- LUNARK OST ON VINYL AVAILABLE! - 29 November 2024
Hi there! I'm very proud to announce that we've teamed up with our friends from "The Yetee" to bring you the original soundtrack from LUNARK on vinyl! Relive the memories of our cinematic platformer on a vibrant green LP, available here! Note that you can buy the digital album on Steam or listen to it on Bandcamp, Youtube Music, Spotify or Deezer. Have a great day! Johan
- CANARI GAMES BUNDLE! - 4 October 2024
Great news, LUNARK players! A new bundle is now available where you can get both LUNARK and my new mini-game Castaway together with a sweet 20% OFF. If you already own LUNARK, you'll get an even better deal, as Castaway is currently on sale! Don’t miss out on this special offer! Oh and also, please leave a review here on Steam! That helps! Thank you for reading! Johan
- Game reveal: CASTAWAY - 16 April 2024
CASTAWAY PLEASE ADD TO YOUR WISHLIST! Embark on an action-packed adventure in Castaway, diving players into a pixelated and retro universe. Assume the role of Martin, whose spaceship crash-landed on an uncharted island where his faithful pet was taken by hostile creatures. Retrieve your weapons and venture out to rescue your kidnapped companion in this endearing and unexpectedly dynamic world. STORY MODE / SURVIVOR MODE! Beat the 3 bosses in the concise and delightful "Story Mode" to unlock the thrilling and addictive "Survivor Mode." Ascend a 50-floor tower, with each level presenting increasingly challenging trials! KEY FEATURES: For All Ages: From the "pacifist" mode without enemies or “invincible” to the challenging "unfair" mode, Castaway caters to all ages, from seasoned gamers to younger players discovering the genre for the first time. Try to complete the game as quickly as poss…
- 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY - 28 March 2024
Dear community, Today marks already a year since my indie game LUNARK found its way into your hands! From the depths of development to the heights of your screens, your support has been the wind beneath my wings. To every player who embarked on this adventure, thank you for joining me on this journey and to those who lent a hand along the way, from feedback to promotion, your contributions have been invaluable. LUNARK wouldn't be what it is today without you. And as a token of my appreciation, I'm thrilled to announce that LUNARK is available at an incredible 50% discount! With heartfelt gratitude, Johan
- Contra: Operation Galuga Now Available! - 13 March 2024
Contra is back - reloaded, reimagined, and reborn - with Contra: Operation Galuga! Grab your spread shot and run 'n' gun your way through explosive co-op action against the Red Falcon army! This thorough remake of the revolutionary Contra NES/arcade game from the 1980s redeploys players to the Galuga Archipelago, where you'll take control of elite Contra commandos Bill Rizer and Lance Bean (as well as other warriors) and use an assortment of iconic weapons such as the Spread Shot, Laser Beam, and Homing Missiles to run, jump, and shoot your way through burning jungles, frigid mountains, a grotesque alien lair, and more. Character-specific abilities, devastating Overload powers, and unyielding bosses keep the action intense across Story Mode (1-2 players), Arcade Mode (1-4 players), and Challenge Mode (1 player), while variable difficulty settings and perks provide options for gamers of…
- Contra: Operation Galuga Launches March 12! - 1 March 2024
Prepare to attack aggressively! The iconic run-'n'-gun series, Contra, is back - reloaded, reimagined, and reborn - with Contra: Operation Galuga, launching on March 12! The legendary soldiers return to blast their way through eight stages of action against the Red Falcon army in explosive co-op action for up to two players in Story Mode or up to four players in Arcade Mode!
- LUNARK: Outstanding Visual Style Nomination - 21 November 2023
Do hand-drawn pixel animation and painstakingly rotoscoped cutscenes still have a place in video games in 2023? We sure think so, which is why we hope you'll consider nominating LUNARK for Outstanding Visual Style in the Steam Awards 2023. With details packed into every chonky pixel, they don't often make 'em like this anymore!
