Gnome's Lair

Wyv and Keep: The Temple of the Lost Idol Released

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:58:00 +0000

I'm pretty much aware of the fact that Gnome's Lair isn't really covering many game releases these days, but a) that's something that will hopefully change (already looking into new ways of covering things) and b) I really enjoyed that Wyv and Keep preview of yore.

In case you haven't gotten the point reader, well, Wyv and Keep: The Temple of the Lost Idol by the delightfully named Jolly Corpse has been finally released and it's looking better than ever. You can grab the DRM-free version for your Windows, Mac and Linux machine from the game's site with a little help from the Humble Store and enjoy some of the best and most beautiful co-op puzzle platforming indie gaming has to offer.

Here's the launch trailer to get you all excited:

Oh, and your creative self will be delighted to know that the game is coming with a full-blown level editor, that lets you play around with everything; even the sprites themselves.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

The CC-BIAB indie bundle has INDIE PIXELS in it!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Thu, 30 May 2013 13:38:00 +0000

This time it's not just me and Kyttaro Games. This time it's me, Kyttaro Games and Capsule Computers who put The Capsule Computers Indie Bundle together and you should be lovely and kind and nice and buy it and let everyone know about it, oh gentle reader! It has of course just gone live and is featuring 11 fantastic indie games, while -as always- supporting an important charity and the Indie Dev Grant.

Expect many DRM-free downloads, Steam and Desura codes, Windows, Linux & Mac games and an interesting selection of unlockable extras. Also something pretty special for the three people that outpay everybody else...

Anyway, on to the included games and a ton of screenshots:

Blackwell Convergence

Blackwell Deception

Hacker Evolution Untold

Blackwell Legacy

Pixelry

Super Tower Rush

Blackwell Unbound

Hacker Evolution Duality

Hacker Evolution

Hamlet

Secret of the Magic Crystals

Forget that Norton guy; it's The Laffer Utilities Ver. 4.01!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:25:00 +0000

Nowadays nobody seems to remember neither them PC Tools nor those over-priced Norton Utilities we all used to install in order to have our PCs actually come close to doing stuff, and I frankly do not particularly miss this part of the era. On the other hand, you can't really complain when you are 14, even if the only Sierra product you can afford are the obscure Laffer Utilities. The Laffer Utilities Version 4.01 to be precise; a set of wacky little programs promising to make themselves handy "for everything you do at the office that has nothing to do with work".

Of course being 14 I couldn't really appreciate this kind of humour nor find any particular use for fax covers. An office sounded, well, it sounded implausible at best and, admittedly, Mr. Lowe's jokes aren't always what I'm looking for, but, still... Hey, I actually managed to have fun with the Laffer Utilities.

I printed silly signs filled with the bits The Office writers chose to cut, tried to entertain my parents with semi-randomly generated tabloid-esque headlines, gawked at the brilliantly drawn and incredibly vivid low-res 16-colour graphics and even fooled around with the rudimentary parser-driven AI that answered all questions with a selection of five catch-all phrases. In a desperate effort to squeeze even more fun from said piece of counter-productivity software (it really, really, wasn't suited for my age) I even tried to organize my friends' phone numbers into Larry's database, all the while wondering what on earth a betting pool is.

Ah, yes, good times.

Somewhat surprisingly, I quite enjoyed myself for far too many hours with the thing and Larry's non-gaming offering is something I still remember fondly. I regularly re-open its filled-to-the-brim box and browse the manual to this day. What's more, the complete set of the Laffer Utilities has been made available by Al Lowe himself and you can download it for free over at his radically updated site.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

Scrolls, Lists and Freeware Games

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:10:00 +0000

So, yes, it did have to happen. After years of playing through hundreds of free games and after writing about dozens of the things, well, the time has come for me to finally set up a nice and update-able list with the best of the lot or, to be precise, those I enjoyed the most. Have a look and worry not; more playable freebies will be added to it.

