Who are you and what are you working on? I’m just a guy from Georgia. A complete nobody in the world of game development who saw a contest and thought: “Sure, why not?” Game making has always been more of a hobby than anything for me, and I get much more enjoyment out of making something because I want to, as opposed to planning ahead commercially. Currently I’m working on another non-commercial game, which (like all of my previous projects) will probably never see the light of day or come anywhere close to being finished. What is Reminisce? Reminisce means “to…

        IGMC 2015 games will be judged following the same guidelines the official judges do. (Presentation, Gameplay, Engagement, Bugs/Glitches, and 2015’s Twist: Growth)  My score has no effect on the actual scores the game’s receive but just represent my own thoughts on the games.  Let’s take a look at today’s games… Reminisce Background Information:  A side scrolling adventure game made in Game Maker by the developer Jesse. Presentation:  The beginning scene starts out with a couple lines of text and some music but then as the game starts the music cuts out.  The only sounds you’re left…

       Starting out as one of the most buggiest, unplayable, piles of garbage that Steam has seen in recent years, Orion attempted to give us dinos to shoot long before Ark: Survival Evolved was ever a thing.  But it’s been years since its initial release and the devs have put quite some time into making it better.  The game has sold over two million units thanks to those changes, so what is it like now?  Well let’s see… The Core Gameplay         Orion: Prelude features several game modes but the focus of the game, as far as the player base is concerned, is…

The business sim is a genre which is under filled and under demanded, in my opinion, and that’s why you don’t see many developers rushing out to make games based around this area. The business sim genre struck its prime within the 1990s, and then things went completely quiet, with poor to mediocre releases. However, things are about to get a lot more exciting. Creating and managing a theme park fits beautifully into the business sim genre, and we’ve seen some great past examples including, Theme Park and Rollercoaster Tycoon. If you enjoy the mixture of creating and management, then…

        Square Enix delivered quite a surprise when they took over Sleeping Dogs and turned it from a GTA clone to something great on its own.  The story was interesting, the gameplay was very smooth and engaging (jumping off a motorcycle and shooting the gas tank in slow motion as it went under a police car never felt bad), and as odd as it was to be driving a car from the right side instead of the left as American’s like myself are familiar with, the driving was very well done.  Which made sense for United Fronts seeing as their previous games…

        With the release of The Banner Saga 2 not far around the corner it might be a good idea to refresh your minds on what made the first Banner Saga good, and what could be improved upon in the second.  For those who haven’t played the first one it’s definitely worth picking up, and seeing as how the saves from the first game carry over into the second it would be a good idea to play though you don’t have to if you want to just skip to the second game.  So let’s take a look… The Core Gameplay         The Banner Saga is…

Who are you and what are you working on? Hi! My name is Mickaël “Ylzor” Didier, I’m a French indie developer. I’ve released two games so far, one being Save Point for IGMC 2014, and the other being GUILT for this year’s IGMC. This means both of them were made within a month, and they are free! What is GUILT? GUILT is a Stealth/Horror 2D game focusing heavily on its story and atmosphere. You play as a woman who wakes up in a dark forest and you’ll have to find a way for her to get out of it.…

        IGMC 2015 games will be judged following the same guidelines the official judges do. (Presentation, Gameplay, Engagement, Bugs/Glitches, and 2015’s Twist: Growth)  My score has no effect on the actual scores the game’s receive but just represent my own thoughts on the games.  Let’s take a look at today’s games… Half-Off Hero: The World Needs Savings Background Information:  An RPG made with RPG Maker by the creator The Dink. Presentation:  The painted art that the game focuses on is a cute yet detailed style that really breathes life into each and every character.  The artist behind…

If you’ve been into games for any amount of time you’ve probably heard statements like, “Video Games Cause Violence” and if you’re anything like me statements like that really get your blood boiling.  This is brought up almost as often as the debate over guns and though that topic is a discussion of its own I do want to look at what sort of impact video games do have on people.  Let it be noted this is, for the most part, an opinion piece.  Everything written is based on experiences I’ve either had myself or seen others go through.  This…

Papo & Yo is a game by the independent studio Minority Media. The story follows a boy named Quico who hides away from his drunk and abusive father in an imaginary puzzle world in which he tries to guide both himself and his friend monster to a better place. Using Quico’s imagination you must solve puzzles with the aide of his friends including a giant monster and a robot toy. The Core Gameplay Papo & Yo is a 3D puzzle game and as such a lot of the puzzles are solved by grabbing and dragging objects around but more often…

