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The Magic Toy Chest is FREE Thru July 5th

You can click the above Screenshot to get the free pc full version

You can click the above Screenshot to get the free pc full version

To Celebrate the United State’s Birthday and to help out during this Recession, we’ve decided to give away the Magic Toy Chest absolutely FREE!  That’s right.  Our family themed physics puzzle game is completely free thru July 5th, so tell your friends.

 

All you have to do is use this coupon code on the Buy Now Page:

 

“BLKW000TH”

 

Sometimes it takes a little while to get the hang of a game and start to enjoy it.  The Magic Toy Chest is one of those games that doesn’t necessarily hook you in the first 30-60 minutes. That’s why it has received good reviews and a Bytten Gold Star Award, but hasn’t necessarily been selling up to its potential.  I just want more people to experience this homage to the incredible machine and hopefully nab some new followers and fans along the way for our next title.

 

Enjoy the Holiday Weekend!


Gamer Periodic Table…Nice

periodic_2

I stumbled upon (literally – using the stumbleupon toolbar) this sweet periodic table of tons of video game characters and just had to share it.


5 Things I Think about inFamous for Playstation 3

inFamous has spectacular graphics and amazing lightning effects

inFamous has spectacular graphics and amazing lightning effects

I picked up inFamous yesterday (and as an added bonus got a promo code for Uncharted 2’s Multiplayer Beta).  Here’s 5 quick thoughts on the game after playing it for only a few hours.

  1. The graphics are gorgeous…I have been especially impressed with the subtle electric effects such as a puddle surging with arcing electricity as you run over it
  2. The powers and abilities are very cool and there is a very similar “collection” addiction similar to Crackdown… I hope that Cole will be able to jump as high as the characters from Crackdown did because that was just plain fun.
  3. The graphic novel style cutscenes RULE.  Love the style and think it works great with the Hero/Villain theme.
  4. The moral choices add a ton of replayability… I’m playing good right now…but I’ll be playing again as bad.
  5. Cole’s a freaking climber!  I wish Assasins Creed had implementing climbing more like inFamous, but I guess they didn’t have the Sly Cooper background like Sucker Punch does.  It’s definitely helped them with this game.  It controls great.


Portals Thru Dreams on GameJolt

I’ve added Portals thru Dreams over on GameJolt.  You can download it over there for free and rate it and comment on it.  We’re always checking on fan feedback and this will be a good way to have it in one place prior to us launching our forums.

pd0

Visit the GameJolt Page


Magic Toy Chest has been updated

The Magic Toy Chest has been updated to version 2.1. No major changes, but a ton of minor tweaks should make the game a lot more enjoyable. First off, we’ve used Inno Setup to make both the demo and full game install much less painless. The biggest change is the removal of key collection…it was a final remaining game element that didn’t serve much of a purpose and fans grew weary of it and let us know. Other changes include:

- The Help Button loads the first tutorial level now (the game blog dies!)
- The first tutorial automatically loads if it is your first time playing – no seeing the level select screen until you hit the map button or finish the first tutorial/training levels
- The first tutorial now has helpful sticky notes that describe the basic controls, sidebar menu, pausing physics etc.
- A few level files were updated to fix some inconsistent results

I will be finishing up the games downloads page and will post an update patch this week for existing customers. If you absolutely can’t wait for the keys to be gone, contact us and we will send you a copy of the new version.


Welcome to the New Blog

Graduate Games has updated their blog and website.  We hope everyone likes the new look, graphics, and banners.  Bookmark the Blog and keep a look out for our stream of free games.  They’ll range from prototypes to flash games to abandonware, but they will all be free of charge.  Enjoy.


Free Game Prototype: Portals thru Dreams

About a month ago I decided to do a free game. I’ve been thinking about Graduate Games next full game for awhile now, but have been indecisive. I stumbled across some abandonware on my hard drive and decided to explore the gameplay mechanic a little more and release it as a game prototype. I spent probably around 48-72 hours making the game and found it refreshing to limit myself from adding other baddies, graphics, and features.

 

Portals thru Dreams was inspired by Valve’s Portal. I played portal for the first time over a year ago when the Orange Box was released. It inspired me to attempt to adapt the gameplay concept into a 2D platformer. I got it working ok, but later abandoned it. I picked it up again to use as my first free prototype, but drastically changed some of the mechanics.

 

The original abandoned version had a pencil/sketchbook art direction and involved shooting a portal with a gun (much more similar to Valve’s Portal). The stick figure sketch guy also had a wall jump/slide ability similar to MegaMan X which made him way too mobile. The biggest changes for this new prototype are the mouse controls and the new Dream theme.

Portals Thru Dreams
 

Installation

 

Download and unzip the contents to c:\portalsthrudreams\
Launch the exe file
Instructions
The goal is to collect remnants of your memories and return them to the exit gate. When all your memories are recovered, the exit portal will open. Your goal is to exit (press W on the exit) before time runs out.
Load – opens a load selector – pick levels from \data\levels
Play – Plays the loaded level
Edit – opens the level editor where you can make your own levels
You can move through the world with the A, S, D, W keys. Create portals in the world by left clicking and colliding the shot with the background. Touching a portal will transport you between the portals. Portals keep your momentum going, so falling into a portal will shoot you out the other.

Credits

Game by: Mike Gnade
Music: Little Piece by Pit_X which is freely available on http://www.ccmixter.org/
SoundFX: SpeedY’s Guitar Sound Pack which is freely available on http://www.freesound.org/
Inspired by: Valve’s Portal


Two New Magic Toy Chest Reviews

Our Game has received 2 new reviews.

ThumbGods Raves: “Magic Toychest is a good kid-friendly game, without defaulting to the usual match-3 system of many indie all-ages games.”

and Unigamesity gave it a 4 out of 5, GREAT! Rating saying:

“The Magic Toy Chest a really great title, one you can play 20 minutes per day, just to relax and keep your brain working or 6 hours straight to prove the entire family that you simply rock.”

“No, The Magic Toy chest really works and, with the excuse of making you a better and cleaner person, it manages to entertain you across an endless number of levels – all both mind bending and entertaining, fun and smart.”


Indie Game Magazine Fan Page

It’s very busy here and there’s a ton of things to work on. I realize, I forgot to post here about the Indie Game Mag facebook fanpage. If you’re a facebooker and like indie games, please join the group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=79279222533

Here’s some of the things going on here at Graduate Games:

  • Advertising and Supporting the Magic Toy Chest
  • Finishing/Proofing Issue 4 of the Indie Game Magazine
  • Looking for an Artist for a Free Downloadable Game
  • Prototyping/Coding a Free Downloadable Game
  • Ongoing Production work for our next Full Version Game


The Magic Toy Chest is now Available for PC!

The Magic Toy Chest is finally available for Windows PC! After spending crazy cash money and time to update all the visuals, stamp out the bugs, and implement new features, the wacky physics sandbox puzzle game is here.

Check out the Free Demo!

The Full Version Features:
- Over 100 Puzzles across 8 Distinct Rooms of the House
- An Interactive Tutorial that explains the simple point and click controls
- Beautiful and Colorful 2D graphics
- Over 16 Different Toys and abilities to Experiment With
- Sandbox Physics Gameplay which allows for Multiple and Imaginative Puzzle Solutions
- A fully featured Level Editor allows players to create and share their own levels
- 15 Trophies / Achievements to Unlock- Over 10 Different Music Tracks

For additional information on the Magic Toy Chest (or for screenshots, evaluation copy or demo), please visit http://www.graduategames.com/toygame.php.