Quick Fix: Screenshot Saturday 7/5

Death's Gambit

Developer: White Rabbit
Death's Gambit is an challenging action rpg where you explore a alien medieval planet filled with horrors, beasts, and knights. Every new enemy encounter is a complex puzzle to solve. Every piece of environment and mechanic tells part of the story. Use everything in your power to survive, no website guide will prepare you for the dangers you face.
Official site, Kickstarter planned

Beacon

Developer: Monothetic

It’s a Science Fiction Action Roguelike, where you have to mutate your way to victory through repeated cloning. Played from a top-down perspective, similar to The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, Beacon will have the you working your way through a series of randomly generated levels - from the forested planet surface down to a strange underground facility - eventually collecting enough materials to fix a distress beacon and get off the hostile planet that you’ve found yourself marooned on.

Read the developer's blog here

Wings of Saint Nazaire
Developer: Wings of Saint Nazaire team
Wings of Saint Nazaire is an action-orientated space simulation game reminiscent of titles such as Wing Commander and the X-Wing series
Offical site, download the alpha

Claire
Developer: Hailstorm Games
Claire is alone, lost, and hunted. The world has quickly becomes shrouded in darkness with unseen threats stalking Claire from the shadows. Aided by her dog and armed only with a flashlight, Claire must conquer her fear and find her comatose mother. However, there are others lost in the darkness seeking salvation.
Releasing on Steam Monday July 7th

No Money, No Problem: Epic Flail

Title: Epic Flail
Developer: Spacenoize
Platforms: Browser
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Epic Flail is still only in alpha, but it takes a simple mechanic and turns brutal gladiatorial combat into gory twitchy fun.

It's the kind of simple but addictive games that I love and one of the few gladiator games on PC that I can think of. In terms of controls, Epic Flail is quite minimal. Using the arrow keys, you aim the direction of your dash and a button press sends you slashing in that direction. An enemy in your path? Heads will roll and bodies will get bisected. The flying blood and body parts, accompanied by a few moments of slow-mo, makes each kill very satisfying. The simple controls turn the arena combat into twitchy mid-air chaos, as your enemies become more challenging, with armor and shields and various weapons. The game has a really cool lives system, where you collect armor and weapons that you've knocked off of enemies. It's fun and fast and there's also a special arena mode to unlock.

The developer plans to expand Epic Flail with bosses, a story, lots of physics-based contraptions, and more complex levels. You can play the game here.

Quick Fix: Learn about the DigiPen Foundation Studio, playtest student projects

Regular readers here know the respect I have for the hard working students over at DigiPen. They have produced some of the most innovative and interesting games I've played, and their talent has shaped experiences such as the Portal franchise, Distance, Heart & Slash, Four Sided Fantasy, and more. Through the DigiPen Foundation Studio, you can support these students and help them refine and improve their games.


What is the DigiPen Foundation Studio?

The DigiPen Foundation Studio is a fund raising campaign that provides donors with an opportunity to become part of the game development process. The "Studio" presents a selection of student projects that are currently in development at DigiPen. The student teams involved with the Studio agree to offer participation opportunities to donors such as play testing and giving feedback on the current versions of top student games. All play testers will be listed on the game credits in the final version of the game.

From now until the end of July, you can donate to raise scholarship funds for DigiPen students; donations of $10 or more will grant you the opportunity to play-test selected student projects and be listed as game testers in the credits. The six projects include:

• Subray - Explore and survive an atmospheric otherworldly ocean
• Chained - A puzzle platformer through a dreary ruined landscape
• Arc - High-speed split-screen racing across alien environments
• Coffee Break - Hectic brawler with jetpacks and wacky weaponry
• Plume - Competitive multiplayer with powerful magical abilities
• Ping - Survival horror where you use sonar to navigate and avoid a relentless creature

You can learn more about this program, the student projects, and submit your donations here.

IOS Spotlight #76: Cally's Caves 2

Title: Cally's Caves 2
Developer: Jordan Pearson
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: Free
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Almost eight months ago, I wrote about the first Cally's Caves. It was a game I considered to be a great hidden gem, with a cute visual style and fun gameplay. Now the sequel was just released and it improved on everything that made the first game so fun, bigger and better in every way.

I can't really talk about Cally's Caves 2 without first commenting on the visuals. This is what the first game looked like:

It was certainly a game that put gameplay first, although I did find the art style quite charming. Cally's Caves 2 is a huge upgrade over the first game in terms of visuals, with a great pixel art style, a vibrant color scheme, and numerous enemies and weapons. Gameplay-wise, Cally's Caves 2 retains the same fun platformer-shooter action of the original, with a bigger emphasis on RPG elements and just more content.

Wielding an array of powerful weapons and your trusty sword, you journey through the caverns below your home to rescue your kidnapped parents. Make no mistake; Cally's Caves 2 is a difficult game. You'll need quick reflexes and a quick finger to evade enemies and projectiles and deliver your own firepower. From charging wolves and spiders to gun-wielding foes and tanks, the variety in enemies is pretty impressive. RPG elements such upgrades and leveling up add to the mechanics in cool ways; using a weapon upgrades that gun, which not only grows more powerful but also changes appearance. Collecting coins and gems from defeated enemies and chests allows you to purchase sword upgrades, increased your chance to dodge attacks, unlock a triple jump, and more.

