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TooManyGames 2018: An Overview

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Crymson Pleasure

Too-Many-Games

This year, we had the pleasure of attending TooManyGames again!

I am excited for this convention every year for one big reason…. Indie Games Showcase!

Unfortunately, we had zero time to prepare for this event. We didn’t talk to guests this year, but we were very excited to see Charles Martinet, the Voice of Mario, and Kenny James, the voice of Bowser. Again, we weren’t able to talk with them, which was disappointing, but it was fun to see new guests with such an amazing background. I had several friends who were thrilled to get the chance to meet them.

However, I was sad to see that Keith Apicary wasn’t there. He had became a weird and hilarious part of my TooManyGames experiences.

The gaming hall was a bit smaller this year, making room for more competitive gaming. The food was in a different section all together, making for much more seating and faster food lines. It also created a much calmer area, if you were overwhelmed by the noise.

The vendors room was full and I was happy to see new vendors this year. My little horror heart was hovering around Death Couture and chatting with Megg Morbid about custom orders.

But let’s talk about the best part: the games! There were video games, card games, board games. So many to play, never enough time. Let’s go over a few favorites.

Wither Studios is working on Immure. This is a game we played a little last year and more of this year. Their game looks amazing and has come far in the past year. We are excited to play the final product. Here is a little bit about Immure…

Immure is a 2.5D psychological horror video game currently in development. Throughout this dark, twisted story, the protagonist Will Wicker traverses through a mysterious mansion that contains many strange realities to uncover the horrible truths behind each locked door. Will is desperate to escape this house of hells and discover the secrets of his past. Will soon realizes he has the ability to wield the Shining Trapezohedron, a supernatural crystal with strange powers. How far into the depths of hell must Will venture before finding solace? …

ParaLily is another amazing horror game. This is our first year seeing it and love how absolutely passionate Nate and Jeff are about their game. We watched two women striving to play as far as they could and the pure anger and devotion with each time they died and refused to quit… well, it was a thing of beauty to watch.

ParaLily is one little girl’s adventure to retrieve her dear stuffed dinosaur Patches, who in the middle of the night sprung to life and took off through a mysterious door. This strange journey will take Lily through a set of dangerous and terrifying parallel universes, as she attempts to retrieve her little stuffed runaway. Lily can shift between the parallel universes at will; which will help her avoid danger, and solve puzzles while traversing the paranormal universes.

Super 80’s World is a mobile game that is all about the 80’s, mullet included. It’s a bright neon world all about saving this decade, from big hair to cassette tapes, it was a trip down memory lane for me and I’m interested to see this finished product.

Dr. Noid Wormser hates the ’80s and has vowed to erase the decade. Armed with his power glove of doom, he’s finally able to realize his evil plan.

Only one man can stop him. That man is Dan Camaro.

In this mobile platform-runner, you collect old-school memorabilia to save the decade. Every year is a new world to explore, from coin operated arcades to the neon streets of South Beach, you’re sure to get your ’80s fix.

So pop your collar, fluff your mullet and lace your kicks… It’s time for Super 80s World.

I run into people I know often, especially at cons. I didn’t expect to run into someone I knew working on a game I knew NOTHING ABOUT! Red Essence Games is working on Mask of Semblance. Nik Hagialas is the lead artist and writer which explains why I love the artwork. I loved listening to the game concept and can’t wait to get my hands on the full release!

Red Essence Games is currently working on its flagship title, Mask of Semblance! A boy wakes up in a mysterious place to find a sentient Mask artifact. With the mask as your companion you will travel through a mysterious world encountering themes of the self and the mind, nature vs. technology, and the cyclical nature of life.

One Day West Games was also there showing off their successful Monster Highway, which we’ve talked about before. I was excited to see them still going strong with their unique board game and working on something new that I can’t wait to play!

After a nuclear power plant melts down, a tiny alligator transforms into a gigantic beast – and it’s a little cranky!

Build roads, move your car and be the first to get back to your HOME BASE!

Hyper Galaxy Studios I had the pleasure of seeing my first TMG. Back this year they showed off a more polished game, still hard but amazingly well done. This side scrolling sci-fi game will surprise you!

Horizon’s End is going for those nostalgia feels with The Great Gaias. An epic RPG is in the make and we are looking forward to what tales this title has to tell.

