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.

In this quirky indie title, you play as a caveman named Ergaster who must escort these odd creatures called lemmings the habilis to safety. You start alone in a cave with drawings on the walls that tell you which buttons do what, provided you’re playing on an Xbox 360 controller. This game hates keyboards. If you play on a keyboard, you must look up both the keyboard and game pad controls and memorise the corresponding buttons so you know what the walls are telling you, and don’t even think about rebinding the keys while you’re in the option menu. The options menu isn’t for rebinding keys; it’s for switching between a full screen mode that doesn’t work and a windowed mode that doesn’t work.

You can see my wallpaper and task bar peeking through even in full screen mode.

Like most escort missions, walking the habilis through stone-age Afro-Eurasia is more frustrating than hard. Ergaster can smack a habilis to make it sit down, stopping other habilis from walking past it. If you’ve played Lemmings, think of this as the block skill. Unfortunately, timing it is finicky. I’ve had many a habilis walk past their appointed protector and into a wall of spikes as Ergaster’s outstretched palm came down like a hammer upon the savannah grass. It also necessitates more waiting than I like in anything other than a stealth game because you have to wait for a habilis to show up before you can smack it. To make all this worse, there are no checkpoints, which means doing the easy and boring parts of the level over and over again until you make that jump you keep dying on. This increases iteration cycles, which is bad game design.

Despite all this, there is some fun to be had here. There are silex to collect, and it’s a lot of fun air dashing about to collect them all. It’s also surprisingly satisfying to air dash through a wall of prehistoric crates. It’s also interesting to play such a unique platformer. Unfortunately, Ergaster isn’t executed well enough for me to recommend it over other platformers like The Fourth Wall. If the idea of playing Lemmings as a caveman instead of a benevolent god appeals to you, go ahead and check out Ergaster and the Habilis.

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

What does this score mean?

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

I got you here safely. Now get in the giant mouth.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The game will have a strong focus on story, focusing on compelling plot, a rich world, and mature overtones for the band of misfit characters that the player will follow. Piecing together information from around the world will allow the players to track down powerful treasures guarded by behemoths as part of the game’s ‘Legend System’.

The developers intend to build a multi-layered combat system, allowing strategic players to use various mechanics that play off of each other to let them take down seemingly impossible odds. Characters also have non-linear progression, allowing players to build them to their preferred style, and bonus battle goals offer optional challenges for additional rewards, such as resources, rare items, and additional side-story.

Punchbag have yet to launch their campaign, but anyone interested can keep up through their website and via Twitter @PunchbagEnt.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Truffle Saga puts you in control of a dog named Truffle who must destroy mushrooms by throwing acorns at them. You throw acorns the same way you slingshot fowl in Angry Birds, except you don’t control how hard you throw them. You even get a white dotted line showing the path of your most recent throw. Unlike Angry Birds, which gives you multiple airborne critters to shoot your enemies into green bacon, Truffle Saga only gives you one acorn per level.

With all the weird stuff in this game, it shouldn’t be surprising that acorns are an effective anti-fungal agent.

At first the only obstacles are sticks and leaves, so all you need to make your shot count is good aim. After a few easy levels bouncing nuts off leaves, you’ll have to learn more tricks. There are flowers that eat your acorn and spit it out, bees that act as trampolines, and monsters that swallow your acorn, ending the level. Those of you who want games to make sense are not going to have a good time. These challenges add depth to the game, but unfortunately they also cause it to fall apart. Some of these extra elements require you to use awkward touch controls, especially the bouncy bees. To make matters worse, Truffle Saga suffers from a common AAA game trap and forgets what kind of game it is. There are a few levels that are solved by moving a bouncy bee around the bottom of the screen like in Breakout. Fortunately, you can skip levels by tapping an onion icon in the corner of the screen.

My other major problem with Truffle Saga is that its ads are really annoying. Paid versions on other platforms may not have them, but I played the Android version on my Droid Razr HD. There were many times when a new level had just loaded and I tapped the screen to throw my acorn, only to be thwarted by an ad that popped up just before I touched the screen. I eventually got sick of this and turned off my WiFi, but then the game kindly informed me that it had also fallen into the AAA trap of requiring a constant Internet connection.

