Flood Warning… And, would you like to become a contributor to i-luv-games?

Not my dog… My dog is happier than a pig in shit regardless of flooding! This is actually a picture of me right now!

Sorry for the lack of updates friends.  Things have been slow going here because wouldn’t you know it, winter didn’t want to end without saying goodbye in a big way.  In fact, after a rather large flood watch in our area in light of flooding conditions across the quaint little province that I live in, we’ve been dealing with a partially flooded basement, a cracked foundation, and a number of other problems that would normally coincide with the joys of living in an older house anyway.  Needless to say, the frustration and anxiety experienced with such things makes the experience highly entertaining and quite a bit of fun, for the whole family!  << Read the definition of “Sarcasm” >>There’s nothing quite like a good flooding to make your heart sink…  and why not, haven’t you always wanted a pool in your basement?  What about the kind you can’t swim in, and that smells of musty old men!  How about 4 days of constant rain, ending with a full day of freezing rain to top off the beginning of Spring?  Sounds like Spring to me!  Oh ho ho, Mother Nature sure does have a sense of humour.  If I didn’t know any better I’d think my patience was being tested somehow.

Anyway, as annoying as this sort of thing can be, I am exaggerating quite a bit.  We don’t have it anywhere near as bad as many families around the world who do have to deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis.  A part of me does understand what those people are going through though and I truly sympathize with their situation and hope that in the end they are able to work their way through the troubling times.

Working through these sorts of problems that are for the most part, out of my control, make me thankful for everything that I do have.  These times remind me that even though I might be frustrated by a bit of flooding and the numerous repairs that need to be done to the house, some which needed to be done anyway due to the age of the house and regardless of weather conditions, that I need to remain thankful (and calm) because it could always be worse.

I just wanted to let you know that I’m still checking all of my email and marking all new emails, announcements and press releases that I receive in my inbox.  I also had a handful of new reviews that I wanted to publish but I’ve been far more distracted by recent events than I have been by gaming.  I’ll certainly be getting back to updating, slowly but surely.

Would you like to contribute to the site?  Please Read.

Part of the problem right now is that I don’t currently have any other contributors to the site either.  I should put it out there that if you’d like to help contribute to the site then please feel free to contact me.  I can create a guest account and provide you with links and even get you connected with a few of the friendly indie developers that are already out their trying to get their games noticed.  I really don’t care if you’re an amateur writer or not.  Really, all you need is an interest in video games, and a healthy understanding of reading and writing comprehension does make things easier, but aside from that I would also do the proof reading and even be able to provide the occasional review copy or code.  You can contribute press releases, reviews, or simply write an essay about a game you loved playing when you were a kid.  I’m pretty reasonable when it comes to subject matter as long as the subject involves games somehow.

I cannot pay someone to contribute to the site, especially since i-luv-games does not generate money.  The fact of the matter is, this site is a hobby of mine and my goal has always been to have a site that was clean, friendly, and ad-free / pop-up free.  Rather than try to compete with the plethora of other gaming news sites, I’ve always just wanted to keep things simple.  I’m a decent writer, and although I don’t consider myself a gaming journalist, I do think this site can, and does, provide some good gaming press for independently developed games.  Most importantly, I know that before everything else, I’m a long-time gamer – I’d put my knowledge of games and gameplay up against ANY gaming journalist out their.  I’ve been around since the beginning and in regards to being a gamer, I’ve pretty much seen it all.  If you’re passionate about gaming, or enjoy it immensely as a hobby, then you are welcome to contribute.  I can set up a guest account for a few interested readers / writers who can contribute as much or as little as they want (within reason of course) with absolutely no pressure.  All I ask is that contributors be honest and open minded to video games, particularly indie games and new gaming ideas.

