Zane: Let me start the formal interview process by thanking you for taking the time to have this chat. I really appreciate it.

Joe: I definitely appreciate your time.

Zane: Founding a studio and creating a game of this scope aren’t small tasks by any means. What made you decide to become an indie developer, and found your studio?

Joe: Well I basically learned to write code about 19 years ago or so and started with writing BBS door games and moving on from there. I’ve worked at a few studios here in Toronto and in San Diego but eventually found myself working in other industries. The core game and ideas for Empyrios is actually a design I’ve been toying with for probably 4-5 years before the actual start of development and something that I’ve wanted to build for a long time.

Zane: Ah! Admittedly, I was curious which came first: Empyrios, or Creoterra.

Joe: Creoterra was really born in order to focus attention on building the types of games that we really wanted to play, to be honest. The core ideas and gameplay definitely predate us striking out and founding the studio, and we had a lot of world design and gameplay mechanics to start with. Once we found Jove—our artist—and he came on board with the project, is when things really started to come together from both a design and aesthetic point of view

Zane: Your aesthetic does have that old-school fantasy game feel. There are a number of areas where you’re doing things differently. For instance, I notice you’re not going with the traditional fantasy races. Even the dvergar as ‘dark dwarves’ in concept are very rarely seen compared to, say, dark elves.

Joe: Well that was one thing that we really spent a lot of time on because we really wanted to create a new world for the game to take place in. We do have a human race, the Aduro, and then the Dvergar as you mentioned, but we really wanted to have a fresh feel rather than sticking with ‘old proven’ so we’ve tried to come up with a lot of different concepts. Jove was also a big part of this and we worked very well going between art and design. One example would be the ‘Shade’ race, which our original design had more as a traditional type of undead. Jove wanted to try something new and he took the backstory of them being outcast for refusing to stop playing with necromancy and other dark arts, and tied it into the overall race. So now instead of having, say, the usual skeletal minions you might see elsewhere, the shade are basically a humanoid spirit, but with various parts of different types of living beings kind of moulded together.

Zane: Even the Aduro have a unique feel compared to the tried-and-tested staple of Humans. It’s great to see all these unique options. I can’t resist, though: are there any races that are developer favourites?

Joe: We’ve really tried to give all races, and the entire world for that matter, a really unique feel both through art style and ability design. Regarding favourites I can say that the Lithos are quite popular and we usually feature the Brute character out of game, but beyond that everyone seems to have their own favourite to play. I play a lot of the Caelum (avian race) myself and would definitely say they’re one of my personal favourites. Some people like sticking mainly with one race in their team composition, but a lot of people actually like to select from various races in whichever faction they’re playing.

Zane: I’m glad that you came to the topic of factions. You probably get this question a lot, but what is the Prophecy of Flame, and how does it relate to the two factions and their agenda?

Joe: Well the Prophecy of Flame actually stems from the Aduro race but has ramifications across the world. The human race in this part of the world started to have visits from very strange humans from other lands. They spoke of Pyrios, the god of flame, and began to recruit others into their religion and follow their beliefs. This had huge ramifications as once the Aduro Nation became the largest sect, they went from a passive view to being more aggressive, and banning and outlawing various forms of magic. This is what led to the Shade, as they are actually exiled Aduro who wanted to continue their research and practice into the darker arts. Whether that was a good idea or not is yet to be seen. I can’t go into the actual prophecy itself, as I don’t want to spoil the plot of either campaign, but it encompasses the entire world and story.

Zane: No worries! We wouldn’t want to spoil any surprises. The two factions, the Mystic Covenant and the Shadowlord Pact, they’re then centred around the Aduro and Shade, and their positions regarding Pyrios and his word?

