MOUSE NO!

I'm DOOMED!

2012-01-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

Hey guys! Just wanted to give a heads up about this track 'Doomed' I just put up on my bandcamp.

Its an Electro-House tune inspired by the theme of the awesome indie game game Dino Run. (By the way, that awesome album art is done by my buddy Nate Kling)
So if you guys got a buck to burn on some new music, give this track a listen. It was really fun making it!

Skrillex & Wolfgang Gartner - The Devil's Den (Scattle 8-bit Cover)

2011-12-26T04:16:00.000-08:00

I really loved this track from Skrillex's Bangarang EP, and I thought it might be fun trying to do a cover. Drop the 8-bit bass!

"So Cool" Single OUT NOW!

2011-12-23T04:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but Im finally back with a new single called "So Cool", a chiptune-electro-house-banger-thing that I've been working away at for a while. Usually all my tracks are free (And some still will be) but I'm trying to raise some money to start playing live, so if you have a buck to spare for this track, I'd really appreciate it

Listen/Buy at Bandcamp

Franco American EP Out Now!

2011-11-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

That's right folks, another EP! It's my try at French house, dipped in a bit of 80s, garnished with some nostalgia, and rolled up in love. Go ahead and give it a listen at my Bandcamp!

Feel free to tell me what you guys think in the comments... I'M ALWAYS WATCHING.

Juxtaposition EP Released!

2011-09-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I've kinda taken a tiny break from game making and just decided to make some music (why not?)

So here's what I have to show for my efforts, a tiny excuse for an EP by the name of Juxtaposition. It kinda refers to the sorta dual nature of the songs I guess... Its a bit of dubstep, mixed with a bit of 8bit chiptunes.

The two tracks Sonar and Dirty Puddle are available for free download on my SoundCloud, so GO GRAB EM! If you like them, kindly consider dropping a few pennies on that donate button, or share the music with some friends

By the way, that super cool album art was made by a super cool guy named Stefan Bogdanovic. Check out his site at: http://coja.in.rs/

I made some music!

2011-06-15T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well, to be more specific, I made a cover of deadmau5's awesome song, I Remember. It's an 8-bit rendition of the song, but with some small touches thrown in.

You can download it for FREE over HERE, so if you dont want to donate, just set the price to 0 and it's all yours

Interview: Connor Kimbrough (Beef)

2011-05-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

So, after taking a long "break" from the blog, I've decided to catch up with Connor Kimbrough on his whereabouts/games/other stuff.

Alright so, what have you been up to, since your collaboration with JW on Super Mind Dungeon?

Too many things. I co-founded an independent game company here in Oklahoma with Andy Wolff, called "Superghosts," and it's been quite a ride.

What made you decide to start a company?

Andy and I were interested in producing a "name" for our collaborations.

What can we expect from Superghosts?

We've been working with Paul Veer, Jukio Kallio, Sean Flannigan, Shane Heres, Alex Porter, Amon26, and Jonatan Söderström to create a myriad of titles. Most of them have been abandoned.

With Paul Veer/Jukio Kallio we started a flash game called "Fucking Blast Man" back in October of 2010. Gameplay-wise, it's undergone quite a few transformations. It's actually known as "Naked Blast Man" for now.

"Nuclear Cream" was a Windows game that had been in development with Alex Porter earlier this year. It was a lot of fun to work on but is, unfortunately, abandoned.

Recently, we're split between a flash remake/re-imagining of "Dire Haven" and "The Black Box," a project we're developing with Cactus for the Xbox 360.

"The Black Box" eh? Sounds mysterious... Can you give out some info about this one?

I can't really say too much about at this time. Maybe in August?

What about "Dire Haven"? can you divulge anything more about that?

It's a flash remake of a 2008 game by Radnom that I really loved. We're pretty much done with that one. It's fun, crass, and really ridiculous - I love it.

So what are a few of your favorite indie games?

Well, my favorite may be "Mighty Jill Off." I went to a small high school. There it was easy to get my whole class and some of the teachers into watching a group of us play "Mighty Jill Off," "N," and "Punishment 2." Those
experiences kind of endeared me to those games. I'm also a big fan of what Krimelo's doing.

We're almost running out of time here, but, do you have any more super sexy excusive screenshots you'd like to share with us?

Here's Another Xycle2 Trailer

2010-11-14T17:25:00.000-08:00

Probably a bit of old news now (because indiegames already posted it) but I figured I'd post it here for the people who don't check the indiegames blog. My buddy Glen Forrester (aka Radix, aka that awesome guy who made Enough Plumbers) made this pretty awesome trailer for the game, and it should be released around late November/early December. For those who wanted to know, the music you hear in the trailer/the game is made by me

Super Meat Boy XBLA Release Date Announced

2010-08-31T00:57:00.000-07:00

Edmund Mcmillen and Tommy Refenes at Team Meat have just now announced the official release date for Super Meat Boy on Xbox Live Arcade, scheduled for October 20! This meaty duo has said in the past that the Wiiware and PC versions will be released in the month after the XBLA release.

PO PO - SikSikSik

2010-08-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

Vimeo Link

So, after I stole the song "Eat Ur Face" for the Xycle+ trailer, the band PO PO and I got into contact and I ended up making a music video for their song "SikSikSik". I'm pretty happy about how it came together, so if you like it, spread the word about this video's existence...

Xycle+ Boxart

2010-08-23T23:50:00.000-07:00

The Master, AKA Roy Nathan De Groot created the awesome Xycle+ art you see in front of you now... I, I'm speechless... (Click for larger view)

Xycle+ Trailer

2010-08-13T22:33:00.000-07:00

My main focus as of now, coming soon... Tell me if you like what you see.

Preview: Unnamed Siamese Game

2010-08-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Krimelo, the indie dev behind the awesome game Autocannibalism, has been kind enough to give us a little sneak peak of his latest 2-player outing, involving Siamese twins.

From what Krimelo explained, the game revolves around competing to get organs to try and win your mother's love, because her cold heart cannot accept your existence...

I'm hoping that we can expect a release later this month

New Site, New Mouse

2010-08-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

Hey guys (or whoever still is a fan of this blog), sorry for my very long radio silence... I am ashamed of myself...

But hey, there's a new start for everything I guess, so with that I'd like to shamelessly plug my newly redesigned site! it's really snazzy I think, so, tell me if you like it/hate it/want to marry it.

Other than that, I just wanna say that I will now continue the hunt for little indie gems and will try to get more interviews as well, if you like those.

GAMMA 4 IS GO!!

2010-02-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, finally, something worth posting about... I've just now finished and submitted my entry for Gamma IV called string (un-capitalization included). It uses a gameplay mechanic that's been inhabiting my head for quite some time. Wrapping around things to destroy them, or in this case, decompile them. When the guys at Kokoromi say it's okay, I'll put up a download link. Until then, keep drooling (I hope).

In other news (And to post some more pretty pictures), I've just made some fanart for Amon26's game, The Hunt (Which deserves your attention). To fully understand what I drew up, I'll make a comparison...

