Indie Game News

A solid ace served with a state-of-the-art tennis game for iPhone

2011-10-28T17:00:00.002+01:00

Pune, India - Rolocule Games, an independent game development studio, today announced that the comic book sports-RPG adventure, "Flick Tennis: College Wars", is now being served on the App Store for iPhone and iPod touch.

Taking handheld tennis gaming experience to new heights, the game features console-quality graphics and realistic controls, and takes you on a journey of a tennis prodigy, Kevin, who must fight for his survival to become the best college tennis player.

The gameplay is accentuated by motion-captured animations, real-life tennis sounds, realistic physics and full retina display support. With intuitive flick controls, the game boasts of a simple yet incredibly deep gameplay, giving full control of the game of tennis to the users.

"It is the deepest tennis experience on any mobile platform, and also provides something extra through story mode and multiplayer" said Rohit Gupta, CEO of Rolocule Games. "It gives you a purpose of playing the next match."

Flick Tennis: College Wars features 12 difficulty variations with 3 opponent levels (Beginner, Amateur, Professional) and 4 real-life tennis playing styles (Defensive Baseliner, Aggressive Baseliner, Volleyer and All-Court Player). The game uses swipe gestures to play various tennis shots like groundstroke, lob, slice, drop etc., and touch controls to move the player.

With 10 players and 11 unique tennis courts (with all 3 tennis court surfaces - Grass, Clay, Synthetic), the game provides Exhibition Mode, Head To Head Multiplayer and a Story Mode.
Exhibition Mode offers customization of singles or doubles tennis match with the selection of players, court and difficulty. Story Mode features 35 pages of comic book in which the users live through a tennis fantasy. In addition to this, the users can also challenge friends and family for a head to head multiplayer duel.

Device Requirements:
* Compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod touch 3rd generation and 4th generation
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 160 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Flick Tennis: College Wars 1.0 is $1.99 USD only (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Founded in 2010, Rolocule Games is an independent game development studio located in Pune, India. Rolocule is dedicated to creating never-seen-before exceptionally cool console-quality video games for next generation platforms like tablets/smartphones through spunky innovation. Rolocule strongly believes that art and technology does create magic.

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Get your reflexes ripe for Hungry Apes and save the gorilla

2011-10-28T16:56:00.000+01:00

Puurs, Belgium - Softgadgets, a small Belgian development studio, today is pleased to announce the release of "Hungry Apes" 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch devices. Johnny the gorilla, coming from the Big City got lost in the jungle while on a tourist tour. He's hungry and he found a place where food is falling from the sky! The problem is that our friend is not alone there ... enemies and deadly items are there too! Avoid them while grabbing the bananas, goodies and power ups. Try to survive as long as you can.

Easy to learn, difficult to master! The game starts simply to allow the player to become accustomed to the controls and the scene. Tilt your device to move left or right, tap the screen to jump. You will have to be fast to eat some of the bananas without getting fried by the alien machines! Every level brings something new: a power up, item, enemy or scene. With easy, single tap and tilt gameplay, Hungry Apes is entertaining for all ages. Save the gorilla, protect wildlife and play Hungry Apes!

Feature Highlights:
* Easy to learn tilt and tap controls
* Hours and hours of fun
* Beautiful cartoon graphics and sound effects
* Colorful crazy characters and beautiful landscapes
* Game Center enabled with leader board and achievements
* Email support

Language Support:
* Hungry Apes is localized in US English language

Device Requirements:
* iPhone and iPod touch
* Requires iOS 4 or later
* 4.7 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Hungry Apes 1.0 is only $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Review copies are available upon request. For further information please contact Softgadgets on their website or by checking on the iTunes App Store.

Located in Puurs, Belgium, Softgadgets is an independent mobile applications development studio with particular attention to the iPhone, iPod and iPad world.

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Sidera 1.0 for iOS - Before this, everything was easy.

2011-10-28T16:50:00.000+01:00

Montevideo, Uruguay - Cube Cat Games today is pleased to introduce Sidera 1.0 for iOS, their upcoming touch arcade Game where players are a supernova, and they must destroy all the stars and planets on the screen. The planets and stars do not move, though the star field behind them does. By touching it, the player destroys the star or planet, but the explosion pushes the supernova backward, changing its position. Careful planning is required, because only stars and planets that are in direct horizontal or vertical alignment with the supernova can be destroyed.

