Jump to content
  • entries
    60
  • comments
    80
  • views
    15,597

About this blog

As a new game crosses the finish line, destined perhaps to become the next essential gem, this blog will feature an in-depth look into the heart behind the homebrew.

 

Entries in this blog

A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 58: Annihilator

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 58: Annihilator Introduction: Atmosphere, ambience, or “vibe” are all an important description for an important collective quality that defines the feel of a game, though they are terms with elusive, subjective definitions themselves.  I often compare a homebrew game to well-known licensed games, which offers a contextual anchor to think about, but something different clicks when I note a game feels like a Saturd
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 57: The Cursed Legacy

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by Scrobins Episode 57: The Cursed Legacy Introduction: Some stories and their worlds seem like they fit one particular type of game well, while others lend themselves to a wider range of genres. The latter shows us a more immersive world and can attract more players. Such a world offers different places to get hooked on their universes, only to leave them hungry to explore ever deeper next time. Yet it’s rare for franchises to cycle
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 56: Malasombra

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 56: Malasombra Introduction: Patience is a virtue, not just for homebrew fans, but for developers as well. The obstacles that life can toss into our paths that might delay our passion projects are myriad. Slowed, but never fully stopped. Some of the most anticipated games recede from view from time to time, with periods of dormancy that leave fans worrying the project was abandoned. Yet news revives players’ exci
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 55: ZPF

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 55: ZPF Introduction: Hype. Anyone with something to offer wants to be the next big thing. Something so essential that the announcement leaves viewers drooling, that the save-the-date for sales or pre-orders causes fans to circle the date on their calendars so hard their pens snap. Such things make your friends regularly message you when it’s going to be ready. Homebrew is no different, it’s just significantly ha
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 54: Cronela's Mansion

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 54: Cronela’s Mansion Introduction: Usually I try to write some heady introduction that contextualizes why the homebrew game I’m covering is interesting or even important. That’s no less true with this entry’s game, but I can’t resist the urge to write about why I’m personally excited for it. Most of the games I bought growing up were either from the nearby FuncoLand or my church’s annual fair. The latter was whe
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 53: SaturdayMan

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 53: SaturdayMan Introduction: Many homebrew games I’ve covered previously have what I described as a “Saturday morning cartoon feel.” Those games either reflected old cartoons with a light, colorful vibe, or even licensed-era games that were themselves based on such properties. How wonderful for games to have multimedia franchises that could touch other fun areas of play. The Power Rangers and TMNT come to mind.
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 52: The Adventures of Panzer 3

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 52: The Adventures of Panzer 3 Introduction: Homebrew can be such a forward-looking scene that it focuses on the new at the expense of what it has already done well. So when a developer makes a good game and then offers more of what we like, expanding the lore and building out that sandbox rather than making a hard pivot, it feels like comfort food. A good sequel brings us the excitement of taking us back to a wo
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 51: Crater Song

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 51: Crater Song Introduction: Usually when we think of hybrid games, we imagine a game whose overall gameplay blends elements from multiple games. However some classics such as The Guardian Legend feature multiple types of gameplay as a way to weave the story together and elevate the game as a whole. Has anyone attempted both? A game that alternates styles of gameplay, at least one of which is itself a blend of g
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

1
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 50: Jingles Defense

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 50: Jingles Defense Introduction: I didn’t used to like puzzle games as a kid. They felt like homework when all I wanted to do was jump into an escapist adventure so my imagination could take over. This is an even lamer excuse when you learn that I loved playing the Carmen Sandiego, Math Blaster, and Number Munchers games when I was very little. But over time a sort of competitive curiosity crept into my brain. W
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 49: Former Dawn

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 49: Former Dawn Introduction: Many homebrew developers and fans survey the games released for their favorite old consoles and consider the quality & skill relative to the releases of the licensed era. A common question is when (if they haven’t already) will new releases reach or exceed the point where well-staffed, well-trained, well-funded companies left off? When will we get “there?” Some conceptions of “th
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 48: Steel Legion

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 48: Steel Legion Introduction: As homebrew continues to grow, reaching out for modern gaming tastes with its feet firmly planted in retro technology, the bar is raised repeatedly. And in so doing, we mark meaningful benchmarks in the community’s growth which reflect the talent and creativity of developers, while also addressing what players have wanted from some of their homebrew games. With the explosion of the
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 47: Changeable Guardian Estique

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 47: Changeable Guardian Estique Introduction: Much as homebrew games stretch the possibilities of old consoles, so too does the term “homebrew” become stretched as over time a wider variety of people enter the community, and it no longer looks like the collective of hobbyist tinkerers it once did. The entrance of developers with solid programming backgrounds that predate their work in this space, such as Matt Hug
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

