By Nathan Grayson on January 16th, 2013 at 10:00 am.
Steam Greenlight continues to make dreams come true – you know, assuming those dreams are hoisted atop the shoulders of marketing savvy, inherent appeal to a very specific audience, and sometimes implausibly fortuitous happenings, anyway. Ultimately, though, the results are usually quite nice, and this time around appears to be no different. Ten more games have been granted eternal respite in Valve’s hallowed halls, and only one of them’s technically older than many of the people who voted for it. Aside from Larry’s lizardly remake, standouts include the exquisitely handsome-looking MaK, American McGee’s Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, and the supremely Dungeon-Keeper-y War for the Overworld.
Here’s the full list, courtesy of Valve’s Executive VP of List-Typing and Nothing Else (who’s probably still smarter than any of us):
- Akaneiro: Demon Hunters
- Asylum
- DLC Quest
- Eador. Masters of the Broken World
- La-Mulana
- Leisure Suit Larry
- MaK
- The Age of Decadence
- Unepic
- War For The Overworld
Asylum‘s a horror-themed point ‘n’ click whose demo popped out of nowhere and scared me straight-jacket-less a while back, so it’s definitely nice to see that one get its dues. I confess to having never played DLC Quest, though I’ve heard it’s a charmingly satirical hop ‘n’ bopper. Meanwhile, Adam called La Mulana ”the Indiana Jones Metroidvania game I always wanted,” which is the string of words I didn’t know I always wanted until just now. Unepic slots nicely into the Metroidvania mold as well, though presumably with desecration of fewer objects that belong in museums. Oh, and then… hmmm. So Eador looks like Age of Wonders, but Age of Decadence looks kinda like a golden age Black Isle RPG, only Roman.
Phew, OK, I think that’s all of them. It’s quite a haul, huh? But, contrary to popular belief, Steam still does not, in fact, possess all the games. So then, in your opinion, which game-shaped hole is causing Steam to gush the most precious, precious monetary lifeblood?
16/01/2013 at 10:06 Oozo says:
According to the KS-update, “Distance” was very close to making it, so I’m confident that it will be on the list any time soon.
Apart from that, I am glad that “La Mulana” finally was greenlit. It’s somewhat… wrong when so many games that aren’t actually out yet get people’s votes so easily, while a fully finished and fine game struggles to get on the Steam-boat.
Anyway, much there on this list that seems interesting, so I won’t complain too much.
16/01/2013 at 10:29 The First Door says:
I’m kind of sad it didn’t make this list, to be honest. Still, as you say, I’m sure it’ll be on the list soon as they were sitting just outside the top ten!
16/01/2013 at 11:57 Chizu says:
Distance was what I really wanted to see make it.
But yeah, they said they were around 13th or something.
So assuming steam accepted the top 10, they should be 3rd or something now, which is pretty good standing to make it into the next round of games.
16/01/2013 at 10:07 Kaira- says:
For a moment I got excited that there actually was a proper demo of Asylum. Disappointment followed after clicking link.
16/01/2013 at 10:07 Teovald says:
I am surprised to see that Unepic has been accepted.
The game makes way too many direct references to other popular games.
16/01/2013 at 13:20 Axyl says:
Really? Magicka has more references than any other games I’ve ever played, and that’s done just fine on Steam.
Unepic FINALLY coming to Steam is a great thing. It’s one of those games that’s been trying for ages to get Steam Approved and kept getting rejected.
It’s a fantastic little game (Note: Not actually that little. There is HOURS of content here) that is finally about to get the recognition it deserves.
Today, Steam Greenlight is, imo, “Working as Intended”. :D :D
16/01/2013 at 14:49 InternetBatman says:
I really like Unepic and think it’s a perfect fit for Steam. I do wish the developer hadn’t made the second to last level the “let’s be a dick to the player” level.
17/01/2013 at 03:20 Kamos says:
Unepic is an excellent game. Not for everyone? Sure, it isn’t. But It is a shame that it is so difficult to get a nice niche game like this one into Steam.
16/01/2013 at 10:10 JackDandy says:
Finally, La Mulana.. It’s a shame Valve took it’s sweet time with it, when lots of other turds made it in really quickly.
Will you give it a WIT sometime RPS, or is it too hardcore for you guys?
