Dungeon crawlers as a genre have certainly seen much success over the years, but that doesn’t mean that everyone loves them. It takes a certain kind of mentality to find joy in gathering tons of loot through repetitious fighting in order to fight stronger things (repetitiously) for better loot. Now assuming there was something else added to the proceedings to keep things from feeling less monotonous, something like that could draw in a bit more of a crowd. That is to say, draw in even more of a crowd. And what usually sells like crazy regardless of medium or platform? Humor.

With that in mind (I think), Ayopa Games and Drowning Monkeys have decided to unleash Dungeon Crawlers on an unsuspecting App Store. The game itself is a combination of more typical dungeon crawlers with multi-floored dungeons, loot and experience grinding and turn-based strategy RPGs. Players will control a team of four adventurers (an alchemist, priest, barbarian, and dwarven warrior) over the course of five chapters, each with their own distinct environments. They’ll also be going toe-to-toe with plenty of nasty monsters as they scrounge for stuff.

Dungeon Crawlers is slated for a January 26th release. A universal release, might I add. For a special “introductory price” of $1.99 no less.

When most people see or hear the name Digital Tales, they most likely associate it with Ducati Challenge for iOS. That, or they can click those links to see what I’m talking about because they also might be totally lost at this point. Regardless, there’s going to be a new iPhone/iPad game for folks to think about when their name comes up: Battleloot Adventure.

Aside from just being an awesome name to begin with, it’s looking like a pretty awesome game to boot. Players get to build and manage their own band of fantasy archetypes as they wander throughout “Kameloot” (ha!) and the surrounding countryside. Each adventurer has their own abilities and gain experience individually. Similarly, lots of gear can be found/earned and thrown on them for various bonuses. But while I’m admittedly a sucker for customization options (party, character, skill or otherwise) and I’m really digging the stylish cartoon visuals, I’m really intrigued by the combat system which looks like a hybrid of traditional turn-based RPG trappings and reflex-based arcade action. Tapping characters and enemies to select and attack respectively is relatively standard, but I’m curious to see how the more “twitchy” actions like assists (tap a second character while attacking) and blocking (tap the targeted character during an enemy’s attack) pan out.

There don’t seem to be any specifics regarding price just yet, but Battleloot Adventure is set to release on the App Store in February. It’s a few months off, but I’m certainly looking forward to it.

Steve Uy, a comic book artist who has worked on comics for both DC and Marvel, and who has created the series Feather and Jova’s Harvest, is making a foray into game development for iOS and Android. The name of the game he is working on is called World Without End, and it is a strategy RPG. The idea of the game is that it’s a free-roaming RPG, where the player controls their party leader on the overworld. When enemies are encountered, the game will shift into battle mode immediately on that same screen, with the overworld area serving as the battleground. The game apparently eschews the traditional “kill enemies to receive experience” model, as instead players receive battle points that can be spent on skills for any players in the party. The game is being designed to last about 15 hours, and is designed to be replayed, revealing new story elements with each playthrough.

According to Steve Uy, the game’s programming is being handled by a team of several developers, although he is handling all the production on the game himself, from the art & design to the writing. Apparently, most of the artwork for the game is done, and the developers are just starting to tie the game’s artwork into the actual game. All the artwork is hand-drawn as well. The game will feature illustrated cutscenes as well, along with a director’s commentary that will be available once the game is completed.

The game is currently in development, although it is not fully funded yet; Steve Uy has launched a project page on Kickstarter to help fund the game, and those who contribute will receive a variety of bonuses; those who spend over $500 will be eligible to be beta testers for the game. This sounds like a labor of love for the creator, and one that is taking up his life right now. Click here to visit the Kickstarter page, and to see more art from the upcoming project.