IndieSider - indie video game developers interviews

Never Alone is a puzzle-platformer for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows. It is a collaboration between E-Line Media and Upper One Games to adapt the culture and oral history of the Iñupiaq community. Up to two players play as a young girl named Nuna and an arctic fox to overcome numerous arctic obstacles while exploring the stories of Robert Cleveland and unlocking videos that share this peopl...

Happy New Year’s Eve! So many indie games were released in 2014, no one person could’ve played them all. So for this audio-only special episode of IndieSider, I’ve recruited Matt Conn of GaymerX, Sabriel Mastin of Indie Haven, and Emma Clarkson of BostonFIG to a roundtable discussion where we share our picks for Indie Game of the Year in three categories: mobile, desktop, and con...

Framed is an interactive graphic novel from Loveshack Entertainment. Rearrange the panels of this noir-style comic book to change the order in which the action occurs. Will the spy run headlong into the police — or will he slip down a hallway, evading detection? You the player decide with panels you can drag-and-drop, rotate, and reuse. In this interview, Framed designer and composer Adrian Moore...

In traditional war games, players assume the role of a soldier, fighting the bad guys and saving the day. But in reality, not everyone affected by war is a soldier. In This War of Mine, 11 bit studios simulates the experience of being a civilian in a war-torn country. By day, you make decisions about how to manage your meager resources to take care of your team; at night, you send your best runner...

A Bird Story is a one-hour interactive narrative from Freebird Games, available from Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux. With no spoken dialogue, no written text, and little gameplay, A Bird Story instead focuses on storytelling and soundtrack, bridging the gap between To the Moon and its sequel. In this interview, Kan Gao of Freebird Games discusses how he tells a story without words, why he chose this...

Qbqbqb is a two-dimensional puzzle game that takes the traditional match-three mechanic and puts a spin on it — literally! Blocks are dropped onto a planetoid that players rotate left and right. Each planet is a different size and features its own synthesized techno soundtrack, to which the falling blocks contribute their tones. Qbqbqb includes both co-op and versus modes (local play only) and a c...

Shadowgate , the classic point-and-click adventure, returns in this modern reimagining from Zojoi. Explore Castle Shadowgate from a point-and-click adventure, mastering weapons and spells with which to solve puzzles and defeat wyverns. Originally released in 1987 for the Macintosh and most famously for the 8-bit Nintendo in 1989, a successful Kickstarter campaign has brought this modern Shadowgate...

When I want an example of a video game that deals with a powerful subject in a creative and meaningful way, I point to Papo & Yo , which served as a metaphor for growing up with an alcoholic father. Now that game’s developer, Minority Media, has released their next game: Spirits of Spring , a game that deals with bullying. You play as Chiwatin and his friends Rabbit and Bear as they try...

Super Win the Game is the commercial sequel to the 2012 freeware game You Have to Win the Game . Featuring gameplay and aesthetic homages to Zelda II, Startropics, Metroid, and more, the game features platforming exploration without combat — no head-stomping, no fireballs, no weapons, but plenty of other power-ups, like snorkels and double-jump boots. An optional CRT emulation mode will curve your...

Rex Rocket is a 2D Metroidvania with 8-bit graphics and a wry sense of humor. Set entirely on a spaceship infested with shapeshifting green goo, the game features more than 110 rooms, branching paths, and multiple power-ups. It’s currently available on Steam for PC, with Mac, mobile, and Ouya versions coming soon. In this week’s IndieSider, I explore the first few levels while chatting...

Max Gentlemen is an “arcade-style extreme manners simulator about stacking hats, inspired by a spam email&quot. Play as Victorian-era lords and ladies as they flex their muscles and collect hats. Move your cursor up and down the growing tower of hats and jump to avoid collision with birds, darts, and other obstacles.

The Counting Kingdom , released on August 5 on Steam for PC and Mac (and coming soon to iOS), is a math tower defense game. As monsters advance on your castle, you group them by their numerical values and then cast the corresponding spell to banish the fiends. Later levels introduce higher values, monsters with unique abilities, and potions that let you adjust their values and positions.

Road Not Taken by Spry Fox is a turn-based roguelike puzzler for PC, Mac, Sony PlayStation 4, and Vita. As a freelance ranger, you are charged with rescuing children from a dark winter woods. Rearrange the contents of each room to group like items, opening the path deeper into the forest. Or combine different items to craft new equipment necessary to keep your ranger alive. Road Not Taken starts o...

The Nightmare Cooperative is a roguelike — a turn-based dungeon crawler featuring procedurally generated levels and permadeath. But here’s the catch: your party, composed of fighters, priests, miners, and astral walkers, must move collectively. When one goes north, they all go north; when one attacks, so do they all. Can you keep your party members alive through all four worlds? Having grown...

Welcome to IndieSider, where I pair a Let’s Play of an indie game with an interview with the game’s developer. New episodes of IndieSider air every other Wednesday and can be found in video format on YouTube or as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts , YouTube Music , Pandora , Amazon Music , Overcast , Spotify , Pocket Casts , iHeartRadio , TuneIn , RadioPublic , or the Internet Archive...

Welcome to IndieSider, where I pair a Let’s Play of an indie game with an interview with the game’s developer. New episodes of IndieSider air every other Wednesday and can be found in video format YouTube or as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts , YouTube Music , Pandora , Amazon Music , Overcast , Spotify , Pocket Casts , iHeartRadio , TuneIn , RadioPublic , or the Internet Archive ....