Flash Game Blogs

Free Game News: NTFusion – Dusk: 2

Fri, 18 May 2012 06:10:33 +0000

Dusk: 2 is a Platform Skill game from NTFusion by Benjamin Wang. As with Dusk , use the arrow keys to run and jump. Time is on your side, use it to get passed obstacles. Have fun!

Continue Reading about NTFusion – Dusk: 2

Jay is Games: Incredibox

Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — You know what's cool? Beatboxing. You know what's cooler? When you get to conduct a squad of digital human beatboxers right in your browser. So Far So Good serves up a simple but slick and stylish webtoy where musical creativity is just a drag and drop away. Warning; may make you irresistibly cooler by association. Tagged as: browser, flash, free, game, interactiveart, linux, mac, music, rating-g, sofarsogood, webtoy, windows

FlashMush: Rune Raiders Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Fri, 18 May 2012 06:00:00 +0000

Link: Rune Raiders
Developer: Retro64
Sponsor: Armor Games
Genre: Action/Strategy
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

A new challenger appears! Retro64 is here with their first big game, Rune Raiders and I must say it's a pretty good one.

Rune Raiders has a neat, unique look to it that I have yet to play in another flash game. Basically it is a turn based strategy game where you pick and build your team. While that part is fairly common the way everything is presented is where the meat of it all is. Levels are presented in long stretches and your various enemies each have different attack ranges as well as your enemies. In this aspect it's a little like chess but I guess it's just like any turn based RPG or strategy game. As you battle you can pick up money, health potions and upgrades to further help your team. Now that I'm typing I'm seeing that the gameplay isn't totally unique but it still plays very well and is a good style. A lot of work was done into the units and I really like the variety there with all the different perks/upgrades.

The graphics really enhance the gameplay and probably made me enjoy it more so than if they were sub-par. Each unit in the field is represented sort of as a block piece but the way they interact while attacking is very detailed and extremely polished. Bravo to Retro64 in that aspect.

I do however have some issues with Rune Raiders overall. The biggest is the difficulty. I found Rune Raiders to be surprisingly hard, and not the good type of hard but the frustrating type. You are given the option to purchase upgrades for your units but you also have to buy your units again before every new level, this leaves little or no money for upgrades. You can find upgrades in battle but the drop rate seems very low. This is combined with the level design and in my opinion enemy unbalance which really creates some frustrating situations. Overall though Rune Raiders looks amazing and while the idea has been done before it does a good job at bringing new ideas to the table.

ArcticArcade: Another week's update!

Fri, 18 May 2012 05:13:00 +0000

Hiya guys, just a quick update - we've finished work for now on Tower Tank Destruction and have got back into Middle-Eastern Warfare and Sword of Light! Bit of a slow week though as Phil's taken a little time off to heal up - but we're back to full strength and will be making up for lost time!

Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Jay is Games: Kumiho

Fri, 18 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Platform: Unity — Is your trigger-finger ready for a challenge? Then load up the beautiful but deadly Ludum Dare competition entry Kumiho. Pilot a ship with the ability to teleport against hordes of semi-organic monstrosities transformed by a vengeful Goddess. With striking visuals and simple but high-difficulty gameplay, it's a lovely little diversion if your reflexes are up to the task. Tagged as: action, arcade, botogames, browser, bullethell, cneofotisou, fjutte, free, game, highdifficulty, ludumdare, mac, rating-g, shooter, unity, windows

Jay is Games: Link Dump Friday

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Games featured this week: Tex Murphy - Project Fedora; Drunken Robot Pornography; McPixel; Dreadline; The Adventures of Shuggy; Farm Fortress; MacGuffin's Curse — Time-travelling monsters? Towering robot centerfolds? Post-apocalyptic P.I.s? Game developers are a crazy bunch, and that's exactly the way we love them! This week's Link Dump Friday features a whole mess of exciting upcoming titles, as well as a BEAST of a giveaway, and two opposing views on the concept of games using free-to-play models. Tagged as: blog, linkdump, news, previews

Zuhair Mehrali's Blog: Working on a major Tennis Tumble update

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:22:03 +0000

Whenever I’ve had some free time, I’ve been making some small changes to my Android game, Tennis Tumble. This is on my list of changes before releasing the update:

Implement global highscore submission [DONE]
Implement global highscore leaderboards [DONE]
Enable the tennis ball to continue flight up into the sky (fixes glitch which let players get constant ball rebounds off the top of the screen, also adds challenge) [DONE]
Add multiple tennis balls for multiple difficulty levels [TO-DO]
Pause button [TO-DO]
Add a scoring bounce region to the racket [TO-DO]
App sharing capabilities [TO-DO]
Captive runtime [TO-DO]
Add more sounds [TO-DO]
Native device vibration [MAYBE]

Leaderboards

The game will be running on the latest Air for Android SDK, and make use of captive runtime capabilities, allow the game to be installed on devices without relying on the separate Adobe Air app.

This post will be updated as changes are made

Armor Games Blog: Sinjid: Warrior Class

Thu, 17 May 2012 21:49:06 +0000

Hi ArmorBlog readership,

Here is an crossed-post article about the third character class in my Action-RPG Sinjid:

Behold the mighty Warrior - Click here to check out the video preview!

