Attention all moon mutants and interstellar aliens! Be sure to stop by and join the brand new Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite SpaceFacebook group. Why, you ask? Because it's out of this world! (Shameless plug: Get Weird Worlds for Windows and iPad here.)
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a hybrid roguelike game of space exploration, adventure and starship combat set within an unusual region of the galaxy known as the Purple Void.
Each time Weird Worlds is played, a new and different instant space opera is generated (nebulae, black holes, stars, planets, lifeforms, races, artifacts, items, starships, events, quests...), but unlike other games of the roguelike kind that go on for dozens of hours, it plays to its conclusion in less than thirty minutes.
Features also include a fully animated star map, a unique turn-based movement system, real-time starship battles (naval/Wrath of Khan style), spaced-out music and sound, mod friendliness and access to all ships in the game via a robust battle simulator.
Miss the November sale? It's not the End of the World. It's the holiday season with a new year a'comin', so let's do it again! This time you can get both DATA JAMMERS and BRAINPIPE for 75% off from STEAM. Great virtual stuff to stuff in your virtual sock! Remember: this festive (and insane!) offer begins on Thursday, December 20th and ends on Friday, January 4th. Cheers!
Data Jammers: FastForward is like a racing game but the track is like Hot Wheels on drugs, the setting is retro-Tron, and dangerous virtual creatures and obstacles lurk in your path. Can you navigate all of the twisty bitstream paths through three episodes of increasing weirdness and difficulty?
Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity is a game of forward motion through a psychedelic wormhole (in your brain?) filled with pretty, and deadly, obstacles. Trippy visuals and sound, and a subtle ramping-up of speed and overall intensity, sucks you in and teaches you to play before you even know it.
With Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space re-released on Windows, many have wondered about the state of the game on Mac. The original OS X version of the game was made to run on PowerPC systems that some Mac users still used at the time, and relied on Apple’s Rosetta emulation layer to run on Intel Macs. Rosetta is no longer part of OS X, so the game will need to be re-ported to run natively on Intel systems.
The good news is, we are working on it! There is no official timetable as of yet, but it will happen in the near future. Customers who purchase Weird Worlds for Windows on Desura or have obtained a Steam key will have access to the new Mac version as soon as it is ready.
December 7, 2012
Catching Up with the Critics
Iikka noticed a couple of nifty Weird Worlds reviews, both very thoughtful and thorough. One, by L.B. Jeffries, was posted on PopMatters in 2010. The other, by JcDent, was posted recently on PixelJudge. Apparently Mr. Dent was surprised by a nebular plow. In any case, thanks from Digital Eel to both reviewers and websites for your interest and attention!
Ripcord out.
December 7, 2012
Weird Worlds Discovered on Desura!
No, it's not a planet in the Purple Void--or is it? In any case, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, all gussied up and newly versioned, is now and forever available at the Desura game portal. This is pretty exciting because 1) Desura rocks and 2) because it's our first opportunity to offer Weird Worlds at a new and irresistible price of $9.99. How cool is that?! So head on over to Desura and take a gander. (They're giving away free geese, I hear.) Also, don't forget the new Weird Worlds website, Facebook page and subreddit. See you in hyperspace!
December 5, 2012
Indie Royale Customers to Get Weird Worlds Steam Keys!
With Weird Worlds coming to Steam, Digital Eel and Indie Royale will give free Steam keys to all the customers who purchased the May Hurray bundle which included the
game. So if you bought Weird Worlds in May and thought you were going to miss out on Steam, worry no further. Just log on at Indie Royale and get your key!
December 3, 2012
Weird Worlds Galactic Insanity Sale Begins!
Digital Eel is pleased to announce the imminent re-launch of its critically acclaimed roguelike space adventure, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. To kick it off, the game is on sale for a limited time at Indiegamestand.com. From Monday, Dec 3rd until Thursday, Dec 6th, you can pay what you want and get Weird Worlds along with bonus content such as a massive pack of fan favorite mods!
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a hybrid roguelike game of space adventure and starship combat set within an unexplored region of the galaxy known as the Purple Void. Each game is an instant randomly generated space opera that plays to its conclusion in one sitting. The quirky universe of Infinite Space has enough variety to surprise you each time you replay the game.
November 27, 2012
From out of the Purple Void it comes, tentacles searching... Weird Worlds for Windows Returns! With an update, a crazy sale and a new low price!
