To rejoice the tenth anniversary of its first launch, Analgesic Productions is freely giving Anodyne, a surreal homage to the old-fashioned 2D Legend of Zelda video games, at no cost. This weekend, you may declare a replica of Anodyne on itch.io (opens in new tab) for a grand complete of zero {dollars} and 0 cents.
Again in 2013, our reviewer Tom Sykes gave Anodyne a rating of 84, saying that, “Anodyne might be as humorous and charming as Hyperlink’s Awakening now and again, however the total tone is one in all unease, with a refined malevolence—the ‘one thing appears a bit off right here’ issue—harking back to the indie horror Lone Survivor. That means is elusive, however themes and motifs quickly start to take type, in a recreation that feels more and more private the extra you burrow into it.”
In addition to the giveaway, Analgesic is working a few fan occasions for Anodyne’s tenth anniversary. As described in a birthday weblog publish (opens in new tab), the studio is gathering gamers’ written recollections of their favourite locations in Anodyne to publish “in some sort of writing sooner or later” in addition to fan artwork of the sport “which we’d publish in digital or bodily type indirectly.”
You could bear in mind Anodyne as the sport whose builders ran a promotion, shortly after launch, through which they decreased its value to a single greenback whereas additionally importing it to The Pirate Bay, internet hosting a torrent themselves so that individuals may obtain it at no cost. A notice included with the torrent mentioned, “We would wish to make a residing by making video games that can give folks memorable experiences, however we all know not everybody can afford them. In order that’s why you may obtain a torrent of our recreation, Anodyne, and if you would like and are ready, additionally buy the sport!” It additionally exhorted gamers to vote for Anodyne on Steam Greenlight, which on the time was how indie video games discovered their approach onto Valve’s storefront.
The stunt proved efficient, with its creators incomes over $12,000 from the promotion, in addition to getting an additional 13,000 views on Anodyne’s Greenlight web page. Simply over a month later Anodyne launched on Steam (opens in new tab), the place it at present holds a person score of Very Constructive.
A sequel, Anodyne 2: Return to Mud, was launched in 2019. It shifted the setting to a 3D world, although one the place characters had 2D inside dungeons to discover. A multi-genre meta-commentary on video games, it was as a lot Psychonauts as Legend of Zelda. Analgesic adopted it with split-world platformer Even the Ocean and near-future explore-em-up Sephonie (opens in new tab).
Proper now Analgesic is engaged on its fifth recreation, as but untitled, which shall be 3D and top-down, set in a “Nineteen Fifties Eire-inspired setting.” It has been in growth since 2021, and you may sustain with progress at Analgesic’s devlog (opens in new tab).
