Botanicula is now available on iPad with enhanced graphics.

In my article on the Develop conference a few weeks ago I asked if there was any indie developers that our community would like to hear more about. Well, our own Lusipurr was more than happy to provide a list of companies that he thought highly of. Today I will be looking at the companies on that list to see what they are up to right now. The easiest way to do this is the break it up into two parts; those who have recently brought a product to market, and those who are working on new titles.

Recent releases

In the last couple of months Amanita Design, Drinkbox Studios, FrozenByte, Housemarque, and Q-Games have all release a product of some description. Amanita Design brought Botanicula to the iPad after two years of development. The game now has higher resolution graphics to make full use of the Retina display. They are also teased Samorost 3 last year, but no new details have come forth about the project yet. Drinkbox Studios brought an enhanced version of Guacamelee! to all major consoles this month. Guacamelee!: Super Turbo Championship Edition adds additional levels and bosses, as well as all the available DLC for the original in a single package. Also, this is the first time Xbox owners can get their hands on the game.

FrozenByte released Trine Enchanted Edition last week. The new version is available as a free update for owners of the PC version and includes mid-level saving and an online multiplayer option. Fans of the original can choose to ignore the update though, as they can select which version of the game they wish to play through the games launcher. Housemarque is continuing to work on Resogun, having released both free updates and paid expansions to the PSN store. More expansions are planned, and a season pass is available for people who wish to pick them all up. Finally, Q-Games have brought two more games in the PixelJunk family to market, Shooter Ultimate for PlayStation 4 and Vita with cross buy, cross play, and cross save. Nom Nom Galaxy also released on steam Early Access in March.

The Witness is due for release later this year.

In Development

Both Giant Sparrow and Thatgamecompany are working on as-yet-untitled games. Giant Sparrow say theirs is not a sequel to The Unfinished Swan, but it is not a million miles away either. Thatgamecompany recently raised $7million in funding for their new title, allowing them to scale up their development efforts, as well as lay the infrastructure to self-publish, market, and distribute future titles.

Jonathan Blow continues to work on The Witness. Originally announced five years ago for the last console generation, he instead moved the game to the current generation believing the last could not perform the way he needed them to. He later announced that the game would be a timed console exclusive for the PlayStation 4. The game is due for release this year, but has not been narrowed down any further yet. Mike Bithell has been working on Volume in the year since it was announced. Like Thomas was Alone, Danny Wallace returns to perform a voice for this game.

Kitfox Games are already working on their next title, Moon Hunters. PlayDead announced the title of their second project at E3 this year. Inside is platforming game due for release as a timed exclusive on the Xbox One next year, with other platforms receiving their versions later on. While the game is in color, the title remains dark and nearly monotone in colour. PocketWatch Games are developing Armada as a RTS that can be comfortably played with a controller. This is not the final name of the game, so expect an announcement on that fairly soon as the company have also picked up the URL to go with it. For now though, they are busy moving into a new office. Polytron have no new game of their own, but have partnered with Finji to produce and promote Panoramical, described as an anthology of interactive musical landscapes. Lastly, Yacht Club Games are working on international versions of Shovel Knight as the Wii-U and 3DS versions are currently only available in North America.

Shovel Knight will be available outside of North America soon.

It is not unusual for smaller indie developer to go silent about their developments, and that is what has happened with Queasy Games. While developer Jonathan Mak is still active on Twitter, there have been no announcements of future projects since his company released Sound Shapes as a launch title for the PlayStation 4 last year. I have reached out to Jonathan for more information and I will post anything I hear back from him in the comments below.

A few larger studios were also mention in the comments, so I will list a brief summary of each. NIS America have three games set to release this year, Danganronpa 2, NAtURAL DOCtRINE, and Fairy Fencer F. All three will be available in September. A fourth game, CRIMINAL GIRLS: Invite Only, is due for release in Spring next year. Atlus has too many upcoming game to mention here, but they are bringing a number of Persona titles to the west soon, as well as some smaller titles. Gaijinworks and MonkeyPaw Games are currently working on bringing Class of Heroes 2G to the west. The presale for the title ended at the weekend, and it should not be long before the game is available to buy digitally.

