December 25th, 2007 at 11:44 am
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Eyeball 3: Rorschach Dungeon is a short game in which both of the main characters can be controlled with the same mouse. Left click on an area to approach it, and hold the right mouse button to use your eye beam. Right clicking on one of the character’s pupil will cause it to generate a shield, protecting it’s caster while damaging other enemies on contact as well.
The health indicator at the top of the screen is shared by both eyeballs, and can be increased by colliding with enemies of the same colour.
Name: Eyeball 3: Rorschach Dungeon
Developer: Sergio Cornaga
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here
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December 25th, 2007 at 11:42 am
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The North, Pohjola is a strategy game which resembles David Galindo’s The Sandbox of God. Players have to help a tribe survive a harsh winter season by making decisions limited to the four cards drawn in each round. The game ends once all thirty cards from the deck have been exhausted, and scores are then calculated for online submission.
Population count is represented by a percentage at the top left of the screen. Temperature can be manipulated by choosing the right cards to maintain a warm surrounding for your tribe. Certain cards award bonus points, and may only affect proceedings when their specific conditions are met.
Name: The North, Pohjola
Developer: Fire Dragon
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here
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December 25th, 2007 at 11:41 am
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R-Theta 2: Expanded Edition is a game based in polar coordinates. Every point in the game is assigned a radius and theta value, denoting the distance of the point from the centre, as well as the angle it makes with the x-axis.
The player is in control of a triangular shooter, built into a constantly rotating radar-scope which must be protected from collision with other enemies. Use the up and down arrow keys to decrease or increase the ship’s radius from the centre. Hold the X key for rapid fire, tap the C key to shoot and use the Z key to launch a destructive missile. Keys can be reconfigured by pressing the F2 function key at the title screen.
This updated version includes nine new enemies and an adjustable difficulty setting.
Name: R-Theta 2: Expanded Edition
Developer: Theta Games
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here (Vista version)
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December 23rd, 2007 at 6:07 am
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Jon Blow interview by Eden
I interviewed Jon Blow, creator of upcoming XBLA (and PC eventually!) game Braid, and found him to be an wonderfully nice and insightful fellow.
EB: How do you go about designing a level? In Braid, the levels are sort of no-nonsense. They’re very efficient.
The game is about understanding what it means if time behaves in certain ways — exploring the consequences of these hypothetical laws of spacetime, and the puzzle pieces you collect are concrete tokens representing the understanding you have gained. So, every puzzle in Braid has a very specific point; it is there to tell you one thing.
Because I wanted the game to be focused (and not long and bloated with filler), I decided early on that the levels would only contain the elements necessary to create the puzzles inside them. There aren’t lots of random enemies to jump on or big levels to just sort of wander through. Everything is in the game for a specific reason. After being in the game for a while, the player might start to pick up on some of the nuances (why certain puzzles are grouped together, for example).
What I’ve said here only applies to Braid, though; if designing a different game, I would probably take a different approach.
Read the rest of this entry »
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:58 am
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The evolution of physics games which involves drawing objects using basic lines or circles. (post updated with download link for Chalk Physics)
Chalk by Joakim Sandberg
download, 3.85 MB
Crayon Physics by Petri Purho
download, 5.63 MB
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:52 am
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The IGF organizers have announced the 12 recipients of the 2008 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase awards from a field of over 125 entries. Each student showcase finalist will receive a $500 travel stipend to help aid their trip to GDC 2008. The $2,500 Best Student Game prize winner will be announced during the same event this coming February.
View the list of twelve entries (after the main competition finalists)
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 am
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Winter’s Heart is probably my favorite of the over 100 Game Maker winter contest games I’ve played so far. It’s made by Bit Pimp aka Darthlupi, who is responsible for some of the best classic Game Maker games (such as Mage Craft, Raging Skies, The Cleaner, and Legend of Shadow). It fits in no one genre, it has puzzle and action elements, and RPG-like upgrades.
Use Z to hoist and then strike with your staff, holding it longer produces more forceful blows. This however cannot harm enemies, but it can be used to knock snowballs into them, which can create chain reactions and temporarily stun enemies — and while they are stunned, use the staff again to banish them. You can also use X to roll up snowballs for this purpose if you run out of a level’s starting set, although this drains your freeze meter. Press C to use a spell (which takes away from your score), and press A and S to cycle between your spells (which you can buy and upgrade using your score).
I like that it isn’t just a set of levels, but there’s a background story, bosses, and really great music. One thing I like about the game is that it’s very economical with its elements, you only have two meters. The freeze meter doubles as health (you have to restart the level when it fills) and, because it’s constantly moving down, also triples as your time limit. Your score and doubles as your magic points, because you use it up when you cast spells, and it triples as your currency, because you use it to buy new spells and upgrade them.
Name: Winter’s Heart
Developer: BitPimp/Darthlupi
Category: Arcade/Action/Puzzle/RPG
Type: Freeware
Size: 3.2 MB
Direct download page: Click here
Review by Paul Eres
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:49 am
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Same Cube is an addictive puzzler which involves using the Z and X keys to rotate four tiles clockwise or counterclockwise to make a match of four blocks with the same color. Remove the blocks quickly to increase time, and complete all ten levels to unlock the unlimited mode.
Glass tiles are automatically removed if an entire column or row of these exists when the game is in progress.
Name: Same Cube
Developer: Yamahara
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:48 am
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Clock Tower’s Secret is a platformer in which players have to figure out a way to reach the exit portal by activating the correct switches to rotate the entire world towards the direction shown by the blue arrows.
Hold the Z key to zoom out, and tap the C key to jump. Press the X key when your character is next to a switch to activate it. Developed by ssi for a recent Three Minute Game competition.
Name: Clock Tower’s Secret
Developer: SSI
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here
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December 23rd, 2007 at 5:46 am
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Grilled Box is an action game which resembles Every Extend, developed by TERU-soach for a recent Three Minute Game competition. Blocks appear from the top of the screen at a steady rate, and players have to destroy as many blocks as they can before they reach the bottom. Left click on a block to start a chain reaction, or right click to use the magnet and bring the blocks closer to each other. Use these two actions sparingly, as clicking rapidly will decrease their charges faster and render them inactive for a short while when completely depleted. A time penalty is incurred for every block that escapes intact.
Name: Grilled Box
Developer: TERU-soach
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here
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