Indie Games As An Artform

A blog devoted to celebrating all artistic aspects of indie games. A commitment to loving the creations and creators that accompany indie game development through minimalist writing, humor, and interaction with those creators.


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David S. Gallant’s ‘I Get This Call Every Day’ Available Now!

David S. Gallant’s new game, I Get This Call Every Day’ (IGTCED), about working a day job and the miserable difficulties that accompany it is available now at David’s website.

As you all know, whether you be ManDate fans or Twitter fans, I have a fairly close relationship with David and have one of my songs from my most recent indie album featured in IGTCED. So, do keep that in mind while you read this. I enjoy being forthright with info like that.

David was kind enough to give me a copy and I played through a few times. The phone call is a daunting task to sit through. It feels as though the caller is intentionally screwing with your head and trying to dead end himself. At one point I asked for his full name and he gave me his first name. Billy Swarth knows nothing about anything and you have to sit there and hear him complain to you about the security questions you have to ask him to avoid getting fired. The experience is in no way “fun”.

But that is the catch and the point. David does not want the player to have fun during the game and it shows. There are a couple laughs because of how ridiculous the occurrences are, but overall the experience is a bleak and miserable affair, which is obviously the way David feels about his job.  This is not a game focused on entertaining you, but rather a game set on teaching you about how miserable a government job can truly be.

If you would like to give IGTCED the college try you can purchase it from David’s website for a minimum of $2 or $1,000,000 if you are inclined. You can obtain the music for $FREE or more on my gumroad page (shameless self promotion is always a good thing). IGTCED is a worthwhile purchase, especially if you are looking to see how truly personal the video game medium can be.


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Ludum Dare 25 Ends, Devs Produce 1325 Games

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Game Jams are an enigma to me. Perhaps it is my inability to code, write, and program, but those are issues for another life. What matters is that the concept of creating a game in a matter of 24, 48, or 72 hours tickles me in a way that only Futurama and our own ManDate Podcast ever could. One of the more popular versions of these so-called “Game Jams” is the Ludum Dare 48-Hour Game Jam, which was held between December 14 and 17th this year.

Ludum Dare is, well, explained best by the people who make it possible:

Ludum Dare is a regular accelerated game development Event.  Participants develop games from scratch in a weekend, based on a theme suggested by community.

 Ludum Dare was founded by Geoff Howland, and held it’s first competition in April of 2002. Since then the community has run more than 22 regular Events, several dozens of practice competitions, collectively creating many thousands of games in just a weekend each.

The theme of LD25 was “You are the Villian” so all games were made using that theme. The game jam produced an incredible 1325 games, an incredible number. Each of these games is stored and playable on Ludum Dare’s website.

So for perhaps eternity, or just the next week, I will be sorting through and playing many of these games. Hopefully you go out and give them a shot too. Oh, and devs, LD26 will be held in the Spring, so check that out and try to gain some more info.

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Announcing: ManDate’s IGAAA Indie Game Awards!

Award shows are fun extravaganzas of opinions and ranking games. I too, like most people, enjoy having fun. So I have decided to hold my own awards show! An end of the year cacophony of guest stars (hopefully) and awards all held by me and my ManDate podcast co-host Frank Collins!

The show will be held in a live audio format, between December 17th and 24th, and we will be calling in devs from around the planet to ask them about their favorite games of the year! If they played any. As they are all busy creating games! Hopefully they will make time to come on the show.

Categories will include but are not limited to:

Best Art, Best Graphics, Genre Awards, Best Soundtrack, Best Sound, Most Innovative, Best Story, Most Anus-Injuring, Most Underrated, Most Overrated, Best Multiplayer, and many more!

The IGAAA Awards are the opinion of 1-3 men who in no way disagree with your noble opinions.


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Cavanagh Cast: ‘Super Hexagon’ Live with Giveaways

Last night I went live on my Twitch.tv Channel for a cast of me playing ’Super Hexagon’. I interacted with fans and gave away codes. You can view part of the cast above or the whole cast here. The community response was pretty positive and I hit 27 viewers at some point. Because of this I will be casting weekly on Tuesdays on Twitch at 10pm EST here, where I will be enjoying indie games and possibly giving away codes. Hopefully, I see you guys there!

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This Needs Funding, but has Art, and a Cool Trailer: ‘Montague’s Mount’

I am a big fan of experiments and have a noted love of ‘Dear Esther’, and I welcome any effort at ingenuity in storytelling. ‘Montague’s Mount’, from developer Polypusher Studios, is a new game which I have officially put on my games to watch list. Not many games get on there. It is an psychological experiment in first person storytelling, taking place on a desolate Irish island. Players take the role of a fisherman stranded on the island encumbered by a leg injury, and must explore a fascinating unknown territory.

‘Montague’s Mount’ attempts a stab at the somewhat stale horror genre, by picking at the more human elements of horror such as the fragility of the mind. All the player has to go on in an old man limping, ship wreckage, and an apparently uninhabited island. But if escape is in the player’s interest, he/she must unveil the secrets of the island.

Polypusher Studios has put ‘Montague’s Mount’ up for funding on Indie Go Go, but there are only 10 days left and it is well short of its funding level. So run over there and check out that page, as it sounds like if there is not more funding the game may not be finished because the world is a cruel cruel place. You can learn more about ‘Montague’s Mount’ at the official website.

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