Game Dojo Issue 1 (March 1st-16th)

TRÜBERBROOK

HandCrafted vacation in a mysterious town

APE OUT

Visual orchestra of art, jazz and violence

THE OCCUPATION

Investigative thriller where every second counts

For all the latest news on some of the hottest Indie Games, take a flick through inside

1 March 1st-16th

CONTENTS

8

6

Indie Game Releases

Dawn of Man

7th Sector

The Occupation

Tick Tock: A Tale for Two

Void Mine

Trüberbrook

Wall Street Tycoon

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER:

Where we look back on a game we did not

10

Entering Early Access

Undead Horde

Super Phantom Cat

The Wild Age Ymir

EDITOR’S NOTE

It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the first issue of GameDojo.

These past few weeks have been busy with some ups and down, learning a lot on the job and trying my hardest to deliver to you a magazine that I feel is informative and tells you about the amazing games you may not have heard of.

The hundreds and hundreds of Indie Developers out there have a hard job and that is blowing your minds away with a limited budget and sometimes around a day job. It’s tough. On top of all this, many don’t get the recognition I think they deserve because they are not heard.

I can’t have that, it makes me sad, so I thought I would try and do something about it. Use what I know about design and writing and create a magazine to shout to the world about the many games out there that I have enjoyed and you all should check out.

So. What my format will include is:

- 2 Feature Reviews, these are for the ones that caught my interest the most leading up to release.

- 1 Better Late Than Never Review, this is a game I really wanted to play in the last issue, but for lack of time, I didn’t get to... So here it will be in the next issue.

- All other New Releases and games that have just entered Early Access. I won’t have time to review them, but I’ll include a short bio and why I picked them.

Fingers crossed in the future I can gather some help to write more reviews, especially of games that may not interest me, but are to the liking of others (Not a huge fan of Sandbox Survival).

Well thats my introduction, enjoy the magazine, let me know what you think and peace.

Peace and Love

Vasco (aka RaginRamen)

Developer: Btf

Publisher: Heads Up

Released: March 12, 2019

MSRP: $26.99/ £22.99

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Those beautiful buildings and sunset and forest and lake and gorgeous gorgeous environments. All handcrafted, and I don’t mean in the metaphorical sense, this studio actually built their environments and that is just amazing to me. Throw in some sci-fi secrets in a quiet picturesque town and I’m on vacation.

Story

We find ourselves in 1960s Germany, arriving at a small and very remote town called Trüberbrook. Our main protagonist Hans Tannhauser from Washington won a trip to vacation in this town. This is the beginning of a twilight zone kind of story, for Hans doesn’t remember entering any lottery, but needing the vacation he goes anyway.

So this is where we start, quaint town with an eerie twin peaks vibe and peculiar characters that I have enjoyed every moment interacting with, even considering how weird some of them are, its that very thing that I love about them. The towns hero statue is called Hilarius, and I think that sums up all the characters I’ve met so far.

The true main character of the story though is the town itself, with all the pop culture references and design, it’s like a person in itself that brings the story to life.

A wonderful, dark, hilarious adventure that takes us through sinister hospitals, mysterious corporations and lost laboratories.

Gameplay

I’ve played my fair share of point and click games, having grown up with Broken Sword and every sequel after that, not to mention Grim Fandango and countless other classics, it was hard for me not to compare.

Trüberbrook has, for me, already ticked several important boxes that every point and click adventure should abide by, and that is an engaging story, unforgettable characters and well-written dialogue that is enthusiastically delivered. This isn’t a genre to shake up with new features and mechanics. They did clean some up though when interacting with objects/

people, any relating items will be linked, or when combining items, it will show you what it can be combined with. Very user-friendly, but for me and maybe some others who enjoy the puzzling nature of these games, it makes it too easy.

Also, one tiny thing that niggles at me, the inventory just shows you what you have, I would have liked a feature to click on an item and remember why I have it or inspect it for further details.

