The Watchlist: Slain!

Title: Slain!
Developer: Wolf Brew Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita
Releasing May 2015, consoles planned for September and December
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Prepare to be Slain! Our homage to the gory hack and slash games of the 80's and 90's. We promise stunning visuals with gore galore.

There's something so satisfying about playing a brutally difficult game. Be it Volgarr The Viking or Super Meat Boy, succeeding where you failed myriad times before, mastering a game's seemingly insurmountable challenge, is always rewarding. Slain! harkens back to the days of brutal games like Shadow of The Beast and Ghosts 'n Goblins, a lone hero against grotesque odds, across Gothic landscapes of blood and death.

At a glance, Slain stands out due to its lavishly detailed pixel art. Clouds drift above and fog rolls across the swamps and underbrush. Torch lights flicker and sway in the breeze. The otherworldly abodes of werewolves and spirits and undead beasts drip with blood, walls choked with vines. Gruesome creatures, from skeletons and witches to more dangerous horrors, are displayed in grisly detail, all decayed flesh and tattered clothes.

But Slain! promises more than just wonderfully-realized Gothic environments. As the reawakened hero Bathoryn, you must traverse these lands and free seven towers from the grip of their monstrous overlords. From the crimson halls of Blood Tower to the lupine effigies of the Wolfwoods, Bathoryn strikes down creatures with his sword and mana abilities, while also dealing with each tower's puzzles and deadly traps. Master your skills, know your enemies, or die.

Slain! is estimated to release on PC, Mac, and Linux in May, with console releases rolling out in the months to follow. You can learn more about Slain! on its official site and TIGSource devlog, as well as support the game on Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight.

The Watchlist: Strength of the Sword Ultimate

Title: Strength of the Sword Ultimate
Developer: Ivent Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing late 2015
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A Fighting game combined with a BRAWLER!  With a huge sword, rocket launcher and a FLAMETHROWER!The game is a 3D, third-person, arcade-style, action-game that combines the tactical and skill-based combat of a Fighter with the progression, overwhelming odds, and awesome boss battles of an old-school Brawler!

The two-man team behind Ivent Games is getting a second chance. Two years ago, they released their hard-as-nails 3D brawler Strength of the Sword 3 on PS3, where it slipped into obscurity. In their own words, they "were basically invisible in the store. We weren't even featured in the indie section." Now through the nature of Kickstarter, the developers hope to bring their game to PC, expanded far beyond that initial Playstation release.

Strength of the Sword is all about gameplay. The loose story of defeating an ancient evil is merely a framework for challenging, flashy combat against punishing enemies. Playing the PS3 version reveals a game where knowing your enemy, learning their patterns, mastering countering and parrying, when to block an attack and when to dodge then move in for a combo, is all critical to success. Button mashing is only a quick way to die; this isn't God of War. Mastering Strength of the Sword requires precision and practice. Rather than facing hordes of enemies, you only fight a few at a time, the challenge coming from handling each enemy's strengths and skills. Armed with a selection of swords, shields, support items like throwing knives and grenades, and your repertoire of combat maneuvers, you dance around your foes, rushing up with leaping stabs, deftly dodging and blocking, moving in to deliver combos and mana-charged attacks on staggered enemies. It's fast-paced, tough, and satisfying.

The Ultimate version seeking funding on Kickstarter expands on the game in myriad ways. More customization and new weapons in the campaign will allow for greater combat depth and online and split-screen co-op means you can tackle the increasingly challenging enemies alongside a friend. But the biggest additions are PvP and Dark Mode. The developer's plans for PvP sounds similar to the Nidhogg formula, as you and your opponent push back and forth across connected regions to reach the opposing player's castle. Dark mode expands on PvP by introducing the ability to enter matches as a Dark Swordsman, a powerful boss-like enemy with random and devastating abilities. 

Strength of the Sword Ultimate is estimated to release later this year. You can support the game now on Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight; the original PSN game is available for $4.99 on the Playstation Store.

The Watchlist: Phantasmal

Title: Phantasmal
Developer: Eyemobi
Platforms: PC
Releasing 2015
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The crux of horror games is the unknown, never being able to rely on your previous experiences. Welcome to the world of Phantasmal, a procedurally generated game that will feel like a new experience every single time!