Analog Investigations in Arkham

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 11:57:00 +0000

Deduction, despite what Sherlock Holmes would have you believe, is not a science. It's a method. A method that could arguably make the life of all fictional investigators much easier and can definitely be applied to board-games as the classic Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective so effortlessly proved over 30 years ago. What's more, deduction is what you'll be using when playing the freshly released and rather excellent Arkham Investigator.

Designed by Hal Eccles, Arkham Investigator is a board game you can download, print and play for free, either solo or with up to 9 more people (preferably friends or at the very least attractive members of whichever sex/sexes you find attractive). Heavily inspired by the Sherlock Holmes game, Arkham Investigator is all about gathering clues and piecing together what happened in each of its cases; a process that requires quite a bit of thought, patience and no luck whatsoever.

You'll get to explore Lovecraft's Arkham, read newspapers, contact allies, dive into directories and try to prove yourself to Dr. Armitage by solving cases and figuring out mysteries, all the while trying to avoid shanity-shattering dangers and limiting the resources used.

The first (and currently only) case released, A Grain of Evil, is a fine and engrossing showcase of what Arkham Investigator is all about. It comes with an investigation book and an edition of fictional newspaper Arkham Advertiser and managed to provide me and a couple of friends with roughly two hours of excellent gaming time.

Oh, and the closest thing to an official website I managed to come across was the Arkham Investigator facebook page, which is where news and whatnot get posted.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

Moleman 2: Demoscene - The Art of the Algorithms

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:46:00 +0000

Now that you've spent the last 90 minutes watching the video above and have enjoyed an almost cathartic explosion of algorithmically produced art, you already know you love what the demoscene is doing and I frankly can blame you. Better show your appreciation the IndieGoGo way then.

The Cerebral Bundle! It's Alive! It's Indie! It's CLEVER!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Yes, dear reader, the stars have been perfectly aligned and a new Bundle In A Box has been spawned. A very clever bundle. A cunning bundle. A Cerebral Bundle! Also, a bundle sporting a selection of 9 excellent indie games for the rather sensible price of “pay-what-you-want”. And it supports Windows, Mac and Linux!

Anyway, on to the games!

Paying anything above $1.99 will get you:

deep, retro-esque and utterly elegant RPG Phantasmaburbia (Windows/Desura)
artful, being-stood-up-sim Dinner Date (Windows/Steam)
undead infested puzzler Vampires! (Windows/Mac)
illustrated interactive fiction exclusive debut Necrotic Drift Deluxe (Windows /Mac/Linux)
beautiful puzzler exclusive debut Dédale De Luxe (Windows/Mac/Linux/Desura)

Beating the always humble (heh) average price will earn you those lovelies:

sci-fi puzzle exploration adventure J.U.L.I.A. (Windows)
hilarious boring-job-sim I Get This Call Every Day (Windows/Mac/Desura)
Jane Jensen powered point-and-clicker Cognition, Episode 1: The Hangman (Windows/Mac/Desura)
just released dystopian adventure Reversion: The Meeting (Windows/Desura)

As is the Kyttaro Games tradition, for every 100 bundles sold $15 will be added to our Indie Dev Grant and the whole sum will be awarded to a developer selected by the vote of the bundlers. Also, 5% of all revenues will be shared with the Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family.

What’s more, for every 1000 bundles sold new extras will be unlocked for everyone who grabbed the Cerebral Bundle. Said extras include the source code of Necrotic Drift, the Cognition soundtrack and prequel comic, Phantasmaburbia’s Deluxe Digital Box, Dédale De Luxe wallpapers and more.

Finally, and as an added bonus, all who purchase the bundle will get access to exclusive content for Droidcape: Basilica; you know, that game I've been working on for the past year or so.

PS. Uhm, helping spread the word on this new bundle would indeed be fantastic. We are, after all, at a pretty crucial turn for Bundle In A Box... Thanks a ton!