So, that is the round up of news from the more popular indie studios here at Lusipurr.com. Are there any other studios you would like to hear from in a future update? Are there any upcoming indie games you would like to know more about? Let me know in the comments!

Shattered Planet. Available on Windows now, with a Mac version soon to follow.

Some may call Shattered Planet a roguelike, others may call it a roguelike-like. Whatever side of the fence a gamer may fall on, everyone will agree that this is a survival-exploration RPG. Originally developed for iOS and Android, Execution Labs and Kitfox Games have brought their procedural death labyrinth generator to the PC, and soon the Mac as well.

With the blight consuming all planets in the galaxy, humanity has traced the location of a possible cure to the age-old ruins of a broken planet. This is where the player steps in, exploring the planet and destroying the indigenous creatures in the name of science. The shattering of the planet has created a multitude of floating islands in the sky. Any one could contain the key to the survival of life as we know it.

Yes, all the maps in Shattered Planet are procedurally generated. This basic requirement of roguelikes is neatly fulfilled by having small masses of land connected together by short walkways. Combat is turn-based. For each action the player takes, whether that be moving, attacking, or using an item, all the creatures on the map get to take a turn as well. Littering the floor are an assortment of flasks whose content is randomised with each game. A red container may heal the player during one game, then poison them the next. The goal of a basic game is to explore each map in the search for the teleporter to the next area, striving to achieve a greater distance with each new clone that is sent to the planets rather fragmented surface.

Collecting datalog entries is a long-term goal for the player.

Along their travels, the player will begin to fill out their datalog. This is a record of all the different enemies, equipment and biomes that the player has encountered during their time with the game. Every fifteen discoveries, the player gains a research level and unlocks a reward, such as a new class to play on subsequent exploration attempts. There are several categories of discoveries, including pets that the player can obtain by convincing one of the local hostiles to join them. To prevent players from combing every inch looking for new discoveries, the blight will be forever on their tails. Starting from the same location as the player, the blight will slowly corrupt tiles adjacent to itself, damaging the player should they walk through it. The blight can also corrupt or spawn its own enemies.

What may cause some people to say Shattered Planet is actually a roguelike-like is down to the fact that the player can keep some progression in between exploration attempts. When not risking the life of yet another clone on the surface of the planet, the player has the use of the facilities on a rather cosy space ship. Here currency found on the surface of the planet can be used to synthesise a random piece of equipment. As the player gains research levels, new facilities are unlocked for use. Here the player can purchase permanent stat enhancements for their current class, or perhaps clone one of their pets unlocked during exploration.

Ultimately, the player is trying to build up their character over time to take on more difficult challenges. Along side the exploration mode are three different ‘story’ modes. These are the same basic game with random maps, but each have a goal that the player can accomplish for a reward. These different modes also contain unique entries in the datalog, so anyone wishing to fill their lists out will need to venture into these difficult areas.

The blight chasing the player can also spawn or convert enemies to keep players on their toes.

The last game type is the daily challenge. This is randomly generated map is the same for every player on the day it is attempted, and may only be played once a day. Here the the player cannot chose what items to take with them and is instead given whatever items are chosen for the map that day. The player can still chose their own class, along with any training that class may have received, so veterans are more likely to do better. Still, for a randomly generated single-player game, it is great to be able to compare attempts with friends. To aid in this, the game has the ability to tweet scores built into it.

Shattered Planet began life as a mobile game, and it shows in its graphical style. All the art is detailed and colourful, and as smooth as they are, each unit only has a couple of different animations; resting, attacking, and moving. Currently equipped gear is reflected in the character model. The player customise the look of their character class, but this is usually hidden by the armor equipped.

Fans of the roguelike and RPG genres may be interested in Shattered Planet. Death is no major setback, and the persistence of character upgrades allow players of all skill levels to eventually tackle the harder content. Daily challenges allow players to compete against each other, and like Spelunky, the results can be posted to various social media sites for the world to try and beat. The game can get a little repetitive, but skill will allow player to push on to new areas.