#Islets

[cactusesartdump]

Recently decided to try drawing the main characters of metroidvanias I played. ngl I liked the process

[correctopinionhaver]

[nolanfa-clayworks]

More samples, this time of a glaze series from Solargil, which crackles beautifully (but runs a lot when applied thickly, so I can only use it on hollow flat pieces - which is exactly the use I intended for it)

[postcard-from-the-past]

Ruins of the Rocca Vitaliana fortress on the Castelli di Cannero islets in the Lake Maggiore, Piedmont region of Italy

Italian vintage postcard

[mothmiso]

Taipei (2) (3) (4) by Jason

Via Flickr:

(4) Islets along the Tamsui River.     

[gwarden123]

It's also a nice little design touch that once you get your first upgrade, a double jump, there is no forward path after that, encouraging you to go back and seek out paths that were previously inaccessible. Nice way of telling you how to play the game without flashing up a text box and telling you what to do.

[bpod-bpod]

Islets Onstream

Insight into how the hormone-producing islet cells of the pancreas are organised during embryonic development – revealing potential new ways to treat diabetes

Read the published research paper here

Image from work by Wilma Tixi, Maricela Maldonado and Ya-Ting Chang, and colleagues

Department of Translational Research and Cellular Therapeutics, Arthur Riggs Diabetes and Metabolism Research Institute, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in eLife, August 2023

You can also follow BPoD on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

[angevon]

Games I beat 2024 - 3

Islets is a short metroidvania with cute graphics, which tbh was the main draw for me. Look at that googly eye. Love it.

Anyway, it’s an all right game. But here are my complaints 😂: 

First off, the default controls on the Switch are god awful. Who in their right mind thought B should open the map? (Outside the team who made dragon quest builders anyway) Thankfully you can remap them unlike dqb.

There’s an over reliance on spikes as obstacles. Enemies don’t drop health pickups. This makes it feel like there’s not enough save points. Also, the teleporters aren’t save points, yet later you can warp at save points so it feels like the distinction between the two was unnecessary. 

The attack upgrades don’t seem to do much. In fact I never did get to the point I could one-shot the red wall-crawler crabs everywhere, which was disappointing. 

Speaking of, why are there red wall-crawler crabs everywhere? I mean, I know why, they’re there so you can refill your ammo on them. But there should’ve been a better way to do that, since having the crabs be literally everywhere just highlights the lack of enemy variety in this game. Ammo refills could have been pickups instead, or ammo could auto refill with time (perhaps at the cost of damage overall being lower for ranged attacks).

A lot of new puzzle mechanics were underutilized, introduced for one or two rooms but then not used again (specifically the Portal-like clouds), in favor of yet more “don’t touch the spikes” rooms.

The game was pretty short, for better or for worse. I clocked in at just over 6 hours. And took another 20 minutes or so to 100% it. So yeah, I did 100% it, which probably says something! 

The story never took itself too seriously, with quirky characters that honestly made me laugh, such as as TourFrog and the gardening bunny. GreyBird was a cutie and I liked seeing his growth throughout the story. Snoot never really got his comeuppance for being such a prick so I’m not 100% happy with that but it also does fit the game’s world so I guess it’s all right.

Despite my complaints, I did have fun playing it. I just think it could’ve been better 👍

[realfuurikuuri]

We’re playing a cute little indie game!

[adelidae]

islets ost i love youuuu

[askatknits]

Friday Finds | 6.7.24

Happy Friday, dear friends! How are you doing on savoring your June days? I want to tell you that the portable “desk” is perfection for porch sitting… sunshine and rain. Yes, we had some rain yesterday morning and the sound of the gentle rain as I sipped my coffee was the best way to start my day! I have a few things to share with you all today… things that are getting me through some of the…

[meugamer]

Islets está gratuito na Epic Games

O game Islets, da editora Armor Games Studios, está gratuito na Epic Games Store. Nessa última semana de março, entrando na primeira semana de abril no calendário da Epic, o jogo escolhido ficará disponível a partir das 13h (de Brasília) dessa quinta-feira (28), até a próxima quinta (4), no mesmo horário. Para resgatar, basta ter uma conta na Epic Games, e clicando aqui, você será redirecionado…

[juegovanias]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Juego Vanias (@juegovanias)

[thinkingimages]

The Eye is a small and mysterious islet located in the delta of the Parana river, between Buenos Aires and Campana, in Argentina.  It is a thin strip of land and nearly perfectly circular in shape, measuring 120 meters in diameter,  Most unusually the island frequently rotates on itself. It floats between the clear and frozen waters of a pool that is completely unique to the area. It would be deemed a fake if not for Google earth footage showing its movements 🌏

via unownedspaces IG

[cookiethiefem]

Gonna add some...maybe not top, but definitely just 10 indie’s that I...think came out in 2022: 1) Lil Gator Game

2) Dome Keeper

3) Tinykin

4) Tiny Rogues

5) Islets

6) Neverawake

7) Lunacid

8) The Last Clockwinder (Had to put one VR in here~)

9) FixFox

10) Dread X Collection 5

My Top 10 Favorite Indie Games of 2022! There were so many cool indie games this year, all of which were very very different, but here's the small sliver that I'd like to shout-out.

You can also view the list here on Backloggd.

Number 1: Crystal Project

A truly unique RPG. Imagine Final Fantasy 5 with open-world BOTW exploration, 3D platforming, and it's all left to uncover on your own.

A special experience I'll never forget, and now has Randomizer options to do it all again.

Number 2: Potionomics

A really in-depth potion shopkeeper game with loads of charm and strategy. Brew potions, send out adventure parties, boost relationships with NPCs, and do deckbuilding sales negotiations. The loop is so satisfying, and the art is beautiful.

Number 3: Orb of Creation

Incremental game, idle game, clicker game, whatever you call it, this is one of the most mechanically interesting of any of the ones I've tried. Advancing through the unlock trees is the primary puzzle itself, using all sorts of systems at your disposal.

Number 4: Citizen Sleeper

I haven't finished quite yet, but this is a really engaging story about life under oppressive systems, scraping by the best you can, and making alliances with other folks who are desperate. The dice-slotting mechanic is so smart here.

Number 5: Grapple Dog

A colorful, charming, and beautifully animated platformer. Very satisfying to go through levels, get the collectables, and challenge yourself to bonus levels. If you master it, the sense of momentum is so fluid.

and the rest of the list...

Olli Olli World

Chained Echoes

Neon White

Trombone Champ

A tie between Super Kiwi 64 and Lunistice

My Top 10 Favorite AAA Games of 2022

Splatoon 3

Marvel Snap (small design team, but i'm counting this as AAA)

Pokemon Legends Arceus

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Triangle Strategy

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Live A Live

Marvel Midnight Suns

Multiversus

Elden Ring

There were lots of other cool games this year, like Chiki's Chase, Tunic, Nobody Saves The World, Poinpy, Tinyfolks, and Kardboard Kings!

Excited for 2023.