The Indie Gala 4
The latest Indie Gala bundle is now available for purchase, again pay what you want, but with a beat the average price in place for two of the games and the bonuses which will only be revealed during the second week of sale.
Games listed are: A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda, a side-scrolling platformer by Extend Interactive; arcade-style Alien Shooter, by Sigma Team; Disciples II: Gallean’s Return, a compilation edition of strategy game Disciples II and expansions Dark Prophecy and Guardians of the Light, by Strategy First; and Altitude, aerial combat from Nimbly Games; with Boss Baddie WAKE being revealed as the first of the bonus games.
The Humble Botanicula Debut and Be Mine 2
The latest Humble Bundle is now out, with games available on a pay what you want scheme with money split between developers, charity, or the Humble Bundle. The charity this time is the World Land Trust, an international conservation charity. It seems that the Humble Bundle have changed their terms slightly this time, with Steam keys only available to those who have paid at least $5.
There’s a point and click theme to the games in the bundle this time with Botanicula, Machinarium and Samorost 2 from Amanita Design. For those paying more than the average price, there’s also Biograf’s full length feature film Kooky and Vector Park’s Windosill to check out.. and soundtracks are included with Botanicula, Machinarium and Samorost 2!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_0s65bYZmM]
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Various Gaming News
Indie Royale’s The Spring Bundle has been released, featuring six indie games: Futuremark‘s tower defence variant Unstoppable Gorg, Soldak Entertainment‘s action RPG Depths of Peril, Secret Base‘s platformer Tobe’s Vertical Adventure, all available on Steam, and three downloadable games from Radiangames: twin-stick RPG Inferno+, puzzler Slydris, and a twin-stick arcade shooter, Ballistic. The bundle is available on a pay what you want scheme with a minimum price currently just under £3, but those who pay at least $5 or £3.15 will also receive Danimal Cannon’s chiptune music album Roots!
THQ have announced that Darksiders 2 is to be delayed, apparently at the request of Vigil, and will now not launch on July 29th in the UK. This is good news, as it means the developers will be able to properly polish the game. THQ have had a boost from the sales of Saints Row: The Third, which has sold over 4 million copies and brought in more revenue for the company than expected. (more…)
Indie Royale – The April Fools Bundle
The latest bundle from the Indie Royale is The April Fools Bundle, containing five games on the usual pay what you want scheme.
The games are: Hidden Path Entertainment’s tower defense, Defense Grid: The Awakening, Hack, Slash, Loot, a turn based dungeon crawler by OddballDave, insane platform shoot-em-up Alien Zombie Megadeath, by PomPom Games, Explodemon, by CurveStudios, and bonus game Astro Tripper, a shoot-em-up by PomPom Games.
The music is Sexy Synthesizer’s Rock: Delux Edition, available free to those who pay more than the minimum price for the bundle!
The Indie Gala III
The newest Indie Gala bundle has now been revealed: this bundle contains three games, with another two unlocked for those who pay more than the average, as well as an unnamed bonus game. There are also three secret bonuses to come next week, again for those who pay more than the average.
The first three games are: Trapped Dead, a third person isometric survival game by Crenetic; Greed: Black Border, a sci-fi action RPG by Clockstone Studio; Future Wars, strategy from Radon Labs. The next two games are Grotesque Tactics: Evil Heroes, a story-driven RPG by Silent Dreams, and Twin Sector, a post-apocalyptic action story by Dns Development.
This bundle is available for another two weeks, with additional bonuses being unlocked during the second week.
Indie Royale – The Ninja Pack
The Ninja Pack is another Lightning round from Indie Royale: available for just 100 hours, and with the same pay what you want scheme as the normal indie game bundles.
Games in this pack come from developer NinjaBee: Ancients of Ooga, a puzzle platformer; Cloning Clyde, from NinjaBee and Bacon Wrapped Games, a side-scrolling platformer; city-building game A Kingdom for Keflings; Outpost Kaloki, a humorous space station tycoon game.. and bonus strategy game, Band of Bugs.
There are 79 hours remaining on the bundle. The next Indie Royale bundle will be the April Fools Bundle, in two weeks time.
DLC Quest and Lair of the Evildoer
The latest Indie Royale bundle is The St. Patricks Day Bundle: pay what you want for five games: Hard Reset, Jolly Rover, Vertex Dispenser, DLC Quest and Lair of the Evildoer! Hard Reset, Jolly Rover and Vertex Dispenser came with Steam keys, while DLC Quest and Lair of the Evildoer were available through Desura or via download.
I played Going Loud Studios‘ DLC Quest first, a platform action game which takes a rather amusing swipe at the games industry and the increasing use of DLC, as well as gamers’ fears that we’re being exploited by DLC.
Indie Royale – The St. Patrick’s Day Bundle!
The latest bundle from the Indie Royale is up: The St. Patrick’s Day Bundle, containing Hard Reset, Jolly Rover, Vertex Dispenser and DLC Quest, and bonus game Lair of the Evildoer.
As usual, the bundle is pay-what-you-want with a minimum price; beat the average to knock the price down for others!
Hard Reset is an action shooter by Flying Wild Hog, set in a cyberpunk city with humanity verging on extinction and under attack by machines. The game features over-the-top destruction, loads of weapons, enemies and a plot inspired by the likes of Blade Runner!
Brawsome‘s Jolly Rover is a 2d point-and-click adventure following Gaius James Rover across three tropical islands, facing off pirates, villains, voodoo, love and a lack of loot, while following his dream of starting a circus.
Vertex Dispenser, by brog, is an abstract strategy game with mathematical puzzle elements: the game features a mixture of action and mind-bending challenges, as you collect power-ups and capture territory in the right order to maximise the colour of vertices, defend territory and eradicate enemies.
Going Loud Studios‘ DLC Quest is a platforming action game where you defeat the bad guy, save the world and get the girl.. while taking a swipe at the games industry’s DLC practices!
Bonus game Lair of the Evildoer, also by Going Loud Studios, is an RPG shooter with 20 levels procedurally generated with evil, over 30 types of enemy, 25 weapons with plenty of variation, and a stat-based levelling system. Escape the evil Dr. Odious’ lair any way you want to!
Impressions of each game to follow..
Avoiding The Indie Face Kick
Another indie bundle is due to launch soon: the Indie Face Kick, which has been put together by the guys at Gaming: All The Time. This bundle contains eight games: Booster Trooper, Dead Horde, Sol Survivor, Avencast, Runespell, Still Life 2, PAM and Greed Black Border.
I wouldn’t mind looking at the games.. but this bundle, or more specifically, the organisation of this bundle, feels far too unprofessional.. I’m unimpressed with the organisers’ attitude towards customers’ concerns and criticism.
Update: BacklogJourney has done a little more digging.. the organisers are, or were, more heavily involved with their Russian Steam Key advertiser than they were letting on, with this advertiser providing keys for their competitions, too. (more…)
In the News – 1st March
The release date for Irrational Games’ BioShock Infinite has been revealed: October 16th in the US, and on October 19th internationally, for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game will also support the PlayStation Move motion controller, with more details to follow later.. though Eurogamer spotted a “special” BioShock Infinite peripheral on Sony’s website back in November.
Mojang have released Minecraft 1.2 today, adding a slew of new features including new blocks and items, a new jungle biome and a map height limit of 256. On the creature front, ocelots become cats when tamed, and tamed wolves can now have puppies! (more…)