Joe: Well their battle is one component, but every race actually has their own goals in mind, and they the factions are alliances of purpose and convenience. One example is how during their exile a high mage of the Shade actually created the Lithos race through necromancy and spirit magic. This impacts the Dvergar as you now have these wild destructive creations born in the mountains who start attacking the mines and trade routes. On the other hand, you have the Caelum who have forged a pact with the Sylvan to protect the wooded lands, and by making it seem as if the Reptilis attacked them first they’ve drawn the Sylvan into their battle. The Prophecy of Flame also foretold of the ‘beasts from the desert’ which later emerge as the Az’Modai, something the story goes into in more detail. So really the factions are actually created out of necessity, trickery, or something in between. They are much looser than say a conventional alliance where different races are friends for no reason, and it’s always been that way.

Zane: Wow. Suffice to say, there’s been a lot of preparation and fore-thought. All of this no doubt creates a rich back-story to set the current campaign’s events against.

Joe: Each faction’s campaign story isn’t actually just a linear point A to point B narrative. Sometimes you might have 2-3 options open to you on the map and you have to make a decision. Do you help the Dvergar town or the Aduro town, or do you ignore both to support the Sylvan on the front lines in the forest? Each campaign is different depending on the choices you make and the outcomes of the battle.

Zane: Strategizing well is clearly a big part of the game, and using your environment to your advantage is a core component thereof. What are some of the key elements of Empyrios’ tactical combat?

Joe: Well you hit on one key component which is trying to take tactical advantage by using the environment. Some units can set traps or alter the environment in small ways. To that effect. map control and positioning is pretty big. Another is that each unit has a set of 3 skills that vary in power cost, so you have to decide on whether you want to use ability X now, or wait and use something that costs less until you can get into a better position for a larger ability. Ouside of the battles the units in your army gain levels, have a skill mastery tree, and even one additional customization system that we’re still working on. So just because an enemy is using a Lithos Brute, you can’t be sure if he’s using it as a traditional ‘tanky’ type build, crowd control, or focussing on raw damage. And of course setting up team synergy and combos and planning your strategy is something that gives a nice edge.

Zane: Wow. Multiple campaigns with non-linear story-lines and player controlled outcomes, and then full control in a tactical environment with a myriad of options…have to say, you guys have put a lot of thought, effort and passion into this project.

Joe: Yeah it’s actually been quite the undertaking! As I mentioned early the core game concept and ideas were coming together for years before development started (actually using HeroQuest miniatures on a cardboard map), and we’ve been in full production for quite an insane amount of time.

Zane: What have been some of the major challenges of going Indie and working on Empyrios?

Joe: Well the biggest challenge for me has been the switch over to production. I spent the majority of my career, both in and out of games, in software engineering and technical direction. So while I worked hand in hand with producers, artists, and designers, I was still heavily tech focused. I had a million and one things to learn, and a lot of mistakes to make, but having someone like Jove on the project was absolutely huge as he took care of the aesthetic direction and really helped bring this idea and story on paper to life. Also, scope was a huge issue as the amount of work was pretty staggering on all fronts, whether it be code, design, art, anything! Although on a positive note we knew going into the project that it wasn’t something we would be building quickly and that we were in for the long haul project… so it wasn’t like we were surprised or hammered by scope creep.

Zane: I can imagine with something like an RPG, where you have to cater for every individual player contingency, as well as test to ensure the combinations are compatible, that it’s a huge undertaking.

Joe: The testing is actually a major part, especially with the team composition and customization. I build a lot of in-house tools and we’ve basically had bots playing the game 24/7 against each other for over a year constantly collecting data. It was quite fun, actually, because the bots were building teams and combos based on statistical analysis. Quite a few times the AI created some monster teams where we immediately knew we had to go in and fine-tune some abilities. The bots came up with a few team compositions that we never would have dreamed of using… but if the AI found them, players definitely would have at some point.

Zane: In that case, mental note to self: only play against other humans. You mention a variety of game modes, including the campaign and multiplayer. What are the modes on offer for the release?

Joe: We have the campaign mode, which is has a full non-linear campaign for each faction individual faction. Then there’s online multiplayer, local multiplayer, and practice. With online games we have a full infrastructure and matchmaking system so you can play ‘ranked’ games or just friendly games against friends. There are even unlockables and achievements. Local multiplayer is just what it sounds like: multiple friends against each other, playing on the same device. Practice mode is essentially local multiplayer versus bots.