Sound & Graphics

The sound and music fit the mood they are trying to deliver. It’s quaint and homely but in a creepy bouncy way. I really enjoy it and will probably be getting the soundtrack too. Already I have gushed about the characters personalities and this is brought to life through their dialogue and design. Both of which remind me of Henry Sellick and his work (Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), if this was part of their inspiration, it shows (especially with Trude). It’s this cute and approachable design that has a slight edge of uneasiness. Stealing the show is the environments, not only are they beautiful and so detailed, they were all lovingly created by hand (I’ve seen the photos, love behind the scenes). Like when you make a stop motion animation,

miniature worlds are built with texture and atmosphere. The lighting is top notch making every shot like a photograph I could hang up.

Replay Value

This game doesn’t really have any replay value, but with what you’re getting, you probably don’t need it. There is more than enough story and fun to be had in this game. I’ve been told the length can vary but mostly lies between 5 and 8hrs to complete.

Final Thoughts

Still playing the game (So no spoilers!), but it’s just so enjoyable, definitely my favourite one to play this month. Gameplay is smooth, the visuals and sound are picturesque and eerie at the same time. Already the story has hooked me and I’m eager to finish this review so I can go back and find out what happens next. Talking to the characters is super fun and finding all the hidden pop culture references (of which there are many) is a great addition.

Would I recommend it? Well, it’s on the cover of the magazine right, your answer is yes I would recommend it.

Pros-

Beautiful Handcrafted Environments with a cool style to them

The soundtrack fits so well with the mood that they set

Dialogue is witty and well delivered Compelling characters with different personalities. I’ve loved every one.

Love the humour

Cons-

Lack of interactivity with items collected

Developer: White Paper Games

Publisher: Humble Bundle

Released: March 5, 2019

MSRP: $29.99/ £19.99

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam, Humble Bundle

FULL DISCLOSURE: At the moment of writing this, I have not yet completed the game

Conspiracy is in the air, political upheaval at new laws and terrorist attacks getting blamed on immigrants. No, I’m not talking about what’s on the news, this is The Occupation. Like the last game developed by White Paper Games, this deals with heavy issues that are addressed in the story and the game world. You, Henry Miller, are a journalist who is prepared to commit all kinds of corporate espionage to get to the bottom of this story. The kicker though? This will all be in real time, making every second count. Let’s see how well you really do at investigating.

Story

In an alternate timeline (you can tell it’s alternate with all the hi-tech), It’s the 80s, England. The world is revealed to us through newspapers, bits of conversation and the radio station that can be heard in several locations. With the government tearing itself apart over cuts and Immigration Levels, they come across a “solution” called The Union Act. This law is controversial and scary and it is made even more so by the news of a terrorist attack that you are investigating. The story does jump between the past and

the present, but it’s not jarring and serves to strengthen the purpose of your investigation of the attack that happened. In the past you get some flashbacks of Scarlet, whose partner Michael was lost in the explosion, Henry is our present-day protagonist investigating this attack because all is not as it seems as there is the possibility that Alex (the accused) may not

have done it.

Although I came upon many cliches taken from the conspiracy genre, they didn’t feel tired or broken, they felt real and almost too on the nose about the subject this game explores.

As mentioned above, I’ve yet to see how the story ends and so can not really comment on plotholes found or the story in its finished form.

So far, however, I am really enjoying it and find myself getting caught up arguing with characters.

I will solve this mystery, the game has grabbed me enough that I want to see how it ends.

Love the characters, Scarlet and Charles and their friendship with each other after the loss of Michael, how they deal with it. Henry I haven’t got to know well yet. Marlon, I don’t know a thing about him other than his messages in notes, but when I hear the radio coming in the distance, I know it’s my buddy, Marlon. Another great character is Steve, the wannabe-actor-cum-security guard, his personality shines naturally.

Gameplay

Having a lot of fun so far, and that’s the most important thing right?

You have all the mechanics you expect to have, hacking into computers, collecting keycards, breaking into offices and interrogating different staff members with the clues you find as evidence.

The whole investigating and interrogating aspect of the game works for me, It’s just enough work that when you trip someone over their lies you can’t help but point and shout A-HA!