Here's a screen shot of the actual game:

And, here's what I drew:

What!? There's even more news!? Yes, there is. Sadly, my partner Mirosurabu dropped out of development for the flash port of Constellation Chaos, so I'm getting my good friend Andy Wolff to port the game, and, it's coming along actually quite nicely. If you don't know who Andy Wolff is, you should be ashamed (Well, not too much). He's made quite some good games, as well as Cybersolip and Sewers, two games that I featured a while ago. So, I hope you enjoyed this post (It might be a while before you see another). Check out the links!

Where am I?

2010-01-16T12:32:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't been posting much, and I'm really sorry for that. I tend to update my Twitter more than I post on this blog, so feel free to follow it.

As for the games I'm working on, there are quite a few... Production on Cool Men has come to a halt, and, since I haven't been in contact with my partner Ryan Copley in about 3-4 months, I've unfortunately decided to make Cool Men a single-player game, until I can find someone who can work with 39.dll for the co-op aspect.

One of my less recent freeware games Constellation Chaos is currently in the process of being ported to flash, by the very talented Mirosurabu. The game should be out around March. If not, I'll let you guys know.

As you may have heard on another blog, I'm also working on a game called Baby Whore Adventures with cactus. I cant give out many details about it, but I'm hoping that we can release it somewhat soon.

Duum Mashine Released!

2009-12-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

I've just released a new game! I'd like to picture Duum Mashine as what a kid would be drawing in school, with a science assignment in mind... Blowing up tanks, helicopters, and other stuff with a huge, solar-powered lazer!

Play at Game Jolt

Online Highscore Board

Old Trailer

4hrpg Forums Now Open

2009-11-29T11:22:00.000-08:00

Remember JW? That Game Maker developer that uses a simplistic style and has a heart of gold? Well, his longest running project to date, 4hrpg, now has it's own forums! Players that sign up to the forums will get early access to future builds of the game, as well as other rewards. People who donate over $4.99 to JW will receive the super rare, "filthy rich" class, and every player who donates will earn themselves a spot in the credits.

4hrpg is honestly a really cool RPG, and it's been great to see it improve over these past couple months. It features around 12 classes which all have their own unique abilities and weapons, and since the game is randomly generated, every time you play will be a new experience.

4hrpg Forums

Donate to JW

New T-Shirts!

2009-11-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

My old buddy Knite has just made maybe the coolest T-Shirt design ever! The design itself is based off of my original Scattle logo (seen here)

You can buy an actual T-Shirt with this design, for around 23 bucks (pretty cheap, in my opinion) so go ahead and strut your stuff with some awesome Scattle flair!

Buy the T-Shirt here!

Sewers

2009-11-18T18:41:00.000-08:00

Made for Mini Ludum Dare 14, Andy Wolff and Andrew Brophy tell the story of a boy lost in the sewers, chasing after the girl he loves. Sewers is a "Find the endings" type game, and like another game, it features 5 total endings to unlock. the visuals, and somewhat creepy atmosphere are very appealing, and although finished late, the effort clearly shows why.

Download

Saut

2009-11-08T20:44:00.001-08:00

Kapser's Saut was made for the Game Jolt Minimal Competition, with what seems to have a good mix of other indie platformers. In Saut, you play as a lone pixel man who apparently has no ability to walk on his own, so your only means of control is the spacebar, in which our hero will jump, and then slide. This game has a very nice style, relaxing music, and appealing visuals. To put it simply, it's like if Runman, Canabalt, N, and Knytt Stories had a child... Play it.

Play at Game Jolt

Help! Please!

2009-11-05T16:59:00.000-08:00

Hello fellow readers. I'm sorry I haven't been updating this blog as much as I should, but as soon as things settle back down, I'll get back in the habit, because I love you all. If you've liked what I've been doing with Mouse No, or if you like any of my games, could you kindly consider sending a small donation my way? A dollar would be very, very appreciated. In other news, I've begun working on another game for the Game Jolt Minimal Competition. It's a small platform adventure that I think might be my best game yet. Screenshots and more info in the future...

Cybersolip

2009-10-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

Created by Andy Wolff for the Poppenkast Retro/Future Competition, Cybersolip combines an arena shooter, with blurry, sketchy, and colorful graphics, and a nifty dash ability. There are 4 enemy types to blast away, and some really neat looking effects as well. Did I mention that the game has an online highscore board?

Download

Highscore Board

Mouse No. Probably a Rat

2009-10-12T16:30:00.000-07:00

Mouse No. Probably a Rat is a little parody of Robert Fearons's Squid Yes! Not So Octopus! that I made for The Poppenkast's Retro/future competition. I made it in approx 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Play at Game Jolt

Highscore Board

Let's Jump

2009-09-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

After looking for a sponsor for months, Andy Wolff and Hideous have now released their first Flixel endeavor, titled Let's Jump. In this game, you control a man that decides to jump off of random flying objects (sometimes, even turtles), and shoot down birds, bees, and even pterodactyls! Let's Jump has some nice graphics which really fit with the simple nature of the game, and the music is really well done. I guarantee the ingame music will get stuck in your head. Since the game is on Kongregate, you can expect online highscores and all that good stuff. Play Let's Jump, it's awesome.

Play at Kongregate

Run for It 3: Chaos in the Office

2009-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Created for Robosquid's Main Competition #3, JaJ is at it again with a sequel to the popular Run for it series. You play as a little man with glasses, running away from his troubles at the office. That wont be a simple task though, because robo-secretaries, monkey-like robots, and men with spiky hair want to destroy you! Players can jump on the baddies' heads, or throw pencils at them by pressing Z. It's a really fun game, with a colorful, cute graphic style, and really catchy chiptune music. The addition of online highscores also sweetens the pot, so play this game already!

Download

Calling All Artists!

2009-08-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

Hello to all of my readers! I decided to make a little competition for my next project, Cool Men. Basically, just make an awesome fanart wallpaper for the game. The top 3 wallpaper artists will receive an early build of Cool Men! If you don't know what the game looks like, watch my previous video. You have until September 30th to get your art into the competition.

Send all of your art to: scattleware (at) gmail.com

Good luck!

Also, I've made a Twitter account, so if I don't make a new post in a while, you'll know I'm not dead.

Tower Climber

2009-08-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

Skipmore's Tower Climber is a fun browser game, in which you... Climb a tower. That's not all though, as players have to rescue a princess that has been turned into stone. Pressing the left mouse button (onscreen), will make your heroic knight jump. If the knight hits the edge of a platform, then our little protagonist switches his walking direction. Platforms are placed semi randomly in the tower, and enemies spawn in spots that seem impossible to dodge. Enemies don't exactly hurt you, but they will paralyze you for a short time, which makes the impending wall of doom move closer and closer...

Play Here

Note Rider

2009-08-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

Created for a Mini Competition at the Game Maker Games forum, block0man's Note Rider is an interactive .mod player/visualizer, that has a pretty cool concept. By holding the X key, players can capture a sound wave, and then press Z to use the beats from that wave to shoot. There aren't any enemies to shoot, although you can blast away at any un-captured waves along the way. Note Rider comes with a selection of .mod music built in, but players can add their own .mod files through the game's "music" directory. I think an expanded version of this would be fantastic. Maybe some procedurally generated enemies, a sound wave mechanic (where bullets wouldn't hit if you're on the same color as the enemy) perhaps?

