4 years after its first announcement, Avalanche have posted a statement. They said that “active development has now stopped” on the game.
Contraband was described as an open world, co-op heist game, Set in the 70’s. It comes from the developers of the ‘Just Cause’ Game series. However, in the 4 years since its initial teaser trailer, almost nothing has been heard about it.
Advertisements
Contraband joins a growing list of games cancelled by Microsoft, titles such as ‘Perfect Dark’ and ‘Everwild’ are such named victims of these cutbacks, it comes as Microsoft continues heavy lay-offs, despite continuing to be a financial powerhouse, recently pledging spending $80bn (£68.6bn) in massive data centres to train AI models.
What are your thoughts on the cancellation? are you surprised with all these recent cuts? Let us know below in the comments!
Type, a retro-vibe game about….you guessed it, typing! This hectic keyboard-mashing game will have you thinking you’re in the clear, and then you’ll slowly see a nuclear warhead coming at you, and well, I’m sure you can guess what happens next with that. Despite just the simple mechanics of typing gibberish words, no one wants to fail at anything, right? Well, yes. Unfortunately for you, this game will overwhelm you, and fast. Think you’ve got what it takes? Be daring to keep reading.
First Thoughts 💣
As simple as the concept is, for whatever brain chemical reaction created reason, it works. Looking at the recently added global leaderboard and seeing that your high score is just below someone else’s, it’ll have you going back for more. In the fast-paced retro arcade you will mentally find yourself in, even if your friends haven’t gotten their own high score yet, you’ll want to make sure they could never beat yours, let alone the rest of the world.
Advertisements
Can I run it? ⌨️
For such a simple game, you don’t need a beast of a device to run and enjoy this one. Per the developers’ recommended minimum system requirement on Steam, specifically your device’s processor, it is noted as “Hamster Wheel”. I think that speaks enough volume for how easy it is for anyone to take on this challenge of achieving a higher score than someone else. There is absolutely no input delay with the letter being registered once pressed on your keyboard, and as soon as you have booted up the game, you’re immediately thrown into battle against the enemy of random sequences of words, with no loading screens or transitions between menus.
Too Simple or Just Enough? 🤔
We here at InsideXO would say this is just enough. As we will read a little more in depth later on of insights from Parsy himself, regardless of competitor games out there, there are gamers all over the world who like to type fast, challenge themselves to improve using non-traditional words, and know how a real word would be spelt. Others use it to learn to begin typing in general, or the English language we all know and love. Given that gibberish words might not be the most effective method for this, with the feedback Parsy has received, rest assured, updates are coming for this as well.
Advertisements
Game Over (The Good Way)
To take this all in, even though Type was only released a few days ago, and is not fully released, waves of its catchyness are already being felt through indie game communities, especially in Parsys own discord server, with his Type Leaderboard and Type Updates channels, where updates and new scores have been made consistently in the past weeks. You can show off your high scores, boost your competitive ego to keep being better, and show love to his creations (yes, there are more projects by Parcyval Studios!). At the end of the day, it’s all love and friendly competition, and who doesn’t love that?
We are born very similar, but life takes us different paths, and some lead to game dev some not.
Imagine a high-stakes art heist, but instead of sneaking through lasers, you’re racing against the clock to sloppily recreate iconic paintings using only your mouse, a timer, and sheer panic. That’s Sloppy Forgeries, and after getting a chance to play it early, we’re absolutely hooked.
Developed by the indie minds at Playful Systems LLC, Sloppy Forgeries is a fast-paced, competitive art game that mixes creativity and chaos.
You’re shown a classic painting and challenged to recreate it as closely (or wildly) as possible. The catch? You only have a short amount of time, and so every stroke counts.
As you can imagine this can lead to some pretty hilarious attempts, of which I will show some of mine in this article!
