Welcome to the Release Valve, formerly the Greenlight Spotlight. I finally found a better, more creative name for the series at the suggestion of a friend.  Since my last article, Valve has announced two new batches of Greenlit titles, totaling 69 games between them. A few highlights from the first batch include Eldritch, latest Kickstarter mega-success Hyper Light Drifter, the PC port of the critically acclaimed iOS platformer Nihilumbra, and Race the Sun, the procedural racing title that struggled to find an audience when it launched without Steam support. The second batch brings us the shmup classic Ikaruga, a space colony sim reminiscent of Prison Architect named RimWorld, Starship Corporation, Steam Marines, Wrack, and Universum, a bizarre title made by just one guy that mashes together RTS, MOBA, and FPS gameplay in a sci-fi setting. Even with this huge list of new Greenlit titles, I still managed to find seven promising games:

Colossal Kaiju Combat by Sunstone Games

This one looks pretty janky, even by the standards of many games I highlight in this series, but it still shows some promise if they can pull it off. Colossal Kaiju Combat isn’t so much a single game as it is a planned franchise spanning multiple PC games and even physical mediums like card games and miniatures. The first installment, called Kaijuland Battles, is a kaiju fighting game set to enter open beta next year. Their plan seems to be to release a competitive multiplayer fighting game for free on PC and OUYA to build interest, then make their money on the episodic single player series and the physical merchandise. They are even looking into acquiring the licenses to use kaiju and giant robots from existing franchises like Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, Voltron, and more. Pacific Rim reignited my old childhood love for kaiju films, so I hope they can create something better than the pretty awful official game based on that movie. There is also a Kickstarter campaign seeking $45,000.

Skyjacker by Digitilus

In Skyjacker, you take on the role of a ruthless space pirate as you hijack and loot your way across the galaxy. The game features AI wingmen or the ability to bring in friends with drop-in/drop-out co-op. An interesting feature of the destruction physics is the ability to shoot off individual parts, assuming you don’t have the accuracy of a TIE Fighter pilot, to loot after the battle. This allows players a huge amount of ship customization by welding on the parts they salvaged from wrecked enemy vessels after combat. The game’s ten different alien races each have drastically different specializations and philosophies to ship design, forcing players to adopt different strategies in combat and rewarding them with a variety of odd and unique parts to loot. Finally, the game will come with a mission editor and support for Oculus Rift. You can find a Kickstarter here.

Mark of the Old Ones by Hit the Sticks

Please note that almost all the gameplay footage of this title is from the concept prototype. In other words, no art assets have been added in yet. With that in mind, Mark of the Old Ones is a Lovecraft-inspired “upside down” physics-based platformer. You play as a character who had his leg severed in a plane crash. A strange parasite has attached itself to his back, giving him these tentacle-like appendages that allow him to grab onto the ceiling and other objects. This is where the “upside down” part of the platforming comes from, as you can see from the prototype debug footage. Sadly, the Kickstarter isn’t doing very well, and the chances of them reaching their goal is fairly slim. The developers have already stated that, should the Kickstarter fail, they will try again later once they have some basic art assets covering up the debug lines.

Spark Rising by Wicked Loot

If you took Minecraft and gave it a wave-based defense mode with a fleshed out combat system, you’d get something along the lines of Spark Rising. Spark Rising features both a single player campaign and extensive multiplayer modes, in addition to the Minecraft-like building components. As a Spark Bot, it’s your duty to guard rare resources on floating islands. To accomplish this, players construct massive fortresses with defensive turrets and guard bots, as well as get personally involved in the action with exosuits. The user generated construction aspect extends even to creating new enemies and creatures to fight against, both alone or online with other players. It has a lot of good ideas going for it, taking the Minecraft formula and merging it with more developed combat. Unfortunately, the Kickstarter has an uphill battle to fight; by the time this article goes live it will be over or nearly over, and they still have quite a bit of money that needs to be raised.

Lords of Discord by Herocraft

If it hasn’t become apparent yet from my articles and reviews, I love Heroes of Might and Magic and similar fantasy strategy games. A similar franchise I have fond memories of is Disciples by Strategy First. That is, until the rather abysmal Disciples III. Luckily, Herocraft is here with Lords of Discord, a fantasy strategy game that takes quite a bit of inspiration from the earlier Disciples games. Admittedly, the fact that Herocraft is known mostly for mobile games is a bit concerning, but their strategy games seem to have decent enough reviews. It promises two campaigns and multiplayer, with two different races to choose from with dozens of spells and around 30 units each. There seems to be some sort of terraforming ability that can be used to alter the landscape, though this isn’t really explained too well yet. Like most of the games in this article, you can find a Kickstarter for it here.

