Indie Games | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Fri, 24 Nov 2023 15:47:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Indie Games | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Our Indie and Triple A Steam Autumn Sale recommendations https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/our-indie-and-triple-a-steam-autumn-sale-recommendations/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/our-indie-and-triple-a-steam-autumn-sale-recommendations/#respond Fri, 24 Nov 2023 15:47:59 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=638868 The Steam Autumn Sale has officially kicked off, running up to the 28th of November. If you have some Steam credit to use up, or want to pick up a few new games, then now is a great time to do exactly that. We've rounded up some of our favourite games currently discounted.  On the …

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The Steam Autumn Sale has officially kicked off, running up to the 28th of November. If you have some Steam credit to use up, or want to pick up a few new games, then now is a great time to do exactly that. We've rounded up some of our favourite games currently discounted. 

On the indie side, some incredibly cheap games are available that will supply you with many hours of entertainment. Vampire Survivors is one of my favourite indie games in recent years – it was already cheap but you can now get 25% off, bringing the price down to £2.99. If you're looking for a similar game with a bit of a different flavour, then Halls of Torment and Soulstone Survivors are well worth a look.

Heretic's Fork is a recent game that combines tower defence and deckbuilding elements to create a very addictive gameplay loop, and it can be picked up for £6.79. Naturally, all four of these games also work very well on a Steam Deck if you've picked one up.

Honey I Joined a Cult is one of my favourite indie management/building sims. You take on the role of a cult leader, building out your compound, recruiting new members and assigning them to tasks to help grow your influence. You'll need to manage things carefully though, as your cult can garner too much heat, leading to protests and eventual intervention. It sounds like a dark premise, but like Prison Architect, the game uses a cartoon style and has plenty of humour thrown in for a light-hearted approach.

If you've finished up with Baldur's Gate 3 and are looking to try some other CRPGs, then Obsidian's Tyranny offers a unique approach putting players in the shoes of a villain looking to conquer and take over the entire continent. If you are someone who doesn't always gel with the classic RPG formula, then this one may very well change your mind.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is a bit more hardcore, so it is really only recommended to established fans of the genre with some experience in other titles. If that sounds like you, then the game is now 70% off.

If you've finished up Cyberpunk 2077 and are craving more Cyberpunk goodness, then The Ascent is a good pick-up at £7.49. This is a story-focused twin-stick shooter set in a dark Cyberpunk world with RPG elements. It handles its setting incredibly well and tells an overall darker story.

Moving on to AAA titles, there are plenty of shooters currently on sale. Battlefield 2042 had a bad start but has had a resurgence in recent months thanks to many updates. At £7.99, it is a low risk, high reward pick-up. Rainbow Six Siege can be found for £6.79 for a smaller-scale competitive shooter. If you never had the opportunity to play Titanfall 2‘s excellent campaign, then you can't go wrong here for £3.74.

Monster Hunter fans can now grab the latest game in the series, Monster Hunter Rise, for just £13.19, or if you'd prefer to return to Monster Hunter World, then the Iceborne expansion is now 50% off.

The Last of Us finally came to PC earlier this year and while the game launched with a number of problems on PC, leading to a mixed overall rating on Steam, it has improved quite a bit through patches. If you've been holding off on picking it up, then it is now 33% off, bringing the price down to £33.49.

In a similar vein, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor also launched with PC performance issues but Respawn has improved things considerably, with a major update in recent months delivering further optimisation improvements. Now, the game can be picked up for £35.99. If your PC is up to the task of running the game, it is well worth picking up as it tells one of my favourite Star Wars stories since the KOTOR days.

Dying Light 2 regularly hits 50% off during Steam sales and that deal is back once again.

If you are after a new souls-like style game, then two of my favourites are now discounted. The relatively recent Remnant II is now 30% off and offers a great co-op experience but with more of a focus on ranged combat over melee. For a melee-focused experience, Nioh 2: Complete Edition gets a solid recommendation from me, although it may still be a tad expensive at £29.99 considering that the game is almost three years old. Still, both of these titles offer a good spin on the Souls-like formula and I would actually recommend both to people who typically don't play Souls titles.

KitGuru Says: These are just some recommendations from games I've played over the past year. We'd love to hear your recommendations too, so feel free to share! 

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Microsoft’s Xbox Live Indie Game program is finally closing this month https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/matthew-wilson/microsofts-xbox-live-indie-game-program-is-finally-closing-this-month/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/matthew-wilson/microsofts-xbox-live-indie-game-program-is-finally-closing-this-month/#respond Tue, 12 Sep 2017 09:22:56 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=346424 Back in the Xbox 360 days, Microsoft launched Xbox Live Indie Games to allow developers to self publish their titles. However, with that console now well out of the picture, it is time for Microsoft to pull the plug on a few of its services. At the end of this month, Microsoft will be closing …

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Back in the Xbox 360 days, Microsoft launched Xbox Live Indie Games to allow developers to self publish their titles. However, with that console now well out of the picture, it is time for Microsoft to pull the plug on a few of its services. At the end of this month, Microsoft will be closing down the Xbox Live Indie Games program.

