B-side Gaming #5 Originally posted on !Bside@fedia.io in June 2025
Welcome
Welcome to issue #5 of the zine. This one is shorter because I decided the previous ones were too long, they required too much work, and now everything fits nicely in one post. This probably will also be the case for feature issues. While lots of stuff seen in previous issues has been cut, it is not gone completely. I will be rotating the content so it will be different on each issue. The only constant will probably be the news and maybe The corner of fun.
On this issue, I will be concluding the history of adventure games by looking at the history of visual novels, adventure game preservation, and tools for creating visual novels. Also, I recommend five visual novels, and there is The corner of fun.
As always, I hope you have fun reading.
P.S. Can someone explain to me how to Fedi link to a specific post? I know only how to do it with a community.
News
Open Source game news
A-Mazing Urho Release 2025-06-10
Gameplay
A-Mazing Urho is a rhythmic maze game developed by LucKey Productions, originally made for the Open Jam 2018 using the Urho3D game engine.
This release fixes several bugs, part of which were introduced with the last update:
- Resolved second scoreboard appearing when Urho got hit in singleplayer
- Prevent crash upon finishing the game in singleplayer
Load block size as 2D vector for compatibility with latest Edddy version
Alex vs Bus: The Race Release 2025-06-16
Alex vs Bus
Alex vs Bus: The Race is a free and open source platform runner game in which Alex is just a man who depends on public transportation in a developing country and needs to run in order to catch the bus, or else he will have to wait an eternity for the next bus to come.
- Bugfix: finishing the "hard" difficulty would cause a repetition of the same difficulty instead of advancing to "super".
Indie game news
"After being rejected by over 50 publishers," gets funded via Kickstarter.
Screenshot
Developer Electric Saint says that its game - described as an open-world "delivery life-sim" where you move to an island filled with "witch-tech" broomstick technology - was "rejected by over 50 publishers." Opting for a different approach to getting the funding it needed, the studio turned to Kickstarter - where it hit its $60,000 goal in just 24 hours.
New RPG Title Quartet Releases Free Demo On Steam
Quartet
- Quartet's free demo is now available on Steam, offering a hands-on preview of its unique RPG mechanics.
- Experience four intertwining stories in Quartet, playable in any order for a dynamic narrative experience.
- Inspired by Octopath Traveler, Quartet features parallel events and layered storytelling in a shared world.
- Engage in turn-based combat with eight characters, each with swappable abilities and tactical depth.
Through The Nightmares Confirms Mid-June Release Date
Through The Nightmares
- Through the Nightmares launches in June with a free demo now available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.
- Master size-shifting platforming and ruthless precision challenges in surreal nightmare worlds.
- Explore over 45 handcrafted levels inspired by Nordic folklore and children’s fears come to life.
- Uncover narrative-driven secrets, manipulate dreamscapes, and enjoy a haunting original soundtrack.
The gorgeous indie game Death Howl will have a new demo on June 9
Gameplay
Cards
Guide a grieving mother through a sorrowful spiritual realm.
Consume Me is an indie game that wants you to relive your days as a teenager
Cool Kids
Gameplay
a life-sim RPG that is all about reliving your teenage days. This single-player experience is described as a "darkly funny coming-of-age story," one that looks to poke fun at all the trials and tribulations of being a teenager.
Net.Attack() Announced Free Demo For Steam Next Fest
Net.Attack()
- Net.Attack() launches a free demo during Steam Next Fest from June 9–16 for PC players to try.
- Play as a hacker in a '90s-inspired mainframe, mastering coding skills for roguelite action gameplay.
- Utilize a unique drag-and-drop node system to visually build, tweak, and optimize your own abilities.
- No two runs are the same, with evolving challenges, unlockables, and deep replay value in every session.
Rescue African artifacts from colonizers' museums in the heist game Relooted
Gameplay
Relooted
Relooted is a heist game about reclaiming African artifacts from the Western countries that stole them, developed by independent South African studio Nyamakop.
Constance is a beautiful, hand-drawn metroidvania with a release date
Gameplay
In Constance, you play as a purple-haired painter who is "striving to escape from a colorful but decaying inner-world, created by her declining mental health.
Morsels and its Unique Roguelike Charm
top-down shooter combines classic roguelike elements that we see in popular titles in the same genre like Hades and Spelunky, but with its own vibe and mechanics that make it feel like a must-play for roguelike fans.
Nice Game art
Give me Junk!
Fractured Blooms
In Fractured Blooms, you play as Angie, a girl stuck in a time loop.
Fractured Blooms
Clean the bedroom? Oh no the Horror!
Atomic Owl Announces PC Release Date For Mid-July
Atomic Owl
- Atomic Owl launches on PC via Steam and GOG in July, bringing SNES-inspired roguelite action to players.
- Play as Hidalgo Bladewing on a quest to rescue friends and battle Omega Wing in a neon pixel-art world.
