Tiny Titan Studios Releases 'Tap Smiths' On iOS

The indie developer that brought us Dash Quest has released a new game last week, which players can download for free on iOS right now. Tap Smiths is a tapper RPG where you are a blacksmith building weapons and armour.

"It's hammer time! Race the clock to craft swords, armor and other wacky items as you upgrade your blacksmith shop in this exciting, fast-paced tapper RPG! Collect dozens of crazy Smith characters, like Agent Smith, Bat Smith and Dark Lord of the Smith, including rare Smythical characters with unique abilities! Challenge your reflexes and your memory as you master new blueprints to craft! Fast, reflex-based arcade action meets collectible cartoon craziness and roleplaying-style upgrades in this new release from Tiny Titan Studios! Do YOU have what it takes to save your grandpa’s business? Download Tap Smiths and get smithing!"

Check out Tiny Titan's brand new tapper RPG game, Tap Smiths. Collect unique Smiths, upgrade your shop, forge new items and much more! Available on iOS and Android soon!

You can download the game for free on your iPhone/iPad here, but also make sure to follow Tiny Titan Studios on Twitter.

Alex From 13AM Games Discuss Runbow, Leaks, Pirate Pop Plus and more

So we had Alex from 13AM Games on the podcast last week, but I thought I would crop out his part on talking about Runbow leaks, the demo, and his thoughts on publishing Pirate Pop Plus. You can check it out below, but make sure to check out the podcast for the whole thing!

GalacticThumb Releases Free-To-Play 'Cubicle' On iOS

Toronto independent developer GalacticThumb have released their next game on iOS.  Users can download the free to play game Cubicle, on the iOS store for iPhone and iPad. You can check out a video and some screenshots below, but make sure to download the game on iOS today, while an Android version will be coming out 'soon'.  Make sure to follow GalacticThumb on Twitter as well.

Cubicle is now available on the App Store https://appsto.re/us/EsiYcb.i Android soon!

Vote For Monumental Failure On Steam Greenlight

So today (Happy Canada Day) I found out about Scary Wizard, an independent studio here in Toronto who have put their game Monumental Failure on Steam Greenlight. It's their first game and is due out later this year.

"Monumental Failure is a historically inaccurate monument construction simulator. Stonehenge, The Pyramids, The Great Wall of China. Monumental Failure empowers you to recreate the world’s most impressive architectural feats using increasingly impressive construction techniques."

Vote for us on Steam Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=712055578 Download the Demo: https://scary-wizard.itch.io/monumental-failure Visit us: https://www.MonumentalFailure.com

You can follow the developers on Twitter, and check out their site for all the details. Let's vote for the game on Steam Greenlight and help get this game released.

Happy Canada Day! Toronto Games Released This Year

I figured I would take this Canada Day (and half-way point of the year) to celebrate the Toronto developed games that have been released so far. They are in no particular order and I've tried to link to a page to buy them. If I'm missing one, make sure to let me know on Twitter.

Runbow: Satura's Space Adventure! from 13AM Games

Cally’s Caves 3 from VDOGames

Kapsul Infinite from Luke O'Connor

Hard Vacuum Lullaby from One More Story Games

Robo’s World: The Zarnok Fortress from Bluish-Green Productions and Throw Away Games

Robo's World: The Darnok Fortress came out on steam earlier this year and was available to patreon's

Robo's World: The Darnok Fortress came out on steam earlier this year and was available to patreon's

We Are Doomed was a perfect fit on PlayStation Vita

We Are Doomed was a perfect fit on PlayStation Vita

pitfall planet won level up in 2015

pitfall planet won level up in 2015

Fantasy Tales Online from Cold Tea Studio

Shadow Heroes: Vengeance In Flames from Allied Games

AlphaPit from Shane McCafferty

Frank The Spider from Yahman Games

Congrats to all the developers on releasing their games, here's to a great back half of 2016. Happy Canada Day!

Phantom Compass Does Some Online Multiplayer Testing For Auto Age: Standoff

Phantom Compass has posted some new footage of their car combat game Auto Age: Standoff.  The video isn't really a trailer, but more so testing footage for their online deathmatch, but it gives a good indication of the hectic action that players will find themselves in. Check it out below!

Work in progress online deathmatch from "Auto Age: Standoff" 1980s-style car combat game. Check it out on Steam! http://store.steampowered.com/app/458680/

Auto Age: Standoff is planned for release on Steam this Fall, and will boast a wide selection of Canadian Indie Music. They've also been tweeting a lot lately, so give them a follow!

