Screenshot Weekly – Swimming with Adventurous Vikings
Welcome back to Screenshot Weekly! Every Saturday, IGM brings you exclusive looks at upcoming games in various stages of development (so devs, don’t forget to tag @indiegamemag in your #screenshotsaturday posts so we can find you!). 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! Now without further ado, let’s take a look at this week’s screenshots:
Company of Vikings
Norse mythology is the backbone for a number of games, books, and films. But for the devs at Monster Couch, Norse lore is inspiring more then just the story of Company of Vikings. On the subject of source material, the team says that “We’re doing our ‘fluff’ research wholeheartedly and a lot of game mechanics will come straight from the sagas and myths. It’s amazing how they come together naturally.” The game is described as “a fast-paced side-scrolling beat ‘em up inspired by history of the Viking Age and by the Norse mythology.” With the number of worthy warriors ascending to Valhalla dwindling, “Odin sends the Valkyries to remind the Norse people of their destiny.” Up to 4 players locally select their Valkyries, possessing groups of would-be warriors with the goal of both achieving great glory for the Vikings, and then an equally glorious death so that they can feast in Valhalla. Vikings have their own individual skills which can further combine to create combo attacks.
Infinite Adventures
While the story contained within Infinite Adventures may prove intriguing, the story behind the game’s development itself is what caught my attention. I was first introduced to Justin Hellstrom when he was working on a project called Sol-Ark, which was intended to be featured here on Screenshot Weekly. The game eventually fell through, as did the development team, but from the ashes came a new opportunity; Hellstrom was contacted by an old acquaintance, ex-Riot Games employee Travon Santerre, who asked if he’d be interested in writing for a new project. That new project is about to hit Kickstarter tomorrow. Infinite Adventures is a dungeon crawling, turn-based RPG inspired by games like Wizardry, Etrian Odyssey, and The Bards Tale. It features both scripted and procedural dungeons, and includes more than 190 full body character portraits. Players create a party of up to six characters, choosing between 5 Races and 10 Classes to match their battle style. Visit the website for more info.
Swimming Teddybears
From vikings to cuddly bears, from infinite dungeons to lazy rivers – we’re really running the gamut today – our final title is developed by Raba Games. According to the team, “Swimming Teddybears is an action, not-so-fast-paced 2D mobile game with a sweet look and [chill] climate.” The player’s job is to simply tap on the teddies to keep them from drowning. How does poking a bear save them from drowning, you ask? Don’t worry about it. The game includes 3 different modes: Single player, where one person tries to rescue all the bears while the camera moves up the lake, Online mode, where two players compete head-to-head with global stat-tracking, and Hot Seat, which tasks players with saving as many bears as possible under time constraints. Hot Seat can be played with up to 4 people locally, with each taking turns and having their performance tracked. Fun fact: The game’s prototype originally featured balls that made animal sounds when tapped, until the new version introduced bears.
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!