Dragons of Elanthia by Simutronics

Dragons of Elanthia is a free-to-play dragon combat game that is currently in beta. While there are only six dragons to play as so far, one of the big features (besides the fact that it’s a freaking dragon aerial combat game) is that you can customize your abilities by combining different riders with different dragons. The four slot skill bar is based on the two skills of the rider and the two skills of the dragon. Both rider and dragon also seem to have one passive, so switching combinations can add a lot more variety than at first glance. Game modes so far include multiplayer standards like deathmatch and team deathmatch, up to more objective-based modes like sieges. I can’t speak for the game’s business model quite yet, which is always a concern for free-to-play titles, but Dragons of Elanthia still looks like a game worth looking into.

The Mandate by Perihelion Interactive

The Mandate is utterly impossible to explain in a single paragraph. Trust me when I say that it looks to be one of the most ambitious games I’ve seen in some time. It both excites and terrifies me; if they can pull it off, it could be one of the greatest RPG experiences ever, but the sheer number of components in this game means that they could fail horrifically with just a few missteps. You play a disgraced captain given one last chance to redeem himself on a mission sent directly from the Empress of a galactic empire in a desperate state. It features management in the form of building a crew and a fleet, ship construction, space combat, XCOM-style tactical combat in the form of boarding operations, crew interaction and relationship building, diplomacy, trading, space exploration…and all wrapped up in a sci-fi universe filled with a rich backstory and lore inspired by Tsarist Russia. Just go check out the Greenlight and Kickstarter pages and watch all the videos.

One more thing I want to bring up is the game’s absurd character creation system. They aren’t joking when they talk about the setting having a very detailed and fleshed out backstory and this extends to the character creation. Most RPGs regulate player character backstory to some throwaway comments, but in The Mandate about 90% of character creation is detailing your character’s backstory and their fall from grace. You determine such details as the colony ship your ancestors are from, your home planet, your military career, your political sympathies and leanings, the events that ultimately lead to your court martial and imprisonment…and all these choices have a drastic impact on how people and the game’s factions interact with your character once you reach the actual game itself. I’ve never seen a game with a “blank slate” character place so much emphasis on their backstory.

Wow, that was way longer than I intended and still had to leave out quite a few games I wanted to mention. As usual, remember to vote for any of these games you find interesting so they can get on Steam. If you have some spare cash, consider donating to one of the Kickstarters I mentioned as well. Also, if you know of any games struggling on Greenlight that you would personally like to see on Steam, let me know about them in the comments section.

Wow, so Valve has been busy since my last article. There were two normal sized batches over the last few weeks, then Valve went crazy and released a mega batch of 100 games today. I’m happy to see that Paranautical Activity has finally been Greenlit after all the controversy surrounding it being snubbed previously. I see a lot of games I’ve highlighted in previous Greenlight Spotlights on these lists, but many of them still haven’t made it, so go check out some of my previous articles to find more games that could use your help getting on Steam.

Needless to say, even with this massive batch of 100 games being Greenlit, my work here with the Greenlight Spotlight series isn’t done. New games are being added to Greenlight every day, and there are still interesting games that have been sitting there for months that need your votes. Most of today’s highlights are relatively recent submissions, so it’s no surprise that they were omitted from today’s big Greenlight batch.

Eschalon: Book III by Basilisk Games

Eschalon: Book III is one of those games that shouldn’t even be on Greenlight. The first two games have been on Steam for years, so why is the third chapter being forced to go through Greenlight? I honestly don’t understand Valve’s reasoning for forcing games by companies that have already sold previous titles on Steam to go through the Greenlight process. In any case, Book III is the final game in the Eschalon trilogy of isometric, turn-based RPGs. The Eschalon games are very traditional, old-school experiences, like CRPGs from the ’80s and ’90s, featuring an open world and nonlinear storyline. Book III promises a whole host of improvements, many of which were requested by fans of the series, in addition to bringing the story to a close. I must admit that, despite owning the first two games, I’ve never actually played them. Such is the nature of Steam Summer Sales.

Rogue Shooter by Hippomancer

Rogue Shooter popped up on Greenlight just over a week ago and is aiming for a release later this year. As you might expect from the title, Rogue Shooter is a mix of FPS action with roguelike elements, such as randomly-generated levels, weapons, and permadeath. What really got my attention was the charming, cheesy graphics style and gameplay. The game obviously looks and plays just like a shooter from the ’90s. From the aesthetic to the clunky animations, the level design to the mighty boot melee attack, the game just screams Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and Shadow Warrior. As someone who grew up with those old shooters, and has a new appreciation for roguelikes, Rogue Shooter looks like just the sort of game I could get into.

Candle by Teku Studios

Candle has been getting some attention lately after its successful Kickstarter, reaching 130% of their goal. The game is set to be done early next year, and Teku Studios is aiming for a $12-$15 price point. Candle blends elements of both point and click adventures with some platforming and puzzles. The main mechanic is based around your character’s candle, which is vital to solving many of the game’s puzzles. You must also fight to keep your candle lit, or else you may find yourself unable to solve some puzzles or find secrets. One of the big draws of this title is the gorgeous, hand-painted graphics style. All the backgrounds and characters are drawn and painted using watercolors and inks before being scanned into the Unity engine. Likewise, all the animation is done via traditional, frame-by-frame methods before being imported into the engine; none of the art or animation is done digitally.

