PixlBit

Another Kickstarter darling finally sees the light of day.

Say what you want about Kickstarter, but it has breathed games into existence that otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance, and allowed artists to construct personal expressions without having to resort to eating dog food to survive.  The end results may not always be extraordinary, but sometimes they are still triumphant, as with Lilly Looking Through, a Kickstarter success that asked for $18,000 and ended up with $33,000+ for a point-and-click adventure starring a little girl with time-traveling goggles.  The game is beautiful, but brief, with amazing art direction and sublime animation.

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Looking for a hardcore puzzle game? You've found it.

There are casual games, and then there is Toki Tori 2+, the Lord of the Rings of devilish puzzle games: epic, gargantuan, and deep as hell.  It may look cute and innocent at first, but have no doubt, this game is both immensely creative and insanely difficult.  Try as I did, I was ultimately unable to beat it after three weeks of battling its fiendish design.  While I’m disappointed in myself, I realize that a lot of gamers are going to suffer some of the same problems I did with it, and while it’s a great game I have left unfinished, I still have a lot to say about it.

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Early adopters looking to get in on the ground floor of something possibly amazing might want to check out this intriguing alpha by Blackpowder Games.

Like it or not, the Age of the Alpha Release is here.  Whether it’s Steam Early Access, or more humble releases like Sir, You Are Being Hunted, and Cube World, or even Bohemia’s Arma 3, alpha releases are everywhere these days.  It’s a controversial subject - some are complaining that companies are charging for incomplete products they may or may not finish, while others believe the process helps fund games that otherwise might never be developed.  It’s hard for me to find a suitable metaphor for this complex matter other than likening it to buying a fruit and waiting for it ripen. 

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This exciting shooter might not be for everyone, but it's still pretty fun and has a big heart.

The PSP localization gods are fickle beings.  Sure, they bless us which such cool games as Gungnir, Class of Heroes, and God-Eater Burst.  But at the same time they deny us such pleasures as Final Fantasy Type-0.  It seems no mortal can understand these deities’ mysterious ways.

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In business for almost twenty years, Spiderweb Software is still going strong. In honor of this milestone, they have answered some of our questions about game development, and what it's like to be indie.

With over two decades of experience making games and a record of being independent before indie games were a trend in the gaming world, Spiderweb Software is the hardcore for the hardcore.  Makers of such classic series as Geneforge, Avernum, and now Avadon, the company focuses on old school RPG experiences that most publishers and developers have abandoned..  While they primarily focus on the PC and Mac platforms, they recently experimented with mobile development, releasing Avadon and Avernum to iOS and Android with stunning success.  It seems classic games are classic no matter what system they’re played on. 

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