Download

ScattleWare (The Game)

2009-08-07T18:12:00.001-07:00

It's been quite a while since I've made a post, so, while I'm working on a demo for Cool Men, enjoy this minigame I made that is full of minigames! As you can probably tell, I've been playing way too much Warioware... The controls are shown ingame, but if you're confused, use the mouse and arrow keys.

Download

Online Co-op Revealed for Cool Men!

2009-07-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the resolution is 640x480... Oh well! Here's a first look at online co-op in Cool Men, with Cactus starring as Player 2.

Wonder Bounce

2009-07-21T03:05:00.000-07:00

Wonder Bounce is Darthlupi's first game created in Flixel. To describe the gameplay, imagine mixing Skullpogo, with Cactus' Kryzta. Players use the X key to jump on the heads of lost souls to smack them into each other. The character you control can not actually be hit, but, since you are only in control of your soul, if the lost souls come into contact with your body enough times, then they will take your body, and that means game over. The graphics in this game are good, with cute characters, and a charming pixel art style. Although the later stages can become quite challenging, this is a simple, fun, and somewhat addictive game.

Play it Here

Some Oldies

2009-07-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't made a post in a while, so while I'm busy working on Project SHELD, (Now titled Cool Men), enjoy some of these games/WIPS I made a while back.

I made this game in around 1-2 hours for some competition at the poppenkast I don't really remember. Use the arrow keys and Z to reach the flag at each of the (2) stages. Download

I made this ASCII-sorta game also in 1-2 hours for something... Use the mouse wheel to select your tracks, left mouse button to place them, and right mouse button to delete. pressing enter will let the level play out, space bar will activate slo-mo, and pressing R will restart the stage. Download

This game, called Flight of Madine, was a small boss shmup, with drag and drop mechanics. Unfortunately, I never really got around to making a second boss, or more cool drag and drop abilities. Use the left mouse button to drag your ship and to shoot. If you are damaged, release left mouse button to drop your ship, and restore health (Only when the purple circle is large enough). Download

QQUAK

2009-07-12T12:07:00.001-07:00

QQUAK, developed by JW, is a really fun little first-person shooter, with a retro like style, and 3 areas to play. I find this game intriguing in a way... Instead of trying to escape from baddies, I found that I was trying to hunt down the pink baddies. From what I've played, there are around 3 extra weapons in the game, which can be obtained by picking up blue boxes, placed in random locations. This game is simply a blast (Pun?), and with online highscores, what are you waiting for?

Download

Announcing Project SHELD

2009-07-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here is just a quick play through/commentary on my next WIP. I think I had a bit too much fun.

Innoquous 3

2009-07-11T19:14:00.000-07:00

Developed by NAL, Innoquous 3 is the third in a series of games with the same name. In this platformer, players use a gravity-flipping mechanic, to get to the checkered finish in each stage. Unlike Innoquous 3's prequels, this is the first from the series to feature over 30 levels, and multiple gameplay modes, including Conditional Mode, Fiery Floors, INQS 30 (A speedrun of the game), and INQS 60 (A speedrun of the entire Innoquous series). Included are also online rankings, which players can view at the game's website. After looking at all of the features, new changes, and modes added to the game, you can clearly see that the author worked pretty hard on this game. Style wise, the game sports clean and colorful graphics, that strangely seems to work with the almost frustratingly hard gameplay. This game is simply great. It would be a shame if you didn't play it.

Play at Yoyogames

Alexitron's Journey to Learn GML

2009-07-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am bad at this game... Oh, yes, the review! Alexitron's Journey to Learn GML is a little platformer from the developer of The Power, and Shocker: The Electrifying Super Hero. In this game, you play as the brave Alexiton, and slay countless beasts of Drag and Drop origin. I found the game to be a bit funny, since I use Game Maker, and perhaps other users of Mark Overmars' game development tool will find it to be humorous as well. The game features 20 levels of platforming glory, and the game itself is a pretty fun time waster, so give it a shot.

Play at Game Jolt

Preview: Time Kufc

2009-07-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

While gazing at Edmund Mcmillen's blog today, I noticed something odd... There was some sort of long, cryptic message referring to a disruption, or change in time.

I saw a cool, pixel art screenshot, so my only guess would be that Time Ukfc is his new WIP... It sounds very interesting, and I'm wondering how time would be implemented. I sure hope it comes out sooner rather than later.

sqr

2009-07-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

Sqr, made by Andy Wolff, is an interesting shmup, with all of the graphics in the game being squares. The goal in this game, is to survive for as long as you can. The enemies in sqr are more like obstacles, with each one moving in specific patterns, forcing the player to choose their moves wisely. Bullets autofire from your quadrilateral ship, as well as another blue square that follows it. Holding Z will shoot a laser in the direction of that blue square and Holding X will charge a cluster of shots to the blue square, thus releasing X to discharge the cluster of shots. Use the R key to restart the game. Sqr has a fantastic style. Although all squares, the design seems somewhat smooth, and very pleasing to the eye. Check this game out, it's really great fun.

Download

Free Will - The Game

2009-07-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Free will - The game... I don't really know what to call it. Is it a standard platformer with a great GameBoy style, or Raitendo's fascinating take on the very idea of Free Will? Who knows, but by the end of the game, you might get the idea.

Play at Kongregate

Rabbit Wants Cake

2009-07-01T08:44:00.000-07:00

Rabbit Wants Cake is an addictive Platform/Puzzle browser game by John Cooney, which asks players to control a rabbit that loves cake. This game has your standard "get to the goal" gameplay, but with a few neat tricks up it's sleeve. For one, you don't actually control the rabbit right away. You have to record your movement ahead of time, and then play it back to see how the rabbit moved and jumped around the stage. If you happen to die, or not make it to your precious cake, you can re-record, and even tweak your recordings on the time line, to fit to the level's layout. There are 25 stages, each with one delicious slice of cake to eat, so it should take players around an hour to complete. This is a really fun game, that has a great idea, nice music, and good looking simple graphics. That's a winner to me, so check this game out.

Play at Armor Games

Butar Soldier

2009-06-27T23:49:00.000-07:00

I figured it's been a while since I've reviewed a cool Japanese browser based game, so here's one that will wet your whistle. Butar Soldier is a challenging shmup in which you play as a nude man, that autofires bullets from his head. The graphics are nicely done, and compliments the music as well. Space bar starts the game, and the arrow keys control your ship-man-thing. Overall, this game is nice to look at, but frustratingly hard to finish! I say, give it a go.

Play it Here

Thank You

2009-06-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

I checked my page view count today, and I noticed that It's almost up to 5000! It made me think of all of the things I've done on this blog, and all of the support I've gotten. I just want to thank all of you for following this blog, and for putting up with me when I don't post as often. I gotta thank Edmund Mcmillen first. Without his exclusive first look on Super Meat Boy for Wiiware, probably no one would have visited this blog. I also have to thank Tim W from Indiegames: The Weblog, for posting a link to my blog. The indiegames blog gets a lot of attention, and without that post, I also wouldn't have you guys. Now that it's summertime, I will have a lot more time to post on this blog now, so I hope you guys will still stick around.

I also made a facebook page for any of you that are fans of my games, or of this blog, so, if you have a facebook account, check it out.