Ah...horror games. The thrill of good scare, tensing in your seat, that creeping dread. If there's one flaw, it's that once you've died or restarted at a checkpoint, you know what to expect; the scare has lost its potency if you're expecting it. Phantasmal hopes to sidestep that by blending first person horror with procedurally generated levels. Set in an university plagued by some Lovecraftian evil, you play as Vietnam war veteran John Hope. Drawn into the haunted place by dark voices, John finds himself in a struggle for survival and sanity against nightmarish creatures, Armed with impromptu melee weapons like pipes and brooms or perhaps the rare gun, you'll also need to fend off the darkness with limited flares and your flashlight. The most unique aspect of Phantamal is its procedurally generated levels, meaning new layouts, new enemy and weapon placements every time you play. However, there will be a persistent element, through earned XP that allows you to upgrade John between playthroughs.

Phantasmal is currently aiming to be released mid-2015; you can download early alpha demo here. Learn more about Phantasmal on its official site, support the game on Kickstarter, or vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

Quick Fix: Kickstarters to back, Sites to follow

A few current Kickstarters worth a look

I've been managing the 2014 Kickstarter thread on NeoGAF since Feburary, so I tend to be aware of a lot of interesting project. 2014' s been pretty great, with a lot of successes (Rain World, Kingdom Come, DUELYST, Hover, and many more) as well as many Kickstarters coming to fruition and finally releasing (most recently Shovel Knight, Divinity: Original Sin, Wasteland 2). Here are several on-going campaigns that I feel are worth checking out:

Flagship

Flagship is a single player real-time strategy game set on a galactic scale, played from a first person perspective.

Reassembly

Spaceship building and combat game. Dynamic spaceship ecosystem. Explosions.

That Which Sleeps

That Which Sleeps is a re-imagining of the God Game. Take the role of an awakened evil and manipulate a living, reactive world.

Phantasmal

An old school, endless horror game with new school technology where every playthrough will be a guaranteed unique experience.

Great sites to follow

Cue Indie Review - This blog regularly offers well-written impressions; I've been sold on more than a few games thank to the reviews here.

Warpdoor - Perhaps the best piece to find intriguing freeware games to play.

Pixelated Paradise - An excellent source of IOS indies, with daily articles listing under-the-radar and notable releases. 

The Watchlist: Noct

Title: Noct
Developer: Chris Eskins
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2015
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Noct is a 2D top-down multiplayer survival horror game that blends arcade combat with RPG survival elements. You are a survivor of the apocalyptic purge that formed the desolate wasteland now known as Noct. Explore a ruined world filled with ancient nightmarish creatures from a time long forgotten.

Seen through the grainy muted display of a thermal imaging satellite, Noct tasks you with traversing and surviving procedurally generated landscapes filled with monstrous beasts. It's a survival horror action game; while you may be armed with guns and melee weapons, the roaming creatures are relentless and ruthless and fleeing may often be the better option. Elements such hunger, hydration, and fortifying locations will also play a role, as the player scavenges for food and supplies. The developer plans to not have a heavy focus on survival mechanics, but rather for supplies to act as currency for trading. You won't have to face Noct's terrors alone; the game will feature online co-op so you can explore and fight enemies with a friend.

But even a friend may not be enough to protect you from Noct's nightmarish otherworldly creatures. Personally it's the creature designs that drew me to the game; the slow predatory movements, the washed-out glow of the eyes, the hulking size compared to your small human. From swarms of spiders and burrowing worms to creeping sinewy...things lurking within building interiors and massive room-filling bosses, Noct's bestiary promises a diverse array of monsters to flee and fight.

Noct will be released mid-2015. You can learn more about Noct on its official site, and support the game on Kickstarter (currently 117% funded with 70 hours left) or vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

The Watchlist: Cavern Kings

Title: Cavern Kings
Developer: Vine
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing late 2014
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Inspired by action-packed games like Vlambeer's "Super Crate Box" and the increasing difficulty aspects in "Risk of Rain", Cavern Kings aims to explode with special effects in classical arcade fashion and create interesting synergies with its powerup system.

Cavern Kings isn't coy about its inspirations. Risk of Rain, Super Crate Box, even a little Spelunky, the influences are clear but Cavern Kings doesn't feel like a ripoff or derivative. I lost an hour to the beta; this is a fun challenging action platformer with a lot of potential and promise.

