Happy November! For our American fans out there, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving and made some food for the holiday! If you’re like me, you have months of leftovers in the freezer now. This month has been very busy with a new game launch and a new publisher reveal! Let’s get started!
Here are the games in this month’s dev log!
- Publisher Pathfinder
- GIGASWORD
- Kumitantei
- Montabi
- Rain World
Akupara Games | Publisher Pathfinder
This month, our COO Alyssa launched a new free tool for the indie industry: Publisher Pathfinder.
If you want to know what publishers may be perfect for the game you are developing or have an idea of a game and are just curious, then the Publisher Pathfinder is perfect to check out. Built in the retro-style point’n’click text adventure, instead of a boring spreadsheet, the Publisher Pathfinder was created to help empower developers with the information and resources they need to succeed.
Publisher Pathfinder is the definitive, data-driven knowledge base built for game developers, studios and creative teams seeking to identify, evaluate and engage with publishing partners, investors, accelerators and service-providers. Featuring a comprehensive directory and targeted criteria (funding capacity, genres served, platform focus, contact info, services provided and more), the site turns what is often a scattered, opaque process into an actionable path to success.
There are also other resources available like information on jobs, funding, marketing resources, and more!
Check out the Publisher Pathfinder here!
https://publisherpathfinder.com/
GIGASWORD | Launched on PC, Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation
Our metroidvania with the biggest sword in gaming (untested), GIGASWORD, launched on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch!
Thoenhart is on the edge of collapse. Plagued by famine and disease, humanity’s last hope rests in the hands of Ezra and the mighty GIGASWORD. Balance the weight of the sword as Ezra traverses through the hostile halls of the Nestrium. What secrets will you discover throughout your journey?
I talked with Jack, the solo developer on GIGASWORD, about the launch!
Hi Giga-Friends!
On November 13th, I launched my seven-year passion project GIGASWORD, and I had the pleasure of doing so with the help of my amazing friends at Akupara Games. Since release, the response has been incredibly positive, and I cannot thank you guys enough for all your kind words and feedback! Watching everyone finally get to experience the world of GIGASWORD after such a long development cycle has been so rewarding. I really cannot thank you guys enough for playing.
As we move into December, I’ll be working hard to add some more quality-of-life features to the game, as well as address any bugs that have been reported. The first new addition I’ll be implementing is a brand new Fast Travel system, so be on the lookout for some patch notes about that soon! And as always, if you’d like to chat with me directly, and/or stay updated on everything GIGASWORD-related, please feel free to join the official Discord server! discord.gg/er5hAyRT9B
Once again, thank you all so much for supporting and playing GIGASWORD. This game would not be what it is today without the love and encouragement provided by its fans. You guys are the best, and I love and appreciate all of you more than I can say.
Okay, see you again soon!
Jack
Check out GIGASWORD here!
Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1885930/GIGASWORD/
Xbox: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/gigasword/9MTGJFG42D20
PlayStation: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10013651/
Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/gigasword-switch/
Join the GIGASWORD Discord to play alongside other people exploring the Nestrium.
Kumitantei | Publisher Reveal
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A mysterious entity is forcing students to kill each other and you must deduce who is killing whom. That’s right! Fans of Danganronpa or Ace Attorney rejoice! Check out our newest game to join the family, Kumitantei!
Janus Institute’s Class of ’89 are trapped and forced to kill each other ‘for science’, is survival in the cards? Kumitantei is an episodic murder-mystery ADV cardbattler that lovingly fuses retro anime analog horror with killing game.
I talked with Mango Factory, the development team behind Kumitantei, about publisher reveal and Kumitantei!
Carpe diem, Gifted Subjects!
This is Lina, your experiment overseer speaking.
Last month, we were very excited to announce our partnership with Akupara Games to publish Kumitantei: Old-School Slaughter, and it seems like many of you were pretty excited too! Since that new trailer dropped (which you can watch down below), our wishlists jumped up by nearly 2,000 and put us so tantalizingly close to the big 10k! Thank you all very much for your support. 🎴💜
We’re so excited to reveal more details about Episode 1 in the coming months! For now, as we move into the holiday season there’s always two things that come to mind: generosity and startling violence! Lucky for all of you, today we’ve got both to share with the preview release of “Selfish Ends”, Kumitantei’s investigation theme. This haunting fusion of darksynth and city pop by Hundotte is sure to get you in the groove of investigating grisly murders, we hope you’ll enjoy!
Coming up in December, we’ll be participating in the Choose Wisely Festival on Steam alongside a few other Akupara Games titles. It’s a big celebration of games with branching narratives that’s running from December 8th to 15th, we’d love for you to come check it out and support story-focused games!
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44764768/sale/choosewiselyfestival25
That’s all for now, but don’t worry, we’ll be seeing you again very soon.
Until next time, Memento mori!
Check out the demo here!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2759280/Kumitantei_OldSchool_Slaughter/
I also want to share some of the amazing fan art from the community!
Guardianrosaria on Discord
Cosmic.hero on Discord
Sadaninokos on Discord
There is so much more that I could share. If you would like to see more fan art of Kumitantei or talk with other fans, then I would strongly recommend joining the Kumitantei Discord!
Montabi | New Demo
Montabi Demo has been updated to include a ton of new features!
Even if you’ve checked out the older demo, I would strongly recommend trying out this updated demo as it changes and adds so much more to strategize around. Here is a list of some of the new stuff!
- New Elite & Boss Enemies
- Expanded Ability Card Decks
- New Level Up System with Third Stage Montabi Evolutions
- Vending Machine Locations & Equipment
- Capsule Charms
- Card Removal
The developers on Montabi wrote a dev log going into deeper details about the update which you can read here!
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3141630/view/624439505179379609
Check out the updated demo here!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3141630/Montabi/
Rain World | OST Updated and Level Editor Released
The Rain World community received some new tools to play with in their modding adventurers with the release of the level editor that was used in the development of Rain World: The Watcher. This includes new props, effects, and more for modders to dive into and play with.
I’ve already seen some wonderful and creative rooms from the community using the new level editor. I would strongly recommend joining the Rain World modding Discord if you would like to learn how to create a room or see what others have developed with the new tool!
Here are the steps for the level editor.
- Download the level editor
- Unzip the file of the level editor
- Run the exe file.
- Happy making!
Also for the music enjoyers of Rain World, we have updated the Watcher OST to include the new music from the 1.5 update!
If you already own the OST, then these songs should already be in your library! Listen to the 11 new tracks on Steam, Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music.
If you want to hear more news on these titles, then join our Akupara Discord, or follow us on Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!