The Ambitious Heroes of a Broken Land

Heroes of a Broken Land is despite its retro graphics a very ambitious project that resembles a mixture of many loved genres, from dungeon crawling to role-playing and strategy games, while almost all of its elements will be randomly generated for each play through. Its story puts you in the shoes of a mighty wizard who although trapped in a crystal has survived a terrible disaster that split the world in many pieces of land. To restore it he will first have to assemble the magical object that caused this, something that due to his present state is impossible for himself and for which he will be using the strength of recruited parties of heroes. Having just tried the game I can say that it really feels like a long lost classic title of the 90s whose fans would definitely still fondly remember.

Celebrate the Festival of Magic

Festival of Magic is an under development role-playing game by SnowCastle Games, a small independent studio established in Norway. I've been watching it develop since the previous year and I can safely say that it's been showing tremendous progress and has already reached the level of a professional production as it appears to be full of character and gameplay depth, the latter not only aiming to offer thrilling adventures in mystical worlds with battles and riddles to solve, but also farming simulation elements as through these players will be resupplied with useful items and ammo. The first episode of the game will be released next year but for now you can watch a recent video presenting many of its features via good old fashioned gameplay.

The Rain Begins with a Raindrop

Raindrop is a first person horror adventure. Unlike titles like Amnesia that it might seem to resemble, it will throw you in a large, open and very dangerous world where you will have to survive using items found or crafted by yourself, and of course solve riddles. For now this is essentially all that is known about it, but a second teaser has just been published and while it may not show too much the game already seems rather impressive, especially for an independent production of this sort. Enjoy it.

Metroid + Monkey Island = The Fall

As you can probably tell this is a game set to contain action, exploration and riddles that require interaction with the environment and objects, all of it presented in lush 2D. Its plot will give you the role of an artificial intelligence that takes control of a high tech combat suit whose unconscious owner you will be protecting. Unfortunately, you must also obey functionality rules that often hinder your progress and you need to inventively work around. For example in the gameplay video below you will see that by purposefully putting the life of the pilot in danger you will enable an emergency condition and gain access to previously locked functions.

Βeyond Eyes Looks Dreamy

Beyond Εyes will be an exploration game in which you have control of a young girl who happens to have lost her sight. The disappearance of her small friend, a cat that visited her every day, will be the incentive she needs to set out into the world, which will in your eyes gradually take form under her footsteps, after her touch or via the various sounds she hears. It's a game with a unique, pleasant artistic direction, as you will see in the first footage below.

Light: Metal Gear What?

Update:  A crowd funding Kickstarter campaign is now live, with a base goal of £20.000. The lowest tier awarding backers with the game is now £10 (which is about 12€, the £8 tier was limited and now out of stock). Check out the campaign page for more information about it.

Original report: Light is an upcoming game for Windows, Mac and Linux with minimalistic graphics and a top down view, yet strategic gameplay assigning players with targets they will only reach by avoiding guards and hacking computers that change the environment to their advantage. Although it's currently in an early alpha phase it already appears to be a serious entry in this beloved genre.

Contagion: A Source Based Zombie Game

Update: A crowd funding campaign for the game is now live. The base goal is $50.000 and the lowest tier awarding backers with the game upon its release is $10 (about 7,50€). A detailed gameplay overview video explaining various mechanics and showing off some rather polished features marks the occasion. It's certainly worth watching and may just convince some of you to help the project.

Voidnex: Frontier's Spiffy New Look

Space themed video games seem to be making a glorious comeback and Voidnex: Frontier has a different take on the subject. While the developers don't seem to explicitly describe it as such focusing instead on the strategic aspects, for now it appears to resemble a space RPG, the story mode of which will see you guiding your fleet through the universe in a race towards the fabled galactic core where fame and fortune await, while setting up trading networks and engaging in turn based battles as you establish your very own financial empire on the way there. A unique sandbox mode will also be included providing a procedurally generated quest line, while the game's features go as in-depth as the ability to recruit, train and assign ships to individual crew members. The project is, if nothing else, ambitious. The latest video showcasing its updated visuals and combat engine however shows it could be a lot more than that.

 

The Charmingly Tactical Halfway

The independent team Robotality is developing a new strategy title set to release for Windows, Linux and Mac and pit you against an alien threat that has invaded your spaceship. While playing you will need to explore its claustrophobia inducing areas and try to survive by strategically using your squad, to which new members you meet will be added. The game is turn based and each member of the crew will accept 6 basic commands, from moving and attacking to using items and personal skills. On your way you will also discover details of a story that reveals how and what exactly happened. For now, enjoy the first footage that through an early alpha displays the basics of the combat.

Incognita: Turn Based Stealth

Incognita by the independent Klei Entertainment, developers of acclaimed games like Mark of the Ninja among many others, is a turn based strategy game with a twist. It initially seems to resemble XCOM with slick 2D visuals yet it is focused on the stealthy tactics employed by a small team of agents with different skills as they infiltrate target areas and in tandem complete objectives.

