Land lubbers, rejoice! After reporting on upcoming folktale adventure Burly Men At Sea for nigh two years, this hugely promising indie darling is finally being released on September 29 for PC, Mac, iOS and Android. This is no simple feat either, with devs Brain&Brain running into numerous problems during development. We have incredibly high hopes for Burly Men, especially after the absolutely charming success of Brain&Brain's first outing Doggins (read our review).
To celebrate the announcement of the release date, the devs have released a new trailer which you can see below.
Is Legends of the Skyfish by Mgaia Studios the killer Apple TV app we were hoping for?
The fishermen of the aptly named Fishermen's Town became greedy, attracting the ire of the Skyfish, risen from the deep to take its vengeance. After a beautifully rendered storybook sequence sets the scene, you're on your way to save your fellow townsfolk from obliteration.
Cue 45 levels of door-switching, spike-avoidance, sword-swinging and grapple-hooking.
But is this latest offering from prolific mobile publisher Crescent Moon Games and developer Mgaia Studios worth your time?
Indie developer Disparity Games delivers something hot and tasty to gamers on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Mac and PC
Ninja Pizza Girl is a neat title. It’s eye-catching, humorous and oh so very indie. But Disparity Games’ second release isn’t really about any of the things in its title. Its protagonist is a ninja pizza girl, but the game stands out more for its take on life as a teenager than it does for Shuriken or extra cheese.
In a future where blokes on scooters can no longer cut it, Gemma is a ninja pizza girl doing deliveries for her family’s pizza shop. Players guide her through a slightly sci-fi city, running, jumping and cartwheeling over ledges with one goal: deliver the pizza, and deliver it hot.
The levels aren’t brutally hard. Missing a jump just means taking a different route, and there’s no such thing as a health bar. It’s an accessible and friendly game, with an upbeat, thumping soundtrack punctuated by comic book cutscenes that are full of real character.
More experienced players need not fear, however. Whilst the multi-storied levels make it impossible to die, they also allow some routes to be better than others, and a carefully timed button push is needed to land smoothly, flip over obstacles, wall-jump and slide as required – it’s reminicent of the Mirror’s Edge mobile game. And despite the welcoming set up, getting an A-graded time still requires plenty of skill and practice.
But on to those teenage tribulations. Disparity Games is a Queensland outfit consisting of ex-AAA developers Nicole and Jason Stark, with added input and influence from their four children (daughter Raven is behind the game’s comic-book style illustrations). It’s that family origin that gives Ninja Pizza Girl its soul.
It was a simple question from Jason Stark to his daughters that changed the course of the entire game. Their response to “what scares you the most?” transformed Gemma’s enemies from the usual robots or monsters into a very real villain – other teenagers. They taunt and tease Gemma, pushing her to the ground and draining all the colour from her world.
That little tweak from physical to mental damage doesn’t change the gameplay – you can run and jump around without a second thought – but what’s left of my teenage self certainly took note. That is how it was. Sometimes it felt like other people had beaten you with nothing but a few nasty words and an unkind glance. Sometimes it sucked. Sometimes all the colour disappeared.
Luckily Ninja Pizza Girl is also about overcoming all that junk. About having fun; about being there for your friends and family. And about doing that crappy job really well. Gemma is an unusually normal gaming protagonist – not royalty, not the chosen one or a superhero, but just a teenager doing her thing.
As a result the game feels very genuine, and it’s pretty funny to boot. For those who find that little something within themselves that resonates with Gemma (and the Stark girls, by extension), Ninja Pizza Girl offers an experience that isn’t often seen in video games, much to our industry’s disservice.
The game is out now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Mac. Read a full interview with the developer in Episode 8 of Grab It.
We're about halfway through the 45 levels of newly released Legend of The Skyfish from Mgaia Studios and thought it a good time to take a break and post some impressions.
If you watch the trailer below you will see a cinematic story intro, gear being upgraded, and some classic top-down hacking and slashing. These elements might understandably lead you to believe Legend of The Skyfish might be more RPG than it is. Read my previous post and you'll see that was my early take.
What it is however, is a very competent action puzzle adventure, with very lite RPG elements (which really amounts to collecting improved equipment necessary for puzzles that come soon after). The game's main focus is to determine how to complete each of its 45 levels by means of pushing blocks to open doors, timed platforming, evading spikes and so on.
We wanted to get that out of the way so as to proceed with our full review based on what Legend of The Skyfish is, rather than focus on what it's not.
What it also is, is very pretty. The music and hand-painted artwork combine to create a very attractive package.
It's now six months into the life of the very games-capable new Apple TV, however decent RPGs are thin on the ground for the little black box. The pick of the bunch is easily Oceanhorn, which we featured in a huge Making Of feature in Episode 2 of Grab It (check out the full list below).
Oceanhorn is evidence that this mid-tier level of top-down RPGs is a perfect fit for Apple's new hardware. Small one-touch free-to-play mobile titles squander the opportunity the device offers developers and gamers, and big triple triple A titles just aren't an option for this microconsole's capabilities, so titles like Oceanhorn sit in the goldilocks region of gaming for Apple TV.
Enter the upcoming Legend of The Skyfish from publisher Crescent Moon Games and developer Mgaia Studios. Even before seeing any gameplay, the banner above this article already screams Zelda, but if you need any further convincing scroll down to the bottom and check out the trailer.
The subdued colour palette and gorgeous 2D artwork give Legend of The Skyfish a very handcrafted, classic storybook vibe. Gameplay looks to be a mixture of puzzle elements built largely around a grappling hook mechanic, over the top of an old-school top down RPG canvas.
