This month Akupara Games turned 9 years old! While the company is out there making and publishing games at 9 years old, I’m pretty sure I was still learning how to color in the lines. I still mess up sometimes…
In September, we revealed some new games that we have added to our roster, a new title launched on consoles, and some features in showcases! Here are the games that will be in this!
- Dead Pets Unleashed
- Joe Richardson Games
- Jeremy Couillard Games
- Rain World
- GIGASWORD
- Montabi
- Future Vibe Check
- Sorry We’re Closed
- Echo Weaver
- Cabernet
Dead Pets Unleashed | A Bombastic Return
Dead Pets Unleashed has returned from the dead!
Dead Pets was one of the unfortunate indies that got cancelled in 2024. To put it bluntly, we think that’s bullshit so we’re going somewhere that many others are afraid to go and revive a cancelled project. The developers and artists who put their time into Dead Pets deserve better than that, so we’re going to finish the game and release it for all of you.
Struggling punk rock band, Dead Pets, are looking for their big break. Play rhythm games at band practice, work a diner shift, converse with characters and manage Gordy’s life. Dead Pets Unleashed is a feminist, slice-of-life, management-lite, minigame-heavy story; unleash your inner demon!
Check out the demo on Steam and if you enjoy please give a wishlist!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1851720/Dead_Pets_Unleashed/
Joe Richardson Games | More Games Joining the Family!
We partnered up with Joe Richardson to publish not one, not two, but four of his games!
Joe Richardson is a solo developer who’s developed four story rich games each with their own unique satirical twist. If you’re a fan of Renaissance artwork, classical music, and a story sure to make you softly exhale through your nostrils (aka a snort or scoff,) then these titles are for you. Following a series of illogical bouts of…logic, these games for sure don’t take themselves seriously.
Four Last Things
Four Last Things is a very silly pythonesque adventure made from Renaissance-era paintings and public domain recordings of classical music. It is about sin, and the Four Last Things – Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell – and strives to be intelligent and ridiculous in equal measures.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/503400/Four_Last_Things/
The Preposterous Awesomeness of Everything
Pilfer from pirates, conspire with cardinals and perform miracles with an incompetent magician. The Procession to Calvary is a Pythonesque adventure game made from Renaissance paintings, and a spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed Four Last Things.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/435840/The_Preposterous_Awesomeness_of_Everything/
The Procession to Calvary
The Majority of People navigate progress, politics and preposterous propulsive plans in this satirical point-and-click adventure. Featuring highly debatable democracy, problematic project managers and the belief that Anthony’s underdeveloped prefrontal cortex will lead to your salvation!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1071130/The_Procession_to_Calvary/
Death of the Reprobate
Explore a world built from the luscious landscapes, turbulent townscapes and preposterous portraits of real Renaissance paintings. Death of the Reprobate is a Rabelaisian adventure game from the creator of Four Last Things and The Procession to Calvary.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1739900/Death_of_the_Reprobate/
Jeremy Couillard Games | Even More Games to Publish!
Alright, stop me if you heard this one before: We partnered with a clever, wild solo developer, Jeremy Couillard, to publish his backlog of games! Now, how do I even try to describe these games? To call them just “weird” undersells just how bonkers they can get. From trying to escape a city only in your dreams, to escaping a giant, evil spa cult, to having your job absorbed inside a sasquatch sex amulet… what? I uh, did say these were weird games.
Escape From Lavender Island
Escape from Lavender Island is a 3rd person open world exploration game. Follow Zede Aksis as he wakes up from a dream about a city only to realize that what he saw in his sleep is a physical reality he cannot find a way out of.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2164310/Escape_From_Lavender_Island/
Fuzz Dungeon
The well back to your job has been absorbed inside a sasquatch sex amulet. Journey through 15 levels of absurdist human history to try and bring it back.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1506080/Fuzz_Dungeon/
JEF
Travel the galaxy, find a dog, watch billionaires put together Ikea furniture for regular people, learn about the Sourcefield, get mentally healthy.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188760/JEF/
Sometimes to Deal with the Difficulty of Being Alive, I Need to Believe There Is a Possibility That Life Is Not Real.