We’ve been playing an early build thanks to a Steam key from the dev (huge thanks again!), and the experience has been equal parts hilarious and genuinely addictive. There’s something oddly satisfying about trying to replicate a masterpiece while the timer ticks down, and everything just falls apart (At least for me!)
I had the chance to Ask some Questions to the Dev about the game, which will be included in a separate article below, be sure to check it out,
“There might be artists out there who aren’t great at traditional video games who will REALLY excel at this.”
The game plays very well, for an unreleased game it feels solid, and it does the job, i was given a painting to copy, and I did my best, there’s a good selection already of over 30 classic paintings, and there’s so much more potential, I can already imagine the competitions to get your artwork in the game, or Merch to be able to get your best (or worst) paintings on a small canvas for your own keeping! There are so many different directions this game could go, it’s incredibly exciting to follow its Journey!
The game Particularly Shines in multiplayer, and with it’s mouse v mouse local multiplayer, it makes it even easier to play with those around you, (although there will be a standard multiplayer option as well)
The game scores you on how accurate your painting is to the real thing, so this creates some very funny moments of panic, trying to get those last few brush strokes in before time runs out.
There’s a healthy amount of Strategy involved here too, Do you go for the broader shapes quickly, or focus on those smaller details that may boost your score? Either way no two matches really felt the same when I was playing, as I was trying different ways to optimise my accuracy score
Advertisements
Why It works🧠
Beyond the laughs, Sloppy Forgeries taps into that same accessible creative itch games like Drawful or even Skribbl.io do, but with a surprisingly artful twist. It manages to celebrate fine art while also absolutely butchering it in the most amazing way,
The Dev clearly has a strong love for art, combined with some absurdity in a perfect blend, the game also seems to sharpen your mind, you think quick and really tap into your inner artist, i’ve never been good at art, in fact, even in school my worst nemesis was shading a circle! (story for another day) but this game made me actually enjoy it, and want to see how good I could actually be!
As you can see… Not Very!
Advertisements
So When Can You Play it?
The game is currently unreleased, but it’s already making waves in indie circles. No hard release date just yet, but it’s one of the most uniquely fun party games we’ve played in a while. It’s expected in 2025, so be sure to add it onto your wishlist, and keep your brushes at the ready, this is absolutely one to keep a close eye on!
We’ll be watching this one closely here at InsideXO, and we’ll update as soon as more info drops.
Let us know Your Thoughts below in the comments, or Join the Official XO Discord, and come chat!
Buy The Author A Coffee!
A small donation to help keep our rising website going, anything is appreciated ❤
It was a combination of things. I’ve always loved drawing and painting—as a kid and then as an art major in college. When I became a professor, I thought about games I enjoy and like to study, which resulted in drawing games.
I was also making small games on the side and had just created Word After Word, a competitive local multiplayer word game using multiple keyboards. After getting the multiple keyboards thing to work, I knew I could do the same for mice and started brainstorming games that would use two mice simultaneously.
The research and brainstorming naturally led to thinking about multi-mice drawing games. I had also done some image processing work in grad school, so knew how to compare images. The last question was what to copy? Famous paintings and the name quickly followed.
If time and budget weren’t an issue, what’s the wildest mode or feature you’d add to Sloppy Forgeries?
If budget weren’t an issue, I’d love for Sloppy Forgeries to be twitter for drawing/painting (before it became X and was ruined by a certain someone). What I mean by that, is a thoughtful drawing tool with a time limit where that limitation makes the prospect of art-making less daunting and more fun. All work on the platform would be made in three-minutes or less. Mobile-first.
This idea partially came from a critique of a painting I was doing as a senior in college. I was starting a landscape painting and had just finished the underpainting and a quick glaze of color over it. My professor walked by, looked over my shoulder and said, “You’re done.” My brain kind of exploded. I stopped painting. I’m glad I did. The painting has this wonderful energy that would have been lost if I had kept working.
Do you get more joy out of seeing players compete seriously, or just absolutely butcher the paintings for laughs?
