Hurdle Turtle: Celebrations Now Available!

Hurdle Turtle: Celebrations, the festive special released to celebrate Hurdle Turtle's 3rd birthday, and the upcoming release of Hurdle Turtle 2, is now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace!

Click the picture or right here to queue it up to your Xbox 360!

Enjoy some cartilaginously-shelled spin jumping action!

 Holmfry

A Turtle Celebration is Coming September 1st, 2013!

To celebrate Hurdle Turtle's 3rd birthday and the upcoming release of Hurdle Turtle 2, it is with great pleasure that we announce "Hurdle Turtle: Celebrations!" This 2nd companion to the original Hurdle Turtle can also be enjoyed as a standalone title.  Take Hurdle Turtle through a gauntlet of holiday themed levels and keep challenging your own hiscores until the sequel arrives this fall!

"Hurdle Turtle: Celebrations!" will be available on September 1st, 2013 exclusively on Xbox Live Indie Games!

Also, if you really want to celebrate with the fastest turtle in the world, head on over to our swag shoppe, where we've added (and will continue to add) some new 3rd Anniversary merchandise!

 Holmfry

Luigi's Pac-Mansion Released!

Recently, my 5 year old son came up with the idea to create a fan game that would combine the Gamecube classic Luigi's Mansion and the original Pac-Man (both of which he is a fan) and call it Luigi's Pac-Mansion.  I thought this was pretty punny, so we at Holmade Games got to work and made it for him!  We also let him call the shots on many of the design decisions.  Afterwards, he thought it'd be fun to share it with the world.

The game is live now and downloadable at Indie DB right here!  You can also follow the link off of our main game index on our website (as well as check out our other games) by clicking our logo over to your right.

SpooooOOOooky!

It's currently at version 0.9b and our plans for future feature additions include such things as multiple maze structures and themes per "floor", as well as boss fights.  Like our previous fan game Bit of War, it's a side project (we're currently also working on Hurdle Turtle 2), so for now it follows the original Pac-Man structure of a single maze repeated with increasing difficulty, and the goal of achieving a highscore and seeing how many ghost portraits (which replace Pac-Man's fruit) you can collect!

We hope you all enjoy this arcade mashup!

 Holmfry

Announcing (Officially!) Hurdle Turtle 2!

A few weeks back we sort-of announced, via our various social networks, the sequel to what is probably our most beloved game - Hurdle Turtle 2!  Well, now we'd like to full-on announce it all officially and stuff - HT2 will be releasing on Xbox Live Indie Games later this year!  We have some brand new screenshots for you as well!  Click the pictures to embiggen.

Hurdle's got a brand new posse.

See?  Not a tortoise!

These images show the game in progress and do not necessarily represent the final version.

As you can see, there's a bunch of changes and new features that have been added.  Graphics are tighter, Hurdle actually earns his Turtle title by swimming through some stages, and there is now 4 player local co-op!  Believe me, if you thought the original got crazy as the speed poured on, just you wait... ;)

In addition to all of that, Hurdle now progresses throughout a series of stages - no more endless running for this turtle!

As if all that wasn't enough, another treat is that Octapus is back with another amazing chiptune-inspired soundtrack!

There are other surprises in store as well as development continues, and you'll find out about them first-hand right here, so stay tuned!

 Holmfry

Happy Bit-of-versary!

It's been a big week for the God of War series!  Hopefully everyone is playing and enjoying the living snot out of God of War: Ascension which was released earlier this week - if so, perhaps we've already faced off in battle online!

Now to add our little 'bit' (pun intended) into the celebrations..

It sure doesn't seem like it's been a year, but today marks the first anniversary of the release of Bit of War!  If you haven't yet played Bit of War, this is the perfect excuse to pick it up for free!  In addition, we've recently released a major update that adds a Boss Rush mode to the game!  

Kratos is excited!

Over the past year, we have gotten a ton of great feedback and praise from literally all parts of the world.  From mentions on sites like Kotaku and G4tv, to an interview with Sony Santa Monica themselves, to some from overseas which we can't even read without the aid of Google Translate!  It's been much more than we ever expected, and suffice it to say we are happy campers over here at Holmade.

We've been keeping track of all of the various articles, tweets, reviews and videos of our little 8-bit Kratos and we wanted to share just a couple of our favorites with you here.