Zane: Whom we’ve just established might be much nastier than your friends, depending on your difficulty level (and friends).

Joe: Hehehe very true.

Zane: I know this is probably your least favourite question as a developer, but the journalist code of honour dictates that I ask. Without us forcing you to commit to it, do you have a rough release date in mind?

Joe: Well our target is Q4 this year, but depending on development we may run into Q1 of next year. We’re actually 100% art complete at this stage (and we’re working on the first update actually), and majority code complete. Right now a lot of the work is in continuing to work on unit balancing, story/campaign, and heavy polishing across the board. Of course no promises with time as we want to make sure everything is extremely polished and as perfect as we can build it in our view.

Zane: That’s exciting news! Is there any way our readers can help show their support or keep up to speed with the latest progress reports and news?

Joe: Well we always massively appreciate support on Twitter and Facebook which we’ll be updating with news much more often. We’ve been ‘working in a dark cave’ for the last about 5 weeks while trying to get our latest alpha build ready and in testing so we haven’t had the stream of updates I’d like to see but there will be a lot more in the coming weeks. Also we’re hoping to have both the empyrios.com website and steam green light page online within the next 3-4 weeks or so. And of course players can check our company site where there is more information on the game and will be continually updated

Zane: Thank you very much, Joe. Do you have any final words of advice or inspiration you’d like to share with any aspiring indie devs who might be reading?

Joe: Well for me I think the biggest thing is that if you have a great game idea that you’d like to realize, you have to build it. In some cases, like with Empyrios, the design morphed from tabletop gameplay builds over the years, and writing the backstory as a hobby, into building out the entire game in production. Just be very mindful that if you haven’t produced a AAA or indie title in the past, you are going to learn a million new things, your time estimates will be derailed, and you’ll probably hit a host of unforeseen problems. As we’re wrapping up development on Empyrios I am definitely really happy with the overall process and what we’ll have achieved in the end, and I hope that players will feel the same way.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Currently in beta, Fire With Fire mixes up the tower defense formula by adding in offense. Whether in online multiplayer matches or in the not-yet-available single player campaign, players must defend their own base with towers while also destroying their opponent’s. The former is achieved through customizable defenses and the latter via sending creeps at your enemies.

The ability to attack is limited by a one-minute cooldown timer which gives players a brief respite to focus on their own defenses. Placing towers can redirect the path that incoming creeps take, with the goal being to lengthen that path as much as possible. Individual towers can be upgraded using points earned through continuing to build more towers, and stronger tower types can eventually be unlocked in each group. There’s a fairly standard tradeoff when it comes to the tower specializations like offense firepower, range, and single-target vs. splash damage. However, there are some other interesting side effects thrown in like the ability to make the enemies pop up in the air.

The offensive system is just as entertaining as protecting your own base. Players choose the types of creeps they want to send from a handful of varieties and also the order in which they’ll come in. This adds an extra layer of strategy in that some creeps are damage soakers, some are weak but speedy, and others are offensive beasts. Running them in a particular order can be much more effective once you get a feel for the enemy’s defenses. Repeatedly sending creeps of a specific variety will also evolve them into a more ferocious version. Once combat actually starts, the game moves into a passive mode where the player is either watching their own base get attacked or seeing the outcome of their own offensive onslaught. The break is brief, though, and players will need to be ready to quickly resume focus on attacking and defending.

An area where the game shines – quite literally – is in the graphical style. The environments, towers, and creeps are all drawn in a cartoonish manner (think Castle Crashers with extra texturing), and there’s a definite ‘wow factor’ in the particle effects seen on the battlefield. Flaming explosions, singeing electricity, and other effects look downright beautiful. It’s really impressive, and it will be interesting to see whether all of that activity bogs down future mobile versions of the game.