- LUNARK's SOUNDTRACK + BUNDLE AVAILABLE NOW! - 8 May 2023
I'm proud to announce that LUNARK's Original Soundtrack is now available on the following platforms: -> Here on Steam of course! -> Bundled with the game (with a 20% OFF!) -> On Bandcamp -> On your favorite streaming platforms (Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer, etc...) "Experience the journey of Leo, the hero of this 2D cinematic platformer, through these 14 tracks composed by the creator of the game, Johan Vinet." Thank you very much for your support! Johan
- Updates changelog for version 1.1.0 - April 21 - 21 April 2023
Hey everyone, First of all, huge thanks to all the players who left nice comments, and an even bigger thanks to everyone who send their feedback! Change list for 1.1.0 -> Added a "jump assistance": Now you can grab a ledge when pressing up even if you're one tile too far. Shouldn't make the game easier, but hopefully less frustrating especially in situation of stress. -> Improved Leo's ability to chain several long jumps in a row when running, requiering a shorter distance before being able to long-jump again. -> Displaying the LEVEL numbers when entering a new LEVEL to make clear where you'll restart if you need to quit the game. -> Modified the QUIT confirmation message, being more clear the you'll have to restart the entire level and not restart at a checkpoint. -> Level Select unlocked per save slot when finished the game (If you already finished the game, as there was no way for me…
- LUNARK: Trouble in the Treetops - 5 April 2023
The world of sci-fi cinematic platformer LUNARK is filled with diverse environments, from high-tech and industrial to natural and organic. The lush forest area of planet Albaryne, where massive trees extend far into the sky, is definitely one of the latter. Leo, the game’s protagonist, finds himself in the forest quite unexpectedly; he’s only there because his ship malfunctioned, and if it hadn’t been for some fortuitously located vines that ensnared the craft, the landing would have been much, much worse. The bad news is that the ship is busted. The good news is that it doesn’t take long before Leo encounters a mechanic who’s willing to help with repairs. However, there’s a catch. The mechanic — who just happens to be named Mekanic — is part of a small group of humble syrup farmers who reside in the forest, and the group’s boss insists that you help them with their syrup-collection eff…
- LUNARK: The Great Escape - 20 March 2023
Following numerous adventures in the city and uninhabited regions of planet Albaryne in sci-fi cinematic platformer LUNARK, the protagonist, Leo, finds himself caught up in a situation far beyond his control. This results in a quick and unceremonious trip to the place used to deal with anyone deemed undesirable by LUNARK's totalitarian rulers: the flying penitentiary. Hovering high up in the sky, bathed in amber light and surrounded by purple clouds, this high-security prison provides great views but not-so-great accommodations. Relieved of his weapon but not his wits, Leo ends up incarcerated alongside another prisoner of interest, and it doesn't take long for the two of them to formulate a plan to escape. After getting creative with the, ahem, facilities, the duo is able to lure a guard into their cell, then knock him senseless and make a break for freedom. After that, however, comes…
- LUNARK: Going Underground - 13 March 2023
In the upcoming cinematic platformer LUNARK, players will find themselves immersed in a sci-fi adventure as they step into the shoes of a young man named Leo who gets caught up in a rebellion against a totalitarian regime. You’ll battle enemies, solve puzzles, converse with numerous characters, and explore a variety of glorious pixel-art environments. These include a futuristic city, an alien forest, a flying penitentiary, and, yes, deep underground into mysterious ruins and a sweltering, lava-filled cavern. Shortly after the game begins, Leo ventures into the remote wilderness of planet Albaryne, where he discovers a hidden passage that leads to subterranean ancient ruins where dust hangs in the air, cobwebs adorn the ceiling, and fossils can be seen in the walls. Leo’s athletic abilities are put to the test, as he runs, jumps, and climbs to maneuver across numerous platforms, and roll…
- LUNARK: The Art of Movement - 10 March 2023
Realism has often been a key aspect in video games, from gameplay mechanics to visuals and physics. While certain game genres such as sports or racing have always seemed to align with this approach, others favored a more fantastical interpretation of reality. The platformer genre, for example, has long been associated with cartoonish physics. As time passed, however, the lines began to blur, leading to the emergence of new sub-genres of side-view 2D games such as action-adventures, puzzle-platformers, and, yes, cinematic platformers such as LUNARK. One of the unspoken rules that defines the cinematic platformer genre is to stick to reality. To do so, the game will display detailed and realistic animations, and will use a high number of frames. The actions performed by the main character follow the laws of physics and if they don’t, the game’s context would justify it in order not to spo…