Tweets from the big guys themselves!

Sites with reviews and articles:

• Interview with Sony Santa Monica on the official God of War blog!
• Indie Games
• Clockerz
• Egotastic
• Ripten
• Kotaku
• G4tv
• Nintendo Life / Push Square
• Bit of War on the God of War wiki

Video playthroughs and reviews:

• Gentleman's Gaming Corner
• The Gamer's Cave
• Our own video playlist compiling all sorts of Bit of War playthroughs and video reviews

..and there's just pages and pages of this stuff! We wish we could share it all here, but it would just make this post far too long. Like we said, more than we ever expected.
So thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who's shown us such great support, both before and after the release of Bit of War.  It's the love from our fans that really fuels our efforts and drives us to give up on sleep in the name of fun and entertainment.

And stay tuned, there's plenty more news (Hurdle Turtle 2 anyone?) coming soon!

Happy birthday, Bit of War!

Cupcakes courtesy of Geek Sweets

 Holmfry

Bit of War v1.10 Adds Gauntlet Mode!

Bit of War has been updated to version 1.10, bringing with it various small bug fixes and, more importantly, Gauntlet Mode!  Gauntlet Mode is a boss rush endurance round that sees you facing all boss fights and some other enemies in the game one after the other.  You will be given only one life, and whatever weapons you've earned in the main game to beat all bosses, and to try and beat your own best time!

Since Gauntlet mode reveals later bosses and enemies in the main game, we highly recommend you play through the main game first to avoid spoilers.  It will also be easier to set a best time once you have more weapons - but it's up to you!

Download the game here: http://bitofwar.holmadegames.com
If you've visited the site before, you may need to refresh your browser to see the latest version.

PLEASE NOTE: this version uses a different save file than version 1.00. Saves will not carry over.

 Holmfry

Happy Hurdlewe'en!

BOO!

Did we scare you? For more Hallowe'en thrills and chills, we've added a brand new character pack exclusively to the iOS version of Hurdle Turtle.. for free!

The Classic 'Ween Pack features four brand new turtles, including some favorite spooOOOooky Hallowe'en haunts!

If you already have the game, all you have to do is download the latest update. All new turtles come unlocked and ready to go - all through the darkest, stormiest nights!

If you don't already have the game, grab it from the App Store here.. it will come with The Classic 'Ween Pack ready to roll!

In addition, if you don't have an iOS device, you can always check out our spooky turtle entry into the 2010 Newgrounds Hallowe'en Collection, "Hurdle Turtle: Halloween!", right here!

Happy Hurdle.. er, Hallowe'en.. and be sure to eat way, WAYYY too much candy!

 Holmfry

Announcing "Operation: Clown Drop"!

Update: Happy April Fool's!!

The latest fun-filled, family-friendly retro arcade hit from Holmade Games is Operation: Clown Drop!  How fast can your clown go?

Completely customizable, you can select from several famous dropping zones including the Grand Canyon, the CN Tower, or even the Empire State Building! Design your clown's colorful costume before sending him on an exciting adventure downwards!  Select from many unlockable clowns such as happy clown, sad clown, or creepy clown!


As the game progresses, earn coins from mid-air clown stunts to upgrade your clown and increase his terminal velocity!  Upgrades include pants payload, outfit wind resistance, and more!


Please Note:  All clowns in this game are trained professionals.  Please do not attempt to drop a clown at home.


Click here to check out the game's mini-site for more info:
http://clowndrop.holmadegames.com

Get ready to drop some clowns!

 Holmfry

Bit of War (8-Bit God of War Demake) Released!

It's been a long while since we've posted!

That's because we've been hard at work completing what has been for us a 5 year journey. During development of Hurdle Turtle and Pixel Whirled and their various incarnations, Bit of War (our 8-bit demake of the God of War universe) has been an ongoing side project - a labor of love - that we are so excited to now finally share with the world!  

As a free fan game we couldn't always afford to give it as much attention as we wanted to and so development has been (very) part time.  It has taken many forms over the years and the project has been started, stopped and restarted numerous times as other projects took the forefront, and as we found the right look and feel for the game.. as this very blog can attest to!

