First glances would paint Zoon as a more action-oriented take on the Faster Than Light formula. Using the tools provided, you’re tasked with building your own ship and piloting it throughout deep space, shooting aliens and avoiding various instances of space debris as you go. At least, that’s what the plan is for the final version; right now the demo version only consists of ship building and space flight with not a single enemy or asteroid in sight, but that might have something to do with my complete inability to build a ship that doesn’t rotate faster than the speed of light.

I’ll confess I’m no rocket scientist, but I spent a large portion of my time in Zoon trying desperately to install various thrusters and engines throughout my strange U-shaped ship in an effort to counter balance the constant death spiral I’d somehow found myself locked into. Unfortunately my efforts were in vain, and after 20 minutes of uncontrollably rotating through the black abyss a feeling of nausea called an end to my suffering.  And yet, despite now acknowledging that I’ll never be an astronaut, those frantic twenty minutes revealed a great deal about how things can go terribly wrong, and how entertaining it is to watch as everything collapses around you.

This demo build seemed to focus specifically on the ship building aspects, which allowed me to create several odd designs before finally settling on the ill fated U-boat I mentioned earlier. After the walls and floor tiles are connected up, it’s simply a matter of adorning the interior with a variety of machines and devices that allow you to control a number of functions like piloting the ship, long/short range communications, and even armour racks that let you remove your trusty space suit when you want a bit more freedom to roam around your ship.

Discovering that last item was a mistake though, as I soon learnt I had forgotten to plug a hole on one side of my ships wall. Venturing too close to the gaping hole promptly saw me sucked out into deep space, and without my spacesuit on I was quickly snuffed out of existence. After regaining my life in space and rebuilding the U-boat to its former glory I soon made the same mistake of hastily ignoring the gaps in my vessel, only this time I was still wearing my suit. As you’d expect, I was sucked out into deep space again, but it was to the sight of the U-boat casually flailing across the stars in its spiral of shame, leaving me behind to waddle around while contemplating if perhaps my ship had gotten sick of my antics and intentionally ejected me because of it.

When it comes down to it, Zoon is still very much work in progress. Some of the items available to place inside your ship provide absolutely nothing, and right now there is little to do other than rotate furiously through space. With that said, there are some interesting plans listed for the game’s direction. Player-made missions will provide the bread and butter of objectives for would-be space dwellers, mods will be fully supported for extra customisation, and there’s also a multiplayer mode for those who want to sail across the stars with their friends. For now, though, the game does an excellent job of creating an existential crisis amongst those willing to ponder the aimless journey across the stars, if you’re into that sort of thing that is.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

So here’s a project that’s worth a look. Attack Mountain (also known as ATKMTN) has a Kickstarter campaign running for two games set to be available in one package known as the Attack Pack. Due to their previous campaign for the retro RPG Legend of the Time Star being unsuccessful, the team has scaled back its ambitions, seeking a smaller funding goal and developing smaller games with more flexibility. So what makes up the Attack Pack? Attack Mountain is kicking off their first game pack with SOS and The Grey Man, two games that couldn’t be further opposites from each other.

SOS

In SOS you play as the Agent, a spy with an illustrious career spanning forty years. With an episodic framework, the player weaves the tale of some of the Agent’s most thrilling missions. SOS takes notes from games such as Metal Gear Solid and action movies like Rambo, giving players the opportunity to choose between a more stealthy approach like a classic spy or go in guns a-blazing like a macho man straight out of the eighties. Every decision you make will count–guards WILL notice unconscious or dead bodies left out in the open, will follow trails of bloody footprints, and so on.

The Grey Man

The Grey Man, however, takes a quieter approach. Players take the role of the titular character as it lands on Earth and explores its surroundings. Although things start off peacefully, the Grey Man may make mischief with its powers and catch the attention of the local human life which will inevitably be none too happy with its presence.

Despite their smaller scale, the duo that makes up Attack Mountain still has big plans for their games. While SOS will launch with two episodes, further funding will allow the team to develop additional tales of the Agent. Meanwhile, The Grey Man will receive more content such as new areas in the form of patches. Other stretch goals include voice acting for SOS, comics, and even the addition of a third game to the pack.

I’m really excited for this Kickstarter. Video games could learn a lot from the world of indie comics and zines, and the Attack Pack gives off that comic anthology feel I know and love. Plus, I’ll never let good pixel art and music go unappreciated, and the Attack Pack seems to have that in spades. Especially promising is that the games are already in development and have been for almost a year–the developers just need some help getting them funded and into the hands of you folks, the players. Head on over to the Kickstarter page and check out the video, music previews, and concept art and maybe even make a pledge! Want more Attack Mountain after pledging? Check out their Dev Diary, their official website, and their Facebook page. You can also help the developer out by voting for the Attack Pack on Steam Greenlight.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.