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

Gemini Rue, the recently released commercial debut of Joshua Nuerenburger, is an exciting game. Not just in its thrilling story and engaging gameplay, but also in what it means for the future of retro games, as crazy as that sounds. While many dismiss the low-res adventure game genre as an outdated holdover from the olden days, Gemini Rue proves that the style still has very much to offer. With a captivating narrative, glorious pixel art, and a feel of greatness, Gemini Rue must not be missed.

First, let’s discuss the story. It’s the future and mankind has gone intergalactic (naturally). There’s been a huge war and a particularly nasty criminal organization known as the Boryokudan (Japanese word meaning “a bunch of assholes”) has taken hold of much of the galaxy. (more…)

Joshua Nuernberger

Gemini Rue is an upcoming indie adventure game created by Joshua Nuernberger.  Recently picked up by Dave Gilbert and his studio Wadjet Eye Games, it quite simply looks stunning, a slice of science fiction adventuring that initially evokes comparisons (at least visually) with Blade Runner, before surprising with a narrative that feels both refreshingly unique and wholly its own.

It has been my greatest pleasure, both via HardyDev and Alternative Magazine Online, to review some of the finest indie adventure games of the past few years. Perhaps that explains why I am so excited this month: It feels like Gemini Rue is going to be something  truly special. I am therefore proud to present an interview with Joshua Nuernberger, with a guest appearance by Dave Gilbert! (more…)

Puzzle games are hot. Professor Layton, Scribblenauts, World of Goo, even Bejeweled, they’re all making headlines, and rightly so. Puzzle games offer a way to escape from the normal world, where bosses, spouses, parents and others make life miserable, to a world where diabolical puzzles make your life miserable instead. But that’s about the only entertainment they offer. A puzzle book by Sam Loyd, no matter how entertaining, just isn’t the same as a novel by Jules Verne. Similarly, a puzzle game can’t replace the profound entertainment that’s offered by a traditional adventure game… or can it?

Enter Puzzle Bots. Puzzle Bots is an ambitious venture, in that it tries to marry two genres that, although related, at first glance appear not to have very much in common: (more…)

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Everyone knows robots are the coolest thing possible to appear in a cartoon or elsewhere. And in our latest interview we talk about them with Erin Robinson – the inventor of various types of Puzzle Bots and Nanobots. (more…)

The Blackwell Convergence is the third installment of Wadjet Eye Games’ Blackwell franchise. For many, the wait has been even more of a killer than The Countess herself; originally slated for release in 2008, the July 2009 release of Convergence has had much to live up to. Delays usually lead to two main progessions of thought in a gamer’s mind: the game will either be of a lesser quality than before due to problems in development, or polished to a finer shine than was originaly expected. (more…)

Blackwell Unbound is the second episode of the Blackwell franchise from Dave Gilbert’s Wadjet Eye Studios. It is an interesting game in many ways, in particular due to the decision to tell a story from the past, rather than continue directly on from The Blackwell Legacy. The ever-informative director’s commentary immediately sheds some light on this decision: (more…)