To the game developers…

As always, if you have an announcement to make about your new game, an old game, or you’d like to share info about an update for your game, then by all means please contact me.  If you’re a friend of a developer and would like to help get the word out about their game then please feel free to use the contact form and send me the info regarding it.  I’ll do my best to bring some attention to it.  I do have a backlog of emails that I need to go through and gaming that I need to do, but I promise you that I read all my email and try to respond asap.  As things start to pick back up I’ll posting more and more articles.  It’s important to note that unlike other sites, I’m not only interested in new games.  I do enjoy learning, reading, and writing about newer games as they are released, but I love discovering older games that I haven’t heard of, seen, or tried.  So if you feel you have an interesting game, even if it’s a bit older, feel free to tell me about it and I’ll do my best to give it a try and post something about it and my experience with it.

If you’ve read this far…

Wow, thanks for reading this far…  I hereby present you with the “Distinction in Attention” award.  Who ever said that gamers can’t read and have the attention span of a hummingbird?  Obviously, we’ve proven them wrong.  ;-)

Now, if I’ve written anything that doesn’t make sense or just sounds silly then I’ll correct it tomorrow, because I’m hella tired and I need to get some sleep.  Cheers!

Show Me The Sales – indie game summer sale extravaganza!

The showmethegames.com summer sale is here! 32 Indie PC games will be discounted for the next 7 days at indie pc gaming site www.showmethegames.com. The full list of games and their discounts is on the sales page here:

http://www.showmethegames.com/sales.php

Unlike all the other indie sales and bundles, showmethesales is run entirely by developers with nobody taking any cut of the proceeds. The individual developers have all put their games on sale together, and all sales are made direct to the developers through their own indie websites. SMTG doesn’t earn a penny from it (it’s run by indie pc dev cliffski from positech games).

Games in the sale include Hegemony Gold, Defcon, Revenge of the titans and Voxatron, and loads more. ShowMeTheGames now lists over 90 PC indie games you can buy direct from the developers websites.

Key points:

  • 32 indie pc games on sale, direct from the developers
  • Sale runs from the 12th-18th may inclusive
  • 100% of the sales money goes straight to the pockets of the developers, with no middlemen.showmethesales_screenshot

The Last Door launches after successful Kickstarter

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After a successful Kickstarter, the Spanish development studio, The Game Kitchen, have been able to launch the pilot episode for their episodic adventure series titled The Last Door.  Filled to the brim with atmosphere and some of the most beautifully stylized pixel art and orchestral sound found in a point-and-click adventure game, The Last Door is a masterpiece of story, artwork, and design.  With the straight forward gameplay and engrossing atmosphere, you will find yourself immersed almost immediately in it’s spine tingling psychological horror story.

The Last Door will be free to play but The Game Kitchen is currently seeking donations to help fund future episodes of TLD.  Considering just how great the game is so far, I’m excited to see how awesome the entire series can become.  For players interested in making a donation through PayPal you can Pay What You Want, but there are a number of funding options that come with extra perks and benefits such as access to the entire series as it becomes available before anyone else, the original soundtrack, and earn yourself a spot in the exclusive Interactive Hall of Fame.  I highly recommend you head over to the official website for The Last Door and experience the chapter 1 “Teaser” for yourself.  It’s extremely well made and I can almost guarantee that it will immediately capture your imagination and have you hooked.

 

Starseed Pilgrim – available on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux

I should start by saying that there are very few games that will pique a gamers curiosity more than Starseed Pilgrim.  In fact, Starseed Pilgrim is a game that defies definition.  It’s not that the game is complex or meant for advanced players.  It’s simply the fact that this is a game that is meant to be played and learned while you are playing it.  It’s a game of adventure, platforming, exploration, but also a game of action, and even problem solving.  Starseed Pilgrim is also a game about destruction and creation.  Most of all, it’s just a hard game to describe without being able to show you how it works.  The thing is, the game works a little differently for everyone, and every new game can turn out differently, from one player to another.  Best of all, you’re going to feel differently about the game than I will, or anyone else for that matter.  Doesn’t that make you curious?