In Cavern Kings, you have one destination: down. Armed with randomly selected ranged and melee  weapons, you tunnel your way through the ground into increasingly difficult arenas, filled with enemies and hazards of all kinds. Collects gems and gold from crates and defeated enemies allow you to unlock chests, maybe granting you a new power up or a new weapon to the overall armory. Similar to Risk of Rain, power-ups stack, so an especially successful run might end with your guy able to triple jump, fire missiles at random, be protected by a shield, or countless other permutations. Take too long, and a massive grinder begins descending from above, forcing you to move on or die.

Gameplay is fast paced and frantic, as you desperately evade and shoot the enemies encroaching from all sides, blast flying worms out of the air, decimate the arena with TNT, jump over saw blades and spikes. Your arsenal is varied and satisfying to use, from the blade-throwing Sawdriver and Nailgun to the ground-pounding Kinetic Fist. Even the Shovel is an effective weapon; each feels different, requires different strategies, and the power-ups only allow for more diverse play styles. 

Cavern Kings is currently in beta, with more enemies, playable characters, weapons, power-ups, levels, and bosses to come. You can download the beta here, support the game on Kickstarter, and vote for Cavern Kings on Steam Greenlight.

The Watchlist: TerraTech

Title: TerraTech
Developer: Payload Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2015
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Design and build vehicles out of modular blocks. Fight enemies, discover new parts and corporations, and harvest natural resources.

I first learned about TerraTech while browsing through the Screenshot Saturday page a few weeks ago and was instantly intrigued by the hulking vehicles and interesting art style. If you've seen games like Scraps, Kerbal Space Program, or Mobiloid, you know the basics here: a wide variety of parts to use, build any kind of vehicle you want. While Scraps focuses on multiplayer arena combat, TerraTech has a much more ambitious expansive scope. Set in open procedurally-generated environments, you set out from your base, gathering resources, taking control of territories from different factions, create more powerful fleet of vehicles to command and to protect your base, and add to your own vehicle with new parts and weapons. From drills and spikes to lasers and cannons, you'll need a powerful arsenal to defend yourself against enemy vehicles; with the right parts, you can even take the skies and attack from above. This focus on exploration and single player sets TerraTech apart from other vehicle-building games, and even more promising, multiplayer is also planned.

The current demo build offers several challenges and an environment where you can explore, build, and fight, and even at an early stage, TerraTech shows a lot of promise. The vehicles look cool and feel powerful and it's fun to just augment and improve your simple starting creation into a massive, menacing beast of a machine. You can learn more about TerraTech and download the demo here. TerraTech is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.

The Watchlist: Twin Souls

Title: Twin Souls: The Path of Shadows
Developer: Lince Works
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2015
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Twin Souls combines the essence of stealth classics like Tenchu with the modern approach of recent gems like Mark of the Ninja and Dishonored.

In November, I wrote about the freeware student project Path of Shadows. It was a third person stealth game, set in a cel-shaded landscape, granting you mastery over the shadows as a mystical assassin. It was a short experience, but fun, unique, and very promising. Thankfully that promise won't be squandered, as the team at Lince Works has taken what worked in the original prototype and expanded it into a full-length spiritual successor, Twin Souls: The Path of Shadows.

Much remains the same. You're still an assassin with the mystical ability to control shadows, allowing you to teleport between patches of darkness, use the shadows to swallow corpses, and strike from impossible angles.Twin Souls promises to expand on and evolve what made the prototype so fun: large multi-tiered environments; a larger array of shadow powers that let you traverse rooftops, create decoys, and more; more varied enemies such as archers and other mystical foes. The stylish cel-shaded aesthetic returns as well. While many current stealth games focus on making you more powerful and well-equipped, a silent predator stalking his prey, Twin Souls finds inspiration in games such as Tenchu and Splinter Cell; you're outnumbered, easily overpowered in direct combat, and you have the option to remain an unseen ghost or take down your foes one-by-one.

Twin Souls: The Path of Shadows is currently planned to release in 2015. You can support the game on Kickstarter; it has already been Greenlit.

The Watchlist: A Song For Viggo

Title: A Song For Viggo
Developer: Simon Karlsson
Platforms: PC
2015, In development
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A point and click-game made of real paper, about a parent who accidentally kills his son Viggo. This game is about the aftermath.

I've always considered video games to be the most versatile form of entertainment, able to immerse and engross the player in a story and atmosphere in ways not possible with books, TV, or film. A Song For Viggo's subject matter is heavy, bleak, an exploration of depression and loss and grief. It's not the kind of premise you'd expect in a game, or even a movie for that matter. It drops you into a life shattered by the death of a child, and the roller coaster of emotions that follow. Keep your broken family together, while also struggling with the aftermath of this tragedy, making decisions and choices both big and small.