Sidera (Latin for star) is played in portrait orientation and includes 80 levels. The object of the game is to remove all the stars and planets from the screen, after which the player's supernova explodes, clearing the level. The supernova is a half-inch wide animated particle, colored yellow and orange. There are three other stellar objects of the same size, each with a different animated pattern and a different color. Lastly, are the icons for small planets that look something like a revolving bull's-eye.

Touching one of the stars or planets surrounding the supernova will cause it to explode, forcing the supernova backwards in the opposite direction. However, if the object is not directly in a line, horizontally or vertically, with the supernova, it will not explode. Instead, a white crosshair reticule will appear, briefly indicating those bodies that are in a horizontal or vertical line with the supernova. With the supernova's current position, only those bodies close to these targeting lines can be destroyed.

Players must evaluate the screen to determine which bodies can be destroyed and which to destroy first. Successful players will develop strategies for anticipating one or more moves ahead in helping them choose the best planet or star to destroy. This can become quite complex, as at higher levels there may be dozens of planets and stars that must be cleared.

Feature Highlights:
* Touch arcade game in outer space with animated particles
* Destroy all the planets and stars to complete the level
* 80 levels of play
* 3 levels unlocked at start of play
* OpenFeint integration

"Sidera is a simple but challenging game with great animated graphics," commented Juan Pablo Re of Cube Cat Games. "I think players will find Sidera a great pick up and play game, over short or long periods of gameplay."

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
* Requires iOS 3.1 or later (iOS 4.3 tested)
* 10.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Sidera 1.0 is only $0.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Based in Montevideo, Uruguay, Cube Cat Games is an indie game studio focusing on iOS games. Sidera is their first game release. They are working on their second game called "zoonumbers," a math game to help kids with dyscalculia (math disability).

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Indie Royale

2011-10-27T22:54:00.000+01:00

Want 4 great indie games for less then a fiver?

A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda
Gemini Rue
Sanctum
Nimbus

Then head over to this site by the weekend:

http://www.indieroyale.com/

Indie Game Reviews Coming Soon

2011-10-27T21:49:00.001+01:00

Drox Operative - first screenshots released

2011-10-27T20:13:00.000+01:00

Soldak Entertainment have released the first screenshots of their in-development action RPG, Drox Operative. Drox Operative is a starship action RPG with warring alien races, fierce space battles, a dynamic, evolving galaxy, and co-op multiplayer for Windows and Mac.

BUMPscape for Mac - Can you save humanity with just a bumping ship?

2011-10-27T20:09:00.000+01:00

Brasov, Romania - "BUMPscape", an original action/arcade experience for the Mac, has just rolled into the App Store. Based on the same mechanics as the critically acclaimed "Aeterius: Contact Wars" for the iPhone and iPod touch, "BUMPscape" takes the concept to a new level providing the user with a fast-paced, action packed experience never seen before.

As the sole survivor from a distant human outpost devastated by mysterious alien forces, the character is in charge of traveling back to her home world to warn humans about an imminent planetary invasion.

During her journey back she has to smash countless hordes of enemies, aided only by a bumping ship which is upgraded and equipped along the way, in order to face the ever increasing numbers of alien attackers.

Features:* 50 levels of intense game play
* 10 special missions rewarding weapons and power-ups to aid in battles
* 3 playable ships
* several types of alien opponents, each with its own traits and abilities
* 15 weapons and power-ups to equip your ship with

Example Minimum Requirements:* Mac OS X 10.6 or higher
* 64 bit Intel-based Mac
* 1GHz or faster processor
* 15 MB Hard Drive space

Pricing and Availability:"BUMPscape" is available starting today at the introductory price of $2.99 (or the equivalent in other currencies), and is distributed worldwide exclusively through the Mac App Store.

Located in Brasov, Romania, Crystal Apps was founded in 2008 by Florin Dumitrescu, as one of the earliest local development studios focused on creating high-quality games and applications for iOS devices and the Mac.

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

PC indie game review - Orczz

2011-10-27T19:25:00.000+01:00

Orczz is a new tower defence game by indie developers Camel 101. You must proptect your kingdom from invading orczz, who are trying to steal your mead! Rather than a top-down view with enemies pouring in from all sides, Orccz adopts a side-on view with 5 channels that need to be protected. This might sounds quite limiting, but it doesn’t take many levels before things get quite challenging and often fairly hectic. As well as positioning your units (which can consist of ranged or melee units, or tools [such as bombs]), you have a catapult as the last line of defence – but you must aim it correctly to achieve anything useful with it. It seems easy at first (there are 3 difficulty levels – Casual, Normal and Hard – I played the game in Normal almost all of the time), but it doesn’t take long before you need a definite strategy, and an effective application of that strategy, to progress.