They got that right. What doesn’t work for me is how accessible everything is. There has just been a huge bomb go off some months ago and the security is horrendous, not only is it easy to find vents to crawl into but there are chalk markings telling you where to go (It may be vital to the story, I don’t know), this just

makes things way too easy and makes me wonder why I even need keycards. I’ve been caught only once so far, and all I got was an “aw shucks, don’t do it again”??? Really? That was it? The AI also doesn’t seem to notice when vents have been pulled open and have walked right past me when I am standing in a no go area once or twice. It’s not the best and leads me to think if this game was not finished to the standard they wanted it.

Sound & Graphics

80s Inspired electro beats and guitar solos had me tapping my foot on several occasions. The dialogue, well I don’t need to go on again about how much I loved it, not just the delivery of lines but the social commentary was interesting and thought-provoking. Not all of it was serious and the chuckle I got from Steve’s audition tapes broke up the mood and kept things from getting too heavy.

All these good points about the sound make it all the weirder that the Sound Mixing was way, way off. Multiple times in my playthrough I would panic when hearing someone approaching me, only to discover they were upstairs or in a different room. For a stealth game, this is really bad, making it another reason to make me feel The Occupation is unfinished or rushed through production. The graphics are decent, nothing to shout about and also a comfortable style with a warm colour palette. The environment design is again, nothing to blow me away. There was nothing bad about it, it just didn’t give me anything.

Replay Value

With all the freedom and choice that you have in the game, there is definitely room for replayability, if only to get all the clues and find out all the secrets that the company holds. But with the bad sound design and simple AI, do I want to go through all that again? I guess it depends on how much of a completionist you are.

Final Thoughts

I expected so much with this game, and maybe that was part of the problem, that I had put it on this pedestal of what I wanted it to be. It’s like a burnt pie that you cooked too quick at too high a heat, there’s some tasty bits in the middle that you can smell and would love to enjoy, but you have to bite through the burnt crust that is this games AI and Sound Design. Why did you rush the pie White Paper Games? Why?

We could have had something brilliant here.

Pros-

Brilliant voice actors helping you engage more with each of the interesting characters

Multiple solutions for individual problems, giving us choice and freedom

Intriguing plot. Who doesn’t love an investigative conspiracy thriller?

Absorbing and well-written Dialogue

Real-time mechanic adds tension and urgency.

Cons-

Almost too easy to break into every room. Stealth Mechanic is basic and needs tuning Guard AI is too simple

Badly implemented Sound Mixing

Developer: Gabe Cuzzillo, Matt Boch, Bennett Foddy

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Released: February 28, 2019

MSRP: $14.99/ £10.99

Multiplayer: None; but there are Arcade leaderboards

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Ever have those moments of pure anger where you run away into your mind, turn into a huge ape and brutally pulverise everyone in the building into a pulp during a mad run to the exit? No?... Well if you did, it would look like this.

Gameplay

You would think it is just a smash, grab, have a nice day kind of game, but let me tell you about my first playthrough. I was immediately engrossed in the carnage and the completionist in my head said to get revenge on every single one of these

men for imprisoning me, hunt them down, rip them apart and be rewarded by the satisfying cymbal crash... But no, as I picked up a dismembered arm to fling at another incoming enemy, a spray of bullets from a shotgun burst towards me, and then it hit me. I’m meant to escape.

In the beginning, I thought the game frustrating, but when I started actively trying to escape, it became the mad rush it was meant to be. New levels brought more surprises, in one level lingering close to a window meant getting shot by snipers, soon I encountered explosive experts, flamethrowers, mortars falling from the sky, the variation kept coming and made everything fresh, constantly pushing me to re-evaluate my strategy.

“In most games, procedural generation is there to add replayability and add very divergent outcomes. In this game, it’s about forcing you to improvise. -

Gabe Cuzzillo

You can’t rely on knowing the layout of the building or position of the guards, you have to take each moment as it comes. For those that know me, I normally get turned off a game at the mention of procedural generation, there’s no authorship to the design and structure, but in the case of Ape Out, it is for a reason and a reason that works for me.

