Heathen Aliens

Attention heathen aliens. The galaxy is not big enough for both of us.
First we tried leaflets, and you would not repent…
Then we tried hymns, and you would not repent…
Now we confront you with holiest persuader of all. Space-borne thermonuclear missiles. Prepare to die.

Cliff Harris of Positech Games (We’ve blogged about his other indie games like Democracy 2, Kudos and Kudos 2, and on Positech’s business model) has just added a new DLC pack for Gratuitous Space Battles. You’ll be fighting The Order, alien zealots who plan to wipe you out with shiny new weapons:

Radiation Guns

Bullet-firing weapons which deliver a radioactive payload which eats away at your ship from the inside, even if you manage to restore your shields after the initial impact. They also come with a free creepy green glow effect!

Nuclear Missiles

All the fun of radiation guns, in missile form!

Limpet Mines [

Tiny robotic drones which seek out fast moving enemy fighters and attach to them, slowing them down and allowing your heroic gunners to take an easy shot at those heathen alien swine.

Firefly Rockets

Think of them as ‘Rockets 2.0′, faster and more deadly.

You can get it here.  And, yes, there’s a strong possibility that I posted this just to share “then we tried hymns, and you would not repent.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Thoughts On Casual Games Dev

Game development isn’t exactly my strong suit. Personally I prefer to let other people work long hours, pouring their heart and soul into a game, and then I play it and complain about what’s wrong with it. Hey, that’s where my talents lie!

But I do have huge admiration for indie developers, and I hope to focus on lesser-known titles here on ThumbGods.

Cliff Harris of Positech Games talks about making independent development profitable. Cliff is behind the Positech Games titles Democracy 2, Kudos (and Kudos 2!) and others. The entire interview is worth reading, if you’re all interested in what makes a game succeed, but one statement really stuck with me.

Who will survive in the casual game business in 2010?

Big Fish Games, Popcap.
I think I’ve got the full list there.

Big Fish Games is an awesome casual games portal. The “new game every day!” works perfectly for repeat business.  They’re a total giant, even my mother-in-law has a Big Fish Games account. But I worry that massive portals like BFG (much as I love them!) and now Amazon are making it harder for the guy-with-website development model to succeed.

Not to be all doom and gloom, because as Cliff’s interview shows, an indie game developer and creative marketer can still do very well.

Via Interview with Cliff Harris (cliffski) from Positech Games | Sell More Games.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Kudos 2 for the Mac

A few months ago, I reviewed the original Kudos and talked about how much I enjoyed it. Kudos 2 was quite similar, but with many more options, like the ability to change clothes and hair to make unique avatars. This is my cute Kudos 2 sim over on the left. I hate to sound so girly but I get much more attached to characters I can customize.

Today’s Positech newsletter says that Kudos 2 is now available on the Mac, so even people with a one-button mouse can play too! From the newsletter:

You can download the mac demo here:
http://www.redmarblegames.com/downloads/Kudos2Demo.dmg
And buy the game here:
http://store.esellerate.net/s.asp?s=STR807618070&Cmd=BUY&SKURefnum=SKU05843952168
As usual, the mac version is sold through, and ported by our partners at redmarblegames.com

if you don’t know about Kudos 2, it’s a turn-based life-simulation game where you get to control the choices someone makes in their life from age twenty to thirty. Think of it as a strategic version of the sims, without all the worrying about answering the door and going to the bathroom all the time.

Of course, Kudos 2 for PC is also available, and you can try out a free demo version.  Besides Kudos and Kudos 2, Positech also did the game Democracy.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Democracy 2 Review

Playing Positech’s Democracy 2:

Democracy 2 has a
bit of a slow start, because with so many options and so many
possibilities it’s hard to get a handle on what everything does. It’s a
government strategy game, which isn’t a new genre, but Democracy has
almost endless options.

My country, Malaganga, started with some problems, and my goal was to eliminate disease and street crime, without alienating any voters. In Civ4, my usual strategy game, your citizens will tell you that religion makes them happy, and if you’re really successful, they’ll throw a celebration in your honor. (I particularly like “We love the despot!” day.) In Democracy2, your constituents are divided into smaller interest groups, like Liberals, Socialists, Wealthy, Drivers or Smokers, and your actions affect each group differently. A tax on emissions pleases Environmentalists but annoys others, free school buses please Parents, but the Tobacco tax to pay for the buses doesn’t go over so well. In addition to passing laws, random events come up, and you’ve got decide who to appoint for foreign relations, or whether to allow genetically modified produce. I really liked the random events. Sometimes a pop star would endorse me, and once a vigilante superhero appeared (I guess I had some street crime problems).

Read the rest at Simpson’s Paradox — Playing Democracy

Popularity: 12% [?]

Democracy 2

A new government strategy game, Democracy 2.

Democracy 2 has a bit of a slow start, because with so many options and so many possibilities it’s hard to get a handle on what everything does. It’s a government strategy game, which isn’t a new genre, but Democracy has almost endless options.

My country, Malaganga, started with some problems, and my goal was to eliminate disease and street crime, without alienating any voters. In Civ4, my usual strategy game, your citizens will tell you that religion makes them happy, and if you’re really successful, they’ll throw a celebration in your honor. (I particularly like “We love the despot!” day.) In Democracy2, your constituents are divided into smaller interest groups, like Liberals, Socialists, Wealthy, Drivers or Smokers, and your actions affect each group differently. A tax on emissions pleases Environmentalists but annoys others, free school buses please Parents, but the Tobacco tax to pay for the buses doesn’t go over so well. In addition to passing laws, random events come up, and you’ve got decide who to appoint for foreign relations, or whether to allow genetically modified produce. I really liked the random events. Sometimes a pop star would endorse me, and once a vigilante superhero appeared (I guess I had some street crime problems).

Via Simpson’s Paradox

Popularity: 2% [?]