The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel & Pixel are two games you wouldn't expect to come from 2K, but they certainly seem to be the kind of titles you might be compelled to pay a little extra for. P.B. Winterbottom is a stylish platformer in which the titular character bends time and space in order to steal pie, and if a nobler pursuit exists then I don't know what it is. This award-winning game from developer The Odd Gentlemen was originally created as a University of Southern California student thesis project.

Axel & Pixel, developed by Czech Republic developer Silver Wish Games, is a classic point and click adventure game with lush, hand-drawn visuals.

Why these two titles?

"At 2K, we look to support talented independent video game developers and discover ways of bringing their work to the mass market," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom and Axel & Pixel are passion projects for us. We saw the potential and the talent in these two unique and bold concepts, and are thrilled to be able to provide these developers with the support to create compelling games without altering their distinct visions."

For a better look at both titles, visit the websites I cleverly embedded within this article, or visit next week's Penny Arcade Expo, where @K Play will be showing off both titles to the public.

A panel of industry judges has narrowed down a list of 226 entries to 15 of the best independent games of last year, and now they want your votes to determine which of them goes home with the Audience Award at the 11th annual Independent Games Festival, held in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference laster this month in San Francisco. This year features quite a lovely selection of titles, with entries coming from Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Community Games, and the PlayStation Network, along with the usual PC suspects.

But who to vote for? Do you choose the charming platforming of Twisted Pixel's The Maw? Perhaps the simple complexity of Q-Games' PixelJunk Eden? I am leaning towards You Have To Burn the Rope from Kian Bashiri, but there are quite a few games on the list I've not tried yet. Luckily the official voting page contains links to download and try most of them out, so even if you have no opinion you suddenly have a slew of new games to try out.

2009 Independent Games Festival Games: Main Competition Audience Award [IGF]

Hothead Games, the developers behind the Penny Arcade Adventures series, is teaming up with other indie developers to help bring their games to new platforms so they can focus on development. They'll be helping Jonathan Blow bring Braid to Mac users, while delivering Twisted Pixel's Xbox Live Arcade title The Maw to Windows PCs.

"We focus on finding new distribution opportunities so that they can focus on what they do best: developing their next great game," said Hothead Games COO Joel DeYoung. "These two titles represent only the tip of the iceberg. We're committed to working with indies and helping them be successful, so look for lots more announcements to come."

This is an excellent example of the kind of comraderie you find among independent developers. Let's hear it for the little guys!

Worried that the $19.95 price point for the PC version of the popular and innovative Xbox Live Arcade title Braid would keep PC gamers from purchasing the title upon it's release next month, Blow quickly leapt into action, explaining that attracting new players was more important than money at this point.

I don't care that much about the PC release price. The XBLA version was nicely profitable, and my goal with the PC release is mainly to get the game out to a wider audience. Sure, it would be nice to earn the optimal amount of money from that release - I have interesting ideas for games that I want to make in the future, and making games is very expensive, and I will probably have to hire people to help! But ultimately, I would rather have people talking about the game itself, what they like and dislike about it, than about how many American Fiat Currency Dollars it costs.

While I believe Braid is worth every penny of the original price, I suppose it's nice of Blow to give PC gamers a little break. Perhaps they'll pay him back in kind by buying the game in enormous quantities.

Meanwhile, Stardock has announced that they will be honoring the lowered price point, with anyone who preordered the game at $19.95 only being charged the reduced $14.95 price. Good for them!

Braid for the PC is now $15. [Braid]

The official title of Dejobaan's base-jumping PC title, due out sometime this year, is AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard for Gravity. I am never typing that out again. We'll just call it Aaaa! for now. Aaaa! is a sleek and stylish look at the dangerous sport of base jumping, in which players jump off of buildings, negotiating a tangle of girders wowing the crowd below, while remembering to open their parachute before they die horribly, with bonuses for flipping off spectators on the way down.

Having played their last game exhaustively and enjoying the hell out of it, I have great faith in Dejobaan t deliver a quality PC gaming experience. They're just going to have to do something about that damn name.

Check out the first screens and a prototype trailer from the game below, or visit the official game website for more information.

Actually Dreamspike calls Space War Commander a real-time real-strategy game, and then really doesn't go into great detail explaining why. Apparently it has something to do with the fact that instead of building bases and resources as fast as possible, you instead use what you have strategically to outwit the situations you find yourself in. From their website:

No repetitive engagements, instead, clever ploys. In one level you might rush behind the enemy to cut them off early from a valuable planet they thought was secure or send your trading fleet on a daring run through occupied space.