Creating the best Monkey Island games possible

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:51:00 +0000

Ask anyone with a passing interest in gaming and at least a modicum of taste and they will immediately let you know that both The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge are perfect games. Interestingly though, their recent deluxe versions are pretty good too and, despite a few interface hick-ups and some not always spot-on visuals, they also sport some truly excellent voice-overs.

Which leads us to the question: what are the best possible versions of the first two Monkey Island games? How should you enjoy Ron Gilbert's masterpieces?

Simple! By playing the original games with the original point-and-click interface in the talkie versions that never existed; the talkie versions using the voice-overs of the deluxe editions. All you'll be needing are the original games, their recent deluxe versions, ScummVM and the brand new, freeware, legal and utterly fantastic Monkey Island Ultimate Talkie Edition Builders.

You are most welcome! No, really, 't was a pleasure!

Ithaka of the Clouds and the future of quality gaming

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:50:00 +0000

People keep moaning. There aren't enough clever games, they say. Indie gaming is stuck in an idealized retro world that never really existed and keeps churning out platformer after platformer, they add. Intelligent adults need their piece of interactive entertainment too, they shout. And then, Jonas Kyratzes goes on to release the brilliant The Sea Will Claim Everything and everyone, and that's despite numerous glowing reviews, fails to notice and keeps on moaning.

Well, everyone, time to set things right and make sure that us appreciators of graceful, artful, beautiful, clever and shockingly meaningful games have a chance to redeem ourselves by helping Ithaka of the Clouds get funded over at IndieGoGo. It is the latest (and most ambitious so far) project of Jonas and Verena Kyratzes, will feature the wonderful music of Chris Christodoulou and, before I go on and ramble a bit more, here's its pitch video:

Watched it? Excellent! You are then quite aware of the fact that Ithaka, the first game to ever feature two gay trolls and the first adventure to ever be inspired by the sublime poetry of Kavafis, is bound to not only be an amazing game, but actually an important one too. Remember how I once mentioned that The Sea Will Claim Everything can make you a better person? Seems like Ithaka of the Clouds will improve on that.

Anyway, here's the illusive Joseph Kyranzes to further enlighten you:

Now, off to back the project! A mere $10$ will get you the game upon release, $15 will get you the game with either the soundtrack or The Sea Will Claim Everything, $30 will get you everything mentioned so far and the rest you'll have to find out for yourself reader. Just support the thing and spread the word!

Jonas Kyratzes stuff @ Gnome's Lair:

The Strange, Stylish & Endlessly Running Tale Of The Button Affair

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:28:00 +0000

Do you remember The Cat That Got The Milk and what it did with/to Kandinsky? Excellent! The Button Affair has absolutely nothing to do with it, apart from the fact that it's vaguely in the same wide genre of action games, looks absolutely stunning itself and is the work of the very same, very talented developers. As a further way to differentiate itself from its predecessor it even sports a plot that goes a bit like this:

The Button Affair is the story of Enzo Gabriel. His quest. To steal the priceless Button Jewel from the infinitely wealthy business tycoon Victor Meirelles.

Yes, that definitely does sounds like something taken straight from a '70s action movie and is perfectly complemented by the game's beautifully stylized visuals that can't help but remind me of the elegant aesthetics of Another World. Just have a look at this trailer and you'll see for yourself dearest reader:

Oh, and if you simply have to know, The Button Affair is one of those fashionable runners that seem to be cropping up everywhere. Only not boring. And actually enjoyable. And very well done too. Also, innovative. Helps charity too and will happily run on both Mac and Windows PCs.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

Asylum: The Kickstartering

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:24:00 +0000

Not many know this, but I'm more than proud of the fact that Agustin Cordes first announced the forthcoming Asylum via an interview on this very blog back in 2010. Admittedly, it was called the Unnameable Project back then, but it was still the very same horror adventure game everyone seems to be waiting for and the same game that has already released an incredibly promising interactive teaser (a.k.a. a small demo) for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Also, the very same game that has launched a fantastic Kickstarter campaign to ensure it becomes everything it should be. Here's the pitch video:

The Asylum, which I urge you to wholeheartedly support, is bound to be a huge, detailed, beautiful and downright creepy point-and-click adventure, that will build upon the experience its team has gathered from working on the rather brilliant Scratches, while simultaneously being the first adventure game I know of that will be open to modding! It will after all ship with the powerful and open-source Dagon engine Senscape has been busy developing.

