Editor’s note: The yearly Rezzed event run by Eurogamer.net is a great way for indie developers to showcase their games. One title we got to look at was Kenshi, an open-world RPG with a map that reaches over 870km² and a new danger seemingly lurking around every corner. After initally getting absolutely wiped out within minutes of starting, we discovered that this isn’t like most titles around. Kenshi requires strategy, wits, and leadership skills. How did you become a game developer and end up working on Kenshi? I started about ten years ago, self taught, and just decided to start making it from scratch. The first version of the game was made completely single-handedly. It looked a lot rougher due to this – it was a lot smaller and less complete. I got it alpha-funded. So, before Steam Greenlight I started releasing and selling it...

The yearly Rezzed event run by Eurogamer.net is an absolutely fantastic way for indie developers to display their games and get them noticed. One such title on display this year was Disco Elysium, an amazingly inventive and constantly hilarious open-world RPG where you play as a policeman and seemingly every choice you make can change how the game is played. I spoke to Robert Kurvitz, lead writer and designer of Disco Elysium, about creating a world with so many choices, the consequences of doing so, and the ability to wear cool hats. Disco Elysium is an absolutely incredible game, where did you get the idea from initially? We were at a really dark moment in our lives, there were a lot of people who were, I was personally at a dark moment in my life. So, my executive producer came...

In recent years board games have had a revival – the hobby is growing faster than ever and the diversity of the games on the market is truly extraordinary. Even though part of the appeal of the hobby is its physical and social format, digital board games soon followed its analog brothers and sisters, proving that good game mechanics can adapt to many formats. Whether you are struggling to get a group of people together to play, or just want to quickly try out a few strategies, or even simply avoid the ponderous rule book and learn the game in an interactive way, digital board games are here to oblige. You might have already been playing a game on your phone or iPad without even knowing that it was originally designed for the tabletop! Here are some of the best...

Ric Cowley has been working at SteelMedia for nearly 3 years, and has recently been promoted to the role of Editor at PocketGamer.co.uk. We spoke to him about the biggest trends in mobile games, what he enjoys as a consumer, how to get your games noticed by the press, and the overwhelming prevalence of games like Clash Royale. Ric, tell us, how did you get into mobile games? I initially started out at PocketGamer.co.uk as an intern for three months, then I was hired as a freelancer for PocketGamer.biz, and then when a job came up after 2 months of doing that, I was hired as a full-time staff writer, and then have worked my way up from there to the role of Deputy Editor of PocketGamer.biz. Now I’m the Editor of PocketGamer.co.uk! What would you say is one of...

Sport simulation games have been a massively popular genre in video games industry since the early 70’s. Many of you must have grown up playing franchises like NBA, FIFA, Ashes, Madden NFL, NFS, Football Manager, Tiger Woods – PGA and many more sports titles across PC and consoles. “Real world sports games imbibe natural qualities like competitive rulesets, challenging opponents, strategy, skills & mastery that video games & gamers already subscribe to. This makes them a natural fit for a digital makeover.” It’s no surprise that the top 10 – 50 grossing charts on mobile games also boast their share of sports simulation games. Source : ThinkGaming 2/03/2018 Mobile space is dominated by many sport titans which are either tactical or strategy based. There is a plethora of choices from basketball, cricket, football manager, golf and tennis to car racing. Heavyweights that dominate the top...

Christmas trees, decorations, presents, food, holidays, time off, drinks, family, friends. Stop. Start again. The holiday season is at the door and all the magic (and stress) captures everyone for 2 weeks. It’s also a time when you can find an opportunity to do things that you do much less the rest of the year; playing games is one! 2017 has been a great year for GameAnalytics, team growth, product improvements, and many new amazing games that have used our tool and reached some record numbers. The list is pretty long, and it wasn’t an easy choice, but here’s a list of our top 10 favourite games that we’ve enjoyed playing over the past year (and even longer for some!). I hope it helps with the Xmas dinner hangover… 10. Idle Miner Tycoon Developed by Fluffy Fairy Games OK. Christmas...

