Featured Game - Mini Racing Adventures

Today we are featuring the excellent Mini Racing Adventures by Minimo Studios; a fun and challenging side scrolling physics based 3D racer for iOS & Android that is currently in a Kickstarter Campaign.  This looks like a great way to spend a commute or play for 30 minutes on an evening.  I spoke to the Team at Minimo about the game and its development.

Q. Tell us all about Mini Racing Adventures

Mini Racing Adventures is the first game we plan to launch, it's a 3D side-scrolling racing game. The game is a physic based racer where you have to break your limits to reach the furthest point throughout each level with your selected vehicles navigating through bumpy terrains. You also have the option to race vs your best time, our ghost mode. An overlapped image of your previously recorded best time vs you live. We also offer a time challenge vs the CPU which is quite the challenge to beat. We feel it's a fun game with some colourful art and packed with personality. We hope this game will bring as much enjoyment to others as it has to us throughout our development of it.

Q. What inspired you to make the game?

We love all things automotive, and we found a lack of games with the kind of world, features, and originality, which we would love to play. Actually there are other off-road games out there, but we also wanted to make one with our own style. So we brashly decided to make this game to fulfil what we would like to see and fill in what was missing from the genre.

Brings back happy memories of Micro Machines V3

Q. How long has the game been in development?

It's hard to pinpoint the exact time of development for this game, because we were also interrupted by business affairs, real life events, and other things as well. If we put all the time together we can safely say it's taken us 6 months to get where we are now.

 A precarious looking jump...

Q. Have there been any particular highs or lows in development?

Since we are not a big studio, we are having trouble in human resources, as we do most of the work by ourselves. The workplace and equipment for development is also a problem for us, as we don't have the proper studio to work out of. We can only work from home and borrow office space from friends and family for so long! The highs are that we don't have a strict schedule of working hours and rules like in companies we've all worked for before. Even sometimes we have to work until we meet the next morning. And we are proud by having our own product as indie studio.

By anyone's standards, this looks awesome

Q. Do you have any advice for other indie studios?

We don't have a success story in the real world yet, so we're not sure if our advice is credible enough!. But, we can say to others to keep struggling on your product, even when your spirits are down. Just keep your head up and keep on creating, that’s the key. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel; you will hear appreciation from people regarding your efforts. And keep in contact with any people you meet as a studio, they may have opportunities that are worth to try.

Will MRA be a winner?

Q. What are your plans for the future?

We will develop this game further depending on the budget we have. We also have other games developed in parallel and we have a lot of ideas to work on in the future such as steam-punk mecha theme, classic platformers, casual battleship, and simple casual games as well.

Kickstarter Info

Minimo Studios are looking to raise $5,000 for Mini Racing Adventures by Wednesday 18^th March.  The funds are to help finish the game for launch on both iOS and Android.  Good value for money is the $25 reward tier that includes:

• Customer Designed Postcard hand-written by the team as an honorary member of Team Minimo for supporting MRA
• Digital Comic starring Martin of MRA fame written and drawn by the team, plus 1,000,000 in-game coins
• Ad-free copy of the game which will include unlocked levels and unlocked vehicles
• Custom designed MRA desktop wallpaper
• Your name included in the in-game credits
• Early access to MRA

Estimated delivery for the above is September 2015.

Further Info

Kickstarter Page

Developer Website

Twitter

Featured Game - Barbara-ian

Recently, one of our Top 5 Greenlight Games was Barbara-ian, a dungeon crawler at a breakneck speed, where your character only has one hit point.  I was lucky enough to play a beta version of the game, as well as speaking to the creators, Sam Chester and Kristian Andrews.

Beta Impressions

I’m a big fan of dungeon crawlers with my most recent explorations in to them being the Torchlight series.  There is something satisfyingly simple about such games, particularly if you’ve come home after a long day at work and don’t fancy dealing with a complicated RPG or strategy game. 