STORY

Ape in Cage. Ape Mad, Ape break out and go on a violence-induced sprint to exit. This isn’t really a narrative game and that’s ok. It’s not meant to be and I wouldn’t expect it to.

However, between the bloody corridors and guards running on fire, there is a very loose visual narrative. You start in a lab, you’ve been experimented on and later in the next few stages, there is a progression of sorts with each of the 4 stages occupying a different environment. All these stages (presented as Vinyl Albums, so cool) work as 4 different vignettes or slices of a great Angry Ape who just wants freedom... at any cost.

Sound and Graphics

You’ve got to admit, the music is pretty fantastic and a huge draw to the game. So it’s no wonder that during production, it became a lynchpin and focus that Gabe Cuzzillo latched onto. “You’ve Got to Have Freedom” by saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, THAT is the lynchpin that drove it home.

“It really spoke to me on a deep level”Gabe Cuzzillo

But we’re here to talk about the music in Ape Out, an algorithmic masterpiece of a score by Matt Boch. Double time drums set the pace and the rhythm of

your heartbeat, growing louder and more intense as violence escalates. Loud cymbals crash into the track with every man you smash, ratatat of guns and explosions and the wet squishing sound of carpet drenched in blood. This is a symphony of carnage and the urgency to escape, blended into a head-bobbing jazz track that you control. Does it all fit and work? It most certainly does and it gives you the satisfaction that it was your rampage that created this soundtrack.

On top of this amazing soundtrack, we’ve got the sharp colours and shapes that pull you in and compliment the harshness of the saxophone. The inspiration for the art style sits heavily with Saul Bass, who is famous for strong colour, simplicity in shapes and lack of tonality that creates a striking image. This was brilliantly re-created by Bennet Foddy.

The tall parallel walls give that vertigo feel and tightness, making you feel like a rat, trapped in a maze as you scurry around looking for the exit and avoiding the dangers. This little detail took me a while to notice, but when I did I loved it. There is no health bar telling you how weak you are, but instead the more damage you take, the bigger the pool of blood that trails behind you. This is the kind of game design I love. When the visuals and music don’t just look and sound good but work to make the game better.

Replay Value

As mentioned in the Pros and Cons, this is not a very long game and depending on your level of skill, you could complete this game in a very short time. Thankfully there is an arcade mode that scores you for how far you can get without dying and a harder difficulty mode too.

For me, those modes don’t interest me. For others, it will add maybe an extra hour or two to your fun.

Final Thoughts

Ape Out is a hugely enjoyable game, it lived up to

what I wanted and it gave me plenty of pleasant surprises that kept the repetitive gameplay fresh and interesting. The music is amazing (I’ll be buying the soundtrack right after this) and the visuals were pure art for my eyes to drink up. My only con is that the game was too short, but in actual fact, its a double-sided coin for me. Yes, it did not take long to finish the game, but at the same time, if it had lasted any longer, it would have risked becoming stale. The game was exactly as long as it should be, despite the brevity.

Still, I can’t help but want more. More Albums and more music to smash people to the rhythm of. Highly recommend the game to anyone with anger problems, a love for jazz, or just wants a short game to enjoy. Or anyone really... I mean who doesn’t like Apes, Jazz, and Violence?

Pros -

Intense Bold Beautiful Art I could just watch for hours

Punch in the face Jazz Orchestra that is procedurally generated by how Apeshit crazy it is getting Simple Controls. Move. Grab. Punch. That’s it

Satisfyingly Hard. It has that ‘Just one more try’ worm that burrows in your head, telling you, you can do it.

Shakes it up every level. Enemies change, surprises come into play, your strategy must evolve as you progress

Angry Violent Ape (good stress reliever

Cons -

Too Short (only took me 2hours to complete)

NEW RELEASES

DAWN OF MAN

Developer: Madruga Works

Publisher: Madruga Works

Released: March 1, 2019

MSRP: $24.99/ £19.49

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Take control of a settlement of the first modern humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival.

Dawn of Man is a survival/city-builder from the creators of Planetbase.