Shipshape and starbound with a spiffy new version 1.30 update, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, the original award-winning space science fiction roguelike-like, is back on sale beginning on December 3 via IndieGameStand.
This initial, very special "pay what you want" offer is available for four days (December 3 - December 6) and includes a massive Infinite Space game pack featuring fan favorite mods, all versions of the original Strange Adventures in Infinite Space game, the unsupported Weird Worlds for Mac (Pre-Lion OS X) game and lots more.
After the IGS sale, Weird Worlds will be immediately available from Desura and soon, Steam and other fine game portals, for a new low price of $9.99.
Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space is a hybrid roguelike game of space exploration, adventure and starship combat set within a peculiar region of the Milky Way galaxy known as the Purple Void.
Each time Weird Worlds is played, a new and different "instant space opera" is generated (star systems, nebulae, black holes, planets, alien races, starships, lifeforms, artifacts, quests, etc., are intelligently randomized), but unlike other games of its roguelike kind that go on for dozens of hours, it plays to its conclusion in less than thirty minutes. (Tip: Weird Worlds is the perfect lunch break game.)
Features also include a fully animated star map, a unique turn-based movement system, real-time starship battles (naval/Wrath of Khan style), full color hi-res graphics, award-winning music and sound, mod friendliness and a robust battle simulator.
Special note: Along with the re-release of Weird Worlds comes a brand new Digital Eel website devoted exclusively to its collection of electronic and paper Infinite Space games--infinitespacegames.com.
It's still very much under construction, but will eventually grow to cover all aspects of the Infinite Space universe and the games set within it: Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, Weird Worlds, Eat Electric Death!, Infinite Space: Explorers, and any related projects in the future and perhaps in the past!
Be sure to visit Weird Worlds on Facebook. Stop by, say hi to friends across the cyberverse, and help us celebrate the re-release of a terrific space game. Cheers!
November 25, 2011
DIGITAL EEL SWAG AND STOCKING STUFFERS
FOR THE DISCERNING COUNTERCULTURE GEEK
November 21, 2012
Available NOW from Steam for $2.49 (75% Off!)
Wednesday, November 21st - Tuesday, November 27th
October 21, 2012
Thanks to everyone who participated in the IndieGameStand featured game sale! We hope you enjoy the games and get a warm, fuzzy feeling for helping Reading is Fundamental (RIF) to get books into the hands of kids who need them. Good stuff!
October 10, 2012
Attention, all live brains! Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity is the IndieGameStandfeatured game from October 16th through the 20th. Here's how it works: Set your own price, unlock bonus content and support our favorite charity, RIF (Reading is Fundamental) for kids. You can even create your own bundle --which allows you to get the previously featured game if you missed it as well as the upcoming featured game early. IndieGameStand is a game portal well worth a weekly visit. Go see Brainpipe there beginning on October 16!
From the IGS website: IndieGameStand is a different kind of indie gaming bundle and promotional website. Our site is about featuring and promoting a new independent game every 96 hours (4 days) for gamers to purchase at a discounted price. That's a new Pay-What-You-Want game sale every few days. The best part is that any game you purchase will be yours to keep forever and stored in your game wallet on our site.
The point of the IndieGameStand is to put a spotlight on those indie titles which provide fantastic experiences, but may have been passed over by the mainstream gaming public, portals, websites, or whatever. This site is about supporting all of the fantastic and worthwhile indie developers out there. Every developer out there deserves a moment to shine.
Reading Is Fundamental is the oldest and largest nonprofit literacy organization in the United States. Founded in 1966, it is based in Washington, D. C.. RIF's community volunteers in every state and U.S. territory provide 4.5 million children with 16 million new, free books and literacy resources each year. RIF's priority is impoverished children from birth to age 8 years.
Cool news! Data Jammers: FastForward was chosen by judges to be an Official Selection at Indiecade this year and that means a road trip --well, a short flight actually-- down to L.A. and Culver City to see everyone. So, if you're attending the show (remember, it's open to the public not some exclusive "industry-only" deal) be sure to check out the games (an amazing selection this year), all of which you can play on site, and look for Digital Eel founder, Iikka Keränen, who'll be standing by to answer questions about Jammers, the universe and everything else. (Tip: Tickle Iikka just right and he might just give you a Steam key.) Best of luck from Digital Eel to all of the IndieCade nominees!
September 24, 2012
WHAT'S UP FOR FALL? PLENTY!