Barbara-ian takes dungeon crawling to the simplest level possible and I mean this in a good way.  Upon firing up the beta, I ended up playing for 30 minutes non-stop without realising how much time had passed.  It was the perfect remedy to what had been a busy day, with a particular satisfaction to hitting things and blowing stuff up!

All hell breaking loose

The premise is pretty simple – Barbara-ian (who is a woman incidentally) gets dropped in to a randomised dungeon armed with just a simple weapon.  After that, it is a case of running around, hitting things and avoiding getting hit.  Both your character and all enemies have one hit point so a game can be over very quickly!   However you get thrown right back in to the action straight away and before you know, you’re saying to yourself “just one more game and I’ll stop”.  That one more game ends up being hours and hours if you aren’t careful!

Overall I’m really impressed and I’m sure the final version will be even better.  If you get the chance, check the game out on their Greenlight Page and vote yes for it.  There is also the chance to sign-up for beta on their Website.

Interview

Q. Tell us about Barbara-ian

Barbara-ian is a super fast paced twin-stick dungeon crawler focused on pure action. It's all about the smashing - enemies, doors, torch sconces that look at you funny etc. The hero herself, Barbara-ian, isn't the kind to put up with hours wasted hacking at enemies - she's got stuff to smash after all - so it's 1-hit kills all round!

Q. What inspired you to make the game?

Sam - The first prototype for the combat system which would eventually lead to Barbara-ian was inspired by old samurai movies - principally Shogun Assassin. I loved the immediacy of the combat in those films, it was one vs many with no duelling at all, just one well placed hit.
I was interested in exploring that kind of combat without trying to simulate sword play (which I feel is a dead-end), making it more about the spacing and timing of attacks, and pushing for improvisation on the part of the player, rather than the sort of tight planning that Hotline Miami (rightly) focused on.

That door isn't going to last long

Kristian - A while ago I made a few doodle films for Comedy central featuring a D&D character called Barbaraian (https://vimeo.com/24606015) and for some reason she stuck with me.

The low-poly aesthetic followed on from my last short film 'Let's Play Nomad X' which was inspired by the 3D Amiga games of my youth, like Frontier Elite II. When I finished that film I wanted to further explore what can be achieved with graphical limitations and I knew should try and make a game rather than go on making films about games. When I eventually played Sam's melee prototype I was so riveted I shot off an email with a 3D model of Babs to see if he'd like to work together.

Odds have been better on staying alive...

Q. How long has it been in development?

Development started in earnest in July 2014, so around 8 months, part time as both of us work other jobs, though as mentioned there was work done on a prototype about a year prior to that, before it had any of its current style or character.

Deeper down...

Q. Have there been any particular highs or lows during development?

It's been surprisingly smooth! There was a low a couple of months in, when the procedural generation system had to be rewritten from scratch because the first iteration wasn't up to the task.

Luckily we were able to build on the mistakes from the previous one, so although it took some time out from other features, the game benefitted immeasurably from it.

A particular high came just last week, after we implemented a bunch of new sounds & particle effects, which together had a huge impact on how exciting the game was to play. Sound had taken a back-seat before that as we don’t have a dedicated sound designer, so spending time getting it right was a big plus.

Also we mustn't forget that wonderful moment at the end of a long coffee fuelled dev week when we made the magic wand chuff out blue explosions!

Q. Do you have any advice for other Indie studios?

Keep it small, and keep it in scope! It's definitely not unique advice (we're working off the same), but it's always worth hearing again. If you're not being paid to do it & there's no guarantee of getting paid at the end of it, it helps if it didn't take 2 years of your life to do.

I'd also say that for people in a similar situation to us, where you don't have a particularly unique concept, make sure you market it in an interesting way. We opted to sing our own trailer music & filmed ourselves failing miserably at it! There's nothing worse than obscurity, so make sure there's something worth talking about

Q. What are your plans for the future?

With enough support for Barbara-ian we'll continue to develop new features for a little while at least. There are many, many cut features that we always planned for but became increasingly impossible to do in a reasonable time, so working some of those in (hopefully as free updates) would be wonderful.

