Indie RPG News, December 2010

Posted by Rampant Coyote on December 7, 2010

Welcome to the year-end indie RPG news for 2010!

Finding “news” on indie RPGs is a little like exploring a dungeon. Things may be hidden underground for a long time, so that by the time you discover them they  may no longer be anything close to new. But they are still news to the explorers, right?

Well, it works for me, at least. You guys are used to my lame intros, right? Anyway, here’s what I’ve managed to drag up to the surface this time:

Labyrinthica

Labyrinthica (man, that’s a tricky one to spell) is a single-player melee combat action game with similarities to roguelikes. The opening story in the video leaves something to be desired, but the gameplay looks pretty fun:

Check out Labyrinthica

Mark Leung: Revenge of the Bitch

I’d say this doesn’t sound like it qualifies for family-friendly fare. But this single-player RPG for Windows has you playing Mark Leung, “a selfish Communist and hapless Ginseng collector. He finds himself caught in a petty rivalry between two wacko religions — and haunted by his ex-girlfriend to boot. Help Mark as he battles cute, blood-spewing cats, unremorseful loltrolls and the gun-toting McFunny.”

It actually looks pretty impressive, if you don’t mind the style and humor.

Mark Leung: Revenge of the Bitch

Starpoint Gemini

RPGWatch has an interview with developer Little Green Men about their upcoming game that blends the starfaring of Elite-style games with an RPG system. You can check out the official website here:

Starpoint Gemini

Magical Diary

Hanako’s upcoming game is about attending a school for wizards and witches. While this may ring familiar with you if you happen to have followed an obscure series of books and movies, this RPG in Hanako’s usual manga-style promises to be different. In Magical Diary, you must learn spells, explore dungeons, and… get a date for the Prom. Yeah. I can tell right now that this one is going to be a guilty pleasure of mine. Besides the dungeon exploration image on the right, Hanako’s released some more screenshots from the game for our entertainment.

Magical Diary

Stick RPG 2

A free flash RPG (plus a premium, cool “Director’s Cut” version), Stick RPG 2 was developed by a team that included Rampant Games’ regular community-member, Eedok.  Congrats! The game is voluntarily rated “Mature,” so it is again not really family fare.  Featuring special abilities like “socially awkward interpretive dancer” and “warped mind,” it’s obviously a very serious, hardcore sim / RPG.

Play Stick RPG 2

Ella’s Hope

Ella’s Hope is a new(ish) casual jRPG-style game from Aldorlea Games and Eridani Games.  In a town where an ancient stone once marked a portal where angels and mortals met, you play a young girl with a mysterious past. Ella’s Hope offers seven playable characters and about thirty hours of gameplay.   Here’s a vid of the game opening:

You can download it and play it out here:

Download Ella’s Hope

Dead State

Doublebear is offering merch. Which will help fund development of this hotly anticipated (at least by me) RPG taking place during a zombie apocalypse.

Frayed Knights

Alpha testing continues.  Playability issues have taken first priority, and there have been a lot of ’em. Cosmetic issues (of which there are even more) have taken a secondary position.  In theory, alpha’s supposed to be more about fixing issues than implementing anything new, but there have been a few things that have fallen through the cracks that have been newly implemented or overhauled over the last six weeks:

• Changing party order
• Equipment / inventory system simplification
• Trap system simplification & expansion (yes, we simplified & expanded at the same time. Less breadth, more depth.)
• Spell system updates (mainly balance-related issues, so far).

Plus there has been a lot of “Fleshing out” of less well-developed areas of the game, particularly when it became apparent that players were getting lost on what to do next, or where activities were becoming too repetitive.

Telepath RPG: Servants of God

Sinister Design has announced that reduced-price pre-orders of Telepath RPG: Servants of God will become available next week. So here’s your chance to get it for almost 20% off.  In addition, you’ll be able to play the game-in-development early, and perhaps make your voice heard before everything is finalized.

That’s what I’ve got for now. Enjoy!

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