An open letter has been written by indie developers Amanita Design, Colibri Games and Daedalic Entertainment, reporting some rather worrying claims about UK publisher Lace Mamba. The company, known for picking up digitally distributed indie projects and selling boxed versions, is alleged to have failed to pay and keep to the contracts made with the indies.
The power of the demo! It’s not that I didn’t notice John’s joyous effusions about Botanicula, heck, I had to fetch the mop and bucket from the cellar and clean up afterwards, but despite all of that I didn’t actually play the game. Today Amanita have made a demo available, played directly in your browser at the website, and now I have played it. I played until the demo was over and then I started playing the full game and now I don’t want to carry on writing things for people to read because that means I’m not playing Botanicula. It’s absolutely lovely. Try the demo and maybe you’ll agree.
The decision by Amanita to put out the stunning Botanicula as part of a Humble Bundle on the day of release sounds, at first, like a lovely idea. A brand new game in a pay what you want bundle? Amazing! Except of course for those who pre-ordered it at full price. Personally, I think the $10 it would have cost anyone is a bargain for a game as utterly lovely as this, and people who pre-ordered clearly believed it to be worth that much to them at the time. But I do understand the frustration of learning that others could be getting the game, along with two other Amanita classics, for as little as one cent. That’s galling. I caught up with Amanita’s main man, Jakub Dvorský, to ask him about the reaction, and he informs me that it was their mistake, and to make up for it everybody who pre-ordered the game will be receiving the fantastic soundtrack, an art book, and a copy of Machinarium, for free, tomorrow.
RPS Feature Save The Trees
Amanita’s Botanicula is out in one hour, and you’re going to like it very, very much. But, er, we recommend your hold off on purchasing it until 6pm. All the pics in this review can be clicked on for full-size versions, which if you’ve any sense will be gracing your desktop immediately. I’ve played it through and fallen in love, and you can find out why via the magical process of my saying Wot I Think:
Playing the preview code of Botanicula made me so happy one of my legs fell off. So I’m delighted to report that everyone’s going to have a chance to squeeze off their limbs with excitement on the 19th April, when the full game comes out. To commemorate, a new trailer has appeared, which you can see below. You’ll likely lose a toe.
Less challenge, more weird and wonderful environments to discover. That was the message I took from our interview with Amanita Design’s Jakub Dvorský, at least as far as Samorost 3 is concerned. The previous games, which you can and should play right now (Samorost 1, Samorost 2) are tranquil and inventive, politely requesting that your brain pays attention to the beauty and strangeness of the environments rather than troubling itself too much with complex puzzles. The third game will be much larger and here are the first pictures showing a few of the places the space gnome will be visiting.
RPS Feature Amanita Design does the chat
Next up in our series of chats with (almost) all the PC/Mac-based finalists, it’s the near-legendary Jakub Dvorský from Amanita Design, creators of Machinarium, Samorost and, soon, Botanicula – which is up for the Excellence In Visual Art and Excellence In Audio awards. Here, Jakub talks indie, experimentation and his answer to the most important question of all.