Otherwise, we're already planning for a new, drastically different game. We're the kind of people that love exploring new avenues for ourselves and our ideas, so I wouldn't expect a Barbara-ian 2 any time soon...

Featured Game Arco

One of our recent Top 5 Kickstarter Games was Arco, a fast-paced puzzle RPG set in a fantasy world that is also looking to be greenlit on Steam.  Arco is being developed by Last Minute Games, a small indie studio from Aalborg in Northern Denmark.   I spoke to Jonas Christensen, the CTO of Last Minute Games about how the studio was formed and the development of Arco.

Q. How did Last Minute Games come about?

A. Let’s take it from the beginning. Dennis Risborg and Juan Garcia, two of the founders, used to work together at a former game company called Progressive Media. Juan is our lead graphics artist, and while he was working at Progressive, he wanted to do a simple, yet unique game set in a fantasy setting, since this wasn’t something they ordinarily did. But due to commitments to the company’s other games, the idea had to be put on hold. When the opportunity presented itself, Juan teamed up with Dennis and a programmer to develop the idea into a more complete concept, and when Progressive Media went under, they continued with the development. When the original programmer left the project, I replaced him, and the company began to take shape.

We began working on the game about a year ago, but in the beginning it was mostly as a hobby project. However, in October 2014 we established the company Last Minute Games and started working full time on the game.

Q. Tell us all about Arco

A. Arco was originally called Archer, but in order to avoid any conflicts with the show Archer, we changed it to Arco. The overall concept of the game is similar to Plants Vs. Zombies, where you control a character, and you have to defend yourself against enemies coming towards you in lanes.

The game takes place in a fantasy world, where a large earthquake has created a large chasm throughout the world. The player controls the archer Arco, who sets out to unravel the cause of the disturbance. You travel through many varied environments, where you encounter hordes of enemies.

What sets our game apart from many similar games is that we have an interesting and innovative way of combining the environment, skills and enemies to achieve various effects. As an example, when you kill an enemy in the fungus forest, they can drop a spore that will send any enemy that comes into contact with it into a frenzied state. Also, we have a wide range of skills, that you can combine, that will either help or hinder your efforts. You can freeze an enemy with an ice arrow and then shatter it with another arrow, but if you use the wrong arrow, you might actually unfreeze the enemy instead. This is just one example of combinations, and we have many, many more, that we will be unveiling throughout our Kickstarter campaign.

Q. Have there been any particular highs or lows during development?

A. There have been a couple of highs and lows throughout the development. When we first started working together, I had to suddenly move out of town for six months due to a consultant gig, and the two others were still committed to other projects, so the progress was slow, and it was difficult to work in a coherent manner. When I moved back, we found an office space, so we could finally sit together, and the game quickly began actually looking like a game. To finally see the game taking shape, to see the hard work finally paying off, that was such a motivation.

Another low was when we recently launched our Kickstarter. We knew how difficult it would be to get the game out to a lot of people, and it’s been tough to see how slowly our Kickstarter campaign has been going. But we’ve finally begun getting some press attention, and we’re hoping to get some traction from that.

Q. Do you have any advice for other indie studios?

A. Our biggest advice for other indie studios is to work hard (and early) on getting a good online presence. Also, try and establish connections to game sites or reporters early, so you will have your network in place, when you launch a new title or a Kickstarter campaign.

Q. Do you have any plans for other games in the future?

A. If we can get funding for Arco and release that, then we certainly plan on releasing more games in the future. We don’t currently have any specific games in mind, as we’ve been focusing solely on Arco, but I’m sure we’ll come up with something great.

Kickstarter

As mentioned, the game is currently in a Kickstarter Campaign and is looking to raise kr165,000 by Monday 16^th March – in US Money that is approximately $25,000.