As you would expect, the Warrior is a heavy melee fighter, with very strong attacks. This comes at a cost – they lack the mobility of Assassins and the control of Priests. But that doesn’t matter, because the defensive capabilities of a Warrior are unparalleled – they are very hard to kill. That’s why a Warrior never runs. That, and also because their heavy armor really slows them down :3

The playing style of a Warrior is very dependant on timing. You will have way less ‘active’ skills than the other classes – but your ‘passive’ skills are a lot more meaningful. Whilst the Assassin and Priests are designed to hit hard then get away, Warriors are designed to stay engaged. To help with this, Warriors have a chained Kunai attack which can pull enemies towards you (the “GET OVER HERE!” spell). They also have some of the best defensive spells in the whole game.

Here are some examples of the Warrior skills:

Shockwave
Release a powerful shockwave that damages all enemies near you, and causes them to deal 75% less damage for 4 seconds.

Kunai Sting
A ranged attack that hooks and pulls the target towards you.

Brutal Advantage (Passive)
Every 10 seconds, you gain “Brutal Advantage” – causing your next attack to be critical, and to also stun the target.

Avenger (Passive)
Every hit you take has a 10% chance to cause your next attack to deal double damage.

Blade Storm
Rapidly strike the enemy 3 times in a row.

Armor Games Blog: New Release: Rune Raiders

Thu, 17 May 2012 21:16:44 +0000

Move your guys, then watch them come alive and fight in this action/strategy mashup! Try it for yourself!

Inside Pozirk Games: My best game menu so far

Thu, 17 May 2012 20:15:58 +0000

We are working on Dolly The Sheep game at the moment, menu is almost ready.
And I really Like it!
Check it out:

Andy Moore Blog: DevVlog EP29: Dialogue Boxes!

Thu, 17 May 2012 19:00:51 +0000

No seriously this episode is interesting in the latter half :)

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Free Game News: Notdoppler – Vehicles: Level Pack

Thu, 17 May 2012 18:18:05 +0000

Vehicles: Level Pack is a Physics based Puzzle game from Notdoppler created by Dmitriy Fyudorov and Dmitriy Zaletov. The bad vehicles are back and causing more mayhem than ever! Restore peace to the streets by ramming them off the screen. Have fun! Play Vehicles Play Vehicles 2 – Municipality Unleashed

Continue Reading about Notdoppler – Vehicles: Level Pack

Jay is Games: Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart

Thu, 17 May 2012 17:00:01 +0000

Platform: Mac — There's nothing ordinary about this adventure hybrid from Artifex Mundi, creators of Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek. Sure you get the familiar tale of undead pirated cursed by stolen gold, but you also get an amazingly ambitious production. You can finish the entire game without playing a single hidden object scene if you wish, just opt for mahjong, instead (or do both!) Gorgeous scenes, well designed puzzles and expert story-telling are just a few features that make Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart an experience not to be missed. Tagged as: adventure, affiliate, artifexmundi, casual, collectorsedition, demo, download, game, hiddenobject, hybrid, mac, mahjong, puzzle, rating-y, windows

Free Game News: Godvil Games – Blockster

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:26:15 +0000

Blockster is a Physics based, Puzzle game from Godvil Games by Constantine Zaytsev. Stack different shaped blocks so they don’t fall off the platforms. All of the blocks must be used in the order given. Have fun!

Continue Reading about Godvil Games – Blockster

Free Game News: Armor Games – Keeper of the Grove

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:23:10 +0000

Keeper of the Grove is a Defense style game from Armor Games developed by booblyc.com Protect your gems by placing your guards along the path. Earn upgrades to improve your chances. Have fun!

Continue Reading about Armor Games – Keeper of the Grove

Toonminator Blog: New Project: MiniCop 3D

Thu, 17 May 2012 14:25:31 +0000

Here you have 6 mockups of our upcoming game

MiniCop 3D Mockups

The game is inspired in DRIVER… and that’s all for now

Jay is Games: Teddy's Excellent Adventure

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — Aimed more at kids than adults but equally enjoyable by both for its charm, this sweet little adventure platformer tells the story of a teddy bear who gets lost and strikes out to find a way back home to the little girl who dropped him. Light on challenge but big on style and cuteness, it's just the right size for new gamers to try on, and just the right tone for old gamers to relax with. Tagged as: adventure, browser, flash, free, game, gsmith, jimp, kidoriented, macwinlinux, platform, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g

Free Game News: Offspring Fling

Thu, 17 May 2012 06:09:32 +0000

Offspring Fling is a Platform, Skill game by Kyle Pulver. Help Mama gather her chicks. Sometimes you’ve got to give them a fling to get them home. Have fun!

Continue Reading about Offspring Fling

Free Game News: SSSG – Sneaky’s Fortunes 3

Thu, 17 May 2012 05:34:25 +0000

Sneaky’s Fortunes 3 is the latest Adventure in the series by Selfdefiant. Sneaky has aquired many fortunes throughout his travels and he hid them all over the world in many sneaky locations. This location is one of many but Sneaky can’t remember where he hid the treasure at and needs your help finding it! Have fun! [...]

Continue Reading about SSSG – Sneaky’s Fortunes 3

FlashMush: Carnage Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Thu, 17 May 2012 04:26:00 +0000

Link: Carnage
Developer: Weird Beard
Sponsor: Mochi Games
Genre: Action/Racing/Upgrades
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 9/10

Who doesn't want to feel like a mobster doing deliveries of who knows what while getting chased by the cops and other psychotic mob bosses? Well, I sure do and that's the whole idea behind Carnage.

Carnage is a new game by Weird Beard games sponsored by Mochi Games and it is seemingly going to be huge and for good reason. Carnage is perhaps one of the best racing themed flash games I've ever played and it looks super amazing as well. I'll start off with the graphics. Again, they are absolutely stunning. They have a cartoon feel but very well done with an extra coat of polish. The whole character set and story line really seems like it could be a cartoon or anime on television. The characters looks and story lines are that good. On top of that all the menus are great and really like the themed details. For example the forwards and backwards buttons are the break and gas pedals.

