Alpha Beta Gamer

Chambara is a unique first person deathmatch game where the whole world is only viewed in two colors, with no shadows, shading or lighting effects to highlight the players. This means that the players blend in with the background (as long as they’re the matching colour) able to hide in plain sight and ambush other players.

The binary color system of Chambara is a fantastic concept, that makes your positioning in 3D space critical, as you can effectively be invisible from one angle, but vulnerable from another. The game features split-screen play for up to 4 players, which works wonderfully, especially with players sneaking a peek at other players screens, trying to figure out where they are. It’s like a very stylish game of hide and seek where you don’t have to hide behind objects - you can hide right in front of them.

Download the Prototype, Free (Win, Mac & Linux. Development build will be updated weekly)

Hardland is a third-person open world action adventure game being developed by the people who made two great games on mobile devices called Minigore & Minigore 2. The game is a spiritual successor to the Minigore series but using the power of the PC to implement massive graphical improvements and gameplay changes.

From what can be seen it the tech video, Hardland looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous game with cool environmental destruction effects and fun combat. It’s an open world sandbox game with no pre-determined story, as in Minecraft, the player creates their own story.

Sign-Up for the Pre-Alpha

Gunnihilation is a fast, colourful and rather violent run n gun arcade shooter with ragdoll effects and plenty of carnage.

The game is early in development, but the current prototype includes 19 levels (including 4 boss levels) all created with a wonderful retro pixel art graphical style. Gameplay is fast and fun, with the customisable dificulty settings (with score multipliers) and a system that rewards quick and agressive play, geared towards chasing those elusive high scores.

The foundations of the game are certainly thoroughly entertaining, and there are significant upgrades and fixes in the works, such as the addition of a story, music and bug fixes. The dev is also planning to rebuild/expand it in something that’s not flash. Going by chaotic fun that the prototype offers, Gunnihilation is certainly worth keeping an eye on, and looks set to offer Broforce levels of Pixellated brutality.

Play the Prototype, Free

alpha-beta-gamer:

Phantasmal is a genuinely terrifying roguelike first person horror game inspired by Dead Space, Silent Hill, Metro and Resident Evil, set in an old abandoned, procedurally generated mansion.
The prevailing darkness makes for a very claustrophobic feeling game, and both the character design and audio are both particularly freaky, but the single most terrifying aspect of it is that the levels are all procedurally generated. This procedural generation means that every playthrough is different and just as pant-wettingly horrifying as the last. You never know what’s going to come at you next, although it’s a safe bet it doesn’t want to be friends.
The goal of the game is to escape the mansion, by making your way through levels full off all manner of creepy ghouls, trying to reach the level exit portal. This is no easy task, resources are sparse and you’re pretty fragile. You have a mixture of traditional weapons and makeshift weapons but a lot of the time, sneaking is your best option, especially with the most common enemy, blind humanoid creatures that hunt through sound.
As if things weren’t stacked against you enough, you’re also prone to hallucinations, looking directly at some creatures with your torchlight turned on will cause you to slowly lose your sanity. Make no mistake, you’ll die a lot in this game, you’ll learn how to take on different enemies, but you can forget about learning level layouts. You never know what’s behind those corners, and most of the time it’s something very bad.
Download the Pre-Alpha, Free
UPDATE: Phantasmal has just recieved a significant update which makes the game EVEN HARDER! You can download it now, Free.

Reprisal Universe is a wonderful pixel art God sim, created as a homage to Populous and the nostalgia of 16 bit games. It’s a major upgrade to the popular browser game Reprisal, which you can still get through Desura.

The isometric pixel art style is fantastic, it can make things a little confusing when you’re altering the terrain, but it’s worth it to see your subjects scampering around the map in all their pixelated glory. You’re tasked with guiding our tribe, building land and invading other colonies to help them grow in number. As well as terraforming tools, you also have powerful totem powers that you can use on enemies, laying waste to their cities. Your most useful tool is ’kindle’ which kicks your inhabitants out of their houses and gets them working - many hands make light work (and obliterate the enemy).

In this pixelised Populous it’s fun being a God, Reprisal Universe looks set to give us everything that Godus failed to deliver. The Beta covers the first 15 missions of the story mode, the finished version will feature lots more levels as well as other improvements. The dev is looking for feedback concerning difficulty levels (too easy or too hard) and any bugs or other improvement suggestions.