Monochroma by Nowhere Studios

A number of major sites and gaming personalities have been excited about the upcoming monochromatic puzzle-platformer Monochroma. We even have an interview right here on Gameverse about it. Often described as a blend of Limbo and Ico, Monochroma  follows the tale of two brothers in a dystopian, alternate 1950s. You must carry your injured little brother around with you, but doing so limits your mobility and capabilities to solve many of the game’s physics and light-based puzzles. This requires you to find safe places to put him down before coming back after you’ve cleared the path ahead. The characters are also silent, meaning that the story is told entirely through the environments and nonverbal interactions between the characters.

Aaru’s Awakening by Lumenox Games

Continuing the theme of games with great art assets, here’s Aaru’s Awakening, a fast-paced platformer where you play as a rooster-gorilla thing on a quest to stop an evil entity. Much like Candle, Aaru’s Awakening‘s environment and animation are done entirely by hand before being imported into the game engine. The game is themed around the balance between Dawn, Day, Dusk, and Night, with visuals and music designed to evoke an ethereal, dream-like vibe. Your character, the rooster-gorilla thing named Aaru, has two movement abilities. The platforming is all based around using these two abilities, charge and teleport, in different combinations to navigate the various obstacles and enemies in your path. Lumenox is aiming at a late 2013 release date for this one.

Now go out there and get to voting! The surge of 100 Greenlit titles today was a pleasant surprise, but there are still many, many games sitting in Greenlight limbo that need your help. Until Valve comes up with a better way of getting these promising indie titles on Steam, all we can do is show our interest in them by voting and discussing them on Greenlight.

Earlier this month we had another wave of Greenlights, with three pieces of software and eight games: Actual Multiple Monitors, FL Studio, Leadwerks 3: Steam Edition, Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, Day One: Garry’s Incident, Guncraft, Homesick, In Verbis Virtus, Super Motherload, Vector,and Verdun. Verdun is the only game on that list that seems really appealing to me, if I’m totally honest, but more games getting through Greenlight isn’t a bad thing if they are games that people actually want. With the Steam sales going on this month I don’t expect to see any more Greenlights for at least a few weeks. Speaking of Steam sales, I’d like to start this Greenlight Spotlight with two games that recently came out and have largely been ignored because they are A.) not on Steam and B.) launched during the sales:

Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages by Triple-B-Titles

This top-down space shooter came out last week on GOG.com for $15. The developer said on his Twitter account that the game’s sales so far have been abysmal, likely due to not being on Steam and releasing at a bad time. It’s a shame too, because I’ve been playing this game to review it and I have a pretty positive impression so far. The campaign starts pretty slow, with linear levels and nothing in the way of ship customization, but eventually opens up later on. The controls take a bit of getting used to, with the game’s large emphasis on Newtonian movement and physics, but once you get the hang of it you can pull off some really satisfying maneuvers. The multiplayer modes show a lot of promise too, but I can’t really speak of them because of aforementioned disappointing sales leading to a lack of players.

Humans Must Answer by Sumom Games

This quirky shmup by some of the ex-S.T.A.L.K.E.R. devs also released on GOG last week and was largely ignored. I’ve not played it yet (mainly because I’m terrible at side-scrolling bullet hell games), but the responses that I’ve read on forums so far have been rather positive. It’s a challenging side-scrolling shooter that takes a lot of inspiration from older ’80s and ’90s classics such as Gradius. It also involves two intelligent space chickens piloting an eagle-shaped ship on a mission to punish humanity for their fried chicken-eating ways. Expect lots of bird and egg puns.

Strike Vector by P.E, Pao, Elliot, and Sano     

Strike Vector, an Unreal Engine-powered aerial combat game, has been getting a lot of coverage from some major game websites lately because of how impressive it looks. The footage currently being shown off was made by just four guys in just under a year. It reminds me a lot of Hawken, yet another extremely visually impressive multiplayer game that was made by a small group of developers. In Strike Vector, you pilot an advanced VTOL jet fighter that can switch between the blisteringly fast jet mode and a hover mode for more precise aiming and defensive capabilities. I personally feel that aerial combat games really need to get that sense of speed just right to be enjoyable, and Strike Vector looks like it has nailed it. The game will be focused mostly on multiplayer, with a variety of game modes and plenty of customizability for your jets, but the developers are considering some form of solo play last I heard.