As we all know graphics doesn't get you but so far; gameplay is where its at and boy does Carnage have some great gameplay. The general premise is racing or at least a driving flash game. But the meat comes in the missions and boss battles. Missions have a range of topics from essentially time trials to seeking missions to scavenger hunts. They all end in a pretty epic boss battle though. Never before have I really played a good driving game that featured boss battles, especially ones as unique as Carnage features. Often times your weapons have no effect and you have to figure out creative ways such as out maneuvering them to hitting explosive barrels or causing seeker missiles to hit themselves instead of you. Oh yeah, did I just mention weapons? A big component in Carnage is weapons both front and back and their various upgrades. You see you have enemy mob gangsters after you along with corrupt cops so taking them out with machine guns and flamethrowers seems pretty necessary. And like I said, as the game progresses you can upgrade/buy new weapons.

Now, unfortunately, to me, Carnage is pay to play. This confusing statement means that it is free to play Carnage however micro-transactions dominate the upgrade system and essentially you have to pay to really get a lot out of the game. I am just really against this business model and I would have greatly preferred Weird Beard (if it was even their decision to make the game into a micro-transaction business model) to push out a standalone indie title for 5-15$. I would have gladly payed full price for that as I feel it is worth that much. However, I do not like being nickeled and dimed for in game money to buy upgrades and find it a huge shame that Mochi Games seems to endorse this model so often. Of course I suppose it is a smart thing to do and there is a lot of money to be made in these micro-transactions but I just hate the idea.

But enough of that side comments. Overall Carnage is an absolutely stunning game that combines common genres into something totally unique and well worth the play.

Photon Storm Blog: No more cheese Gromit: The future of Photon Storm

Wed, 16 May 2012 21:50:37 +0000

So the cat was let out of the bag today and it’s true: I’m leaving my very good friends at Aardman Digital and heading for pastures new. Giving up the “day job” and becoming a freelancer / indie dev hybrid. As you can appreciate this is both an exciting and somewhat scary move, especially being [...]

Jay is Games: Paladog

Wed, 16 May 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android, Flash — In FazeCat's everything-but-the-kitchen sink defense game, Paladog, Critterland has been invaded by zombies, witches, skeletons, and just about every evil little thing you can imagine, including television sets! It's up to you to fight them off, but are you dog enough to take them on over a whopping 120 levels, including special mini-games. Paladog is a big, cuddly, newspaper-fetching machine, that brings back the Sunday paper, but slobbers all over the funnies... and you love it anyway. Tagged as: android, browser, defense, fazecat, flash, free, game, ios, iphone, linux, mac, magic, mobile, rating-y, strategy, upgrades, windows, zombies

FlashMush: Disaster Will Strike Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Link: Disaster Will Strike
Developer: Anton Koshechkin
Sponsor: NotDoppler
Genre: Physics/Puzzle
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

I'm sure you saw the genre tags and are thinking, "Oh great...another physics puzzler... *groan*" And trust me, I know the feeling. It seems these types of games are made in bulk discounts and are everywhere in the flash game industry. However, what do you think of an actual unique game to enter the physics puzzle flash game scene? Well, Disaster Will Strike does just that.

How does such a game accomplish actually being unique (to a certain extent) in this day and age? Well, the trick is in Disaster Will Strike's name. Disaster! You see the whole "gimmick" here if you will is instead of shooting various things to knock blocks over a la Angry Birds or a block remover game sort of like Replaceable Blocks, in Disaster Will Strike you manipulate the blocks by harnessing natural disasters. These include tornado, landslides, earthquakes, plague and fire. I'm sure you can imagine how each of these disasters will affect the environment and it is quite clever in my opinion.

Now while these game dynamics are quite clever and fairly unique, the game as a whole isn't as smooth as I would like. By this I mean I can do the same thing to a level and win once but lose another time. Now I know this is just random chance that all games of this type encounter but it is still worth mentioning in my review. Other than that, however, the game is fairly good. The sounds can get annoying after a while but can mute or learn to ignore. So if you love physics puzzle flash games but want something new, Disaster Will Strike is your game!

Andy Moore Blog: DevVlog EP28: JSON

Wed, 16 May 2012 19:00:40 +0000

I dunno, JSON? Use it!

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HeavyBoat DevBlog: Commits log should tell a story

Wed, 16 May 2012 18:05:22 +0000

Having a clear and informative log can serve for many things: finding bugs, the culprit of a change or just for the fun of reading it in an orderly fashion. In order to achieve that clearish log I’m using a handful of extensions, each one of them for a given scenario.

Scenario 1: Automatic merges

If you’re using a distributed version control system, like git or mercurial, sometimes you’ll find that the majority of merges don’t contribute to the story being told, they are just automatic merges messages.

But, instead of merging I use the rebase extension like this:

hg pull --rebase

and by doing so I’ll have sequential information instead of branches.

Scenario 2: Wip messages

Another common scenario is when I’m in the middle of a feature and a teammate pushes something I need in order to finish it. Here, instead of committing a lame “wip” message, pull and commit again I use the shelve extension. This does the trick of saving my work in progress in a virtual shelve, and then I can:

hg pull --rebase
hg unshelve
hg commit -m "cool message"

Scenario 3: Recovering wrong commits

Sometimes I just forget to add some file to a commit or the commit is just plain wrong. What I do here is to use the rollback command to revert my working copy to the exactly same state as if the commit never happened, and then you can add or modify whatever you want and commit correctly.