New Toronto Developer Household Games Forms - Working On Original IP

Jason Canam, a designer who worked on Guacamelee and Severed has branched out and formed his own studio Household Games.  They've said they are working on a original IP planned for consoles, and we should expect some details shortly, but in the meantime, I did snag some of their tweets which you can check out below. Make sure to follow them on Twitter and give them a huge congrats on coming together!

13AM Games Publishing Their First Game 'Pirate Pop Plus' - Runbow Demo Also Coming

Well, it looks like 13AM Games is now entering the publishing world. The developers of Runbow have announced they've created '13AM Shipping Solutions' - a publishing company that hopes to "help bring indie games to console and PC."  Their first game, 'Dadako’s Pirate Pop Plus!' is an arcade game coming to Wii U, new 3DS, and Steam and is being developed by Dadako Studios out in Tokyo. Check out the trailer below!

Pirate Pop Plus Coming soon for WiiU, New 3DS and Steam. Developed by Dadako & published by 13AM games, all rights reserved.

Not all things are quiet on the Runbow front either. With the retail version set to hit sometime this year, you will be able to download a free Runbow demo from the eshop starting tomorrow.

RPG Music Pack Available From David Vitas

Are you in the process of creating a RPG and need some music? Lucky for you, friend of the site David Vitas got your back.  

"The goal of this pack was to capture the style of old JRPGs that I grew up with, while also modernizing the sound. These tracks were written and produced by me, and are 100% original. Also available on SoundCloud and Bandcamp for listening."

You can download the pack for free on David's website here, or listen to it on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. They can be downloaded for free, but make sure to give credit :)  This is also a great time to mention the contractors/freelancers part of the website.

◈ Download the loops for FREE for your games here: http://www.davidvitas.com/portfolio/2016/5/12/rpg-music-pack ✭ Check out my Portfolio! http://www.davidvitas.com/ ✭ Click "Show More" for song information, and more.

You can also give David a follow on Twitter and let him know what you think.  The license is currently set to CC-BY.

Screenshots For Dwarrows - The Town-building, Adventure Game From Lithic Entertainment

We've talked about Dwarrows before, when it was greenlite to be on Steam. I wanted to post some extra screenshots of the game since I'm in love with the art style.  You can check out the developers on their site, and they are pretty active on Twitter.  Check out the screenshots below, but keep this one on your radar:

Preview - Thoughts On Cuphead, Below, and Arrowheads from E3

Hey everyone! So as I've been tweeting, I got to go to E3, and got to play a lot of great games. Some of those great games were developed in our own back yard. Here are some general thoughts I've had on them:

Cuphead from Studio MDHR

We've discussed this a few times on the podcast, but this game is beautiful. It's fluid and smooth, and it was great to confirm this in person. Platforming sections have just been announced and I got to play the section from the video we posted earlier.  The game is certainly difficult, but the controls are easy to grasp and similar to Megaman games of the past. I think once you get the level design down, and the placement of enemies you'll be flying - it will be interesting to see how long this takes. Sadly I didn't get a chance to try out a boss, but the 10 minutes I played left a great impression.

Below from Capybara Games

E3 probably isn't the best place to play test a game like Below, especially if it's the first time you've ever played it.  It deserves to be played in a dark room, with nothing else to get in the way with headphones on. You start the demo on a beach with your boat and before long you're going "below" in a mountain, fighting creatures and collecting items.  The atmospheric and creepy music matched my actions perfectly, and there appears to be some sort of crafting system, but I didn't get a chance to try it out.  Battling was similar to Legend of Zelda games of old, having a sword, shield, bow and arrow at your disposal, but with other weapons to pick up like a spear.  Below is planned for this summer, and I would turn off the lights when you play.

Arrowheads from OddBird Studio

You don't have to travel to Los Angles to play OddBird Studios multiplayer shooter.  You can download Arrowheads from their site right here, and when you do I recommend getting some friends to play along with. Think of it as a 3D Towerfall. The gang has added some extra levels since the last time I played it, and it's just as fun as ever.  The art and animations are colourful, the gameplay is solid, and the game is just straight up a lot of fun to play. If you want to hear some further discussion on it, make sure to listen to Episode 22 of our podcast, but keep this one on your radar.

Remember that this article was a Patreon early exclusive, which means they got to read it first. Become a Patreon today.