Oh, and if you want my advice, when selecting your perk do go for that boxed version of the game. I know it will be sublime.

How to Contact Press & Entertain the Possibility of Feeding Your Indie Self

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:13:00 +0000

If you are an indie developer and aren't aware of the excellent online resource that is Pixel Prospector, you are seriously missing out. It's a true goldmine of information and inspiration, it is. What's more, the Pixel Prospector has compiled an invaluable little PDF booklet about contacting the press: the aptly named How To Contact Press. A free offering I can't help but endorse, as it simply makes sense and covers everything from press releases and press emails to who to contact and how to organize a press kit. Invaluable really!

Eclectic Mayans in a Box in a Bundle

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 15:23:00 +0000

Well, though I'd let you know... We've gone all silly and doom-spirited and have given the Eclectic Delights bundle a 3-day Mayan End of the World Extension. We've come up with the above lovely picture too, hoping that this will make our 11 excellent indie games look even tastier to your eclectic, err, tastes. Knock yourself out reader before it's too late!

Shadows on the Vatican, Act 2 (pre-order) and Skylight added to the Eclectic Delights bundle!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 14:25:00 +0000

Bundle In A Box: Eclectic Delights is proving rather popular and, well, reader, that really makes both my and the Kyttaro Games team happy. Then again, 9 excellent indie games including strategy-‘em-up Delve Deeper, horror masterpieces The 4th Wall, Eversion and Fibrillation, point-and-click adventure The Shadows on the Vatican, Act: I, tactical wonder War of the Human Tanks, FMV fighting game Stay Dead, incredibly varied platformer The Adventures of Shuggy and Atari 2600 inspired Flibble!

Happily, the Eclectic Delights bundle has now ADDED 2 MORE GAMES for a total of 11; 2 games that will be yours if you beat the average price:

Shadows on the Vatican, Act: II Greed (pre-order). Yes, the still unreleased second installment in the point-and-click mystery thriller series can be grabbed for an incredibly low price in the world’s first bundle pre-order offer. The game will be made available to play and download as soon as it gets officially released.

Skylight. An almost soothing 3D platform jumping journey with randomly generated levels and music for Windows and Mac. A unique arcade offering and the very first game of Moment Studio.

Gnomes bundling boxes: BIAB Eclectic Delights launched!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:57:00 +0000

Hooray (I guess)! The third and biggest Bundle In A Box, the deeply indie, wildly varied, thoroughly researched, much loved and rather fabulous Eclectic Delights bundle, is now live!

All you have to do wise reader is to simply hop over to Bundle In A Box, pay what you want and grab 5 brilliant and properly indie games:

Lovecraftian yet cute platformer Eversion (Windows/Mac/Steam)
elegant RTS War of the Human Tanks (Windows/Desura)
gloriously pixelated adventure/strategy Delve Deeper (Windows/Steam)
Russian horror offering Fibrillation (Windows /Desura)
point-and-click mystery Shadows of the Vatican, Act: I (Windows/Desura)

Beat the average price, further help your favourite gnome and also get:

award winning platformer Adventures of Shuggy (Windows/Steam/Desura)
surreal horror game The 4th Wall (Windows)
FMV rhythm-action-fighter Stay Dead (Windows/Mac/Desura) r
etro-tastique, hilarious maze-‘em-up Flibble (Windows)

Oh, and do keep in mind that the more bundles we manage to sell, the more money will go to the Indie Dev Grant and that most crucial charity helping autistic children in poverty-stricken Greece. Also, more extras will be unlocked, meaning that everyone who grabbed a bundle (in a box) will also be getting such goodies as soundtracks and digital comic-books.