Scenario 4: Cherry-picking commits

Sometimes when I’m in a middle of a new feature I find a bug, I squish it and keep going. The thing here is what message should I write on my commit, should I mention the fix or not? What about if I could pick the modifications I’ve made and commit several times? That’s when the record extension came in handy. With it you can visualize which diff chunk you want to add to the commit log. This way you can cherry-pick which ones you want to be part of one commit and which parts belong to another one, therefore differentiating the bug fix from the new feature.

Free Game News: TimeFall – After Silver Bells

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:29:56 +0000

After Silver Bells is the latest Room Escape game from TimeFall. “Find all the shiny bells in order to escape the room!” Have fun!

Continue Reading about TimeFall – After Silver Bells

Jay is Games: Putt More Base

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — Like your mini-golfing streamlined and mellow? This slick physics puzzle by Jayc Santos might be the offer. Serving up creative bumpers and boosters you place yourself, and your average golfing traps like water and mines, it's a mellow experience you'll definitely want to take a swing at. Tagged as: browser, flash, free, game, golf, jsantos, linux, mac, physics, puttbase, puzzle, rating-g, skill, windows

Jay is Games: Recursion

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — Ever since Pac-Man first escaped off the right side of the screen to magically appear on the left, players have had a certain thing for games that skew traditional notions of spatiality. The Village Blacksmith offers another wonderful take on this kind of teleportation in Recursion, a cool little retro puzzle platformer. The series of single screen levels progresses nicely, even if the jumps require a bit too much precision. Still, Recursion worth playing over and over again. Tagged as: browser, flash, free, game, linux, mac, pixelart, platform, puzzle, rating-g, retro, simpleidea, thevillageblacksmith, windows

Free Game News: Game Insight – The Tribez

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:06:17 +0000

Created by Game insight, Tribez is not just a game, and it’s now available for both iPhone and iPad! Tribez is an adventure, where you travel to a distant past full of secrets, mysteries and many hours of addictive discovery of an unknown, but beautiful world! You are invited to visit a mysterious, primitive world [...]

Continue Reading about Game Insight – The Tribez

Free Game News: BigDino – Recursion

Wed, 16 May 2012 06:57:05 +0000

Recursion is a Platform, Skill game from Bigdino by Andrew Sandifer, The Village Blacksmith. Explore the mysteries of an uncharted planet in this mind bending platform game. Use the arrow keys to move and jump your way thought each level. Have fun!

Continue Reading about BigDino – Recursion

FlashMush: Robot Legions Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:30:00 +0000

Link: Robot Legions
Developed by Sentry Games
Sponsored by Play Vortex
Genre: Shooter/Upgrades
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 7.5/10

Everyone loves a good enemy swarm, bullet hell type shooter! Especially if robots and upgrades are involved. Hence the premise of Robot Legions.

Robot Legions does a great job at making a quick 18 level wave style shooter that looks great while doing it. I'll first talk about the graphics. They are very well polished and remind me of a nice Nintendo Gameboy Advance title, so it has a little retro-ness going on which I absolutely love. I also really like the huge variety in enemies. Essentially it almost works out that each new level introduces a new enemy robot and boy do they get creative. These enemies aren't just the classic copies or increase defense/bullet split. In terms of upgrades there is a variety to choose from. From defense, bullet speed, split, money bonus, money magnet, etc. you have your fair choice to decide from.

The only real issue I had with Robot Legions was the length. It was far too short and far too easy. 18 levels seems like a lot but it only really took about 10-15 minutes to really beat the game and getting 80% of the achievements. So round that to probably 30 minutes to beat the game in its entirety. At least its an easy fix for any potential Robot Legions 2 sequel, just add more levels or perhaps a story line/campaign. Basically there is a lot of things you can do with a game of this caliber that other flash game developers have already done, so while Robot Legions had great graphics and great gameplay...it was lacking some truly interesting features.

Free Game News: Undo the End

Wed, 16 May 2012 06:07:49 +0000

Undo the End is a Platform Skill Adventure game developed by Alix Starovoyt. You’re at the time of the worlds end. Use your time portal to jump back in time to avoid obstacles in the present. It only lasts for a few seconds so make your move fast! Have fun!

Continue Reading about Undo the End

Jay is Games: Chikarou 5

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — A bite-sized escape puzzler from Dghgbakufu that drops you in the middle of a cross-shaped five-room dungeon and dares you to solve its puzzles and escape to the surface. Bakufu shies away from the complicated clichés like using screwdrivers to pry open panels and finding power cords to plug in computers. All the keys and doors are symbol-coded, and there's no pixel-hunting, either; what little challenge this developer's games contain lies in deciphering the simple yet clever little clues to open the safes, which is fine for someone wanting a quick and easy escape but not so much for a challenge-seeker. Tagged as: browser, dghgbakufu, escape, flash, free, game, japanese, linux, mac, pointandclick, puzzle, rating-g, windows

Free Game News: Games Northwest – Temp Ninja

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:07:23 +0000

Temp Ninja is a Platform, Skill game from MaxGames by Games Northwest. Use your ninja skills to jump and climb your way through this obstacle course. Have fun!

