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Game of the Month is a programme where Evercade VS/VS-R and Evercade EXP/EXP-R owners (and Alpha owners once those systems launch!) can download a new, independently developed game for free every month between April and December. You can enjoy the full version of the game without limits right up until the next update, at which point it will be replaced with something completely new to try. Next year, all of the Game of the Month titles for this year, plus a few exclusive extras, will be collected together on the Indie Heroes Collection 4 cartridge, likely to drop in February.
Game of the Month for October 2024 is the sequel to one of the most popular Indie Heroes games, and another title from a familiar face. We’re very happy to welcome back Alastair Low of Lowtek Games (plus collaborators Tuï on music and audio, and Dale Coop on programming duties) and the brand spanking new Flea!2, the official follow-up to the original Flea!, which appeared on the very first Indie Heroes cartridge back in 2021.
Low is an enthusiastic independent developer who came to games following an interest in making special effects for movies. After discovering how much it cost to produce practical special effects, he moved into the digital space, which led to learning 3D computer graphics… and from there, it was just a short hop to game development. He had been dabbling with making games since the age of 10 with Clickteam’s classic drag-and-drop games maker The Games Factory, but after seven years in the special effects industry, he decided to pursue his own dreams, and has been making some top-notch titles ever since. These include the aforementioned Flea! from Indie Heroes Collection 1, its spinoff title Tapeworm Disco Puzzle from Indie Heroes Collection 2 and, most recently, Chew Chew Mimic from Indie Heroes Collection 3.
Low has made a specific effort to make all his games particularly friendly to dyslexic players. His aim is to produce games that challenge and puzzle players without overwhelming them with long paragraphs of text, and Flea!2 is no exception to this.
In Flea!2, you once again take control of Henry the hyperactive flea. Henry cannot stop jumping, so as you guide him around a series of perilous platformer levels, you’re going to have to bear that in mind — though you can mash the B button to tone down his jumps a little.
This time around, Henry is once again helping out the fleadom fighters. The devilish Flea-opatra has locked up a number of these little itchy champions of justice, branding them here-ticks and luna-ticks. It’s up to Henry to bounce back into action in the name of fleadom!
As in the previous Flea!, your goal in each stage is simply to reach the exit tube that will send you to the next screen. Scattered throughout each stage are a series of blood vials that Henry can collect. There’s no obligation to grab these as you go, but any time you stumble across one of your fleadom-fighting colleagues, you can cash in any collected vials for extra lives. And you’re probably going to need them — much like its predecessor, Flea! is all about short, snappy, precise levels that will challenge your dexterity and sense of timing.
Thankfully, Henry has a trick up his sleeve right from the outset of this new game. By pressing the A button and a direction on the D-pad, he can “dash” horizontally. This is a great way of fitting through narrow gaps, so get used to timing it right and you’ll be nimbly negotiating tricky stages in no time. Later in the game, Henry will also unlock a “moon jump” ability, whereby you can hold the A button to charge a much bigger jump.
There are plenty of level elements to get to grips with right from the outset, including crumbling blocks that will disappear after Henry jumps on them once, wormholes that teleport Henry to other areas on the screen and flooded areas that Henry must swim through. Plus, of course, plenty of enemies in the service of Flea-opatra, all of whom want nothing more than to squish our tiny hero!
Henry’s friends have a few hints and tips for him along the way. If you spot one of the fleadom fighters, stand in front of them and press the A button to have a quick chat with them. Some of them will provide information crucial to Henry’s success, while others will just have words of encouragement for our hero.
ike the original Flea!, Flea!2 is a crowdfunded project. Just as with its prequel, Flea!2 launched its crowdfunding campaign on the “leap day” (February 29th) of 2024, and this time around it successfully raised £17,212. This has helped fund not only development of the project and digital release on various platforms, but also physical releases for classic gaming systems.
Flea!2 has around a hundred levels for you to take on, so be prepared for a stiff challenge! It’s a rewarding journey, though, so best of luck!
To get started with Flea!2 and the Game of the Month programme for 2024, connect your Evercade VS/VS-R or EXP to the Internet via the Network option in Settings, then perform a system update to the latest available firmware version.
When you’re all updated, you’re ready to go — start the game through the VS or EXP logo on the left of the main Evercade menu and prepare to go hopping mad!
Note that we always recommend Evercade users keep their consoles up to date as a matter of course to ensure maximum compatibility with new cartridge releases and implement fixes to known issues. Please see the Evercade support pages to read full patch notes for each device; all new firmware updates are cumulative, so update once and you’ll see all the benefits. This update also includes some important stability fixes.