Kingdoms Rise by Flyleap Studios

Speaking of impressive, Unreal Engine-powered indie games, here is Kingdoms Rise, a multiplayer-focused fantasy sword combat game made by two Australian dudes. After watching the videos, I have to say that Kingdoms Rise reminds me a lot of Fatshark and Paradox’s War of the Roses. Kingdoms Rise features a 360 degree directional combat system, much like War of the Roses, but hopefully not quite as floaty. There are no classes in Kingdoms Rise, you instead just build your character and fighting style based on what weapons and gear you equip. It looks like they are shooting for a full release at the end of this year.

Maia by Simon Roth

Maia is an interesting crowdfunding success story because it managed to get fully funded on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo, while many indie titles struggle reaching their goals in just one campaign. It’s clear that this Dungeon Keeper-esque sci-fi management game has a lot of gamers very excited. In Maia, it’s your job to establish a functioning, stable colony on a distant, alien world. It’s visual aesthetic takes a lot of inspiration from the gritty, low-technology sci-fi of the ’70s. You’ll not only have to deal with the problems associated with colonizing a new planet, but also the needs and mental health of your colonists. It might be sci-fi instead of fantasy, but I’ve been waiting for a solid management game along the lines of Dungeon Keeper for many years now, so Maia definitely has my attention.

Teslagrad by Rain Games

Teslagrad is yet another perfect example of a game that should be going straight to Steam. The early builds have been receiving an overwhelmingly positive reaction from critics, and the devs have already announced PS3 and WiiU versions after negotiations with Sony and Nintendo. So why does this game have to wade through the Greenlight process to get on Steam? I have no idea. As for what it is, Teslagrad is a 2D puzzle-platformer with a charming graphics style set in some sort of steampunk dystopia based on Europe circa the early 20th century. The game’s puzzles all involve the manipulation of magnetism and electricity, using a mysterious gauntlet you acquire early in the game. Teslagrad is nearing completion, with an estimated release date towards the end of the year.

Satellite Reign by Five Lives Studios

Satellite Reign is the spiritual successor to Syndicate that we’ve been waiting for, made by the lead designer of Syndicate Wars. The game is still early in development, with an active Kickstarter campaign that could use a boost. The pitch has some grand ideas for emergent gameplay and advanced enemy and civilian AI. We are talking enemy AI that might get frightened and run away when outnumbered, or enemy soldiers that get bored and deviate from their patrol routes. You can use propaganda to manipulate civilians into rising up in open revolt, or hack their brain implants and use them as living shields to cover your squad. I try not to get too hyped about games this early in development, but Syndicate is one of those franchises I’ve always wanted to see a proper reboot or reimaging of, using modern graphics and technology…Which is one reason why I wrote many angry rants when EA tried to reboot the series as an uninspired, mediocre corridor shooter.

Dungeonmans by Jim Shepard

This was a last minute addition to the list because of an active Kickstarter that could use some attention. I’ve become addicted to lighter, more accessible roguelikes recently due to games like FTL, Sword of the Stars: The Pit, and Dungeons of Dredmor, so I’m always looking for similar games. Dungeonmans has a lot in common with the recent Rogue Legacy, but played from a more traditional top-down perspective with turn-based tactical combat. There is an overarching gameplay mechanic of building an academy to help prepare new heroes, based on the knowledge and artifacts acquired by the heroes that came before them, so that each slain hero and unsuccessful attempt still contributes something towards future tries. The fairly modest funding goal (compared to many other Kickstarters) could easily be reached in the two weeks left with just a bit more support.

Warmachine: Tactics by WhiteMoon Dreams and Privateer Press

In an even more last minute addition, I decided to highlight Warmachine: Tactics. The tabletop miniature game’s first foray into the medium of video games has already been met with a successful (and currently still active) Kickstarter before just now adding a Greenlight page. The video game adaptation looks like it will play very similar to the tabletop game, but on a smaller scale. For gamers who aren’t familiar with how Warmachine plays, think XCOM: Enemy Unknown in a steampunk world where battle-wizards wearing magical power armor, called Warcasters, control huge, ten-ton steam-powered robots called Warjacks. The initial game will launch with a campaign for Cygnar, following a new character named Lt. Allison Jakes, and a multiplayer mode where you can play as any of the four main factions. The developers are already talking about supporting the game long after release, with more maps, campaigns for the other factions, new units, etc.

As always, remember to check out previous Greenlight Spotlights for more promising indie games that could use your help getting on Steam.

My previous few Greenlight articles focused primarily on games with active crowd-funding campaigns. Most of those campaigns are over now, so let’s take a quick look at the results: Among the Sleep was struggling for a while there, but a surge of support in the final hours allowed the Kickstarter to end with $248,358, hitting three of the five stretch goals. A.N.N.E. closed with $100,272, allowing the game to reach three of the seven stretch goals. It was pretty close, but Ghost of a Tale‘s Indiegogo campaign managed to close at 48,700€, just over the target goal of 45,000€. The Stomping Land still has a few days left, but it is already raised more than three times its original goal. Unfortunately, The Realm was over £100,000 short of its goal. The developers plan to try again sometime in the future.