The gameplay is simple and intuitive, and allows for quite a nice range of playing styles. There are fun mini-games every few levels, which serve as a pleasing distraction and give you a chance to gain some more cash, which can then be spent in the game. At the start of each level you buy your units – in the game they don’t cost anything further, although tools cost you on the battlefield as well. When an enemy is zapped, a coin drifts up the screen – you have to catch it quickly before it disappears, thus earning more cash to use in the next level. There are lots of levels to play through, and the whole thing is backed up by a simple but engaging fantasy story, with a fairly heavy dollop of humour.

The graphics are nice and cartoony, with functional animation (though that suits the game nicely), all rather reminiscent of the style of Albert Uderzo (Asterix). The music is very good too, and there are some funny sound effects. New units are added to your supply chain frequently, and after a short time it becomes quite a decision working out which you should pick (you can have a total of 6 types in each level). I did think there’d be a more marked difference in the speed more or less powerful units became available to you, but otherwise it all feels very intuitive, though obviously a fair degree of trial and error is also involved.

All in all Orczz is a very accomplished tower defence games, and it offers something to those who are more oriented towards arcade games too. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and is all the more enjoyable for it. Orczz is available for PC and Mac for a price of $11.99 (£8.08, 9.23 euros). (PC Version reviewed here)

Orczz Official Website

PC Demo

Mac Demo

Orczz Game Trailer:

PC indie game review - Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts

2011-10-27T18:11:00.000+01:00

Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts is a hidden object game with puzzle elements by developer Freeze Tag. Now hidden object games are not generally my thing, but this game manages to weave in an interesting enough story to make it worth continuing playing even if the genre doesn't do a great deal for you, and the puzzle elements / mini-games help to break up the action. The game has sumptuous visuals and good music, and with both Casual and Difficult game modes, it's suitable for both hardened hidden object aficionados and those who, like myself, mainly just want to see what happens next.

The basic plot is that five of your fellow Unsolved Mystery Club colleagues have gone missing whilst searching for evidence of these ancient astronauts; you must go and find them, and of course in doing so, find out about this evidence. The hidden object aspect of the game works fine, and the mini-games offer a nice diversion along with giving the game an additional challenge factor. Although it didn’t make much sense to me which items you were supposed to find in a particular location, that’s pretty much something I’ve found in every hidden object game I’ve ever played. It’ll probably take you a reasonably long time to complete even in Casual mode.

I didn't like this one quite as much as the earlier Unsolved Mystery Game (based on the life of Amelia Earhart), but it's an enjoyable game with superb aesthetics and an engaging storyline. Thoroughly recommended if you like hidden object games. If you liked Unsolved Mystery Club: Amelia Earhart, I’m certain you’ll like this one too (I think it was the subject matter more than the game itself that makes me prefer the earlier game). On the other hand, I liked Ancient Astronauts a lot more than Victorian Mysteries: The Woman in White (also by Freeze Tag).

Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts is available for PC and Mac (review was of the PC version, but I doubt there's any significant difference):

http://www.unsolvedmysteryclub.com/astronauts.html

PC Demo Download
Mac Demo Download

Unsolved Mystery Club: Ancient Astronauts Trailer:

Wadjet Eye Games' Acclaimed Retro Adventure Gemini Rue Comes to Steam

2011-10-26T22:39:00.001+01:00

Wadjet Eye Games' Acclaimed Retro Adventure Gemini Rue Comes to Steam

IGF winner on sale for 15% off through November 2, now includes achievements and cloud saves

NEW YORK - October 26, 2011 - Wadjet Eye Games, a developer and publisher of retro-styled games, is pleased to announce that their acclaimed adventure Gemini Rue is now on Steam. Regularly priced at $9.99, this award-winning PC game from indie developer Joshua Nuernberger is on sale for 15% off ($8.49) through November 2.

Gemini Rue explores the intertwined fates of two very different men, ex-assassin Azriel Odin and hospital inmate Delta-Six, who are struggling under the corrupt Boryokudan crime syndicate in a bleak, dystopian future. Through story- and puzzle-based gameplay that alternates between these characters, players must uncover the secrets both are hiding and uncover the bond between them. Inspired by the classic adventure games of Sierra and LucasArts, Gemini Rue has a point and click interface, hand-painted backgrounds, professional voice acting, and optional in-game commentary. Plus, the Steam version includes two new features: cloud save support and 15 in-game achievements.