- Features include hack n' slash combat, roguelite progression, voice-acted dialogue, and weapon variety.
- Absorb souls for upgrades, wield elemental powers, and take flight through vibrant, animated environments.
Action Game Maker Arrives On Steam in Mid-June
Action Game Maker
- Action Game Maker is launching on Steam mid-June, letting anyone create 2D action games with ease.
- Developed by Gotcha Gotcha Games and built on Godot Engine for advanced features and smooth workflow.
- No programming skills required—visual tools, asset libraries, and sample projects jumpstart your creativity.
- Supports custom characters, 2D animation, tile maps, dynamic lighting, and even GDScript for pros.
If You Like Daytona USA and Ridge Racer, Linear S Looks Like a Blast
Linear S" looks right at home next to the arcade racing greats of the '90s, because it was built just like they were
Clutchtime: Basketball Deckbuilder Confirms July Release Date
Clutchtime
- Clutchtime: Basketball Deckbuilder launches in July with a free demo available on Steam now.
- Blend deckbuilding strategies with real basketball moves, plays, and player substitutions.
- Choose between Elimination (roguelike tournaments) or Classic (regular season) modes.
- Dynamic crowd audio delivers the excitement of a live basketball arena in every game.
Homebrew News
Gantrix for c64
Gameplay
Moar Gameplay
New Space Shooter. Sailing trough the space in search of the enemy alien base <Luridian>, which would like to enslave the planet earth...
Featured article: History of Adventure games
In the last part of the History of Adventure game we are going to take a look at the history of visual noverls and Adventure game Preservation
Visual Novels
Due to differences in computer hardware, language, and culture, development of adventure games went in a different direction in Japan compared to Western markets. The most popular adventure game subgenre in Japan are visual novels
A visual novel is a form of digital interactive fiction. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustrations and a varying degree of interactivity. Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their generally minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving as if they were turning a page while making narrative choices along the way. Another main characteristic of visual novels is their strong emphasis on the prose, as the narration in visual novels is delivered through text.
Most visual novels have multiple storylines and more than one ending; the mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game.
Visual novels originated in and are especially prevalent in Japan. The more famous visual novels are also often adapted into light novels, manga, or anime. The game The Portopia Serial Murder Case (1983) featured non-linear elements, which include traveling between different areas in a generally open world, a branching dialogue conversation system where the story develops through entering commands and receiving responses from other characters, and making choices that determine the dialogues and order of events as well as alternate outcomes, though there is only one true culprit while the others are red herrings. It also features a phone that could be used to dial any number to contact several non-player characters. The game was well received in Japan for its well-told storyline and surprising twist ending, and for allowing multiple ways to achieve objectives.
Shortly after, in 1988, Snatcher appeared, developed by Hideo Kojima and released for the PC-8801 and MSX2 in 1988, in which a cyberpunk detective hunts down a serial killer. Another more non-linear early example was Mirrors, released by Soft Studio Wing for the PC-8801 and FM Towns computers in 1990; it featured a branching narrative, multiple endings, and audio CD music.
A common feature used in visual novels is having multiple protagonists giving different perspectives on the story. EVE Burst Error (1995), developed by Hiroyuki Kanno and C's Ware, introduced a unique twist to the system by allowing the player to switch between both protagonists at any time during the game, instead of finishing one protagonist's scenario before playing the other. EVE Burst Error often requires the player to have both protagonists co-operate with each other at various points during the game, with choices in one scenario affecting the other.
An important milestone in the history of visual novels was YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World (1996), which was developed by Hiroyuki Kanno and is ELF's most famous visual novel. It featured non-linear storytelling, with a science fiction plot revolving around time travel and parallel universes. The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace their steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they have used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called Automatic Diverge Mapping System (ADMS), which displays a screen that the player can check at any time to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines.
Chunsoft sound novels such as Machi (1998) and 428: Shibuya Scramble (2008) developed the multiple-perspective concept further. They allow the player to alternate between the perspectives of several or more different characters, making choices with one character that have consequences for other characters. 428 in particular features up to 85 different possible endings. Another popular visual novel featuring multiple perspectives is Fate/stay night (2004).
Prior to the year 2000, few Japanese visual novels were translated into other languages. As with the visual novel genre in general, a majority of titles released for the PC have been eroge, with Hirameki's now-discontinued AnimePlay series a notable exception. As of 2014, JAST USA and MangaGamer are the two most prolific publishers of translated visual novels for the PC; both primarily release eroge, but have begun to diversify into the all-ages market in recent years, with titles such as Steins;Gate and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni respectively. In addition to official commercial translations, a vibrant fan translation scene exists, which has translated many free visual novels (such as Narcissu and True Remembrance) and a few commercial works (such as Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Policenauts) into English. Fan translations of Japanese visual novels into languages other than English such as Chinese, French, German, and Russian are commonplace as well.