Bit Fortress

2009-06-24T23:41:00.000-07:00

Bit Fortress is a 2.5D shmup made by Davioware in 8 hours. Let me begin by saying, this game is evil! If you get hit with a bullet just once, then you will go back to the way beginning of the game for another go. What's worse, is that you are plagued by a face, that will stop at nothing to see you dead. Bit Fortress is made in Construct, so make sure you have the latest version of DirectX before you play. This game is straight up classic shmup action with a great style, and great music. I highly recommend this one.

Play at Game Jolt

CutCopyPasteGnome

2009-06-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

CutCopyPasteGnome is another short experimental game by the same developer of Perspectite, Luke Brown. Our gnome hero is trapped within the dungeons of Gnome Tower, and must escape the evil clutches of the Dark Gnome Lord. How will he escape? Well, he will use his newly discovered powers of Clipboardius! This allows the Gnome to copy, cut, or paste his surroundings to better his situation, and get to the door in each level. NOTE: The copy, paste, and cut actions will only work if your mouse cursor is over the object you want to manipulate. There are a lot of cleverly designed stages in this game, with later levels making players scratch their heads. The graphics are blocky and pixelated, and the animations in the objects are minimalistic, but it all contours to the game's simplistic nature. Try this game out, you won't regret it.

Play at Game Jolt

Cattle Blast

2009-06-19T12:35:00.001-07:00

Cattle Blast is an arcade shooter I made for the Game Jolt "Shocking" competition (if you see the blood, I think that counts as shocking). With the mouse, use your handy shotgun to take down a huge wave of cattle (sometimes rabbits)! To reload your gun, you actually have to put the bullets into the barrel, instead of just touching a "RELOAD" button. Headshots and double kills (kill 2 cows really fast) are encouraged, and skilled players might find an extra mode to play... Online highscores are also implemented.

Trailer

Online Highscores

Download at Game Jolt

Invertfire

2009-06-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Invertfire is an arena shmup from the creator of Social Experiment, Polkadot, and Sworrd Buster, Andrew Brophy. The game is actually a remake of one of Brophy's older games, titled Colourmewithfirepower. Invertfire has your standard arena shmup, but with added colorful and somewhat bright effects. Players shoot enemies using the mouse and WASD, and by doing so, send the square-shaped baddies into the opposite direction, killing them and creating a bright streak of color. Powerups to your ship's guns and shields can be obtained by shooting at them as well. This game is pretty fun, and it's really cool to see all of the colors onscreen. Press F9 to take a screenshot of your masterpiece/massacre.

Download

Interview: Jazzuo

2009-06-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Alright, it's time for another interview! I was lucky enough to get an interview with Jazzuo, developer of Sexy Hiking, Hermies, and the recently released Yellow Ninja's Extreme Zero.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I am jazzuo, self proclaimed king of GM mini-games. I consider my self to be an artist, and I see game making as one of most freedom filled art forms. Anyway, as a game developer I am most keen on making games different in their game-play. I do not feel games have to be the best but they have to be unique. They have to be an alternative to other games that exist. Such approach goes through every aspect of my creativity.

Who is this mysterious Yellow Ninja I keep hearing about?

Yellow Ninja is a man in a yellow ninja outfit that has great moves. He has been helping me lately with advertising my games, and actually, some of the vids on youtube got some attention. As for all my characters, he also got to have his own game.

You made 2 games for a Mo'minis competition (Jump, Platform Golf). Are you going to create anymore cellphone games?

I actually made 3 games for mominis. Jump, platform golf, and Reds n' Blues - a simple color matching game. I liked Red's and Blues the least. It had unique gameplay, but it had limited game time span. Anyway the reds'n blues actually made it to runner ups that are supposed to get some revenues. Anyway, the mominis probably won't be such a big thing as I thought. Actually, Extreme Zero was originally developed in my mind as cell phone game, but since I lost faith I made it into a PC game. I am little disappointed, since little fun unique 2D games are best suited for cell phones, but my programing is only limited to gamemaker (great program by the way). So if there will be other chances I would like to make more cellphone and iphone games.

What would you say are your most popular games?

It is very simple, my most popular games are Star wars 7 (because it is star wars) and sexy hiking. I am really pleased sexy hiking got so much attention and became popular. I made it like in 2002 or so. It took time, but it got the attention it deserved. I always saw it as the most innovative of my games. Other popular ones are my erotic games, but they are only in czech game sites, since its no no for US.

Most of your games have a funny, hand drawn or 3D style. Where did that come from?

Well, graphics is something I just don't like doing. I like the creation of new worlds through design of its order, but not so much through its visuals. So from the beginning, I decided for a punk style, since it's the easiest to do. Till now I see it as the programmers art. You know it has its own unique cuteness. Then, I found out about 3d anim8tor. Sometimes its much easier to use this 3D tool then to
draw it. So that's where my graphic style comes from. Anyway, I am lately trying a more settled visual style as you can see in extreme zero.

Despite being known as the creator of Sexy Hiking, you've also created a game called Star Wars Episode VII. What was the inspiration for these two games?

Well, the main inspiration was actually my own game sexy hands, which was one of my first games playing around with the mouse and ball physics. Then, I wanted to make a golf game where you control a golf stick with the mouse. It wasn't going very well, so I used the first engine to make it into sexy hiking. I finally made the golf game, and it was called GM golf challenge. While creating and playing this game, I came up with the star wars game. And actually, platform golf is also a simplified version of GM golf challenge.

You've also created a game called Hermies for the TIGSource B-Game competition a while back. How did the idea for that game come about?

Well, before this competition, I made a sculpture of hermie. Since then I was thinking of making some crossovers from physical art and cyber art through this sculpture. I made a video on youtube with 2 hermies playing around. Then, the competition came along. I was very flattered by being like the father of b-games, so I finally made this game.

Are you working on anything new at the moment? Any new releases?

I just finished Star Wars VII: The dark side of the story, Which is a parallel story to my star wars VII game, but the gameplay is completely different. It is a kind of space shooter. I started this game about 3 years back, and I am glad it's finished. It was a good one, and I felt bad about it not being finished. Anyway, I will now work on game that will be called either “color wars” or “the emo wars”. It is based on video jockeying I did for an emo-band. Anyway the gameplay will be closely connected to colors. It will be playing with overlaying colors and such. It's difficult to describe, but it should become the winner of annual Czech game competition.

Thank you so much for the interview Jazzuo!

You can find more of Jazzuo's games at his site, Jazzuo.com

Nectar

2009-06-02T23:26:00.000-07:00

Released today, Phlogiston's new album Nectar packs 2 EPs in one. The first EP, Croqel Adventure is of an 8-bit variety, consisting of catchy, short and overall fun tracks. The second EP, Heat, is amazing. The title is somewhat ironic because it gives me chills. It's THAT good. It has a great jazzy vibe, that's easy on the ears, and is great to listen to while you're working, or just thinking. If you don't know who Phlogiston is, he is the man behind some of the catchiest tunes in indie games. I Was In The War, Brain-Damaged Toon Underworld, my game Constellation Chaos, and many other indie games all have great tracks because of him. Nectar is available in FLAC only, so make sure you read THIS before downloading the album.

Source

Download

Constellation Chaos Update!

