Three winners this week: StarForge still has plenty of time to reach some of its incredibly tempting stretch goals, Super Comboman cruised through the whole process and Distance had a remarkable boost last week, demonstrating how much a single update can change a game’s fortunes. Some projects, Ars Magica and Antharion in particular, are perilously close to failure, but, as ever, there are newcomers as well. A new game from the maker of Middens immediately assaulted my attention and the clever sorts behind Fallen London have a playable prototype of their latest. Onward.>

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And lo, on this most glorious and radiant of days, did it finally happen. Someone – specifically, an Indie DB user named “Chentzilla” – devised a means by which to do violence to one another in, um, Farming Simulator 2013. It’s described as “front loader sumo fighting,” and based off a video of two particularly determined tractors matching both wits and steel, I’d say that sounds about right. See this fierce, majestic thing that will surely revolutionize the gaming, farming, and being alive> industries in action after the break.

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By and large, I’m very glad that free-to-play exists. It’s brought many fine, exceedingly hi-fidelity games back into the PC gaming fold, and I can’t argue with the option to jump in without spending a cent, coin, point, spacebuck, gorgle, or smarnx. Well, except when I can – and usually, that’s when the subject of unlocking comes up. The reason? It’s almost always excruciatingly slooooooooooow. Because naturally, those darn developers – who apparently need to eat occasionally and sleep under roofs >(the nerve!) – want you to drop a few extra dimes to speed up the process. It is, then, somewhat shocking – but no less appreciated – that SOE’s taking steps to buck that trend with PlanetSide 2. Or at least make it a bit less of a bitter pill to swallow.

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I appreciate a winding narrative arc that twists and turns and writhes and eventually chokes down its own tail in an Ouroboros-like fashion as much as anyone, but every once in a while, direct is best. On those occasions, I want to get right to the point. No muss. No fuss. I guess what I’m saying is, sometimes I just want to shoot a bunch of dudes in a place called the “Badass Crater of Badassitude.” And hey, what do know? That’s exactly> what Borderlands 2‘s “Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage” DLC is about. Score one for me. I should idly muse about the fickle whims of my desires more often.

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I recently had the privilege of putting on my ’90s-appropriate detective hat and rifling through all sorts of (metaphorical – and some literal) dirty laundry in The Fullbright Company’s Gone Home. It felt a bit like a blend of Fallout 3′s environmental sleuthing and BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den’s brilliantly down-to-earth approach to storytelling. In other words, I resented Fullbright co-founder Steve Gaynor for eventually ending my demo session – with every fiber of my being. So of course, we did what people who resent each other always do: sat down for polite conversation. Along with the rest of the four-person Fullbright team, we discussed ’90s culture, how games can be interesting even when totally devoid of action, exploring non-traditional topics in videogame stories, whether or not notes, audiotapes, and things of the like are a storytelling crutch, and of course, how many guns Gone Home has.   >

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Waking Mars is not a normal game. (more…)

Race The Sun is quite pretty. Like you. Unlike you, its free demo version has 375k plays on Kongregate. In it we race a paper-dart type ship across an infinite landscape. How far can you get? If you’re anything like me, not very far. But the story does not end on that sad note, no. Because developers Flippfly are engaged in some kind of peculiar crowd-utilising effort over here. They explain: “When you buy the game, you get a “Flippfly Vote” that you can cast on our Voting Page. At the moment, there are two features for Race The Sun to be voted on (multiplayer, and mod tools.) At the end of the voting period, we’ll add more items, so anyone who’s purchased any of our games will have a direct say in what we work on next (your votes will never go away.)”

Interesting. There’s a rather beautiful video below, too. For you to make judgements about with your mind. (more…)

Far Cry 3‘s Rook Islands contain bears, leopards, crocodiles, and what appear to be komodo dragons. And those things can dynamically hunt the other animals – and humans – on the island. Ubi have put a video which attempts to show off some of these dynamic features, which you can see below. There’s a lot of things on fire, of course, and many dudes are exploded. But will all these things add up to an interesting open world? Bears + explosives is an equation that I am very interested in examining with a critical eye. Perhaps writing down the resulting functions on a blackboard. Yes, I’m going to be reviewing this over the weekend, so I’ll be able to tell you all about lizards versus pirates next week. Review on the 21st.

(It’s got to be better than Far Cry 2, right?) The game is out November 29th in Europe and December 4th in North America. Haha. (more…)

30 new experimental games from proven indie developers, for $15? Cripes. And it’s not even a bundle. This is a Kickstarter-based fundraiser for something called LA Game Space, where developers like Steve Swink (Shadow Physics, Scale), Cactus (Hotline Miami), Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), Bennett Foddy (QWOP, GIRP) and Santa Ragione (Fotonica) have contributed never before released games in a bid to raise funds for a non-profit organisation.

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Dark Vale Games’ Forge is an interesting proposition (for some people): “Pure PvP”. It’s basically an MMO in its systems, but one designed purely around the PvP arena combat stuff that so often constitutes the end-game of these things. It’s also flat in structure, so beginners are (apparently) on a level playing field with veterans from their first game – at least in terms of the power they wield on the field.

Anyway, the game is our December 4th, and Dark Vale have opted for a buy-one-get-one-free launch model, where your $20 secures you two copies of the game. I’ve posted a gameplay video below for you to peer into with your fiery gaze. (more…)