I particularly recommend going for the kr165 ($25) reward tier.  This is an early bird bundle (max 200 backers) and includes:

·         Digital Copy of the Game

·         Digital Artbook

·         Digital Soundtrack

·         Beta Access

·         Super Secret Instruction Manual

·         Name in Credits

·         Digital Wallpaper

Further Info

For further information on Arco, check out their Kickstarter Page, Greenlight Page and Last Minute Games.

Featured Game - War for the Overworld

War for the Overworld is a Dungeon Management Game that employs your favourite aspects of the RPG, RTS and god game genres.

In War for the Overworld, you will play as a malevolent Underlord with unrivaled dark power and an insatiable desire for bloody conquest.

Excavate your dungeon and populate it with dozens of unique rooms that will attract myriad creatures to your halls to work and fight for you. In addition to creatures you have destructive spells and powerful rituals to cast upon any unsuspecting goodly hero (or rival Underlord) who dares trespass your unholy halls.

Dungeon Keeper was one of a number of excellent games produced by Bullfrog back in the 90s, alongside other such greats as Theme Park and Theme Hospital.  All of those games combined great gameplay with a wicked sense of humour.  Sadly, no one has been able to recreate the magic of Dungeon Keeper and its sequel Dungeon Keeper II.  There have been attempts such as that by Overlord but it never quite lived up to expectation.

 Starting Out

This all changed for me though when I visited Eurogamer 2013 and came across War for the Overworld where I had a brief chat with one of their team and tried an early version of the game.  Both the passion of the person I spoke to (I’m sorry I can’t remember your name!) and the impressive early build I tried convinced me that finally, the new king was on its way.

 At Battle

Upon getting home, and handily armed with a link and discount code, I bought the early access version of the game and have been intermittently playing it with each new update.  Even from late 2013, there was enough content to keep me amused for hours and recreate the fun I used to have on Dungeon Keeper.

Enjoying a Drink at the Tavern

For those not familiar with the premise of the game, you are an Evil Lord who is intent on building an underground fortress / dungeon.  You have worker minions whose job it is to excavate, build and gather gold.  Each room they build is then inhabited by the requisite creature, e.g. a Cultist for the Archive.  Each room also has a set function, such as the Foundry which allows you to create traps.  As you keep building and expanding you will come across other dungeons for you to conquer, as well as “good” invaders to fight off.

At Work in the Foundry

Overall it is a very satisfying experience, even in the early access phase.  Quite simply, if you liked Dungeon Keeper, you will love War for the Overworld.  If you aren’t familiar with Dungeon Keeper but love management and building games then this game is an interesting twist on that and is well worth checking out.  To help support the final version, give early access a try; otherwise you won’t have long to wait for the game to be properly released on 2^nd April 2015.

Current state

The final game will be released on 2^nd April 2015 but in early access you can currently access from the latest update of 24^th December 2014:

