Save The Whales. Or Drill Them. In Windforge
Whale blow me down
One of the best looking games I saw at GDC in March this year was Windforge. And then I didn't tell you anything about it. Why not? Because hacking around on an early version, it still felt too soon. Drilling flying whales for building materials is obviously enough to ensure classic status, but the timing wasn't yet right. With the game now looking to hit its final strait, and a new version of it heading our way to pick through, the timing feels right. Oh, and they've launched a Kickstarter to get it finished.
Windforge is yet another game that at first glance looks a lot like Terraria. But it's something decidedly different. It's far more focused on exploration via airships, describing itself as a "Steampunk building block RPG". Which means, yes, there's a storyline in here, despite a fully destructible procedurally generated world. How will that all hang together? That's what I'm still waiting to find out.
Until now the team have been in that so very common indie position of having to take on contract work to afford to keep afloat, and of course that takes them away from their first passion. This is one of my favourite reasons to see a Kickstarter happening - ensuring the cash is in place so a dedicated team can just focus on the game without worrying about the bills. Here's the pitch video:
I'm not the best at calling Next Big Things, although I'm taking Rogue Legacy as a major win. But I can smell it on this one. If the wind blows the right way, and it all holds together, I can see this one grabbing wide attention. It's a $15 pledge to get a copy of the game next year, and I'm pleased to say there's no foolhardy "earlybird" nonsense for once. (Everyone else: telling someone who's giving you free money that they could have gotten the game cheaper if they'd only heard about it for the first time a week ago - it's not exactly ingratiating.) Also, give this one a thumbs up on Greenlight.