A video experience, a simulation, a game that plays itself, a database of games, an absurdist, sci-fi play, emails going to nowhere, conversation starters, meditations, secret lairs, fights, break-dancing, play on a network, play by yourself, don’t play at all and just watch, set it up in a gallery, set it up at a party…
AlienAfterlife
Aliens terrorists have stolen the machine to reincarnate you. Go get it back.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1014570/AlienAfterlife/
If you were counting, that is ten new games that we are publishing! They are all pretty wacky but have some nice charm in their own ways.
Rain World: The Watcher | Console Launch + 1.5 Content Update
Just a few days ago, Rain World: The Watcher launched on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4+5, and Xbox!
Rain World: The Watcher is the second DLC for Rain World which adds new regions, creatures, and story for players to discover and unravel. A slugcat which has to navigate through ripples of time and space while keeping out of sight of treacherous creatures. Will you follow where the strings lead you, or completely decimate them and the regions around you?
PC players are not left behind in the ripple with consoles. From new regions to new creatures to new lore there are a ton to discover and explore. Here is a rough summary on what is added in this content update! I can’t reveal everything that is in this update. That is up to you to find!
- Arena mode support for The Watcher
- New unlockables for Arena mode to be found!
- Jolly Co-op support for the Watcher campaign
- Retroactive Jolly Co-op support for all five of the More Slugcats campaigns which previously did not have official Co-op support
- New regions
- Several new creatures and items
- New endings
Check out Rain World: The Watcher on all platforms!
GIGASWORD | Console + PC Release on November 13th
GIGASWORD will be launching on PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstation, and Xbox on November 13th!
Balance the weight of the GIGASWORD, battling between brain and brawn. Solve intricate puzzles, discover covert chambers, and slash through foes as Ezra fights to reach the top of the Nestrium and recover the God Crystal within. Can he restore the world’s coherency before it’s too late?
GIGASWORD was one of our two games that were finalists in The Game Development World Championship (GDWC) as a finalist for the Best Indie Game!
I talked with Jack, the solo developer on GIGASWORD about this accomplishment and the release date in November.
Hey Giga-friends! Jack here with another update!
In case you missed the big news last week: I’m happy to tell you that GIGASWORD is coming to ALL PLATFORMS! Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo Switch are all slated to host this beloved big-sword sojourn. We’ve decided to shift the release date from October 2nd to November 13th in order to accommodate this expanded release. Don’t fret though: I promise it’ll be worth the extra wait!
As we head into October, I’ll be working on some final bug fixes, as well as plenty of extra polish and finishing touches. It’s safe to say the game is in the best state it’s ever been in. I cannot wait for you all to get to experience it.
Thank you guys so much for your continued support, and I’ll see you again soon!
Montabi | Monster Taming Direct + Best Indie Game Finalist
If you were watching the Monster Taming Direct, then you may have seen our creature-collector roguelike deckbuilder Montabi where Buddy talked about some of the synergies you can create with your team!
If you want to view the full Monster Taming Direct, you can view it here!
That wasn’t the only showcase that Montabi was in! Montabi was our second title in The Game Development World Championship (GDWC) as a finalist for the Best Indie Game! We were very honored to be a finalist and huge congrats to Mankibo, the developers of Montabi! Such a huge accomplishment.
If you want to watch the full stream you can watch it here!
I talked to Boy, the developer of Mankibo, about Montabi and how they are feeling this month!
Hi Tamers and Montabi friends,
This one’s a bit shorter, but I just want to say a huge thank you for joining the recent playtest, where 13 new Montabi were featured! We had so many great discussions in the Montabi Discord, and I’m really happy about that. All the feedback you shared in the form and on Discord is helping us fine-tune the newest Montabi we’re building.
