Cold Calling
Ah, the switchboard. One of history’s most important and unsung political tools.
If legend is to be believed, total nuclear annihilation was narrowly avoided by a single telephone operator routing international calls.
CARNiVORY
Kill, loot, boss, repeat, return.
This is the gameplay loop of CARNiVORY, an upcoming roguelite shooter from Chicago-based studio Chowdahound.
SUPER PHANTASY FIGHTERS
SUPER PHANTASY FIGHTERS is a platform fighter developed by solo dev Andrew-P using visual assets and lore from Phantasy Star Online 2 (Sega, 2012).
That technically makes it a fangame, but that label doesn’t fully cover everything SPF has going on under the hood. Andrew-P made all the code in the game from scratch, from controls to the camera to the hitboxes, which he said he had to program twice just to get them right.
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Hotdog Heaven: Chicago
Summer means two things around here: hot dogs and AllStars.
Luckily for us here at Back Alley, one intrepid team of developers crafted an experience that marries those seasonal pillars with the threat of carpal tunnel and a healthy dose of Wii-era shovelware nostalgia.
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Pan
To the average person, a flute is perhaps one of the least intimidating instruments in the orchestra. To marching band survivors flashing back to piccolos trilling at full volume, it’s a bad memory. To players of Miki Straus’s Pan, it’s something else entirely. A weapon.
Rats Rats Rats
Future dystopia has never before been so full of rats.
In Rats Rats Rats, the second runner-up in the Audience Choice category at this year’s AllStars, you’re a rat. Don’t feel bad, though, everyone else is also a rat.
REMORA
Disclaimer: The game detailed in this article tackles topics of homophobia, child sexual abuse, overt violence, sex work, and suicide.
Swanchime Thien doesn’t try to hide behind clinical language or cold, disapproving distance. By their own admission, her games are all attempts to humanize the sociopath.
Getting down with Gerbert Croski
Guerrilla journalist Warren Hernandez tracked down the enigmatic developer behind the SICK’s pack-in title, Down with the Sickness. Driving to Toronto to interview him, Hernandez provides a rare look into the mind of an elusive ’90s video game pioneer.
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Toss Up Tower
One of the Super Indie City Konsole’s most beloved platformers is Toss Up Tower, lovingly restored by Harrison Kratz. Besides the code, the only portions of the package that Kratz was able to recover from SICK fan forums included concept art of a wizard, blurry scans of planning documents, some marketing materials, and the phrase “Bring crystal ball to top of castle tower.”
SICK Racing
The SICK-MC, only known to the most dedicated SICK fans, is an unreleased portable add-on for the original SICK. Due to the konsole’s failure, it was scrapped.
Justin Herrick, a devoted historian and game developer, has unearthed all known information on the MC and has even restored and expanded one of its planned launch titles, SICK RACING.