Continue Reading about Games Northwest – Temp Ninja

Andy Moore Blog: DevVlog EP27: Libraries and Frameworks

Tue, 15 May 2012 19:00:13 +0000

Discussing how I do libraries and don’t do frameworks

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FlashMush: Putt More Base Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Link: Putt More Base
Developed by Jaycsantos
Sponsored by TurboNuke
Genre: Action/Sports
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 10/10

There was a time that I was obsessed with minigolf or putt putt as it is called in some areas, and there was also a time where it seemed the flash game community understood this and was pumping out minigolf games like there was no tomorrow. Unfortunately that time has stopped and new minigolf games are few and far between, the last one I can think of is Wonderputt. Well, now Jaycsantos pushed out a new game, Putt More Base, and I must say it is probably the best minigolf flash game I've ever played.

Everything about Putt More Base is spot on and so well done. You have the graphics alone which is one of the first things you will notice. It's in the same kind of cartoony style that seems to be characteristic of all TurboNuke affiliated games which is a style I absolutely adore so no complaints from me in that aspect. The other big aspect you'll notice is the physics during gameplay. There are many environmental obstacles placed in Putt More Base which is to be expected as that is really the draw in minigolf in general. The craziest the course the better and Putt More Base does not fail to deliver there.

In fact, what makes Putt More Base one of the best minigolf flash games out there in my opinion is the option to actually edit the course to your advantage. In each hole you get a certain amount of items and obstacles you can place around to help make your score better. these range from angled boxes to bounce you ball to sticky pads, teleports, you name it it's in here! This really gives a whole new perspective on the typical minigolf flash game genre and opens up loads of possibilities. Other great aspects of Putt More Base is the user generated content so once you beat the 18 holes which while accurate to golf in general I found pretty short, you can play many more levels (which dispels that complaint). Overall, Putt More Base literally has everything you could possibly want in a mingolf flash game and looks amazing doing it!

Free Game News: Reincarnation: Bloody Bayou

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:46:04 +0000

Reincarnation: Bloody Bayou is the latest Point’n'Click Adventure game in the Reincarnation series by C. Gianelloni. This time you’re in the Bayou back country looking for the reincarnate. Have fun! Play Reincarnation: The Final Happy Hour Play Reincarnation: A Taste Of Evil Play Reincarnation: All Hallow’s Evil Play Reincarnation: The Backfire of Hell Play Reincarnation: LTETR [...]

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Jay is Games: Forget-Me-Not

Tue, 15 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — In the mood for some good, old-fashioned, retro arcade fun, without the need of a roll of quarters? Brandon Williamson's Forget-Me-Not, which was originally a popular mobile game, is now ported over to your browser! It takes the classic concept of Pac-Man, and adds a shooter to it. Quickly addictive, and perfectly frustrating, Forget-Me-Not is old-school fun at its finest. Tagged as: arcade, browser, bwilliamson, flash, free, game, highdifficulty, linux, mac, mobile, rating-g, retro, shooter, windows

Jay is Games: Fancy Wizard

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Platform: Flash — Having a mellow spell and want a game that won't zap your brain? Conjure up a bit of amusement in this charming little puzzle platform game by Aizat Haibulin. Using your sparkly wand, strategically place dummies to overcome the obstacles and baddies standing between you and the magic door. Don't let the name fool you: nothing overly complicated or intricate here. It's just the right amount of cute design and mild challenge to suit your fancy. Tagged as: ahaibulin, browser, flash, free, game, kidfriendly, linux, mac, platform, puzzle, rating-y, windows

FlashMush: Boss Slayer Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Tue, 15 May 2012 07:00:00 +0000

Link: Boss Slayer
Developed by Awoker Games
Sponsored by Arcadebomb.com
Genre: Shooter/Upgrades
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 7.5/10

Some games have a special mode called boss rush or something of the sort. Basically you fight in order all the bosses you normally would have fought in the campaign mode. Boss Slayer takes this idea and focuses a flash game just on it!

Now Boss Slayer isn't the first to do this but that doesn't mean it is any less fun to play than the originals. In fact Boss Slayer is just as insanely addictive as any other game I have played. It gains its addictive quality from the inherent fast paced boss battle gameplay style as well as the upgrade system. To keep you on your twos a pseudo time limit is enforced saying you must beat the game within 12 days, each turn is a day. The upgrades themselves are pretty basic but all you really want.

I guess the main question in a game of this sort is the difficulty. Overall I found the game to be quite easy. Could beat the whole game in less than 5 minutes it feels. However, while it is a ridiculously short game the difficulty curve is fairly well done...just still easy. I attribute this though to the ease of money gathering and therefore upgrades. Overall though Boss Slayer is a short game..but immensely fun.

Jay is Games: The Vault

Tue, 15 May 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Games featured this week: Phit; Robot Unicorn Attack; BowMaster Prelude; Craziest; Kavalmaja — Everyone knows games can be hard to put down, but some titles are trickier than most to pull yourself away from. From magical robotic equine action to fiendishly simple block puzzles and even medieval archer madness, here's a collection of some of the most addictive little games around that can keep you up into the wee hours. Tagged as: blog, browser, thevault

Jay is Games: Swordigo

Tue, 15 May 2012 02:30:07 +0000

Platform: iOS — Explore deeply layered fantasy landscapes, encounter boss battles and intriguing characters, discover treasure chests and secret coves, upgrade armor and weapons, level up and and everything else you'd want to find in an epic RPG platforming adventure. The on screen controls make your journey all the more enjoyable for a classic gaming feel. Any nostalgic cravings you had for your favorite games of old will be satisfied as you are the hero and your quest is great. Keep that sword handy and your magic prepped; who knows what danger lurks beyond those gates? You'll soon find out! Tagged as: action, adventure, game, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, platform, rating-y, rpg, touchfoo