"I can't begin to say how excited we are to have Gemini Rue on Steam. We've worked very hard to get here and the support from hardcore gamers has been invaluable," says Wadjet Eye's CEO Dave Gilbert. "For an indie point and click adventure to get the amount of attention Gemini Rue has is a great honor, and it shows that there's a lot of life in this genre yet!"

After winning the Independent Game Festival Student Showcase award in 2010, Gemini Rue was widely praised upon its February 2011 release and earned an 86% average review score on GameRankings.com. IGN gave Gemini Rue an Editor's Choice award, maintaining that its "cleverly designed puzzles, amusing dialog [and] gripping storyline will keep you riveted until the end." Wired.com's Game|Life blog called Gemini Rue "a dark, captivating story that evokes memories of Blade Runner," and Eurogamer commended the game's retro feel: "[If you] hanker after an adventure that remembers exactly the way things were, Gemini Rue demands your attention."

To learn more about Gemini Rue or purchase the game from Steam, visit: http://store.steampowered.com/app/80310/

About Joshua Nuernberger

Joshua Nuernberger is an undergraduate student at UCLA interested in illustration, narrative, film, and gaming. He has created several independent games using the Adventure Game Studio engine, including La Croix Pan and Chatroom. His first commercial game, Gemini Rue, was showcased at IndieCade @ E3, the Indie Games Arcade, and the Independent Game Festival, where it won a Student Showcase award in 2010. He maintains a game development and analysis blog at http://jburger.blogspot.com.

About Wadjet Eye Games

Founded in 2006, Wadjet Eye Games has developed a reputation for producing award winning and critically acclaimed adventure games for the PC. Committed to creating unique character-driven game experiences around recognizable brands, Wadjet Eye has recently expanded to support and publish games by other independent developers. The company's award-winning portfolio includes The Shivah and the Blackwell series, both of which have garnered Game Developers Choice nominations, Puzzle Bots, which was selected for the Penny Arcade Expo's PAX 10 showcase, and IGF Student Showcase winner Gemini Rue. For more information, visit http://www.wadjeteyegames.com.

About Steam

Steam, created by Valve Corporation, is the leading platform for PC and Mac games and digital entertainment, serving over 1500 games to over 35 million active users worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.steamgames.com.

Gemini Rue review

Back to the Future Special Offer

2011-10-26T16:22:00.000+01:00

If you catch it before the weekend, TellTale Games' Back to the Future Season One is available with a 60% reduction on Steam (price £6.80).

Also rumour has it that a certain sci-fi indie adventure game will soon be available on Steam...

Battle of the Elements released for DSi

2011-10-25T12:16:00.001+01:00

25th October 2011, Barcelona, Spain. EnjoyUp Games and Undercoders announce Battle of the Elements on DSiWare™ and eShop service.

Undercoders web site: www.undercoders.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/EnjoyUp/102050359833234

Twitter: http://twitter.com/enjoyupgames

Battle of the Elements

Can you save the planet? The Legendary Elements are the key to face human destruction, but they have to be mastered to unleash their power!

Get ready to travel around the world facing the most powerful characters in intense battles of elements, where you'll need to think as fast as you move your stylus in order to earn the victory.

Follow the story of your favourite character in the quest to find the Legenday Elements, solve 40 mind bending missions or break the score record in a marathon.

The world's destiny is just one step ahead!

Features:

* Story mode with 8 selectable characters

* 40 mind bending missions to solve before time runs out

* Achieve the highest score in an endless marathon mode

* 2 Player VS mode

* Original storylines, endings, dialogues and voice acting for each character

* Guided tutorial to easily introduce the “easy to learn but hard to master” game mechanic

About Undercoders

Undercoders is a young and independent video game development studio, located in the heart of Barcelona. Originally formed in 2006 by 3 engineers of different specialties, our mission is to create unique and original video games that can offer a refreshing and entertaining experience.

Our game catalog includes titles such as Quiz Game Land, Battle of the Elements, Vuvuzela vs Zombies, iSpot Japan, Los Tiki Phantoms and Ubongo.

About EnjoyUp Games

Innovative developer in the gaming industry, EnjoyUp Games born with a team with more than 15 years of experience on the entertainment sector and the idea of revolutionize the concept of video game, a young company with strong principle of contribute with new and fun game forms.

Our philosophy is create new products that give new sensations to the player. We have

achieved this with our ambitious and original project Chronos Twins, a game never seen were the action runs on two screens at once with a new concept of time.