I had to pleasure of purchasing Risky Arcade. I haven’t played it yet and will be giving a review once I do. I have no doubt this board game will do amazing things. Not only is it an interesting concept but Dominique is driven and passionate about her game. Can’t wait to open it up.

There were so many games, you may say too many games… and I know I missed some amazing ones here and I am sorry. I hope to be giving you details on each game as they come to Kickstarter or full release.

Thank you to all of the Indie Developers. Keep making amazing games for us to play!

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Convention Impressions: Too Many Games 2016

Posted on August 1, 2016 by ucbooties

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Date: June 24 – 26, 2016
Venue: Oaks Convention Center in Oaks, PA

Real Women of Gaming is getting on the convention beat! Our first Press Pass came from Too Many Games and it was a great convention for us to get our feet wet with.

What Kind of Convention is it?
As the name suggests, Too Many Games is a gaming convention. The Convention had 3 panel tracks and an event stage, but the majority of the space was given over to a large gaming room and an even larger marketplace. The arcade/gaming room had arcade machines and consoles running fighting games, racing games, and rhythm games for anyone to test their skills against their fellow con goers. There were also at least 30 machines running various versions of Nintendo’s beloved Super Smash Brothers for both free and tournament play. Rounding things out were a tabletop gaming area and a indie game showcase.

Too Many Games is definitely a small convention. The focus is on the games room and the marketplace. The convention did manage a respectable lineup of guests from the gaming youtube and podcast ‘verse including The Completionist and the Angry Video Game Rolfe, but don’t expect representation from major studios or established indie studios. Sorry, no autographs from Ken Levine or surprise game announcements from Double Fine.

The panel tracks covered a decent range of topics but didn’t offer anything you wouldn’t typically find at a small enthusiast convention. There were Guest FAQs, retrospectives, music and animation appreciation panels, and discussions about current topics. It was a full schedule but I’m guessing that the fairly sparsely attended panels were not the draw for most people at the con.

What was cool?
By far my favorite part was the Indie Games showcase. I got to spend time with at least twenty developers of both video and tabletop games, trying their games and talking to them about their projects. The items on offer ranged from rough prototypes to extremely polished and professional demos. Everyone I met was eager to show off their work and talk about what they wanted to accomplish, what their influences were, and what got them into game design in the first place. There were definitely a few creators there whose projects I will be following closely from now on and some of them may even be featured in future posts on this blog.

The marketplace had a heavy focus on retro video games and I saw a few rare finds on offer. If you’re a collector then you already know that events like these can be a goldmine or a bust depending on what the vendors have on offer. Board games also had decent representation and I was pleased to see a few items that I had been keeping an eye out for. There were also a few booths selling figures and other collectables and, of course, enough funny t-shirts to clothe an army.

I also liked the arcade more than I thought I would. I’ve never been a big fighting game fan, but there was enough variety that I could find plenty to keep me occupied. There were also a few Japanese rhythm game cabinets which were in high demand. Fortunately, I never had to wait too long for a turn at a cabinet and there was always someone ready to jump in and play a round with me. (I lost, a lot).

What was lame?
The venue itself is nothing to write home about. The Oaks Convention Center is essentially a big steel warehouse with concrete floors. Because the convention was divided between two large halls, one for the marketplace and indie showcase and one for the arcade and event stage, it could be awkward getting around. The bathroom lines could get pretty long (it is a con) and the food was overpriced and mediocre (again, con). That said, it’s not the worst place to hold a convention, but it’s not as interesting or cool a venue as some that I have been to.

Who is it for?
If you are all about buying and playing games, this is a great convention. There was a lot on offer to play and over 50 vendors in the marketplace, making the whole thing feel like a big swapmeet. If you are interested in indie games or talking about game making with the people who are doing it right now, then the Indie Showcase alone is worth getting a ticket. There were concerts and cosplay wrestling, so if those kinds of shows are your thing then that’s a decent reason to attend. Just expect to kill some time in the arcade and marketplace between shows you want to see.

If you are more interested in the cosplay scene, community meetups, or people watching, then Too Many Games is hard to recommend. The venue is bad for photography and there wasn’t a lot of cosplay around. Aside from smash tournaments and a pokemon event, there wasn’t a whole lot in the way of organized community meetups either.

