Luckily I was having the chance to beta-test Krystian Majewskis indie-masterpiece TRAUMA. Everyone can cheer for the day, that game finally will come out. I won’t spoil you, but this game got its very own language, rhythm and what surprised me most, is also addictive, because of the dense atmosphere to literally fall into. The riddles are so basic and good, do not need words. Finally you find yourself playing at a meta-layer – that is disconnected from everything else: the cut-scenes, the game-play itself. Hard to describe that. I can agree with the review of Katharina Tillmanns from the Cologne Game Lab: “Having said this, I have to get back to testing – for therapeutical breakthrough I might have to play TRAUMA over and over again.”

Hand out a price to this man finally… ;)

And here is the trailer again:

PS: You can follow the last steps of Krystian’s progress of TRAUMA at his (always worth reading) scrapbook-blog. Get the letest news there!

Uh huh! The Impact-JS game engine was released today! It is a game-framework, that allows you to make games in JavaScript, that basically should run in every modern JavaScript-enables browser. The funky-detail is, that you can even code games, that run on the iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. Still there are some minor quirks to solve, as the creator Dominic Szablewski writes in his blog:

All those platforms still have their problems with sound and the iPhone 4 has a hard time filling all its pixels, but the games remain to be playable even on the 1st gen iPod Touch.

For me this looks like a project, somehow between an awesome proof-of-concept and some serious stuff to build upon. And it seems, that I am not the only one, who is a little surprised, that Impact should now be at sale for 99 Dollars, instead of making this stuff free and open source. Hm… really, nothing against making some bucks from the own hard work… but this project here smells more like a BSD-licence with some serious business work wrapped around it. I think this would be a better fit. Or like someone, who wrote at Dominics blog: “I wish you luck making some sales… but you could have the next jQuery on your hands if you released this for free.”

On the other side, maybe there will be impact with Impact. At least the way to make games, that are playable at the iDevice-range, could be a great opportunity. Still wondering, what Apple will have to say to this.

Anyway, no matter, which way he will choose! Good luck and thanks for making this real!

As a game developer, which of these sounds more desirable to you?

1. A really fun 5 minute game that took ten hours to make
2. A really fun 5 minute game that took one hour to make

Assuming that they are equally enjoyable to the same group of people, most of us would go with the one hour version. Sure, in nine more hours there is a lot that can be done. You can add more artwork, add social aspects, add multiplayer or extra modes. But if we are just focusing on fun, which I believe tends to max out on a relatively small scale, then time of of the essence, and if you only have an hour or so, you want to put it in the right place. As game developers, our time is very valuable.

Screenshot: Momiga

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Uh, it seems, that Jonathan Lavigne is growing into my all time pixelartist toplist, not only, because of his game “Ninja Senki”, that should be released at the 21 December 2010. He also did the artworks for Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and other games, mostly for Ubisoft. Ninja Senki is his first indie-game. His graphic-style combines a modern and fresh approach with very classic 8-bit styles, that is absolutely unique. Less is more! You can follow his blog Pixeltao. Feel free to also read an interview with Jonathan. (via)

Based on the success of the first “Humble Indie Bundle”, that raised over 1 million dollars in a “pay what you want” manner, it is time for a second edition. Same concept: a bundle of great indie-games are bundeling together. This time it is Braid, Osmos, Machinarium, Cortex Command, Osmos and Revenge of the Titans. Plus bonus-features like soundtracks. The games are DRM-free and are available for all platforms: Windows, Mac and Linux. Some games have their debut on Linux in this bundle. Once again you can choose to give your backs away for charity and spend some amount to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) or Childs-Play. Don’t hesitate, get the bundle here.

When you are out for a little bit of crazy chipmusic-Christmas music, than feel free to download this small, but exclusive (and very clean produced) collection of Christmas tunes from Herr Kaschke. Insane poppy beats meets classic tunes in a fresh and colored way. Let’s be nice! I know that your are nerds.

One of the oldest netaudio-sites, the “Kahvi Collective” is still active after releasing 296 single releases with over 800 tracks. Kahvi is planning a new “Various Artist” Compilation for the beginning of the new year 2011 and they are looking for contributions for that release (feel free to contact Kahvi directly). The ones who know Kahvi know, that they have an unique IDM-ish sound, that held true from the very first Kahvi-release until know.

Time to look at the latest “Various Artists” compilation, called “Secret Games“. It is not only the cover that is good. The music is also dense, compact and light. Between some irrelevant tracks you will find some jewels at “Secret Games”, tracks that are good not only from a musical point of view, but also mixed and mastered very quietly. A little bit of tracker music meets digital clarity and the warmth of a open fire at wintertime.