But the powerful narrative isn't the only reason A Song For Viggo deserves your attention. From the haunting piano score to the meticulously-handcrafted paper art style, the game is truly unique in terms of aesthetic and visual atmosphere.

A Song For Viggo is still in alpha, with a tentative release set for mid-2015. You can support the game on Kickstarter.

SitRep: SuperHOT

Title: SuperHOT
Developer: SuperHOT Team
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Currently on Kickstarter, Summer 2015 release
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SuperHOT was one of my favorite indies of 2013. While only a short prototype developed for the 7DFPS challenge, it was a promising game that combined stylish minimalist art with a unique "time moves when you move" mechanic, turning shootouts into art in motion and a puzzle action as you weaved between bullets and planned around your limited ammo. It was a project just begging to be expanded and explored further...and thankfully the developers thought the same. SuperHOT is back, bigger and more stylish than ever before.
The innovative mechanics and oh-so-satisfying gunplay remains intact, but the appearance and scope has evolved and matured. The minimal art has been upgraded to a textured, more detailed look that retains the contrasting red-on-white color scheme of the original. The gameplay has seen similar growth, promising a larger arsenal of guns and explosives, smarter and varied enemies, an endless arena mode, and Oculus Rift support. Perhaps what's most exciting about this expanded SuperHOT is the developer's vision for new levels: "shootout in a subway train, showdown on the top of a skyscraper in rain, jumping into a moving elevator...fighting in the middle of a motorway during rush hour." No longer will SuperHOT's action be confined to corridors and simple rooms, but expanded to visceral scenarios that rival the best action scenes.

Oh, and swords. You can slice bullets in half with a sword. 

SuperHOT is currently seeking funds on Kickstarter (almost 50% funded in only a few hours!). You play the original prototype here.

The Watchlist: Hover: Revolt of Gamers

Title: Hover: Revolt of Gamers
Developer: Fusty Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, PS4, Xbox One
Releasing 2015
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Between the crazy Jet Set Radio, the interactivity of Mirror's Edge and inspired by films like "The Fifth Element" or "Star Wars", Hover let you play as a Gamer Team from another world, appalled at the dictatorship in their city.

Take Mirror's Edge, Jet Set Radio, mix with the towering sci-fi cityscapes of The Fifth Element, add multiplayer, and you get Hover: Revolt of Gamers. A first/third-person parkour game set across the bustling districts of a futuristic alien city, Hover combines free-flowing acrobatics with tricks and stunts in an open world.

Set in a video game-hating dystopia, you're the member of the Gamer resistance, helping citizens, tracking down secret warehouses of confiscated consoles, and fleeing police drones. Equipped with a high-tech suit, the sky is the limit as you leap across rooftops, grind along rails, slide along walls, pull off flips and stunts while fluidly racing through the city. Hover can be played from both a Mirror's Edge-inspired first person perspective (complete with Oculus Rift support!) and a third-person view to better admire the animations and stunts. But chaining high-flying combos across the city and through hover traffic is always better with friends, and Hover promises to also offer seamless online multiplayer, allowing you to race and compete in co-operative and competitive modes.

Hover: Revolt of Gamers just oozes potential and promise, from its vibrant colorful visuals and its fluid open-world parkour to its ambitious cities and multiplayer. You can learn more about the game on IndieDB and support it on Kickstarter. The campaign is already more than fifty percent funded in less than two days, and stretch goals include new characters, new game modes, a bigger game world, a full soundtrack from Jet Set Radio's composer Hideki Naganuma, and a Wii U version.

Hover was Greenlit in February.

SitRep: Prisonscape

Title: Prisonscape
Developer: Heaviest Matter
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Currently Kickstarting, late 2014 release
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Prisonscape was among the first games I previewed all the back in September. Now the RPG is aiming for a December release and progressed leaps and bounds since last fall.