With these projects, EnjoyUp achieve his short-term objectives. With a look on the future on new and fascinating challenges, becoming a promising studio on the video game sector.

Screenshots:

Character Art:

Pictorial - #1 Educational Game for Kids - Free

2011-10-25T12:06:00.000+01:00

Stuttgart, Germany - Pictorial, a game involving spatial reasoning, has earned fantastic ratings from iTunes users. The gameplay is challenging, the graphics are compelling... - The New Your Times

#1 Educational Game in USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Mexico and other countries.

More than 11k iTunes reviews with 5.0 average score.

Brief gameplay info:
How quickly you can guess what pictures are hidden from you in the night sky full of stars?
Can you discover the story behind the dance of snowflakes in the arctic blizzard?
Will you be the first to solve the mystery of the pirate's map?

Main features:
* Helps to develop the Spatial Reasoning* skill
* Fun and simple control
* Five different storylines: Night City, Arctic, Treasure Island, Fairy Forest and Halloween
* 150 unique levels
* Runs smoothly with good fps even on older devices
* Retina display
* Game Center

Spatial reasoning is a common part of intelligence tests, pre-employment tests and admission tests to certain educations. Also spatial reasoning is generally regarded as one of the most basic reasoning abilities together with verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, numerical reasoning and abstract reasoning.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 44.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Pictorial 1.6 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store

Manastorm - early version released

2011-10-24T21:56:00.000+01:00

Brisbane-based Team Rock It have been working on their debut release, Manastorm: Lust for Guts - this is a (PC only) multiplayer first-person caster – essentially, the hypermasculinised lovechild of Magicka and Counterstrike. Players must combine the elements to create spells with unique applications in a fast-paced, twitch shooter environment. An early release version is available at http://manastormgame.com/. At the moment, it’s LAN only; internet play is to be added in future updates.

New Game due from Aldorlea Games in November

2011-10-24T21:28:00.001+01:00

Prolific RPG makers Aldorlea, in partnership with Ensorcelled Games (makers of Sylia) have announced yet another new game, this one called "The Book of Legends". It's due for release next month...

More info here.

Also don't forget that Aldorlea are having a special offer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Laxius game series...

(News sent by Danniel - thanks!)

Review of "Angel Fish" for iOS

2011-10-24T21:18:00.000+01:00

Angel Fish is a game where you control a fish collecting pearls and shells and shrimp. It is a 2d, side-view, arcade-type game with a high score board.

The term difficult doesn't really describe this game well enough. You get a limited time to collect a large number of items with the map covered in other fish, your health bar goes down when you crash into another fish. Your fish dies if you don't get all the items within the time limit, or if you hit too many fish.

To help you, you have a speed boost button, with a limited stamina bar.

To describe how difficult the game is, let me tell you how far I got through the game.

I couldn't beat the first level.

Now I am not very good at these types of games but I can usually beat the FIRST LEVEL. But the main point is that I kept trying, getting slowly closer to beating the level. This is the mark of a successful arcade-style game, that you fail repeatedly and keep playing.

The controls are fairly well responsive and easy enough to use. The graphics are quite good and fit the style of the game, without being too difficult to see.

As for longevity, this game could last a very short time or a very long time depending on how much you like arcade type challenges.in general it is fairly good.

The game is, all things considered, quite good. It isn't anything groundbreaking, but it is a nice little time-waster.

Graphics: 75%
Sound: 70%
Control : 80%
Longevity: 65%
Challenge: 90%
Fun: 70%

Review by:
Joshua "Arro" Paul Merrick,

rustedflame@hotmail.com

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Related Posts:

Indie Game News: Angel Fish released for iPhone and iPod Touch

New Release: Square Off Free and 1.3 Update for Windows Phone

2011-10-22T19:26:00.000+01:00

PERTH, Western Australia – October 22 – Critically acclaimed Xbox 360 game Square Off, first released on Xbox in 2009 by Perth team Gnomic Studios, is now available in a Free version on Windows Phone 7. The existing paid app has also been updated to version 1.3.

"We are really excited to roll out this new update as well as release a new free version on the marketplace," said level artist Adam Matera. "Both include player-requested tweaks to movement controls and online high-score ladders for people to post up their best round score!"

The full feature / update list includes:
- Online high-scores and ladders!
- New free ad-supported version (there will be a paid and ad supported version on the marketplace)
- Enhancements to movement control
- German language support
- A number of stability / bug fixes
- Smaller download size for new users (20MB)

Lead developer Aranda Morrison said Gnomic Studios was committed to supporting Square Off for the Mango update to Windows Phone. "We will be bringing out a Mango update as soon as possible after this release. It will support Fast App Switching and have improved frame rates."