It's taken us far too long to get here.  But this year we made a New Year's resolution to put everything else aside and give it the love it deserved and complete it.. and here it is!  It was ultimately our fans' support of our other games that allowed us to take this liberty, and for that we are eternally grateful.

http://bitofwar.holmadegames.com

This page contains a link to the download page (temporarily hosted on filedropper while the game awaits authorization on  indiedb.com) and will soon contain a lot more than that - an online instruction manual in the style of old school NES manuals, as well as an explanation of the story of the game and its inspirations.

Please enjoy the game - it's free for your Windows PC! - and feel free to leave us feedback and questions right here!

Thank you all!

 Holmfry
CEO & Founder
Holmade Games

Bit of War - Release Date!!

As you can see, Bit of War will be heading free to PCs everywhere around the world very soon!  The game is almost finished, with just a couple of boss fights and some final polishing left.  Likely, it will be complete before Christmas. However, we do want to make sure there's ample time for testing and as that would have pushed release just into next year anyway, we've settled on March 16, 2012 (a date of some significance).

Enjoy the poster above, feel free to print it out and post it up everywhere, and to go ahead and get good and excited for the game! :)  To help you with the home stretch of your wait here are some brand new, mint-in-the-box, never-before-seen screenshots to enjoy!

 Holmfry

What is Project Purple?

Pixel Whirled iOS Available Now!

Hey everyone!


It's out!  Pixel Whirled has been released on the iPhone App Store!  Check out our previous post for more info, or just go ahead and click the pic below to grab the game now! :)

Enjoy!


 Holmfry

Pixel Whirled iOS Releases Tomorrow!

Hi everyone!

Big news!!  Tomorrow, the 24th of September, Pixel Whirled follows in the small green footprints of Hurdle Turtle to make the jump from the Xbox Indie Games channel to the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch!

If you're a fan of the original Xbox version of the game, you're going to love the new iOS version which includes new features such as Game Center leaderboards, achievements and brand new powerups exclusive to this version!  In addition, this version features new intuitive controls that will have you physically flipping your device to rotate Pixel World!

If you're unfamiliar with the game, check out the Pixel Whirled mini-site here to view trailers, gameplay videos, screenshots and downloadable goodies for your computer!

Click pic for full version!

So limber up those hands and get a good sleep tonight - because tomorrow you're going to be taking out wave after wave of 8-bit chaos.. on the go!

 Holmfry

Bit of War Dev Entry

Howdy all!

We've been hard at work getting back on track with the Bit of War project following our move.  We've been going through the old to do list and taking care of bugs here and there - but to really get the project back on the road to completion, The Timm (our story writer) and I had a two hour video conference last night to discuss the specific style and content of the final story cinemas.. and guess who showed up to give his opinion?

So it went pretty quickly after that - he had some good ideas, we didn't feel inclined to argue.  We decided to revisit our original concept for the cinemas - using existing God of War art remastered as 8-bit - to instead go with in-game assets.  This allows more freedom to create the scenes we want to, as we don't have to go hunting for God of War art that matches the scenes we're looking to create.  It will also result in a lot more seamless transition from gameplay to cinema.

What also came out of this meeting was that there is a lot of spriting and background art yet to create for these scenes, which means I'll be cooling off my left brain and relying more heavily on my right brain for some artwork over the next few weeks.   The Timm will be focused on the final story edits and building the actual cinema screens with his story and the assets I create.

During this time, we'll throw some samples up here for all to enjoy, so stay tuned! :)  In the meantime, you can actually check out some more of The Timm's writing in a Live Writing experiment he's doing - so click here to go read his new novel day-by-day as it's being written!

.. and raise your hand if you didn't know Kratos was near-sighted!  Yah, me neither.

 Holmfry

Pixel Whirled ..Coming Soon?

Yup!  For iOS!  


That's right, thanks to our superb developer Luke Zbihlyj, who also handled the pixel-perfect port of Hurdle Turtle to the iPod/iPhone/iPad platforms, you'll soon be whirling away on the go!

Featuring all of the levels, characters and secrets from the original, the entire original soundtrack by Walz Music, and a new Physical Whirl feature (that's right, you don't have to press a button anymore to rotate the world - you can now physically rotate your device for some real tactile control!), Pixel Whirled iOS will be arriving on an App Store enabled device near you very soon!


 Holmfry

Bit of War - Music Contest!

Hi everyone!