Prisonscape is an adventure RPG set, not in a sci-fi future or the grand halls of some fantastical world, but in the gritty grimy corridors of prison. Through bloody violence, sharp tongue, intimidation, intelligence, or a combination of all those elements, you must navigate the various gangs, the racial factions, the guards, friends and foes alike to endure prison life. While the gameplay discussed in the last preview remains intact, new details have emerged. The player will progress from county jail to state-of-the-art Miranda Unit, followed by two other areas. Crafting is far more realistic than other games, a layered deep process even to make something as simple as a basic shiv. Drug addiction and withdrawal, working with guards as a snitch, the ever-looming threat of a cell shakedown, Prisonscape promises to offer a "gritty, uncompromising atmosphere", compared to other prison games such as The Escapists or Prison Architect.

Prisonscape is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. You can also vote for the game on Steam Greenlight. If you're going to be PAX East this weekend, the developers will be showcasing the game there as well.

The Watchlist: Four Sided Fantasy

Title: Four Sided Fantasy
Developer: Ludo Land
Platforms: PC
Releasing early 2015
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From the level designer of Perspective comes a successor to his award-winning game The Fourth Wall, a game about limits of the screen.

The first thing about Four Sided Fantasy that caught my attention was its dev team, since it composed of DigiPen students. From games like Nitronic Rush (and its successor Distance) to Perspective, DigiPen talent has proven to always deliver innovative quality experiences. Actually it was DigiPen students who developed Narbacular Drop and TAG: The Power of Paint, two indie games that inspired the acclaimed Portal series. Not only that, but the level designer of Perspective is developing the game; Perspective remains one of my favorite freeware games, a mindbending mix of 2D platforming and 3D perspective that I don't believe has been attempted since. It's those factors that attracted me to Four Sided Fantasy, a puzzle platformer about screen wrap.

Four Sided Fantasy is the successor to developer's Logan Fieth's freeware game The Fourth Wall. The core mechanic is the ability to manipulate screen wrap. At any time, you can freeze the screen, allowing you to loop around the edges. Something as simple as screen wrap might seem like it would be difficult to craft a diverse game around, but playing The Fourth Wall proved otherwise, using that mechanic to create a variety of interesting puzzles and challenges. Four Sided Fantasy builds off that original version, introducing vibrant colorful visuals and a story of discovery and exploration as a seemingly normal business trip turns into something more mysterious. The trailer hints at new mechanics, such as gravity fields and moving between background and foreground.

Four Sided Fantasy will be released in early 2015. You can support the game on Kickstarter and vote for it on Steam Greenlight. Play the original prototype The Fourth Wall here, as well as Perspective.

The Watchlist: Serpent in the Staglands

Title: Serpent in the Staglands
Developer: Whalenought Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing late 2014
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The vision for Serpent in the Staglands is a mix of the addictive build customization of ARPGs and party control and role-playing elements of games like Baldur's Gate and Darklands. A throwback to cRPGs of the past with fresh new role playing designs and combat mechanics.

Set in the cold mystical forests of the Staglands, Serpent in the Staglands is an isometric real time action RPG. Playing as the moon deity Necholai given human form, you must gather your party and venture out into a dangerous landscape of expansive wilderness and grand halls. The core of the gameplay is combat: real time party control, with the ability to pause and issue commands, designing varied builds with dozens of skills, magic types, and gear, micromanaging your team and planning strategies in the thick of battle. Perhaps most appealing to me is the game's wonderful pixel style, that combines detailed designs with vibrant effects and crafting atmospheric environments.

Serpent of the Staglands will be released in late 2014. You can learn more about the game here and support it on Kickstarter (funding goal achieved).

The Watchlist: Grave

Title: Grave
Developer: Broken Window Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2015
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Grave is a first person, open world survival horror experience. Explore an ever-changing world filled with frightening creatures. Grave is a hybrid of environmental exploration and combative horror, creating constant tension as the player balances exploration and survival. Our goal is to revitalize the survival horror genre with modern techniques seen in current horror games, while retaining the survival and inventory elements of classic titles.

Grave is an upcoming survivor horror game set in a surrealist nightmare. You awaken on a mysterious desert plain, an endless landscape that shifts with each sunrise. Inspired by the work of Salvador Dali, this world is ever changing, new areas, biomes, and structures appearing with each passing day. From ruined cities and displaced forests to a sudden downpour, you can never be prepared for what weird misplaced area appears over the horizon.

But this world isn't void of danger. Otherworldly beings emerge as night falls and light is your only defense against these grotesque enemies. While this may bring to mind Alan Wake, Grave puts an interesting twist on the mechanic by offering a variety of tools from flashlights and flares to matches and gasoline and making each enemies behave differently to light. Some are easily destroyed, others are merely stunned, while others are attracted to the illumination.

