We’ve got a special show for you this week as we catch up with Andrew Shouldice, the lead developer of Tunic, a game we called on this very show “maybe the best Zelda-like game we’ve ever played”. We pick Andrew’s brain about the origins of Tunic, how the project started, how he met his collaborators, the state of Canadian indie developers, what other games inspired Tunic, the manual concept and where that was born, his reaction to the positive reception,…
Last month, IGN, in partnership with Rogue Games, debuted a new game jam competition series titled Rogue Jam. Indie developers from around the world submitted unreleased games late last year for a chance at publishing opportunities with Rogue Games as well as big cash prizes, including a $500,000 USD grand prize. Rogue Jam‘s panel of judges — including former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé — have spent the last few months picking the show’s top contenders, and each new…
Nintendo of America took to Twitter this morning to announce the first Indie World Showcase of 2022, promising roughly 20 minutes of footage and information on upcoming indie games for Switch. While it may not be the giant E3-level Nintendo Direct many are clamoring for, there should still be a lot of fun titles on display; and it’s worth noting for Zelda fans that a previous Indie World Showcase is where the incredibly fun spinoff Cadence of Hyrule was first…
It’s fair to say that we’re all feeling that itch for something Zelda-like to hold us over until “that game which shall remain unmentioned in this article” comes out. Tunic recently released to much fanfare, but it’s not the only inspired-by-Zelda game on our radar. Coming on May 12th to the Nintendo Switch online store, Dungeons of Dreadrock is a dungeon-crawler that has already seen success on iOS, Android, and PC. This grid-based dungeon-crawler sporting a protagonist clad in a…
You know how much we love us a good Zelda-like game, and with Breath of the Wild 2 being delayed, there was no better time for arguably the greatest ever Zelda-like game to grace our consoles: Tunic! The cute adventure of a little fox on a lonely island wears its inspiration on its sleeve and offers an incredibly dense, challenging, fun, at times obtuse, nostalgic adventure all at the same time. The gang are joined by Rod Lloyd, who penned…
Revealed at the Nintendo Life Indie Spotlight, the Zelda-like Moonstone Island is coming to the Nintendo Switch next year. A card-based battle game, Moonstone Island features exploration, hidden treasure chests, fishing, puzzles that need solving, and graphics very reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The game features 120 islands to explore and a deck-building monster-fighting mechanic. As you wait for the next Zelda game to be released, this might be the perfect time to try out a Zelda-like game. Other titles…
Hyper Light Drifter was a phenomenal Zelda-like indie-game release by Heart Machine in 2016. Earlier today the next installment of the series was announced, titled Hyper Light Breaker, slated for a Steam early access release of Spring 2023! Hyper Light Breaker will be a 3D game revolving around multiplayer, but will still be compatible with solo play. Notably, while the game is set in the same universe as Hyper Light Drifter, it is not a sequel: “Enter the Overgrowth, a…
After its first official showing at E3 2017’s PC Gaming Show, Tunic (developed by Andrew Shouldice and published by Finji) found itself on the radar of many game fans who thought the title could be the Xbox’s answer to The Legend of Zelda. The similarities were immediately apparent, as Tunic wore its Zelda influence loud and proud. But now, five years after that intriguing debut, Tunic has proven itself to be more than just another Zelda imitator; it’s one of the…
Tunic is a new indie game filled to the brim with adventures, puzzles, and a heroic fox clad in green. As Zelda fans, it looks like candy to our eyes, so it’s no surprise that Tunic creator Andrew Shouldice has cited The Legend of Zelda as an influence. In a recent interview, Shouldice praised the 1986 title and how it held the “promise of a big world to explore.” Shouldice also indicated that, similar to Breath of the Wild, Tunic…
Playing the recently released Elden Ring, I began to think of how a Souls-like Zelda title could work. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild certainly borrows elements from the Souls genre, most notably powerful enemies and weapons placed throughout the environment. Though Breath of the Wild is an open world—or open air, according to Nintendo—and Dark Souls is not, they share elements of exploration. What separates Breath of the Wild from Souls-like games more than its world, though, is its difficulty, where the monsters…