Perhaps one of the best features of Fire With Fire is that it offers multiplatform and cross-platform play. You’ll be able to take on your PC-loving friends from the comfort of your couch or recliner. While PC and Mac will be the early recipients of this title, plans also include releases on OUYA, Android, and iOS. Although the current version is focused on multiplayer – and thankfully so – a single player campaign is also in development that will include leveling up by completing specific goals.

Fire With Fire is currently in closed beta, but appears to be progressing quite well. Skull Skill Studios has placed the game on Steam Greenlight, and their Kickstarter campaign is just about to end. Kickstarter backers will receive access to the closed beta, so check it out asap.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Mount Your Friends is a game in which you control several half-naked bodybuilders by taking control of their arms and legs individually. When a limb comes into contact with another surface the limb will latch on, affording you an anchor point with which to pivot the rest of your body around. Those familiar with games like QWOP or Surgeon Simulator will easily recognize the mechanics at play here, in which the entertainment stems from the sheer difficulty involved with controlling several appendages at the same time, and the aftermath that usually follows when you inevitably fail to do so.

After the first few matches, manoeuvres will start to become more aggressive as you learn how to manipulate your clingy muscle folk in a way that would make Spiderman blush. Since everything you do is affected by gravity and momentum, it’s possible to swing across large distances using the perfect combination of timing and thrust. Of course, these advanced and hugely rewarding tactics come at the cost of being somewhat risky. One false move or misaligned vault across the chasm of man-thighs could cause you to take a tumble down the beef fortress, sealing your fate in the process. All of this combines to make a dynamic of risk vs. reward play, and the resulting successes or failures are what make each match entertaining.

There are a slew of modes included within the game to keep potential ‘mounters’ busy, but the main draw and indeed the focus of the title itself is the concept of mounting your own friends. Available for both local and online multiplayer, the standard mode will see you battling against your opponents as you clamber on top of one another. Each player takes turns adding to an ever expanding tower of oiled men until it gets to a point where the man-statue is so large that you or your opponent cannot scale it within the 60 second time slot granted per turn.

Other modes are on hand to offer alternative objectives, like sprints across great distances and duels with head-mounted swords, and whilst they are entertaining to try out it’s disappointing to see that most are locked to either single player sessions or local multiplayer. It’s worth noting that whilst the single player modes are entertaining to try out, they soon offer little motivation to play again after the first few sessions. The game is at its best when played against other players, and the sense of collective shambling and limb jiggling just doesn’t manage to translate over to any of the solo game modes.

Mount Your Friends is nothing short of a master class in small scale multiplayer mayhem. It takes full advantage of the sexually suggestive nature created from its own image and name, and it runs with it as a consistently entertaining gag throughout the game. While this humour may not appeal to everyone, the game itself has a solid foundation built upon the intentionally obscure control scheme that creates as many victories as it does failures. However, the game is better experienced when playing in the company of friends, either online or locally. The sense of competitiveness that spurs on each match is sorely lacking within the single player modes and you’re not likely to be playing for long if you don’t find any friends to mount.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

This review was based on the experiences with the PC version of the game.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The moustachioed man has returned once again to grace the asphalt with his crew of dinosaurs and princesses, so I feel it’s only natural that this week we dedicate some time towards the brave explorers of a severely under-rated genre – the multiplayer driving combat ‘em up.

Mario Kart is all about high speed multiplayer carnage, be it local or online. Everything is to play for, and the games provide a great ‘proving ground’ for friends and foes alike to compete for that first place position. You can expect great local and online multiplayer gameplay with plenty of power-ups and whacky courses in these unsung titles.

Krautscape – PC

What it is – Krautscape takes the manic action of a multiplayer driving game and gives it wings. Each track is procedurally generated, meaning no two races will be the same. What’s more, players can simply take a leap of faith off of the track and soar across huge distances in an effort to steal first place.

Why you might like it – There’s a great opportunity for some fantastic victory stealing to happen in Krautscape. The ability to soar across the game world means that even when you’re leagues ahead of the competition, you can never be too sure if someone isn’t about to sneak in ahead of you. Because of the way the track is generated, there are times where even the person in first place doesn’t know where they are going as the track is only generated when someone passed through each checkpoint gate.

