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Screenshot Saturday Sundays! Think of it as the comics bit at the end of the Sunday papers, only we’ve dropped the naff strips written by ageing farts for some lovely work-in-process game development snaps. This week: Elusive residents, curse removal, brain-warping arenas and an absolute mess.
Knock knock, who’s there? Why it’s entry number one in this week’s screenapalooza, a handsome paper greyscale adventure.
😱Made some new voice sounds with @_davestation_
(Sound ON)🔊#indiegame #gamedev #indiedev #indiewatch #screenshotsaturday #gaming #IndieDevWorldOrder #madewithunity #indiedevhour pic.twitter.com/RQYPUYFwaS— MASI🕊 (@HustlaMasi) August 22, 2020
Paper Pilgrim: The Crystal Case is a strange and moody first-person point n’ click. Folks have been vanishing from the Crystal City, and it’s up to you and your brother to start sleuthing through a town painted in stunning, minimal palletes. Taking a gander over on the game’s Itch page reveals a proper stunning card cityscape, with charming inked characters pottering around folded tunnels and warmly-lit bars.
It’d be all too easy to write off our next game as looking “a bit like Minit“, wouldn’t it? But hey, there are worse games to be compared to.
I’ve been eyes deep in the code for the #kenneyjam but I’ve finally got some progress to show. Un-curse the right items and then move on to the next level #screenshotsaturday pic.twitter.com/WDoxlr0tQ4
— ponywolf (@ponywolf) August 22, 2020
Built as part of this weekend’s Kenneyjam – a jam where developers are restricted to only using Kenney’s free game assets – the real skill in Ponywolf’s puzzler is in how the 2D ties have been masterfully remixed. It does look like a proper fun wee thing too, an inversion of games like Puyo-Puyo that’s given so much more character by having a wee imp scurry around at the bottom of the screen.
That’s enough monochrome mystery for today though. Let’s return with an explosion of colour, courtesy of physics-warping arena shooter Spaceflux.
Showing off Head City in five different game modes.
You might be wondering how it’s even possible to have an arena deathmatch in these spaces… Gameplay videos to come!#screenshotsaturday #RD2020 #IndieGameDev pic.twitter.com/bn9jXXTUFc— Spaceflux – Kickstarter Launching Soon (@Spaceflux1) August 22, 2020
An arena shooter set in “impossible spaces”, Spaceflux has already sent my head in a spin. I have a tough enough time remembering power weapon and armour spawns in Quake or Unreal’s static hallways, nevermind fractal, repeating spaces with fully destructible scenery. Developer Calin Ardelean wants to expand this with portals, all-direction gravity and maps that grow over the course of a map – but for now, you can keep an eye on the relative simplicity of Spaceflux’s recursive arenas ahead of its Steam launch next month
Finally – I don’t know what the hell is going on in Invader Simulator, but I’m into it.
Imagine not wanting to publish this 😂😂😂#screenshotsaturday #gamedev #indiegame pic.twitter.com/sUdp2Ort9d
— 〽️⚔️📛🐛🍄®️🍙 (@MXultra) August 23, 2020
As far as I know, there aren’t too many games aping Earth Defense Force’s massive bug brawls. That seems to be the goal of developers Ragdolls2Riches, though, and they’re doing it with a chaotic collage of art pulled off early 00s graphics card boxes. It’s a look I’ve only seen echoed in games like Utopias: Navigating Without Coordinates. Whether you love it or hate it, it’s a style that definitely leaves one hell of an impression.