Jay is Games: A Long Way Home

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:40:07 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android — A Long Way Home is an arcade physics puzzle game from Jonathan Mulcahy. Stranded 100 light years from Earth, you play an astronaut whose only companion is a wrist-mounted computer who offers bits of advice. Using a sharp eye and impeccable timing, trot around asteroids and planets and jump from their surface across the screen, the goal being to collect dark matter so you can open successive worm holes that get you closer to home. Along the way, you'll encounter exploding asteroids, comets, teleporting dark matter, and more. Not exactly a leisurely walk in space. Tagged as: android, arcade, game, ios, ipad, iphone, jmulcahy, kindle, nook, rating-g, space, tablet

Armor Games Blog: New Release: Formula Racer 2012

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:50:55 +0000

More fast paced arcade Formula racing from TurboNuke. Battle through twelve tracks from around the world, over three different race classes, upgrading to faster cars as you go. Check it out!

Jay is Games: Wind-up Knight

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:00:57 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android — Oh no! The king of the realm needs you to save the princess from the evil clutches of the Dark Knight! Go figure, right? Wind-up Knight is a mobile run and jump adventure very similar to Canabalt HD except you get a fancy sword and armor to fight enemies while dodging traps to make your way to the princess. Convenient items in adventuring, yes, but it won't save you when the Dark Knight starts getting really serious about stopping you. A knight's mettle will never be more tested and neither shall your timing skills as pits, enemies, and environmental dangers stand in your way. Tagged as: action, adventure, android, arcade, game, highdifficulty, ios, ipad, iphone, jumpandrun, kindle, mobile, platform, rating-y, robotinvaders, simpleidea, skill, tablet, timing

FlashMush: Pokemon Tower Defense Hacked Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Link: Pokemon Tower Defense Hacked
Developed by Sam & Dan Games
Genre: Defense/Strategy
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 9.5/10

I know I may be late reviewing this awesome flash game but better late than never am I right? Either way, Pokemon Tower Defense takes all the fun and elements of your beloved childhood game, Pokemon, and combines it with the addicting flash game genre of tower defense and makes one epic game.

I'm sure you all have played tower defense games before and most are pretty cut and dry. Enemies come from one end, you place towers or characters or what have you and they shoot the enemies till they die. Rinse, wash, repeat. A few games have redefined the genre and mixed things up a bit such as Kingdom Rush. Well I'm here to say that that is exactly what Pokemon Tower Defense has done.

Now the huge idea and draw in for Pokemon Tower Defense is the Pokemon part as to be expected. And this goes beyond just using various Pokemon as units. There is a full story line which borrows elements heavily from the Pokemon series as well as all level designs are based off of real Pokemon areas. Furthermore the fan made humor really makes this game a flash game for the fans. The other huge element which makes this such a genre defining flash game is they brought in the element of actual Pokemon capturing. Just like in the real Pokemon games you can catch and train your Pokemon various moves. It's quite simple gameplay as well, you just click and drag the big pokeball onto a weakened Pokemon to capture. You can then use the captured Pokemon to fight for you.

I'm sure by now you've noticed my main title says "Hacked". That is because I actually played the hacked version as it really gives you a quick run down of what the game is about and if you don't mind feeling "cheated", it really is a fun way to play. In fact there is a whole market for hacked arcade games in which items cost nothing, spell cool down is minimal, etc. May be cheap but if you've already beaten a game or are stuck somewhere on a game these hacked flash games are pretty fun to play. The hacked version of Pokemon Tower Defense specifically makes enemies way easier to catch, items cost nothing, super fast leveling up among many other perks.

Overall, Pokemon Tower Defense is a great game which has tons of levels and features which adds a whole new game changing element to a saturated market while keeping fan boys in love. The hacked version will allow you to experience the full game quicker so if you're in the mood for that go right ahead!

Andy Moore Blog: DevVlog EP26: Tweening

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:50 +0000

In which I discuss my BIGGEST SECRET EVER

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Jay is Games: Brainsss

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:00:43 +0000

Platform: iOS — Everybody wants to rule the world, and zombies are no exception. In Brainsss, a wild sort of mobile game by Lonely Few, you get to help the zombies start their plot for world domination. Part strategy, part action, part brains, you must lead and grow your zombie horde to complete the goal for each level. Humans just don't get it. Life is so much simpler if all you need are brainsss. Tagged as: action, game, ios, ipad, iphone, lonelyfew, mobile, rating-y, strategy, tablet, zombies

Jay is Games: infeCCt

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:00:55 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android — Looking for a logic puzzle game that is tested and designed with cognitive physiology research AND is still fun to play? The boys over at Handy Games in Germany bring you infeCCt, a nice casual undertaking that gets you covering tiles with vines. The game will bend your mind to its limits with tons of impressively designed levels, extra obstacles and tiles for an added challenge, and online scoring system to compare your problem solving skills with others. Tagged as: android, askulteti, demo, game, handygames, ios, ipad, iphone, kindle, logic, mobile, nook, puzzle, rating-g, simpleidea, tablet

Free Game News: Abroy – 2012 Shelter

Mon, 14 May 2012 14:59:33 +0000

2012 Shelter is the latest Point’n’Click Adventure game from Abroy. “After surviving the apocalypse in the shelter nr. 2012 it’s all in your hands. Can you break out from the underground base and lead the mankind to the new Golden Age?” Have fun!

