Interview with Patrick Casey, Developer of Voyage to Farland

I sat down (at my laptop) to speak with Patrick Casey, sole developer with Peculiar Games and developer of Voyage to Farland (a cute-but-hardcore, addicting roguelike that I reviewed).

I often see you refer to Mystery Dungeon or Shiren when you talk about Voyage to Farland. Were there any other inspirations for Voyage to Farland?

I probably mention Shiren TOO much when talking about Voyage to Farland! I guess I'm hoping to snag a few Shiren fans or at least get them interested in my game. Shiren was indeed the main inspiration. I'd seen Rogue, Nethack and so on, but nothing that brought those older ASCII games into the present with a modern graphical treatment. And Chunsoft does such a fantastic job with the design - they didn't just take a couple of ideas from Rogue and make a so-so game to generate a few bucks. Shiren's design is TIGHT - especially the revamped 2006 DS release (2008 for the English version).

I'd been playing Earthbound before I picked up Shiren, and I think a few elements (or at least atmosphere) worked their way into Voyage to Farland as well, more subconsciously than by design. Since I started working on Voyage when I lived in Japan, there's a Japanese cultural influence also with a few of the monsters: Oba (from Obatarian - the way Japanese people describe "battalions" of pushy middle-aged women), Oni (the Japanese word for demon), and the Maskboy monster which is influenced by the bouncing heads and the masked "No-Face" character in Miyazaki's film, "Spirited Away".

HE MENTIONED EARTHBOUND!!!! YES!!! Auto-awesomeness in my book.

Some of the weapons also reference actual blades manufactured in Seki, Japan (in Gifu Prefecture). But it's a very obscure & convoluted shout-out!

Wordspionage - Scrabble for Sneaky, Tricky Spies!

Note: I don't have any of the platforms this game is available for, so this information and excitement is taken purely from the game's app pages and the developer.




Wordspionage is Scrabble with special operations, special words and craziness aplenty. Boom, post done in one sentence! Have a great rest of your day everyone! :D

Seriously though, and don't get me wrong, I do like Scrabble... But there's only so much of coming up with random two letter words and trying to figure out what to do with a Q when there are no Us anywhere to be found. Since I've only recently gotten back into writing, my vocabulary has all but fallen apart, so looking at seven random letters typically leads me to coming up with words like "cow" or "hat" or other 3-letter words that children learn before second grade. Wordspionage, on the other hand, adds some much needed strategy for those who aren't masters of the dictionary.

FEEL THE WRATH OF MY Q!!!

Best of all, the game is free for iOS and Android, so get on it! And make sure you give Sterling and Madeline - the code names of the husband and wife development team - a challenge once you do!

Available For: iOS (FREE!), Android (FREE!)
Developed By: Napland Games
Game Homepage: www.Wordspionage.com

Humble Indie Bundle 11 - Guacamelee, Dust, Giana Sisters and The Swapper (Plus More!)

I managed to resist the Double Fine Humble Bundle and I resisted countless awesome bundles before that. Heck, I even managed to get through the Steam sale without a scratch, and hadn't purchased a single game this year. I regret to inform you, however, that the Humble Indie Bundle 11 has drawn first blood for 2014.

This is the first bundle (aside from publisher/developer-specific ones) where I actually recognized nearly all of the games in the bundle, and had heard great things about them. Guacamelee sold me on this one alone, but I'd also been very curious about Dust: An Elysian Tail and Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.

Updated from 3/1 11:58am Eastern time. Behold the updated awesomeness, now with Fez!

I'd also heard great things about Antichamber and Monaco: What's Yours is Mine, but couldn't justify the extra $3.56 for the two games when I've had car repairs to take care of for weeks now. For those of you other gamers on a budget, keep in mind that you can get Guacamelee! Gold Edition, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams and The Swapper for as little as $0.01 if you do the "custom amount", but you'll want to spend at least $1.00 to get the Steam keys as well at least the minimum so you can grab Fez too! Besides, the more you spend, the more goes to the developers, the charities and the awesome Humble Bundle site as well.

Update: I'd originally paid $1 to get the Steam keys, but then when the other games were unlocked, the addition of Fez was just too much to resist! Seriously, you HAVE to grab this bundle!

The Humble Indie Bundle 11 ends Tuesday, March 4th, so if you're at all interested, it would be wise to act quickly. Enjoy!

IndieDB's 2013 Indie of the Year Voting is Open

Do you have a favorite indie game of the year? Help the developer of it get some extra funding for creating even more awesomeness in the future by voting for them in the 2013 Indie of the Year Awards from IndieDB and Desura! They're giving out $15,000 to the winners total, any of which can go a long way with creating video games.

Indie Game: The Movie Sale

For those not familiar, Indie Game: The Movie is a really awesome movie about several indie game developers and some incredible moments along the way through the creation of their games. I haven't seen the movie since my birthday last year - it released June 12th, 2012 and my birthday is the 15th... I'd been psyched for it for months and it was the only thing I really wanted as a gift. I really need to watch it again and give it a proper review... But anyway, the movie is REALLY good and it's absolutely excellent for indie game developers, game players and makes a great way to introduce people who dislike games to the world of gaming. If you really want more info before you dive in, go check out the Wikipedia page.

FIVE hours of indie game developer awesomeness, plus lots of extra goodies? YES PLEASE!

Somehow, despite being a birthday gift a year and a half ago, I'm asking for it now again for Christmas. The original purchase was a download, and now it's moved on to DVD, Blu-Ray and even a special edition with OVER FIVE HOURS of footage! I'd absolutely love to see more about the developers and their stories!