Indie publisher Curve Digital are showing us just how much they care by making us all a video game Indie Mixtape.
Back in the eighties and nineties, there were few gifts more evocative than the hand-crafted mixtape. Sure, you could buy someone a proper retail album, but who could rely on a band or artist to perfectly encapsulate all our feelings for someone in 30 minutes per side? We’d spend hours locked in our rooms, carefully cutting together track after track on our double-tape decks, to show that special someone just how much we cared. Mixtapes are love letters. Mixtapes are poetry. And let’s be honest – mixtapes are what you did if you weren’t quite cool enough to pull off the John Cusack Say Anything boom box stunt.
So the idea of an Indie Mixtape for games? That’s got us feeling all sorts of nostalgic tingles, and you won’t even need to rewind it with a pencil.
UK-based indie producer Curve Digital have put together their Indie Mixtape, a curated list of indie titles that they hope we’ll love as much as they do, and it’s out today on the Steam Store and the Humble Store. They’re not giving it to us for free, though – it’s not actually a gift – but it does supply five titles for the very reasonable price of £6.99.
“What’s in it?” I hear you ask. Here’s the skinny from their latest press release:
“The inaugural Indie Mixtape contains an exciting and eclectic mix of titles, from intergalactic couch arena battlers to gorgeous monochromatic roguelikes. The full list is as follows:
- LAZA KNITEZ!! by Glitchnap – Pew your way to glory in this up-to-four player couch spear-em-up.
- hets by Ditto – Lost in a hellish randomly dungeon, grab your hand cannon and blast away the bad.
- Roguelight by Daniel Linssen – The deeper you explore, the darker it gets – and only your arrows will light your way.
- Test Chamber by Shark Jump Studios – Exercise your brainbox in this non-euclidian cubic puzzler.
- Detective Chirpums: Private Investigator by Detective – They say the city’s a roost for every bird. This noir aviary-adventure is only for the most hard-boiled investigator.
The Indie Mixtape continues Curve’s ongoing efforts to support original independent games and creators. Indie developers who are interested in the initiative are encouraged to contact Paul Watson and Curve Digital directly.”
Curve Digital have been involved with some proper indie successes over the past few years –Qora, OlliOlli2 and the Stealth Inc. series to name just a few – and while their Indie Mixtape idea isn’t necessarily a revolutionary new idea (Humble Indie Bundle, anyone?) it’s focusing on less well-known titles than other value-hungry bundles before it, which can only be a good thing.
I had a quick chat with Curve Digital spokesperson Paul Watson, who told me to expect the Indie Mixtape to unlock on the Steam and Humble stores at around 6pm GMT today, so we’re all looking forward to that.