So it's a game where you have to use actual strategy instead of overwhelming numbers. It sounds incredibly nifty, even if it looks a bit dated. It al comes down to gameplay then. I see nothing about the price on their website, but the web page does say to be on the lookout for a demo, so you won't have to buy blind. You won't find much in the press release below, but you'll definitely find a wealth of information on the developer's website.

Space War Commander Launches New Year's Day (Jan 1, 2009).

Your Mind Against the Universe

Fort Wayne, IN December 26, 2008 // New developer Dreamspike Studios (dreamspike.com) announces the upcoming release of Space War Commander, an independent game that changes the face of Real Time Strategy.

Set in a universe that no longer needs humans, Space War Commander challenges you to trade cargo, hunt ships, and seize control of planets and asteroids. Bypassing repetitive base building common to other games, you must weave a strategy from simple threads like outwitting pirates, cutting off enemy supplies and hitting the enemy where they are weakest. Command a variety of ship types against vastly superior forces. Come out victorious from the hairiest space battles using creative tactics. Space War Commander pits your mind against the universe.

Features:

Defeat pirates, mercenaries, and regulars with your hand-picked force of Assassin ships, Scavengers and more.
Conquest Mode: 30 challenging galaxies, 7 different races, an original, thought-provoking story and a fresh musical score.
Gauntlet Mode: Money carries over between maps, 8 types of gauntlets, and an infinite variety of galaxies.
You can play Space War Commander for years but finish an average game in less than 15 minutes!
Run blockades, command surprise attacks, disrupt enemy plans, play one faction against another, and crush your foes with an uncountable number of your own creative strategies.

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Offworld offers up an alternate list of 2008's best and brightest, titles that are either "indie," overlooked or both. That includes games like No More Heroes, the ArtStyle WiiWare release Rotohex and the iPhone release Crosswords. Hey, there's even an N-Gage game on the list!

The good news is that this year's indie and supposedly overlooked titles are very familiar to, at the very least, me. Games like Castle Crashers, Braid and PixelJunk Eden may not have sold as well as the year's multi-platinum blockbusters, but they certainly got plenty of coverage here.

The Offworld 20: 2008's Best Indie & Overlookedhttp://www.offworld.com/2008-offworld-20-01.html [Offworld]

Estamos Pensando [We Are Thinking] [wall jump explained]

He knew the capabilities were there. The early iterations of Spore in the EA Advanced Weapons Labs had showed the way. But the cost... they’d had to nuke an escaped Brian Crecente on the corner of 4th Avenue and Broadway. Only a clumsy Gawker clone and a Sims expansion pack which wiped the knowledge of that intersection from the public mind had ensured the cover up. His favourite noodle house had been on that corner. Really great noodles ....

He wondered if he should arrange another attempt on Stephen Totilo – the wounds from the Desktop Tower Defense debacle were still fresh. But it was the little guys who were causing the real problems: penetration attacks from TIGSource were getting more common every day and Stallman still lived, protected by the Dckx mafia, despite that outrageous price on his head. He could feel the sand slipping through his fingers like goo through a pipe. How could he identify the next big thing if he couldn’t even see the potential in his own staff?

As Doull says in a comment below the 'review,' "Despite what I wrote, this isn't a specific dig at EA or the game industry. It was more a 'isn't it a great opportunity to be an independent developer, because the tools are now out there to not have to worry about the low level stuff anymore'." It's worth a read just for the mental image of a clone Crecente and a destroyed corner in New York City. Long live the indie game.

Review: World of Goo [Ascii Dreams via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The festival takes place at Open Satellite in Bellevue, Washington. Hit the jump for more details on this much-deserved showcase for independent game developers.

IndieCade: the International Festival of Independent Games announces first stand-alone international independent gaming event in the US open to the public

LOS ANGELES, September 29, 2008 – IndieCade today announced its flagship festival, the culmination and celebration of its annual competition, IndieCade: the International Festival of Independent Games will take place at the Open Satellite contemporary gallery in Bellevue, Washington, October 10-17, 2008. This marks an important moment for independent games as it will be the first stand-alone international independent gaming event in the United States entirely open to the public.

IndieCade: the International Festival of Independent Games will open with an action-packed two-day preview event that will launch a weeklong interactive exhibition open to the general public. The opening events will include artist talks, salon discussions, master classes, celebration, entertainment, preview screenings, and an awards celebration where celebrity jurors will select the top five games from the more than two dozen top finalists on exhibition.

