Now that March has drawn to a close, it's time to look back at the 31 days that were and see which games really managed to stand out as the best of the best. The first two months of 2014 saw some real game of the year contenders: The Banner Saga in January and Threes in February. Is March's winner of that same caliber?We consulted our Magic 8-Ball: All signs point to yes.
After just two days, developer Vlambeer's latest game, Luftrausers, is already profitable according to a tweet from the company's official account.Luftrausers is a 2D aerial combat game that launched on PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita that spent two and a half years in development The game will eventually cost $9.99, but launched (and remains) at a 10% discount on Steam and a 20% discount on PlayStation Network for PlayStation Plus subscribers, making the fast turnaround on profitability just that much more impressive.Nearly a year ago, the game was cloned on the App Store long before release. The story caused a bit of a ruckus as Vlambeer's previous game, Ridiculous Fishing, went through a major cloning ordeal itself.Vlambeer is also the studio behind Super Crate Box and the upcoming Nuclear Throne (formerly Wasteland Kings) for PlayStation 4 and PC. You can currently pick up the prerelease version of Nuclear Throne through Steam Early Access.
Say, remember all that hullabaloo about Vlambeer's Ridiculous Fishing being cloned before it saw a proper release? As much as it pains me to say, it looks like the developer is being forced to go through the same debacle once again. The perpetrator this time around is the just-released SkyFar, an iOS game that bears a striking resemblance to Vlambeer's upcoming Luftrausers for PC, Mac, PS3, and Vita.
It's been a long time coming, but Ridiculous Fishing has officially been submitted to Apple. The news comes from developer Vlambeer, who earlier today published a blog post detailing the game's troubled -- and lengthy -- journey to the App Store.
When writer Brandon Boyer took to Kickstarter to fund a game culture-centric site called Venus Patrol, it was a great success. That's largely because the idea behind the site was solid, but credit should also go the amazing rewards -- such as exclusive games from well-known developers. If it just so happens you missed out and are beginning to feel pangs of jealousy, take it easy! The site has launched, and those who purchase a year subscription to the site now will receive a game from both Vlambeer (of Super Crate Box fame) and Adam Saltsman (of Canabalt fame).
Super Crate Box's launch last week went over pretty big, thanks in large part to the fact that the game is excellent. It also didn't hurt that a lot of very big websites provided some very high-profile coverage. It's probably safe to say that Super Crate Box is a definite success story for developer Vlambeer, and the studio's business and development guru Rami Ismail took a little time to talk with indiegames.com about how his company managed to score an iOS home run. iOS developers, you may want to take some notes.