Wyv and Keep: The Temple of the Lost Idol Released

I'm pretty much aware of the fact that Gnome's Lair isn't really covering many game releases these days, but a) that's something that will hopefully change (already looking into new ways of covering things) and b) I really enjoyed that Wyv and Keep preview of yore.

In case you haven't gotten the point reader, well, Wyv and Keep: The Temple of the Lost Idol by the delightfully named Jolly Corpse has been finally released and it's looking better than ever. You can grab the DRM-free version for your Windows, Mac and Linux machine from the game's site with a little help from the Humble Store and enjoy some of the best and most beautiful co-op puzzle platforming indie gaming has to offer.

Here's the launch trailer to get you all excited:

Oh, and your creative self will be delighted to know that the game is coming with a full-blown level editor, that lets you play around with everything; even the sprites themselves.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• Dan Marshall Interview
• The Button Affair
• Thomas Was Reviewed (when alone)
• Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

The CC-BIAB indie bundle has INDIE PIXELS in it!

This time it's not just me and Kyttaro Games. This time it's me, Kyttaro Games and Capsule Computers who put The Capsule Computers Indie Bundle together and you should be lovely and kind and nice and buy it and let everyone know about it, oh gentle reader! It has of course just gone live and is featuring 11 fantastic indie games, while -as always- supporting an important charity and the Indie Dev Grant.

Expect many DRM-free downloads, Steam and Desura codes, Windows, Linux & Mac games and an interesting selection of unlockable extras. Also something pretty special for the three people that outpay everybody else...

Anyway, on to the included games and a ton of screenshots:

Blackwell Convergence

Blackwell Deception

Hacker Evolution Untold

Blackwell Legacy

Pixelry

Super Tower Rush

Blackwell Unbound

Hacker Evolution Duality

Hacker Evolution

Hamlet

Secret of the Magic Crystals

Forget that Norton guy; it's The Laffer Utilities Ver. 4.01!

Nowadays nobody seems to remember neither them PC Tools nor those over-priced Norton Utilities we  all used to install in order to have our PCs actually come close to doing stuff, and I frankly do not particularly miss this part of the era. On the other hand, you can't really complain when you are 14, even if the only Sierra product you can afford are the obscure Laffer Utilities. The Laffer Utilities Version 4.01 to be precise; a set of wacky little programs promising to make themselves handy "for everything you do at the office that has nothing to do with work".

Of course being 14 I couldn't really appreciate this kind of humour nor find any particular use for fax covers. An office sounded, well, it sounded implausible at best and, admittedly, Mr. Lowe's jokes aren't always what I'm looking for, but, still... Hey, I actually managed to have fun with the Laffer Utilities.

I printed silly signs filled with the bits The Office writers chose to cut, tried to entertain my parents with semi-randomly generated tabloid-esque headlines, gawked at the brilliantly drawn and incredibly vivid low-res 16-colour graphics and even fooled around with the rudimentary parser-driven AI that answered all questions with a selection of five catch-all phrases. In a desperate effort to squeeze even more fun from said piece of counter-productivity software (it really, really, wasn't suited for my age) I even tried to organize my friends' phone numbers into Larry's database, all the while wondering what on earth a betting pool is.

Ah, yes, good times.

Somewhat surprisingly, I quite enjoyed myself for far too many hours with the thing and Larry's non-gaming offering is something I still remember fondly. I regularly re-open its filled-to-the-brim box and browse the manual to this day. What's more, the complete set of the Laffer Utilities has been made available by Al Lowe himself and you can download it for free over at his radically updated site.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• The best Monkey Island possible
• Interview with Steve Ince
• Quest in Space with them Space Quest Remakes
• The Adventures of Willy Beamish

Scrolls, Lists and Freeware Games

So, yes, it did have to happen. After years of playing through hundreds of free games and after writing about dozens of the things, well, the time has come for me to finally set up a nice and update-able list with the best of the lot or, to be precise, those I enjoyed the most. Have a look and worry not; more playable freebies will be added to it.

Analog Investigations in Arkham

Deduction, despite what Sherlock Holmes would have you believe, is not a science. It's a method. A method that could arguably make the life of all fictional investigators much easier and can definitely be applied to board-games as the classic Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective so effortlessly proved over 30 years ago. What's more, deduction is what you'll be using when playing the freshly released and rather excellent Arkham Investigator.

Designed by Hal Eccles, Arkham Investigator is a board game you can download, print and play for free, either solo or with up to 9 more people (preferably friends or at the very least attractive members of whichever sex/sexes you find attractive). Heavily inspired by the Sherlock Holmes game, Arkham Investigator is all about gathering clues and piecing together what happened in each of its cases; a process that requires quite a bit of thought, patience and no luck whatsoever. 

You'll get to explore Lovecraft's Arkham, read newspapers, contact allies, dive into directories and try to prove yourself to Dr. Armitage by solving cases and figuring out mysteries, all the while trying to avoid shanity-shattering dangers and limiting the resources used.

The first (and currently only) case released, A Grain of Evil, is a fine and engrossing showcase of what Arkham Investigator is all about. It comes with an investigation book and an edition of fictional newspaper Arkham Advertiser and managed to provide me and a couple of friends with roughly two hours of excellent gaming time.

Oh, and the closest thing to an official website I managed to come across was the Arkham Investigator facebook page, which is where news and whatnot get posted.

Related @ Gnome's Lair:

• Not a review of Dreadfleet
• GW's Space Hulk
• Maziacs: The Boardgame
• Steal Away Jordan

Moleman 2: Demoscene - The Art of the Algorithms

Now that you've spent the last 90 minutes watching the video above and have enjoyed an almost cathartic explosion of algorithmically produced art, you already know you love what the demoscene is doing and I frankly can blame you. Better show your appreciation the IndieGoGo way then.