Like most mobile games, Truffle Saga has a three-star ranking system to increase its replay value but with an interesting twist. Each level has three gems to collect in addition to the mushrooms, but after finishing the game you’ll be challenged to play each level four times, collecting a different number of gems each time for a crown. It’s a great design choice because avoiding gems is often trickier than collecting them.

Truffle Saga has some interesting puzzles and a clever way to add replay value, but I can’t recommend it because of its awkward controls, intrusive ads, and genre amnesia. If you can live with those things, you can get it on Steam, Google Play or the App Store.

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Forward to the Sky stars a little girl who runs around in a castle-like environment in the sky and kills reanimated skeletons that I like to imagine were once little boys. I had some gripes about the controls; whenever you attack, you attack in the direction the camera is facing, not in the direction the character is facing. It’s also a bit awkward to manoeuver using WASD and the mouse as in a typical first-person shooter, but that’s mostly just the result of using a keyboard and mouse to play a game designed for a game pad.

I had to smack a couple of those red switches to get the platforms in place.

In addition to smacking undead things about with a giant sword, Forward to the Sky has puzzles and platforming, and the two interact quite well. There was a part that involved hitting the right switches to move platforms around so I could get to a new location, although I hope the puzzles get more complex than figuring out which two of the three switches I need to hit. Whenever I hit a switch, I can clearly see what it does because it happens right in front of me. It’s amazing how many games frustrate me by making me flip a switch or press a button and then wander around through the level trying to find the secret door it opened.

The platforming has all the polish of a game in alpha, but when it works, it works like a simplified version of the greatest PS2 platformers. There are no double jump or mid-air attack to stay in the air longer, but it is also devoid of annoying magnetic assistance features and invisible walls. Speaking of walls, all of them seem to be weak against gigantic swords. If I wanted to see what was on the other side of a wall, I smacked said wall a few times and jumped over the pile of rubble left in its place. It was a refreshing change after all the games populated by buildings and furniture that seem unaffected by rockets and grenades.

Forward to the Sky has a bright, cheery, cartoonish art style and soundtrack, but it’s not the kind that makes me sick and long for a darker, grittier game. It gives the impression that you are a young adventurer at the beginning of an epic tale in which the sky is the limit. With its platforming, combat, and bright music and visuals, Forward to the Sky reminds me of a 3D version of Maplestory without the bugs, hackers, fetch quests, and pretty much everything else that made Maplestory suck. I’d like to see different environments because grey stone seems like it would get old fast, so hopefully Magichnology adds some grass, bricks, trees, and more natural-looking stone to change it up. Despite that, the game looks promising.

Forward to the Sky is scheduled for release late this year for Windows, Mac, and everyone’s favourite penguin-endorsed OS. If you’re interested, please check out its Indiegogo page and consider contributing.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

One of these people is breaking the rules. Can you tell which one?

No Photos, Please! is a social stealth game in the works from The Basement Studios that has passed Greenlight on Steam, and after playing a few rounds of it with my little sister, I’ve come to the conclusion that it has a lot of potential. Two players share a screen with an isometric view of a museum and race to figure out which of the many 8-bit characters they are controlling. After this, the photographer must phase through each exhibit to take a picture of it, (no, I don’t get how that works either) and the security guard must get within range of the photographer and apprehend him. Anyone who’s played the Assassin’s Creed multi-player will feel right at home with this game. You spend most of your time not knowing which of the many avatars in the room are hunting you or breaking the rules, you have class-specific abilities to combat your opponent, and you have to trick your friend, sister, or mortal enemy into believing that you are just another brainless, computer-controlled drone. I really like the concept. The problem is that the photographer is overpowered.

