Insider interviews with indie game developers
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This past Sunday, for the first time since before the pandemic, I had the opportunity to share a panel with attendees of PAX East! Demakes Decoded: From HD to 8-Bit In an age of HD remasters, demakes buck the trend by reimagining a modern game for a more primitive console. Ever wanted to play Silent Hill 2 on the NES, Disco Elysium on Game Boy, or …
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The Return of Couch Play at PAX East 2019
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The tenth annual PAX East was held last month, and I was honored to host two panels of brilliant speakers. One, “The Art of Craft: Inspiring Game Creations”, can be seen and heard on the Polygamer podcast. The other was “The Return of Couch Play”, looking at offline multiplayer as an alternative to online games such as Fortnite, PUBG, and Tetris 99…
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CRYPTARK is a 2D sci-fi roguelike twin-stick shooter in which players pilot mechs charged with salvaging alien technology from derelict spaceships. Technological defenses remain active on these procedurally generated abandoned hulks, and players must shut them down and shoot the core if they hope to escape with enough artifacts to sell and fund the…
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IndieSider #60: Old Man's Journey by Broken Rules
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Old Man’s Journey is a 90-minute puzzle through the hero’s memories. After receiving a letter, he sets out on a journey across rolling landscapes that the player can reshape, allowing the old man to leap from foreground to background, making his way across obstacles. At the end of each level, he reminiscences about his past, unraveling a tale of lo…
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Kona from Parabole is a first-person exploration game set in the cold northern reaches of Canada in the 1970s. A private investigator has been hired to investigate some petty crimes but soon stumbles into a larger mystery hidden in the supernatural cold. What secrets lie within in this chilly interactive tale? In this week’s IndieSider, I speak wit…
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IndieSider #58: Future Unfolding by Spaces of Play
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Future Unfolding is a top-down exploration game set in a pastoral world. Without direction or tutorial and with very little written text, the game invites players to go whichever direction they wish as they discover secrets in the woods, make friends and foes of the fauna, and solve puzzles. A rustic palette, rich mythology, and soothing soundtrack…
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IndieSider #57: Open Sorcery by Abigail Corfman
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Open Sorcery is a cyberpunk hypertext adventure. You play as BEL/S, a fire elemental who has been bound by C++ code to serve as a firewall. Your job is to scan the local environment and detect any other elementals or poltergeists who could be interfering with your creators or neighbors. As you identify their material and motive, you will learn more…
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IndieSider #56: Circles by Jeroen Wimmers
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Circles is an abstract puzzle game for Mac and PC that uses only mouse control. Each level consists of circles that behave in different ways but all of which must be avoided to reach the level’s end. As the game uses no written or spoken language and offers no tutorial, it is up to the player to decipher each level’s mechanics to manipulate and nav…
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IndieSider #55: Warlock's Tower by Whippering
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Warlock’s Tower is a 2D puzzle game with a retro Game Boy aesthetic. Tim the mailman must scale the wizard’s tower, but each step he takes costs him a hit point. Players must carefully plot their course through each room to overcome such obstacles as zombies, slimes, barriers, conveyor belts, and more. Warlock’s Tower is developed by Midipixel, a B…
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Induction is a time-bending puzzle game from Bryan Gale. A veteran of such AAA studios as Electronic Arts, Gale’s first indie game employs temporal mechanics to create time loops. The only way to pull levers and cross bridges is if a player can be in two places at once — as long as they don’t cause temporal anomalies. The geometric art style is com…
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IndieSider #53: Owlboy with Jonathan Geer
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Nine years of development was worth the waitBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #52: Beholder by Warm Lamp Games
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Is it a coincidence that a game developed in Siberia is set in a totalitarian state?By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #51: Pankapu by Too Kind Studio
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When dreams become nightmares, Pankapu charges to the rescue in this family-friendly platformer.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #50: Four Sided Fantasy by Ludo Land
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Logan Fieth discusses his puzzle-platformer that bends the edges of your television's reality.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #49: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Tin Man Games
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Tin Man Games brings Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's original 1982 Fighting Fantasy novel to life.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #48: Lifeless Planet by Stage 2 Studios
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David Board of Stage 2 Studios breathes new life into the PS4 port of Lifeless Planet.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider: Stage of Development by Russ Pitts
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Russ Pitts is crowdfunding a video documentary series about Chicago's indie game developers. Here's why.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #47: Chime Sharp by Ste Curran
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An Xbox 360 musical puzzler returns for a new generationBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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Marble Madness meetings Lemmings on iOSBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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An isometric puzzle-platformer in the style of Solstice & EquinoxBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #44: Life Goes On: Done to Death by Infinite Monkeys Entertainment
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When knights die, they do so in service to the next to take up the sword.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #43: Kathy Rain by Clifftop Games
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A real-world point-and-click detective adventure with mature themesBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #42: Epistory by Fishing Cactus
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A narrative adventure where battles are resolved through typingBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #41: Gravity Goose by Duck Duck Games
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Duck Duck ANTIGRAVITYBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #40: The Flame in the Flood by The Molasses Flood
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Six Irrational Games alumni banded together to create an Oregon Trail roguelike.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #39: Plangman by Ehren von Lehe
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A puzzle-platformer inspired by Hangman and the Apple IIBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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“Ellipsis” means something omitted; what’s missing from Salmi Games’ debut title?By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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A Super Mario Galaxy-inspired platformer for Apple TVBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #36: Lumino City by State of Play Games
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It's real—Lumino City is a physical set hand-built and digitized for the game.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #35: Girls Like Robots by Popcannibal
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One of Steam Greenlight's first games makes it Wii U debut.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #34: Dangerous Dave with Dren McDonald
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The return of an Apple II classicBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #33: Emily Is Away by Kyle Seeley
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Remember AIM?By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #32: Mushroom 11 by Untame Games
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What a fungi.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #31: Super Happy Fun Block by Ethan Benanav
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A chromatic puzzler for iOSBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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Infiltrate enemy headquarters in this modern update to Elevator Action and Impossible Mission.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #29: PAC-MAN 256 by 3 Sprockets
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Wait… How is Pac-Man indie??By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #28: Gathering Sky by A Stranger Gravity
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Take flight in this peaceful avian expedition.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #27: High Strangeness with Ben Shostak
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The first Kickstarter game makes its Wii U debutBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #26: Leadlight Gamma by Wade Clarke
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Is there still a market for text adventures? Apparently!By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #25: Adventures of Pip by Tic Toc Games
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Featuring guest host Sabriel Mastin!By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #24: Puzzledrome by Asinine Games
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The puzzle game for fans of symmetry and wordplay.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #23: Catlateral Damage by Chris Chung
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Being a cat is hard work. No, seriously.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #22: Luna's Wandering Stars by Serenity Forge
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A puzzle game with philosophical implicationsBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #21: Dyscourse by Owlchemy Labs
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Lost as a graphical choose-your-own-adventureBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #20: Sunless Sea by Failbetter Games
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The sequel to Fallen LondonBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #19: Shelter 2 by Might and Delight
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Keep your cubs alive—there is no greater imperative.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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On the founding of the Boston Festival of Indie GamesBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #18: To Be or Not To Be by Tin Man Games
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Shakespeare's Hamlet, reimagined as a choose-your-own-adventure novelBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #17: Fight the Dragon with Seon Rozenblum
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As you get stronger, the dragon awaits.By Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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IndieSider #16: Cubot by Nicolas Pierre-Loti-Viaud
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So many cubes — so few movesBy Ken Gagne of Gamebits
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