A warm welcome as well to everyone who discovered Montabi through Monster Taming Direct and Akupara’s 9th Anniversary Sale! We hope you enjoy the demo, and we’re looking forward to sharing even more with you soon.
By the way, our team created a special illustration to celebrate the 9th Anniversary of our wonderful publisher, Akupara! We wish you all the best, Akupara, and thank you for amplifying the small voices behind Montabi and so many other amazing games.
We’re also working on a Montabi inspired by Chronos, the Akupara mascot, it’s called Chottle.
And here’s a little early secret: we’re in development updating the demo with localization in several languages, so hopefully we can reach even more players.
Once again, thank you so much everyone! See you in the next playtest. See you, Tamers!
If you want to get some sneak peeks at the development of Montabi, I will strongly recommend joining the Montabi Discord!
Future Vibe Check | Dev Log #6 – MIDI Part 1: A Musical Revolution Coming to Future Vibe Check
Future Vibe Check has been a little bit quiet this month. However, that doesn’t mean the developer isn’t hard at work on the automation music game! I talked with Unwise on what they have been working on this month!
Hey DJs—Unwise here. We’ve been hinting at it for a while, and now it’s time to pull back the curtain: Future Vibe Check is adding full MIDI support with Soundfonts in the next major iteration of the game (dropping soon in Discord for our playtesters and soon after in our Steam Demo). This post kicks off a short series covering what MIDI is, why it matters, and how it unlocks more expressive music-building inside the game.
1. A Brief History of MIDI: Making the Sound of the Future, Universal
Back in the early 1980s, electronic music was exploding with synthesizers from companies like Roland, Sequential Circuits, and Yamaha. The problem? These instruments couldn’t “talk” to each other. Each instrument had its own proprietary system for triggering sounds. No one spoke the same “language” when trying to jam together!
Enter Dave Smith (of Sequential Circuits) and Ikutaro Kakehashi (of Roland), who rallied manufacturers at the 1981 Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention to create a unified protocol. By 1983, MIDI 1.0 was born: the Musical Instrument Digital Interface. It debuted connecting a Prophet-600 synth to a Jupiter-6, proving instruments could sync notes, tempos, and controls seamlessly.
(THE BIRTH OF MIDI: At the NAMM Show in 1983 )
Fast-forward to today, and MIDI (2.0 introduced in 2020) is the backbone of all studio productions and live performances. Almost all modern music includes some form of MIDI!
2. Ok, so what is MIDI exactly?
- Audio File = a recording in some format like MP3 or WAV.
- MIDI File = a set of machine readable instructions telling instruments what to play, how loud, and for how long. Think of it as super-lightweight sheet music that any instrument can read in real time.
- Pitch (0 -127, which note to play)
- Velocity (0 – 127, how hard you hit it ≈ loud/bright)
- Duration (how long to hold it)
- Channel (who’s playing—piano on 1, strings on 2, drums on 10, etc.)
- CC (Control Changes) for real-time expression (mod wheel, filter cutoff, reverb send, pan, volume…)
The standard stuck because it’s tiny compared to audio files, universal, and flexible.
** Fun Fact: Why are many MIDI values (like velocity) always on a 0-127 scale? It ties back to the protocol’s design in the 1980s. MIDI messages use 8-bit bytes, but the most significant bit (the 8th bit) is reserved to distinguish between “status” bytes (commands like Note On) and “data” bytes (parameters like velocity). This leaves 7 bits for actual data values, and 2^7 = 128 possible steps (0 through 127). This efficient design allowed for reliable, low-bandwidth communication over serial connections, ensuring compatibility across early hardware. It’s a clever bit of engineering that balances simplicity and functionality. Even today, it provides enough resolution for expressive control without overwhelming limited systems.
3. Leveling up the sound in Future Vibe Check
In FVC, we’re soon moving to MIDI for all playback. Here’s why this is hype!