You can buy Krautscape on Steam Early Access, and follow development on the official site.

Bears Can’t Drift – OUYA

What it is – Bears Can’t Drift is appropriately named for what lies within. You play as a bear strapped to a go-kart, seemingly hellbent on defeating all of the other bears to the finish line of a race through the woods. Featuring 2-4 player local split-screen multiplayer, Bears Can’t Drift offers some enjoyable competitive party racing on the OUYA.

Why you might like it – You mean other than that there are bears racing each other in go-karts? Okay, how about using giant bazookas to fire fish at each other? The track is littered with pick-ups and speed boosts, giving you that Mario Kart vibe from start to finish. It’s worth noting that the current iteration of the game only supports either solo play – for those who just hate everyone around them – or local split-screen multiplayer with the possibility of AI in future versions.

You can download Bears Can’t Drift for the OUYA here, and keep tabs on development via the developer’s Twitter account here.

Silas – PC

What it is – Silas combines the manic fervor of kart racing with a hearty dose of FPS shooting and destructive power-ups. The game supports both online and LAN multiplayer, and also includes a sizable amount of single player content.

Why you might like it – If you’re in the market for a game that requires precision at the drop of a hat, Silas is definitely up your alley. Most of your arsenal has to be manually aimed, and when you’re traveling at breakneck speed that isn’t always as easy as you’d think. Combine that with flying cars and level specific hazards that can wipe you out without a moment’s notice and the end result is a great entry to the ‘multiplayer kart racing whilst shooting your friends’ genre.

You can pick up Silas on Desura here.

Skydrift – PC, XBLA, PSN

What it is – Skydrift is what happens when you combine airborne dog fighting with the desire to be in first place. Soar across canyons, glaciers, and volcanoes as you shoot down your friends and strive to be the top gun.

Why you might like it – Okay so it isn’t a kart racer, but I’d argue that it shares more with Mario Kart than you’d think. There are a dozen manic pick-up weapons, speed boosting rings, whacky levels to race across and a number of different planes to choose from. If you were a fan of Diddy Kong Racing, this will probably appeal to you more, but I’d urge you not to dismiss it just because your vehicle doesn’t have any wheels.

You can pick up Skydrift on Steam, Xbox Live Arcade (Xbox 360), and Playstation Network (PS3)

Distance – PC

What it is – Distance is a self-proclaimed “experimental survival racing” game, which will see you dodging hazards and rival players as your progress through the vibrant neon cityscape laid out before you. Utilize a futuristic car to navigate across the dangerous terrain with the ability to boost your speed, jump across gaps, rotate your vehicle at will, and glide across chasms as you race towards the finish line.

Why you might like it – Probably the most removed from the original Mario Kart concept, Distance takes a more serious stance on the racing genre. The graphics alone are enough to make you want to drool, with cascading bright neon lights strewn across the world like it was taken straight out of a Tron film. That doesn’t mean this is a no-nonsense racer though, as there’s enough whacky antics for you to crash into, including buzz-saws that can split your car into pieces. If you’re after something less cartoon-like but with the same level of frantic mayhem, Distance is one for you.

Distance is currently in beta and you can pre-purchase the game on the official site here.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Late last year I wrote a preview of Orlando-based Hapa Games’ Ascendant, a self-proclaimed ‘broguelike’. The intense brawling and harsh roguelike rules combined for a tough, but entertaining experience while playing an early build. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in November, the developers have put in a lot of work over the past few months. The fruits of their labor were recently showed off in an updated build at local indie events Indienomicon and Game Developer Night, and I had a chance to have another look at the game along with some of those changes.

One of the biggest changes to the game is the addition of multiplayer. Two players can team up to take down zealots and gods in local cooperative play. The players aren’t necessarily working together (i.e. no combo attacks) so much as they’re battling simultaneously, giving the game an old-school beat-em-up feel. After talking to the devs, there are still some decisions to be made about how to handle balancing the difficulty with two players and what to do when one of the players dies. I had mixed feelings about the multiplayer only being for local play, but the experience does tend to lend itself better to a couch session with a friend.