Hi Filipp, thanks for chatting with me. Could you share a little about yourself and your studio? Sure. Black Snowflake is a specialist developer of HTML5 games. This really became our core focus after 2013. Since then we’ve developed more than 25 mobile-first HTML5 games, working with big brands like Spil Games, DOCOMO and Nickelodeon. Personally, I believe in HTML5’s potential and promote it at events like Pocket Gamer Connects, DevGAMM and White Nights. So then, why HTML5? The first thing to state is that Flash can be considered obsolete right now. Adobe have said they will finally kill Flash in 2020. It’s pretty obvious that if you’re going to succeed in today’s mobile industry you need to stick to actual emerging technologies. Every mobile platform has already discontinued native Flash support. When speaking about mobile HTML5, I can’t not...

Editor’s note: This innovative studio has released 7 games so far, with another 15 in production for Q2 2017. In less than 2 years, FRVR has gained more than 2 million daily active users and 70 million all-time players. We chat with the founder of FRVR, Chris Benjaminsen, to draw light on this success. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Chris. To kick things off, could you give a little background about yourself and what motivated you to start FRVR? Of course. Back in 2013 I had worked as the director of gaming for Yahoo! for two years, and it was very clear to me that I needed to do something else. I wanted to go travel the world while still generating income, and taking on as little responsibility as possible. Essentially, my initial motivation was to...

Now that 2016 has officially (and mercifully) been declared over, we thought we’d kick off the New Year with something more uplifting: a look back at some of the best, but less conspicuous games from last year. [bctt tweet=”? The Top 10 Mobile Games That You (Probably) Haven’t Already Played #IndieGame #MobileGame” username=”GameAnalytics”] Many of these games released in the latter half of 2016. They’re true hidden gems and if you haven’t already played them, we’d highly recommend you check them out. Without further ado, let’s begin the countdown of our top 10 mobile games. 10.  Touchdown Hero Developed by Cherrypick Games ?  Download for iOS ?  Download for Android Score big, become a Touchdown Hero and recreate the Madden’s of yesteryear on your phone in this birds-eye infinite running retrogame. The movement is fluid (simply drag from left to...

Monkeybin is a very special and, some might argue, very lucky studio. While some developers spend the best part of their lives trying to launch a hit game worldwide, the Oslo-based outfit – which only made its debut in 2010 – has managed to see both releases of the timing-based puzzler Hyspherical, and the Runway refined follow up Hyspherical 2, smash the app store charts this month, with the latter achieving Top 10 in the US App Store Free Games chart last week. Downloads for the successor have been through the roof, over 900,000 installs in its first 10 days, no doubt thanks in part to Apple’s decision to push the game in key territories, though the very fact its been promoted by the Cupertino giant in such a manner not only signals success for Monkeybin, but also stands as an example...

It stands to reason that, long before we decided to reveal Runway to the world, we’d already begun the process of picking out partners to work with and – in the case of Kingdom Clicker from Black Bears Games – set in motion our plan of action for giving an indie game the boost it needs to take off. You don’t need us to tell you that, pre Kingdom Clicker, the actual business of publishing a game was new to us here at GameAnalytics. What gave us confidence, however, was our base in analytics. Ever since we entered the mobile analytics scene, we’ve been sure that our grasp on game data was the best in the business, and given that our offer to indies is focused on opening up soft launches to them and trawling over the data they deliver...

In short: Vainglory is without a doubt the best MOBA that has been made for touch screen devices. It’s a giant fish in a very small pond that is the MOBA category on touchscreen devices. If the pond grows into an ocean, it’s only because of this game. Super Evil Megacorp’s (SEM) Vainglory is easily the most hyped mobile game of 2014 – and for a very good reason. Vainglory delivers a true multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) with unseen graphics and a game engine that can run this piece of art at a massive worldwide scale on touchscreens. Vainglory is MOBA on mobile, not MOBA for mobile. It stays true to the genre with a large enough map, multi-dimensional champions, complex item strategies and long game sessions. In fact, the only casual part about this game is that it’s...