You can’t judge Starseed Pilgrim by it’s trailer or screenshots, and after playing the game for a while and then watching a few other people’s Let’s Plays on YouTube, I can safely say that the gameplay is open for interpretation.  There’s a healthy dose of exploratory gameplay and even some “aha!” moments, but that doesn’t mean that you or anyone else you know will have the same feeling or sense of wonder while playing Starseed Pilgrim.  All I can do is recommend that you go and try it for yourself.  The game packs plenty of replay value as each game is randomly generated.  More importantly, if you enjoy games that are different, unique, and that offer something rewarding for those who follow through with their curiosity, then you’ll appreciate how Starseed Pilgrim doesn’t do what every other game out there does.

Starseed Pilgrim can be purchased on Steam for the low, low price of $5.99.  The game is available across multiple platforms including Windows, Mac, and even Linux.  So what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and quench your curiosity.

Liquid chemistry based physics puzzler “Bloop” available for PC

Here’s a fun little brain teaser that should please and challenge puzzle game fans for a number of hours.  Bloop is a new game developed by 2StrokeDesign which features some interesting level design that can be both relaxing and a bit frustrating at times.  The idea behind Bloop is to fill containers with a colorful concoction called bloop.  The challenge is getting the bloop which is released from one of several pipes and then directing it to the appropriately coloured container.  The player must create platforms that redirect the bloop toward the container while maneuvering around a number of obstacles.  It looks and sounds easy at first, and admittedly the overall objective is simple, but only the first few levels are straight forward while the difficulty presented in later levels ramps up considerably.

Bloop can be played by all ages and it features a simple user interface that can be grasped by novices and veterans of the puzzle genre.  The difficulty will be in planning out how you’ll complete some levels with a limited amount of platforms and limitations in platform length, while working around numerous obstacles.

You should definitely check out Bloop if you enjoy giving your brain a good workout and love puzzle games.  The full game can be purchased through Desura for the reasonable price of $6.49.  You can get more info regarding Bloop on IndieDB and if you’re still on the fence in regards to purchasing the full game, then be sure to download the playable demo while you’re there.

Deadly Walkers seeks crowdfunding on Kickstarter and votes on Steam Greenlight

Zombies just don’t die.  You shoot them in the head, smash a crowbar through their skulls, or simply shove a stick of dynamite up their bum, and yet, they keep coming.  This is good news, at least for fans of the fast paced First-Person Zombie shooting genre.  Taking a queue from the ever popular Left 4 Dead series, Animantz and Dysotek studios have announced the upcoming release of their action packed zombie shooter titled Deadly Walkers.  Not to be confused with games based on The Walking Dead series, Deadly Walkers contains the type of zombies that attack in hordes and come running after you with incredible speed and ferocity.

Features:

  • Single mode and online multiplayer with humans vs zombies. (*)
  • 3D graphics with real animations in motion capture.
  • Actor voices and adrenalinic soundtrack for a terrifying play experience.
  • 9 levels to complete through the beautiful city of London.
  • Game based on an exciting and full of tension story with NPCs, main and secondary missions.
  • Gameplay full of horror, gore and death.
  • Hordes of zombies for a terrifying and breathless action.
  • Powerful melee and fire weapons to enjoy the zombies destruction experience.
  • Tons of achievements to unlock.
  • Worldwide leaderboard of the best players.
  • Text subtitles in 12 languages.
  • 100% DRM free.

Like what you see?  You can help with the development of Deadly Walkers by contributing to the Kickstarter project.  The base target is $20,000 with a number of stretch goals and numerous benefits for backers who pledge $10 dollars or more.  You can also help by up-voting the game via Steam Greenlight where Deadly Walkers can sit comfortably next to your library of other Steam games and other zombie hunting games such as the Left 4 Dead series!

Be sure to head over to the Deadly Walkers official website for more info, screenshots, videos and interviews.