If you've been following us, you know that we've been working like fiends on an 8-bit God of War demake, currently titled Bit of War. Well, it's getting fairly close to completion and we're starting our hunt for the perfect soundtrack. Already set to feature a track by the incomparable Aaron Walz of Walz Music, we thought we'd make it interesting and host a little contest to find the other perfect tunes!


- To enter, create an 8-bit version of the following music from God of War III:

- Your 8-bit version could be the full piece, or a smaller loop of the important bits - it's up to you. However, it should be awesome.
- Send the finished .mp3 file to contests@holmadegames.com anytime between now and 11:59pm EST June 30th, 2011. That's 10 days, for those counting!

Winning!* (the important bit): If you are chosen as the winner, the winning .mp3 will be featured in the menu of the final game. Full credit will be given to the winner as the game circulates like a virus across the internet. Women will likely throw themselves at you**. More importantly, you will gain the opportunity to create more music to be featured in the game!


For more information on Bit of War, please click the appropriate link under "What We Got Goin' On!" on the right.


 Holmfry


*Despite the fact that you are winning, tiger blood will not be provided.
**Holmade Games makes no guarantee that women will throw themselves at you.

Bit of War Dev Entry

Hi everyone!

If you're wondering why it's been so quiet about this game's progress recently, it's because we've been really busy pumping it out!  As of a few days ago, the engine is at last complete, and we have started moving on to the other levels!  It's a lot of fun finally polishing off some new tiles and getting to playtest with different backgrounds - it almost feels like a new game!  We don't want to get into details on what the other locations are, as we don't want to spoil the story at this point, but I think we've managed to represent a nice degree of variety throughout the game.

Of course, the engine being complete also means that development from this point on should speed up significantly.  Look for the final game sometime this summer, and probably a video teaser or two soon so you don't have to wait until release to catch a glimpse of the new levels and attacks that we've put in!

Until then.. back to work for us!

 Holmfry

Hurdle Turtle Level Pack # 1 - Now Available

So, wow!  We officially declare this International Turtle Weekend, because it's just all about our little green reptile today!  Besides our Free For A Day Contest for the iOS version we announced earlier, Hurdle Turtle - Level Pack # 1 is now live on the Xbox Marketplace!  Pick it up on your Xbox under the Indie Games section of the Marketplace, or queue up the trial or full version right here!

Happy ITW everyone!  Have a fun and safe weekend, and remember to Hurdle responsibly!


 Holmfry

Hurdle Turtle iOS Free For A Day Contest!

Mark your calendars!  Tomorrow, Feb 19th 2011, Hurdle Turtle will be free on the App Store for one day only, thanks to DailyAppDream.com and the support of our fans!

That's right, free!  And even more exciting (or so we like to think) is that we are having a special contest to coincide with this event!  If Hurdle Turtle makes it onto the top 50 app list while it's free, we'll be giving away Hurdle Turtle Prize Packs full of super sweet swag to some of our lucky fans!

The Prize Packs will include original signed handdrawn artwork based on Hurdle Turtle, as well as some other awesome surprises!

Here's how to enter (it's easy!):

• Follow @Holmade_Games and @LukeZbihlyj on Twitter or Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/holmadegames!  If you do both, you've doubled your chances of winning!
• Be sure to download the game (for free!).. then tweet like crazy, facebook, email, and shout about it (and this contest) through a megaphone to help launch the game up into the top 50!

Thanks for playing and enjoy the free game!!  We love giving away free swag, so let's make this happen!


 Holmfry

Hurdle Turtle - Level Pack # 1 First Look!

With the release of Hurdle Turtle - Level Pack # 1 drawing nigh (it's in the final peer review phase, so approximately a couple of weeks until it's available!) we thought it time to share the first screenshots, official description and cover art with everyone.  Check them out below - you can click the images for the full-sized versions.  Enjoy!

Description:

The fastest turtle in the world is back for more zany 8-bit arcade action in 3 all new levels! Join him and his new pal Pirate Turtle as they race to a banging chiptune soundtrack composed by Octapus! This companion to the original game can also be enjoyed as a standalone title.

Cover Art:

Screenshots:

 

 

We hope that's given you something to look forward to!  Which level do you find looks the most fun to play?  What type of levels would you like to see in the future?  Are you psyched that Pirate Turtle made it into the game, or were you rooting for one of the other turtles?  Let us know in a comment!

 Holmfry