16/01/2013 at 10:29 Hoaxfish says:
I heard La Mulana got rejected 3 times by Valve (before Greenlight existed), but The War Z gets straight onto the store, bypasssing Greenlight entirely.
16/01/2013 at 10:55 JackDandy says:
I know.. Valve has some really strange priorities at times.
16/01/2013 at 11:19 zeroskill says:
Obviously, it’s because Valve is evil. And while we are at it, let’s cry ourselves a river about how Inquisitor isn’t greenlit yet and “X game I hate deeply” is.
16/01/2013 at 13:21 Axyl says:
Yeah, Unepic got rejected multiple times as well.
Nice to see Greenlight actually giving some of these great games the shot they deserve. :D
16/01/2013 at 13:27 botonjim says:
Adam has said a couple of times that he intends to WIT La-Mulana. I’m sure he wants to. I mean he’s into Dark Souls and everything, he’s a lot more hardcore than the rest of RPS sissies :p
16/01/2013 at 13:33 Adam Smith says:
My core is rock solid. It will be done. This is the excuse I needed to motivate my lazy ass.
16/01/2013 at 14:50 InternetBatman says:
Well, Valve really didn’t have that much to do with La Mulana being accepted. I think it’s proof that greenlight is working.
16/01/2013 at 18:22 rawrty says:
Very happy to see La Mulana finally get the greenlight. Really great game and anyone who likes the old Nintendo platformers like Metroid or Megaman should give it a try.
16/01/2013 at 10:14 FurryLippedSquid says:
So Mr McGee has this game both on Kickstarter and Greenlight? Has that been done before, I mean what happens if he doesn’t secure funding?
16/01/2013 at 10:23 Hoaxfish says:
I know some Kickstarters have been on Greenlight, but I’m not sure of any that have actually been greenlit while still in the Kickstarter period where they haven’t at least been fully funded yet.
16/01/2013 at 11:01 Ninja Dodo says:
Dream: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/samread/dream-0
16/01/2013 at 10:16 NailBombed says:
LA MULANA! And Unepic too! Insta-purchase from me…
16/01/2013 at 10:27 Valvarexart says:
No Mortal Online ;_;
16/01/2013 at 10:46 I Got Pineapples says:
I don’t need no stinkin’ fancy graphics version of La Mulana I don’t have to run through an emulator of perhaps the most obscure personal PC with the most weirdly large games library in existence.
16/01/2013 at 10:47 D3xter says:
Still really wanna see these making it: Drakensang: The River of Time (this disappeared from Greenlight the last few days, wtf?: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=106180446 ), Gray Matter, Inquisitor, Venetica
16/01/2013 at 10:54 Ninja Dodo says:
I get the impression that with every new batch the number of un-greenlit games people can point to to say “SEE! It isn’t working!” is rapidly decreasing. Octodad, Incredipede, La Mulana, Stanley Parable, Waking Mars… all greenlit.
It could definitely be argued visually appealing projects have a significant advantage over games less easily presented in trailer form but maybe that would be solved with an official “Playable demo” button/link… though I guess Valve don’t want the trouble of manually screening for viruses etc.
Would still only partially solve it since the first thing people see is screenshots + trailer. I’ve looked at a fair number of Greenlight pages and I basically never read the description and I definitely don’t follow links unless I’m already interested.
Short of actually playing it, a trailer (with gameplay, not cutscenes and flying logos) is still the most effective way to quickly see whether a game is worth checking out.
16/01/2013 at 11:39 Ninja Dodo says:
Also before anyone points out Incredipede was greenlit by IGF… by the sound of it it was around the top ten in the rankings and would’ve been in this batch or the next anyway.
16/01/2013 at 20:37 Dances to Podcasts says:
Just mousing over the picture in your list gives you a description already. As long as the submitters have entered all their data correctly, of course.
17/01/2013 at 13:18 Ninja Dodo says:
People tend to fill descriptions with a lot of pointless press-release hyperbole that I have no interest in reading.
I only read descriptions if I liked the trailer and still have questions.
16/01/2013 at 11:22 RedViv says:
Good, at least the Steam release is secured for 2018′s release of the first episode of the first chapter of the first act of Age of Decadence.
16/01/2013 at 11:49 JFS says:
Ho, ho, not so fast! I heard it was 2020 for that episode. 2018 was the projected date for a trailer about the parts you mentioned.