2009-05-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

I've just released version 1.5 of my game, Constellation Chaos. I've made a couple of bug fixes here and there, but I'm announcing it here because of the addition of online highscores! Now you can have fun defeating me at my own game...

Download the NEW VERSION

Online Highscores!

Sad Torino Girly Hairy

2009-05-31T01:40:00.000-07:00

Created for the 3 Hour Astronaut Competition at The Poppenkast, Beef and Cow have teamed up to bring us... A pretty strange platformer. You got your running and your shooting, but where the game really gets interesting is in it's presentation. Cow's pixel art style really gives the game a somewhat creepy feel, and with the random beeps and blops in the background, just forget about it. This game might be a mixed bag for some people, but I say you should try it.

Download

Constellation Chaos

2009-05-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Constellation Chaos is a challenging arcade game with a simple concept: You destroy enemies and gain points by creating constellation trails. Using Z and X keys, (Or left and right mouse clicks) players control the trajectory of a small white astronaut by tilting it's aim cursor left or right. Releasing either key will shoot your astronaut into empty space until he hits a star. There's a bit of a strategic element to this game, as players have to rely on their timing, and their creativity, to create the best constellation trail possible. Right and left arrow keys can now control your cursor.

Download

Online Highscores

The Gutter

2009-05-22T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Gutter is an "interactive piece of art" designed by Robin Rodrigo Ramirez Rodriquez and Jan Willem Nijman. With the arrow keys, players control a rather drunk homeless man that is simply trying to find a place hang his head for the night. Players will soon recognize similarities between the game itself, and a familiar art game starring an old lady. There is a free demo, and a full version which includes death, and can be purchased for 5 dollars.

Download

Preview: fflood

2009-05-16T05:27:00.000-07:00

JW has just released some info about his latest title, fflood. This game, unlike his other titles, will now cost players 3 dollars. Although not all players have to pay... The game will be begware, meaning that if you have no money to give, just send an email to JW explaining that. All we know about it is: it is a game about construction, it will run in a pretty low resolution, and there will be a demo soon.

Source

Crazy Over Goo

2009-05-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

Crazy Over Goo is a puzzle platformer created by Banov, that lets players stick, fling,and throw themselves onto 50 stages. The stages themselves can range from being very simple, to keyboard banging within a matter of minutes (Take level 42 for example). The sounds and music fit the simple nature of the game very well, and the high quality tracks are available for download (Save in the same directory as the game for the high quality music in game). All in all, this game will last you for a couple hours, but with the added level creator, the possibilities are practically endless.

Download
Play at Yoyogames

Preview: Spewer

2009-05-01T20:52:00.001-07:00

When Edmund Mcmillen called this game one of his most ambitious flash games to date, I had to give it a shot.

Most of his games can take from a couple of days to a couple of weeks to make, but this game took 3 months. Spewer is a platformer by Edmund Mcmillen and Eli Piilonen with an interesting mechanic. You can vomit, swim in your own vomit, and then eat your vomit. Barfing can accomplish many things in this game. Need to jump higher? Vomit. Need to create another platform because there is a large pit of spikes under your feet? Vomit. By using a variety of different abilities (pertaining to vomit, of course) there is a lot of room for level design, and judging by the 55+ levels that are packed into this game, you'll be playing this game for a good while. As with Edmund's previous IGF nominated title Coil, this game has a narrative that players have to make up for their own minds. You can catch Spewer when it is released on May 4th. Check EdmundM.com for more info on this game

Naked Festival

2009-04-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

[Warning: This game contains nudity]
Okay, this is a strange browser game. By using the mouse, you have to take off the underpants of wandering men. If you click anywhere else than the mens' underpants, you lose. There are "Heavy" and "Crazy" modes, to keep the gameplay fresh. Heavy mode adds more men to click, with the color of the screen filter changing depending on which color underwear you take off. Crazy mode adds to the madness, by laying another filter over the screen, except this time the filter follows the mouse, brightens the screen, and duplicates itself over and over again with each click. There are also online highscores, so you can see how you rank with other underwear thieves.

Play it Here

Deathbeam

2009-04-20T02:52:00.000-07:00

Deathbeam, made by Noonat for Ludum Dare 14, pits you in the middle of an alien attack with only a jet thruster. Throughout the game, there in an alien mothership, whose rays will destroy anything in its path. It's your job to transport people, scientists, and even The President, to the teleporters, trying to get the highest score you can. Here is a visual representation of how to play the game.

Deathbeam has a nice minimalistic style that works well with the game's simple gameplay. The gradient purple background adds an atmospheric touch as well. There is also a Mac build, so all you Mac users wont miss out on the action.

Download (Windows)
Download (Mac)

Tombed

2009-04-19T11:57:00.000-07:00

Made for the 14th Ludum Dare competition, Auntie Pixelante's Tombed pits you inside of a tomb, of course, with only your shovel and quick reflexes to guide you. There's also a bit of a puzzle aspect to the game as well. If you dig into blocks that are the same and clustered together, you can destroy all of the matching blocks in that cluster, saving you a lot of time. For graphics, the game has a great retro style, from the colorful blocks, to the protagonist, to even the big wall of spikes. This game is just great fun.

Download

Interview: Jan Willem Nijman (JW)

2009-04-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've had an interview with an Indie developer, so when I had the chance to interview JW, I jumped at it! Here are my questions to the developer of Pro Killer Man, 10800 Zombies, 4hRPG, and many more freeware games.

Why did you want to make games?

I read about game maker in some random kid’s computer magazine when I was about 11. Downloaded it, and didn't understand shit. 2 years later I found gm again and started editing example games (speed racer with guns, etc.). I just sort of rolled into it. I was never a hardcore gamer but I just really liked being able to make whatever you wanted.

About how many games have you created?

I started 50 million, turned into something proper about 200, finished +- 20, around 5 of which aren't minigames.

What would you say is your most famous game?

Pro killer man and 10800 zombies got the most attention. Pro killer man is sort of smoother, but 10800 zombies is bigger. They both had tons of reviews and were featured in some magazines. The game I like most myself is super ninja hunter. It was semi-epic, had good boss fights, a nice setting, but rather bugged and was never properly released outside yoyogames.

Some of your older games have sported a colorful, shaded type of style. Why did you make the change to your now signature style?

That's basically because I'm lazy and it's easy to make, but I do try different styles now and then. I'm just no great artist so don't expect awesome pixel art from me. I'm probably able to make pretty shaded stuff, but I'm just too impatient for that. It's probably that the stuff I make without outlines looks ugly, and when I use outlines it quickly looks like most things I make.

What games are you working on at the moment?

I have 3 "real" projects that I work on now and then, some times more actively then others: Test Monkey, Quest for glorious money (4hRPG) and Explorer.

Could you explain a bit about Test Monkey and Explorer?

Test Monkey is basically a puzzle platformer. You are a sad monkey being manipulated by the people who test you. You could say it's slightly inspired by portal, on how player's don't really care about the story and what is being said, but still think they do. I'm just making levels for this, story and all (don't kill the president!) is completed, so it should pop out some day.

Explorer is just plain old platform exploration. It has crazy npc's and items, and is pretty big. I’m not sure how it'll look eventually, but I want to change quite a bit.

What are some of your favorite indie developers, and why?

