The Isle is a dinosaur-based game being developed on Early Access by Afterthought LLC. This developer review looks at Afterthought and ask whether you should consider supporting this developer studio as they develop The Isle.
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Fenix Fire are a small studio formed in 2010 by husband and wife team Brian and Anna. Osiris: New Dawn is a sci-fi survival and exploration game set in the Gleise 581 solar system. This developer review looks at Fenix Fire, and offers a recommendation as to whether you should consider supporting them.
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Caged Element are a young development studio, formed at the end of 2014. Their first game is a homage, and spiritual successor, to the Rollcage series of games. This developer review looks at Caged Element, and offers a recommendation as to whether you should consider supporting them.
Reloaded Games are the second company to work on futuristic mech-shooter, HAWKEN. This developer review looks at the history of Reloaded Games and HAWEKEN, and then investigates whether you should consider supporting this development studio. The four ratings in this video are from A (excellent) to E (extremely poor).
Poppermost Productions is the development studio behind the (now) F2P game, SNOW. This extended review looks at the history of Poppermost, and whether you should consider spending money on this game.
Eleon Games are the studio behind the space survival game, Empyrion – Galactic Survival. This review looks at Eleon, how well they have handled the release of Empyrion and whether they are a studio you should consider supporting.
Slime Rancher is a cutesy, colourful and weirdly fun game created by Monomi Park. This review looks at Monomi Park, and asks if they’re capable of finishing Slime Rancher, and if you should consider purchasing the game.
CAT Interstellar is an indie sci-fi game, set on Mars, and aims to tell story of a seemingly barren planet. The review looks at the developer behind CAT Interstellar, a small 2-man studio called Ionized Games.
Although Ionized Games received a negative recommendation from the review, it was a close-run thing. If this team can increase it’s communication about the game, where it’s going and the milestones to get there, it could easily tip into a positive recommendation.
What’s your opinion? Do Ionized deserve a Positive recommendation based on their great community interaction, or should their lack of progress and information about what the final game will be override that?
Have an Early Access game you’re thinking of buying, and want some feedback on the developer before buying? Click this link to request a review.
How do you judge an Early Access game? It’s not finished, it’s probably buggy, almost certainly lacking content, and yet the devs want you to pay for the privilege of playing their incomplete masterpiece. Should you trust them?
That’s what the new Developer Review series is here to help with – which Early Access developers should you trust when they ask for your money?
Developer Reviews look at the studio behind the game. How are their community relations? Are they honest when describing the game they want you to buy? How long will it take to complete, and what will it be like when it gets there? These and many other factors will be looked at to arrive at a simple:
In its Early Access FAQ for purchasers, Valve advises:
When you buy an Early Access game, you should consider what the game is like to play right now.
Which is a great metric to use. If you buy the game now, and you get enough value out of it to justify what you paid, then it doesn’t really matter if it’s finished or not.
But our devious human brains don’t work like that, do they…?