PS. Did you know that bundlers will also be getting access to exclusive Droidscape: Basilica content? Well, now you do.

PS 2. Helping spread the word via blogs, twitter, facebook, reddit and all sorts of web thingies would be deeply appreciated. Also, needed I'm afraid :)

Kicking it off again with Agent Trinity - The Ultimatum

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:00:00 +0000

The Ultimatum, Agent Trinity - Episode 0 - The Ultimatum to give it its full name, is an AGS game crafted for the experimental gameplay project. Now, as this month's experimental competition was all about the manipulation of time, Agent Trinity has you literally manipulating a clock; the ultimate time measuring device. By turning its hour hand two hours back into the PAST no less!

Yes, this is a funny little game indeed and LostTrainDude definitely knows his humour. Apparently, he knows his point-and-click/stealth hybrids too, which is definitely a good thing.

But is it dead yet? NO! The Deep Space bundle adds the complete Bagful of Wrong!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:18:00 +0000

Gotta love them long blog-post titles.

The way Bundle In A Box: Deep Space is doing? Well, not so much really.

Despite trying to be different, properly indie, supportive of things that matter, nice and proponents of quality, we didn't apparently manage to attract the gaze of the greatest part of the gaming press. As for the wonderful people that covered the Deep Space let me just say thank you! You've been wonderful! Really, really, wonderful!

Anyway. Enough with that. Just wanted to let you know that our bundle has become even better (yes, it was actually possible) with the addition of Rob Fearon's amazing Bagfull of Wrong as a bundle-within-a-bundle!

That's another ten games to accompany Death Ray Manta (already got a lovely review over on the illustrious EDGE), Space Giraffe, Dark Scavenger, Armalyte and, surely, you know the rest. As for them new games, please do allow me to copy&paste from our press release:

Bagfull of Wrong, the winner of 2 Eurogamer Expo Stars, first and foremost contains arena shooter War Twat (for both PC and Mac and in all its varied guises); the same game that had Kieron Gillen admit: “This is a Minter shooter with the finesse removed and the volume turned to Bruce Forsyth screaming with the force of a nuclear explosion”.

-Critically acclaimed shooter Squid Yes Not So Octopus (widely known as SYNSO). A sweet 1-4 minute arena shooter, offering psychedelic mayhem and neon chaos from the future that never was. SYNSO is playfully accompanied by SYNSO:CE and even more, weirder SYNSO editions.

-SYNSO: Squid Harder. The noisy follow-up to SYNSO. A sequel if you will, sporting even more squids with guns! Pink Robots! Devils from the 4th dimension! Shopping Trolleys and Lasers. Visual and aural overload! The star of the Eurogamer Expo 2009 Indie Games Arcade and an arena shooter like no other.

-Squid and Let Die: A diversion via Transversion. Solar like a fox. Collect the dots, the board is a deathtrap. Do not die. Hard and scary with a side order of Digitiser and Pac-Man tribute.

-FISHFISHBANGBANG: The one-button, fish-spinning, fish vs fish shoot-‘em-up that pays tribute to the almost forgotten Vectrex console.

-Ambiomat: The colorful one-switch digital toy.

-More.

Oh, and the original PlaySF issue and the exclusive Dark Scavenger Soundtrack have already been unlocked for everyone who has grabbed (or will do so) the bundle to enjoy.

If you could help us spread the word reader, that would be rather brilliant. Blog-post, reviews, facebookings, tweeterings, reddits, anything really will do. I even prepared a handy web-presskit to make things easier for you...

