Reporting on the games made in Canada and the creators behind them
Achimostawinan Games have released their Indigenous cybernoir detective narrative adventure game Hill Agency: PURITYdecay for Steam and itch.io.
Read MoreBOMBING!!: A Graffiti Sandbox, the graffiti sandbox simulation game from indie dev (and friend of the site) Devon Wiersma, is out now on Steam, and itch.io.
Read MoreMaritime-based indie dev Jeffrey Canam (@GrahfMetal) has released point & click Macventure game SPECTACLE on itch.io for free.
SPECTACLE features music from Toronto-based composer and sound designer Orie Falconer (@OFalconer) as well as programming by fellow Toronto dev Jason Canam (@JasonCanam).
Read MoreNewfoundland developer Gordon Little will be releasing his Dragon-Riding adventure game Ayre and the Crystal Comet on Steam and itch.io on May 19th (and you can wishlist it today).
Read MoreShooting Blaster Big Bang Boom (@BlasterBigBoom) is releasing April 16 on Steam and itch.io from Toronto-based indie SRM Studio (@SRMVideoGames).
Read MoreSolo Toronto developer Rubeki has released Hatch on itch.io, a first person ambient climbing game.
Read MoreTo celebrate the release of his new Amateurs EP producer Sleepy Tom has released a free game on itch.io which you can play right here. Sleepy Tom got a lot of Canadian talent to help him create the retro-style arcade skateboarding game (including friend-of-the-site Sebastian Scaini who we interviewed last year about his love of Game Jams) which you can check out below:
Sebastian Scaini ( Game Designer / Programmer) Website: https://www.sebastianscaini.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/sebastianscaini
Del Nordlund (Artist) IG: https://www.instagram.com/birdpun.art/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bird_pun
Liam McAlinden (Artist / Animator) IG: https://www.instagram.com/mcalindenl/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/_LiamMcAlinden_
Gabe Duarte (Programmer) IG: https://www.instagram.com/el_gabed/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/elDaddyGabe
Patrick Flattery (Sound Designer) Twitter: https://twitter.com/FlatteryPatrick
You can check out the trailer for the game, as well as play it for free here. What’s your high score?
Amateurs by Sleepy Tom and Lights is out now, everywhere! download + stream: https://ffm.to/amateurs Play the video game here: https://game.sleepytomofficial.com Thanks to Billboard for the first support here: https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/8502339/sleepy-tom-lights-amateurs-video-game
BOMBING!!: A Graffiti Sandbox, the graffiti sandbox simulation game from indie dev (and friend of the site) Devon Wiersma, is out now on Steam, and itch.io.
Maritime-based indie dev Jeffrey Canam (@GrahfMetal) has released point & click Macventure game SPECTACLE on itch.io for free.
SPECTACLE features music from Toronto-based composer and sound designer Orie Falconer (@OFalconer) as well as programming by fellow Toronto dev Jason Canam (@JasonCanam).
Newfoundland developer Gordon Little will be releasing his Dragon-Riding adventure game Ayre and the Crystal Comet on Steam and itch.io on May 19th (and you can wishlist it today).
Shooting Blaster Big Bang Boom (@BlasterBigBoom) is releasing April 16 on Steam and itch.io from Toronto-based indie SRM Studio (@SRMVideoGames).
If you’re still in the holiday spirit then you should check out A Christmas Peril (itch.io here, or Steam here) which is a simple-to-pick-up snowball fighting multiplayer game with 100% of proceeds being donated to local Toronto charity LOFT Community Services. The game features four holiday level, easy controls, and customizable settings for each fight.
You can check out the trailer and screenshots below - but make sure to check out Steam or itch.io page. For a few bucks you can get a fun winter-themed multiplayer game, and donate to a good cause.
Celebrate the holidays with an easy-to-pick-up snowball fight between you and the rest of the kids in the schoolyard. Fight against AI opponents or your friends via local co-op to determine who will come out on top this holiday season.
Released earlier this year on Steam and itch.io, LaPointe Joints’ (@LeBatardHarry) twin-stick shooter is coming to Switch for the very reasonable price of $5.99 in a few weeks.
