Skatebird is simultaneously a homage to the Tony Hawk games of old and a celebration of just how stupid birds can be. It's the arcadey kind of kickflipper, handling more like THUG than a Skate game. But don't expect the truly smooth flow of the Hawkster's outings. There's plenty of wobbly physics on show here, much of it intentional and jokey (as you'd expect from a game that seems to have resulted entirely from a single pun). But some of it perhaps not. Still, it's hard to hate on these feathery ones when they squawk so pure, and when their taste in music is im-peck-able.
]]>We're sure spoiled for upcoming skating games right now, but as a person who doesn't know the first thing about skating, there's only one that speaks to me. Yup, SkateBird, the one where "pulling off tricks is nice, but doing your best is really all that matters," is the only one for me. The little winged skaters have just announced a release date with a new trailer full of tricks. SkateBird is launching in August, which gives me just enough time to study up on my skate sesh before school's back in sesh.
]]>Oh thank goodness, reader. It is almost over. We feel the influence of the mighty Horaszdóttir receding. This is it: the last time this year that we must submit to her will, and receive her prophecy of the games yet to come. One last time for this winter, she draws turkeys from her eternal flock to auger the future from their innards. She comes closer, her breath hot and foul upon our ears, and whispers with a smile (oh! Her bloodstained teeth!) a final word: indie.
]]>Screenshot Saturday Sundays! Our weekly check-in with the weird and wild world of computer game development. With everyone in lockdown, what better way to feign connection with the outside world than bonding over some decisively unfinished screenshots? This week: surrealist low-fi landscapes, an unconventional crossbow, slamming the final slice, and a small bird that's once again asking for your financial support.
]]>Over the break we had a chance to do some serious scientific study of this business we call games, and it turns out that games are actually good. 2020 in particular has a healthy mix of big budget bonanzas and smaller indie plates to suit everyone's discerning tastes. And, as you know, the RPS treehouse is the most discerning, so to make it easier for you we've got a big ol' list of the games we're most looking forwards to this year. It's traditional.
]]>You've got the moves, but have you got the looks? Aviary kick-flipper SkateBird might be gunning for Tony Hawk's long-vacant throne (with an actual hawk, no less), but you've got to nail more than grinds to take on Pro Skater. It's music, it's attitude, and it's fashion, baby. There's not a 360 nose-grind to be found in SkateBird x Jazz Mickle's Pro Cap Wearer Do A Spoopy Combo, but the free new spin-off will let you dress up a radical raven ready for the skatepark.
]]>Alice Bee: Good afternoon, esteemed colleagues. We were all locked, at one time or another, in the RPS EGX dungeon this weekend. Given that it's a veritable bonanza of video games, both large and small, we should discuss the bestest games we saw over the weekend. I'm sure it will be entertaining and useful for our readers!
Who wants to offer the first game up upon our terrible altar?
]]>The developers behind Spartan Fist and Hot Tin Roof are back with a new game: SkateBird. I played a little bit of it earlier this year at PAX East, and was delighted by its can-do optimism and low-fi "birb-hop" soundtrack. Now, this rather lovely skating game about a tiny bird trying their best is fluttering over to Kickstarter to help kick-flip it towards a final launch sometime in June 2020. And if you simply can't wait that long, you can try out a free demo right now. Here's a shiny new trailer for it.
]]>