Microsoft first announced that it would be closing down Xbox Live Indie Games back in 2015, giving developers a two year warning. Subscriptions and membership sign ups were immediately closed. Starting from the 9th of September last year, developers could no longer publish indie games through the platform. Now the marketplace will officially close this month, with developers receiving their final pay cheques in November.

Players who bought games through the XBLIG program will still be able to download them and play them. For developers looking for an alternative, Microsoft has been pushing the ID@Xbox program a lot this generation in an effort to get more indie games on Xbox One and Windows 10.

KitGuru Says: The Xbox 360 had its time in the sun but with the Xbox One X now on the horizon, it is time to leave that generation behind for good. On the plus side for developers, the ID@Xbox program exists.

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Most interesting indie games at EGX 2015 https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/most-interesting-indie-games-at-egx-2015/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/most-interesting-indie-games-at-egx-2015/#respond Tue, 29 Sep 2015 16:48:17 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=269837 If you like games, then EGX, formerly the Eurogamer Expo, is a fun place to visit. It's got something for everyone, whether you're into shooters, RTS, puzzlers, card battlers or any other number of genres; you're catered for. However, as much as the big games are all exciting, with their large budgets and even larger …

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If you like games, then EGX, formerly the Eurogamer Expo, is a fun place to visit. It's got something for everyone, whether you're into shooters, RTS, puzzlers, card battlers or any other number of genres; you're catered for. However, as much as the big games are all exciting, with their large budgets and even larger booths, some of the most interesting, visually exciting and fun to play titles can be found in the indie section of the show.

That's why this year EGX expanded its indie offerings massively, bringing tens of games to bear for the consuming public to enjoy. Since we were part of that illustrious crowd for one day last week, we spent a lot of time among the up and coming devs and though we didn't manage to try out all of them, we did get to play a lot of games. Here are some of our favourites.

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Masquerada was a game that caught our attention from way across the indie zone. Its hand-drawn art style has a real Banner Saga feel to it, though it's drawn in a French comic style and all based around wearing masks. It's a masquerade. Duh.

The gameplay is pausable-real time, with an isometric viewpoint and ability based combat. It stills needs a bit of polish, but it's looking fantastic and could easily be a break out hit if the story holds up.

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Deckbound was an interesting title, in that it's part of a trio of games. There's a collectible card battler, which sees you using card abilities to control territories and attack your opponent – think of it as Magic the Gathering with mercenary creatures you can dominate and control through combat. However those same cards can also be used in the in-development RPG from the same company and in another game too. All cards will be tradeable in game and in the real world, since they all have a unique Bitcoin-like ID.

It's a very interesting concept that's worth keeping an eye on. We felt like the Deckbound's visuals could use some work though.

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You might not imagine the Special Effect charity being a developer in its own right, but it does work on some amazing hardware configurations so that people with physical and mental disabilities can continue to play the games they love, even if their condition is degenerative. One thing it's been working on lately, is adding eye-tracking to virtual reality.

I tried it out and it's really well done. With a standard issue DK2, Special Effect now has eye tracking in game. How crazy is that? That's something that neither Oculus or Valve have even implemented yet. Apparently it is pretty expensive, which might be why, but it was an amazing experience that I hope we see more of in the future.

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RIOT: Civil Unrest was a really interesting game. Instead of playing the young upstart rebels, you take on the role of the jackbooted thugs running the show. Chase down and arrest ringleaders, watch out for errant molotov coctails and try and control the unruly crowd.

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Party Hard was a fun experience, with players tasked with murdering as many people at a party as they can, whilst remaining undetected. One player sweated away on one level for 20 minutes while an eager crowd watched on, as if he managed it, everyone was given a free Steam key. He managed it. Kudos to him for not choking under pressure.

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Microsoft is shutting down Xbox Live Indie Games https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/matthew-wilson/microsoft-is-shutting-down-xbox-live-indie-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/development/matthew-wilson/microsoft-is-shutting-down-xbox-live-indie-games/#comments Thu, 10 Sep 2015 18:08:36 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=267272 Back in the Xbox 360 days, Microsoft launched Xbox Live Indie Games to allow developers to self publish their titles. However, with that console on its way out, so are some of its dedicated Xbox Live programs. Microsoft has announced today that the Xbox Live Indie Games program is no longer taking subscriptions or membership …

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Back in the Xbox 360 days, Microsoft launched Xbox Live Indie Games to allow developers to self publish their titles. However, with that console on its way out, so are some of its dedicated Xbox Live programs. Microsoft has announced today that the Xbox Live Indie Games program is no longer taking subscriptions or membership renewals.

