Dear Good Game Developers

I know that what you do is an art form. You strive hour after hour to perfect your masterpiece. You build hype the best you can in order that as many people as possible will enjoy your work. You are a craftsperson, you are a businessperson. You are an artist. You are good at what you do.

Dear video game developer…

Stop it. Stop it, please.

I despise your talent. I hate it because you are too good at what you do. Because you pour your blood sweat and tears into your Sistine Chapel of a game, I never want to stop playing. And it’s not just one of you, it is so many talented individuals who create endless grand adventures. I cannot be separated from your works. My only hope to play all of these amazing games is for you all to quit now. I implore you; have mercy.

Now, to those of you who make bad games, on the other hand, please, I beg of you, never stop. In the spirit of Two Button Crew, your terrible games bring me most profound joy. They bring me a laugh, or, at the very least, a scowl of confusion. Your immediate stench alerts me to the fact that I have encountered the extent of what you have to offer me in the first five minutes. You bring me smiles. You bring me tears. You make me want to pull my hair out because of your painfully obvious design flaws. Most importantly, you give me no incentive to come back for more, so that I can move on to the next piece of garbage. Our love is a passionate, though brief, one.

Oh, the pains of pleasure! To hate to love, or to love to hate? Why must this mortal frame force me to choose betwixt the two? For to do both would throw me into a deep valley and leech my time to naught.

In all sincerity (or, maybe not),

Simeon

To Backlog or Not to Backlog Scott’s Thoughts

That is the question. The question we are all asking as a new wave of indie titles hits the Nintendo Switch each and every week.
It’s nearly impossible not to fall behind.

To illustrate this point, consider the following group of games: Shovel Knight, TumbleSeed, Thumper, Sonic Mania, SteamWorld Dig 2, Golf Story, and Stardew Valley.
Did you purchase and play all of those?
This is just a quick list of games filed under “DON’T MISS” off the top of my head. Chances are, you’ve let a handful of these slip through the cracks. (If you actually played all of those, I want to shake your hand.)

Each week is a new opportunity to either A) catch up on amazing games in the backlog, or B) play the newest latest game that was released.

Option A feels good because you get to experience that title that’s been sitting on your wish list, enjoy it, and cross it off.
It creates a problem, though, when it causes your backlog to grow. Thanks to the deluge of new releases, truly “catching up” isn’t really an option.

Option B is exciting. You get to buy a brand new game and join in the conversations while it’s still hot. All the Nintendo podcasts and groups are discussing it.
The downside is, it prevents you from getting back to some of those earlier eShop games that received 8s or 9s out of 10.

No matter what we choose, we’re missing out.
How do you pick between shoring up your collection and trying out the latest greatest?

You have better chances of enjoying your purchases, and not regretting them, if you go with the backlog. Hindsight is 20/20, and a few months after a game launches, you know from the way a title is talked about (and IF it’s even remembered) if it’s worth it or not. You probably build a wish list and whittle it down as your perception of each game’s value evolves with time. What’s left is a series of sure-fire hits that you’re bound to enjoy.

Delve into games like that.

The cutting edge is risky, but rewarding. You can get in on a game’s fandom on ground 0 and be a part of a community’s formation. Other times, the game just isn’t what you thought it was and you’re out $10 or $20.

When you have a really good feeling about an indie title, and you can just sense that you will love it, buy it on launch day. Don’t let it pass you by. During those times, the backlog can wait.

Let’s Play Affordable Space Adventures! (3/3)

If you don’t like spoilers for this game, then… BUY IT ALREADY!


Part 3/3: Simeon and Scott take on their new favorite indie game, and it’s on Wii U! The game is Affordable Space Adventures, an asynchronous delight that will surprise you and challenge you. It’s a must own title, and this three part series is going to demonstrate just how hard the game can get toward the later levels!

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let’s Play Affordable Space Adventures! (2/3)

Enjoy a more uncut (less cut?) experience with this episode.


Part 2/3: Simeon and Scott take on their new favorite indie game, and it’s on Wii U! The game is Affordable Space Adventures, an asynchronous delight that will surprise you and challenge you. It’s a must own title, and this three part series is going to demonstrate just how hard the game can get toward the later levels!

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let’s Play Affordable Space Adventures! (1/3)

We warned you that this game was epic.


Part 1/3: Simeon and Scott take on their new favorite indie game, and it’s on Wii U! The game is Affordable Space Adventures, an asynchronous delight that will surprise you and challenge you. It’s a must own title, and this three part series is going to demonstrate just how hard the game can get toward the later levels!

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (Switch) Review

Look what gem we dug up.


Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is available on Nintendo Switch, including the timed-exclusive Specter of Torment campaign! Ryan has been playing the title for review, and has completed the game and assembled all of his thoughts. Watch to see what he thought of this villainous twist on Shovel Knight!

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Runner3 (Switch Bit.Trip Exclusive) Preview

Can’t wait to play as the running cigarette!


Runner3 is an amazing indie title coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch, courtesy of Choice Provisions. You may also be familiar with this series and studio as Bit.Trip Runner from Gaijin Games, but things have evolved since then and this new entry in the auto-runner series is no exception. The main character, Commander Video, helped establish the genre of auto-running video games, and he’s back this year to redefine it with all new twists. Watch what Simeon and Scott have to say about it, and get hyped!

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Home of the Indies: Nintendo Switch

After an incredible Indie Showcase that Nintendo aired before the launch of their new platform, the Nintendo Switch, I’m still left thinking about that reel of stellar indie software. The lineup looks fantastic, and in an otherwise barren stretch without software between Zelda and Mario Kart, the indies are going above and beyond in filling in the gaps.

Nintendo really stepped up their game in the way that they are courting independent developers this generation. You can tell. You can feel the excitement emanating from these smaller, self-publishing game creators. Not only is a slew of great games coming to Switch, but the indies are providing exclusives and timed exclusives by the handful.

Nintendo Voice Chat Indie Special

Recently IGN’s Nintendo podcast took a week off their normal format and interviewed some fine folks. They sat down and talked with many of the creators that were featured in Nintendo’s showcase, but also interviewed the employee of Nintendo in charge of managing these releases, all in one informative episode.

While you should definitely give the full show a watch or listen, I took two very important facts away from it:

1: Expect indie games to be enhanced with unique Switch features. Nintendo is helping indies implement the latest and greatest into their titles, and helping make these games more attractive on the Nintendo platform as well.

2: More selectivity is determining what appears on the eShop. It’s not an open invitation for indie developers anymore, but only the best of the best are being let in to the new eShop. This might seem like a step backward in Nintendo’s indie relations, but they’re really just taking an active step in keeping the shovelware out and wooing the best developers in. Damon Baker is the man in charge of Nintendo’s “portfolio management,” so he’ll be making a lot of calls, taking people out to golf, and not taking no for an answer when it comes to getting Nintendo fans access to the smartest indie titles.

Technology Implementation

Nintendo isn’t the only company taking advantage of HD Rumble or the other technologies packed into the Joy-Con controllers. Indies are crazy about this technology, and have reported that Nintendo’s documentation is off-the-charts helpful…

Let me say that again:

Nintendo’s development documenation for Switch is insanely good.

I know – sounds boring to you or me, but developers are going crazy about this. And it means we get better games, faster, so there’s that!

In one example of rapid technology implementation, Tomorrow Corp’s games (World of Goo, Human Resource Machine, Little Inferno) already take advantage of the IR-free Motion Pointer technology before it’s been seen from any other developer, first-party, third-party, or otherwise.

Indie games that allow full iPad-like touch-screen only controls as an option are also on the way.

Convenient Porting

Indie developers are having extremely efficient experiences in getting their existing games running on Switch hardware, which has historically not been the case with Nintendo platforms. In the IGN interview above, devs stated times between a single hour to two weeks when discussing port timeframes.

Not to mention that development kits are actually on the cheap end of the spectrum for indies! At approximately $450 per kit, it’s hardly a barrier of entry for anyone hoping to see their game running on Nintendo hardware. Finally, the Big N seems to have created a win-win situation with their development environment.

Support Them!

Switch is the perfect console for indie games. It’s easy to develop for, fully-featured hardware, that we can take with us anywhere! Let’s show independent developers that we respect their time and appreciate their efforts by voting with our wallets.

Watch for these upcoming (and some newly released) games:

  • Runner3 from Choice Provisions
  • SteamWorld Dig 2 from Image & Form Games
  • Yooka Laylee from Team 17 and Playtonic Games
  • Blaster Master Zero from Inti Creates
  • Pocket Rumble from Chucklefish Games and Cardboard Robot Games
  • Flipping Death from Zoink Games
  • Mr. Shifty from tinyBuild and Team Shifty
  • Wargroove from Chucklefish Games
  • Stardew Valley from Chucklefish Games and ConcernedApe
  • Shakedown Hawaii from vBlank
  • Graceful Explosion Machine from Vertex Pop
  • Tumbleseed from aeiowu
  • Overcooked: Special Edition from Team 17 and Ghost Town Games
  • The Escapists 2 from Team 17 and Mouldy Toof
  • GoNNER from Raw Fury and Art in Heart
  • Kingdom: Two Crowns from Raw Fury and Noio
  • Dandara from Raw Fury and Long Hat House
  • Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove & Specter of Torment by Yacht Club Games
  • World of Goo by Tomorrow Corp
  • Human Resource Machine by Tomorrow Corp
  • Little Inferno by Tomorrow Corp

Best 2017 Indie Games to Watch For!

If you’re reading this, and you’re an indie developer, get in touch with us on the Contact page. <3


We love independent video game developers (affectionately referred to as “Nindies”). Why? Because they’re the underdogs – the small studios that are going toe-to-toe with giant corporate competitors. And oftentimes, they’re the ones that innovate and bring us the most interesting experiences, the ones that deserve further pondering and reflection after their completion. And so, going into a new console generation on the Nintendo Switch without stopping to examine the indie offerings would be a big mistake! These are the games to watch for in the coming months – don’t miss them!

Shot by Alex Campbell

“Escape the Premises” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/