Speakers and topics include strategic game design by Geoff Zatkin, who will use the industry research conducted by his company Electronic Entertainment Design and Research to guide independent gamemakers to critical success; Jenova Chen (flOw) and Jeep Barnett (Portal) will lead a discussion on the road from Indie to Mainstream and the creative implications of traveling it; and on behalf of thatgamecompany, he will hold a special open screening of Flower. Other program highlights include a round-table discussion on the need for innovation with alternate reality game pioneer Elan Lee, as well as celebrity jurors and artist’s talks by the featured finalists.

A panel of internationally renowned jurors selected the 26 featured games named finalists for this year’s festival from among hundreds of submissions to IndieCade. These reflect the breadth and depth of the independent games field, including some that deliberately defy the conventions of mainstream gaming. IndieCade finalists will be announced on the website throughout the month leading up to the festival; previous announcements have included the U.S. premiere of Dark Room Sex Game, a two-player audio installation using the Wiimote to explore the metaphor and mechanic of sex; The Night Journey, by MacArthur-winning video and installation artist Bill Viola in collaboration with Tracy Fullerton, exploring themes of spiritual enlightenment; the rusty, metallic adventure game Machinarium, by the makers of Samarost; Jonathan Söderström’s multi-genre compilation Cactus Arcade; Julian Oliver’s wildly innovative reality spatial puzzler, levelHead, and Blast Theory’s Rider Spoke, where players head out into the streets armed with a handheld computer mounted on their bicycle handlebars. Divergent in form and subject, games will span the predictable, the unexpected, and more.

IndieCade @ Open Satellite follows IndieCade’s first Asian showcase in Hangzhou, China held earlier this year from April 28th through May 3rd, for the CICAF animation festival’s audience of almost 500,000 people; IndieCade’s successful showcase in July 2008 at the E3 Business & Media Summit for industry insiders; IndieCade’s showcase of live alternate reality and big games at Penny Arcade Expo, and an extensive upcoming showcase being planned for the public-facing E for All Expo in October. Other upcoming events this year include the focus on European games and gamemakers at IndieCade @ GameCity in the UK.

What: IndieCade International Festival of Independent Games

Where: Open Satellite, 989 112 Ave NE, Suite 102 Bellevue, WA 98004

When: October 10-17, 2008

Attendees: Open to gamemakers, industry, media, and the general public

About IndieCade

IndieCade supports independent game development and organizes a series of international festivals and showcase exhibitions for the future of independent games. It encourages, publicizes, and cultivates innovation and artistry in interactive media, helping to create a public perception of games as rich, diverse, artistic, and culturally significant. IndieCade’s events and related production and publication programs are designed to bring visibility to and facilitate the production of new works within the emerging independent game movement. Like the independent developer community itself, IndieCade’s focus is global; it includes producers in Asia, Europe, Australia, and wherever independent games are made and played. IndieCade was formed by Creative Media Collaborative, an alliance of industry producers and leaders founded in 2005. Advisors to IndieCade include Dave Perry, Will Wright, Eric Zimmerman, Neil Young, Tracy Fullerton, and Keita Takahashi, among many other storied industry veterans and rebels. http://www.indiecade.com

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There is also a WiiWare version of the game, which has just been submitted to Nintendo for approval and is expected to hit shortly before the PC retail release, along with a downloadable version for PC gamers who could do without the box. We congratulate Kyle and Ron and wish them the best of luck with what looks to be an extremely unique game!

Pretty big news… [2D Boy Blog]

Ten titles will be selected for consideration, with the finalists' list to be revealed on September 16th. According to Wired, the committee has warned potential applicants against showing up with more of the same - they want technological and storytelling innovation that directly impacts gameplay. In with the new, then!

Should be interesting to see what turns up - by the by, Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi is one of the people on the selection committee, aptly.

Tokyo Game Show Throws Party for Innovative Games [Wired via GameSetWatch]

They are looking for ten independent developers that are interested in seeing their games viewed by attendees, media and publishers at the Expo. A panel of 50 industry experts, including Penny Arcade's own Gabe and Tycho, will be selecting the ten submissions that they consider to be the best based on gameplay and "fun factor." Of the ten, one will be chosen "Audience Choice Award" by attendees.

Check out the details at the link below.

