You can now get a taste of Concursion for free with the game’s demo, newly launched on Steam! Dive into the fusion of five classic gaming genres, all blending into one seamless experience. You start where most platformers finish -at the bad guy’s castle- and run, jump, fly, fight and occasionally dance through the kingdom on your quest to unearth the truth behind these rifts and put a stop to Darklord Biganbad, once and for all.

Track your progress on the online leaderboards- the top five highest scoring players at the end of the week will all win a copy of the full game. To celebrate, we’re giving 50% off the full game on Steam for one week! Take a test drive now and then snap up the full package for just $4.99. That mega discount won’t last for long so get it while it lasts!

Who will fail spectacularly and who will top the leaderboards? Who can find Lord BigunBad and rescue the princess? Be a winner, test ride the Concursion demo now on Steam:  http://store.steampowered.com/app/303340

If you already own the game, you won’t be able to download the demo through Steam. However you can still play the demo through the Concursion website and post your scores, as long as Steam is running in the background.

Concursion is currently on sale until August 18th for 50% off on Steam

If you’ve never played Concursion, it’s best described as a mashup of a bunch of classic 8-bit games that combines elements from multiple games at the same time. Players must call upon long dormant skills to complete even a single level of this fast-paced and difficult game.

We took a look at the game a short while back and found the game to be pretty demanding as platformer-type games go. During our review of Concursion, we mentioned that the game might be a speedrunner’s dream. The fact that the developers are actually holding their own speedrun even is pretty awesome.

Danny ‘Danger’ Garfield, Primary Architect of Concursion says: “We are about to find out who the number one contender is. Judgement day is approaching. The champ is here!”

Puuba ‘Born Ready’ Dave, Quality Assurance Engineer states: ‘The fans all want to know the truth. You want Puuba Dave as the underlying champion. There’ll be hell in the cell. There is no escape. There is only Team Dave.”

Fans can vote for their favorite on YouTube using the hashtags #TeamDanny and #TeamDave. Puuba will be giving away prizes during the show that will include Concursion Steam codes and other goodies.

You can watch as the mayhem unfolds live on Twitch.tv/PuubaDanny  starting at 5pm PDT this Thursday the 10th.

You can grab your very own copy of Concursion right now on Steam at http://store.steampowered.com/app/303340/

The game starts you off with an intro cinematic that feels reminiscent of the classic Mario story. A princess is kidnapped by a big green monster and it’s your job to rescue her. One of the fun things about Concursion is that it doesn’t pretend to be different than its predecessors. Instead, Concursion takes inspiration from a huge mix of classic games and is clearly proud of it. The uniqueness of Concursion doesn’t come from how different it is from the classics. Concursion is different because it actually is the classics, they have just been combined into one crazy game.

At its core, you could probably call Concursion a platformer. In some ways though, Concursion has so much going on that you could say that it’s actually the beginning of an entirely new genre. Maybe instead of a platformer we should be calling Concursion a Retro-Mashup. That feels like a more fitting genre than the boring old platformer name could ever be for a game like this.

Things start out pretty easy, you start off in a Mario style game where you jump on the heads of monsters and hurdle over bullets fired from a cannon. As you move through the different levels though, Concursion begins to add in elements from a wide range of classic games. Before you know it you’ll be flying in a side-scrolling spaceship shooting enemies, or wall-jumping around as a ninja. The trick with Concursion is that you’re not just doing one of these things at a time, you’ll be doing some or all of them to complete a  single level.

As the game progresses, you’ll see rifts between the 5 unique worlds featured in the game. Jumping across dimensions morphs your character into an entirely new one, complete with new physics and abilities. The levels are designed in a way that forces you to transition back and forth between worlds using the strengths of one world to get you across to the next section. In some missions the rifts are stationary, which requires a lower level of skill to maneuver around. For the missions that feature moving portals, get ready to have a heart attack. Further complicating things are the green shards that you’ll be aiming to grab during the level. They are oftentimes difficult to reach and require an even higher level of skill.