Did you like it?
I definitely did. Too Many Games felt kind of like someone had taken the gameroom and dealers hall from a larger convention and turned them into their own thing. I’m used to attending conventions that are a little more scattershot in what they offer and it was cool attending a convention that had a strong focus on gaming. I also liked the fact that I could get to things that looked interesting without fighting through fifteen thousand other people to get to it. Sometimes small conventions can feel empty or like they needed to stretch their content but Too Many Games stayed engaging and entertaining for the whole time.

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Indie Developer Spotlight: Liege

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Crymson Pleasure
Indie Developer Spotlight: Liege

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That’s right, we have TWO Indie Developer Spotlights this month! With all the contacts we made at Too Many Games, we decided to double down this month. Enjoy!

We spoke with John from Coda Games, who we met at Too Many Games, about their upcoming game, Liege. Here’s what he had to say:

Q1. Tell us about your game.
Liege is a story driven RPG with a deep, tactical core. The game has classic JRPG influences, but:
– Modern presentation
– Seamless, fast paced tactical battles
– No random encounters, no grinding, no fetch quests, no fluff

Here’s the trailer:

Q2. What was your inspiration to create the game?
Inspiration for the game came from lots of places: Classic RPGs I loved as a kid (FFVI, FF Tactics and Suikoden) were some of the original inspirations, while more recently games like the new XCOMs and Transistor had a big influence as we developed the mechanics. Inspiration for the story and setting came mostly from outside of games (fantasy books, film and TV- too many to list!).

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Q3. When should we expect to see it?
As of now we’re aiming to release on Steam Q1 next year, with console ports in Q2-Q3 2017.

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Indie Developer Spotlight: Rise of the Robotariat

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Vanri The Rogue

Written by: Julie from Eye4Games

Rise of the Robotariat launched at the end of June on Kickstarter. Its campaign ends July 22.

About the game
Rise of the Robotariat is a board game for 3-5 players that can be played as fully-cooperative or mostly-cooperative. You take on the role of one of eight unique robot revolutionaries and work together with other players to overthrow the humans who have oppressed you for too long.

In order to win, you must raise enough funds to launch a successful revolution — and do it within six rounds, otherwise the humans catch on and stamp it out.

During the game, you move between and activate city locations. At each location, you can do a different thing, for example, draw and play Upgrade and Sabotage cards, place propaganda posters, or influence the movement of Non-Player Characters.

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There are two kinds of Non-Player Characters (NPCs) moving around the board. These are either helpful Civilian Robots, who will donate to the revolution, or dangerous Human Oppressors, who will fine you and tear down your posters. At the end of each player’s turn, they roll dice to determine where the Civilian Robots and Human Oppressors will move next. Their path is mostly predictable but not guaranteed. The game’s intensity ramps up as the game goes on and more NPCs enter the board

A lot of the game’s strategy revolves around setting up turns where the Civilian Robots will give big benefits while mitigating the effectiveness of the Human Oppressors when the NPC dice are rolled.

You have one other thing to manage as well: the revolution’s reputation. You start the game with a certain amount of collective Reputation. You can chose to spend it to take bolder acts of sabotage and you will lose some if humans catch you conspiring too blatantly. But if Reputation ever drops to zero, robots lose all faith in the revolution and you lose the game.

If you decide you want an extra challenge or if someone is telling everyone else how to play, you can add in Secret Objective cards for a mostly-cooperative game. In this version each player is striving to achieve a unique goal. This usually involves making the revolution happen in the way that makes you look the most heroic.

The inspiration
Rise of the Robotariat started with a mechanic that no longer exists in the game. One of our game designers had an idea that sounded to a lot like upgrading robots and that lead to the flavor that players are members of the robot rebellion. After a disappointing playtesting, we scrapped the original gameplay idea, but the story it inspired shaped the development of new mechanics.

This is one of the exciting aspects of Rise of the Robotariat: all of the gameplay is grounded in the flavor and the story is infused throughout. For a small example, we have a character named Alice who looks human, but is certain she’s just a very cleverly disguised robot. Because of her appearance, she has more influence with humans and her character’s ability gives her the greatest control over the movement of Human Oppressor NPCs.

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We’ve made a point to have the flavor color the rulebook, and the art for many of the characters references Soviet-era propaganda posters or revolutionary paintings. The predominant use of red in the games’ color scheme also is to invoke that revolutionary vibe.

As a cool extra, our writer has been writing on-going tales about the characters’ backstories leading up to the start of the game. We’re collecting them into a book and you can read them in blog-post form online here.