Brown Paper Tickets

"Christmas Update", a new update for Penguins Arena

Reims - France, december the 17th. Frogames releases an update for
"Penguins Arena - Sedna's World": "Christmas update".

This update is totally free. All registred users will get this new version
for no additional fees and for future users, the price of the game hasn't
changed ($19.95 USD).

This update brings new hilarious costumes for your penguin, two new maps
and a great new "unlimited weapons" game mode. Of course we also fixed
some bugs and optimized the game.

See what we mean by downloading the new version of the Demo at
http://www.frogames.com/penguins_arena/

This "Christmas Update" for "Penguins Arena - Sedna's world" is our
special gift for you ... Frogames wishes you a Merry Christmas!

There are thousands of game graphics out there on the web. Admittedly, they have problems:

They may not be the most attractive. "Dude, these free graphics are totally sucky compared to StarCraft."
They may not fit your exact mental vision. "No, the Xenli Sorcesses has four silver spikes on her bosom armor, not two. It is completely wrong!"
They may not be complete: "I really need a female knight and and they only supplied a male knight! The end is nigh!"
Other people might be using them in their games. "Argh, now my RPG looks just like the one done by that guy in Australia. *sigh* Now I will never be l33t."

My heartfelt recommendation is that you get over it.

Of course, not being a jerk, he goes on to offer suggestions on how to make free graphics work for you, not against you. I thought it was an interesting little piece, and that's as someone who will never, ever design a game or wind up scratching my head over how to make my game look good. Danc himself offers a set of prototyping tiles, among other things.

How to bootstrap your indie art needs [Lost Garden]

Official Aquaria Web Site [Bit Blot - Thanks Kyle!]

Mousechief Co. announces its next, innovative game of industry defying mischief, "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!"

Here's the crux:
1. First RPG of literary, social satire.
2. Re-imagined combat systems are the heart a new kind of RPG: Taunt, Fib, Flirt, Expose Secrets, and Gambit. Mix in branching dialog, powerful prizes, and stat leveling for complete RPG nutrition.
3. Build a party of adventurers from high school girls inspired by classic cinema divas: Mae West, Marlena Dietrich, Myrna Loy, Barbara Stanwyck, Clara Bow, etc.... Unleash them upon the intolerant and hypocritical elders of their hometown. Flush out Brigiton's absurd secrets and crazy power-brokers. Win, use, and discard a dozen boyfriends along the way. (or keep some around for pleasure.)
4. Set in 1920s small town USA, your girls begin by making a pet project of their school's new maintenance man. They first expose his crimes and then fight to save him from the gallows. The full epic pits 'girl-rilla' subversion against cultural tyranny. It's "Planescape: Torment" meets "Peyton Place" as if told by Sinclair Lewis.
5. The world is presented as a beautiful but vintage board game. Battle from the halls of their high school, through downtown businesses, across suburb streets, to wilds beyond city limits. It's the parlor game your great-grandmother will deny ever playing.
6. Designed for folks who love RPGs and for advanced, casual gamers.
7. This is the game with girls that ISN'T about courage, friendship, trust and the joy of discovery. It's more like—survival of the sassiest.
"Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!" is an industry breakthrough. It exemplifies gameplay suited to genres of fiction where conflict is not bloody. It has fine production values for its miniscule budget. It's filled with terrific artwork, real music from the 1920s, a story of epic satire, and gameplay that will make your ancestors blush. Rated: TEEN, using the T.I.G.R.S. rating system.
A demo of "Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!" is now available at the Mousechief.com website, just in time for the Independent Game Festival.

Whoa.

Arthouse Games has a review up of Jonathan's seekrit game, Braid. It's a long read, but a goodie:

Jonathan Blow's game Braid has been much talked about but little played, since he has been keeping the game under very tight wraps. Braid won the award for Innovation in Game Design at the 2006 IGF, but no demo was posted. Braid was discussed at the 2006 Experimental Gameplay Workshop, but no demo was posted. Braid was entered into the 2007 IGF and Slamdance festivals, and still no demo was posted.

Mysterious, right?

Braid has the potential to change the way you think about reality. It will certainly change the way you think about video games. In this preview, I will explain why it has this power, using detailed examples from the game. However, part of the game's interest lies in its surprise factor: there is great joy to be had in discovering just how clever this game is for yourself.

In fact, I am glad that I never read a preview of this game before I was lucky enough to play it myself.

Hm, maybe we shouldn't read it after all then. Whatever you do, don't click the link below. Alice Taylor

Jonathan Blow's Braid [Arthouse Games]