The full game is priced at US$1.30 and can be found on the marketplace here

The new ad-supported free version can be found here

About Square Off:
For centuries, humanity has fended off the attacks of a vicious alien species. An Eccentric professor, long since confined to a mental institution, has a diabolical idea! The DNA of a captured alien is embedded into the nucleus of a cell extracted from the professor's own brain! A Squadron of Square Avengers is spawned. Can the professor's hybrid-mutants save the human race from eternal enslavement to a savage master?

Square Off is a 2.5D Survival Shooter and features a seven-level single-player campaign, including a round-based Survival Mode where you fight off ever-increasing waves of enemies. It features a full musical score and a quirky 2D art style complete with stylised 3D environments and guns!

About Gnomic Studios:
Gnomic Studios is a game development team based in Perth, Western Australia. It was founded in early 2009 to develop a game for Microsoft’s Dream.Build.Play. competition. The resultant game, Square Off, was ranked 15th overall, coming second in Australia. The Top-20 placing encouraged Gnomic to release Square Off for the Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) platform.

Gnomic is now working on new Indie titles on various mobile platforms, including the recent successful release of Square Off on Windows Phone.

Plopp - New iPhone game for Free - Addictive Puzzle Action

2011-10-22T18:58:00.000+01:00

Berikon, Switzerland - games2be is happy to announce the release of the iPhone puzzle action game Plopp!

Bubble-like circles, so called 'Plopps' emerge all over the place and start growing. When a Plopp is being tapped, it explodes and a shockwave is unleashed. If other Plopps are hit by a shockwave they also explode causing big chain-reactions! The bigger a Plopp grows, the more points it contains, but if 2 Plopps touch each other, they both vanish. Even though numbers are important in Plopp, it is very easy to pick up by everybody and even small kids have great fun with Plopp, just by clicking around and to see how the colorful shock waves expand. Experienced players also get a real challenge, as the quests get quite difficult in advanced levels. The first 5 levels with 20 quests are for free and additional levels can be unlocked with ingame-purchase.

Highlights:
* Unique new puzzle-experience
* Relaxing and colorful
* Big chain reactions
* Awesome visuals
* Four different game modes
* Various high-scores with Game Center
* Eighty challenging quests
* Accessible 'One-Touch-Controls' allow anybody to play
* Three great in-game soundtracks
* Localized in six different Languages

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
* Requires iOS 3.2 or later
* 17.3 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Plopp 1.0 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Located in Berikon, Switzerland, games2be is an independent game developer founded in summer 2010. games2be wants to discover new game concepts and new playgrounds. The focus lies on easy to pick up fun games on various platforms.

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

Two Tribes Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary; All Their Games On Sale!

2011-10-21T20:53:00.000+01:00

Two Tribes is throwing a party tonight because they are celebrating their 10 year anniversary! They would like to celebrate this with you as well, so they decided to put all our games on sale this weekend! Go check them out on Steam, the App Store and the Mac App Store.

They are also inviting people to share their favorite Two Tribes moment:
2trib.es/shareyourmoment

Joker Dice 1.0 for iOS - Debut app released by Purple Pepper Productions

2011-10-21T20:49:00.000+01:00

Perth, Australia - Purple Pepper Productions today is pleased to announce the release of Joker Dice, their debut app. Designed for iOS, and optimized for the iPad, Joker Dice is a uniquely challenging game that requires a combination of quick thinking strategy and manual dexterity. The object of the game is to keep the board clear of dice by maneuvering the dice into active chains of matching numbers. Once a chain is active you can add more matching dice to boost your score.

Joker's are wild. Use the Joker as a wild card to complete any chain, or create a chain of Jokers to get a score multiplier and boost your scores. Sound simple? Perhaps, but the game is more challenging than it sounds, the player has to slide or roll the dice in a 3D environment to create matching chains of numbers. The board is constantly being repopulated with fresh dice, and as time progresses the frequency with which new dice appear becomes increasingly faster.

The game requires a real combination of quick thinking strategies and manual dexterity. The game is designed for variety and to suit the players moods with 3 distinct modes of play, several board styles to choose from and 3 levels of difficulty. Combining the difficulty settings with the type of board selected offers a number of options to the player to experience different challenges.

