Irish Indie Game Development Update

By: Aaron Dunne

I want to give you guys a quick run down with what’s been happening in the Irish Indie Game Development scene within the last while, this post will cover the latest and upcoming big Irish indie game releases on steam because I feel that the talent in our own back yard is being overlooked a little here, so if you’re not aware of what’s been going on then please keep reading. Hopefully most of you will have heard of these games!

The Darkside Detective – Isometric Dreams/DoomCube

“The Darkside Detective is a micro-adventure game with a distinct art style and charm. It’s being developed for PC, Mac, Smart Phones and Tablet devices, and is set to be released later this year. The game consists of a series of humorous bite-size investigations into the occult and extraordinary.”

This game had been almost immediately Greenlit by the steam community a few months back and will release in case files similar to TellTale games episodes. The soundtrack for this series will be created by composer Ben Prunty, who has also done the soundtrack for the award winning FTL. Last month it was announced that Brenda Romero would guest write a case file for the first season of The Darkside Detective and yes, it is THE Brenda Romero, world renown game designer who has had years of success from her work on many games including the Wizardry RPG series as well as her critically acclaimed board games Train and Síochán Leat. For more information and to play the demo of the game visit the website here.

FranknJohn – bitSmith Games

“FranknJohn is a head-smashing action RPG with rogue-like elements. Battle your way through a horror house full of b-movie inspired creations and delve into the demented mind of your creator, Dr. Harmin”.

The game has been in Steam Early Access since March and is set for full release in “Q4 2015”. Once again this game will also feature a full soundtrack from none other than Ben Prunty. bitSmith have been very open with the creation of FranknJohn, they regularly stream their development sessions on Twitch to make sure to involve the community behind this game, which is always good to see developers do. bitSmith seem quite confident with what they are doing and it shows. The game looks charming and a tone of fun I look forward to playing it at full release. For more information about bitSmith visit their website here.

Onikira – Demon Killer – Digital Furnace

“Onikira is a 2D side scrolling beat ‘em up set in a fantasy feudal Japan where the player takes on the role of a samurai fighting to prevent the forces of the Japanese underworld from breaking through into the world of the living.”

Onikira went on Steam Early Access last November and 7 months on it was released yesterday (30th July), but the game will be delayed as the developers feel it’s not quite there yet and here is the latest from the website.

“Our final deadline for release was to be July 30th and while we’ve fixed countless bugs, and added 3 times the content, we feel that if we release tomorrow, the game will be missing that final layer of polish that will take it from being a fun game to being an amazing one. We know that the game in it’s current state far exceeds the early access version in every possible way, so we’re anxious to get it out there, but obviously everything needs to be running as smoothly as possible before that can happen.”

Although the game is a long time coming, take as much time as you need. I like to see when a developer recognizes that things aren’t in the place they want them to be. If you really care about what you have put so much passion, time and effort into there’s no way you will let it stumble out of the gate with your name plastered on it. Isn’t that right Ubisoft… Regardless, the game looks beautiful and I hope it launches successfully.

Guild of Dungeneering – Gambrinous

“Guild of Dungeoneering is a turn-based dungeon crawler with a twist: instead of controlling the hero you build the dungeon around him. Using cards drawn from your Guild decks you lay down rooms, monsters, traps and of course loot!”

Guild of Dungeneering won “The Most Promising Game” award at Indie Prize Europe during the year and had a full Steam release on July 14th after getting Greenlit and being on Early Access. Since then the game has been a received very well and has been covered by many popular YouTubers. See the Let’s Plays here: Jesse Cox, Sips and Geek and Sundry. I got a chance to play it months ago before release at a meet up of Irish developers in a pub in Dublin and instantly fell in love with the art style. At the time it was a stripped back demo version of course so I can’t wait to see what the final product is like and want to give a big congratulations to the team for the successful release! For more info and images, here is the games website.

That’s all the news I have for you at the moment, if you like what you see make sure to support these Irish games and help get us on the map!