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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦

@benjaminrivers.bsky.social

5.4K followers 780 following 1.8K posts

🎮 Game developer + co-founder of Toronto #indiegame studio BancyCo. 👉 BancyCo Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bancyco.bsky.social 🚑 #NeoHarborRescueSquad OUT NOW for PS5, PS4, Steam 🔀 https://linktr.ee/BenjaminRivers

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · Aug 20

Hot #Gamescom news: our paramedic action game Neo Harbor Rescue Squad is racing to the scene on #NintendoSwitch early next year!

Inspired by minigame-filled titles from the Wii and DS era, it'll give your Joy-Con controllers a good workout.

Play a demo at the @indiearenabooth.de in Hall 10.2!

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4h

Happy sixth birthday to our second #horror game, Worse Than Death! 💀 It's still my favourite of our #indiegame children.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 2d

That's definitely what we're doing! Trying to have fun with it.

I caught that lightning once; it was great! I miss the buzz.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 2d

Us right now

Happy Midautumn Festival!!!!

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 2d

As we work on the new game, it's amazing how many "OK, but what if we did this?" moments there are. But I'm adhering to the design doc we've written, and to the genre.

It's funny how inventing something new seems less scary than following a traditional design.

#gamedev #indiegame #gaming

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 2d

OK, #gamedev real talk: I've found it difficult to design games to specific genres, because designing something new is my raison d'être.

However, it's hard to get people on board with a new game that doesn't neatly align with a genre they like, so for our new title, I'm doing it.

#indiegame

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 2d

That frog is a hero.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

Same! I was too traumatized by hearing that song 24/7 in the 90s that I never wanted to see it, ha ha ha.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

Update: bad at being lazy on Sunday. Cleaned all morning. 🤷

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

Good mweorning. Let's all have a lazy Sunday, shall we?

#cats #catsofbluesky

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

Just re-watched Tron: Legacy in 4K (haven't seen it in years) and MAN, what a movie. Still love it, top to bottom.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

100% agreed! I am working on a survival horror game right now, this is all very close to my heart.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 3d

Thank you! It's pretty cheap and cheerful, but thankfully it matched the room quite well and fit the CRT perfectly.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

My spooky basement #gaming + workout space is coming along!

PS5 + Switch 2 + Steam Deck with a fully hooked up and working retro game corner.

#gameroom #retrogaming

Game room with a flatscreen TV, retro game corner, and a spice orange couch.

A spice orange couch with animal crossing and Halloween themed cushions.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

Lovely set up, man! Love seeing that white Wii U. 👌

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

I think I may have missed some documents. I thought the game broke one of my rules about narrative game design; always include more discoverable story elements than your player needs to piece things together. You never know when people are going to miss things.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

Awwwww yeah! I still have some; loved this magazine so much.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah, it's brutal! This was a five hour game at best, painfully stretched out to 10 hours as it is.

As I was saying to someone else here, I was paying close attention and had pretty much zero idea what the plot was supposed to be as I played. Did you understand the themes?

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

I feel like this is an excellent premise and none of it was communicated in-game. I read about this and was like, "was this content in the game?" I didn't see it.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

Ah! Yeah, that's fair. I didn't know that was the plot, though. 😞 I can't even point out where it was mentioned.

It was just 10 hours of the MC being "what is happening?" And I was like "good question! I don't know either!"

One of the "twists" was telegraphed early and so it wasn't a surprise.

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

I hear you on price! 😨Did you get it digitally? I bought a physical copy and I'm trading it in stat so I can try something else. $113 CAD is too much money to spend to be disappointed!

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

It's #Caturday! One day we'll figure out how to untie these two.

#cats #catsofbluesky

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

I'm not sure what the stakes were, though? I looked up stuff and thought, is that what was going on?

It felt like a simpler, impactful story was right there, and the game glossed over it for total nonsense.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

Yeah... it just ends with no resolution, and it beats me how you're expected to piece together anything resembling a coherent plot.

It's a classic game storytelling case of "people say a lot of words, but you don't actually experience much in a meaningful way."

Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 4d

I "finished" Silent Hill F late last night. The game looks beautiful and starts strong, but was a real let-down in the end. 🙁

The story (what there was of one) was really weak, but it was the 10 hours of laborious, repetitive combat that hurt the most. Strong voice acting performances, though.

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Benjamin Rivers 🇨🇦 @benjaminrivers.bsky.social · 5d

Wait, why is Red Green giving out these awards!?

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