Alone With You Is "Done - Pretty Much"

Indie developer Benjamin Rivers has been tweeting quite a bit about his upcoming game Alone With You, and it looks like we're going to get a release date soon. Check out some of the tweets below (I promise I didn't stalk anyone...)

Alone With You is planned for PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita, and from the sounds of it, once E3 has died down a bit, we'll find out more about the sci-fi adventure game. Stay tuned for updates, but in the meantime, maybe check out 9 minutes of the game from late last year.

New Gameplay Trailer For Mirage: Arcane Warfare

Torn Banner Studios have been busy showing off footage for Mirage: Arcane Warfare, and this one comes courtesy of the PC Gaming Show at E3.  You can check out the trailer below which shows more footage of the FPS multiplayer shooter.

Watch an exclusive new Mirage: Arcane Warfare gameplay trailer from the PC Gaming Show at E3 2016. Mirage: Arcane Warfare arrives Fall 2016. Sign up for the Summer Beta: http://miragearcanewarfare.com Obliterate your enemies with powerful magic or silence them with a sword in Mirage: Arcane Warfare, a multiplayer FPS from the creators of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

Mirage: Arcane Warfare is planned for Fall 2016, but you can sign up for the Summer Beta on the official site.

DrinkBox Studios Bringing Severed To Wii U, iOS, and 3DS This Summer

So Severed didn't stay on Vita Island very long, understandably DrinkBox Studios has announced that Severed will be making its way to 3DS and Wii U as cross-buy title, as well as iOS.  You can check out the announcement trailer below for Nintendo consoles:

Take control of a one-armed heroine named Sasha, wielding a living sword on her journey through a nightmare world in search of her family. Swipe-based touch controls will let you solve puzzles, find secrets, and do battle with a host of disturbing monsters.

Meanwhile DrinkBox Studios tweeted confirming the game is coming to iOS.

Fans of DrinkBox won't have to wait long, all three versions are expected to come out this Summer.

13AM Games Announces Retail Version For Runbow - Also Coming To New 3DS

It was a busy time for 13AM Games at E3, the gang announced a bunch of news things for Runbow (and despite most of us making a prediction involving 13AM Games, we were all wrong). For starters, Shantae from the Shantae series will be added as a free downloadable character to Runbow.

In addition to that, Nighthawk Interactive will be brining Runbow Deluxe to Wii U retail, and Runbow Pocket Deluxe to retail new 3DS. A downloadable version Runbow Pocket, will also hit the new 3DS eshop.  Both versions will include the full game, all of the DLC and complete soundtrack. While the pocket version will include 4 exclusive 3DS themes, and streetpass trading cards.  You can check out the full trailer, and press release below - everything is expected to hit sometime this year.

The critically acclaimed Wii U game Runbow goes portable on New Nintendo 3DS! official site: http://www.13amgames.com/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/13AMGAMES twitter: https://twitter.com/13amgames MiiVerse: https://miiverse.nintendo.net/titles/...

EDISON, New Jersey - June 13, 2016 – Nighthawk Interactive has revealed it will bring independent developer 13AM Games’ party platformer Runbow Deluxe to Nintendo’s Wii U system and Runbow Pocket Deluxe to the New Nintendo 3DS hand-held system later this year. An updated release of the original Runbow, these new versions include all of the DLC launched for the game since it debuted last year on Wii U, including a new story adventure, levels, costumes, characters and more.
Runbow Deluxe on Wii U supports competitive multiplayer for up to nine players locally and online and comes with a bonus download for the game’s two-volume original soundtrack.
Runbow Pocket Deluxe takes all the fun of Runbow on the go with new StreetPass functionality for exchanging information, like favorite character and best Bowhemoth run time. It also comes with an exclusive theme download for New Nintendo 3DS.
Bursting with hundreds of stages, Runbow is a fast and frantic action game featuring multiple gameplay modes and a uniquely challenging mechanic in which platforms and obstacles in the environment appear and disappear in tune with shifts in the world’s color palette. The game is drawn with colorful art design inspired by 1960s animation and includes playable guest characters like Shovel Knight (Shovel Knight), Juan (Guacamelee!), Drifter (Hyper Light Drifter), CommanderVideo and CommandgirlVideo (BIT.TRIP RUNNER), Max (Mutant Mudds Super Challenge), Gunvolt (Azure Striker Gunvolt) and many more, including the just-announced addition of Shantae (Shantae Half-Genie Hero).
Runbow Deluxe and Runbow Pocket Deluxe are expected to arrive this fall in retail stores. Both titles are rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.