It's that time of year, specifically October 4-7, when bold and plucky indie gamemakers convene at a place now legendary in the annals of the entertainment industry: Culver City, California, and the gathering of independent game developers there known as IndieCade. Note: The IndieCade Festival is the only stand-alone independent-focused game event in the nation, and it's open to both the industry and the public.
September 22, 2012
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT DATA JAMMERS: FASTFORWARD
"A casual game with fangs."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
"The Digital Eel guys have done it again: another outrageously retro, tongue-in-cheek, weirdly beautiful, and very inexpensive video game. As if Brainpipe weren't enough, now it's Data Jammers: Fast Forward. What Atari might have produced if they had had a sense of humor and a better CPU. I don't normally flack video games, but these guys' imagination and polish consistently impresses me -- and there's only three of them."
- Ernest Adams, Facebook post
"Data Jammers: FastForward is reminiscent of all that is good in the world. Or at least some of the things that are good in the world, like Tempest and speeding through cyberspace."
- Adam Smith, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
"The colourful, vibrant wireframes, and hypnotic collage of abstract 3-D models screaming past at a million miles per hour is very satisfying on an aesthetic level. If ever there were calls for examples of videogames to be considered as legitimate art, Digital Eel's creations would be amongst the first I'd proffer."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"What makes the game a real pleasure, however, are the two things as which Digital Eel always excels; the use of code to produce trippy graphics, and the excellence of the music. Playing Data Jammers is like being at a rave, with glowing Tron-like visuals and a danceable techno score; indeed, weaving and gyrating through the game feels a lot like dance as well."
- Greg Costikyan, Play This Thing!
"Audio is superb, as we've come to expect from this developer. It's a kind of eclectic mishmash of electronica and ambient noise that is, although not quite as good as the brilliant soundtrack of Brainpipe, still light-years ahead of most of its peers."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"The enemies and effects are imaginative, and the controls very smooth."
- Greg Costikyan, Play This Thing!
"A lot of thought went into righting the wrongs from the arcade era, and it pays off in smooth play."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
"The game has virtually no lag even when the screen is full of objects. An absolute must for a game this fast paced."
- Patrick Gibbons, GDN
"The gameplay is intense, immediate and chaotic... or is it? Data Jammers is definitely one of those games where you can suddenly just “feel in the zone”."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"Speed freaks and high score nuts alike will defiantly be able to appreciate this game."
- Patrick Gibbons, GDN
"A precision machine: well-crafted from sound principles. This is a game to get if you’re looking for a solid action title."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
It didnt have enough time to-- Leave me alone! Noooooooooo. Whoa. Slow it down. Time to react... Go! Slow it down... Yeah! No idea what that was... Ahh... Slow it down. --Balls! Nooooooo! There's so many!!
- Weldaar, The Spotlight
The universe is expanding. The universe of "Infinite Space" that is. Now you can get X-1, the first card expansion for Infinite Space Explorers, Digital Eel's latest tabletop game, and for less than the price of a fast food dinner. *burp* Check it out!
+ a new player starship: the first-striking Muktian frigate
+ fighter "Aces" that can combine to protect other ships in combat
+ head-poppin' bug ships from Weird Worlds
+ an all-powerful Yellow Kawangi destroyer
+ a superweapon: the Boson Field Coagulator
+ a deadly toy robot
+ lookout frogs (and their "friend")
+ the notorious Arch Fenster
+ and more!
Add a little spice to ISE. Order X-1, the first official ISE expansion set HERE.
The casual boardgame of exploration and discovery
set in Digital Eel's "Infinite Space" universe.
Download the free ISE rules document HERE
Get Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space for iPad HERE
Take the Plunge to Unhumanity! Reveal your Alien Brain!
Choose your portal: DESURA | STEAM Independent Games Festival 2009 Award Winner!
The original space roguelike is back! Independent Games Festival 2006 Award Winner!
Weird Worlds is also available for the iPad
This EXPANDED version for the iPad offers 60 levels of rubbery fun!
GAMES THAT MAKE YOU SQUEAL!
August 5, 2012
THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING X1, the first card expansion for Infinite Space Explorers, is coming soon to a starbase near you!
The casual boardgame of exploration and discovery
set in Digital Eel's "Infinite Space" universe.