I was able to play the early press demo and even at this early stage, Grave delivers a tense atmosphere. Roaming the windswept plains as haunting music plays. Stumbling upon a derelict town when night falls, a flickering match your only illumination in the suffocating black as an unearthly shriek pierces the darkness. The satisfaction of finding a generator or a gas can, or setting a patch of gas aflame with a flare to kill an approaching creature. Finding some mysterious object out in the world where there was just empty plains the night before. Grave is already scary and fun, and the creatures, weapons, and environments to come will only flesh out the game's solid foundation.

You can learn more about Grave's development on IndieDB, support the project on Kickstarter, and vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

The Watchlist: Lemma

Title: Lemma
Developer: Evan Todd
Platforms: PC (potentially Mac, Linux)
Releasing 2014
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Lemma is an immersive first-person parkour game. Every parkour move has the potential to modify the environment. Surfaces pop in and out of existence at will.

At a glance, the game Lemma probably brings to mind is Mirror's Edge. However while both feature first person parkour, one let the player loose among stark dystopian streets and rooftops while Lemma drops the you in an abstract landscape where the environment itself can help or hurt you. In Lemma, you play Joan Emerson, a physics student who enters this mysterious world and soon finds herself unraveling its secrets. It's a semi-open world, spreading out from a hub that lets you choose which areas to explore in what order you want.

Besides the parkour and abstract levels, what makes Lemma fun and interesting is how the environment reacts to your presence and how you can affect the environment. Your influence is probably most apparent; by wall-running or sliding off edges, you create a surface to continue moving, and later you gain the ability to select structures as you move as shown in the GIF above. But the environment is always your friend. From dangerous turrets and virus-like red material that spreads across the level to explosive cubes that hone in on your or throw parts of the level at you, there's a wealth of hazards to deftly evade with your superior movement.

Lemma is still in alpha, but is quite playable; you can download the alpha here to get a feeling of the gameplay and world. The developer is working on new content and additions, such as blocks that expand at your touch, switches that allow for machinery like elevators, and improved animations. You can learn more about Lemma here and on TIGForums, support the game on Kickstarter, and vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

The Watchlist: Zaharia

Title: Zaharia
Developer: Inner Void
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing late 2015
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Zaharia is an RPG with an oriental and middle eastern flavored setting, inspired by Middle East cultures charm and made with care to be original but, at the same time, plausible and convincing.The player will be able to create his own character and use him freely, writing his own story in the world of Zaharia without neither compromises nor constraints. While exploring the game’s world, the player will discover its centuries-old history, and will come in contact with a world radically different from the ones inspired to European Middle-Age.

In the vein of Fallout, Underrail, and the like, Zaharia is an isometric turn based action RPG. But what makes the game stand out is its setting and premise. This is far from the ruined worlds of those games or Wasteland; it's a realistic fantasy world inspired by Middle Eastern culture and architecture. This is a world on the brink of leaving the mystic ways behind and entering a industrial and technological revolution. The deserts and sprawling cities hold many opportunities to build your skills and more importantly build your reputation and define your character. Stealth and taking enemies by surprise to gain an advantage is just as important as smart dialogue choices. The combat promises to be equally realistic, casting you not as an all-powerful warrior, but a skilled combatant who can easily be overpowered if cornered and outnumbered. NPC members have beliefs of their own and may even reject your orders if it clashes with their values. And they will remember your action and decisions, so your reputation and the factions you support will play a critical role in the missions you can undertake and their outcomes.

Based on the prototype demo, Zaharia has great promise and potential. While I enjoyed the gameplay, it was the atmosphere and world that was most intriguing and it's a world I'd like to see more of. You can learn more about Zaharia here, vote for it on Steam Greenlight, and support the game on Kickstarter.

The Watchlist: Classroom Aquatic

Title: Classroom Aquatic
Developer: Sunken Places
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Late 2014
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Classroom Aquatic is the world's first trivia/stealth game. Players play as an exchange student in a school of dolphins, taking a test that the player is in no way prepared for. They must resort to cheating in order to pass it!