Continue Reading about Abroy – 2012 Shelter

Jay is Games: FlipPix Art

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:00:24 +0000

Platform: iPad, Android — FlipPix Art is a series of picross logic puzzles created by GabySoft for mobile markets, including Android tablets, iPad, and NOOK Color/Tablet. The games are designed for ease of use while on the go, employing a rather unusual control mechanism that, surprisingly, makes mobile picross easier and less error-prone. On top of that, each of the games in the series features a different visual theme along with a large number of puzzles, making it one of the best ways to get a picross fix while on the go. Tagged as: android, gabysoft, game, ios, ipad, kindle, logic, mobile, nook, picross, puzzle, rating-g, tablet

Jay is Games: The Island: Castaway (mobile)

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:00:48 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android — Though it's a scary (if distant) thought in real life, being stranded on an island where you have to fight for survival isn't high on anyone's to-do list. Place it in a casual game, though, and we're tripping over ourselves to start the download. Sahmon Games' simulation series The Island: Castaway has been perplexing players for a few years now with its superb blend of quest-based item hunting and character managing, spawning The Island: Castaway 2 not long after the original was released. Now there's the mobile version of The Island: Castaway, and it manages to bring every pixel of entertainment from its PC cousins to the portable touch screen. Be prepared for the addiction to begin all over again! Tagged as: adventure, android, demo, game, ios, ipad, iphone, islandcastaway, kindle, mobile, nook, rating-y, rpg, sahmongames, simulation, tablet

Game Dev Gone Rogue: The Importance of Data

noreply@blogger.com (Dan) — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:08:00 +0000

I was recently looking over the Steam game submission form. As mentioned last week, one of my goals is to get NEO Scavenger onto delivery services such as Steam, so I was curious what that entails.

While looking over the questions they ask, I came across two which previously gave me pause:

Current Sales Data on Released Platforms
Links to Reviews

The first time I saw these was well before NEO Scavenger was released (probably even before it was started). I remember seeing those fields and feeling discouraged. How would I get the reviews to convince Valve my game would be worth it? And wouldn't answers to these questions present a sort of Catch 22? Granted, they're not required fields, but Steam had a reputation as a hard service to get indie games onto, so not having such data seemed like a major weakness.

Looking at them now, however, I'm actually feeling fairly confident. Apart from the recent increase in indie games on Steam, soft-launching my first game has given me data I can point to. For one thing, my payment provider (FastSpring) compiles sales data since the launch of the game, and Google Analytics can tell me how many unique visitors I've had.

Using these stats, I can tell a prospective distributor that NEO Scavenger has a 2.4% conversion rate. That is, 2-3 visitors out of every 100 buy the game. I'm not sure how that stacks up against other games, but I've heard that ~2% is actually a respectable number in the e-commerce world.

Furthermore, my obsessive tracking of magazine reviews and forum threads about NEO Scavenger seems to have paid off as well. Since NEO Scavenger's soft launch, I've kept links to every article mentioning NEO Scavenger, as well as every forum thread I can find. I gathered these links from referrer info in Google Analytics, Google Alerts on both "NEO Scavenger" and "Blue Bottle Games," and my own obsessive Google searches for instances of "NEO Scavenger" each day.

By now, I have a long list of articles where people talk about the game, and I can easily link to and quote them should a distributor ask.

Overall, this appears to be yet another benefit of "soft launching" one's game. In addition to the benefits of early adopters testing and helping to refine the game, and an early boost in funding, I can also quote relevant data for potential distributors.

Could it have backfired? I bet so. Had I released NEO Scavenger earlier, it may have been so broken that early reviews were negative, potentially marring NEO Scavenger's reputation on the market for a long time. So it's definitely not a one-size-fits-all endorsement.

On the other hand, being an indie carries a certain amount of leniency. I probably was treated less harshly than if I were a giant publisher pre-releasing a buggy and unfinished game.

Is it critical to have this data before submitting a game? Not necessarily. As mentioned above, it's not required to get onto Steam, and launching early has it's own perils.

However, I think tracking stats and product coverage is a valuable tool, whether "soft launching" or not. For example, I also found that 8.7% of visitors become members of the Blue Bottle Games site. This is an interesting number, since that means a whole 6% of visitors become members, but don't buy the game. Judging by the forum posts, I don't think all of this is for the ability to post comments either. So why else would visitors become members?

Probably this is a byproduct of the clunky purchase flow on the site, which requires the user be a member to see ordering info for the game. If I were to change it such that pricing info was available to non-members, how would that affect numbers? Would the member conversion rate go down? Would the purchase conversion rate go up? My gut instinct is that a combination of the two above would happen. Although, it's possible that people may actually feel more inclined to buy the game after completing a membership.

It would be an interesting experiment to try. If nothing else, it should increase transparency, and I'm all for that. And back to the main point, this is an experiment I could hardly explore without this data on hand.

Whatever method one uses for distribution, I suggest gathering as much data as possible. The tools are out there, and often free (several are linked to above), so the only thing barring their use is effort on the indie's part. Don't be lazy!

FlashMush: Euro 2012 GS Soccer Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:30:00 +0000

Link: Euro 2012 GS Soccer
Developed by Web78it
Genre: Sports/Action
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 6.5/10

GOAALLLL!!! You know what that means. A soccer game! (well soccer for me since I'm an American), either way the world's most popular sport is here in flash game form and if you love soccer or football, Euro 2012 GS Soccer is the flash game for you.

Euro 2012 GS Soccer...wow, such a mouth full. If you don't know what this game is about it's very simple. Soccer. I will admit the game does a good job being fairly accurate in terms of soccer gameplay for the most part. You can choose a real Country's soccer team and then compete in the "official" soccer tournament bracket to play out all those imaginary scenarios I know you dream of. Graphics wise the game is also very well polished and I can tell a lot of work went into making this game look the best it possibly could.