There has also been some new games Greenlit since my last article, which I mentioned here. Those titles include Bleed, Game Dev Tycoon, The Legend, Legends of Eisenwald, RIOT, and Stardew Valley. The PC versions of Bleed and Game Dev Tycoon are already out, so I expect that we should be seeing Steam releases before too long. Now that the Greenlight updates are out of the way, we can get on with this week’s five game spotlights:

Cannon Brawl by Turtle Sandbox Games

Cannon Brawl is an interesting mix of a 2D RTS/artillery game. You control an airship and must use it to construct towers in an attempt to destroy your opponent’s base. The terrain is 100% destructible, and you can use this to your advantage to pull off some pretty impressive strategies. The game is close to being finished, with a set release date sometime this summer for $10. There is an alpha demo that you can try that gives you a good idea of what to expect from both the campaign and the multiplayer.

Darkwood by Acid Wizard Studios

Darkwood is a top-down, open world survival horror game that has been getting quite a bit of hype lately because of its ongoing Indiegogo campaign. It features some roguelike elements in the form of permadeath and the world’s randomly generated nature, so each playthrough will be different. The game’s use of line of sight and lighting looks fantastic, and adds a lot to the tension of the game’s already oppressive atmosphere.

Wrack by Final Boss Entertainment

Wrack is a fast-paced, old school-style FPS that borrows heavily from classics like Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and Quake. In fact, one of their big selling points is that Bobby Prince (of Doom and Wolfenstein fame) is working on Wrack‘s music and sound effects. The level design looks to be another big plus for this game, with large, multi-tiered levels full of alternate paths, secrets, and hazardous terrain, just like in the old days. The game will ship with the so-called WrackEd software, a fully-featured level editor and suite of mod tools.

Starship Corporation by Ratakari

Starship Corporation is exactly what it says on the tin: a management sim about running a starship manufacturer. You design starships, making sure that the internal layout is optimal for the starship’s role, and sell the finished product to other companies and groups. You can create everything from mining vessels to gigantic battleships using over 50 types of rooms divided into 6 categories. You can also take on missions with your ships to gauge their performance, and even create your own private fleet to defend your interests. There is a playable alpha out right now that is really rough around the edges, but such is the nature of early builds.     

The Forest by SKS Games

I heard someone describe The Forest as a higher resolution, more survival horror-focused version of Minecraft, and that description seems fair enough. In The Forest, you play as the lone survivor of a plane crash that leaves you stranded in a mysterious forest with aggressive, cannibalistic mutants. The goal is simply to survive by any means necessary, be it by building fortifications to bunker down in at night or by crafting crude weapons to try and fight off the mutants. The environments and lighting effects look amazing, and SKS is looking to launch with full Oculus Rift support.

That’s all for this week. Remember to check some of my previous Greenlight Spotlights for more interesting games. Of all the games I’ve highlighted, only Cradle has made it through so far. My hope is that these articles can do at least a little to help change that.

My previous article focused on Greenlight games with active Kickstarters. Three of those Kickstarters have since ended, and I’m happy to report that C-Wars, Chasm, and Worlds of Magic were all successfully funded. C-Wars was extremely successful, ending with $95,574 (goal was $32,000) and reaching every stretch goal. Chasm only met two stretch goals, but still made a respectable $191,897 (goal was $150,000). Worlds of Magic ended with £45,593 (goal was £30,000) and was just shy of getting its final stretch goal. Worlds of Magic also has an alpha funding campaign, and any money earned from that will go towards the content promised in the final stretch goal.

Among the Sleep has 4 days to go and has only reached $184,247 of its $200,000 goal. A.N.N.E. still has 8 days to go and is just over its goal of $70,000, with a long list of stretch goals to hit. Since my last article, I also wrote a short article about Ghost of a Tale and its Indiegogo campaign. The Indiegogo campaign has 8 days left and is sitting at 34,612€ of its 45,000€ goal.

Since my previous Greenlight article there was also a mini wave of three Greenlit games. Papers, Please, Edge of Space, and Venetica made it through this time around. It is great to see both Papers, Please and Edge of Space make it. Papers, Please is an oddball game that sounds like it wouldn’t be too interesting, but manages to be very compelling with fun gameplay and a real message worth exploring. Edge of Space looks very promising as a fun alternative to Terraria and the other increasingly popular block-based building games. Venetica is an action RPG that has been out for some time. It also wasn’t very good, but it isn’t really my place to complain about such things here. Valve has stated that they will do these mini waves more often to help speed up the Greenlight process.

Now that the updates are out of the way, time to get on with today’s Greenlight Spotlight. This time I wanted to focus on some so-called “Concept Games.” This section of Greenlight is mostly devoted to games that are extremely early in development. The goal here isn’t so much to get Greenlit as it is to get as much feedback as possible, or even find people who would be interested in helping out with development. Because of this, most of these games are primarily concept art, target renderings, and extremely early prototypes, but they are all interesting and unique in their own ways.