- Better Expression on Each Node: Building a high-energy beat? Ramp up velocity for punchy impacts. Chill vibes? Lower velocity for softer touches on each note played. You can set different note playback lengths and even custom travel durations on signals. Need some legato sustains? Maybe the 4-on-the-floor needs a bit of humanization? Imagine automating a pitch bend on a lead synth as your factory expands….crazy possibilities 🙂
- Better Instruments: With this change, we are also supporting soundfonts (collection of pre-recorded audio samples that are packaged with instructions for a MIDI synthesizer to play them). For testing, we will be using one key soundfont asset but we expect to support multiple in the future and the ability to bring your own soundfont. This means more instrument variety and realistic timbres per instrument.
- Composition and Export: These systems all connect to our procedural music and grid-based composition system. So, you can make a vibe in FVC using our visually engaging toolset and export it to MIDI if you want to work on it in a DAW!
Next, we will be taking deeper dives to improvements to our logistic systems and some improvements to our procedural generation system to support more exotic scales. Join the Playtest Crew in Discord to try MIDI support early. Much love✌️🎶
— Unwise & the FVC Team
Sorry We’re Closed | Nominated for Game of the Year by Patch Magazine
Sorry We’re Closed was nominated for Game of the Year by Patch Magazine!
We won’t know if Sorry We’re Closed wins game of the year until November but we are super proud of the a la mode games for this accomplishment! Good luck to the other developers and publishers also nominated!
If you want to check out Sorry We’re Closed and see why it was nominated as Game of the Year, then you can here!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1796580/Sorry_Were_Closed/
Cabernet | Dark Queens Bundle
We have teamed up with Monster Theater to create the Dark Queens Bundle.
The Dark Queens bundle brings together two supernatural story rich games, Cabernet and The Dark Queen of Mortholme for a 10% discount!
The Dark Queen of Mortholme
Play as the final boss in the short-form indie game where you defeat an aspiring hero who breaches your lair. There is an issue though… They keep coming back.
Check out the bundle here!
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/59205/Dark_Queens/
Echo Weaver | New Demo
Echo Weaver got a new demo about a month ago and I want to take a deeper dive in some of the changes. The whole demo got a rework so I can’t go through everything but you should check out the demo if you get the chance!
UI Upgrades
With Echo Weaver telling a bunch of story and objectives in menus, the old UI really wasn’t friendly nor easy to navigate. Here you can see the old demo UI when it came to discovering new leads. Information was tough to find and unorganized, especially if you haven’t played in a bit. So, the devs really wanted to make that better!
And here is what it looks like now!
Room Changes
From the very first room you might have noticed some changes. Here is what the old version looked like.
And here is what it looks like now!
Room visuals were not the only changes made, the whole demo has a new layout which adds new puzzles, lore bits, and more. I won’t dive into it, that is up to you to figure out how to traverse through the rooms.
Ghosts?
In the demo there is a new way to gain information and lore bits from the world around you. The Pizzacat Intermind lovingly calls them “ghosts” but whether they are spirits, a memory of the past, or something else entirely you should keep an eye out for them as they can hold important information for you to get past obstacles.
Do you think Intermind is responsible enough to have a ghost?
I also talked with the developers of Echo Weaver on what they have been working on this month!
Hey everyone! This month has been a bit of a quiet one for us as we wrapped up and released our new demo into the wild. If you haven’t played it yet, go check it out! Available on both Steam and Xbox!
After that (and some time off), we’ve been regrouping on learnings from watching people playing and looking ahead to the rest of the game. Now it’s all eyes on the finish line! The next few months will be focusing hard on content content content: more levels, more NPCs, more story, more everything. We’re making a hard push for making the game playable top to bottom. Here’s a little peek at some of the other zones we’re working on, all still in a greybox phase.
More to share next month! And if you want to hang with us and see more in-progress development, join our weekly streams on Discord every Thursday 🙂
If you want to hear more news on these titles, then join our Akupara Discord, or follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!