Classroom Aquatic is quite literally about a school of dolphins. Basing a game on a pun might seem like it would have little substance for an experience, but Classroom Aquatic takes the premise and runs with it, promising to deliver a weird game with a unique core mechanic. The framework is that you're a human exchange student in this submerged school and to pass the absurdly hard exams, you need to cheat. Playing the demo (available here), I was impressed by the atmosphere and how fun the gameplay was. The surreal tone adds to the enjoyment, but the game itself has a solid foundation to build on, as you cautiously peek at your fellow students' tests, watch the teacher's path for the best moment to glance over, and time distractions with thrown erasers. While I only played with a mouse and keyboard, I imagine the experience would be even more immersive and absurd with an Oculus Rift.

 While the demo is understandably bare bones, the developers plan to build on the gameplay with more environments and game modes, such a Detention where you must prevent other students from cheating off your test by tricking them with wrong answers or Science Fair which tasks you with sabotaging other science projects without getting caught. You can learn more about Classroom Aquatic at the official site, vote for it on Steam Greenlight, and support the project on Kickstarter.

The Watchlist: Olympia Rising

Title: Olympia Rising
Developer: Paleozoic
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
In development, potential 2014 release
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Olympia Rising is a 2D Action Adventure game reminiscent of the best 16-bit classics. Lush pixel graphics and fluid animation bring this ancient Greek-inspired world to life as you jump, climb, slash, and blast your way through various regions of the Underworld. Taking inspiration from beloved titles like Castlevania, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Kid Icarus, Olympia Rising delivers an exciting, action-filled experience

Olympia Rising puts you in control of the young heroine Iola, as you travel through the depths and layers of Hades to reach the surface and find the answer for her awakening. This monumental journey is fraught with danger and powerful enemies, but armed with your weapons, magic, and movement skills, you'll be able to overcome the perils that await. Playing the browser demo, I found that even in this early stage, the game certainly excels in delivering a polished fun experience. The visuals are charming, the animations smooth and fluid. Same can be said for the combat, as you explore the caverns and ruins of the Underworld, striking down its otherworldly denizens. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect is when you build a smooth flow through an area, leaping from one enemy to the next, tripling jumping around platforms to continue your chain. It just feels satisfying and the solid responsive controls means such skill rests in the player's own ability. Olympia Rising is a game that should appeal to the fans of speed-running, platformers, the thrill of moving through an environment with swiftness and precision, as well as fans of exploration and old school challenge.

Olympia Rising is a fun challenging game that promises to mix exploration with a blend of precision platforming and combat. You can follow its progress on the developer's blog, support the game on Kickstarter, and vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

*Now I don't always advocate for specific games, but Olympia Rising is a game with a solid promising foundation and great potential and it desperately needs support for the last leg of its Kickstarter. The campaign only has 3 days left and needs to achieve 30% more funding to reach its goal. Please give the browser demo a try and consider giving the game your support on Kickstarter.

The Watchlist: Darkest Dungeon

Title: Darkest Dungeon
Developer: Red Hook Studios
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Releasing 2015
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Darkest Dungeon is a hard-core RPG about the stresses of dungeon crawling. You will lead a band of four heroes on a perilous side-scrolling descent, dealing with a prodigious number of threats to their bodily health, and worse, a relentless assault on their mental fortitude! Five hundred feet below the earth you will not only fight unimaginable foes, but famine, disease, and the stress of the ever-encroaching dark. Darkest Dungeon focuses on the humanity and psychological vulnerability of the heroes and asks: What emotional toll does a life of adventure take?

Most gamers are probably no stranger to the dungeon crawler. It's a classic genre, seen in myriad forms and styles, but the upcoming Darkest Dungeon plans to approach the genre from an unexplored angle, the human angle. What would happen to the mind and body as you bled, toiled, endured the dank darkness filled with unearthly horrors?

I've been describing the game as "The Road" of dungeon crawlers, and I think that best sums up the Red Hook's take on the genre. Presented in a gothic 2D style, your team of four warriors venture into the claustrophobic dungeons, facing danger and death at every turn. Combat is turn based and strategic, as you focus on team structure and maximizing your advantages while limiting disadvantages. Yes, disadvantages; Darkest Dungeon isn't just about the combat and exploration, but also the psychological toll it takes on your team. That's where The Road comparison comes in; like McCarthy's book, Darkest Dungeon plans to delve into the bleak emotional damage your actions cause, as fear, madness, disease, and the dynamics between your group members threaten to leave you all dead in the dark corridors. Resting at campfires or taking a much-needed rest in town may be able quell these encroaching dangers, but how much can your team take before they break?

Darkest Dungeon is planned to be released sometime in. You can learn more at its official site and support the game on Kickstarter.