Welcome to the PIGSquad
Truffle Hunter Newsletter!
March 2021
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In this Newsletter:
1. Featured Games:
- The Station
- Dr. Signal's Strange Machine
- Death Flush
- Animal Inspector
- That Night, Steeped by Blood River
- Under A Star Called Sun
2. Tips and Tools
- Game Pitch Deck Collection
- Tools by Small Devs
- Background Art Q+A
- Social Media Asset Sizing
- Famistudio
3. Lil' Extras
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It's been a full year since our last FREE VERSION of the Truffle Hunter Newsletter! We thought we'd put together another free installment that acts as a kind of "best of" the last year of newsletters!
In addition to this free newsletter, we will be releasing a regular exclusive Truffle Hunter for our Patreon Patrons this month as well!
If you're interested in receiving newsletters like this monthly in your inbox, please consider hitting the button below and supporting us on Patreon!
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Everyone in the $5+ tiers will get a Truffle Hunter Newsletter with new games, tools, tutorials, and inspiration on a monthly basis.
In the meantime, enjoy this free installment!
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The Station
Developed by: pixel-boy
Playtime: 40 Minutes
Controller: Keyboard
Price: Free
Game Page: https://pixel-boy.itch.io/the-station
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It's your first day on your new job at The Station, and the Sergeant has a strange test for you to take. Travel to the sewers, collect creatures to fight with you, and battle the Dark Foggies that are polluting the area in this top down puzzle shooter. This is a demo of a game that seems to have ceased development, but this quick taste of something potentially larger is a great example of how much you can achieve with simple mechanics, interesting puzzles, unique characters, and a top-notch tutorial.
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Dr. Signal's Strange Machine
Developed by: Caramel
Playtime: 20 Minutes
Controller: Keyboard
Price: Free
Game Page: https://caramel.itch.io/strangemachine
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A Bitsy game made for the Dinosaur Bitsy Jam last year. Dr. Signal is a narrative story set in the post-apocalypse. As humans look for answers, One scientist looks to the past to ask questions. Talk to dinosaurs long since gone to discuss the state of the world now - and oddly enough- humanity.
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Death Flush
Developed by: Imposter Syndrome
Playtime: 30 minutes
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Price: Free
Game Page: https://impostersyndrome.itch.io/death-flush
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Death Flush is a low-poly first person action-puzzle game that follows a young couple being terrorized by a toilet-seat-wielding serial killer who seems to have returned from the dead to claim his last victim. It's a perfectly concise experience with hilarious voice acting, a spot-on level of difficulty, and *actually* good toilet humor. Prepare yourself for rated T low poly gore and SWEARS! :O
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Animal Inspector
Developed by: Tom Astle
Playtime: 30 minutes
Controller: Keyboard and mouse
Price: Name Your Price
Game Page: https://tomastle.itch.io/animal-inspector
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You’re a government animal inspector rejecting or approving pets based on their usefulness because there’s simply “too many animals.” The playful dialogue carries this game as you are presented with more and more morally questionable pet scenarios. Struggle between meeting your ever increasing job quota of rejected pets and the desire to let everyone have their furry companion.
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That Night, Steeped by Blood River
Developed by: Taylor Swietanski
Playtime: 30 Minutes
Controller: Mouse and Keyboard
Price: Name Your Price
Game Page: https://justadog.itch.io/that-night-steeped-by-blood-river
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Travel through barely perceptible environments in this series of abstract vignettes. That night, Steeped by Blood River is a poetic mind trip that doesn't seek to answer any particular questions or tell a particular story. Standing still in any area of this game resembles a snapshot of flat shapes and patterns. Only through play and movement do the bounds of the world your inhabiting make themselves clear enough to explore. Feel your brain melt as you soak up the sights and the amazing sound design.
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Under a Star Called Sun
Developed by: Cecile Richard
Playtime: ~15 minutes
Controller: Keyboard
Price: Free
Game Page: https://haraiva.itch.io/under-a-star-called-sun
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CONTENT WARNING: Allusions to grief and death
Under a Star Called Sun is a Bitsy game by award-winning game dev and visual designer Cecile Richard. It's a sci-fi interactive story that explores the fragility of memories following the loss of a loved one. This game manages to use the abstract and limited visuals inherent to Bitsy games to its own advantage, creating a poetic experience that demonstrates exactly why the game itself was nominated for several awards. Cecile is a developer to watch, and I'm excited to see what other boundary-pushing works they create in the future.
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Game Pitch Deck Collection
A collection of video game pitch decks made public with the intention of providing transparency to devs around best practices for pitching your games! Browse these pitch decks to get inspired when making your own. Take note of information, visuals, flow, and branding!
https://www.notion.so/Pitch-Decks-f56e38c13fe6417f8379859e74367e1a
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More from the wonderful world of tools by small devs...
It's becoming increasingly hard not to include something Nathalie Lawhead is responsible for in each of these newsletters. This incredible list of creative development tools is the second in a series of documentations. Nathalie not only includes descriptions of each of the tools featured, but also writes on their experiences studying theory behind why we gravitate towards creative tools that provide us with limitations.
http://www.nathalielawhead.com/candybox/more-from-the-wonderful-world-of-tools-by-small-devs-shareware-and-freeware-art-tools-music-tools-and-toys-to-create-with
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Background Art Q+A
A free, published Q+A by professional background and visdev artist Jaykittens. See some frequently asked questions, and soak up some knowledge on good background design! Maybe try to make your first background at a game jam!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VZNkJ5iRLpamadxZD8BNF0V9Ci4k2-g6SRPdYw6I_wQ/edit
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Social Media Assets Sizing
An open source Google Spreadsheet that is a comprehensive documentation of the file and size requirements for every imaginable image you could post on social media. The sheet currently features Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Discord, Twitch, Linkedin, and Steam, with many other video game platforms coming soon!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yIeKo9AZIOPAoZdsb_t-Mb0hDoaLSlxY7SGfd5QHpZ0/edit#gid=1331958553
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Famistudio
FamiStudio is a free, very simple, DAW-style, music editor for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is designed for both chiptune enthusiasts and the NES homebrew community. The itch page linked below also includes a 40 minute tutorial for newcomers to make a new song from scratch!
https://bleubleu.itch.io/famistudio
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Some last-minute game dev inspiration! Click any images to follow their links!
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Thanks for reading!
We hope you enjoyed our free installment of the Truffle Hunter Newsletter! Again, if you want an email just like this with curated content in your inbox every month, consider supporting us on Patreon:
- $5 and up Patrons get the Truffle Hunter Newsletter sent to their inboxes every month, and access to a special Truffle Hunters channel in our Discord to discuss the newsletter and all things PIGSquad!
- $12 and up Patrons get all of the above PLUS access to the Truffle Hunter Newsletter archive! This currently contains all previous installments of our newsletter (which includes over 50 game recommendations and reviews!)
If you're still itching for some game dev inspiration and insights, check out PIGSquad's archive of Talent Talk Videos that features lightning talks on all sort of game dev and adjacent projects!
As we continue this newsletter, please keep feedback in mind - you are welcome to share at PIGSquad.com/contact, which includes an anonymous feedback option if desired! We are constantly looking forward to improving our projects and delivering our best.
We hope to see you in future Truffle Hunter installments!
- Marlowe & the PIGSquad Team
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