Screenshot Weekly – Preposterous, Pulsating Bedfellows
Welcome back to Screenshot Weekly! Every Tuesday, IGM brings you exclusive looks at upcoming games in various stages of development. The featured image introducing each game will always be original, and made especially for IGM, so you’ll see them for the first time right here! Without further ado, let’s take a look at this week’s screenshots:
Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass
As developer Kasey Ozymy puts it, “Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass is a PC JRPG in the vein of Earthbound. Players take on the role of a quiet eight-year-old boy named Jimmy as he explores his imagination.” The narrative is actually far from whimsical, though, as “the core story is centered around fully understanding and making amends with his family for what he sees as his own personal failings.” While still early in production, gameplay is said to focus on exploration, long-term stat progression, and menu-based combat. The most unique ability at Jimmy’s disposal is his empathy, which enables him to “imagine what different monsters are like, allowing him to turn into those monsters both in and out of combat.” These monster transformations also play a role in exploring the environment. Kasey notes that “while Jimmy‘s world is generally bright and colorful, there are darker areas of a child’s imagination. Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass can quickly shift from a sunshine-drenched child’s drawing into outright horror.”
The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything
With a name like that, it’s hard to imagine what players are in store for. According to solo developer Joe Richardson, “The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything is a satirical point-and-click adventure game about progress, politics and, propulsive nozzles.” Preposterous Awesomeness is actually the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign for a project originally known as Unnecessary Sentience, which launched in August 2014. Joe revealed that “it’s based on a short story, also written by me, about an apparently primitive society, attempting to work together to build a space rocket. It follows these people, from disordered chaos (the past), through a disgusting and distorted and horrible and hilarious kind of faux-democracy (the present (SATIRE! Amirite?!?!)) into the unknowable, irrelevant emptiness of outer space (the future).” The game includes an old school verb system, with updated verbs such as ‘befuddle’ and ‘disrespect’ added in. The project is scheduled to release on PC, Mac, and Linux sometime during Summer 2015.
The Waycross Inn
Looking for a place to rest your head, weary adventurer? The Waycross Inn may not be the most relaxing lodging. Solo dev Stew Hogarth told me Waycross Inn “is a RPG Adventure game about running a tavern in a volatile political and economic landscape.” Players will be able to customize their tavern with options like choosing the name, the menu, the atmosphere, the rules, what’s on tap, and of course, the sign. Fans of King of Dragon Pass will likely be familiar with the gameplay, as it takes inspiration from there and is mixed with elements of the Atelier and Harvest Moon series’. It’s designed as a turn based game, “with players able to spend the day doing one action for their tavern (planning a trade trip, searching for ingredients, mixing a brew), and then reacting to the stories and random events that occur between turns.” Stew mentioned that the game is currently being developed for PC, Mac, and Linux, but hasn’t ruled out iOS and Android too. “These kinds of games are quite well suited to playing in short bursts, anyway.”
That’s it for this installment of Screenshot Weekly. Be sure to come back next week to see more exclusive looks of the latest indie games in development! Let us know in the comments section what upcoming indie games you’d like to see featured in a future segment. As for any indie developers who would like to see their screenshots featured right here, feel free to send an email to IGM at [email protected] with the Subject Line: “Screenshot Weekly.” Or, if you’d like to be part of our Magazine’s Screenshot Monthly segment, include that in the email as well!
