Indie Links Round-Up: Graveyard Shift

“On the North Side of Chicago is an apartment with shades drawn tight.

Indie Linkstoday has an Octodad feature, PAX Australia Indie Showcase winners and Monaco’s fight against online gamer obnoxiousness.

Eight Arms to Hold You: The Unlikely Family Behind Octodad(Polygon)
“On the North Side of Chicago is an apartment with shades drawn tight. Inside, a group of men sits as though on the bridge of a starship. A really crummy starship.”

PAX Aus Indie Showcase winners announced(Polygon)
“PAX Australia revealed the six inaugural PAX Aus Indie Showcase winners who will take center stage at the expo’s Indie Pavilion.”

NIS America employees form new indie publisher(Games Industry)
“Former employees of publisher NIS America have announced the formation of independent publisher Acttil. The new publisher was founded by former NIS America producer Jack Niida, former vice president of production Hiroko Kanazashi, and former vice president of marketing Nao Miyazawa.”

Prime World: Defenders Preview: A Refreshing, New Wave(Indie Game Insider)
“I got a chance to check out the new title by Nival, the company behind Prime World and King’s Bounty: Legions. Nival has always been successful with their innovative gameplay, and, once again, they don’t disappoint. Their new title takes place in the same universe as their previous game Prime World. Titled Prime World: Defenders, they created a classic tower defense game with an interesting new twist: a collectable card game.”

Zombie Estate 2 (Indie Gamer Chick)
“Sigh. You know, despite having played literally dozens of games just like this, when I saw screens for Zombie Estate 2, I got excited. I know that I sometimes bitch about being fatigued by the endless zombie games on XBLIG, or the endless twin-stick shooters, or especially combinations of the two. But, just the prospect of a decent one gets me excited. Yea yea, I’m supposed to be too hip for this kind of stuff and not admit what I just said. It would be like admitting that I’m a fan of nose-picking. Which I’m not, even though there are few things in life quite as satisfying as picking your nose. Especially when you get a particularly stubborn booger that’s lodged way up there. When you finally yank it out, it’s practically nirvana.”

Review: Real Estate Empire Deck – From Rusty Axe Games(Indie Game Reviewer)
“Real Estate Empire DECK is the sequel to Real Estate Empire 2 and is a streamlined, quicker gameplay experience available both as a video game and a physical card game. It is a quick little Monopoly-style property and profit game to be played without a board. The version that I played had a quick ‘Score Attack’ mode where I just had to make as much net worth over 12 turns. This is done by buying properties, upgrading, renting them and collecting monthly rents.”

How My Game Cuts Down On Online Gamer Obnoxiousness (Kotaku)
“Playing online games often exposes one to the worst of humanity. Within this den of scum and villainy you’ll find twelve year olds who act like four year olds, dudes that would be the worst drinking buddies, and silent, useless teammates that clearly have no f***ing idea how to play this damn game. Of course, when gamers act like jerks, it’s not always their fault. Sometimes it’s the game’s fault.”

New Xbox Live Indie Games for week ending May 3, 2013(IndiePub)
“Fun platformers and shooters are the theme this week on Xbox Live thanks to Centroid, Aliens vs Romans, Magnetic by Nature: Awakening and Planet Wars.”