You’ll note that I said you need some skill to play the game, that’s because Concursion is probably the among the most difficult games I’ve ever played. Maybe it’s because I’m terrible at platformers, that’s surely a factor here, but the constant transitions between worlds makes for a game that requires a steady hand and quick reactions. As you become accustomed to the transitions between worlds, you’ll begin to see the genius that is Concursion’s game design. You might be good at some retro-games, but mastering them all is no easy task. Although mastering Concursion is a feat that I may never do, watching a skilled player go through a level is a thing of beauty. I can’t wait to see what happens as the various speedrunning communities get their hands on this game. To make things even more insane, Concursion features a number of boss battles that add even more game mechanics to the mix. The whole experience is just a dream come true for a player that loves perfecting difficult and fast-paced games.

There’s a lot of clever humor and shout-outs throughout the game as well. Levels with names such as Road Squadron or Harvest Swoon are just a few examples of the clever level names featured in the game. Graphically, Concursion is beautifully done in a unique art style that manages to make each of the worlds feel distinct. The only bit of criticism that I have is that it felt like a controller was absolutely required.  I tried playing solely using my Razor keyboard, the result was that I died a lot. It wasn’t until I plugged in my Xbox 360 controller that I was able to control my movements in a manner that I felt the game required. It might be a bit much to say that all players will need a controller to do well, but I do feel most will prefer it.

Overall, I encourage you to actually try out Concursion for yourself, as no amount of words could do this game justice. Concursion is a game that you truly must experience to fully appreciate. In closing, I’d like to formally request that an Excitebike-inspired level be included in Concursion 2

Steam | Official Website | Publisher
Steam Cards: Yes | Steam Achievements: Yes | Version Reviewed: Final Build

Summary: Concursion is a game that you need to experience for yourself to fully appreciate. It’s a well crafted experience that required fast reflexes and great timing.

One notable game on the list is Concursion. You may remember Nicole Oquendo taking a look at an early build a few months back. You can brush up on the details by reading her review Concursion: A Preview

We’ve got the list of 75 titles below. You can also check out the full details for each of the 75 games at http://steamcommunity.com//sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=257742716

• 6180 the moon
• Adventurezator: When Pigs Fly
• Another Perspective
• Battle of Empires : 1914-1918
• Beasts of Prey
• BLACKHOLE
• BOMB
• Buck
• Champs: Battlegrounds
• Chicken Invaders 4
• CLARC
• Concursion
• Cosmonautica – A Space Trading Adventure
• Crossroads Episode I
• Crowman & Wolfboy
• Dangerous
• Death in Candlewood
• Dogfight Elite
• Dwarven Delve – An Action Puzzle Crawl with a Twist
• Enter Thy Name
• The Escapist
• Eternal Desert Sunshine
• Evil Pumpkin
• Fabula Mortis
• Face of Mankind: Fall of the Dominion
• Fall of the New Age
• The Few
• Flying Hamster II
• Forgotten Myths CCG
• Four Sided Fantasy
• Franchise Hockey Manager
• GEARCRACK Arena
• Ghost Song
• Guild of Dungeoneering
• The House
• Hox the last ship
• INSECTION
• Ir/rational Investigator
• The Land of Eyas
• Let’s Go Camping!
• Lumini
• The Maker’s Eden
• Man in a Maze
• Memories of A Vagabond
• Metal Dead
• Metal Planet
• Miscreated
• Naev
• Namariel Legends: The Iron Lord
• Net Gain: Corporate Espionage
• Noir Syndrome
• NoLimits Roller Coaster Simulation 2
• Once upon an Apocalypse
• Paradigm Shift
• Project EXUS
• Quantum Rush
• Rhythm Destruction
• Shadow Puppeteer
• Shiness
• A Short Tale of Solitude
• Spectre: Virtual Reality Horror Multiplayer
• Stained
• Tengami
• Terrorhedron 3D Co-op Tower Defense
• Ubinota
• Uncanny Valley
• Uncraft Me !
• Unpossible
• Urban Legends
• Victim of Xen
• Vitality
• Warside
• Whitewash
• Zero-K
• Zpocalypse: Survival

Well today we bring you the latest development update video from Concursion developer Danny Garfeild as well as (late) news that you can try out Concursion right now for yourself in the form of a playable demo!