The program will now enter a “sunsetting process” while it slowly gets phased out. This program pre-dates the current ID@Xbox, which we see on the Xbox One, so don't get the two mixed up. Microsoft isn't leaving those with current projects out in the cold though, the company will continue to support in-development titles until the 9th of September next year.

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Developers that did subscribe to the program will receive a free lifetime Windows Developer account. Microsoft will also be paying developers all money earned following the program's shut down next year. Indie developers still wanting to publish games on Xbox will need to move over to ID@Xbox on the Xbox One.

Those who bough games will be able to download them and continue to play them so there is no change there.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: The Xbox 360 is on its way out at this point so this change isn't too surprising. A lot of developers have already moved over to ID@Xbox so those left over will need to follow. 

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Positech’s Cliffski on how to pitch an indie game https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/positechs-cliffski-on-how-to-pitch-an-indie-game/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/positechs-cliffski-on-how-to-pitch-an-indie-game/#respond Thu, 08 Jan 2015 10:50:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=229565 The gaming industry often gets attacked for any number of screw ups, problems or fallacies but one of its better aspects is the ability for individual developers, indies, to thrive. While you could argue that the landscape is a little saturated right now, thanks to the many potential outlets for promoting and selling a great …

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The gaming industry often gets attacked for any number of screw ups, problems or fallacies but one of its better aspects is the ability for individual developers, indies, to thrive. While you could argue that the landscape is a little saturated right now, thanks to the many potential outlets for promoting and selling a great game, first time developers can make a real go of it by themselves. Of course, getting a publisher on side can help a lot too, but how do you go about that? Positech's Cliff”Cliffski” Harris recently wrote up an interesting guide on just that.

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Positech's next published third-party game is Big Pharma, a Theme Hospital inspired medicine manufacturing title

While hardly a big publisher in his own right, Mr Harris has published Redshirt and is the in the process of aiding Big Pharma (which we checked out at EGX 2014) and Duskers, so he's hardly new at being pitched to. With that in mind, here's some dos and don'ts from the man:

  • Include a bio, even if you haven't done anything game related before.
  • Be concise with the introduction: make sure they know what your game is all about in short order.
  • Explain why you need the money, or the time, or connections. It lets the publisher know whether you've thought about your other options before hand.
  • Concept art, flavour text are very important. It shows the game has “soul.”
  • Can you actually make the game? If not, what do you need?
  • Don't try to come across worldy wise about the industry. You're the one pitching.
  • Don't screw up the numbers. It looks amateurish.
  • You won't be as successful as Minecraft.
  • Don't expect to earn a lot during production. You'll get the big payout, if any, when the game is successful.
  • Flesh it out. If someone is going to invest a lot of money in your idea, it needs to be well thought out.

All in all though, Cliffski says that your best bet is to be prepared, be willing to be flexible and pitch yourself as much as the game. You're the developer and you need to be able to make whatever it is you're pitching. If you can do that and the idea is solid, you're in with a good chance.

The above is just a sprinkling of the advice he gives however, so for the full rundown in the man's own words, check out the Cliffski blog, here.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Do we have any indie developers among the KG reader base? We won't be publishing anything any time soon, but we're always interested in covering exciting new projects. Feel free to get in touch. 

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A new Humble Indie Bundle has launched https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/a-new-humble-indie-bundle-has-launched/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/a-new-humble-indie-bundle-has-launched/#respond Wed, 29 Oct 2014 13:15:08 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=219159 It has been a while since we've reported on a Humble Bundle but this month's indie bundle includes some pretty good games, such as Shadowrun Returns, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, four copies of Risk of Rain and OlliOlli. As always, more games will be announced for those that beat the average donation. For those …

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It has been a while since we've reported on a Humble Bundle but this month's indie bundle includes some pretty good games, such as Shadowrun Returns, Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, four copies of Risk of Rain and OlliOlli. As always, more games will be announced for those that beat the average donation.

For those of you who may not know, the Humble Bundle gives gamers a chance to get some cheap games while also supporting charity and the developers. You can donate as much as you want and decide exactly how much of the money goes to the developer, to charity and to Humble Bundle itself.

If you don't want to beat the average donation price, you can donate as little as $1 and get OlliOlli, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet and Tower of Guns.

Humble Indie Bundle

If you beat the average, which is currently $6.72 at the time of writing, you'll get your hands on Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Jazzpunk and you'll get four copies of Risk of Rain, one for you and three to share amongst friends. Average donation beaters will also receive the extra games once they are announced.

