Josh Presseisen, founder of Crescent Moon Games, is taking a big leap by launching a second publishing label for new types of games that he and his company thought were really interesting, but didn’t fit with its portfolio. Thus, Forest Moon Games was born. Titles published by Forest Moon promise to be an eclectic bunch, but according to Josh Presseisen, “the label will focus on casual, 2D, experimental (some 3D), pixel and retro games. This was largely influenced by many of the submissions I received at Crescent Moon Games, that didn’t fit the style of Crescent Moon.”

Crescent Moon is largely known for its specific style of games both in their look and play style. They primarily boast 3D graphics, and play with some core gamer elements, though titles like Paper Monsters and Mutant Storm are of course very different when compared with each other, yet still published by the same company. However, there’s often a visual style between the games that is shared, that gives them a kind of cohesiveness that other publishers like Chillingo lack.

However, don’t expect all of Forest Moon’s games to look the same. Josh Presseisen claims that “Forest Moon Games will have a consistent quality but not sure share the same look as Crescent Moon.”

Games start launching this fall under the Forest Moon label. They include Invader Eliminator from Underground Pixel, known for Holiday Havoc and Pastry Panic. Relic Rush is another pixel art game from Jason Pickering, an action-puzzle game. 300 Dwarves from Nimbi Studios will feature hand-drawn graphics, non-linear progression, and of course: dwarves. J.A.M. from Neptune Interactive promises to be a “shoot-em-up with style.” There are 6 titles planned for this fall, and more in the future.

The selection process is quite simple for Josh Presseisen: “I am picking the ones that I like the best. I get a lot of submissions, so I do have to sort through them and see which fit with my vision for the new label. If a game is fun, polished, and interesting or unique – then it has a good chance of fitting in on Forest Moon.”

This is hardly the end for Crescent Moon either, as Josh Presseisen plans on continuing to publish games under that label. These include Topia, The Last Knight, and a couple of followups to previous popular titles.

Crescent Moon’s titles have always been noteworthy because they have had a polish to them that often does come from having an outside publisher that can step in to the process, and Josh Presseisen is often very hands-on with the visual work that he brings to the table. It will be interesting to see what gamers will get with new titles from the same braintrust, but with a different goal.