapons, as you wield the stars themselves in a war between celestial forces.
As a cosmic being far beyond mortal comprehension, you challenge the might of other cosmic factions among the nebula clouds and black abyss. Devouring Stars's gameplay is relatively simple: gather resources to strengthen your units, capture the enemy's portal, and escape the stage. But simple doesn't mean easy, and there's an array of mechanics and complexities that make Devouring Stars stand out.
While it may be an RTS, the game strips back the complex base and building systems of other titles in the genre in favor of a more minimalist approach. Stars act as resources for both you and your enemies, and there's only a finite amount on each battlefield, forcing you to assess the stage and decide when and where to gather cosmic energy.
Each star gathered makes your units stronger, but strength isn't always enough to emerge victorious. Before each mission, you're able to select a small group of units to bring into battle, compared to the typical RTS method of spawning units during battle. This challenges you to consider what strategy you plan on using and choosing which units best suit your plan of attack. While that mechanic may seem limiting, Devouring Stars' units are more versatile than they may first seem.
By combining two units, you can create a single, more powerful unit. These celestial warriors not only gain increased stats that could boost their movement or their efficiency at absorbing stars, but also have unique abilities that can turn the tide of battle. Your merged units can do everything from teleporting short distances to freezing opponents in their tracks, to unleashing powerful ranged attacks or achieve damaging critical hits.
Devouring Stars may lack the bombastic spectacle of other real time strategy games like Planetary Annihilation and Supreme Commander, but what it lacks in bombast, it makes up for in beauty. Battles in Devouring Stars are dances of swirling particles and flashing color as stars and galaxies become weapons of the gods. It's always satisfying to watch.
Devouring Stars is available on Steam, and recently released on IOS. You can learn more about the game here.
Developer: Nerial
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, IOS Universal
Price: $9,99 (Steam), $4.99 (IOS)
---
You've waged war on land, air, and sea. And more than a few real time strategy and tactical games take place in space. But in Devouring Stars, your conflicts don't just occur among the cosmos. Here, the cosmos are your weapons, as you wield the stars themselves in a war between celestial forces.
As a cosmic being far beyond mortal comprehension, you challenge the might of other cosmic factions among the nebula clouds and black abyss. Devouring Stars's gameplay is relatively simple: gather resources to strengthen your units, capture the enemy's portal, and escape the stage. But simple doesn't mean easy, and there's an array of mechanics and complexities that make Devouring Stars stand out.
While it may be an RTS, the game strips back the complex base and building systems of other titles in the genre in favor of a more minimalist approach. Stars act as resources for both you and your enemies, and there's only a finite amount on each battlefield, forcing you to assess the stage and decide when and where to gather cosmic energy.
By combining two units, you can create a single, more powerful unit. These celestial warriors not only gain increased stats that could boost their movement or their efficiency at absorbing stars, but also have unique abilities that can turn the tide of battle. Your merged units can do everything from teleporting short distances to freezing opponents in their tracks, to unleashing powerful ranged attacks or achieve damaging critical hits.
Devouring Stars may lack the bombastic spectacle of other real time strategy games like Planetary Annihilation and Supreme Commander, but what it lacks in bombast, it makes up for in beauty. Battles in Devouring Stars are dances of swirling particles and flashing color as stars and galaxies become weapons of the gods. It's always satisfying to watch.
Title: Far
Developer: Mr. Whale's Game Service
Platforms: PC, Mac
In development
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Far takes place on the floor of an evaporated ocean, now just a pale desolate wasteland where beached ships rust and once-water-locked structures now lay exposed to the elements. You're a lone traveler, crossing this landscape in an large all-terrain vehicle. But driving that vehicle isn't as simple as holding down accelerate and moving forward. Reminiscent of the recent Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime. the vehicle interior is a level itself, divided into different sections with their own critical functions.