Deep Space Bundle: Pay What You Want for 8 Space Themed Games

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:52:00 +0000

In space no one can hear you bundle. A silly slogan, I know, but it was one I simply had to use when trying to let the world know about Bundle In A Box: Deep Space; the fantastic, if I may say so myself, pay-what-you-want bundle I and Kyttaro Games had been working on for quite some time and has finally been released.

The bundle is still of course thematic, remains dedicated to DRM-free downloads despite introducing the amazing DRM: The Game (a.k.a. Death Ray Manta) and keeps on supporting both a charity that's actually important and the Indie Dev Grant that, well, is also pretty important.

Right. Let's talk games then and avoid discussing the subtleties (or lack thereof) of the pay-what-you-want model. GAMES. Well, here they are then:

Rob Fearon’s Death Ray Manta (PC/Mac); a psychedelic and fully customizable arena shooter specifically created for Bundle In A Box.

Llamasoft’s demented Space Giraffe (PC/Steam) arcade thingy.

Frenetic space-combat sim The Wreckless (PC/Mac/Desura), that does feel quite a bit like Wing Commander.

Surreal RPG/adventure Dark Scavenger (PC/ Mac/Desura); the game that has the best weapons ever!

Official remake of the Commodore 64 classic Armalyte (PC) along some impressively interactive extras.

Stunning space-shooter Sol: Exodus (PC/Steam/Desura).

Just released 2.5D arcade offering Miner Wars Arena (PC/Mac/Desura)

Humorous retro-esque platformer RobotRiot (PC/Mac/Desura).

What’s more, for each 1000 bundles sold a hand-picked (by me no less) selection of extras will be unlocked for everyone, including the premier issue of the PlaySF sci-fi gaming magazine, the brand new Dark Scavenger soundtrack, the soundtracks of Sol: Exodus and Miner Wars, and an eclectic selection of books, artbooks and storyboards.

As a further bonus, all who purchase the bundle will get access to exclusive content for Droidcape: Basilica; Kyttaro Games’ own upcoming game for iOS and Android and something I have been working on for bloody ages. The top 10 contributors will also get a free copy of the game itself upon release, whereas the Droidscape: Into the Basilica book will be made available as an unlockable extra.

An Indie Dev Grant Got Bundled In Deep Space

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:23:00 +0000

You didn't expect this, did you? Well, that's life for you reader dear. Full of surprises. Surprises such as that spankin' new Bundle In A Box blog, the fact that the forthcoming Bundle In A Box will sport a Deep Space theme or the rather more important fact that struggling indie devs are now able to apply for another Indie Dev Grant. Surprises, thus, that are pretty nice.

Now, as I'm sure we will be announcing the new bundle's launch date via BIAB's twitter, let me just quote stuff and let you all know how the new Indie Dev Grant will work:

The Indie Dev Grant, a most popular feature of Bundle In A Box we are most proud of, is a grant designed to help indie game developers actually create the games they’ve always wanted to. For every 100 bundles sold, $10 will be added to the grant. One indie developer (be it a group or an individual), voted by the esteemed fans of Bundle in a Box will get the whole amount after the bundle ends.

No strings will be attached by either Bundle in a Box or Kyttaro Games.

The grant can be used in any way the developer that earns it sees fit and will in no way be obliged to co-operate with Kyttaro Games or Bundle in a Box. Developers that have already taken part in one of our bundles or are willing to do so in the future are also eligible for the grant. Actually, absolutely anyone is free to enter; yes, even people trying to buy some time in order to create their next freeware gem.

As gamers will start voting on the developer that will earn the grant from the moment the bundle launches, we do ask those interested in participating to contact us with their entries up to September 10.

We want you to answer the following simple questions and either provide us with a screenshot of your project, a piece of concept art or a video:

-Who are you?

-What project will the IDG be helping you complete? Please do describe it.

Contact us either via the Kyttaro Games contact form or mail us directly at info@bundle-in-a-box.com. We’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

All Indie Dev Grant entries will be presented on both the Kyttaro Games blog and the brand new Bundle In A Box blog.