If you haven’t yet done so, head over to the Concursion Steam Greenlight page and get these guys on Steam.

You can get your hands on the playable demo at http://www.puuba.com/demo/

Read on after the break to check out the latest development blog,

Concursion is a multi-genre game that sees you steer your hero – running, jumping, flying, fighting and occasionally dancing – through a dangerous interdimensional world. You’ll need to switch on the fly between the mechanics of platformers, hack-and-slashers, space shooters, classic arcade maze-racing and more, if you’re to succeed in your journey through a universe pockmarked with rifts to other worlds.

Most gamers have played Metroid, Ninja Gaiden, and Pac Man before. There’s a good chance though that you’ve never played them all at the same time. Simply put, you’ve never experienced a game quite like Concursion. 

Head over to Concursion’s Steam Greenlight page to vote and learn more about the upcoming game.

This gameplay trailer of the preview build illustrates the game’s premise beautifully:

Concursion is ambitious to say the least, and doesn’t appear to be a “jack of all trades, master of none.” The shifting between play styles is a central part of progressing through the game rather than the window dressing one might expect from a mash-up of this many styles. In one of my favorite early levels, you begin in a space suit with the ability to rocket upwards to avoid obstacles and enemies.

This space suit form has extreme offensive limitations, though. Eventually, I came across a green shard (collecting these was the goal in every level I played) surrounded by bricks I couldn’t break while wearing the spacesuit.

I did what one does best in the space suit and rocketed away, avoiding blasts from nearby spaceships shooting from rectangular tears in the world, to the tear I was aiming for, where I fell out a ninja.

This ninja mode, reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden, was definitely my favorite in Concursion. I proceeded to hack-and-slash my way through bricks surrounding another tear, and jumped through, finding myself flying a spaceship.  I took some damage along the way (mainly from taking these awesome screenshots), but broke those bricks with my spaceship’s missiles, revealing the shard.

While the game still has a ways to go before its release, it’s definitely a successful blending of multiple retro styles. These styles play off of one another well, as frequent bounces between them are necessary to complete each level. If that cohesive blend of platforming, shooting, hacking-and-slashing, aerial exploration, and maze racing à la Pac-Man isn’t enough to hook you, the soundtracks actively adapting to each universe will.

Concursion is being developed by Puuba and is set to release this Spring 2014 on PC and Mac. YOu can learn more at www.concursiongame.com

Read on after the break for more information about the features you can find in Concursion and the developer.

Imagine a world of bright blue skies and puffy white clouds. You sprint across platforms, jump over gaps, and bounce off of an enemy… only to find yourself in outer space…

Concursion is a fusion of five classic gaming genres, molded into one seamless experience.

It’s not a compilation. Each of Concursion’s worlds intertwines with the others. You’ll utilise radically different sets of game mechanics in quick-fire succession – taking on everything from platforming, to space combat, to Pac-Man-style maze-busting.

What happens if the rift points between each of these worlds move? What if they actually chase you – forcing you, against your will, into alternate dimensions? What if your foes have ways to cross these boundaries, morphing and changing as they go…?

Features:

• Five classic gameplay genres – platforming, shooting, hacking-and-slashing, aerial exploration and maze racing
• Five original worlds, each with its own game mechanics, art style, and story to tell
• Five whole soundtracks from an Emmy-nominated composer, cross-blended between the worlds
• Unique fusion play – radically different game mechanics charge into each other head-first!
• Explore cartoon worlds, outer space, and even Feudal Japan!

About The Developer

Puuba means a lot to Danny Garfield, attached to some form of work or another for the past 15 years! This time things are a little different, it’s now the name of his studio working on flagship title Concursion, an ambitious title that blurs the lines between 5 retro genres.