SUPERJUMP's New YouTube Channel is Here

👋 Hi there! Welcome to the latest edition of SUPERJUMP Weekly. This week, we're celebrating the launch of our shiny new YouTube channel. You can watch our first video directly via this newsletter in the showcase section below. If you enjoy it, please consider subscribing to our channel and sharing it with your friends - every like and share helps us to get discovered! In this issue, we also showcase the works of Felipe Dal Molin and feature Tower Factory in our latest On the Radar update.

We hope you enjoy this issue. Please consider becoming a Backer if you would like to support our unique brand of independent games journalism. Thank you.

IN THIS ISSUE

✍️ Story Showcase: New YouTube Channel
⭐ Author Showcase: Felipe Dal Molin
📡 On the Radar: Tower Factory
📅 This Week on SJP
🏆 Backers

Crafting Rewarding Moments with Elden Ring

A game designer’s analysis of Elden Ring’s approach to player rewards

SUPERJUMPFelipe Dal Molin

Deathloop and the Rise of New Genres

Ideas for a post-roguelike, post-battle royale decade

SUPERJUMPFelipe Dal Molin

Journey Games: From Japan to Egypt

What do JRPGs and one Assassin’s Creed game have in common?

SUPERJUMPFelipe Dal Molin

The Joyful Design of Tinykin

A technical review of this delightful platformer using a game design framework

SUPERJUMPFelipe Dal Molin

For small developers, the way forward is through blending genres and styles in unexpected ways that would be too risky for larger developers. In the case of Tower Factory, the genres are right in the name, with the game merging the ever popular automation game with the storied tower defense subgenre.

The core gameplay looks very similar to most TDs - construct defensive buildings to stop waves of enemies that proceed down predetermined paths. Where Tower Factory differs is in how those defensive buildings are constructed. While most TDs have the player raising new towers using resources collected from defeated enemies, Tower Factory requires the player to gather resources from the environment, using a network of conveyor belts and processing buildings to deliver them to the central structure.

This change adds something else that isn't part of the typical tower defense experience: Exploration. During the downtime between waves, the player must explore the surrounding area to find new pockets of resources and - ultimately - the source of the monsters. Destroying that source stops the waves and ends the level. However, there are also fresh threats hiding in the fog of war, making exploration necessary but treacherous.

Tower Factory is set for a November 2024 release.

💻 Created by Gius Caminiti
✍️ Andrew Johnston

How The X-Com Files Delivers Smaller Scale Strategy

The TU is out there

SUPERJUMPJosh Bycer

Nintendo World Championships Brings a Form of esports to Everyone

What’s old is new again

SUPERJUMPJahanzeb Khan

WordPlayer: Nobody Wants To Die Shows the Possibilities – and Limitations – of Detective Adventures

Follow the clues, if you can

SUPERJUMPJames O’Connor

Zenless Zone Zero Shows the Limits of Mobile Action Games

Zeroing out on gameplay, but not on monetization

SUPERJUMPJosh Bycer

The Game Design Tunnel Vision Problem

Not the forest for the games

SUPERJUMPJosh Bycer

Thank you to Berke, Brandon, CT, Cathie, Claire, Geena, Lexi, Nick, Oren, Peter, Troy, Radha, and Wes for supporting independent, cynicism-free games publishing.