The compilation UFO 50 is a gaming concept album from the makers of Spelunky, Downwell, and Catacomb Kids. It's a collection of 8-bit inspired games that were "created by a fictional 80s video game company that was obscure but ahead of its time." It was announced way back in 2017, and skipped its 2018 release window. Who knew 50 games would take a while to make? Good news, though! It's just popped up on Steam and is listed as "coming soon".
]]>The bohemian sewer of neon lights and indie games known as Itch.io has posted a huge bundle of games from over 100 different creators, pointedly called A Good Bundle. It's got a lot in it. Gone Home is in there, Catacomb Kids is in there, Proteus is there, The Novelist is there, Killing Time At Lightspeed is there. And a bunch of smaller games of note too: NORTH, Windosill, Raik, FJORDS, The Old Man Club, Depression Quest, Capsule… jeepers. The asking price for the whole stash – a potentially overwhelming 151 games – is 20 United States dollars. There’s another motive behind this videogame Voltron though. All of the proceeds are going to the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood.
]]>My average life expectancy in Catacomb Kids [official site] is measured in minutes. I've died within seconds of starting a run through the procedurally generated Spelunky-like, clobbered by monsters or reduced to a blood puddle by swarming piranhas. The first couple of minutes are the hardest part, as I struggle to make sense of my situation and abilities, and if I survive for a couple of levels, I'm likely to die because I deserve to rather than because the game decides to kill me.
Maybe it's not the game. Problem is, I'm a cat. Curiosity kills me.
]]>A couple of weeks back I theorised that anyone watching the Catacomb Kids Kickstarter video would be won over within 55 seconds. Some people claimed otherwise, explaining that it took upwards of two minutes before they were feeding ten pound notes into their DVD drive. The project's now comfortably funded, and extremely refreshingly developer FourbitFriday have said that they aren't looking for specific stretch goals. Instead they've said that as more extra money comes in, it'll just allow them to make a better game, hire more people, and make it over a slightly longer period. That's a model that SO many projects could do with adopting. And now there's some new footage to make you say, "Oh blimey".
]]>Here are my thoughts during the first 55 seconds of the Catacomb Kids video:
"Looks nice, but sure looks like yet another pixel roguelike." "He's got a really decent jump. That's neat." "Wait, distractions? There's more happening here." "Oh. Oooohhhh. Oh, okay, yeah, I'm posting about this.
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