Cally's Caves 2 takes what worked in the original - the challenging gameplay, the fun weapons and upgrades, the varied enemies - and makes a bigger and better sequel, with an new art style, more levels, and new secrets to uncover. And incredibly, the game is free to download, with the only IAP being a single $0.99 purchase to remove ads, equip poison bullets, and make enemies drop gems.

You can download the game here.

IOS Spotlight #75: super ccatch

Title: super ccatch
Developer: Eduard Anton
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $1.99 (currently on sale for $0.99)
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Another week, another minimalist twitch game. And that's not a bad thing; I love the genre and the varied games it offers. super ccatch is my newest addiction, thanks to its great soundtrack and hectic gameplay.

The IOS version of Anton's original browser game, super ccatch feels right at home on mobile. Your goal is drag your platform across the screen to catch like-colored shapes while evading shapes of different colors. This task starts out simple enough, but soon that beginning sprinkle becomes a geometric deluge, as shapes pour down from above. It's at the moment that super ccatch sunk its hooks into me, delivering a lightning-fast challenge as you weave between shapes to intercept the ones you want, with mere moments to react. As you catch shapes, the screens fills up, reducing the space and time you have to maneuver. Catch the wrong shape and your platform switches to that shape's color, forcing you to adapt in an instant. It's just an addictive frantic experience, and the game's minimalist style keeps the screen uncluttered from any distractions. The touch controls are responsive; your reactions may fail you, not the controls.

super ccatch delivers a fun frantic high-scoring experience, bolstered by a slick minimalist presentation and an awesome chiptune soundtrack. You can purchase the game here.

The Watchlist: The Masterplan

Title: The Masterplan
Developer: Shark Punch
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing late 2014
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Drawing inspiration from both legendary tactical turn-based games and classic heist movies alike, the goal of The Masterplan is to put together the right crew, get the right equipment, and finally plan and execute the biggest heist ever.

I had been following The Masterplan closely after seeing it on Screenshot Saturday and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the game's press demo. It's a small early slice of the game - a small store, three criminals to control - but it was more than enough to make me very eager to see how the game grows in the future.

The Masterplan is set in the 70s, the era of The Getaway and Dog Day Afternoon, of cunning thieves and daring heists. From a top-down perspective, you control a group of crooks in typical tactical game fashion (set waypoints, select actions, pause and queue commands) as you plan out and conduct robberies. In the case of the press demo, your goal is to steal as much as possible, the primary target being the safe in the back of the store. How you approach this is up to you. My first attempt went downhill fairly quickly. I spread my trio throughout the store and draw my guns to hold up the clerk and civilians. I was directing the people to the back at gunpoint, when another person entered the store. Panicking, I shot him, but that took my attention off the clerk, who drew a shotgun and opened fire. By the time gunfire died down, I only had one robber left. The police were on their way. I hurriedly stole what I could and barely escaped to the getaway vehicle.

My second attempt went much smoother. I left one person as a lookout, sent my group member who specialized in lock-picking to go around the back alley and enter through a side entrance and had my third robber kept the people inside at bay. Within minutes, the contents of the safe was mine, I was able to direct everyone to a back room and knock them out, and all three of us escaped to our getaway van. Such different outcomes showcases The Masterplan's tactical depth and gameplay freedom.

The Masterplan is still in development, with an Early Access release planned for this summer. Aside from more heists, more criminals to use, and refining the controls, the developers want to add a mission editor and experimental modes such as a twin-stick where you directly control a single character. You can learn more about The Masterplan here and follow its progress on TIGForum or the developer's blog. The game was recently Greenlit.

The Watchlist: Valzar

Title: Valzar
Developer: Mike Craft
Platforms: PC
Releasing 2014
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Valzar is an action platformer with roguelike elements. A randomized world of humanlike enemies, grumpy gods, magic fruit, and mistakes.

Valzar immediately hooked me with its visuals. It's true that pixel artstyles are quite prevalent recently (and that's not a bad thing), but Valzar's weird enemy designs, vibrant color palette, and hectic display of magic attacks and flying blood makes for a intriguing compelling look. You play as a young girl, traveling across a vast world, fighting dangerous enemies and worshiping powerful gods. After equipping your preferred attacks and weapon from a varied selection of spells and equipment, you venture out into this dangerous world. Valzar is set up differently than other roguelike platformers; rather than your usual progression from area to area, you're presented with a map to explore as you see fit, each section of the grid offering a new level to fight through.

Thankfully, Valzar's gameplay is as equally polished as its visuals. Aside from the spells and weapons you can equip, there's a large array of items and perk slots that can adjust your playstyle. Headgear and auras, fruits and potions, pets, class, all can boost different stats or provide the player unique abilities. Deities discovered throughout the map can be worshiped to increase certain stats and be rewarded with gifts. Outfitted with all these augmentations and special gear, the player is thrust into hectic fast-paced combat against surprisingly smart enemies. You won't find any calm planning here; you'll need to evade deadly projectiles and enemies while landing strikes of your own. The enemies are just as well equipped as you, with the same magic and weapons, and can even adapt to your tactics. Fond of leaping over an enemy's head and attacking from behind? Don't be surprised if that enemy intercepts your jump and attacks you in mid-air

Valzar combines challenging fast-paced combat with a sense of exploration in its weird colorful world. You can learn about this roguelike platformer on its official site and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.