Cooperative multiplayer and an improved map UI are just two of the latest changes to Ascendant.

Another area of improvement is with the overall polish of the presentation. A shining example are the new boss fights. While bosses were included in the early demo, this latest build includes big baddies that require some interesting combat mechanics to take down. They are also introduced in video sequences akin to the Legend of Zelda series. I did end up fighting the same first boss over and over again during my many playthroughs (it IS a roguelike afterall), so I’m curious to see what other villains the developers have in store for us. An improved set of map views make traversing the world a bit easier to handle as well.

The game’s areas are all season-based. The Summer-based areas that I saw – but didn’t play – look very close to what the team envisioned in their concept art released during the Kickstarter campaign. Since I spent most of my play time in some aesthetically-beautiful Spring-themed areas, I can’t wait to see what the artists are going to do with the environments and enemies for the other seasons.

Let’s see some more of this.

Ascendant was originally planned for a February release, but that time frame has obviously passed. The developers are still shooting for a Spring release, possibly as soon as April. There’s still room for small improvements as evidenced by the fact that the devs are still taking in player feedback from these indie events. The game continues to look more and more promising, and the devs hope that players will see that as they push for a successful Steam Greenlight campaign. Hapa Games plans to release a new trailer soon, so stay tuned to The Indie Mine for new details about Ascendant in the coming weeks.

UPDATE: New teaser trailer released!

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

You wait cautiously, as a bright green ship prepares to deliver its payload and cash in its haul of hard earned gemstones. The trap is set, ready for you to spring forward scattering a laser-light show of plasma beams across the abyss of space, straight into the hull of the unsuspecting emerald craft. As the ill-fated victim crumbles from your savage ambush, the spoils of war begin to drift amongst the stars, ready for the taking. Don’t be too hasty to count your space coins though, as seconds later a marauding band of space pirates deliver some swift karmic justice, making short work of your own crimson shuttle in a hail of gunfire. Space is no picnic, and Cashtronauts aims to prove that only the wiliest of space capitalists will emerge victorious.

The basic concept of Cashtronauts has you competing (or co-operating) against other players as you attempt to accrue the most money from the opportunities floating around in space. Mine asteroids, raid space pirates, or rob your friends of their hard earned cash, all in the confines of a 2D slice of deep space.  The game’s designer Simon Prefontaine describes it best as a ”Top down, twin stick, space-combat/trading party game with multiplayer”.

It’s an undoubtedly big list of interlocking features, enough to make me more than sceptical of what Prefontaine is hoping to achieve. Luckily, along with his Kickstarter campaign Simon has released an early demo version of the game to the public, with many of the basic features already in place for would-be naysayers like me to try out.

The first thing you notice is that the controls are tight, impressively so for such an early demo, and I’m instantly reminded of the slick sliding 2D movement found in twin stick shooters like Geometry Wars. The fact that it’s in space adds to the motion as well, with thrust and momentum playing a big factor in how you pilot your craft.  The zero-gravity adds the feeling of flexibility that gives a great sense of feedback when you’re flying around.

Cashtronauts structures its gameplay around one of two game modes. Skirmish, which is currently the only available mode in the demo, is a local multiplayer versus mode in which up to 4 players vie for the highest score by the end of a timed round. The second mode is called Venture, and could be considered the game’s campaign. In Venture mode you have to get as far across the galaxy as possible, stopping in each system to gather up enough cash to afford the toll on the warp gates scattered across space.

Cashtronauts is shaping up to be a strange beast. I only spent a few minutes with the game and it was easy to pinpoint Prefontaine’s inspirations. The controls are already fine-tuned and as responsive as you could ask for, and the focus on local multiplayer in every aspect of the game could easily see this project become a great entry to your couch co-op line-up.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The game doesn’t have a specific release date yet, but is meant to come out on PC in 2014. Two brothers created the game by themselves, and even created an engine for it from scratch. When considering this the game’s graphics are absolutely stunning, especially when compared to other independent games. It will be a combat-oriented multiplayer action game with limited single player. Graphics aren’t everything though, and whether or not the game will be any good will rely on one thing: its combat.