When playing as the security guard, I won about half the time. When playing as the photographer, I never lost. That includes the time I was blindly fumbling about because I never actually figured out which character I was. There are two main things that contribute to this. One, as the photographer, you don’t really need to know who the other person is. If you act like an NPC, your anti-security abilities will delay the security guard long enough to get all the pictures. As the security guard, you need to figure out which avatar is yours, which one is your opponent’s, and then you need to get close to your opponent without giving away that you are more than another NPC enjoying a day at the museum. The other thing that tilts the game in the photographer’s favour is the time limit. When the photographer takes the first picture, a two-minute timer is started. If the security guard doesn’t find and apprehend the photographer before the timer goes off, the photographer wins. In fact, I found that the easiest way to win as the photographer was to take one picture and run out the clock.

The good thing is that this is Sparta! beta. No Photos, Please! is still in development, and if the classes are balanced, it will be a great game that I’ll have no problem recommending. No Photos, Please! is scheduled for release later this year. For more information or to watch some gameplay videos, check out its Steam page.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

So the story goes, an organization of scientists, in an effort to expand their knowledge, creates the “Chronova Device”, a tool that would enable them to unlock the universal ‘real-time’ and introduce it to their turn-based world. But, as these experiments often do, everything goes wrong, and a vortex sweeps them up from their world. Now it’s up to you, in your little orange “Nova-111″ starship, to rescue the crew.  Will your harmless research vessel be up to the task?

The player will be faced with a series of obstacles, such as alien enemies and puzzles. Your vessel won’t be completely helpless, as collectible upgrades and abilities will allow it to defend itself and fight back. As you advance, the world will slowly shift from turn-based decisions to making the player react in real-time environments. And gosh, what environments they are. If you’re not already interested, the visuals should definitely hook you. The game simply looks splendid, and the character portraits are to die for, really. The mix of pixel and painterly styles makes the levels truly shine. And the music ain’t too shabby either, apparently being dynamic and suiting itself to your individual play style.

Though no set date has been announced, Nova-111 is supposed to be released some time later this year for Windows, Linux, and Mac. To find out more, visit Funktronic Labs’ website for the game. You can also follow the developers on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Released on Steam as an ‘Early Access’ build last month, Maia started as a Kickstarter and Indiegogo project. Developed by Simon Roth, who previously worked in AAA game development and on Terry Cavanagh’s VVVVVV, Maia is a colony-building and management sim set on a hostile, but habitable planet located about twelve light years away from Earth. Taking inspiration from games like Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress, and The Sims, the player must work to ensure the colonists survive in their harsh new environment. Build shelters, construct power sources, regulate food production, keep a careful eye on the mental and physical health of your colonists–everything you would expect from a good simulation is there. What’s also neat is that, being on a volatile planet, the colonists are not only subjected to the more routine aspects of survival, but also foreign toxins, alien flora and fauna, dangerous geological events such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, and extraplanetary hazards such as solar radiation and meteors of a much more violent nature and frequency than that experienced on Earth.

While the construction of the facilities in which the colonists will live initially starts underground, the player will be able to explore the planet’s surface and conduct research and experiments which will expand their knowledge of the planet and their colonists’ chances of survival. Robots and a first-person mode seem like it’ll make this facet of the game extra interesting, especially considering the look of that mode. Despite the fact that I normally don’t care for first-person perspective in games, I’m actually pretty excited to try this mode out when it’s added to the game. The visual style of it is a total blast and I hope Roth introduces more elements which will emphasize its uniqueness.

Speaking of style, there’s more that will make certain sci-fi fans–me included–salivate at the mouth: Maia also takes a lot of influence from the aesthetic and functionality of 70s science fiction. The technology in the game will be reminiscent of the era in many ways, and the look and music will surely bring folks back to their favourite 70s sci-fi movie. I know when I first heard the haunting sounds of the Kickstarter trailer I was flung back to when I first watched Alien.

Anyway, Maia looks to be a highly ambitious game. The map will be 2km x 2km and procedurally generated. The colonists you manage will all have distinct personalities and skills which you’ll have to pay close attention to in order for the colony to thrive. Like any good game that even mentions terraforming, the player will be able to change the environment and change certain settings which will influence the difficulty and direction of the game. But everything will have its trade-off. Want more minerals? You’ll have to contend with increased geological activity which will put your colonists at risk. Playing around with the amount of light that reaches the planet from its star? Plants will grow faster, sure, but that might also attract more wildlife, and where the prey is, there are predators. This attention to detail is incredibly enticing, and I sincerely hope Roth is able to pull off everything he hopes for in this game. Simulation games are great for creating unique stories, and a story about colonists hashing it out on a hostile planet is too good to pass up.

