Have to start somewhere, so let’s kick this one off with a bunch of alpha/beta updates as plenty of stuff got patched recently.
A Valley Without Wind and AI War
I really need to get around to trying the demo a bit more, so I can put impressions about it on my blog.. anyway, A Valley Without Wind got updated to 0.572 which was quickly, just like last week, followed by a bugfix patch in 0.573. Sounds like pretty exciting stuff, as the entire interface supposedly got a massive overhaul along with.. enchants! Which, based on the changelog, act more like permanent buffs – still, fun stuff!
Arcen Games also patched their AI War beta to 5.024, but that’s one I’m gonna wait for a non-beta release before trying (I only have so much time after all).
Ballikin
From beta to alpha updates, next up is Ballikin, which appearantly is a mix between Minecraft, Diablo, Terraria and World of Warcraft (eh.. what?!). If anything, it does look interesting and this past week it went through alpha 19 to alpha 20. Feel free to give it a go, seeing how it’s a free download – provided you’re a Windows user that is..
Epic Inventor
Continuing the flood of game updates, this week we have a frequent visitor: Epic Inventor! The update to 0.6.4 is mostly about bugfixes, but a few items were added too. Quite the impressive little project this one is turning out to be.. oh and, it’s free!
Legend of Grimrock
Next up is a dev update on a game that I’m sure no one is surprised to find, here in my WIU: Legend of Grimrock. Those expecting a ramble about new details revealed this week, are going to be disappointed though. Instead, the team gave everyone a mission in the form of a compatibility test; which by the looks of things got a lot of feedback!
Some Joystiq..
That’s it for updates and patches, but we’re far from done.. Dungeon Defenders have become quite the popular title, as it just hit a million sales (source: Joystiq) and seemingly on an indie roll, Joystiq announced that the popular tower defense title Sanctum, is getting a sequel in 2013; it won’t be PC exclusive either! Good news for 360 and PS3 owners, but personally I’m keeping that genre on my PC.
A Game of Dwarves
There’s but one final bit before I go over this week’s releases, and that’s an upcoming game by the name of A Game of Dwarves. What about it, you say? Well, I completely forgot about it last week, when part 1 of the developer diary went up, with part 2 this week and I must say.. this is definitely one to watch.
Enough rambling! It’s time for a rundown of this week’s releases, followed by the lists:
Amp, Watts & Circuits (PC demo)
Ever wanted to play with electricity in a safe environment, filled with puzzles, good graphics and some very unique characters? Then do check out the Amp, Watts & Circuit demo on Indie DB. It reminds me of The Lost Vikings in a way, since here you also control three characters each with their own special ability required to get past certain obstacles.
Driftmoon (PC demo)
From puzzle to RPG, Driftmoon also saw a demo release this week and a rather lengthy one at that. “The long demo comes with our powerful editor & mod-sharing system, along with all of the currently released mods”. Something tells me they’re hoping to build a strong community soon after the game’s release, by giving everyone a taste of the editor while they wrap up development. Only time will tell if that’ll actually happen.
Abobo’s Big Adventure (PC, free downloadable)
“The ultimate tribute to the NES” is how the developer describes it, and they’re not even joking: It has stages that’s almost taken straight out of Double Dragon, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, enemies from games like Kung-Fu Master and boss battles with a Mortal Kombat twist.. it may sound crazy, but the thing is.. yeah okay, it is crazy, but it’s also a lot of fun! So do yourself a nostalgic favor and grab this one.
Shank 2 (PC/360/PS3)
It’s the sequel to the critically acclaimed stylish 2D brawler, released back in 2010 and here’s the launch trailer. I originally intented to include it in the lists, but considering the staggering amount of sites that have gone through this one already.. no, including that would be overkill. I am currently playing through the first game though.. so maybe.. sometime next week.. you’ll see.
Interviews:
- Big Red Barrel – RichMakeGame (Pineapple Smash Crew)
- GamerNode – Dan Pinchbeck (Dear Esther)
- Indie Game Magazine – Ido Yehieli (Cardinal Quest)
Reviews:
- Unstoppable Gorg (PC/Mac/iPad)
- Fortune Summoners – Secret of the Elemental Stone (PC)
- Katana Land (XBLIG)
- Pineapple Smash Crew (PC)