If you didn't get a chance to play Patchworks Godsend at EGLX, or Levelup here's your chance! The platformer has you shifting souls from creature to creature to solve puzzles and is available now on itch.io.
"Play as a trickster demon, out for revenge against the gods. You are physically weak, and rely on your ability to shift your soul into other creatures. Exploit their abilities to solve puzzles, crush those who oppose you, and invoke in-fighting amongst their ranks."
Friend of the site Colin Cummings had some kind things to say about the game on Third.Person after playing it at LevelUp.
"A puzzle platformer with a twist, as the way forward is found within your enemies! A unique concept that felt fun to play, and fun to puzzle out. Creating an interesting game demo and having it be fun within moments of grabbing a controller, especially during a busy event is hard but Godsend proved to be up to the task. I took no hints from the developer leading my demo (shoutout to Coley!) and so I had a real sense of accomplishment finding all the shrines, though my time could have used some work. I fell an embarrassing amount."
You can check out some gameplay below, or play the game yourself for free on itch.io and make sure to follow the gang on Twitter!
Platypus Paradox's second submission to the Northern Game Design Challenge was Rock Bottom, which is a 2d pixel platformer that was made under 48 hours.
"We've all felt the pain of loss, depression or anxiety. It's almost impossible to not be affected by at least one of these things in day to day life. They can make you feel like you've sunk to a depth that there is no easy escape. What if that pit was a real entity you needed to conquer in order to move on? That is the world of Rock Bottom. Face increasingly more difficult platforming levels to climb to the top, collecting new skills and finding the secrets of the story hidden throughout."
You can check out some screenshots below and play the game for free on itchi.io right here. The game was created in under 2 days, but check out Platypus Studios on Twitter for more from the studio.
While it is certainly fun for a while, it suffers from the same problem other mobile games on Steam do: Cube Samurai: RUN!’s price tag of $5:49 feels a little steep for the amount of time you might ultimately get from it, so I’d recommend installing the mobile version and giving it a go on the commute to work or on the toilet and see if it’s the sort of experience you’d enjoy on the PC. This aside, it certainly does seems like it would make for an equally fun mobile experience, but it doesn’t do anything exceptionally different than what most people have seen in an infinite runner before.
Overall, Kapsul Infinite’s $4.49 price point on Steam doesn’t quite feel worth it to me. There simply isn’t enough to keep me invested in the gameplay for very long, and without any integration of achievements or leaderboards of any kind it just falls a little flat. It is, however, a game that would be perfect for a mobile device where one play session consists of a few levels on the bus or while waiting out an unpleasant family reunion on the toilet. While the PC is not the platform to play it on, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try on mobile devices.
We live in an age where it’s easy to get bogged down in new features, and developers often seem to push for complex mechanic after complex mechanic. N++, however, sends itself off with a warm reminder that the series has always been created around one sole value: fun.
Despite flaws such as these, I honestly do myself blown away by the potential the game has down the road. It features a robust level editing tool that allows for the creation of scenarios and huge, complex maps. It has Steam Workshop support for user-generated content and (if the patch notes and Longbow Game's Facebook page are any indication) it's still being improved and updated tirelessly by the team at Longbow so many issues described here could very well be patched and improved in future updates.
Alone With You gives you an exceptional story about love, and loneliness, with gameplay that gives you a little more than your traditional visual novel.
There was once a girl named Cally, who was an ordinary girl who lived an ordinary life. One day she found her parents kidnapped by Herbert, a mad scientist seeking revenge for a tragic past. Cally, deciding it was in her best interests to not have her parents in distress and doing what any respectable young woman would do in this situation, grabbed her semi-automatic pistol and medieval bastard sword and made chase, filling anything that got in her way full of lead before tearing it asunder.
Lost Orbit is a 2D top down, action-arcade game with a focus on quick reflexes and the age-old struggle to beat a stage faster than you did two minutes ago. It features a time trial mode devoted to achieving exactly that speedy time as well as a campaign mode geared towards a more laid back experience for casual players.
Far Cry Primal has players controlling Takkar, a Wenja tribesman who is stranded in the fictitious world of Oros. The story comes down to pretty much "I hate that other tribe, so let's go kill them" but over the course of 20 or so hours players will hunt and control animals, craft and improve weapons, and gather your people to rebuild the Wenja tribe.