Please note that saves from the Game of the Month edition of Flea!2 will not carry across to the Indie Heroes Collection 4 cartridge when that releases in February of 2025 (TBC).
Quelle: Blaze Entertainment
Game of the Month for October 2024 is the sequel to one of the most popular Indie Heroes games, and another title from a familiar face. We’re very happy to welcome back Alastair Low of Lowtek Games (plus collaborators Tuï on music and audio, and Dale Coop on programming duties) and the brand spanking new Flea!2, the official follow-up to the original Flea!, which appeared on the very first Indie Heroes cartridge back in 2021.
Low is an enthusiastic independent developer who came to games following an interest in making special effects for movies. After discovering how much it cost to produce practical special effects, he moved into the digital space, which led to learning 3D computer graphics… and from there, it was just a short hop to game development. He had been dabbling with making games since the age of 10 with Clickteam’s classic drag-and-drop games maker The Games Factory, but after seven years in the special effects industry, he decided to pursue his own dreams, and has been making some top-notch titles ever since. These include the aforementioned Flea! from Indie Heroes Collection 1, its spinoff title Tapeworm Disco Puzzle from Indie Heroes Collection 2 and, most recently, Chew Chew Mimic from Indie Heroes Collection 3.
Low has made a specific effort to make all his games particularly friendly to dyslexic players. His aim is to produce games that challenge and puzzle players without overwhelming them with long paragraphs of text, and Flea!2 is no exception to this.
In Flea!2, you once again take control of Henry the hyperactive flea. Henry cannot stop jumping, so as you guide him around a series of perilous platformer levels, you’re going to have to bear that in mind — though you can mash the B button to tone down his jumps a little.
This time around, Henry is once again helping out the fleadom fighters. The devilish Flea-opatra has locked up a number of these little itchy champions of justice, branding them here-ticks and luna-ticks. It’s up to Henry to bounce back into action in the name of fleadom!
As in the previous Flea!, your goal in each stage is simply to reach the exit tube that will send you to the next screen. Scattered throughout each stage are a series of blood vials that Henry can collect. There’s no obligation to grab these as you go, but any time you stumble across one of your fleadom-fighting colleagues, you can cash in any collected vials for extra lives. And you’re probably going to need them — much like its predecessor, Flea! is all about short, snappy, precise levels that will challenge your dexterity and sense of timing.
Thankfully, Henry has a trick up his sleeve right from the outset of this new game. By pressing the A button and a direction on the D-pad, he can “dash” horizontally. This is a great way of fitting through narrow gaps, so get used to timing it right and you’ll be nimbly negotiating tricky stages in no time. Later in the game, Henry will also unlock a “moon jump” ability, whereby you can hold the A button to charge a much bigger jump.
There are plenty of level elements to get to grips with right from the outset, including crumbling blocks that will disappear after Henry jumps on them once, wormholes that teleport Henry to other areas on the screen and flooded areas that Henry must swim through. Plus, of course, plenty of enemies in the service of Flea-opatra, all of whom want nothing more than to squish our tiny hero!
Henry’s friends have a few hints and tips for him along the way. If you spot one of the fleadom fighters, stand in front of them and press the A button to have a quick chat with them. Some of them will provide information crucial to Henry’s success, while others will just have words of encouragement for our hero.
ike the original Flea!, Flea!2 is a crowdfunded project. Just as with its prequel, Flea!2 launched its crowdfunding campaign on the “leap day” (February 29th) of 2024, and this time around it successfully raised £17,212. This has helped fund not only development of the project and digital release on various platforms, but also physical releases for classic gaming systems.
Flea!2 has around a hundred levels for you to take on, so be prepared for a stiff challenge! It’s a rewarding journey, though, so best of luck!
To get started with Flea!2 and the Game of the Month programme for 2024, connect your Evercade VS/VS-R or EXP to the Internet via the Network option in Settings, then perform a system update to the latest available firmware version.
When you’re all updated, you’re ready to go — start the game through the VS or EXP logo on the left of the main Evercade menu and prepare to go hopping mad!
Note that we always recommend Evercade users keep their consoles up to date as a matter of course to ensure maximum compatibility with new cartridge releases and implement fixes to known issues. Please see the Evercade support pages to read full patch notes for each device; all new firmware updates are cumulative, so update once and you’ll see all the benefits. This update also includes some important stability fixes.
Please note that saves from the Game of the Month edition of Flea!2 will not carry across to the Indie Heroes Collection 4 cartridge when that releases in February of 2025 (TBC).
Quelle: Blaze Entertainment