• Game modes: Sandbox (3 levels), Campaign (3 levels, including a tutorial), Survival prototype (1 level), Multiplayer, Skirmish 
• Rooms: Lair, Vault, Foundry, Slaughterpen, Archive, Wooden Bridge, Beast Den, Crypt, Barracks, Torture Chamber, Prison, Garrison, Stone Bridge, Spirit Chamber, Alchemy Lab, Sanctuary, Arena, Tavern 
• Minions: Worker, Cultist, Gnarling, Bafu, Chunder, Skarg, Necromancer, Ghoul, Succubus, Spirit, Augre, Ember Demon, Crackpot, Witch Doctor, Beastmaster, Shadow, Oculus, Frost Weaver, Wraith 
• Spells: Summon Worker, Possession, Rally, Lightning, Chill, Cauterize, Impasse, Recall, Obey, Heal, Shockwave, Blood Money, Magical Meat, Construction, Imp Rally, Annex, Enrage, Volcanic Bridge 
• Defences: Wooden Door, Ballista, Rampart, Bone Chiller, Gargoyle, Portcullis, Midas' Door, Blade Lotus, Augrum Wall 
• Constructs: Replacement Earth, Underminer, Ember Rift, Gold Vortex, Outpost, Warding Totem 
• Rituals: Avarice, Wither, Fortify, Uprising, Revelation, Prospector, Besiege, Assembly, Overload 
• Potions: Quick Freeze, Work-A-Lot, Transmutation, Wisdom Juice, Frost Weaver, Haste, Spirit Workers 
• Enemies: Firebreather, Juggernaut, Priestess, Templar, Lord O'Theland, Dwarf Worker, Warden, Bard, Sapper, Huntress 
• Shrines: Gold, Perception, Research, Manufacturing, Mana, Siege 
• Systems: Veins of Evil, Unit Abilities, Unit Needs, Gateways & Unit Spawning, Room Construction, Gold, Fog of War, Water, Basic Combat, Shrines, Dialogue, Objectives, Unit Levels, Happiness, Torture/Conversion, Enhanced Terrain (Chasm, Sacred Earth, Brimstone, Lava, Permafrost, Sand, Natural Bridge), Unit Groups, Debug Console, Potions, Rituals, Unit Panel, Minimap, Room Upgrades, Dungeon Themes, Enhanced combat AI

Availability

On Steam here

£22.99 for the Standard edition

£29.99 for the Underlord Edition – this includes Sovereign Dungeon Theme, a soundtrack download, and a copy of The Dungeoneer's Guide to the Underworld, a digital companion book for all your Dungeon-Building needs.

Game Website

Featured Game - Mordheim: City of the Damned

Mordheim: City of the Damned by Rogue Factor

Mordheim: City of the Damned is the first video game adaptation of Games Workshop's cult classic tabletop game Mordheim. Set in the Warhammer World's decimated Empire city, Mordheim: City of the Damned is a turn-based tactical game where you lead warbands into bloody and lethal skirmishes.

Why I have chosen it

I’m a big fan of Games Workshop and both the Warhammer and 40k universes, as well as having bought pretty much every GW computer game.  Some of these have been fantastic (Dark Omen, Dawn of War) and some not so good; hopefully Mordheim fits in to the first category.

Summary

The best way to describe the setting of Mordheim is that of a post-apocalyptic city in the Warhammer world, with various factions searching for items and warpstone.  In-fact the City has been destroyed by a warpstone comet; warpstone being a poisonous and corrupting substance that can give great power, as well as causing mutations.

Mordheim: City of the Damned seeks to replicate the tabletop version of Mordheim with turn-based tactical combat.  You control a group of characters (currently from a choice of 4 factions), each with varying abilities and weapons.  Choosing the right character, weapons and abilities for each combat is crucial to success; you don’t want your priest facing off against an ogre for example.

The basic gameplay works out really well with movement, abilities/casting and combat all very easy to do and well explained in the tutorials.  The game though is one that is easy to learn and hard to master; a lot of trial and error is required.  For example I haven’t quite worked out the best combination of characters, when to change weapons or when to cast certain spells yet.

On to what’s available in the current version now:

• 4 warbands – Skaven, Human Mercenaries, Sisters of Mercy, Cult of the Possessed
• Full range of tutorials
• Warband management
• 4 Maps
• Different winning conditions

  

Strengths:

• Gritty feel of the Warhammer / Mordheim setting
• Variety of warbands and personnel within them
• Enjoyable and easy gameplay
• Using a controller is very easy

If you like Warhammer and / or tactical combat this is definitely worth looking at.  Whether it is worth buying in the current state is another matter, but if you do you certainly won’t be disappointed with the level of content already available.

Current state

It has been in early access since 20^th November last year and has had two big updates since.  The next planned update (I’m assuming in March) will have the option to have max ranked warbands, as well as new maps.

Availability

On steam for £23.99 (here)