Last week I attended Eurogamer Expo 2012. This week I hand in my podcast report which contains top secret interviews with Alan Hazelden, half of The Cat That Got The Milk team, an Arcane Kid, George Buckenham, Rami Ismail, David Hayward, Jesper Rudberg, Anders Pistol and Sam Read. I also faked interviews with Rob Fearon and Ed Key. Gregg B of Tap-Repeatedly makes a guest appearance.
Download the podcast MP3 (70MB) or play it right here in your browser:
Further details for each game can be found below.
Sokobond
Sokobond is a puzzle game where the player must compose molecules from atoms within a confined space. Developed by Alan Hazelden (@draknek) and Harry Lee (@leehsl). Watch video to see game in action.
Referenced in the podcast:
- These Robotic Hearts of Mine
- Last year’s expo coverage featuring These Robotic Hearts of Mine
- SpaceChem
- Shit Snake / Shit Snake 2: Shit Harder
- The Lonely Wizard (and RPS coverage)
Dirac
Dirac is, well, I’m not sure yet. Stay tuned. Some sort of slow exploration game with striking visuals. Jon Mann (of The Cat that Got the Milk) told me he finished it and thought it was brilliant. Developed by @orihaus. Watch game teaser video to see more.
Coverage:
- Dirac on TIGSource
- Robert Yang on Dirac
- Orihaus also worked on Obsolete
Tower of the Gorillion
Tower of the Gorillion is a retro-themed platformer which superposes two levels together and playable characters in each must work together to progress. Developed by Steven Circuiton (@circuiton) and Colin Majoram (@colinmajoram).
You can play the game in your browser at Circuiton World Design.
Where is my Heart?
Where is my Heart? is a puzzle-platformer developed by Die Gute Fabrik (@gutefabrik). Now coming to PC, it was first released last year for PSP.
Watch trailer to see game in action.
The Button Affair
The Button Affair is the second game from the quartet that developed The Cat That Got The Milk (RPS coverage). It offers a similar fusion of reflex gameplay with a unique theme. Ollie Clarke (@ollieclarke) and Helana Santos (@helana_s) speak on the podcast.
Referenced in the podcast:
Don’t Starve
Don’t Starve is a survival sandbox game set in a wilderness, developed by Klei Entertainment (@klei). Klei Entertainment is known for Shank and Mark of the Ninja.
Zineth
Zineth is a free-roaming game that evokes Jet Set Radio, a student game developed by a team called Arcane Kids (@arcanekids).
Coverage:
A Bastard
A Bastard is a competitive game for two players who share a keyboard, developed by George Buckenham (@v21). A version older than the Expo build can be played in your browser.
Referenced in the podcast:
- B.U.T.T.O.N.
- Glitch Tank (iOS title)
- Cubes (previously featured on Electron Dance; iOS version on App Store)
- Hell is other people
- GDC Pirate Kart 2012
- The Wild Rumpus
- VESPER.5
Luftrausers
Luftrausers is a 2D aerial combat game by Vlambeer (@vlambeer) to be released through Devolver Digital. A teaser trailer is available on YouTube.
Links of interest:
Kairo
Kairo is an exploration game with puzzles by Richard Perrin (@perrinashcroft).
Coverage:
IsoChronous
Isochronous is a competitive two-player game with a time twist, developed by team-iso (@team_iso). A prototype gameplay trailer is available.
Coverage:
Prison Architect
Prison Architect is a prison sim by Introversion Software (@ivsoftware). Paid alpha access is now available.
Coverage:
DRM (Death Ray Manta)
Death Ray Manta is an arena shooter from Rob Fearon (@retroremakes), designed to make players happy. Gameplay trailer available on YouTube.
Coverage:
Proteus
Proteus is an exploration game based on a procedurally-generated island by Ed Key (@edclef) and David Kanaga (@dkanaga). Official beta trailer available on YouTube.
Coverage:
Sentinel
Sentinel is a tower defence game by Matthew Brown.
Gear Up
Gear Up is a futuristic tank deathmatch developed by Doctor Entertainment (@deagames).
Referenced in the podcast:
- Puzzle Dimension (and RPS coverage)
David Hayward
David Hayward (@nachimir) is one of the curators of the Indie Games Arcade and manages the section when the Expo is running. He also runs the game design event Bit of Alright.
Dream
Dream is an exploration game by HyperSloth Games (@HyperSlothGames) that evokes Dear Esther and Myst. Trailer can be viewed on Steam Greenlight page. The project has already been greenlit.
Hotline Miami
Hotline Miami is a top-down shooter laced with ultra-violence, developed by Dennaton Games (Jonatan “Cactus” Söderström and Dennis Wedin). It will be published through Devolver Digital. Watch video to see game in action.
Footnotes
- Unlike last year, I totally forgot to hand out badges to developers I wanted to have sex with.
- I forgot to include Noah Sasso’s BaraBariBall which is an amazing two-player game that Gregg B won every time. So that’s probably why I didn’t talk about it.