Great question. One of my favorite parts of Sloppy Forgeries is that it can be played in these two completely different ways. Initially, this made development challenging. I felt like I had to choose a path. Then I realized that it can be both: I’ll embrace serious play in single player and for-laughs in multiplayer. And of course the reality is people can play it however they want. That’s the beauty of games.
TBH, I get more joy out of people laughing at what they’ve made afterwards. However, as an experience myself, I play it seriously. I think that might be the pattern for a lot of folks. You start for the laugh and then continue playing seriously after a certain point.
What experience do you have in game development? Is this your first game?
I’m a game design professor, so it’s not my first rodeo. A few I’ve worked on include:
It’ll be the first game I’ve released in a few years, however. The development journey has been quite a ride. I made my first prototype about 7 years ago. It was received well and shown widely, but then came COVID, small children, job obligations, life, etc… I had the opportunity to continue working on it just over a year ago. Since then, it’s been a blast. I’ve learned a lot. And it’s been really nice to see it starting to find a community as well.
And finally… Be honest, how good are you at your own game?
Pretty good. I’ve been playing for 7 years, so there’s that. Surprisingly, I still enjoy it. I always feel like I can squeeze another half a point or two. I bet once I release it, I won’t be able to make the leaderboards, but that’s part of the fun. There might be artists out there who aren’t great at traditional video games who will REALLY excel at this. That’ll be exciting. Now, just to find them… 🙂
Thank you so much for your time, and we here at InsideXO wish you huge luck with the release, We’ll be sure to share your progress as we hear from you, Our community cant wait to jump in and see what horrors we can create!
It’s launch day, and I’ve just wrapped up my first few hours in Grounded 2. I’m sunburned, bug-bitten, and completely hooked.
Obsidian has come back swinging with a sequel that feels warmly familiar, but deeper, denser, and just that little bit deadlier. From the moment I awoke, tiny and clueless, the world felt bigger. Not just physically, though the map is expanded for sure, but in its systems, its surprises, and its sense of danger, and Overall risk to reward.
What Stood Out?
Straight away, the game felt as though I was more equipped, with an excellent early-game loop, more tools, more variety in base building, and a heavy push towards exploration, sending me down ant nests, and stumbling into spider territory much quicker than I must say I wanted! But it all felt amazing; it was a guided journey filled with fear, fascination, and a whole load of fun
And the new areas I managed to see? Gorgeous, the game looks brilliant, and despite some issues I was experiencing with framerate drops, it did feel well polished for such a new game. The lighting across the map is stunning, and it feels as though there’s more verticality to the game now, with a strong push towards underground exploration as well.
Advertisements
Smarter Than Ever…
Combat feels much tighter, the AI behaviour seems to be massively improved, bugs seemingly working together, hunting me down several times, when I thought I’d gotten away, and that feeling of pure panic being chased by a spider, straight into a web… Never again!
Weirder Than Ever, And We Love It!
The tone of Grounded 2 is that perfect mix of childhood wonder and survival anxiety; it’s horrifying in the most addictive way, and amazing how unusual some situations need to feel, especially with the NPCs that I won’t spoil, because you just need to experience it for yourself to understand!
Advertisements
First-Day Verdict
Obsidian gets what made Grounded special, and what their audience loves. This isn’t a simple sequel; it’s the backyard reborn. I’m already thinking about how I’ll rebuild my dream base, bigger and better than ever, and what the deeper systems might unlock for me in the coming weeks. For any fans of the first game, or anyone just curious about it, I cannot recommend it more highly.
Myself & Moddedv10 outside our First litte Abode
Do you have any thoughts you’d love to share on the game? leave them below in the comments, or join our Official Discord and come chat!
Thanks for Reading!
Advertisements
One response to “Day one in the Grass – Grounded Launch Day Impressions”
ModdedXO
I did not enjoy the spiders, they were big and scary
InsideXO 
Leave a comment