There’s been a lot of commotion regarding anything Konami has touched recently.  From stripping Hideo Kojima of his title and team, to canceling Silent Hills, and even an ex member of Konami, Koji Igarashi, becoming a massive success on his own with a genre Konami deemed “dead”.  Konami seems to be digging a deeper and deeper hole in the console gaming world but they may not be bothered by that fact since they seem to want to leave consoles behind.  But what they do have going for them is perhaps one of the most anticipated games of the year, Metal…

A survival horror game where you are trapped on an island with mutant cannibals after a horrible plane crash that separated you from your son.  A beautiful game filled with suspense and scares abundant, at least that’s what was promised to us over a year ago when the game first went into Early Access.  What Endnight Games has done with The Forest since it’s initial release is a matter of opinion and critique, in which I’ll be giving you my thoughts below. The Horror One of the key aspects of this game is the “fear factor” and to that I…

        The Indie Game Maker Contest, 2015 has completed its submission phase.  Any games on the page at this point are final and ready to be played, judged, and enjoyed by the community.  Over the next couple of months as the scores are added up by the judges and games are eliminated down to the final few we’ll be taking a look at some of the games that stand out (or fade away) from the crowd.  I will judge them following the same guidelines the official judges do.  My score has no effect on the actual scores the game’s receive but…

      Orcs Must Die has been an action based, tower defense game in which you try to defend a magical rift from Orcs and other evil creatures.  You can place traps, use spells, and use a list of weapons to defeat your foes.  Each entry in the series has changed the game a little more each time.  The first showed us the core gameplay with an interesting story, the second added multiplayer, and it seems with the newest title in the series, the team over at Robot Entertainment felt it was time to bring the series into the…

        If Starship Troopers was a videogame, Infested Planet would be it.  It’s a game about facing thousands of enemies in every level, likely millions by the end, and blowing them all to smithereens.  You have a small variety of unit types, support buildings, and research facilities and you must use them all to your advantage in order to prevail against the overwhelming odds. Gameplay – Out Numbered A Thousand to One         In most missions you’re given a small squad and a single base and thrown into a map with several alien bases.  Each base can spawn hundreds to thousands…

        I’m a firm believer in the idea that you should get your information from multiple sources and form your own opinion regarding any matter.  I may write reviews and I want you to read them but I also believe you should read and watch other’s viewpoints as well so that you can get a better idea of the product you plan on spending your money on or in the least, dedicating time to.  If you’re going to sink hours into something you should at least dedicate some time into finding out if it’s worth your time.  So…

        Gunpoint from the creative mind, Tom Francis, is a stealth-based, puzzle-platform game.  One that features hacking, jumping, shooting, and a plenty of action based humor.  If falling three stories only to land smack on your face and survive is something you find funny you’re going to love this game. The Core Gameplay         One of the main abilities you have in the game is to hack objects.  Now instead of typing codes and unlocking doors what you’ll be doing here is changing connections between sources and objects.  By this I mean if you rewire a light switch…

        Back in 2008 there was a promising real time strategy game released as a part of the Tom Clancy franchise called EndWar.  It was a good looking game at the time that featured interesting mechanics.  Most notably amongst those mechanics was the ability to give orders to your troops through the use of a mic, as this predated the days where many Xbox owners owned a Kinect.  The feature didn’t always work how it should and the strategy end of things was unbalanced.  If you played as the American faction and put anti air on your…

      The “Humble Game Making Bundle” has come to an end and with it the prize pool for this year’s Indie Game Maker Contest has come to a halt with over $70,000 in the prize pool.  $26,856.88 of that being the first place prize.  Although the prizes have been set in stone at this point, that doesn’t mean the contest has come to an end!  The challenge goes on. Gamedev Fort         This forum has become the go to place for IGMC 2015 and if you’re interested in keeping an eye on people’s projects as they progress or sharing…

China is the most populous nation on Earth and it is also one that is seeing a lot of middle class growth, meaning it can become a huge money spinner for companies. However, console manufacturers have been left out as for the last 15 years all gaming consoles have been banned in the censor heavy country. That has all changed now though, with China making the historic decision to allow consoles to be sold within the nation. That of course paves the way for the Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, and Nintendo Wii U to find their way to…

If the conclusion of the Open is leaving you pining for putters and pars, you could do worse than swing your eye over the latest offering from EA Sports – Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Commiserations Rory, get well soon, and well done, obviously, to Zach Johnson. The series returns following a two year break, and has replaced the previous cover-incumbent, Tiger Woods. Let’s channel Zach in this game, then, rather than Rory. You’ve got 8 real-life courses to choose from, with an additional 4 fantasy courses. Some may feel that this is a little sparse, but when playing in the…

