Lost Decade Games released the launch trailer for their upcoming dungeon crawler, A Wizard's Lizard. The gameplay trailer shows off a number of the game's environments, as well as many enemies and obstacles players can expect to find within the game. A Wizard's Lizard was originally entitled "Crypt Run" but Lost Decade Games explained that the name change was needed to give the game additional personality, as well as being a catchier title overall.Launching for Windows, Mac, and Linux on January 22nd, A Wizard's Lizard puts players in control of Raga, a wizard's lizard who is seeking vengeance for the untimely death of the wizard. Ever-changing dungeons await players eager to explore them, and by rescuing the trapped townsfolk, players will be able to acquire upgrades to aid them in future adventures.Because Raga was exposed to a magical potion, dying in a dungeon does not mean the end of the game as the realm of the dead features secrets of its own for players to discover.
From game developer Chris Chung comes the world's first first-person destructive cat simulator, Catlateral Damage. Armed with only two paws and the agility of a cat, players must create as big of a mess as they can as fast as they can.Originally created during the 2013 7DFPS game jam, Catlateral Damage gained popularity to the point where Chung decided to develop it into a full game. Development started in September of last year.In Catlateral Damage, players tackle one room of the house at a time, attempting to knock over valuables and anything light enough to swipe over with the strength of a cat. Currently an Alpha-build demo of Catlateral Damage is playable on the game's official website. The demo features only one level, with the solitary objective of achieving 100,000 points. Players navigate the room using the WASD keys, and left, right, and middle-clicking all trigger various paw swipes.
In a recent blog post on his official blog, The Binding of Isaac developer, Edmund McMillen posted answers to some of the most frequently asked questions in regards to the upcoming remake of The Binding of Isaac, The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth. One of the first questions he posted, and one with one of the lengthier answers, is on why McMillen decided to change the art style for Rebirth."Isaac was a big rush job and I did all the art in less than 2 months," McMillen explains. "I wasn't ever happy with it and hadn't planned on the game being so successful so I just got the job done so I could finish the game…aka the art was lazy and to me, [was] just an eyesore."McMillen goes on to explain that he desired for an entirely different look, favoring a more "retro" look over what he ended up putting into The Binding of Isaac. Because the game was based on Zelda, McMillen said, he wanted to do the whole game in pixel sprites but did not put much faith in his artistic ability, nor did he have the time to invest to do so.
It's turning out to be a pretty busy January for Golden Ruby Games. Earlier today, the indie developer announced that their previous effort, Worm Run, is now available on Android devices. But that's not all they have in the hopper: a quick glance at their developer blog shows gives a pretty great first glimpse of what's next for the team.Extreme Exorcism is a game with more of an action/multiplayer bent. The team is describing it as "Super Crate Box meets Braid," which should be more than enough to get the imagination of any gamer running wild. Unlike Worm Run, which has its home on mobile devices, Extreme Exorcism is being aimed more at the PC (and possibly console) audience.There's no word on a release date, but they're hoping to show off the latest build at IndieCade East next month, so if you're in the NYC area, be sure to check it out. The rest of us will just have to settle for the enticing concept art above (or if you're really itchin' for a play, you can check out a very early version on Kongregate).
We have an interesting topic of debate this week instead of my usual "BAH! FREE GAMES! LOOK AT ALL THESE DEALS!" introductions that you've grown to know and love so well. And believe it or not, but this topic has to do with certain games actually going on sale a bit too soon after their initial release. Intrigued? Well read on!It's hard not to notice that three of the biggest game deals going on this weekend over at the App Store are for hot new mobile games like Joe Danger Infinity, Archangel, and Alpha 9, which were all barely released more than a week ago. And for some of these games, the price cuts are pretty dramatic (Archangel in particular went from $4.99 to $1.99 in a manner of days). So the question then becomes: will gamers keep buying Day One mobile releases if the pattern shows they could potentially get the game for far cheaper if they wait a few days?"I could certainly see how something like this could burn loyal gamers who support a developer by buying their new games at full price on the day they come out, so it's definitely an interesting subject to think about. So why don't we all mull that over for a bit while we purchase all of the hotly discounted games appearing in the list below, and don't forget to let us know if there are any others that we may have missed in the comments section!
Well you know what they say about all good things, right? They always come to an end eventually. And so seems to be the plan for Steam's beloved Greenlight program, which sought to help small-name developers get their games onto Steam through a community voting process. But during today's opening remarks at the Steam Dev Days - a conference held exclusively for developers - Valve's Gabe Newell has been reported as saying the company hopes to move away from Greenlight in the near future.While there's been no official reason given for Valve's eventual removal of the Steam Greenlight program just yet, Games Industry International has been compiling the tweets from game developers on the ground floor of the conference, like Dave Oshry of Hot Blooded Games, who quoted Newell in a tweet as saying: "Our goal is to make Greenlight go away. Not because it's not useful, but because we're evolving.""That statement certainly gives us a lot of food for thought. Steam Greenlight was first incorporated into the popular gaming client in August 2012, after which Valve had to quickly refine its rules and regulations due to an immense amount of "shovelware" titles popping up on the program. So in a way, Valve choosing to drop Greenlight might be a good way to keep their game catalogue both concise and focused on the very best gaming experiences around. But at the same time, it also opened up the doors for gamers to learn about amazing new titles that they may have never heard about before if not for Greenlight.This news also comes on the heels of Valve's recent announcement that the total number of Steam users had risen 15% over the holidays to a whopping 75 million, so you almost have to trust that Valve knows what they're doing. We'll be sure to keep you posted on any updates we hear regarding the final days of Greenlight as soon as we learn them. In the meantime, be sure to hit the comments and let us know what you think about this surprising decision!
There's no denying how popular EA's The Simpsons: Tapped Out has become on the App Store these days, and for very good reason: the game is just an absolute blast, and a pure delight for Simpsons fans everywhere. After all, what's not to love about a game that lets you recreate your very own version of Springfield, complete with all of the wacky friends and neighbors from the TV show that you've gotten to know oh so well?So we thought it'd be a good idea to make a list of some of our favorite games that have also "tapped" into that winning city-building formula of the Simpsons' hit mobile game. The next time you want to take a break from managing Springfield, why not head over to the world of My Little Pony, or spend some time in the forest with the Smurfs? And if you're especially good at holding your breath, why not work towards building up your very own Bikini Bottom!"Now as is often the case with these kinds of lists, there are certainly lots of other great games out there that play a bit like The Simpsons: Tapped Out. So if there are any particularly fun ones that we may have missed, we hope you'll let us off the hook with an apologetic "D'oh!" after you let us know about them in the replies!
If you were one of the 87,142 backers of Double Fine Adventure, congratulations! You should have a code in your inbox to start playing Broken Age, the game that result from your dollars, by the end of the day. The rest of the world, however, won't have a chance to pick up Tim Schafer's return to adventure gaming until January 28.There are plenty of good reasons to be excited about this one, folks - the least of which is that January 28th is only two weeks from today. And while we could sit here listing all of the facts and figures that make this terribly exciting (after all, this is the project that put Kickstarter on the map for most gamers), there's really only one reason you need to know to buy this: it's Tim Schafer's first point and click adventure in 16 years.With that in mind, we're going to step into the Chrono-O-John to remind you of five very good reasons from the past that should sway your buying decisions in the future.