Bravely Navigating Greenlight (also 10 games that have to be on Steam if the world is to ever be a better place)

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 07:26:00 +0000

In its first day Greenlight, the cunning Steam scheme that lets mainstream gamers vote on indie games and saves Valve the trouble of promoting its service, has gathered over 500 submissions. It is of course quite the mess, though a mess that will ensure that only well-known games with built-in communities make it to Steam, thus bringing Valve even more money. Hoorah!

Or, well, not.

Anyway. I too did spend a few hours navigating the Greenlight entries and here are the 10 games I would like to see make it on the service. They are of course games I was already aware of, but that's how things work, isn't it?

The Sea Will Claim Everything; it's the only game that will make you a better person. Also, it looks and sounds wonderful and sports thousands of lovely words that are lovely.

Death Ray Manta; it's by Rob Fearon and it's the most psychedelic, colourful, enjoyable and modifiable arena shooter we'll ever play. Besides, DRM eh?

Dark Scavenger; because everyone should love excellent, verbose adventure/RPG hybrids with a demented sense of humour.

Project Zomboid; yes, zombies can still be fun, interesting and actually innovative. Here is where I confess my love for the thing.

Neocolonialism; seems to have involved since I first covered it for the IndieGames Blog. Besides Steam could easily use a couple more political games.

Wyv and Keep; I do love co-op games played on one PC. Even more so when they are weird and pixel-artsy. Mind you, I did preview this particular game some time ago.

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller; crafted with a little help from Jane Jensen AND using the power of post-cognition: the most useless sounding super-power of late, that does though make perfect sense from a gameplay point-of-view.

Fibrillation; from Russia. With horror.

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land; WWI turn-based strategy and Cthulhu. Better yet, Call of Cthulhu of the Chaosium variety. Did review it some time ago.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch; the trailer, the TRAILER.

And if you feel I haven't posted enough links, well, here's another one. It will take you to my Greenlight Collection thingy, which, provided I don't get bored, will generally include some pretty intriguing games.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

Adventure Lantern #32

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 15:59:00 +0000

It is admittedly August, but you should definitely download the July issue of Adventure Lantern. It is after all as fresh as your average August magazine and, by far, the best looking issue the dear, venerable adventure gaming fanzine has so far managed. Pretty impressive really, as are the excellent reviews of Scratches: Director's Cut and Metal Dead. Oh, and the news section is both incredibly rich and downright mouth-watering.

Deirdra Kiai presents Dominique Pamplemousse in It's All Over Once The Fat Lady Sings!

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:40:00 +0000

Okay, we still don't have The Threepenny Opera: The Game, but Dominique Pamplemousse in It's All Over Once The Fat Lady Sings! will apparently be able to cover our collective jazz-musical point-and-click adventure gaming needs. Provided we help it get funded, that is. You know, by giving money to this mouth-watering indiegogo campaign and making sure that the brilliantly multi-talented Deirdra Kiai has the funds she needs to actually pull this one off.

Just take a look at the pitch video and tell me the prospect of such a visually and aurally beautiful stop motion detective adventure isn't something worth supporting...

See? You loved it too reader! How very lovely!

Thomas Was Alone and a new breed of reviews

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:46:00 +0000

Having already covered the release of Thomas Was Alone over at the IndieGames blog (see? that's where newsbits go these days) I thought I'd take my time and finish the game before reviewing it for my very own, very cozy place. But first a bit of history.

Thomas Was Alone is a game by Mike Bithell and Mike Bithell is one of the first indie game designers I started writing about sometime six years ago. He was still a student back then, but had already come up with more than a few intriguing ideas and was more than capable of creating beautiful games. Games like Reunion if you remember, which I deeply enjoyed and (hint, hint) would love to see evolved.

