Indie Game Roundup: Neon and Figurines

Thursday Triple is a weekly roundup of Indie Games from around the Net.

For the first instalment of this series, I thought I would open up with some gloriously colourful, nonsensical fun. As a long week comes to a close, what better way to welcome the weekend than a bit of playful action from games that don’t take themselves too seriously.

[title type=”h3″]New Release – Drunken Robot Pornography[/title]
By Dejobaan Games, LLC

I know what you’re thinking. This is exactly the type of game you show to your friends, asking them to indulge your more adolescent side and guess what this title is all about. If the goal of the developers was to hook potential players by name alone, they certainly succeeded as far as I’m concerned. All jokes aside, DRP has less to do with pornography and everything to do with shooting robots.

Classified as a first-person bullet-hell, DRP puts you in the shoes of bar owner Reuben Matsumoto. For the purpose of improving customer service, Reuben has given his robot bartender sentience, which has inadvertently led to a full-scale revolt involving thousands of drones and building-sized machines. Now it’s up to you to save the city of Boston from your own terrible oversight.

Of course, if you ever want to take a break from destroying these robots, you can try your hand at building them using the game’s Giant Robot Construction Kit. A level editor is also included for those so inclined. Both of these features are connected to Steam Workshop for easy sharing.

[youtube link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKg7NVilhg” width=”590″ height=”315″]

Are those bongos? Yeah. Yeah, yeah those are bongos.

DRP is now available on Steam for $11.99 (£ 9.59) in its opening week.

[title type=”h3″]Steam Early Access – Starwhal: Just the Tip[/title]
By Breakfall

I always felt there was a void in my heart between the classic themes of space and narwhals. It’s to my absolute delight then that I stumbled across this bright little game that makes jousting with your nose a viable mechanic.

Whether its single- or multi-player, you’ll get to duke it out as a customizable, spacefaring narwhal. The real fun, though, is grabbing a bunch of friends to duel with in various different arenas and game modes. I can only imagine the craziness abound in great neon team deathmatches.

Unfortunately for those wishing for online multiplayer support, the people at Breakfall have stated that significant technical hurdles prevent them from implementing this feature at this moment. Until more news is available, Starwhal will remain local co-op only.

[youtube link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3n-yfHbjOQ” width=”590″ height=”315″]

Starwhal: Just the Tip is now available on Steam Early Access for $9.99 (£ 6.99).

[title type=”h3″]Up and Coming – Prodigy[/title]
By Hanakai Studio

This one is a bit of a departure from the other two games above, but I felt like I should include it if only for my love of miniatures. From the brief description on their official website, Prodigy is a tactical RPG that “combines the world of high-quality figurines with video games.”

Their teaser (see below) shows us their concept of tying physical figurines and cards to a virtual world. Anyone who has played a tabletop, however, can tell you the magic of miniatures is in using your imagination to animate static models. Since the game’s engine will be doing the animating for the players, I wonder how Hanakai Studio will preserve the charm and uniqueness of these figures (which are beautifully crafted, from what I can see) while promising an interesting, new way of interaction.

[youtube link=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pc_y47NAGU” width=”590″ height=”315″]