City Builders have always been my jam, put it with survival? Well... bring on the mammoth

TICK TOCK: A TALE FOR TWO

Developer: Other Tales Interactive

Publisher: Other Tales Interactive

Released: March 7, 2019

MSRP: $5.99/ £4.99

Multiplayer: Local/Online Coop

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Going solo is not an option! Tackle an increasingly challenging and bizarre world filled with puzzles which will push your cooperation skills to the very limits.

Always on the look out for Co-op games. True friendships always survive the most trivial of arguments.

WALL STREET TYCOON

Developer: Red Fox Game Studios

Publisher: Red Fox Game Studios

Released: March 14, 2019

MSRP: FREE

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

7TH SECTOR

Developer: Носков Сергей

Publisher: Носков Сергей

Released: March 5, 2019

MSRP: $12.99/ £10.29

Multiplayer: None

Link: None as of yet

Buy it: Steam

In a mysterious cyberpunk world. Immerse yourself on this intricate path, solving different puzzles, facing its dangers and collecting scattered information to discover the story of this world.

The world has become CyberPunk crazy and so many games using this style are being made. Will this stand out?

VOID MINE

Developer: Eteru Studio

Publisher: Eteru Studio

Released: March 8, 2019

MSRP: $5.39/ £4.79

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

You just created an investment company. Now it’s time to hire some employees! With very limited funds, you must hire the best people to work at your company.

This might sound too much like real work, but... It’s free! Honestly though, if I don’t get satisfied, I’ll have to go American Psycho on someone. Do you like Phil Collins?

A mining space station doesn’t respond to communications. An investigator tries to find out what happened to the crew. Void Mine is a zero-gravity narrative action adventure full of danger and mystery.

Mining Station? Going to investigate a mystery? Oh boy, we’ve been here before. But I might just give this one a go

EARLY ACCESS

UNDEAD HORDE

Developer: 10tons Ltd

Publisher: 10tons Ltd

Released: March 6, 2019

MSRP: $14.99/ £11.39

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Become a necromancer and raise the dead - Undead Horde is a necromantic action game with elements from RPG, strategy and hack’n’slash. You’ll battle against the living who’ve driven the necromancers and their undead minions into exile.

Do I even need to say more? Well? My undead army will one day rule the world.

SUPER PHANTOM CATS

Developer: Vewoo Games

Publisher: Whitelake Studio

Released: March 7, 2019

MSRP: $4.99/ £3.99

Multiplayer: None

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Super Phantom Cat is a retro platformer in which you explore quirky environments, clear colorful levels, solve the mysteries shrouding the Phantom world and rescue your kidnapped little sister, Ina.

If anything was ever hit by the Kawaii Hammer, this is it. Love it so much and the cat designs are awesome

THE WILD AGE

Developer: McMagic Productions

Publisher: McMagic Productions

Released: March 7, 2019

MSRP: $14.99/ £11.39

Multiplayer: None

Link: None as of yet

Buy it: Steam

The Wild Age is a micromanagement strategy game with tower defense gameplay mechanics.

In the game, you take on the role of the new ruler, who is tasked with creating a new, fully independent settlement on several islands.

Like a better version of Kingdom with more features and Giant Bunny Rabbit Mount... BUNNY MOUNT

YMIR

Developer: Thibaud Michaud

Publisher: Thibaud Michaud

Released: March 18 (delay), 2019

MSRP: $34.99/ £24.99

Multiplayer: Single and Online

Link: Official site

Buy it: Steam

Ymir is a 4X multiplayer strategy game combined with a city builder where each player develops a civilization of Pigmen starting at the stone age.

Now this is impressive. One maONE MAN did this. It’s not an easy feat to create a 4X game, especially one this detailed and rich and fully Online with up to 100 players.

NEXTISSUE

Indie Releases for March 17th-31st

... we will be returning with more cool Indie Games that I am looking forward to trying out once they are released.

Unheard - Psychic Detectives and Inter-connected crimes. Are you listening closely?

Void Mine - Zero Gravity with danger and mystery. Space is never a chill place...

We.The Revolution - I’m not sure if I am ready to decide who will live and who will die...

GD Indies GD Early Access GD Life