August 18th is the release date for Legend of The Skyfish, on both iOS and Apple TV's tvOS. The Apple TV's App Store is currently a small pond with only a few fish, and Legend of The Skyfish looks like it has the potential to be one of the bigger ones come Thursday.
Writer: Garry Balogh
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
It feels like only yesterday that we reviewed Pixel Cup Soccer 16, a great retro arcade soccer title from Batovi Games Studio.
Not wasting any time, on August 4th Batovi launched the next iteration of its series on Steam Early Access, appropriately named Pixel Cup Soccer 17.
Compatible with PC, Mac, and Linux, PCS 17 will spend about six months in Early Access before a full launch, with Batovi planning to pack in plenty of additional features.
One of the most exciting new features to come will be the Team Editor, giving players the ability to create their own teams and leagues, whether they be real or imagined, and then share them with the community.
Other items on Batovi's list of features for PCS 17 are a completely revamped AI that allows for greater depth in play-styles, and online multiplayer. PCS 17 currently supports multiplayer with Player1 VS Player2 (in Friendly Matches) and Party Mode (in Competitions).
Controls in this Steam iteration of Pixel Cup Soccer are straight forward: WASD for directional movement, L for passing/changing player selection, and K for shooting/tackling. PC controller support is already present, and it's easily the recommended way to play given the fast-paced arcade nature of the game.
A great feature of the Pixel Cup Soccer series is the temporary events that reflect what's going on in real world soccer, and at the moment you'll be able to play recreations of current Olympics matches in both the men's and women's tournaments.
We'll keep an eye on Pixel Cup Soccer 17 as it continues to develop and as new features are added. Tinkering with that Team Editor should be a blast.
In our Grab It Magazine iPad episodes, which are listed below, we have a regular feature called Quick Fix. These are bite sized mini-reviews for those games that are great to have in your pocket during commutes, waiting in line, commercial breaks, or for when the person you are talking to on the phone has nothing interesting to say but you still want to earn the credit for staying on the line and being a good listener.
Episode one for example - which is free - looks at Mega Dead Pixel, HAR.MO.NY, and the outstanding Ridiculous Fishing. Read on for a Quick Fix as we look at Bica Studios’ second game - Slice IN.
During my adventures in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PS4, I developed a muscle memory that is proving very useful for Neverwinter, the Dungeons & Dragons MMO which was recently ported to Sony’s hardware.
Whenever I want to read an interesting bit of lore found in a parchment or book, or compare the stats of shiny loot dropped by a felled enemy to what I’ve already equipped, it now happens without even thinking: My left thumb shoots over and holds down the PS button, followed a split second later by my right thumb mashing the square button. The result is the magnifying of a portion of your TV screen, and is utter bliss for eyes that have been at work all day and are now straining to serve a late night gaming session.
This zoom function on the PS4 is one of the device’s accessibility options, and must first be enabled within the Settings menu, as below:
Select Settings > Accessibility
Once enabled, the function can then be used in-game.
While zoomed, your screen is divided into a grid, and you can navigate around the screen using your left thumb-stick. When magnified, you’ll lose control of the game’s functionality - it doesn’t pause the game, but it stops you from being able to execute any functions or move your avatar. Exit the zoom by hitting the circle or PS button.
On paper it sounds a little fiddly, but during a lengthy RPG or MMO it soon becomes second nature zooming in and out, and your eyes will thank you every time.
Right then, I’m off to get my level 19 moon worshipping warlock over the edge so I can open up that tantalising carrot in my inventory - the level 20 Adventure Box.
And that of course, is how they get you.
Damn them.
Writer: Garry Balogh
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
The PES and FIFA franchises have “the beautiful game” locked up as far as deep simulation goes, and the Apple TV hardware just isn’t the place for these big triple A heavyweights. The middle ground between mobile and triple A is this microconsole’s sweet spot, making Batovi Games Studio’s Pixel Cup Soccer 16 a great fit for Apple’s newest App Store.
While its playable and enjoyable enough on iOS with virtual controls, a big screen and an MFI controller in hand bring out the best in Batovi’s latest title.
Armed with our trusty Steel Series Nimbus, we put Pixel Cup Soccer 16 through its paces, and tried to right some of the wrongs of the World Cup’s past, but alas, we haven’t yet managed to get Australia through to the finals.
Ever since the morphing of Cascadia Games into Ferocity2D, an intriguing entry on the indie developer's site has teased an upcoming project titled only as B5. Today the codename was finally revealed as an homage to the heyday of 2D platforming - Bearcat Attack.
Lamenting the poor translation many of our 2D platforming mascots suffered when attempting the leap to 3D gave rise to an interesting question for the developer - where did they go so wrong? And, perhaps more importantly, what made their original 2D versions so good? Sonic, Rayman, Bubsy, Earthworm Jim - none seemed to survive the 3D makeover the way that Mario did.
Chris Jorgensen of Ferocity2D decided that building a traditional 2D mascot platformer was the only way to answer that question. Check out the Vine embedded below and you'll see obvious Sonic influences, with environments planned that will take inspiration from the lush worlds of Rayman.
Teaming up with artist Mike Heald of Fully Illustrated, even in its very early stages Bearcat Attack certainly looks the part, and with a decent pedigree of 2D platformers already under the developer's belt - the Cavorite series, 2-Bit Cowboy series, and Ammo Pigs - it'll be intriguing to see which side of the '90s this mascot throwback falls.
If you are wondering who we are, we're primarily a digital magazine for the iPad focused on the coverage of indie video games. Run by the former editor of Game Informer, you'll find worldwide exclusives, but also an interactive media experience unlike any you have seen before. If you have an iPad, you should check out the free sample issue at the very least, or enjoy one of our other episodes as listed below.