1
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 46: Zed and Zee

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 46: Zed and Zee Introduction: A frequent element of homebrew is structuring gameplay around or sneaking in references to classic licensed era games. The homages are meant to connect these new games to the enduring originals which inspired them, and acknowledge the nostalgia that has made them legends. Sometimes though, the names of legend need not remain in the past. CollectorVision bought the Acclaim Entertainme
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 45: The Trial of Kharzoid

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 45: The Trial of Kharzoid Introduction: I’ve written a lot about homebrew and innovation. To be fair, that’s what homebrew is all about, but I have caught myself checking my old posts to see if I’m repeating myself. Developers push at the boundaries of what their hardware can handle, or incorporate modern gaming mechanics and sensibilities to retro games. We’ve even seen a few games that defy genre. But have we h
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 44: Cyber Mission

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 44: Cyber Mission Introduction: Most homebrewers, for all their experimentation and boundary pushing, have a sweet spot they settle into; a pattern by which they can be defined and recognized. It may be a particular genre or aesthetic, but for some devs the pattern is experimentation itself. These are the people about whom we wonder what could possibly be coming next from them, given how wildly different their la
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Special Episode: The State of Homebrew 2024

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Special Episode: The State of Homebrew 2024 Homebrew continues to evolve at a steady pace. A few years ago, I solicited input from the community on a survey I made and used the results as a snapshot and symposium of the state of homebrew. The results afforded some meaningful insights that helped me better understand the community and added nuance that challenged my assumptions. While enough time hasn’t passed to revisit the s
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 43: Flap Happy

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 43: Flap Happy Introduction: I’ve covered a number of homebrew games made by veteran programmers with significant experience developing for modern platforms who are now channeling their nostalgia to bring something new to the consoles of their childhoods. These passion projects represent a bridge between the adult skills and modern gaming sensibilities of the developer now, and their inner child craving the chanc
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 42: NESdev Competition/Action 53 Multicart

Episode 42: NESdev Competition/Action 53 Multicart Introduction: Our enjoyment can be found in things of various sizes and levels of “completeness.” For all of the feature-length films and long-running shows we love, some of our favorite movies and tv shows are shorts, miniseries, and anthologies. So too is our love of video games, with favorites found among those experiments in which the developers showed off their skills in a proof of concept, or demos that could whet our
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

2
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 41: Oratorio

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 41: Oratorio Introduction: Many of the games I’ve written about draw inspiration from classic games of yesteryear, sometimes while reaching into modern generation technology and gaming sensibilities to bring something new to the cartridges we pop into our very old consoles. Rarer though is the developer who ports an entire modern genre to a modern console, highlighting how the limits of the NES lie much further t
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

1
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 40: The Meating

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 40: The Meating Introduction: I keep a list of games and developers that I’m eager to write about and interview for this blog in the hope that we might connect, and I can eventually devote a post to them. The friendships I’ve developed in this community have gone a long way toward making some of these hopes manifest at the most opportune moments. People can be busy and may be slow to respond to a message, especia
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 39: Lion Mancala

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 39: Lion Mancala Introduction: The greatest gift to our community is the emergence of a new developer with fresh ideas, bringing games to our consoles that make us exclaim “I can’t believe we’re only just now getting a game about X!” I keep an eye out across the internet in order to stay on top of homebrew news, trying to stay apprised of progress to games I'm aware of, and learn about new games as well as people
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 38: Kudzu

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 38: Kudzu Introduction: A good adventure is anywhere you can find it, if you know where to look. And a good story can be written about anything, if you’re creative and bold enough to write it. Where some saw obsolete video game hardware and software, dismissing them as relics of the past that gave way to more advanced technology, others saw stories left untold. When some look at kudzu, a species of invasive, coil
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 37: Full Quiet

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 37: Full Quiet Introduction: I’ve frequently praised new homebrew for both giving us new gems in beloved genres, and for pushing the limits of homebrew closer to the heights of the console’s licensed era. But for all the achievements developers have collectively reached, one peak remained to be summited: scale. While myriad games have proven so addictive, fans will pour hours into them, we have not yet received t
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 36: Red Moon Lost Days

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by @Scrobins Episode 36: Red Moon Lost Days Introduction: While each generation of video games and the consoles that defined them touch on nearly every major genre, there are some specific associations that endured. For instance, the Sega CD conjures memories of the brief trend of full motion video (FMV) games, and the 16-bit era, between the SNES and the Sega Genesis, was perhaps the pinnacle of console beat-‘em-ups. The early disc
Scrobins

Scrobins in A Homebrew Draws Near!

0
A Homebrew Draws Near!

Episode 35: Sly Dog Studios & The Candelabra Epic

A Homebrew Draws Near! A blog series by Scrobins Episode 35: Sly Dog Studios & The Candelabra Epic   Introduction: Once a developer decides to make a sequel to follow up on a previous game, there is the inevitable question of whether the next entry should offer more of the winning formula or strike out for new territory? On the one hand, by sticking with what's tried and true, you run the risk of becoming stale, and on the other, by wanting to innovate and stay
×
×
  • Create New...