As you roll across the seemingly endless desert, engine coughing out black smoke, you'll need to contend with various hardships and dangers, from weather to the landscape itself. Managing your resources is crucial for traveling; fuel must be gathered from debris found outside, the engine must be keep cool or run the risk of overheating. Unfurling a large sail lets you converse fuel by catching the wind, but if all else fails, you can always drag the vehicle forward yourself. You will traverse this wasteland, whatever it takes.
Far is expected to release next year. You can learn more about the game here and the developer's Twitter page.
Developer: Mr. Whale's Game Service
Platforms: PC, Mac
In development
---
Control an extraordinary vehicle across the endless desert of a dried out seaSome game titles sum up their theme in a single word. Journey. Soma. Limbo. Far is all about a long lonesome journey, to some faraway place across the sprawling expanse of sea-floor desert.
As you roll across the seemingly endless desert, engine coughing out black smoke, you'll need to contend with various hardships and dangers, from weather to the landscape itself. Managing your resources is crucial for traveling; fuel must be gathered from debris found outside, the engine must be keep cool or run the risk of overheating. Unfurling a large sail lets you converse fuel by catching the wind, but if all else fails, you can always drag the vehicle forward yourself. You will traverse this wasteland, whatever it takes.
Title: Rise & Shine
Developer: Super Mega Team
Platforms: PC, Consoles
Mid 2016
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Rise & Shine is a side-scrolling mix of action and puzzles, as you take cover, blow away your enemies, and explore a world of game characters and tropes. The combat and exploration pops with color and charm, thanks to the game's vibrant hand-drawn artstyle.
I was able to try out a recent Rise & Shine press demo, showcasing an early level, and the blend of shooting and bullet-based puzzling was a fun and unique experience.
Combat in Rise & Shine is hectic but also deliberate. Cover shields you from projectiles, letting you time your shots and choose how to handle an encounter, which enemies to deal with first, and such. But it isn't all careful cover shooting; double-jumping and dashing around onslaughts of grenades, missiles, and sprays of bullets is just as important if you want to survive.
Your gun Shine isn't just useful offensively, but solving the game's puzzles as well. A wide array of bullet modifiers are available, from remote-controlled rounds to electric bullets that can disable robots and charge machinery, While those bullets allow you to take on enemies in different ways, they also allow for a variety of puzzle types. One challenge might have you weaving a bullet through remote-control fields to reach a button or hit hard-to-reach switches as you navigate gates
Rise & Shine already features satisfying gunplay and gorgeous art, and the mechanics have the potential for tricky puzzles and challenging bosses. You can learn about Rise & Shine on the game's site and TIGSource devlog.
Developer: Super Mega Team
Platforms: PC, Consoles
Mid 2016
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Think of a more arcadey Another World, also with a very tight relationship between gameplay and storyIn a word of game characters and digital threats, you're the only hope. Wielding the powerful handcannon Shine, young Rise must venture out into the war-ravaged landscapes and destroy enemy hordes and towering bosses in the upcoming Rise & Shine.
Rise & Shine is a side-scrolling mix of action and puzzles, as you take cover, blow away your enemies, and explore a world of game characters and tropes. The combat and exploration pops with color and charm, thanks to the game's vibrant hand-drawn artstyle.
I was able to try out a recent Rise & Shine press demo, showcasing an early level, and the blend of shooting and bullet-based puzzling was a fun and unique experience.
Your gun Shine isn't just useful offensively, but solving the game's puzzles as well. A wide array of bullet modifiers are available, from remote-controlled rounds to electric bullets that can disable robots and charge machinery, While those bullets allow you to take on enemies in different ways, they also allow for a variety of puzzle types. One challenge might have you weaving a bullet through remote-control fields to reach a button or hit hard-to-reach switches as you navigate gates
Title: Glitchspace
Developer: Space Budgie
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $12.99
---
While some games like Hacknet and Uplink present relatively realistic focus on manipulating systems and code, many revolve around a more game-y form of programming, from Gunpoint's Crosslink to Spacechem's chemistry veneer. Glitchspace combines first-person puzzle platforming with a sleek visual programming mechanic.