For $12 you'll get all of the games on the list alongside Shadowrun Returns. Humble Bundle is doing something a little different this time around though, if some of you would like some physical items, Humble is offering up a ‘Box O' Treats', featuring what looks like a hoodie, a figurine and some mystery items. The box costs $65 and you will of course get all of the game codes as well.

Buy the Humble Bundle, HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: Another solid Indie Humble Bundle. If you don't have some of the games already then go ahead and grab them while they are cheap, you'll also be supporting a good cause, which is always nice. 

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Indie’s impress at EGX 2014 https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/indies-impress-at-egx-2014/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/indies-impress-at-egx-2014/#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:47:40 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=213664 If you've read my earlier quick coverage of the AAA offerings at EGX 2014, you'll know I wasn't impressed by the idea of standing around all day. That wouldn't make for much in the way of interesting content for you guys and it certainly wouldn't have made for a fun day for this writer. So …

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If you've read my earlier quick coverage of the AAA offerings at EGX 2014, you'll know I wasn't impressed by the idea of standing around all day. That wouldn't make for much in the way of interesting content for you guys and it certainly wouldn't have made for a fun day for this writer. So instead I spent most of my time at the Indie booths, which showed some interesting, funny, exciting and in some cases, stunningly beautiful games that are coming out over the next year. Some of them are definitely worth checking out and the best bit is, you don't need to queue to play them.

There are several indie sections at EGX. One features booths from universities, the National Film and Television school, Sega recruitment, Unreal engine developer chats and the main dev-session – a real working, learning area. Nearby was the somewhat professional indie area, where the more polished, less experimental  and – judging by their fancier booths – those that had a bit more money to burn, developers hung out, while off to the side was the Leftfield collection where the really bizarre and enticing games are.

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Positech Games was there, with founder and developer Cliff “Cliffski” Harris in attendance, showing off the latest build of Gratuitous Space Battles II, which is looking gorgeous. There's a lot more ‘depth' in the battlescapes than the last one, making it feel more 2.5D than its predecessor.

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Next door to him was Big Pharma, which is bring published by Positech in the same manner as Red Shirt. Developed by TwiceCircled,  It's a strategic management title about developing drugs and packaging them up for sale. You'll need to avoid side effects like the developer favourite “anal leakage,” and make a profit at the same time. Clearly inspired by Theme Hospital, Transport Tycoon and some of the other tongue in cheek management sims from the last couple of decades. One to watch for sure.

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Speaking of titles inspired by Bullfrog classics, War for the Overworld is also available to try. Richard Ridings, the original narrator from the Dungeon Keeper games is in full flow, so just putting on a headset and listening to his instructions is a real treat. The game itself is coming along nicely though, with an almost finished multiplayer mode set to release with the official beta. The single player campaign is being saved for the 1.0 release, but that's not too far away at this point.

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Virtual reality is becoming a far more common site at expos like this and it's leading to some new and interesting game ideas. Take Starters Orders 6, a long running racing management and simulator, that now comes with Oculus Rift support for the races. It's far from the prettiest game around, but if you fancy having a virtual ride on a horse without any of the dangers or exertion, this is quite a fun way to spend a few minutes at the show. 

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Indie Game Stand to offer regular, pay what you want, indie games https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/indie-game-stand-to-offer-regular-pay-what-you-want-indie-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/indie-game-stand-to-offer-regular-pay-what-you-want-indie-games/#respond Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:00:10 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=108337 A new site set to begin operation for the first time on 26th September, Indie Game Stand, will offer a single Indie game every four days, with users able to pay whatever they want for it. Clearly taking inspiration from the likes of HumbleBundle, but making things a little more regular, Indie Game Stand pledges …

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A new site set to begin operation for the first time on 26th September, Indie Game Stand, will offer a single Indie game every four days, with users able to pay whatever they want for it.

Clearly taking inspiration from the likes of HumbleBundle, but making things a little more regular, Indie Game Stand pledges that each game will receive four days in the limelight before being shelved. However, those games will then be promoted as part of the archive of offers, directing still interested users to the developer's website for purchasing there. This will likely involve a much higher price than the average gamer would have paid given the chance to pay what they want (with Humble Bundles that include several games at once, the average price rarely peaks above $8) which only gives more incentive to keep checking back every few days to make sure you don't miss one.

Indie Game Stand
Following on from GoG and Humble Bundle, DRM is non existent

All games will be DRM free, as is becoming far more common in the game development world these days – thankfully – and a portion of all sales will go to charities including Child's Play, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Philabundance.

Those that sign up for an account now will receive a free copy of the indie platformer Chester, from Brilliant Blue-G games.

For the lazy, here's a link to Indie Game Stand.

KitGuru Says: So what exactly are you waiting for? The link's right there ^.

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