Download the free ISE rules document HERE
July 12, 2012
Holy moly it's hot outside, and that means it's time for the Steam Summer Sale! So from today through July 22nd you can get Data Jammers: FastForward and BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity for the cool & soothing price of $2.50 each! (A whoppin' 75% off.) So HONK if you like eye-watering, ear-tickling videogames that aren't like other games, then chill out and czech out Jammers and Pipehere and here. Your fingers will love you for the rest of your life!
Ripcord out.
UPDATE NEWS
THE STARS ARE YOUR DESTINATION
UPDATE: Infinite Space Explorers has been updated to V1.1!
Support indie games on Steam! Get DATA JAMMERS (click here) and BRAINPIPE (click here) for only $2.49 each!
May 21, 2012
EXPLORE THE STARS WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS
IT IS THE GREAT GOLDEN ERA of superluminal starships and interstellar travel. Mankind has begun to move outward into infinite space, leaving Old Earth far behind. One destination of particular scientific interest is a remote and dusty region of our own Milky Way galaxy called the Cnidarian Cloud or, more commonly, the Purple Void.
Of course, Terrans from Earth were not the only intelligent life to investigate and inhabit the Cloud. Many alien races thrive there. Some are natives and some, like Earthlings, are recent arrivals attracted to the region from other parts of the galaxy.
The relatively peaceful Zorg, Klakar and Muktians usually do not threaten humans or each other. However, Garthan slavers, Urluquai hunters and Tan Ru sterilization drones, to name a few, are of serious concern as misadventures and skirmishes have occurred...
Whether you work for yourself, a military organization, a corporation, a smugglers guild, a scientific foundation or the root AI of a machine world hive mind, you are challenged to sail the high sea of stars, explore new worlds, seek out alien life (to party with, tolerate or destroy in customary fashion) and go where no human, or lizardoid, or robotoid, or tentacled floater, has gone before!
Infinite Space Explorers is a game of exploration and discoveries, not one of armies and conquering. Fleets are moved from system to system on a star map. New events occur, and new items and allies are found, along the way. Conflict between competitive aliens is likely, and combat between starship fleets is almost certain. All such interaction is handled by brisk card play.
ISE is based on the award winning computer games, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space and Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space and features the same disgusting aliens, peculiar artifacts, exotic starships and artwork by Bill "Phosphorous" Sears. Infinite Space Explorers is designed to set up and play easily and quickly, yet provide the essence of a star spanning galactic adventure. Discoveries are randomized so each game is different. -We think that variety is the spice (and the spice must flow) and that replayability = value.
Infinite Space Explorers was made to be easily modified. We encourage you to try out your own ideas for new starships, weapons, artifacts, alien races, rules -anything! That's why, for starters, two blank cards are included with the game.
ISE is a self-published game made possible by The Game Crafter, a web-based game creation service for board and card game designers to assemble complete games and offer them for sale independently. Whether you're a hobbyist, an aspiring designer or a pro, The Game Crafter has a lot to offer. Besides, they've got all the stuff.
AND THANKS TO SHRAPNEL GAMES AND ASTRAWARE THE STRANGE ADVENTURES CONTINUE!
Happiness is a warm particle vortex cannon. Independent Games Festival 2006 Award Winner!
Note: Weird Worlds is temporarily only available for the iPad
From the fine folks at Indie Royale comes the fantastic five+ game May Hurray Bundle that features Dungeon Defender, Containment: The Zombie Puzzler and Digital Eel's Data Jammers: FastForward, Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity and Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space--plus extra goodies. Now that's worth cheering for!
Tips: Buy early and save $. As more people do, the price goes up, so hop in soon. Beat the minimum. Knock the price down for others and show your support by paying more than the current price. Please note that this bundle will self destruct in one week. For more information, simply teleport to the website.
April 22, 2012
Shrapnel Games' Spring MADNESS Sale
That's right! Spring has sprung and the folks at Shrapnel Games have gone MAD again, offering discounts on every title in their catalog including Data Jammers: FastForward, the polygonally retro racing destruction game, Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity, the cult psychedelic arcade obstacle game, and Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, the award winning instant space opera with exploration, high adventure, real time combat and other really wild things. Go see but be careful! Games will rot your brain if you play too many of them. Not!
Gear Up, Alien Sportsthings!