- I also played Last Knight and Genix (strangely advertised as Hypoxia) but neither of those titles excited the kids at Electron Dance.
- The music used in the podcast is one of my all-time favourite pieces of music of all-time, ever, all-time: Matson Jones “Exes and Ohs”.
- Fantastic interview with Introversion Software now available!
Download my FREE eBook on the collapse of indie game prices an accessible and comprehensive explanation of what has happened to the market.
Sign up for the monthly Electron Dance Newsletter and follow on Twitter!
I look forward to hearing this! Sadly, total disorganisation kept me from the Expo this year.
I was inspired to follow the link to Zineth, and hey! A Mac build! And, I feel bad about griping about a free download, and a student game beside, but I feel a bit shouty:
IF THE FIRST THING YOUR MAC BUILD SAYS IS “RIGHT CLICK ON THIS BUTTON,” YOU HAVEN’T MADE A MAC BUILD.
OK. I feel a little better. (And I did write them to see if there’s a workaround. If there isn’t, I have a suggestion for them. No really! A constructive one!)
@Shaun: I am exhausted, so maybe you are the winner here. Incidentally there’s around half an hour of material (on top of the Introversion interview) cut out here. I think just over an hour was long enough for a podcast.
@matt: Hopefully you’ll get your Mac build soon. I feel bad about Zineth because I didn’t really experience it when I gave it a go before: I didn’t “get it”. There are reasons for that and maybe I’ll moan about them sometime soon.
Oh I worked it out! Click “Input” when you start and you can reconfigure. I feel somewhat dumb now.
“It’s gone black” is probably the most apt phrase for Dirac. Heh, Zineth Dirac is not.
It seems that the PSP version of Where is my Heart? features some help bubbles telling you how to do certain things. Unfortunately these didn’t seem to be in the PC version yet.
Ahh, I knew Don’t Starve reminded me of something: Shank! I saw Klei then the penny dropped. Didn’t get a chance to play it, but it did look lovely.
From what I saw of Luftrausers, it reminded me of a more arcade-y Wings of Fury on the Amiga — which is a good thing. Blimey, the dev’s voice was sounding very hoarse as well. Poor sod. I felt for all the developer’s voices over the expo.
Regarding headphones: I think the general volume of the expo equated to, or exceeded that of the various headsets hooked up unfortunately. I turned up several pairs but it just distorted the output or hurt me. Or both. I’m very impressed by the quality of your recordings actually!
Nice to listen to Sylvia properly instead of being distracted by the game! I think I’ve fallen in love with Zineth since playing it again at home.
A Bastard: ‘a single joke’ is the perfect way to describe it! And a good joke too. My god, George Buckenham is a bundle of energy and excitement!
Looking forward to Kairo. The layers of secrets sounds intriguing. I’m also amazed at how humble a lot of these developers are (“I didn’t think my game would get in”). I liked what Perrin was saying about the hint system as well, that going on the internet to look for a solution is immersion breaking, and how certain gamers want shorter experiences that last a few sittings. All interesting stuff.
Right, I’m up to 53:30 and will have to listen to the rest later (lunch is over ;-)). Looking forward to it!
Hey Gregg. I feel bad, I haven’t finished reading your own Expo write-up just yet. I did see the picture with the “zombie blood” splashed on your face though. Lovely.
Luftrausers – that’s Rami Ismail. He’d just had his PS Vita stolen, too.
The podcast was a lot harder to put together than last year’s video, actually. I had auto-level on which meant the voice recorder kept changing the volume levels at odd points and I needed to fix that in the editing. Next year, I might just set a fixed level and make sure I hold the recorder at the right distance.
I’ve played Kairo several times now (I’m waiting for the final release to play One Last Time) and I wonder whether I’ve spotted all the secrets. Kairo is a world where things are “hidden in plain sight” – the visuals are remarkably clear. After talking to Richard about the game, I realised I hadn’t been thinking enough about the shapes and machines I’d encountered. Definitely looking forward to my final trek through Kairo.
Just listened to the last part of this and was laughing at the ‘interview’ with Rob Fearon. “Coffeeee”
I’m excited about Gear Up and the more I hear about Hotline Miami the more I want to play it. I really ought to have checked it out at the expo but, y’know, it wasn’t like there was a shortage of other things to distract me! Great podcast as usual HM.
Oh and let me know when you want to get Geared Up.
Thanks Gregg! I don’t know how many people made it right to the end as you’re the only person who has commented on the faked interviews!
I am fighting with Dishonored, qrth-phyl and Kairo at the moment; not sure when Gear Up is going to squeeze into the picture! (Kairo is great. I have finished it but digging up all the secrets is taking some time.)
I have manually added the ‘cast onto my ipod for listening, but am currently working through the five and a half hour Idle Thumbs Ruinationcast, so a bit behind with everything else! 😉
Don’t worry Shaun. My Instapaper reading queue has exploded over the last month. I’ve still got those new Dwarf Fortress pieces on AR to read.