- LUNARK's demo updated! - 12 December 2022
If you have played the LUNARK demo already, you know that in the first level there is a section where you have to make a droid perform a certain number of moves - thus teaching you to control your own character. Through many of your videos or your testimonies, you made me understand that it was difficult to remember all these controls once in the next level, leading to frustrating situations. The game being already content-complete, I had to look for a solution that wouldn't bring any risk of game-breaking bug, and would be elegant enough to be still "compliant" with the minimalism expected by the "cinematic platformer" genre as I see it. So from now on, you will find these small stones in strategic places, on which are engraved tips, left by a previous explorer. That's it! It doesn't look like much, but I hope this kind of help will be greatly appreciated by players less familiar with…
- LUNARK: City Living - 24 August 2022
In the upcoming cinematic sci-fi platformer LUNARK, the protagonist, Leo, will visit a diverse array of environments, from underground caverns to a vibrant forest to a flying penitentiary. But one of the most important locations is the massive, futuristic city on the distant planet Albaryne. Since abandoning Earth some 300 years prior, humanity has made this unnamed city its primary new home, and as such, it’s unsurprisingly a place where Leo spends a lot of his time. Housing, food, entertainment, industry – everything needed for human life can be found here. One of the key locations is the droid factory, where humans work tirelessly to create the robotic enforcers that, ironically, help keep mankind firmly under the rule of the totalitarian supercomputer NOAH. Nevertheless, the factory is managed by Leo’s friend and mentor, Gideon, so Leo visits often to receive advice and courier requ…
- LUNARK: What Is a Cinematic Platformer? - 17 August 2022
Hi! My name is Johan Vinet, a French game developer based in Canada. I’m the creator of LUNARK, a 2D cinematic platformer set in a future where Earth’s moon has been transformed into a vessel for humanity’s survival and a totalitarian regime reigns supreme. You play as Leo, a courier with unique abilities and a mysterious past, who unwittingly gets caught up in the rebellion against LUNARK’s iron fist. But what is a “cinematic platformer”? The term first appeared in the late ’80s and early ’90s with the emergence of a new sub-genre of 2D action/platform games whose design philosophy was more oriented towards realism and borrowed some techniques previously used in movies! Unlike more cartoony platformers like Mario or Sonic, gameplay tends to be fairly grounded in reality, with realistic character anatomy, extreme vulnerability, and interactive elements subject to the laws of physics (no…
- Wayforward to publish Canari Games' LUNARK - 7 June 2022
WAYFORWARD TO PUBLISH LUNARK! This is a very exciting day as I’m revealing my partnership with the independent game company Wayforward, developers of Shantae, River City Girls, DuckTales Remastered and so many more. They reached out to me and offered to handle the digital publishing duties for LUNARK. Wayforward being one of the first video game companies to give me a chance as a freelance 2D animator a decade ago, I didn't think long before accepting. Here is Wayforward's full statement. What does that mean for you players? -> MORE VERSIONS! Instead of only PC/Mac and Nintendo Switch, LUNARK is now heading to PS4/PS5 and the Xbox family of systems as well! -> MORE LANGUAGES! LUNARK will be translated into more languages and distributed in more regions than I originally planned. Those are still to be determined and I’ll keep you posted about that. -> A BETTER GAME! LUNARK will benefit f…
- LUNARK Live stream! - 20 February 2022
During this stream, Johan Vinet, the developer of LUNARK will be there to answer your questions while playing the demo. LUNARK is a 2D cinematic platformer in the vein of the '90s classics, a pulp adventure set in the midst of a rebellion against a totalitarian regime. You'll run, jump, and shoot your way through gorgeous and mysterious locations!
- Johan plays LUNARK! - 8 February 2021
Hi! My name is Johan Vinet. I'm working on LUNARK since its successful Kickstarter campaign in 2019. During this event, I'll be there to answer any of your questions while I'll be playing the demo of the first couple of levels. See you there! Johan
- Johan plays LUNARK! - 29 January 2021
Hi! My name is Johan Vinet. I'm working on LUNARK since its successful Kickstarter campaign in 2019. During this event, I'll be there to answer any of your questions while I'll be playing the demo of the first couple of levels. See you there! Johan