The Vita lives! And obviously the PlayStation 4 is doing great, but the Vita lives. Spooky Squid Games is bringing Russian Subway Dogs to PlayStation 4, and Vita next year, alongside a release on Steam and itch.io.
Russian Subway Dogs is a score attack game, featuring stray dogs of the Moscow Metro. You can check out some screenshots and the trailer below - last we heard they tried to get funded on Kickstarter, but sadly didn't make it.
Russian Subway Dogs is simple enough for a puppy to pick up but still packed with challenge. Run and jump along the subway platform. Bark behind people to scare up food and bounce vodka around the stage. Soon you’ll be discovering high level strategies like cooking and eating rival wildlife with vodka explosions!
Russian Subway Dogs is a fast-paced action-arcade game inspired by the real-life stray dogs of the Moscow Metro. Coming to PS4, Vita, Steam and Itch.io in 2018! Find out more at: http://www.russiansubwaydogs.com
The game will be playable at next month's PlayStation Experience, just like Guacamelee 2, and Riverbond, and we should see it in 2018.
Friend of the site, Devon Wiersma launched a game on Itchi.io called 'Who Killed My Uncle?' Taking place in World War 2, 'Who Killed My Uncle?' is a narrative game about censorship, loss, and family you will never meet.
Made in just under a week in memory of Sidney George James who served in the International Volunteers during the Spanish Civil War.
You can get the game on itch.io for your own price.
✨My short, narrative game "Who Killed My Uncle?" is now available for free on @itchio! ✨#gamedev #indiedevhttps://t.co/HaGUgg2udo pic.twitter.com/S5EARyXEHD
— A Ghost Or Something (@Devon_Wiersma) October 26, 2017
Solo indie dev expert and longtime friend-of-the-site Devon Wiersma joins us to talk their latest release Centauri Dark, working across AAA, mid-sized and solo indie dev and how to fix this goshdarn industry.
David B joins us from the west coast best coast to talk about the upcoming Quiver Games Incubator!
Bizdev extraordinaire Eric Beer joins us to give his Hades II impressions and chat v-bucks subsidized game preservation.
We break down Baldur Gate 3's unprecedented success & the knock-on effects it'll have on the industry and how we make games moving forward. We also speak to Ontario-based indie game devs Twinolli about their upcoming action-puzzler Highlighters which just got a (Dad Deck-verified) Steam demo!
We speak to Québécois game dev Dragon Slumber, creator of Tech Support, Aethernaut and many more!
We reveal the winners of our ‘23 Community Awards poll and discuss Drinkbox’s latest teaser for their next project- and more!
This week thousands more game developers join Stephan in the "terminated by evil, stupid people" camp as layoffs hit tons of studios all over Canada and the world. We discuss Sonic as well. Sonic supports Unionizing your Workplace!
Stephan got terminated but that’s okay he just has more time to cover Canadian games now.
Nebular Crush is an action arcade shooter and platformer mix featuring over 50 levels and local two player co-op. It is still in development but a demo is available on itch.io. The art is reminiscent of 80s and 90s retro arcade games and it is a fast-paced action side-scroller with a unique cyber psychedelic visual aesthetic.
“Combining retro pixel art and modern graphics effects, the game immerses the player in a dreamy digital world full of glowing, shimmering, geometries populated by alien lifeforms. The player controls a guitar-playing surfer flying on a magical surfboard through a bizarre and abstract alternate dimension. The game demands both skill and cunning, often rewarding more clever and careful play over mindless button mashing. Easy to learn but difficult to master, Nebular Crush aims to appeal to both casual and hardcore gamers alike.”
A quick peak at some pre-alpha game play. ☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻ Nebular Crush is an upcoming action arcade shooter / platformer hybrid. The game is still in development. http://nebularcrush.com ☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻☺☻ Visit our development blog for the latest developments: https://nebularcrush.tumblr.com Follow: https://www.facebook.com/nebularcrush
Ritual of the Moon, the upcoming game from several Toronto and Montreal artists/developers now has its open website, and trailer which you can check out here.
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Achimostawinan Games have released their Indigenous cybernoir detective narrative adventure game Hill Agency: PURITYdecay for Steam and itch.io.