Glitchspace drops you into a minimalist expanse of floating architecture and portals. As you traverse the levels, new programming mechanics are unlocking, allowing you to manipulate the properties of red platforms. As a platformer, Glitchspace is simple; you won't need split-second reflexes to jump across gaps or ride along moving objects. But where Glitchspace excels is putting the power to manipulate the world at your fingertips, through its clean visual programming interface.
Altering physics, editing logic, transferring momentum to objects, and much more is possible through Glitchspace's programming. The interface is presented through a simple-to-navigate menu of linking nodes, divided into sections such as Math, Vectors, and Logic. Combining nodes lets you turn a platform into a powerful trampoline, edit a passing object out of existence, or even change your own properties.
From exploring the game's odd stages to mastering the programming puzzles in both the campaign and Sandbox mode, Glitchspace is easily my favorite in the genre. The interface is simple to use and easy to understand, and there's something quite satisfying about seeing the effects of your manipulation in real-time, as platforms shift and change or launch you through the air. Exploring with the programming possibilities in Sandbox shows the potential depth for challenging and complex puzzles, especially when you find yourself drifting through the world because you made a platform disable the effects of gravity.
Glitchspace was completely revamped in a recent Alpha 2.0 update, improving everything from the art style to level progression and the look of the programming interface, and the game continues to grow on Early Access. The developers are currently working on a better tutorial, a level editor, and crafting new challenges.
Glitchspace is available on Steam, itch.io, and IndieGameStand.
Developer: Space Budgie
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $12.99
---
While some games like Hacknet and Uplink present relatively realistic focus on manipulating systems and code, many revolve around a more game-y form of programming, from Gunpoint's Crosslink to Spacechem's chemistry veneer. Glitchspace combines first-person puzzle platforming with a sleek visual programming mechanic.
Glitchspace drops you into a minimalist expanse of floating architecture and portals. As you traverse the levels, new programming mechanics are unlocking, allowing you to manipulate the properties of red platforms. As a platformer, Glitchspace is simple; you won't need split-second reflexes to jump across gaps or ride along moving objects. But where Glitchspace excels is putting the power to manipulate the world at your fingertips, through its clean visual programming interface.
From exploring the game's odd stages to mastering the programming puzzles in both the campaign and Sandbox mode, Glitchspace is easily my favorite in the genre. The interface is simple to use and easy to understand, and there's something quite satisfying about seeing the effects of your manipulation in real-time, as platforms shift and change or launch you through the air. Exploring with the programming possibilities in Sandbox shows the potential depth for challenging and complex puzzles, especially when you find yourself drifting through the world because you made a platform disable the effects of gravity.
Glitchspace was completely revamped in a recent Alpha 2.0 update, improving everything from the art style to level progression and the look of the programming interface, and the game continues to grow on Early Access. The developers are currently working on a better tutorial, a level editor, and crafting new challenges.
Title: Who Must Die
Developer: Antoinusitos
Platforms: PC
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Who Must Die is a polished and eerie puzzle/adventure game that, in the vein of recent releases Her Story and Contradiction, uses full motion video to great effect.
Designed for the Epic Game Game Jam, the premise is simple. A bank of monitors, three subjects, and one of them is infected with a disease. From your control room, you must figure out which person is the carrier...and kill him.
Learning who's infected and who's not involves using various stimuli on the subjects and closely watching their reactions on the monsters, using info and clues in the station to look out for key behaviors. It's unique, compelling, and a smart use of FMV, given the game a realistic voyeuristic atmosphere that graphics alone couldn't have accomplished.
Who Must Die is available to download on itch.io.
Developer: Antoinusitos
Platforms: PC
---
Who Must Die is a polished and eerie puzzle/adventure game that, in the vein of recent releases Her Story and Contradiction, uses full motion video to great effect.