Unlike other level based games, Joker Dice has unlimited levels to play, the only limitation to the game is your ability to keep up with the rate at which the dice appear on the board. Although the game is designed for all iOS platforms, its ideal home is an iPad as the smaller screen area of the iPhones and iPods makes for more challenging game play, although the game is just as enjoyable and addictive on the smaller devices as it is on the iPad.

As an added incentive for players, Purple Pepper Productions is running a special promotion for all purchasers and a $100 iTunes voucher is up for grabs for all purchasers who send a screen shot of their high score posted on their preferred social networking site.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, 3/4G iPod touch and iPad
* Requires iOS 4.0 or later
* 25.3 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Joker Dice 1.0 is $2.99 USD (or equivalent amount in other currencies) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category.

Purple Pepper Productions is a independent developer of apps, primarily focussed on trying to create unique 3D apps that are enjoyable to use or play. Joker Dice is their debut release, with new projects currently in the design phase.

*visit the iTunes, App Store and Mac App Store*

"Girl with a Heart of"

2011-10-20T20:37:00.000+01:00

Interactive Narrative Girl with a Heart of Coming November 17 from Bent Spoon Games

Thought-provoking parable will be playable on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android

October 19, 2011 - Independent video game developer Bent Spoon Games will release its commercial debut, Girl with a Heart of, on November 17. An interactive narrative that explores concepts of human rationality and recursive self-improvement, Girl with a Heart of will be playable on PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices.

Set in Underfoot, a subterranean city inhabited by the Dark race, Girl with a Heart of is the story of Raven, an eleven-year-old girl separated from her parents during a vicious attack by the Light's army. As her city's last defenses slowly crumble and her sense of normalcy is stripped away, Raven learns that she plays a critical role in this global conflict due to her unusual, artificial heart. Now she must learn to harness her newly acquired power and make a series of choices that will have life-altering consequences beyond her little town.

Girl with a Heart of is an interactive narrative that progresses as Raven converses with the inhabitants of her multi-level city. During these conversations, the player is confronted with choices that influence other characters' reactions and determine the flow of the story. The "correct" choices are not always straightforward; decisions that seem good can actually be detrimental and players must use rationality and logic to succeed. The unfolding narrative is accompanied by stylized graphics that depict a world where darkness, not light, is the primary life source.

"When you continuously try to improve yourself -- and, by doing this, continuously get better at improving yourself -- no boundary can hold you back. That's what recursive self-improvement and Girl with a Heart of are all about," explains Alexei Andreev, the game's developer and founder of Bent Spoon Games. "Once the player begins to understand how this works in the game, it almost feels like cheating -- like an instant win. But it's actually a prelude to the hardest decision you'll have to make."

Girl with a Heart of will be sold via digital distribution for $5.99 on desktop platforms (PC, Mac) and $2.99 on mobile platforms (iOS, Android). More details, including an announcement trailer and in-game screenshots, can be found at: http://www.bentspoongames.com/gwh

About Bent Spoon Games

Bent Spoon Games is a (not yet incorporated) company founded by Alexei Andreev in 2011 to create video games based on ideas of rationality and transhumanism. The company's first game, Girl with a Heart of, was created by Andreev and a small team of contractors and friends. To learn more, please visit http://www.bentspoongames.com.

Screenshots:

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken

2011-10-20T20:29:00.001+01:00

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken is Out Now! Exclusively on PlayStation®Network for 8.99 € /£7.19

The Fowl Revolution is Now Underway, in Albatropolis so Join the Fowl Revolution in the Artistically, Innovative and Bloody Cinematic Platform

Adventure Game

Europe – October 19th, 2011 – Ratloop Asia, an Independent Publisher and Developer of high quality, innovative games for the hardcore audience, are pleased to announce that its cinematic platform adventure game Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken has strapped on a jet pack and landed exclusively on PlayStation®Network.

So what are you waiting for? Join the fowl revolution, assassinate the evil penguin leader, Putzki and bring calm back to Albatropolis.

Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken Features Include:

· 15 Chapters in Solo Campaign – Assume the role of Hardboiled Chicken, kick ass, kill penguins and take names on a mission to assassinate the evil penguin leader.

· 10 Chapters in Co-Op Campaign – Select a pair from the dirty half-dozen Budgie commando characters and set out on a mission to save the general’s daughter.

· Puzzles: Your birdie-brain must think quickly to use your environment and solve a variety of puzzles to move on to each level.

· Stereoscopic 3D: Fantastic, non-dizzying Stereoscopic 3D support, running at 60fps/720p enhance the visuals wherever available.

· Mini-stories: The plot thickens as you unlock cut-scenes and music videos at each level that uncover the truth about the totalitarian regime and Hardboiled’s mysterious past.