When’s it out?
The way to get the game is to back the game on Kickstarter. At the end of June, we launched a campaign for Rise of the Robotariat that runs until July 22nd. If we’re successful, we’ll be able to afford a print run and the game will be out by January 2017.

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The Benefits and Drawbacks of Crowdfunding

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Trever Bierschbach
The Benefits and Drawbacks of Crowdfunding

Disclosure:  I bought into the base crowdfunding for Star Citizen, and a couple of other non-gaming projects that are not mentioned in this piece.

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Crowdfunding has become a wildly popular means for artists, designers, writers and film makers to get their projects off the ground in lieu of traditional investment funding.  With the rise in the number of funding projects, there’s also a rise in scams, failed projects, and teams that don’t come through with their promises.  As every year passes the list of failed ideas grows longer and it’s making gamers more and more skeptical of funding new independent projects.

Mighty No. 9,  though it has been released, has been a long chain of concerns and disappointments for the last year or more.  Community management issues, communication problems and finally a delayed and troublesome release have left a bad taste in people’s mouths.  Some backers were able to get refunds before release, but many stuck it out in hopes they would get the spiritual successor to Mega Man, but by all reports Mighty No. 9 isn’t so mighty.  Often the best way for an indie game to get made now is with crowdfunding, but when backers get burned by a bad project it will make them think twice before backing another, which could turn out to be a great game.

Then we have projects that have been funded, have been updating, but have not released yet.  Star Citizen is a huge undertaking, that has grown larger over the years as it has managed to raise more money than any crowdfunded game yet.  Over the course of the funding the developer has expanded the size and scope of the game, but there doesn’t appear to be a release date in sight.  They have updated backers regularly with videos, alpha releases of small portions of the game, and email newsletters.  The delay has left people wondering if they’ll ever see the game, and some have even gotten a refund on their investment.

Worse, in my opinion, are the funded ideas that never deliver, even a bad quality product, and don’t update the backers at all.  A Feminist Deck was funded completely in June of 2015, and, according to comments on the page, went radio silent in February of this year.  By all appearances, the organizer has taken the money and run, which may or may not be true, but in the case of asking people to trust you with their money, appearances are all you have.

That’s essentially what crowdfunding is.  Asking people for money for a product that isn’t yet created, and asking them to trust you to deliver that product as promised.  The bigger issue here is faceless project organizers and anonymous artists are the bulk of the people asking for money, and the more trust that’s broken with consumers, the less they’ll trust the next one.  A few people burned by a couple of failed games tell their friends, who also become more skeptical.  A creator might have a great idea and be able to deliver, but they might not be able to find enough backers to trust them to get it off the ground.  Messes like Double Fine’s Broken Age debacle just make it harder for the next team with a great idea.

Despite the large number of incomplete game projects there have been some great successes with games getting funded.  Pillars of Eternity, for example, got great reviews from both players and critics.  In its time, it was the highest funded Kickstarter game on the site.  Along with Pillars, we’ve seen a couple of Shadowrun games, Superhot, and Darkest Dungeon, just to name a few of the more popular ones.  We’ve gotten some great titles, unique concepts, and quality product out of crowdfunding, and it is a great way for independent developers to get their projects out there, but it’s certainly become a minefield of risk and disappointment.

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Indie Developer Support Could Mean Better Games for All

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Trever Bierschbach

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At the birth of the video game industry, games were made much the same way indie games are made now. Small groups of artists, writers and programmers came together, often with very little money, and big ideas, and created some of the most memorable experiences early gamers had. Some of these games are still remembered today as classics, and the foundation of what we have now. Over the years larger games, larger budgets, and massive enterprises have come to make up the bulk video game industry, but there is still a healthy indie game market that can’t be ignored. As a matter of fact, I think it needs our support to make sure we get better games in the future. I’m going to give you a breakdown of why I think that’s the case, and a few of my concerns over indie studios.

Inspire Innovation

First and foremost, supporting indie devs can mean more innovation in games.  AAA studios and big publishers continue to push out the same old games, with the same stories and mechanics, with few innovations year to year.  They do that because they have to guarantee a return of the huge budgets they have to get to make the games they make.  It’s why we have the same COD game every year, another Battlefield with all its bugs, Halo, Tomb Raider, Assassin’s Creed and on and on.  Many of these games are fun, people love them, and buy them by the boat-load, but at the end of the day, there’s little difference between each installment of the game.  Companies don’t want to take the risk with so much money involved.

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