Well, there is ikiki. He made Nikujin which is one of the best games I've ever played. I have no idea what kind of guy he is, but his games are always crazy and good. Then there is darthlupi. People sort of forgot him but he is still kicking ass, while being married at the same time. I really like what wolfire games is doing, except for the furry shit. I loved black shades. Everybody should play it. Also, there is the poppenkast. People shouldn't see us as elitist bastards who bully all the small indies and get away with crappy shit all the time, but we are just elitist bastards who bully all the small indies.

You can find More of JW's games on his site, Slordig.com

New Meat Boy Ad

2009-04-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

It speaks for itself, really.

Hmm

2009-04-11T07:30:00.000-07:00

Since I made 2 posts about Meat Boy, (Wiiware Preview, My Map Pack Level) You can clearly see that I am a big fan of Edmund Mcmillen's challenging platformer. So when I heard about the new designs to Meat Boy, I had to take a look! Apparently, there were a couple of redesigns to Meat Boy that I was unaware about, making my "Meat Boy Preview" post out of date. So, I saw the new design. It looked great, and watching the new and improved Meat Boy scurry around made me very delighted.

But, looking further across the animations, I couldn't help but see a little moving speck in the corner. I zoomed in the image to see what that speck was... He seemed familiar... Possibly from a recently released PC port maybe?

KISSMA

2009-04-10T09:35:00.001-07:00

For the very purpose of this review, I have called KISSMA a ksmup, or kiss-em up if you will. This game is a mix of weird and awesome at the same time! You play as a bizarre lady named KISSKO, a woman that will do extreme acts just so she could kiss everybody, from, turning into a giant kiss robot, a kiss ninja, to even an entire kiss bar, that has jet thrusters, a kiss cannon, and another guy at the bar. Yeah, this game is crazy like that. Sound wise, I find this game a bit funny, actually really funny. The game features a man doing the voice of KISSKO, so as you can imagine, something sounds really off. Music wise, I'd have to say that it's a bit simplistic... I didn't say it wasn't catchy though. Really this game is a tad basic, but it really shines in all of the things KISSKO can turn into. I like this one, a lot.

Play it Here

The Coiner

2009-04-09T09:07:00.001-07:00

On the GMC and TIGSource forums, you might have already known that this game came out, but I was only waiting for this awesome boxart from Madamluna. I posted about her here. The Coiner is actually an entry into The Poppenkast's 4 Hour Competition, where the theme was money. The game had numerous changes, starting from tightening the controls, making the random generations better, to finally, changing the games style. All in all, I completed a solid game in around 5 hours.

Z key = Destroy Rocks (-3 score)
X key = Transport coin to ship (When coin is on beacon)
C key = Stand Still (Used for aiming beacon)

After collecting all of the coins in a stage, run back to your ship to move on to the next level!

Download
Play at Yoyogames

Super Cockpit Football Fighters

2009-04-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

Do you like soccer, then try Super Cockpit Football fighters. Do you not like soccer, then play Super Cockpit Football fighters. An entry in the TIGSource Cockpit competition, Genericuser's physics-based soccer, or football game, is really fun to play. Although the controls are mapped in such a way that one player can play as both sides, this game is a 2 player must. You simply cannot get the same experience (Hitting your friend in the face, so he doesn't win) playing by yourself, so grab a buddy, and play Super Cockpit Football Fighters. (Did I repeat the title enough?)

Download

Sword Calibre

2009-04-01T11:06:00.000-07:00

Sword Calibre is an awesome retro action platformer from Thernz, where you slash, wall kick, and even hadouken your way through countless enemies, and saving people from your town. This game is hard. Even when you are walking, you have to beware of hidden spike traps, as well as the one of the baddies that shoot 3 huge blasts from themselves. Don't even get me started on the final boss! The graphics are fantastic, whether it be on the enemies and characters, or on the stages themselves. The music is just what you would expect, good old fashioned chiptune. For being made in 5-6 hours, this game is simply a blast to play.

A: Jump
A, A: Air Dash
A near Wall: Wall Kick
S: Slash
Up+S: Hadouken

Download

Scattle Ware

2009-03-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

After months of thinking about it, I finally decided to make my own site! This site will focus more on my games, and pretty much nothing else. If you are a fan of my (2) games, or you just want to play some cool games, then check out my site. I will still continue to post about games on the blog, so don't you worry.

Scattle Ware, BOOKMARK IT!

Insect Invade

2009-03-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

After months of investigation, I thought that I would never find it, but only recently, cactus found an old copy of Insect Invade. If you haven't heard of this game, it is the prequel to cactus' overlooked classic, Insect Invade 2. If you have played Insect Invade 2, this is pretty much the same game, except without mouse controlled aiming, and no jumping. It's still fun for a couple minutes though. Thanks again cactus for this relic.

Download

II2 source: Tim

Perspectite

2009-03-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Throw everything that you know about depth out the window, because it's time for Perspectite. Luke Brown's browser based title is very creative and minimalistic at the same time. By using the arrow keys, players have to move your perspecticite to the hidden exit of each stage. The music is also minimalistic, with slight changes to a basic drumbeat. Although this game is relatively short, it has an interesting concept that I would love to see expanded upon.

Play on Newgrounds

Pixeloids4k

2009-02-28T11:10:00.000-08:00

Pixeloids4k is a puzzle game developed by Morre, and created for this year's Java4k contest. The game shows off some minimalistic graphics, with the gameplay being relatively innovative. While starting the game, you are presented with a pile of goo, and a target built of dotted lines. Your goal is to click the mouse to push 95 percent of the pixelated goo into the target zone, and keep it in place for five seconds. After levels progress the game gets increasingly difficult to master. For a game with a maximum size of 4KB, Pixeloids4k is a challenging, and very solid puzzle game.

Applet
Webstart

Cockpit Crash 1984

2009-02-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Perhaps maybe the earliest finished Competition game ever made, David Pittman's Cockpit Crash 1984 was made for the Cockpit Competition at TIGSource. This game involves blasting away Acii fiends while trying to survive for as many waves as you can. Although there is no music, There are nice little retro sounds packed in. This is a fun, and somewhat creepy game.

Download

Click Copter 2009

2009-02-22T02:58:00.000-08:00

Click Copter 2009 is an arcade shoot em up by the creator of Alien Assault, Knpmaster. The game shows off some impressive 16-bit graphics, ranging from the bosses, to the effects, to even the Copter itself. There are numerous powerups and upgrades to pick up. Double-shots, miniguns, missiles, and even a lightsabere can be aquired through destroying baddies. The music fits into the action-packed feel of the game, and the level design is fantastic. I really recommend this one, especially to fans of the Metal Slug games.

Download

Up A Lazy Ocean

2009-02-11T12:23:00.000-08:00

I finally completed a game! It's called Up A Lazy Ocean, and it plays somewhat like I Wish I Were The Moon. I made it for The Spontaneous 2 Hour Compo at The Poppenkast. Use the mouse to control. Find all 5 endings!