Go Where the Fishing is Good --and Strange
AKA D I G I T A L E E L G A M E S
March 14, 2012
Hot stuff! Brand spankin' new from Shrapnel Games (publisher of our own Weird Worlds, Brainpipe and Data Jammers games), Total Eclipse is a compleat pen and paper fantasy roleplaying system in downloadable .pdf form. With years of tweaking (eek!), prodding (ouch!) and honing (hey!) behind it, designer Steve N. Jackson (yes there's another one!) has created a fast, fun and easily extendable story playing system, now available officially and in a convenient affordable way. So, intrepid adventurers, be sure to giveTotal Eclipse a look-see, then get out your dice, download and start (role)playing!
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT DATA JAMMERS: FASTFORWARD
"A casual game with fangs."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
"The Digital Eel guys have done it again: another outrageously retro, tongue-in-cheek, weirdly beautiful, and very inexpensive video game. As if Brainpipe weren't enough, now it's Data Jammers: Fast Forward. What Atari might have produced if they had had a sense of humor and a better CPU. I don't normally flack video games, but these guys' imagination and polish consistently impresses me -- and there's only three of them."
- Ernest Adams, Facebook post
"Data Jammers: FastForward is reminiscent of all that is good in the world. Or at least some of the things that are good in the world, like Tempest and speeding through cyberspace."
- Adam Smith, Rock, Paper, Shotgun
"The colourful, vibrant wireframes, and hypnotic collage of abstract 3-D models screaming past at a million miles per hour is very satisfying on an aesthetic level. If ever there were calls for examples of videogames to be considered as legitimate art, Digital Eel's creations would be amongst the first I'd proffer."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"What makes the game a real pleasure, however, are the two things as which Digital Eel always excels; the use of code to produce trippy graphics, and the excellence of the music. Playing Data Jammers is like being at a rave, with glowing Tron-like visuals and a danceable techno score; indeed, weaving and gyrating through the game feels a lot like dance as well."
- Greg Costikyan, Play This Thing!
"Audio is superb, as we've come to expect from this developer. It's a kind of eclectic mishmash of electronica and ambient noise that is, although not quite as good as the brilliant soundtrack of Brainpipe, still light-years ahead of most of its peers."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"The enemies and effects are imaginative, and the controls very smooth."
- Greg Costikyan, Play This Thing!
"A lot of thought went into righting the wrongs from the arcade era, and it pays off in smooth play."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
"The game has virtually no lag even when the screen is full of objects. An absolute must for a game this fast paced."
- Patrick Gibbons, GDN
"The gameplay is intense, immediate and chaotic... or is it? Data Jammers is definitely one of those games where you can suddenly just “feel in the zone”."
- Steve Blanch, Bytten
"Speed freaks and high score nuts alike will defiantly be able to appreciate this game."
- Patrick Gibbons, GDN
"A precision machine: well-crafted from sound principles. This is a game to get if you’re looking for a solid action title."
- Adam Niese, Pixelsocks
It didnt have enough time to-- Leave me alone! Noooooooooo. Whoa. Slow it down. Time to react... Go! Slow it down... Yeah! No idea what that was... Ahh... Slow it down. --Balls! Nooooooo! There's so many!!
- Weldaar, The Spotlight
Digital Eel sadly mourns the passing of Bill "Phosphorous" Sears, Digital Eel co-founder, illustrative artist, designer, musician and very close friend. His attitude and personality were amazing. We wish each one of you could have met him. You'd have liked Bill right off of the bat. That kind of fellow who put everyone at ease with a gentle heart and a playful sense of humor.
Bill was also a great ally in the indie game cause. The best, and authentic --the real deal. Having spent well over a decade in the clutches of the commercial end of the game industry, his goal was to champion the indie spirit bravely, proudly, in every way he could, and he sure did, with his humor, his illuminating words and with his wholly original and always upbeat (but never "cute") artwork.
Bill was steeped in underground art influences, lowbrow art, funny animal comics, the hot rod "kulture", Mad magazine in its heyday, Basil Wolverton, the legendary Zap Comix --a lot of surreal psychedelia and heavy on the counterculture, but Bill was mostly interested in the great drawing. And he must have practiced an awful lot because by now he'd taken drawing and painting, whether on canvas or with Photoshop, to places no artist has ever gone. This can be said with no doubt.
Bill died suddenly of heart related troubles. He was in his late 50's and left us far too soon. Bill is survived by his wife Glenda, his daughter Leeah and his son, Corbin, and our heartfelt condolences go out to each one of them. There will be a gathering for Bill but details are pending and it could be a while before it happens. Feel free to contact Digital Eel if you'd like to be in touch, and visit our memorial website for Bill to share thoughts, memories, messages, photos and more.