Download the Beta, Free

alpha-beta-gamer:

Storium is an online storytelling game that allows players to create a story through a series of scenes, reacting to obstacles and people as you come across them. It’s played with 3 people, with one person playing as the Narrator, and the other 2 playing as the characters.
The Narrator chooses the world that the story is set in (with choices such as ‘occult pop horror’, ‘medical drama’ and ‘cyberpunk’), then starts each scene, using cards to give the players challenges to overcome. The players will then try to overcome these challenges as they see fit, progressing the story in fun and interesting ways.
There are a few more rules, but it’s remarkably easy to pick up and is only limited by your imagination. Storium is a fun and fluid way of storytelling, with players reacting to each other and no-one being fully in control, it can lead to some VERY interesting stories.
Our attempt was an occult pop horror called ‘The Badgers of Doom’, they’re black, they’re white, and they bite! Coming soon to cinemas near you!
Sign up for the Alpha
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UPDATE: Alpha Sign-ups are now closed, but you can now get immediate access to the Beta by backing the Storium Kickstarter
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UPDATE 2: Storium Creator Stephen Hood thanks you all for your support on Tumblr:
”We’re incredibly grateful to everyone on Tumblr who has spread the word about Storium! Alpha Beta Gamer’s first post about Storium was shared tens of thousands of times and has had a huge impact on our Kickstarter campaign. We can’t thank the Tumblr community enough for their support.”
This Kickstarter has already earned five times the original Kickstarter goal with one week to go, and they have just announced Storium for Schools as a stretch Goal!

Storium for Schools announced as a stretch Goal!

Cyber Heist an innovative, award winning co-operative stealth/hacking game that allows a hacker and a thief to work together to erase all student debts from the corrupt United States Department of Education of 2114.

The asymetric gameplay of Cyber Heist superb, with both players having completely different experiences but working together to achieve the same goals. One player plays as a hacker, viewed from a 2D top-down view, rerouting power to unlock doors, revealing sensitive information, and providing intel. The second player takes on the role of the theif, viewed from a 3D first person perspective and uses stealth, skill and intel from the hacker to avoid drone detection, recover passwords, and dupe the security detection system.

Cyber Heist is a game where co-operation really matters, more so than almost any other co-op game. A successful team is dependant on good communication and players working in unison. It’s an excellent experience and a worthy winner of 2014’s IGF Student Showcase award.

Download the Prototype, Free

Damnatio is a chaotic new 2D multiplayer shooter with fully destructible environments, lots of weaponry, some very cool remote controlled machines and support for up to 32 players in one map.

It’s a fun game, with matches filled with carnage and destruction, especially when 32 players are on the same map. It also features different game modes, bots, a replay system and persistent statistics. The deadly remote controlled machines deserve a special mention, with you able to pilot choppers, predators, death orbs and mini dragons around the battlefield. Also the fully destructible terrain offers some unique strategies, with you able to dig tunnels and build traps for your opponents.

Damnatio works very well, it’s a bit like a game of Worms, but with 32 players and battles happening in real-time - and it’s every bit as chaotic and fun as that sounds. Alpha testing has just opened up for Damnatio, and the dev promises to give every alpha tester who leaves useful feedback a mention in the credits of the finished game.

Download the Alpha (Win, Mac & Linux)

Nexus Sea is a very cool voxel based First Person Shooter/Tower Defence game that tasks you with defending the Nexus (base) from waves off enemy assault.

Before each wave of attack you can purchase turrets, ammo and weaponry to defend the Nexus with. It’s still very early in development, but already there’s a nice selection of weaponry, including handguns, shotguns and Katanas.

Gameplay is fast paced and hectic once the enemies start spawning, with you running from enemy to enemy, trying to prevent them from damaging your turrets as well as the nexus. The prototype is pretty short (the next update will add more levels), but it does present a good challenge and there’s plenty of room for experimentation with different loadouts.

It’s still early in development, but with it’s frantic gameplay, excellent soundtrack and wonderful voxel based visuals, Nexus Sea is definitely one to watch, especially with the more fleshed out Alpha due to arrive in a few weeks time.

Download the Prototype, Free

The Hero Trap is a fun, fast paced and colourful roguelike dungeon-crawler, where you can use the souls of great warriors past to aid your perilous journey.

It looks wonderful, with randomly generated maps, nice animation and colourful cartoony character and enemy design. The gameplay is similar to Gauntlet, with characters roaming dungeons, vanquishing hordes of enemies and earning gold.

Gold can be used in shops to purchase various upgrades - or more intriguingly - the souls of fallen warriors. These warriors, each feature their own signature attacks and follow you around the levels, you’re then able switch control to them instantly by pressing their attack button. In the finished game you’ll also be able to use these characters in multiplayer co-op.

Even in these early stages of development The Hero Trap is great fun. With charming cartoon visuals a unique hero switching mechanic and challenging gameplay, there’s certainly a lot to like about this roguelike.

Download the Pre-Alpha, Free

Posts tagged game dev