Daniel and Tobias claim that the spells which the combat will orbit around are going to be complex and different than what we usually see. Along with complex defense mechanics it sounds as though the combat could turn out amazing, but unlike with most other things, you can only really tell if a games combat is good by experiencing it for yourself. This is even truer when you consider that everyone has their own personal taste.

Overall, the risks of this game lie in its choice to go strictly combat focused multiplayer. It will rely on the mechanics being engaging and interesting enough to maintain a decent sized community for however long its lifespan needs to be. So far it definitely looks like the two brothers are capable of making this a successful game though and pushing through all the difficulties.

They are currently on Steam Greenlight so if you’d like to check the game out for yourself or support it, you can visit their Greenlight page. The brothers also have a website where you can find more information on the game at totm-game.com.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Hive is a board game like chess, but with colorful insects in place of the the traditional pieces. Published by Blue Line Game Studios, it’s available on Xbox Live and Steam, with Macintosh and Linux releases planned for the future.

As the title indicates, you’re building an insect hive not unlike a colony of bees, with a single queen supported by many workers. This structure leads to a number of logical rules: Your queen must be placed in the first four turns; no piece can be moved until the queen is in play; when placing a piece, it must be next to one of yours and cannot be next to the opposing team’s pieces; pieces must move in a sliding motion and can not move into a space where it wouldn’t naturally fit; and no piece may break the Hive, which means a piece may not move if it connects two or more other pieces. The rules aren’t too cumbersome making it easy to pick up, but a challenge to master.

Hive is played on a dynamic hex map, and each game creates a unique board as pieces are placed. Once you learn the rules, play proceeds naturally and quickly.

Like the king in chess, the queen is the weakest piece and moves only one space at a time. The objective of the game is to surround the opposing player’s queen using any pieces, yours or your opponent’s. One move by the queen can turn the tide of the game.

Other pieces have their strengths and weaknesses. The ant is powerful because it can move anywhere, but frequently gets in the way of your own strategy as well as your opponent’s. The beetle can move in three dimensions to occupy a hex over other pieces, but only one space at a time. The grasshopper can move any distance through any other piece, but only in a straight line. And the spider, like the knight in chess, must move in a specific pattern over a specific number of spaces. An upcoming expansion will introduce a mysterious new pill bug piece to add more strategic options.

The Steam version AI has four different difficulty levels, and provides a satisfying challenge. When playing I started off with a very aggressive tactic, going straight for the opposing queen. Over time I learned that I had to also protect my own queen in order to be successful at higher difficulties. I enjoyed the level of depth that can be applied once you master the basics.

My only complaint is that playing the AI can get dull after a while. Blue Line Game Studios plans to release their multiplayer patch soon. Player vs player is where I know this game will shine, so I was a bit sad that I didn’t get to experience that since the human factor is really a key element to games like these.

All in all Hive is both interesting and challenging, and will appeal to people who enjoy games like chess, checkers or other classic board games. You can get early access to the Steam version here.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a PC copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

It’s been a while since I swore on such a constant scale that passers-by would likely confuse the obscenities heard for that of a sailor’s tavern, which is exactly what makes Risk of Rain a worthy entry into the roguelike genre. On the surface, there’s not much to see and nothing will immediately jump out as anything spectacular. That is until you scratch away the unassuming top layer, to uncover a challenging 2D side-scroller with a ton of content to explore.

The rules are simple, you get one life to progress through a series of levels. Die and it’s game over and you’ve got to start again from the very beginning. To mix things up a bit here, there’s an ominous timer present in the top right corner of the screen, constantly ticking higher and higher as time progresses. Unfortunately for the player this is an increasing difficulty slider, so the more time it takes to complete a level, the harder things will get. It’s savage and unforgiving for those unfamiliar to the genre, but roguelike fans and sadomasochists alike will find a satisfying level of difficulty to make the pain worthwhile.