Then, things and games happened and Mike went on and crafted a particularly successful flash game named Thomas Was Alone which you can no longer play online. It was an utterly lovely game. A refreshing puzzle-platformer that provided you with rectangle characters and a geometric world, in which said characters could climb and bounce on top of each other in order to solve platformer puzzles.

Then, even more things happened (mainly glowing press and, apparently, brave choices) and Mike decided that Thomas Was Alone simply had to realize its full potential and become a full-blown, downloadable and thus logically commercial indie game. Following a modest IndieGoGo campaign the game was released and you can (and frankly should) buy it now for Mac and PC over at its very own and most aptly URLed site. There's even a demo available to help you make the right choice.

History lesson over. Time for a review.

Well, the official description of the game goes a bit like this: a minimalist game about friendship and jumping and floating and bouncing and anti-gravity, which is pretty accurate, but fails to add the words terrific, story-heavy and brilliantly narrated somewhere. A grave marketing mistake surely, as what we are talking about here reader is easily one of the very best platformers ever. A game that has earned its place among classic platformers Manic Miner and VVVVVV; a rare action offering that can proudly sit next to Alphaland (an inspiration perhaps?) and claim it really knows its storytelling.

The plot and its delivery, you see, are central to Thomas Was Alone, which does force me to namedrop a bit more. Remember that Portal game? Good. Now, do the math and find out what I want to say, by keeping in mind that I easily preferred Thomas' take on interactive storytelling.

As for the gameplay itself, things are both straightforward and innovative. You get to control a variety of subtly yet brilliantly animated rectangles, each with its own unique personality, set of abilities, shape and colour, and guide them through an excellently designed set of levels that will mainly tax your brain, but also -a bit- your reflexes. What's really lovely is just how well each rectangle's defining ability is tied to its character; what's downright impressive though is that said rectangles are so much more interesting than your average multi-polygonal mainstream hero. They have a soul and that's coming from a person who simply doesn't believe such things exist.

So, uhm, as I said earlier, buy it will you? Don't make me go on about how lovely the stylized graphics are or how addictive the game can get. I'm very busy these days, you know, and am pretty confident the less I tell you about it, the more fun you'll have discovering the many graces of Thomas Was Alone.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

Today's Mech Delivery: PlaySF issue 2

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:42:00 +0000

Ask anyone who has ever published anything of a periodical nature and they'll admit that actually doing a second issue is the most difficult and crucial phase their magazine had to go through, which, gently leads me to telling you about the release of Play SF issue 2 and my being very happy about it. Well, it's out and I'm happy, and you should absolutely grab a copy (for Mac/PC and your iOS contraption) or, better, yet subscribe to the thing, as this is much more than the only sci-fi focused gaming magazine; it's a great and excellently written magazine. One of the three (yes, only) I actually read!

As for this issue's contents, expect tons of reviews, previews, features and newsbits. Personal highlights include a Carrier Command preview, a little something on Wing Commander Saga, my introduction to Hawken, an amazing feature on game adaptations, the continuation of the brilliant Tripping The Quantum Mechanic series and that Endless Space review.

The Recession Bundle

noreply@blogger.com (gnome) — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 10:40:00 +0000

And there you (and I) were thinking I was done with bundle-blogging (working on Bundle In A Box can be more than enough) when BLAM! there appears the Recession Bundle by lovable bundle-observatory Indie Game Bundles. It's a wonderful and most unique beast and I couldn't help but mention it. The bundle comes with 6 freeware games and, should you be nice enough to pay something, 2 commercial indie offerings I at least hadn't tried before. All the money will be used to directly support the developers, cover the bundle's costs and help an important charity.

Among the games you'll find such gems as Anna Anthropy's sadistic platformer Mighty Jill Off, Gunstar Heroes inspired actiony-shooty thing Action Fist, stunning political adventure The Cat and the Coup and the gorgeous 8-bit Night. So, uhm, go grab the Recession Bundle and support this wonderful initiative. Here's the trailer to further whet your appetite: