I’m leaving, on a jet plane. But unlike the song, I do know when I’ll be back again – after E3. That’s right, this is the last Indie Zoe that I’ll be writing in the cold for two weeks as I escape to the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. But don’t worry, I won’t leave you without your weekly dose of indie news!
First up, fans of Lucas Pope’s Papers, Please can rejoice – he has announced his next game. Entitled Return of the Obra Dinn, this game takes in the early 1800s as players investigate the merchant ship “Obra Dinn” which has returned to port with damaged sails and no visible crew. Pope explains that this game will be very different from Papers, Please:
I want to challenge myself so this’ll be a very different game from anything I’ve done before, including Papers Please. There’ll be less creativity with the gameplay and instead I want to experiment with the rendering, story, and a few technical features. Right now I have only a rough idea about the narrative. I’m hoping to capture a compelling mystery with suspense and twists in the limited space of an old merchant sailing ship. It won’t be the typical “collect items and look for clues” structure. There’s a slightly cool gameplay hook but I won’t go into details on that until much later.
Meanwhile, Sony is adding to the good news. They will pay for indies to have booths at the Tokyo Game Show, regardless of platform. That’s right, Sony is so committed to the indie scene that they are helping indies, even if those indies are publishing games on competing platforms.
Over on Steam, another 75 titles got the Greenlight. It’s no wonder Steam has released more games so far in 2014 than they did in all of 2013. Is there a glut on the market? Maybe, but I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing.
Prototype of the Week
In honuor of all the Ludum Dare entries I’ve been using as Prototype of the Week lately, this week’s entry is the Ludum Dare simulator. That’s right, someone took footage from the Ludum Dare game jam and turned it into a game itself. How meta can you get?
Last Updated: May 29, 2014
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
May 29, 2014 at 12:41
Has anyone wondered just why Sony is so keen to make Indie gaming expand so rapidly? Maybe they are hoping that if Indie games expand too quickly it will all collapse under its own weight as the market will be too saturated for any real profits to be made and then it all collapses leaving AAA gaming the only real alternative again?
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 29, 2014 at 12:43
A new Humble Bundle for the Master Race & Mobile Master Race too.
Kromas
May 29, 2014 at 12:46
Mobile Master Race stop humping the “”LAZOR””!
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
May 29, 2014 at 12:47
Lol. Did you just use “master race” to describe mobile? Shame. 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 29, 2014 at 12:57
Well it’s boring to call it Android. :/
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
May 29, 2014 at 14:04
But Android sounds cool 🙂
Mossel
May 29, 2014 at 12:50
Also on Steam, Bastion is 80% off and goes for $2.24.
ToshZA
May 29, 2014 at 12:53
Yo dawg, I heard you like game jams. So I put a game jam in your game jam so you can jam more games.
http://www.reactionface.info/sites/default/files/images/1310428349083_0.png
Kensei Seraph
May 29, 2014 at 13:04
Don’t worry Zoe, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a cool, slightly darkened place to relax in the hot, miserable summer.
Also, good for Sony.