Download

Gabaaba

2009-02-10T18:31:00.000-08:00

Gabaaba, is the title of Cactus, Heather Kelley, and Petri Purho's Nordic game jam submission. One player controls the tank, and the other controls a helicopter. All of the enemies need to be destroyed in each wave to advance. Some enemies can only be killed by either the tank or the helicopter. This game is rather fun to play with a friend, but the controls are handled in such a way so that one player can play the entire game, without the need of a second person. The graphics and blur effects are awesome, and the gameplay is pretty neat, so try this one out.
Source: (http://www.kokoromi.org/)

Download

Interview: Edmund Mcmillen

2009-02-07T23:13:00.000-08:00

You recently created a game with Tyler Glaiel titled AVGM. What was the inspiration for making that game?

AVGM is our take on games like World of Warcraft, that use abusive video game manipulation to get people to play them: Click a button for reward. The rewards take more time and effort as you progress, but you keep playing because you want to see whats next. Its a horrible way to manipulate people to play your games, but it's what sells.

It seems like it’s going to be a big year for Mcmillen games. There’s Super Meat Boy, No Quarter, and Spewer to name a few. How do you manage all of these projects?

Well, my schedule is usually get up at 10, work for about 2 hours at home, go to work with Alex (No Quarter and Gish 2). From 12 to 7 I get home and I spend some time with the wife, then from 10 to 1 I work more on my own stuff again. I try to only spend about 3-4 hours working on the weekends, but its not as hard to juggle them as you'd think. I'm trying to clear my plate though. Once Spewer and No Quarter are done I'll basically be open for only console development for the rest of the year.

Why did you start making games?

I was an animal control officer for about a year. I got fired and needed work. I was really set in conforming, just getting a real job, working, and not doing art for a living. I was always scared I'd grow to hate it and never be able to use it as a form of expression. I needed to make art to stay sane, so, it scared the shit out of me to think I could grow to hate it. I didn't have a real portfolio, so i started whoring myself out to people to get pieces for my portfolio. I got 2 jobs, one was as the cover artist for a local magazine, and the other was a freelance artist for a company called Chronic Logic. They made indie games. it was around that time I started working on a game called Cereus Peashy with Tom Fulp, and later Clubby The Seal with Rift. I was basically just doing box art and texture stuff (Chronic Logic). About a month in I pitched a game that would later be called Gish, a game about a physics based blob of black tar. And that's how I got started.

Before David Hellman jumped on the project, you designed the main protagonist in Braid. How was working with Jonathan Blow, and did you learn anything new from the experience?

Working with Jon was interesting. It seemed like he knew what he wanted but couldn't totally explain what it was because it was more like he knew how the character should "feel", but couldn't put the feeling into words, so there was a ton of trial and error in the designs. I ended up drawing all the characters about 50+ times each with slightly different sized noses and eyes till it was perfect. I learned more from playing the game then working with him. One of my biggest regrets in working on Braid was not really putting myself into my work. i didn't want to fuck his game up, so I stood back and just did what I was told. I wish I could say I had more to do with how things looked, but really I was just doing what Jon wanted. I just didn't want to fuck his game up so, I didn't want to push my own designs. But it was cool having worked on it, and Jon's a really cool guy.

In your blog, you posted about the issues of the IGF. Do you still feel the same way about that, and were there any nominated titles that you enjoyed?

Yeah, I still feel the same, and I'm still working with others who also feel the same way on a basic outline to pitch to the IGF later this year. I hope it might shed some light on things and fix a few of the issues a few of us have with the judging system.

The only games I've played so far this year are Dyson, Cortex Command, Between, Graveyard, Snap Shot, and You Have To Burn The Rope. The games this year seem okay... Nothing stands out to me as an AWESOME game like the past few years. I'm looking forward to playing Feist, and I also want to see how Night Game plays. From screenshots it looks a bit Gishy and I'm a sucker for games involving black balls with physics. I'm a huge fan of black balls.

GAS

2009-02-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Worstplayer's Generic Arena Shmup, or GAS for short, is a really fun shoot em up, that does not at all live up to it's name. The graphics overall are very detailed and polished, and the game plays very smoothly. There are 3 types of ships to choose from: One that is well balanced in both speed and attack, one that is very fast, but does not have a lot of attack power, and one that it heavy in attack power, but has very poor speed. There are also numerous enemies in which you can fight, ranging from asteroids, to dragon-like baddies, to laser shooting fiends. This game is a blast, and I highly recommend that you play it.

Download

Pulse

2009-02-02T05:39:00.000-08:00

A new shmup by developer UglyApps, Pulse is an avoidance game with some new tricks. Your "ship" has a small radius (yellow circle) around it, that extends when you are very close to enemies, and decreases when you are away. Once the radius gets large enough, you can then send a shock wave through that radius, destroying any enemies occupying that space. This game is still in beta, but that still doesn't make it any less fun to play. It's certainly satisfying when the shock wave to take out a whole bunch of enemies. Pulse can be played on Windows, Mac, or Linux, so there's NO EXCUSE! Try this one out.

Download on Windows

Download on Mac

Download on Linux

Side View Generator

2009-01-28T08:13:00.000-08:00

This game is a bit strange, but very straight forward at the same time. All you do, is type in a name, object, or anything random, and the results you get from the generator can either be funny, confusing, or, it doesn't make sense. Depending on subjects to think about, it will never run out of things to say (although you do get the occasional same word)

The screenshot may not look fascinating, but I promise you'll have fun with this.

Play The Side View Generator

Super Meat Boy! (New Site & Blog)

2009-01-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

Remember that post I made a while back about Meat Boy on Wii Ware? Well, I was right! Edmund Mcmillen, Tommy Refenes, and Jon Mcentee are in development with their latest game, now titled, Super Meat Boy. The game will be released on both the Wii and PC. Until recently, the team has released a new site, and a new development blog, so check them out already!

Original Meat Boy (Flash)

Super Meat Boy Official Site

Super Meat Boy Development Blog

Interview: Banov

2009-01-16T23:56:00.000-08:00

Today, I had the honor of interviewing Banov (Of Assassin Blue fame)
Here's how it went:

David: Just for people that don't know about you, can you explain a little bit about yourself?

Banov: I'm Banov. I'm a cool attractive guy who makes kickass games.

David: Why and when did you start making games?

Banov: I started making games in 2005... As I remember, I had a web comic, and I wanted to make a game using the characters in it. I searched around for a program to do it with, and found Game Maker. I dropped the web comic game and started working on other things, and bam... Now I'm here today, ignoring my web comics and doing nothing but game design.

David: What are some of your favorite indie game developers?

Banov: Hmmm. You know, I hate to sound like everyone else, but I really like cactus.

He has some bad games. But when he's good, he's good. Usually when I find a good game by someone, I'll check out their other stuff and find that it's less impressive. So it's rare I follow a game developer. I have my game making buddies, though. Watch out for brod, LeonsBuddyDave, bear1991... you might see them at the top of the featured list someday.

David: How did you get the idea for Assassin Blue?

Banov: I had the character Blue in my head for a few years. I'd planned to put him in a bunch of games--including Wolf--but he always ended up getting cut. So I decided to make a game just for him. Around the same time I was getting into platformers again, and so I thought I'd just make it happen.

David: Were you inspired by other games at the time of development?

Banov: When it came to game's basic concept, I drew from No More Heroes, Mario games, and Fancy Pants Adventure.
I wanted a game where the main character was just really, really badass. And when you played as him, you felt really, really badass. So, everything was made with "This is going to be awesome!" in mind.