English translations of Japanese visual novels on video game consoles were rare until the release of the Nintendo DS, though some games with visual novel elements had been published in the Western world before then, such as Hideo Kojima's Snatcher. Following the success of mystery titles for the Nintendo DS such as Capcom's Ace Attorney series (which began on the Game Boy Advance in 2001), Cing's Hotel Dusk series (beginning in 2006), and Level-5's [Professor Layton series](Professor Layton) (beginning in 2007), Japanese visual novels have been published in other countries more frequently. The success of these games has sparked a resurgence in the adventure game genre outside Japan.
In more recent years, several modern Western narrative adventure games have drawn comparisons to visual novels, including Telltale Games titles such as The Walking Dead (2012), and Dontnod Entertainment's Life Is Strange (2015).
Additionally, there have been some visual novels developed mainly in English, and intended for an English-speaking audience; one of the earliest commercially-available examples on a mainstream platform is 2004's Sprung, and in more recent times, the availability of the genre has increased, with notable examples being Doki Doki Literature Club! and VA-11 HALL-A. Other languages have been the focus in visual novels, including Spanish, French, Russian and Mandarin, which have seen increased success due to the popularity of the genre.
Adventure game preservation
Most text adventure games are readily accessible on modern computers due to the use of a small number of standard virtual machines (such as the Z engine) used to drive these games at their original release which have been recreated in more portable versions. A popular text adventure interpreter is Frotz, which can play all the old Infocom text adventures. Some modern text adventure games can even be played on very old computer systems.
Other text adventure games are fully playable via web browsers.
On the other hand, many graphical adventure games cannot run on modern operating systems.
Without the help of an emulator or some kind of engine recreation.
One of the most popular emulators, DOSBox, is designed to emulate an IBM PC compatible computer running DOS, the native operating system of most older adventure games. Many companies, like Sierra Entertainment, have included DOSBox in their rereleases of older titles.
Focues on Games and other Dos Software. It can even run early versions of Windows 3.x, 9x and Me and software written for those versions of Windows.
Windows 98 Running on Dosbox-X
A modern continuation of DOSBox focusing on games with many configuration options.
The Legend of Kyrandia — 320×200 VGA on Dosbox Staging
Another option for running graphical adventure games is the open-source software project called ScummVM.
It provides a free engine for the LucasArts adventure games, the SCUMM-derived engine for Humongous Entertainment adventure games, early Sierra titles, Revolution Software 2D adventures, Coktel Vision adventure games, and many more 2D adventure games. ResidualVM is a sister project to ScummVM, aimed to emulate 3D-based adventure games such as Grim Fandango and Myst III: Exile. ResidualVM has now merged with ScummVM.
Additionally, ScummVM also supports games that were made with the AGS game engine.
Gabriel Knight 2 on ScummVM
Additionally, games that have been ported to early gaming consoles can be played with emulators for these consoles. For more information, on the emulation wiki.
Tools For Creating Visual Novels.
1. Ren'Py
Probably the most popular game engine for visual novels, at least in the west. It is written in Python and uses a Python-like script for creating visual novels, and it can build games for Windows, Linux, OpenBSD, Android, iOS, and the Web.
2. KiriKiri
KiriKiri is a scripting engine popular in Japan. It is almost exclusively used with the KAG (KiriKiri Adventure Game System) framework as a visual novel engine.
Due to a lack of updates since October 2010, from 2013 onward the code has been forked and continued as Kirikiri Z.
TyranoBuilder
TyranoBuilder is a commercial visual novel engine. Projects created in this engine can be compiled for use on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and browser-based web apps. It cost about 15 Euros.
Game recommendations
5 Indie Visual Novels
1. Doki Doki Literature Club
Welcome to the Literature Club! It's always been a dream of mine to make something special out of the things I love. Now that you're a club member, you can help me make that dream come true in this cute game!
2. VA-11 HALL-A
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is a booze em' up about waifus, technology, and post-dystopia life.
3. Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog
Survive the mystery that awaits the JFS Gun-Dog in deep space in this retro visual novel / graphic adventure.
4. Urban Myth Dissolution Center
Join forces with the psychic Director of the Urban Myth Dissolution Center and solve a variety of cases involving cursed relics, rental properties with shady histories, and dimensional anomalies. Monstrous oddities and otherworldly planes abound in this occult mystery adventure game!
5. Hanako's Flower Shop
Hanako’s Flower Shop is a heartfelt visual novel where you run a flower shop, crafting bouquets using the language of flowers. Listen to customers’ stories, shape Hanako’s journey through choices, and navigate her struggle to honor her grandpa’s legacy while discovering her own path.
Corner of Fun
Extra Cheese
- Why couldn't the PC gamer stop crying?
- He refused to be consoled
- What do you call a fighter who’s also a gamer?
- An X-Boxer!
- How did the gamer cheat on their partner?
- With the Konami code
- Why was the computer cold while playing video games?
- It left its Windows open!