A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

The PC demo of Gesundheit! from 2006 is to this date one of the most professional looking work done with the Adventure Game Studio engine. Also the most fun piece of snot-shoot puzzling around tear-eyed monsters ever created! (more…)

Sorry for the delay with announcing the results, guys! My PC broke down.

But before you learn who won (please don’t roll over to the bottom of the article!), let me tell you a short story that will lead to the reveal of WHAT was The Prize of the contest all along!
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I’ve never figured out the great art of doing contests. Until now! Expect devious riddles and mystery prizes! And toilet paper! Now roll out the rules!

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A Most Happy New Year 2012 to you, ardent A Hardy Developers Journal readers! Yes, all 4 of you!

Sorry, for the recent lack of updates – working on finishing a new game. So please persevere, keep expecting the unexpected and at one point (this January) something cool will happen!

Speaking of making games, above is a really awesome Making OF for a 2010 game By the Numbers by a man called AJA. I wanted to archivize this video for quite a while – most impressive both in terms of the tech developed on camera in a week, as well as in terms of the creator’s humor after several days without sleep. And let’s not forget the game itself!

And speaking of AJA (just who is this guy?), I also added his latest game Barrier to the Martial Arts Scenes in Adventure Games ranking (far above – the stickied post) – it brings a very fresh approach to Kung Fu action in video games! (more…)

Hey guys! Since new posts are a little bit rare, I won’t shy away from making a post specifically about my article on another website, especially since it’s a review of a half-indie adventure game. The game in question is called Hector: Badge of Carnage, it’s currently the rudest, filthiest game on the market, and you’ll find its review on the wonderful International House of Mojo – home to all things that were cool about past LucasArts, and have moved on to their modern off-spiring (companies).

Let’s break for a moment from the usual indie adventure games’ reviews for a different kind of indie. The thing is VVVVVV is such a perfect game to write a concise opinion piece about – the powerful main concept defining its gameplay is as simple and sharp as its title. Basically, VVVVVV is a platformer in which you can’t jump, you can’t shoot, you don’t use any power-ups, but instead, regardless of where you are, you can always switch the source of gravity from what’s beneath you to what’s above you et cetera and vice versa!
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In 2006 when Scratches came out I couldn’t be more uninterested in it. The simple, reddish cover art, the cliched premise of a haunted house (no twists on the theme apparent), and in-game screenshots showing interiors devoid of any living soul – made me ignore it completely. I don’t think I even paid any attention to the reviews. It feels strangely appropriate then, that after having played the game I consider it an experience that under no circumstances should be missed. And not only by the likes of me or you, dear adventure games fan – it should be a required play in particular for horror genre authors - game designers or otherwise. There’s something primal within Scratches – a lesson in delivering an elusive, but essential aspect of horror, that storytellers rarely have the opportunity to test the full impact of.
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