If you’re familiar with the premise of this game then please bear with me while I explain it to the rest. So, in a nutshell, Rocket League is football with cars. That’s it, we’re all on the same page now. It was released free of charge, I repeat free of charge, on Sony’s PS Plus during the month of July and is currently taking the gaming world by storm. There are reportedly over 4 million downloads so far, so it will be interesting to see if developers Psyonix can maintain the interest and momentum when gamers are eventually asked to…

Taste is subjective, but I think it is rather obvious that movie adaptations of famed video games have for the most part been poor. Who can forget the car crash that was the Super Mario Bros. Movie (interdimensional dinosaur people!), the confused mess of the Street Fighter adaptation, or the myriad of flicks that have just missed the general point (Doom, Hitman, Silent Hill, Prince of Persia etc.) I actually think there has not been an outstanding movie that took its source material from a video game. Sure, some have been passable, but that’s as good as it gets, which…

Hello everyone.  Dakota of GamerBolt here and I recently had a chat with Pierre Lehnen about his new game, Orange Season.  Here’s what he had to say… Who are you and what are you working on? My name is Pierre Lehnen and despite the French name and German surname, I’m Brazilian.  On the internet, I’m usually known as Brian Hudell, or just Hudell.  I’m currently 26 years old and working as a third party programmer for a company located at the city of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. What is Orange Season? Orange Season is a farm-life simulator, the first in…

Developing a game can be difficult, and marketing one can be even more so, especially if you’re not a social person.  There’s not exactly a clear path to success and there a lot of options on how to market your game.  Today we’re going to look at a few and see how they can help you market your game. Sharing Your Work Many independent developers spend years working on their projects only to find they have no idea how to get people interested in the game.  The funny thing about that is they were creating marketing material the whole time.…

To date, the PS4 has sold a vast amount more than the Wii U and Xbox One, so much more that if you combined the Wii U’s and Xbox One’s sales you still wouldn’t reach the number of PS4s on the market.  So what is behind this success?  Is the PS4 just that great of a console or are the others just bad?  Perhaps it is something else entirely. Half the Game As any game developer can tell you, half of the challenge in making your game do well is marketing.  The same can be said about consoles.  In this…

Since release, the Xbox One has been trailing far behind the PS4, and only doing a fair amount better than the Wii U.  With a reputation for being a cable box that also plays games compared to the PS4 being the “gamer’s console” it had a rough start.  This was mostly due to a few poor decisions that got picked up by the media such as the Kinect being “unable” to be disconnected, or Microsoft’s overall focus to make the Xbox One to be the average Joe’s console that was more focused on what apps were on the device rather…

If you’re a fan of construction management games, then you’re sure to be pleased with the recent announcement of Planet Coaster. We’ve got Chris Sawyer to largely thank for laying down the foundations of this genre, after all, Transport Tycoon and RollerCoaster Tycoon were two games which took this genre by storm back in the 1990s. Other memorable mentions, two from EA include ThemePark and ThemePark World. However, nothing has managed to come close to the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, but is that about to change? Let’s take a look at two big upcoming offerings… Rollercoaster Tycoon World I personally think…

There has always been an argument over the value of a game.  Do you justify the value based on how long a game kept you busy, or the level of enjoyment you had during those hours?  What’s more valuable, a game that can give you hundreds of hours of enjoyment, or one that gives you just a few hours of the best experience you’ve had in awhile?  Well, that’s a matter of opinion, and varies from person to person, today we’re just going to look at what good games you can get on the cheap.  More specifically, games under thirty…

Summer 2014, many indie developers were surprised with the sudden announcement that RPG Maker and Humble Bundle were teaming up to host one of the year’s biggest indie developer contest, Indie Game Maker Contest 2014.  With a $10,000 grand prize and another $10,000 split amongst smaller prizes it’s was a competition that had a lot of people’s interest, as was seen with over 700 entries into the thirty day competition.  Participating in the contest, even if they didn’t win, jumpstarted a lot of people’s careers into video game development.  This year the contest is coming back with even more to…

I find myself in the unusual position here in the UK of writing this humble review in the midst of humidity surely equal to the level of New Orleans at the height of summer.  Nearly.  Anyway, the thought of lifting a pinkie even to type never mind steer a character round the gruelling requirements of the Tour De France (never mind the thought of actually getting on a bike myself) currently fills me with utter dread.  This review must be written, however, and you perhaps feel like that about getting your characters through the challenges brought by this game –…