Designed for the Epic Game Game Jam, the premise is simple. A bank of monitors, three subjects, and one of them is infected with a disease. From your control room, you must figure out which person is the carrier...and kill him.
Who Must Die is available to download on itch.io.
Title: The Last Shore
Developer: Pulpo Games
Platforms: PC, Mac
Releasing mid 2016
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The Last Shore drops you in a vast randomized sea, filled with islands, towns, dungeons, and other locations. From vine-choked temples to towering mountains, each island is unique, offering dungeons, monsters, puzzles to solve, or items to gather. The sea is just as varied, featuring both calm waters and massive underwater monsters to avoid during your travels. Sailing across the ocean is a mechanic to be explored and mastered.
To face the gods and other beasts, you'll be able to equip powerful weapons, from the bow of Artemis to a sword of light found deep within Ares' volcano. Combat looks to be fast and focused on deft evasion and precisely timed attacks.
Text is sparse in The Last Shore's tale of adventure and adversity. Instead, its narrative is told through the environment, animations and music, and the game's vibrant pixel art.
The Last Shore is slated for a mid-2016 release and is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter. You can learn more about the game here.
Developer: Pulpo Games
Platforms: PC, Mac
Releasing mid 2016
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A girl must sail across the ocean, visiting islands and collecting powerful artifacts, to confront the gods and save her familyInspired by games like Zelda, Shadow of the Colossus, and Proteus, The Last Shore is an adventure across an ocean fraught with monsters and mysteries. Wielding blade and bow, you guide a young woman on a seafaring journey to defeat the gods.
The Last Shore drops you in a vast randomized sea, filled with islands, towns, dungeons, and other locations. From vine-choked temples to towering mountains, each island is unique, offering dungeons, monsters, puzzles to solve, or items to gather. The sea is just as varied, featuring both calm waters and massive underwater monsters to avoid during your travels. Sailing across the ocean is a mechanic to be explored and mastered.
Text is sparse in The Last Shore's tale of adventure and adversity. Instead, its narrative is told through the environment, animations and music, and the game's vibrant pixel art.
Title: Rejection
Developer: qwerty
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
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You awaken in a dark futuristic room. Lights power up, consoles rise from the ground, screens appear on the walls. In Rejection, you need figure out how to escape before it all resets.
The game's itch.io page recommends that you have a paper and pen at hand; this is that kind of puzzle game. Each console has an array of colored buttons, and figuring out the proper pattern from the surrounding screen is the only to get out. It's tricky, satisfying when the clues and solutions finally click, and features an uninviting Alien-esque atmosphere, due its retro sci-fi tech and aesthetic.
Developer: qwerty
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
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You awaken in a dark futuristic room. Lights power up, consoles rise from the ground, screens appear on the walls. In Rejection, you need figure out how to escape before it all resets.
Rejection is available to download from itch.io.
Title: Killers and Thieves
Developer: Candle & Key
Platforms: PC
Releasing 2016
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From Mark of the Ninja and The Swindle to Gunpoint, Ronin, and even This War of Mine, 2D stealth is flourishing. The upcoming Killers and Thieves will add to that growing list with its blend of thief guild management and medieval heists.
In Killers and Thieves, you don't simply control a single thief, but maintain an expanding guild in a city of skilled rivals and houses waiting to be looted. From your tavern hideout, you can plan heists. recruit new talent and upgrade your thieves, and can further expand with new additions such as the spymaster room. Each thief is unique, with special abilities and attributes, both positive and negative. One might be able to scale the outside of buildings, while another might be able to slink into the shadows more effectively.
From the hideout, thieves can be sent out on missions or controlled directly, taking a team of up to four into the dark city streets. Rather than offering a single building to pilfer. an excursion in Killers and Thieves features an entire procedurally-generated street with several buildings, allowing you to leap across rooftops for a better entry or scout from above.
