Au Sable is a game by the maker of All of Our Friends Are Dead, Amon26, and appears to be at least a spiritual sequel to that game. Fans of the previous game might enjoy the new one. For those who didn’t play that one, they are both platformers which focus on delivering dark and creepy feelings.
There’s more variety than the first game, and the controls feel tighter, and the art is just as nice. My only complaint is that the mouse cursor is off by default and the only way to learn how to turn it on is in the ReadMe file (which I missed and played through the game with that difficulty).
Again, you can get a taste of the game from Ortoslon’s playthrough if you’re sleepy or unconvinced by this review.
Star Guard is a short and sweet action-platformer from Vacuum Flowers available for either PC/MACs. Set in a minimalistic and dark world, you play a green guy fighting red guys who are controlled by an evil wizard. You shoot the red guys with X and jump over their cowardly bullets with Z, though a gamepad is recommended if you’ve one available as you’ll need to squeeze off a lot of bullets in quick succession.
This is especially true in the later of the game’s nine levels, each featuring the same charmingly simple aesthetic, although the larger enemies feature some slightly more stylish flourishes. It’s a rather strange game because the pacing and difficulty doesn’t quite mesh with the infinite lives given to you on a normal playthrough. Where as typically mines/traps would require caution and dexterity, these will simply not respawn so even if you die you can just get through the section without worrying about the consequences. Which is fine, however I would’ve preferred if they came back when I did so I could effectively ‘beat’ that section rather than skip it.
That’s literally my only problem with the game and other than that it’s a wonderfully conceived platformer, and if more games could do plot exposition in such a seemless fashion so as to not even slightly interrupt the action then I’d be pretty damn happy with that.
Tom Sennett and Matt Thorson’s RunMan: Race Around the World elicits a kind of primal joy in me that I was worried had left long ago. It’s just a fun game, through and through, super-injected with whimsy, full of surprising moments and fun characters who feel like old friends. You can’t ever really die, but the game is challenging enough. Still, I imagine one could get through RunMan pretty quickly by playing straight through… but it’s so enjoyable to run, bounce, swing, and fly through some of the levels that I’m more than happy to play them over and over to improve my time or collect medals.
The game’s music warrants its own paragraph. Tom Sennett is fond of using public domain jazz and bluegrass songs in his games (most notably, the original RunMan’s Monster Fracas), and they really add to the charm. I’m pretty accustomed to hearing either chiptunes or orchestral music (or occasionally metal) in games these days, and it’s refreshing to listen to something that deviates from those genres. I like sitting around on the map screen just to listen to the music.
But yeah, this is by far my favorite of Tom and Matt’s games, and possibly one of my favorite indie games of the year. I’d love to see more collaborations between them in the future, ‘cause this one worked out really well. Great work!
Joe Larson has released ASCIIpOrtal, his ASCII demake of… Portal. I’ll be honest, I know that there are other demakes of Portal out there (at least two from our Demakes Competition), but I’m not very familiar with them. This one is well-made, however – seeing “through” the portals is a nifty visual effect and the puzzles are nice and challenging. The game comes with a level editor as an added bonus.
Just One More Game conducted an interview with Joe for the launch of the game.
It’s time to get fcuked! Time Fcuk, the puzzle-platformer from Edmund McMillen, William Good, and Justin Karpel (previously teased here), is out now on Newgrounds. I don’t want to spoil too much, so I’ll just say this: It’s very good! It’s got a slightly unsettling vibe to it, and a surprising amount of atmosphere, but the real treat is the gameplay. Throughout the game more and more ways to manipulate each screen are introduced, and by the end your brain will be tied in a knot. There’s quite a nice balance between logic and action here. Do give it a try!
Distractionware’s Terry Cavanagh has released this trailer for his upcoming gravity-shifting platformer/exploration game VVVVVV. (Yes, VVVVVV.) Initially a small “design exercise,” VVVVVV has evolved into Terry’s biggest game yet. A few months and nearly 200 screens later, it’s looking great.
Head over to Terry’s dev log for more details and screens. And look for VVVVVV to be released “in the next few weeks.” (Hopefully!)
First of all, Derek Yu’s super popular platformer-roguelike Spelunky has finally reached version 1.0! I’m assuming everyone here has played the game. If not, give it a try already—it’s one of the best freeware titles ever, absolutely.
You can find the latest version here, at Spelunky World.
The other, almost bigger news is: Spelunky will be coming to XBLA in 2010. Derek says, “it’s going to be much more than a straight port of the PC game – I’m planning on stuffing it with new graphics, audio, and other features for XBLA users.” The game will be developed under his new label, Mossmouth. (Support of the original will continue, of course!)
All in all, pretty exciting. Check Spelunky World for more information as it’s released.
Time Donkey, the latest game from Flashbang Studios (and the 9th on Blurst!), has been released. In the game you play as a donkey working at a fast food joint who discovers a portal and becomes "trapped in the very fabric of time itself, doomed to relive the same 30 seconds again and again."
It mostly plays like your standard 3D platformer -- running, jumping, collecting tacos -- but the trick here is that you can press R to jump back in time and try again, while "ghosts" of your previous tries play out. You can then interact with them, allowing you to reach new areas and such. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get a handle on the controls and start planning your moves, it's quite fun. (And pretty darn hilarious!)
The music is, of course, by the indefatigable Danny B.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei (A Werewolf Thriller) is a fun flash game from Waremsoft in which you play a character on “a bloody quest to rescue the girl that hurt you from the hands of the planet’s dominant race: The werewolves.” Sneak by the werewolves and tackle them when they’re not looking—and enjoy the glorious blood effects as you mutilate them where they stand. (They seem pretty evil, so I guess that’s okay?)
Play Vox Populi, Vox Dei here, on Kongregate. (Requires Flash Player 10.)
