Latest News
Braid for Mac is now available!
We’re doing our part to help Mac users experience the latest great games: Braid for Mac is now available! Braid is one of the coolest indie games to come out recently. Not only does it feature a unique and beautiful painterly art style, it also has some really innovative gameplay mechanics. In the game you manipulate time in interesting ways in order to solve the game’s puzzles. At first you start by simply rewinding time–very convenient if you die and want to try that tricky jump again. But quickly the time manipulation techniques get weirder and more interesting. And just when you get used to one mechanic, the game throws a whole new one at you, keeping each successive level fresh and interesting.
Creating games with unique and innovative gameplay mechanics is something close to our hearts here at Hothead. And that’s why we’re really excited to play a part in bringing Braid to the Mac. Head on over to Greenhouse and check out the free demo!
Episode One On Sale
If you haven’t managed to check out the first installment of our Penny Arcade episodic adventure, then it’s your lucky week. We’ve put the game on sale for half price at both playgreenhouse.com (where it’s $9.95) and on Xbox LIVE Arcade, where you can pick up the game for a mere 800 Microsoft points!
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One is an RPG-Adventure game set in a comic-book-meets-pulp-horror-meets-H. P. Lovecraft deranged 1920s universe. You play alongside Gabe and Tycho, the crime-solving team of the Startling Developments Detective Agency, to combat savage enemies and solve mysteries hidden deep in the sinister heart of New Arcadia. This game was the result of some close collaboration between the guys at Penny Arcade and us at Hothead, and we’re super proud of the result.
Welcome Ian!
The Hothead crew welcomes our new president and CEO, Ian Wilkinson! Many of us have worked with Ian previously and given it is also Hothead’s third anniversary, we have lots to celebrate.
And for the Canadians out there, we got him just before the trade deadline . . . .
Spreading Some Indie Love
It’s a great time to be an indie game developer. So many cool games are coming out these days, made by small groups of passionate game creators that decided to quit their day jobs and turn their game-making dreams into a reality. What has emerged is a thriving community of indie game developers that are realizing game play experiences that have never been seen before. We’re just thrilled to be a part of it.
We just announced our first indie partnerships: we’re working with Jonathan Blow the creator of Braid to bring his game to the Mac. And we’re working with the folks over at Twisted Pixel to bring their game The Maw to online services like Greenhouse.
We’ll also be actively participating in upcoming shows that revolve around the emerging indie space in video games. We’re conducting a panel on how to be successful making indie video games at the indie juggernaut South by Southwest. We will also be speaking at the Independent Game Summit at this year’s Game Developer Conference, where we’ll talk about some of the lessons we learned (including the ones that came the hard way) over the last three years since Hothead got started.
Hothead is “Ready to Rocket” (again)
Last year we were flattered to be named on an exclusive list of companies identified as “Emerging Rockets” in recognition of a combination of our unique approach and excellent early execution. “Aw, shucks,” we said. Well we must be doing something right, because we just found out this week we were named to the Rocket Builders’ list again! Congrats to the whole team here at Hothead!
Making Music for Penny Arcade
GameSetWatch just ran an article with an interview with Jeff Tymoshuck. Jeff was the brilliant mind behind most of the music in On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episodes One and Two. We have received so much positive feedback about Jeff’s compositions, and think it fit the setting and mood of the games perfectly. The article provides some insights into Jeff’s creative process and how the project progressed and came together. Check it out!