As mentioned previously, Maia is available on Steam as an ‘Early Access’ title, which means you’ll be able to follow its development first-hand and receive future updates to the game directly through the client. A word of warning, though: Maia is still in very early Alpha, so it’s still got a hardy amount of bugs and is far from polished and feature-full. The developer seems to be consistently putting out updates, however, so if you’re interested in seeing the game grow as you play it, check it out on its Steam page. You can pre-order the game on its official website as well as find out more information about it on there and on its Facebook and Twitter accounts.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Tower of Elements 2 has so many elements smashed up against each other that I’ll be impressed if they all work together seamlessly. The game combines classic city building with real-time strategy combat that mixes together match-3 puzzles and tower defense. All things that sound right up my alley, honestly.

The city building has everything you’d expect from the genre. You choose a continent on which to build your city, with each of the three having its own advantages and disadvantages. From there, you have a variety of building types to choose from, resources to manage, citizens to allocate to different jobs, and policy decisions that affect both your city and your troops on the battlefield.

Actual combat takes the form of match-3 puzzles. Match the runes and elemental bolts blast out from your tower and hit oncoming foes. Other aspects of tower defense games are included, such as building barriers and deploying troops. There will also be a good bunch of challenging bosses to take on, as well as a bestiary from which to view and play around with the various enemy types you encounter. Really, it all looks like a ton of fun.

Having already gone over its goal, Tower of Elements 2 is a safe campaign to pledge towards. $10 is the minimum amount you’ll have to pledge to get a DRM-free copy of the game for PC, Mac, or Linux along with a Steam key if the game is Greenlit. The Kickstarter is getting pretty close to its first stretch goal, which is one that’s actually pretty cool: an alternate board layout. It’d definitely be worth it to unlock this goal as it’d really increase the replayability of the game overall.

Anyway, go on over to the Kickstarter page and pledge towards the game. You can also vote for Tower of Elements 2 on Steam Greenlight, follow its development on Twitter and Facebook, and find out even more on the developer’s website.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

A direct sequel to the original Chibi Knight flash game, Super Chibi Knight is a hack n’ slash adventure with RPG elements. It’s quite traditional in its set-up, hearkening back to Nintendo’s Zelda II. Exploration takes place in a top-down overworld with a village and various other locales to explore such as forests and deserts. Enemies are not random encounters but rather can be seen in the overworld and engaged with. Entering areas or battles switches the game to a side-scrolling 2D perspective.

The hack n’ slash elements are pretty standard. The player can attack, jump, and block, and while completing a particular quest they get access to certain special attacks that use up power. Once a player gains experience, they can choose to level up their armor, their special attack power, or their sword strength. Each armor and sword level has a distinct look, which is really nice, simultaneously being pretty cool and cute. Eventually the player can choose a career path of either a sorcerer (giving you access to spells) or a beastmaster (allowing you to ride giant beasts). I’m always up for riding and fighting alongside big brutes, so that certainly got me excited.

The art style is simple and colourful, and there’s no shortage of quests to complete despite the game being in beta. However, I still eventually felt dragged down by repetitiveness. Experience from battle was in abundance and yet I still had to grind a lot. Many of the quests also involved simply finding objects and returning them to townsfolk. It’s fun for a while, but having returned to many games of my childhood, I find that I have less patience for this than I did as a child and subsequently have less patience for new games that continue this trend.

Despite that, it’s exciting to see kids getting in on the development side of games. What person that played games as a kid didn’t dream of making their own some day? What child didn’t have that perfect game they were going to create and share with others? With a greater abundance of tools at hand, I hope this becomes a possibility for even more children.

Super Chibi Knight is up for voting on Steam Greenlight. You can also follow the developer Pesto Force on Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, and join the Super Chibi Knight beta at its official website.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.