16/01/2013 at 12:34 Jason Moyer says:
This is what happens when you’re hardcore about everything being turn based.
16/01/2013 at 12:38 Atic Atac says:
I hate cartoon Larry.
16/01/2013 at 12:50 rapchee says:
larry the dog?
16/01/2013 at 13:41 Frank says:
@Nathan: RPS has written a ton on Age of Decadence over several years and at least a couple of posts on Eador… To me, the others are more obscure.
16/01/2013 at 13:53 zeroskill says:
It is probably worth adding that Kentucky Route Zero and Incredipede made it in aswell due to being in the IGF finals.
16/01/2013 at 15:36 Danopian says:
Beat me to it! I second this. Here’s the announcement:
http://steamcommunity.com/games/765/announcements/detail/1299553918913416686
16/01/2013 at 14:48 captaincabinets says:
Surely Leisure Suit Larry would have been redlit?
16/01/2013 at 16:01 Rian Snuff says:
So this morning I woke up and read all the comments found in the anti Dead Island sexist disgusting dead person statue article… Then, I scrolled up a bit and read this article and thought to myself..
What the fuck is wrong with this world?
You guys will shame and freak out about a sexist dead zombie chick..
But then go on to promote LEISURE SUIT LARRY? And.. And.
IT’S COOL? No 10’000 comments screaming “You vile pigs!!!”?
Do you not see the irony in this? Anyone? ANYONE OUT THERE?
Leisure suit larry was the most sexist, perverted, female exploiting/shaming video game series that has EVER BEEN CREATED as far as I’m concerned. Nevermind the fact I was playing them when I was a child, lol.. But here I am, perfectly respectful towards women. Amazing I know.
But seriously, think about this.
How can you go from shaming Dead Island to promoting Leisure Suit Larry on the SAME PAGE OF ARTICLES? How?
PS, I’m really excited for this game.
Please don’t ruin it for people who just want to sit back laugh, and have some harmless fun.
Thanks guys. Sincerely, someone other then yourself.
16/01/2013 at 16:15 Renevent says:
It’s hilarious no? Or maybe it is just sad…who knows…one thing is for sure and that’s the hypocrisy is beyond astounding. The entire premise of the Larry games is to sack a woman in bed..talk about objectification!
Wonder if RPS will do an article shaming LSL for the sexist, misogynistic, smut it is! Al Lowe should be publicly shamed for his vile sexist works!
Anyways I also really liked the game, was a kid when I first played it as well. I absolutely loved the “quiz” you had to take when you booted it up to make sure you were an adult lol. Some of the questions were very funny!
16/01/2013 at 16:24 Rian Snuff says:
It’s like they were born yesterday and have never played this series before.
I’m honestly baffled right now. Truly, baffled..
16/01/2013 at 20:29 SuperNashwanPower says:
OK “vile sexism” and “vile misogyny” are being done to death, so I thought I would use a thesaurus to give our commenters a bit more literary material:
Foetid Anti-feminism
Septic Woman Scorn
Faecally Contaminated Female-centric Antipathy
Disaphroditeanism
Pathogenic Oestrogenically Directed Combativeness
Wretched Bottom Sputum (OK nothing to do with it but liked the phrase)
16/01/2013 at 20:12 SuperNashwanPower says:
I remember selecting “use prophylactic” on my friend’s Atari ST(D?) version of this. If I remember rightly, the ‘device’ didnt work first time as there was something wrong with it. I am going to suggest it had a puncture. Hence a quest was born – to find a puncture repair kit for the prophylactic in order to shag the prostitute in order to … in order to … ermmm. Something.
Maybe it had a deep buried message / massage
17/01/2013 at 20:22 terry says:
I remember you could ask for a prophylactic (which I didn’t know the meaning of when I was seven or however old I was) or a “lubber”, which was a hilarious play on the ethnic shopkeepers phrasing! Oh, that Al Lowe and his casual racism!
16/01/2013 at 17:34 Jupiah says:
I wonder if people who bought the Groupees Greenlight Bundle will get steam codes for La-Mulana. Anyone know?
17/01/2013 at 06:10 kalirion says:
Yes, almost positive BAGB buyers will get La-Mulana Steam codes, and same for all the other games should they be accepted (except Driftmoon since that was a demo, and Leisure Suit Larry VGA since that’s not even on Greenlight.) And of course Akaneiro is F2P so no Steam codes required.