David: How long it take to make Assassin Blue?

Banov: I made the basic engine in about 2 weeks, and I spent a lot of time trying to get a background artist, and I actually had one(See Snapshot), but then he decided to disappear for a few months, and then I quit the game… A few months later, I picked it up again, gave up on spriting backgrounds and resorted to the next best thing. 6 months later... it was done. And my soul was depleted 15%.

David: Was Red an original character, or was he simply made to contrast to Blue?

Banov: When I started the game, I took the story really seriously... and I wanted to do some serious moral questioning about a killer who thinks it's just to kill. Red was there, basically, to show Blue the wrong way of going about things. So yeah, he was there essentially as a contrast to Blue.

David: Did you ever think it would become so popular?

Banov: I thought Wolf was going to be my breakout hit, but it wasn't. But when Assassin Blue became this popular, it was really a pleasant surprise. It's good to be a popular game developer... Until next week when the next big game comes out, and I'm forgotten forever…

Xycle on Bytejacker!

2009-01-12T00:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted, but I have some great news! My game, Xycle has been nominated for Free Indie Rapid Fire on Bytejacker! If you like the game, make sure to vote for it!

There are also some very great games nominated as well:

Evacuation (Ryan Chisholm and Benzido)

Squid Yes! Not so Octopus! (Robert Fearon)

(Click the pic to go to the video)

Edit: Eh, I got third place, but it's nice that it even got featured on the show!

Sea of Soil

2009-01-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

A maze game at it's heart, Theta Games' Sea of Soil is very innovative by the way that you play/create levels. Since each level is simply an image, there are numerous possibilities in making levels. Although, for the stages to work, you must follow certain color patterns: Walls are 100% Black, Gold must be completely Yellow, etc. Some exceptions in the color scheme are allowed, but to truly see what I mean, before you create a level, I insist that you look in the levels folder. Other than that, Sea of Soil is a very great game, whether you have a lot of creativity or not.

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Assassin Blue

2009-01-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Banov's action platformer, Assassin Blue, was one of the most fun, and polished games I've seen so far on the GMC. Blue has a unique "Rough around the edges" style, that fits the game perfectly, and a very well made story. You play as an assassin codenamed "Blue", that will wall jump, slash, and defeat any obstacle in his path. There are 12 stages and tons of things to unlock in the game's bonus store. This is a definite download for anyone who loves action platforming games, and anyone in general.

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The Eyeballs

2009-01-06T23:32:00.000-08:00

At first glance, you may think that EasyBeak's game The Eyeballs is not for you, but with a few minutes of this hidden gem, you'll have tons of fun, exploring the forest, underwater caves, and snowy trees. The game has a charm that cannot be matched: Each eyeball is adorable with a relaxing score to boot. This game also includes it's own set of acheivements when beating the game. Whether this game seems like your cup of tea or not, I definitely recommmend giving this game a try.

Download at Yoyogames

Galaxy Attackers

2009-01-05T23:17:00.000-08:00

Galaxy Attackers is a new game by the creator of 10800 Zombies and Pro Killer Man, Jan Willem Nijman. The gameplay feels more like a revamped version of Space Invaders with a minimalistic style. You try to outlast the alien race by blasting them down with a turret that moves 360 degrees. After killing enough attackers and gaining enough cash, you can buy upgrades at the shop (Weapons, better bases, planets, etc.). This is a fun little game to pick up and play, and there are enough upgrades, to make it have some replayability.

Download at Yoyogames

Gauntlet Revisited

2009-01-04T18:42:00.000-08:00

Gauntlet Revisited is a top-down shooter that is a re-imagining of the classic game, Gauntlet. You can play as a Warrior, a Wizard, a Valkyrie, and a Ranger, each with different stat points, varying between Speed, Strength, Defense, and Firepower. This game has great polish and particle effects, holds around 30 levels, and there are all kinds of treasures as well as traps, to be found. Being in development for over a year, you can tell the developer of this game put a lot of effort into this title. Gauntlet also has a very superb musical score, with each track mixing perfectly with the main heroic theme. This is just an all around fun and solid game.

Download at Yoyogames

BlasterMan Vs. YellowSkull

2009-01-02T21:40:00.000-08:00

Alexitron, creator of The Power and Jet Pod, and master of trial and error games, has once again delivered a small addicting platformer called BlasterMan Vs. YellowSkull. This is very a hard game with minimalistic and clever level design. The gameplay seems more reminisent of Megaman games, while having it's own special style. The game also has multiple save and checkpoints, so players won't get too frustrated. This is a solid platformer and I highly recommend giving it a try.

Download at Yoyogames

Meat Boy for Wii Ware Preview

2008-12-26T21:53:00.000-08:00

Meat boy is coming to Wii Ware and it's looking great so far. Since it will be on the Wii, there will be a couple of upgrades to the game itself as well as the graphics. Here's a comparison of Meat Boy on the PC, compared to the Wii Ware version, straight from the man himself, Edmund Mcmillen.

Mondo 3 Trailer!

2008-12-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

Cactus just released (I mean JUST released it, like, a minute ago) a new trailer for Mondo 3! I can't wait until this comes out!
YouTube Video

Here's the Mondo site, where you can download all the previous Mondo games:
Mondo Website

Hideous Secret

2008-12-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

A while back, I made a game for the Tigsource's Commonplace Book Competition. My game is a tribute to the old Atari 2600 games. It's a short little adventure game, but I'm thinking of extending it. Hey, if you guys actually like this game, you can vote for it for the competition!(You have to join Tigsource first)

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Tigsource Discussion

Meat Boy Map Pack!

2008-12-11T20:26:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my level made it to the Meat Boy Map Pack! The old design really looked bad, but Edmund and everyone on that team really put a lot of effort into making this shine. They remade all of the fan generated levels to near perfection, and by doing so, made it look like the official game from the guys themselves! There is even a level made by Tom Fulp (Creator of Newgrounds) in there too! All in all, this map pack is awesome, but it is damn hard! If you wanna try out my level, it is in the Medium section in the level select screen, and titled "Streamlined". I hope you guys like it! Here's a link to the map pack, in case you're interested:

Play at Newgrounds

Tank game!

2008-12-08T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is a small infinite, sorta MSoids (cactus) ripoff, that I made because I was bored. (By the way, I made this in under 30 minutes!) The controls are WASD for the movement, and the mouse to aim and shoot. If an enemy hits the gun part of the tank, you will still be able to survive. You score will also go up while you are trying to live without your gun. While you are without your gun, you can use your "shield" attack. You can also get points from that too. Just click and then move back for the most effectiveness. You can also take screenshots by pressing F12.

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Memory Palace

2008-12-08T08:48:00.000-08:00

If you've looked at my blog, you would notice the cool, Mouse/PC Mouse on the title. That is the work of Madamluna. Her work is very colorful and awesome, and she even does youtube videos too! I wish I had the energy she had! Anyway, her work usually composes of her favorite retail/indie games (mostly indie games), and all of them breathe a certain life upon them, that you probably wont see anywhere else. To find out more of this brilliant artist, here are her sites:

Memory Palace (Official Site)

YouTube Page