The Somme by TopHat Studios

The Somme is marketing itself as the first commercial attempt at making a multiplayer-focused WWI shooter. Like Red Orchestra, The Somme will be heavily focused on teamwork and tactics, and TopHat Studios is doing everything they can to make it as authentic as possible. It will use a class-based system and feature the ability to ride horses and use vehicles. The tanks in The Somme will operate much like they do in Red Orchestra, where you need a whole crew to effectively use them. So far they are looking to include Somme, Passchendaele, and The Battle of Lake Naroch as maps, with more coming later. The renderings and animations look pretty good so far; TopHat Studios is using Unreal Engine 3 to make The Somme.

Junkers by syaped

Junkers started as concept art and videos created by just one animator, and the developer is currently looking for people with the necessary skills required to make this game a reality. In Junkers, players manage a crew of scavengers in space, so-called “junkers,” as they raid derelict spaceships for anything worth selling on the black market. Gameplay will be made up of both real-time tactical battles during the raids and a management screen where you have to handle your crew’s finances, hire new crewmen, trade and sell materials that you scavenged from derelict ships, and more. The target renderings look really charming; it reminds me of Syndicate and many other classic isometric tactical games from the ’90s.

Ludus silva by Jayelinda

Ludus silva is an interesting sandbox strategy game where the goal is to build a thriving forest by using an editor to design plants best suited for the current environment. The editor looks quite robust so far, and you’ll have to consider many environmental factors to ensure that the plants survive. One example the developer gives is that plants with big, broad leaves are more effective at gathering sunlight, but also susceptible to UV damage if you don’t carefully consider where you put such plants. This means that to create a thriving forest you’ll need a diverse range of plant species of various shapes and sizes. Some examples of environments to expect are fertile plains, deserts, swamps, and mountains.

The Realm by Atomhawk Design

This game has been getting some buzz lately because of its active Kickstarter. The Realm is an adventure game set in the distant future, where some event has caused our world to be reclaimed by nature. Humanity is now limited to small, sparse rural communities where magic exists and our modern technologies have long since been abandoned and forgotten. Players will control a young girl named Sarina and her giant stone golem companion Toru on a quest to find a cure for a mysterious illness afflicting Sarina’s mother. The game will focus heavily on solving environmental puzzles using the strengths and special abilities of both characters. The Kickstarter could use a boost; The Realm is only 31% funded with just over a week left. The game is mostly a concept at this point, but the art direction is gorgeous.

The Stomping Land by Alex Fundora

Like The Realm, The Stomping Land also has an active Kickstarter, but it is already over 200% funded with nearly a month to go. The Stomping Land is an open-world multiplayer survival game where you play as a primitive hunter on an island full of dinosaurs. The goal is simply to survive by hunting smaller dinosaurs. The process of hunting is made difficult by the fact that the smell of fresh blood attracts larger carnivores, giving you a limited window to gather meat from a kill.

You can improve your chances with traps, distractions, or simply forming tribes with other players. Creating tribes and hunting parties with others is a pretty big part of the game. It not only improves your chances at a successful hunt, but also allows you to more easily stockpile food and other resources vital for your continued survival. The game also incorporates the idea of raiding other tribes and fighting for access to prime hunting grounds.

That’s all for today’s Greenlight Spotlight. Remember to check out the previous articles to find more interesting games. Of the 15 games I’ve highlighted in this series so far, only one (Cradle) has been Greenlit. Also remember to check out the Kickstarters I’ve brought up in both this article and the previous one.

Greenlight Spotlight 1

Greenlight Spotlight: Kickstarter Edition

Before I get to the real meat of this article, it’s time for a quick Greenlight update. As I reported, 18 games have been Greenlit since my previous article. Of the games I featured in the last Greenlight Spotlight, only Cradle made it through this recent wave of titles. Sadly, Rekoil, 99 Levels to Hell, Driftmoon, and GoD Factory: Wingmen are still waiting in Greenlight limbo. Please remember to go check these games out and leave them a vote and comment if you are interested in seeing them on Steam.

One other sad piece of news to report is that one of the games that made it through the latest wave of Greenlit titles has since been canceled. After a failed Kickstarter and alpha funding campaign, Death Inc.‘s developer Ambient Studios announced that they will be closing their doors. They simply don’t have the money to keep operating, and will be issuing full refunds to the alpha backers in the coming weeks.

Things aren’t all doom and gloom though. Some pretty promising titles made it through the Greenlight process and will hopefully be on Steam before too long. The steampunk action MMORPG City of Steam made it through, as did Frozen Endzone, the next game by the developers of the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Frozen Synapse. After highly successful Kickstarters, both Shovel Knight and Battle Worlds: Kronos also made it through.