· Weapons: Kill penguins with a cache of guns you’ll find along the way from pistols, shotguns and Uzis to MP5s, M60s and AK-47s. Bring down the regime with grenades and other explosives. Unlock the ultimate weapon – Brain Bugs!

On Sale right now on the PlayStations®Network, Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken retails for 8.99€ / £7.19.

About Ratloop Asia

Ratloop Inc. is a US based Independent game studio that has created innovative entertainment products since 1997. Ratloop Asia Pte Ltd was incorporated to support a development team based in Singapore to work on Rocketbirds, a new brand of titles. No stranger to independent games Development, Ratloop and Ratloop Asia have been awarded

· Independent Games Festival (IGF) nominations for their games for the last three consecutive years: Mightier, an autorigging puzzler game received a finalist nomination for the game Innovation Award at IGF 2009; in 2010, Rocketbirds: Revolution! received three finalist nominations for Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Visual Art and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. This year, Ratloop Inc. won the Best Mobile Game category at the IGF 2011 for their ios game, Helsing’s Fire. The team has finally come together at Ratloop Asia in Singapore, which is set to release Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, the second installment in the Rocketbirds franchise, on PlayStation®Network in October 2011.

Blue Libra released by Orator Games

2011-10-20T20:16:00.000+01:00

Blue Libra is a new space strategy game by Orator Games for PC, Mac and iPad. From the trailer it reminds me a lot of Auralux, but with more options (and thus more strategy).

Official Website

MacGuffin's Curse receives additional funding from Screen Australia's All Media Fund

2011-10-20T20:07:00.000+01:00

A message from our friends at Brawsome:

Early on Monday morning I received a call from Screen Australia's Mike Cowap with the good news that MacGuffin's Curse was going to receive additional development funding in Screen Australia's All Media Production program: http://screenaustralia.gov.au/funding/approvals/latest_prod_allmedia.aspx. As the call concluded I was shocked to hear Mike say he had to deliver the unfortunate news to about 80 other applicants that they missed out on this incredibly competitive round of funding.

So what does this mean for MacGuffin's Curse? It means we get a little more time to work on it. Particularly taking some time to polish the game rather than just frantically rushing to fix bugs and ship it. As usual we're doing all we can to make the funding go the distance (read: working for as little as possible), so the release date for MacGuffin's Curse will be moved to post-GDC 2012.

At 150+ rooms, 90+ side quests, tens of thousands of lines of dialog, an estimated 12+ hours of gameplay and releasing on PC, Mac and iOS, we might have bitten off a little more than we could chew with MacGuffin's Curse, but hopefully that will pay off as MacGuffin's Curse is shaping up to be Brawsome's biggest title to date.

Link: http://www.brawsome.com.au/blog/index.php/2011/10/20/screen-australia-funding/

Unity of Command: Release Date, Gameplay Trailer

2011-10-20T20:04:00.000+01:00

Zagreb, Croatia – October 20, 2011 - Independent game developer 2x2 Games has announced that their upcoming World War II strategy game, Unity of Command, will be released in digital distribution on November 15th.

The development team behind the game is also proud to unveil the first gameplay trailer at this time:

About Unity of Command:
Currently in final testing, this innovative and refreshing operational-level wargame covers the entire 1942/43 Stalingrad Campaign on the Eastern Front. Playable from both the Axis and Soviet perspective, it strives to recreate the strategy, the forces involved and the general tension of that crucial period in World War II.

Experience the highly fluid, enormously large battles of maneuver in a turn-based strategy setting. Take command in this mobile, back-and-forth sort of war where logistics and poor weather are often the decider, and defeat and victory are sometimes just a mile, or a day, apart.

Features:
* Easy to learn and intuitive, with fast and flowing gameplay
* Historically accurate operational-level units (Axis divisions, Soviet corps)
* 20+ detailed scenarios, Axis and Soviet, at the scale of 20km per hex, 4 days per turn
* Campaign mode that puts historical and what-if scenarios in strategic context
* Sophisticated weather model, with realistic per-hex weather
* Novel supply system, providing for exciting battles of encirclement and breakout
* Belligerent and aggressive AI that knows how to counterattack and threaten supply lines
* Integrated "History Mode" for after-action replays
* Multiplayer via the Internet

About 2x2 Games:
2x2 Games is a 4-strong indie dev team that is not afraid of treading new ground. On a mission to find that perfect balance between fun and historical accuracy in wargames, they just might be onto something.