NO, YOU’RE DEAD!

From the get-go you’re given access to only one character class, with the ability to unlock the rest by achieving a variety of hidden goals throughout each session. At first this may seem like a clever addition to the game’s overall style, but the harsh reality is it’s nigh on impossible to discern what you need to do in order to get access to some of the more obscure characters which is pretty frustrating for those just starting out. A quick Google search and a few specific tasks completed later and the game will most certainly feel more varied as you pick between your favourite sci-fi inspired classes, each bringing a different skill set to the party. This doesn’t matter as much in single player, but for the multiplayer aspects it can be the difference between level completion or ultimate defeat.

The levels are all procedurally generated, and your goal on each level requires you to locate and activate a teleporter. Doing so triggers a timer which counts down for 90 seconds, and during this time an increased number of enemies will continue to spawn along with one big boss monster. These are frantic moments of panic, usually resulting in either glorious victory or humiliating defeat at the hands of the hordes. While these moments are more fast paced and entertaining, the build up to triggering the teleporter devices can be tedious at times. Sometimes you’ll have to back-track the entire length of a level in order to find the teleporter device that was five inches off screen in a corner you didn’t check which can be quite frustrating at times.

I have the worst luck…

Because of its roguelike nature, the story aspects take a backseat to the action of running and gunning. That doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no substance to what’s happening in the game, in fact quite the opposite. The intro video sets the scene, but most of the game’s lore is uncovered by playing through the levels slaying specific enemies to collect monster logs or by collecting the vast number of power-up items. As you collect each of these objects, an entry will be added to the item and monster logs which can be accessed via the main menu. Each item offers up a little bit of background information on the inhabitants and items found on the strange planet. This is a nice added bonus that provides an extra sense of depth for those who prefer to learn more about the lore of the game world.

Risk of Rain doesn’t bother to hide the fact that it wants you, your family and everyone you’ve ever known to suffer, and ultimately that’s its main attraction and what makes it a worthwhile entry to the roguelike genre. Despite a few minor issues with levels and character unlocks, Risk of Rain is definitely worth the number of broken keyboards you’re likely to burn through whilst playing it.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a PC copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

King Arthur’s Gold lets you build and destroy castles. There are a variety of game modes: Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, and Take the Halls (which involves capturing points). Players can choose from three classes: builder, archer, and knight. Builders can mine resources and build structures while protecting objectives and creating tunnels under enemy defences. Builders can place blocks, doors, traps, ladders, and various workshops. Workshops allow other players to buy siege engines, heal themselves, and build tunnels.

Archers are armed with a bow and arrow and provide long range damage. Aiming shots requires timing and precision as the flight of your arrows will vary widely depending on how long you hold your shot. Knights specialise in melee combat – they start with a sword and a shield, but they can also use bombs. The shield can be used for protection as well as a parachute when held over the head. Sword attacks require timing to deal maximum damage, and if you properly time your clicks, you can create combo attacks.

Rounds in King Arthur’s Gold usually start with allocated building time. During this time, players cannot advance too far toward the enemy base; instead, they must focus on creating defences for the oncoming attack. At the start of the game, defences can be very well organised. However, things get more chaotic as you go further into the game. Blocks are destructible, so neatly organised defences quickly lose their structure – especially when they are hit with a boulder. Classes can be changed at any point by returning to the home base so that bases can be repaired by builders.

The pixel art in King Arthur’s Gold gives the game a retro feel, as does the music. The lighting effects add to the mood, so that when you’re underground, you do feel hidden, lost, and slightly alone.

King Arthur’s Gold creates a good combination of combat and creative building. The need for correct aim and proper timing makes the combat difficult for beginners – but overall the game is forgiving for new players, as there’s always something fun to do. If you’d like to find out more about King Arthur’s Gold, click here to visit the website.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this rating mean?

A PC review copy of this game was provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.