Rock, Paper, Shotgun

One of the many things about indie gaming that makes me feel warm and fuzzy, and like maybe the world isn’t about to end in war and poverty and climate change and giant ant invasion after all, is that even established names in the field can’t resist getting involved in gamejams. Take Knytt Stories creator Nifflas, for instance, who’s co-developed a rather impressive, Unity-powered Marble Madness-esque game in just 48 hours for the recent Exile Game Jam. True, it’s hardly busting that micro-genre wide-open, but it’s pretty, it’s tight and it’s the kind of thing someone would charge £2 for on iPhone – a deft example of rapid development talent, and yours for no-pennies. Take a look at it below, or play it in your browser here.

Oh, and there’s a second new Nifflas game, concerning the embroidered cowboys you can see above, which you should really take a look at…
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NightSky – the latest game from micro-platforming supremo Nifflas, is out now. And if that’s not exciting enough news for you, there’s a demo to try to get you there. The full game is £10, but the demo – it’s free! Crazy. Once more it’s physics platforming, this time rolling a metal sphere through levels in a peculiar dream world. Knowing that it’s Nifflas, through Nicalis, should be all the information you need. The original trailer is below.

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Nifflas sends word that his celebrated silhouetted physics-puzzled NightSky will be turning up on the PC on the 6th. There’s a new trailer, too, which you can see below.
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So my plan to have a quick play of the Saira demo turned into my whole morning. A new game from Nifflas is a reason to sit up straight and start downloading. The creator of the gorgeous Knytt Stories has created his first commercial game, and it’s a rather beautiful thing. For those familiar with his previous games – tiny slivers on the screen, creating platforming worlds with the barest few pixels – you’ll be pleased to learn that while it’s technically a lot more advanced, it remains completely true to his themes and style, and a lot more involved.

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I’ve just kicked off a lethargic Sunday morning by playing a rather cute platform game, found via Indygamer. Said platformer, Once In Space by Arvi Teikari, is a lovely hand-drawn minimalist piece that allows your stickman character to alter the axes of the gravity he faces to beat the levels that lie ahead of him. It’s astonishingly simplistic, but works brilliantly once you’ve worked out what’s happening. (Also chilled music by Nifflas).

After a plunging into the void a few times I managed to get the hang of it. A bit like life.

Some sad news. Not like, someone’s dead sad. But sad if you like tiny little platform games made of loveliness.

Nifflas, creator of Within A Deep Forest, Knytt and Knytt Stories, has announced (on Saturday, but I was too busy becoming 30 to notice then) that Knytt Experiment is no more, and he’ll not be releasing the promised Knytt Stories add-on pack either.

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It’s taken me far too long to get around to writing about this, but reading a post on TIGsource about a possible new game by Nifflas reminded me to talk about the beautiful Knytt Stories.

You may know Nifflas (Swedish indie dev Nicklas Nygren) from his lovely Within A Deep Forest, which should be incentive enough to check out his latest, Knytt Stories, still only a couple of weeks out. If not, then let the below be your incentive.

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