Congratulations! You kicked the end of the world right in the teeth. Ron Swanson would be so proud! Since I won't see you again in a Link Dump-y sense before December 25th, let me take this opportunity to wish those of you celebrating a happy holidays and extend our site's heartfelt thanks and appreciation to you for allowing us into your hearts and homes by reading the words we create by training tiny hamsters to play the games while choreographed chickadees hop from key-to-key. ... what? If you figure out an easier way, smarty-pants, you let me know!

Further, a special holiday thank you to all the developers whose hard work makes our job possible. Whether you're putting a game out for free or crafting a commercial indie epic, the entertainment that you labour to give to us and our community is something special. Now go away because this gets super awkward and emotional and I have to head-butt you to offset it.

New Projects and Updates

Do You Know Knytt? What a silly question. Everyone knows Knytt! And if you've been hankering for more indie platform adventuring from Nifflas, now's your chance to help make it happen. While it was recently released for Playstation 3 and PS Vita, Knytt Underground is on its way to a PC, Mac and Linux release, and if you'd like to see that happen, it's probably a good idea to vote it up on Steam's Greenlight service. With a promised 1,800 rooms, quests, characters, and even an ability that sounds like you're channeling Samus by way of her Morph Ball, this is looking like one stunning, huge adventure and we can't wait to get our hands on it. Take a look at the trailer for it!

The Beginning of the End is Here! ... and no, the Mayans aren't involved. But Zeboyd Games is! The final free piece of DLC for Penny-Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Three, the retro-styled RPG, has finally arrived for us PC snobs! If you already own the game on Steam, the service will update the game for you automatically. If you don't already own the game, well... why not? It's available on both iOS and Android as well for a paltry $4.99USD, and really is a superb, funny experience packed with content and laughs. And now I guess furry costumes. But hey, whatever floats your boat. Some people juggle geese.

Kickstarter Projects

They Call Me... MISTER PIG! If you're a PC user and have a hankering for exploration-oriented indie puzzle adventuring, do yourself a favour and check out the Kickstarter page for Full Bore by Whole Hog Games. Inspired by Metroid and Mr Driller, of all things, the game sends you as a "young impoverished digging boar" into a big, open-world underground environment to uncover secrets, find treasure, and solve puzzles. It looks both gorgeous, and a lot of fun... and considering the Kickstarter page allows you to download a free demo of the game, you can find out for yourself if you think it WILL be fun!

Soul? Eh, I Wasn't Using Mine Anyway Part RPG, part visual novel adventure, m.gaia's Soul Gambler is an intriguing little Kickstarter project, and you can already play the demo for it on your phone or in your browser! Inspired by the classic tale, you control Faust, a dissatisfied young man working in a boring job, whose chance encounter with an old gypsy woman winds up opening new career possibilities. You know. Like selling his soul. Your decisions and actions determine how things work out for Faust, and while the writing is pretty stiff in the demo, it's a novel concept with a lot of serious potential for fun and mayhem. (Though, seriously, guys... even 1% of your soul is probably too much to ask for a faster bus ride.)

Miscellany

The Power of Pixels At Your Command Ethan Levy and John Lee know what lurks within your heart of hearts... a secret, burning desire to create authentic-looking old-school pixel art! Or, you know. At least make everything you own look like it's authentic old-school pixel art. Thus, enter Super Pixel Time, a free we-based HTML5 tool you can use to turn any image you have into a retro masterpiece. Just choice an image, a palette from the Pixelator settings (so you can make your image look like it came from a specific old title), and let Super Pixel Time do the hard work for you! Though the quality arguably depends on the clarity of the image you choose, the results are actually quite impressive, typically winding up with pictures that look as if they were always pixels to begin with instead of boring, inadequate people or ink.

Do you know an upcoming indie project or some community gaming related news you think deserves some attention? Send me an e-mail with LINK DUMP FRIDAY in the subject line at dora AT casualgameplay DOT com with the info, and we'll judge it with the all-seeing glare of our own self-importance for inclusion in a future Link Dump Friday article!