Steam Marines: The First Commercial Version

Steam Marines is a science fiction roguelike with a twist as players will have to fight against hordes of aliens and robots, within levels that are randomly generated every time, by strategically utilizing the skills of not only one character but a whole four-member squad of space marines, alongside all the items they can find. The game was previously free but its developers have decided that the latest version if the point to start charging (for now $4,99 which is 4€) for the privilege of the entertainment it can offer. Watch the new trailer released for its promotion and download the versions offered as a demo before deciding if you agree.

 

Descent + Quake + Diablo = NeonXSZ

Τhat's the rather bizarre formula the developers of NeonXSZ claim to have used, combining elements from all of these legendary yet very different games in order to offer a new action packed sandbox experience. Utilizing the famous six degrees of freedom it will thrust you into a procedurally generated world with four warring factions and yourself making your destiny by choosing your missions while enhancing your favorite ship with 700 different upgrades and many more weapons.

The Curse Lives

Curse started a few years ago as a Half-Life 2 mod. With a setting inspired by ancient Egypt it offered a first person adventure where combat was secondary to exploration and solving environmental puzzles. The creators now utilize the Unity Engine to redefine the experience as a full game for Windows and Mac, where a dead Pharaoh attempts to discover the truth behind a myth concerning immortality. The first teaser of this new direction is here.

Mighty No. 9: Mega Man Who?

Capcom may have been disappointing fans of the blue robot but the (among many other achievements) creator of the series Keiji Inafune wishes to please them. With his company comcept and an all star team of veterans with tradition in Mega Man games he has started a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign with the goal of developing Mighty No. 9, an all new yet familiar side scrolling action game.

GODUS Coming to Steam Early Access

GODUS is a "God game" by 22Cans and famous creator Peter Molyneux. Funded via Kickstarter, it succeeds classics like Populous and at the same time moves forward and offers an (if you desire it) online experience where many players will be able to cooperate or compete while developing their civilizations. Even though the game will be released for Windows, Linux, Mac, iOS and Android, Windows and Mac owners will be the first to play it through Steam Early Access which starting from the 13th of September will offer an early beta version (naturally with every subsequent update until the full release) for 18,99€. For now make the wait easier, or perhaps harder, by watching the announcement trailer after the jump.

Pulsar: Lost Colony, a Promising Starship Simulator

Update: The developers of Pulsar: Lost Colony on a weekly basis upload development progress videos. I won't be writing about all of them but today's footage deserves a mention as it includes (starting from roughly three minutes in) the first sample of planet surface exploration. Despite the early development phase it already looks fairly solid and therefor makes a lot of promises about the game's future.

Neverending Nightmares' Sketchy Horrors

Update: The Kickstarter funding campaign of this project is now live with a not too modest goal of $99.000. The lowest tiers that reward supporters with the game are $10 (about 7,50€) for 750 early birds and $15 (about 11,25€) for everyone else, with many more higher tiers providing additional goodies like early alpha and beta access. The game is being developed for Windows, Mac, Linux and Oura while a demo is already available for Windows.

Original report: On the heels of the financial failure that was 24 Caret Games' unique shooter Retro/Grade, Matt Gilgenbach who suffers from OCD and depression has decided to channel all that negative energy into a new and very different game, Neverending Nightmares. With only a teaser available very little is known about the game other than the simple and surprisingly effective disturbing imagery. Acknowledging past mistakes and the current situation Matt and Infinitap Games have plans for a much needed Kickstarter campaign and a fully transparent development process so we should be learning more about this project very soon.

Tropico 5 Announced

Update: The game's first nine official screenshots have been published, view them in all their glory after the jump.

Original report: The next member in the Tropico family comes from Kalypso Media and Haemimont Studios and will offer new improvements in its formula of construction and management on the homonym island. It will be released in 2014 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Xbox 360.

Octopus City Blues: Strange Adventure in Need of Help

Οctopus City Blues is a traditional adventure taking place in a city built on a giant octopus, with inhabitants as strange as you can imagine. There are few gameplay and plot details but players will be able to explore the surrealistic environments and guide dialogues through many choices based on the relations they develop with characters who will have their own likes, dislikes and rich daily schedules. Watch the trailer for a small taste of a world built with imagination and passion.

Avadon 2: The Corruption Gets a Trailer

Spiderweb Software is a small independent studio with a long history in role-playing games, which contrary to many larger companies they continue developing with the intent to offer depth in every aspect, presented in an isometric viewpoint  and with traditional yet quite often just as inventive turn and party based combat systems.

The first Avadon was released in 2011 and became one of its biggest success stories so a sequel was inevitable yet welcome, at least by genre fans who can overlook outdated graphics and recycled assets, a practice used to speed up development and significantly lower its costs. I'll now let you enjoy the first trailer of Avadon 2: The Corruption which should be released within the next few months for Windows, Mac and iOS.