Developer Candle & Key plans for the gameplay to be a tactical experience with an emphasis on interlocking systems. You'll be able to pause the game to precisely queue actions for your team of thieves. A poorly-planned move might result in a thief captured by guards, but you'll still have the opportunity to rescue your partner before he's carted off to prison. And if all else fails, the skilled killers on your team can resort to bloody violence to fend off alerted guards.
But you're not the only faction active in the city; rival guilds and the authorities are an ever-present threat, tempting members to betray your guild or seeking out your hideout. Expanding your successful thief guilds means keeping your members well-paid, attempting more daring, more lucrative heists, and maintaining a low profile.
Killers and Thieves is currently in development; an Early Access release is slated for early 2016. You can learn more about the game and follow its progress here.
Developer: Candle & Key
Platforms: PC
Releasing 2016
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Control a feudal thieves' guild, preying on the riches of an old and corrupt city
In Killers and Thieves, you don't simply control a single thief, but maintain an expanding guild in a city of skilled rivals and houses waiting to be looted. From your tavern hideout, you can plan heists. recruit new talent and upgrade your thieves, and can further expand with new additions such as the spymaster room. Each thief is unique, with special abilities and attributes, both positive and negative. One might be able to scale the outside of buildings, while another might be able to slink into the shadows more effectively.
Developer Candle & Key plans for the gameplay to be a tactical experience with an emphasis on interlocking systems. You'll be able to pause the game to precisely queue actions for your team of thieves. A poorly-planned move might result in a thief captured by guards, but you'll still have the opportunity to rescue your partner before he's carted off to prison. And if all else fails, the skilled killers on your team can resort to bloody violence to fend off alerted guards.
Killers and Thieves is currently in development; an Early Access release is slated for early 2016. You can learn more about the game and follow its progress here.
Title: Song of Horror
Developer: Protocol Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One
Releasing 2017
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Song of Horror is a survival horror game that promises to blend the old-school fixed angle horror of classic Resident Evil and Alone In The Dark with a modern approach. You control the fates of 16 characters, all haunted and stalked by an insidious eldritch Presence, a cast of normal men and women against an ancient cunning evil.
While the characters in Song of Horror are weaponless, they aren't defenseless. You can run, and hide, slow its advance, avoid its shadowy clutches by carefully watching and listening for clues, But if the Presence does kill you, the story isn't over. Similar to games like Heavy Rain and Until Dawn, Song of Horror features a narrative that molds around character deaths.
I was able to try out an early demo of the game, featuring the first chapter set in the Husher Mansion. (Each chapter takes place in a different location.) For a game that still at least two years away, Song of Horror already feels polished and promising. Don't expect many jump scares; the tension and dread here comes from knowing you're not alone; that you're being stalked by a force that can kill you in a moment anywhere anytime; that can't be stopped, only slowed and avoided. The experience is one of measured pacing, cautious careful exploration, and moments of desperate flight as you try to outrun and delay the Presence.
Song of Horror is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter, and is expected to release in mid 2017. You can learn more about the game here; the demo should be releasing publicly soon.
Developer: Protocol Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One
Releasing 2017
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Story-driven third person survival horrorDeveloper Protocol Games first revealed Song of Horror earlier this year. Unfortunately, their first attempt on Kickstarter failed, but now the game is back, Greenlit on Steam and slated for consoles, and looking even more terrifying.
Song of Horror is a survival horror game that promises to blend the old-school fixed angle horror of classic Resident Evil and Alone In The Dark with a modern approach. You control the fates of 16 characters, all haunted and stalked by an insidious eldritch Presence, a cast of normal men and women against an ancient cunning evil.
I was able to try out an early demo of the game, featuring the first chapter set in the Husher Mansion. (Each chapter takes place in a different location.) For a game that still at least two years away, Song of Horror already feels polished and promising. Don't expect many jump scares; the tension and dread here comes from knowing you're not alone; that you're being stalked by a force that can kill you in a moment anywhere anytime; that can't be stopped, only slowed and avoided. The experience is one of measured pacing, cautious careful exploration, and moments of desperate flight as you try to outrun and delay the Presence.
