This Week In Indie: Don’t Starve, Marvin’s Mittens And The Escapist

This week has flown by at an exceptional speed and another week of promising indie games have publicly been made known. This week, I chose a variety of games and wanted to suggest a few games of interest. Next week, my interview with a mystery indie developer will be going live on eGamer. All will be revealed next week. So let’s get on with the show.

The first indie game we’ll be taking a look at today is called Don’t Starve which will be availabe on Steam in early 2013. It can also be accessed and bought in early beta from the developers’, Klei Entertainment, website. Klei Entertaiment describe the game saying:

Don’t Starve is an uncompromising wilderness survival game full of science and magic. You play as Wilson, an intrepid Gentleman Scientist who has been trapped by a demon and transported to a mysterious wilderness world. Wilson must learn to exploit his environment and its inhabitants if he ever hopes to escape and find his way back home. Enter a strange and unexplored world full of strange creatures, dangers, and surprises. Gather resources to craft items and structures that match your survival style. Play your way as you unravel the mysteries of this strange land.

What is great about this game is that there seems to be no direct instructions on how to go about surviving and in the game you can fight, craft, hunt, research and farm in order to survive. The visuals are also very distinctive and I like the art direction the game is heading in. This looks like a game for indie fans of horror and survival games, with an absurd twist.

The next game I decided to speak about is entitled The Escapist and is currently striving for major support on Steam Greenlight. This is what the developers, Backstab Games, had to say about their zany Sonic-inspired platformer:

A base of 2D platformer with extra spicy bouncing, in a mix of 48 heavily trapped levels, sided with 3 badass bosses. There’s also tasty upgrades to avoid choking. Best served hardcore, enjoy!

The game really does look like an ode to Sonic in some ways with its fast paced gameplay, but has greater and varied level design from what can be seen in the trailer. This game looks promising and like a solid platformer. If you enjoy it, I suggest supporting the game through Steam Greenlight to get it on the service’s release schedule in the near future.

The final game we’re looking at this week is called Marven’s Mittens and will be released on December 10th. The game is also a part of the Steam Greenlight campaign. The game looks like a more experimental and artistic take on the traditional platformer with no indication of there being any type of scoring system in the proposed game, or goals as per traditional platformer formulas. This is what the developers, Breakfall, had to say about the game:

Marvin’s Mittens is a 2D platformer with a focus on exploration and collection. With gorgeous, hand drawn art, Marvin presents a soothing world to explore, free from enemies and danger. Collect magic snowflakes to increase your jump height and race your sled across the landscape to reach new areas before your mother calls you back home. Learn the secrets of snow elf magic and traverse the world beyond Marvin’s backyard to solve the mystery of the missing mitten. Immerse yourself in this charming indie title!

Marvin’s Mittens feels like a hand drawn childhood memory and is a game which I’m looking forward to with great interest. I think this is a game you should seriously look out for.

Anyway, that’s it for this week. I’m off now to go and do as any gamer will be doing this week, playing games. I will have a review of Toxic Bunny HD up some time next week. So keep on the look out for that. Remember to enjoy your weekend, and keep it real and indie.