Dogurai – Heck Yeah, a Doggo Samurai!

Dogurai by HungryBear is a Game Boy-style indie Metroidvania. I know about it through, a couple of co-creators from Indie Game Collective. Thank you, Jaunty Adventures and Pursuing Pixels. Their taste is superb, as this turned out to be an exciting game. I’ve covered very few Game Boy titles here, aside from Lasagna Boy and… actually, that might be it. It’s a great genre if you want to get into indies. In summary, the designs are aligned with the palette and rendering of old-school Game Boy games. This one in particular is a nice platformer/Metroidvania that takes you through some… Read the rest

I Played Owlboy With a Library Copy on Switch – This is a Classic

Let’s talk about Owlboy. Sometime about 100,000 years ago Owls became all the rage. I joke since owl knickknacks and stories have surged in popularity over the past couple of decades. But they’ve long symbolized intelligence, wisdom, and ability. This is a nice bonus to covering commentary-based analysis because those are common themes in Owlboy too. I tested this game on Nintendo Switch, but it is a cross-platform Metroidvania, an acceptable umbrella term for a whole ton of games out there. Intro It was released in 2016, and again in 2018 for Switch. So not hot off the game press… Read the rest

Making a Simple Platformer With Godot

Let’s talk about Godot tilemaps. Have you ever played a 2D platformer or Metroidvania and wanted to know how it is made? Maybe you are already making one. I’m back for another insight into the cryptic, enigmatic, secretive, open-source world of indie game development. Tongue-in-cheek there. But I am reaching out to you devs out there to talk about some very useful primary knowledge in Godot TileMaps! Particularly beginners. Before You Start This how-to is specifically aimed at solo devs who are in the very beginning stages of learning Godot for a game project. Most Godot intro tutorials take you… Read the rest

UROS: A Trip Through Shadows is a New Freebie Student Game

UROS: A Trip Through Shadows is a game from the ESAT student game studio program in Valencia. I previously reviewed a title from this group called Twin Stones which was extremely fun. UROS is a 2D fantasy action platformer-style game that exhibits independent lore that borrows from Hades-like underworld lore. As you progress through the map of UROS you will unlock new areas and obstacles and make your way toward, presumably, a scenario related to the opening storyline. So glad I caught this one. Let’s go with another review at Mr. Dave Pizza! The Details on UROS Full disclosure first,… Read the rest

Phoenotopia is That Terrific Pink Hair Indie Game

I sat down this morning, had something to drink, and thought, let’s play that really cool game that makes me feel good whenever I see art from it. Let’s play… Phoenotopia: Awakening. Heads up: this is based on the demo on Steam. There’s quite a bit of content in the demo though. Don’t contemplate the parallels of one or the other too much, at least for this review. Probably better to get the full game, yeah. First off, I am so grateful for the demos that some of these game publishers are releasing these days. I wondered if the demo… Read the rest