All this talk of Kickstarters brings us to the common theme shared among today’s five spotlighted games: each one currently has an active Kickstarter campaign. If any of these games interest you, and you have some money to spare, perhaps you should also consider a pledge to their Kickstarter campaigns in addition to a vote-up on Greenlight.

Worlds of Magic by Wastelands Interactive

By the time this article is posted, Worlds of Magic‘s Kickstarter will have less than two days left. Luckily, they have already exceeded their funding target of £30,000, but as with most Kickstarters there are always stretch goals to hit.

Worlds of Magic is yet another 4X fantasy title trying to recapture the feeling of the classic Master of Magic by Microprose back in 1994. The game still looks really rough, as expected of a pre-alpha, but it seems to have the foundation of a solid 4X fantasy game. There is set to be nearly 100 units spread across six factions, twelve diverse schools of magic, multiple planes to explore and conquer, and who knows what else could be added if the Kickstarter campaign is successful enough.

Among the Sleep by Krillbite Studio

This rather unique take on the Amnesia-style of classic horror gaming gained quite a bit of buzz when it was announced a while back and now it is on Greenlight and Kickstarter. As I write this, their Kickstarter campaign is just over halfway to its $200,000 goal, and they still have plenty of time to reach it.

For those of you who’ve yet to hear about it, Among the Sleep is an atmospheric, exploration-based horror game from the perspective of a two-year-old child. The idea of playing as a toddler in a horror game is actually pretty brilliant, and based on the trailers Krillbite seems to be doing a great job with the concept. Everything seems so big and monstrous through the eyes of a young child with an overactive imagination. The game will be tackling the themes of how surreal dreams and confusion over the way the everyday world works can make things seem more frightening than they actually are.

Chasm by Discord Games LLC

Action RPG Chasm‘s Kickstarter has just under two weeks left, but they are pretty close to their $150,000 goal. At the time of writing, they are about 78% of the way to being fully funded.

Chasm is a 2D Metroidvania-style action RPG/platformer that creates a procedurally-generated dungeon with each play through. In other words, each time you play should be a unique experience as the dungeon layout and loot drops are randomized. Bosses will also be randomized in the same way that items are. Multiple modes allow you to tackle the game as either a “score attack” or slightly more roguelike experience with permadeath.

A.N.N.E by Gamesbymo

On the subject of 2D Metroidvanias, A.N.N.E has been getting a lot of attention over the past week or so. It’s Kickstarter campaign went up around a week ago and it is a little over halfway to its rather modest $70,000 goal. Most of the stretch goals are related to porting the game to other platforms like PSN, the WiiU’s eShop, and the OUYA.

A.N.N.E is an open world 2D Metroidvania/action RPG where you can explore both on foot and in a ship. The game seems to have a basic physics system where you can use your ship to pick up and move heavy objects, thus allowing you to get to new areas.  The game is meant to be truly open, in the sense that you can theoretically get to areas you “shouldn’t” be yet if you are smart and skilled enough to overcome the obstacles and higher level enemies blocking your path.

C-Wars by Onipunks

C-Wars is doing really well for itself on Kickstarter. They are well past their target goal of $32,000, and they are now focusing on stretch goals that include ports to other platforms and contests where fans can vote for new weapons and options to be added to the final game.

C-Wars is an oddball game that is pretty hard to describe. I’d recommend watching one of the trailers. It is a combination of an action RTS/RPG roguelike where you fight on a grid in real time. You micromanage a powerful hero unit while also deploying various allied units that fight with you. It looks a lot like the old Mega Man Battle Network games on the GBA, combined with some sort of tower defense/action RTS and permadeath. If nothing else it is quite a unique game that looks pretty fast-paced and hectic.

As with all Kickstarters, remember that just because a game has reached its funding that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pledge some money if able. Every little bit counts, and a campaign meeting its stretch goals just means that the final product will be that much better. Also remember to leave these games a vote on Greenlight. A successful Kickstarter is great, but getting the chance to sell your game on Steam is even better.

Even though Valve seems pretty indie-friendly, actually getting your game onto Steam can be a mysterious, arcane process. If you look around, you’ll find a lot of horror stories from indie devs about how they were repeatedly rejected from Steam and never really told why. It is a complete mystery why infamously bad and critically-destroyed games like Revelations 2012 and The War Z made it onto Steam, yet rather well-received titles like Unepic and all the stuff by Puppy Games had to struggle to get their chance.

Steam Greenlight is Valve’s attempt to rectify this by giving the customers a voice. Unfortunately, Greenlight has had its share of bumps along the way, and still isn’t really where many of us hoped it would be. The first few days saw the service flooded with joke submissions, forcing Valve to add a $100 fee to the submission requirements. Even with the fee, I’ve personally seen some shady games get listed. I remember one awful-looking Chinese MMO that shamelessly stole art assets and character designs from a number of popular animes. The devs didn’t even try to hide their blatant copyright infringement, and it took Valve a solid week to remove the game from Greenlight.