However, I had the worst time with the controls in Euro 2012 GS Soccer. It really is the only major complaint about the game and yes it brought down the score that much. You only have three keys to use; A, S, and D. Which sounds simple but honestly I feel adding a few more keys to control more aspects would have benefited this game greatly. It would have increased the complexity a tad but this addition of complexity would have allowed for greater and more fluid control over the players both in offense and defense positions. So overall, Euro 2012 GS Soccer looks great and is a great representation of the soccer flash game genre, it just lacks precise controls which hurts the gameplay greatly.

Jay is Games: SpongeBob Marbles and Slides

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:00:24 +0000

Platform: iOS, Android — When a vast series of subterranean pipes appears beneath Bikini Bottom, it's SpongeBob and crew to the rescue!... sort of! After a blinding flash of light, all our sea-dwelling swashbucklers have turned to marbles, and they need your help drawing paths to safety and helping them to manipulate switches and other machinery. Who's behind this fiendish development? Play this gorgeous mobile physics puzzler and find out! Tagged as: achievements, android, demo, game, gildedskull, ios, ipad, iphone, mobile, nickleodeon, nook, physics, pinball, puzzle, rating-g, tablet

Free Game News: Poopo – Bathroom Escape

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:10:46 +0000

Bathroom Escape is the latest Japanese Room Escape game from Poopo where you find yourself trapped in a bathroom… Nice and easy peasy! Have fun!

Continue Reading about Poopo – Bathroom Escape

FlashMush: Deadswitch Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:30:00 +0000

Link: Deadswitch
Developed by XWILKNX
Sponsored by ESP Animation
Genre: Shooter/Defense
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 9/10

Ever wonder while you're playing the latest Call of Duty game or Battlefield that they would be awesome flash games? Well, Deadswitch may be one of the few chances where that statement is fairly accurate. Featuring over 65 weapons and multiple modes, Deadswitch has everything you could possibly want in a modern day flash shooter game.

Like I said above, Deadswitch is a shooter game I like to akin to modern console games such as Call of Duty. I make this comparison for a few different reasons. The different modes. Not only does Deadswitch feature death match modes but has defense modes, zombie invasion, arena mode and free sandbox mode. On top of this the weapon variety is staggering and does rival such console games like Call of Duty. Combine this with upgradable "perks" and you essentially have the perfect recipe for a flash game epic shooter.

But Deadswitch is not all just modes, guns and perks. The gameplay is spot on. The controls are very smooth and fluid, the A.I. is surprisingly hard and a perfect match (or as well as computer players can be). The environments for the different stages and how your character interacts with objects in the stage is very advanced and detailed. My only complaints with Deadswitch seems kind of silly, but it is there needs to be more. Right now there is a ton of content and different things but it does lack continuity. What would really make Deadswitch awesome is mulitplayer for one but also a story mode of some sort to provide some sort of need to play and keep players engaged. Luckily from the developer's site, Deadswitch 2 is already confirmed and it addressed some of my issues such as a campaign mode along with different modes, vehicles, and more customizable options. All I can say is Deadswitch is a new flash game I can definitely get behind!

Jay is Games: Mobile Monday

Mon, 14 May 2012 04:00:02 +0000

Games featured this week: Machinarium; Amazing Alex; Death Worm; Off the Leash — Dogs and worms dominate the latest edition of Mobile Monday, an entirely unintended coincidence, we assure you! To balance out the slight "ew" factor, have a taste of a cute robot and a new game from the creators of Angry Birds. That should balance things out nicely! Tagged as: blog, mobile, mobile-monday, news, previews

Andy Moore Blog: DevVlog EP25: iOS and Mobile Marketing

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:00:32 +0000

How to succeed in the iOS space and make money NOW subscribe today easy 4 step process get cheques today work from home secret discovered by stay at home mom

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FlashMush: Feed Us 3 Flash Game Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kingmush) — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Link: Feed Us 3
Developed by WebCyper
Sponsored by Gamesfree.ca
Genre: Action/Upgrades
FlashMush Reviews Rating: 7.5/10

The Feed Us series is back (read my review on Feed Us and Feed Us 2) with more blood and piranhas with Feed Us 3! Who doesn't want the chance to upgrade a predator fish to kill a bunch of unsuspecting fishermen and scuba divers.

If you read my reviews on the first two Feed Us games you'll know that I loved the idea of the series a la the original, but found the sequel to be a big let down. However, as you can see by my rating for Feed Us 3 I did like this one a lot better than Feed Us 2. This is mainly due a large increase in features. You now have missions which are reminiscent and remind me of the gory missions in Mass Mayhem 4 (another WebCypher Game). This adds some tangible goals to an otherwise aimless game so I greatly approve. There is also just more interative objects now. More people are about including scuba divers and different boats (have jet skis, pontoon boats, air boats, etc.) There is the inclusion of things which can kill you including boat motors, giant sharks, electric jellyfish and sea monsters.

This also adds a new dynamic that you can die and therefore lose things. Like in the last Feed Us games you can buy offspring and have multiple piranhas swimming around. Well now with the inclusion of mortality you can actually lose these offspring. While this is way more realistic it kind of sucks to lose hard earned upgrades. The only other issue I have with Feed Us 3 is the controls are still wonky like I mentioned in my flash game review for Feed Us 2...in fact it may be more wonky as if you jump up out of the water and hit land you sort of bounce around and lose a lot of time. Overall though Feed Us 3 is a great step back in the right direction of the Feed Us series and can't wait for more!