Like all things related to Valve, Greenlight also has a real lack of transparency. The average Steam user can’t really see stats on Greenlight, such as how many votes a game has, how many it needs, etc., giving some people the feeling that their votes don’t really matter. When it first launched, each game’s Greenlight page had a progress bar. However, the progress bar didn’t really tell you anything, and Valve eventually got rid of it. As far as I can tell, only Valve and the person who submitted a game can actually tell how a game is doing on Greenlight.

Even when games get through Greenlight, there is still controversy. The game Towns is still in alpha, yet as soon as it made it through Greenlight the developers released it on Steam. The Steam page for Towns doesn’t make it clear that the game is still very much in development, which led to angry customers who bought the game and realized it is still buggy and full of unfinished mechanics. “Paid Alphas” are popular on Desura and some other indie sites, but Steam users expect the games they buy to be finished. The new Early Access section provides a place for customers to buy paid alphas at a discounted price, but Towns isn’t under this category.

Despite the four paragraphs of criticism, things aren’t all bad about Greenlight. Quite a few genuinely good and critically-acclaimed games have been given their chance to shine on Steam because of Greenlight. Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Forge, and Kentucky Route Zero are just a few such examples.

I think one of the biggest obstacles preventing people from using Greenlight more is just how overwhelming it all is. At the time of writing, there are 1,192 games on Greenlight. That is a lot to sift through, especially when many of them are…less than good, to put it kindly. That’s why I’m writing this article. Despite all the muck, there are a lot of very promising titles sitting in Greenlight Limbo that could use an up-vote. If any of these games look interesting to you, remember to give them a thumbs-up and maybe even leave a comment for the devs. Many of the developers of these games are open to ideas and criticism, and can often be seen interacting with users in the comments section. So, enough of this overly-long intro, let’s look at some games:

Rekoil by Plastic Piranha

At first glance, Rekoil may look like yet another fairly generic modern military shooter. However, upon closer inspection, one will find that Rekoil is actually a more old-school, skill-focused shooter that caters heavily to the modding community and eSports scene. Rekoil is a shooter that has stripped away many of the more common tropes and mechanics of modern military shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield. It isn’t focused on progression systems, unlocks, and kill-streak superpowers.

Rekoil is designed from the ground up to be a competitive, balanced shooter. Mod tools will be available from day one, and the modding community has the developer’s full support. For the eSports scene, Plastic Piranha will be implementing fully-featured replays, a spectator mode, and even LAN support on top of the game’s highly customizable dedicated servers.

99 Levels to Hell by Zaxis Games and B-evil

99 Levels to Hell is an action-platformer roguelike along the lines of Spelunky that came out back in February. If you want to know more about it, you can check out my review here. The basic idea is that you fight your way through 100 increasingly tough, monster-filled levels with bosses every 10 stages. Along the way you’ll pick up all sorts of weapons, power-ups, and spells. The roguelike elements come in the form of permadeath and semi-randomized level layouts and item drops. The game is already on sale at places like Desura and GOG.com, but getting a Steam release could really help out this obscure little gem.

Cradle by Flying Cafe for Semianimals

Cradle is a rather odd-looking yet gorgeous point-and-click adventure that was announced quite a while back. I don’t usually like the genre, but something about this particular title has really grabbed my attention. The player is dropped into a yurt in the middle of the Mongolian hills without any company except for a malfunctioning mechanical girl. The player needs to restore the robot girl’s functions, and also uncover the secrets behind an abandoned amusement park not far from their yurt. The way the player interacts with objects in the environment looks quite interesting, and the game promises multiple endings to its rather mysterious story.

Driftmoon by Instant Kingdom

Driftmoon is yet another game that came out back in February, and like 99 Levels to Hell, was also reviewed here on Gameverse. Driftmoon is a bit of a hybrid, featuring the combat of an isometric RPG and the sort of puzzles one would expect from a traditional point-and-click adventure. The game also doesn’t take itself quite as seriously as many RPGs out there. While the game itself isn’t exactly long (For the genre, anyway) it does feature full mod support and apparently has a fairly healthy little community creating new content for the game. The game can already be purchased on GOG.com, Desura, and GamersGate, but once again a Steam release could bring in both more sales and new mods from the Steam community.

GoD Factory: Wingmen by Nine Dots Studio

Finally, I’m going to wrap things up by mentioning GoD Factory: Wingmen, a DOTA-like 4v4 space combat game. The core gameplay involves players trying to destroy the other team’s big carrier ship. The carrier ships also fire at both each other and enemy players, so the game is specifically designed in such a way that matches can’t drag on past around 30 minutes. Spaceships are fully customizable, allowing you to switch out weapons and parts between missions. There are also four distinct races to choose from, with each offering unique special abilities and combat philosophies. The game is strictly multiplayer at this point but, depending on how well Wingmen does, the developers have plans to expand the game with single player campaigns. Oh, and they are shooting for Oculus Rift support at some point.