They Bleed Pixels Message Board

They Bleed Pixels will be on sale on Steam for $3.39 through November 1. It's a gentle suggestion from developer Spooky Squid Games that you should spend your Halloween spilling blood and setting custom checkpoints.

Along with the sale, Spooky Squid is adding a totally free new Halloween-themed level in which you earn candy for killing enemies. It'll show up in the "Extras" section of all copies sometime within the sale period.

There are so many games out there we couldn't possibly review them all. Welcome to Snapshot, where we highlight games that might fall outside our usual coverage but are still something we think you should know about. Today: They Bleed Pixels for PC. I have a soft spot for difficult, precision platformers. Super Meat Boy was my number 2 game of 2010, edged out only by Alan Wake. I also have a soft spot for character action games. 2004's Ninja Gaiden, for example, is probably my favorite action game of all time. Imagine my delight, then, when I first played They Bleed Pixels, which is both a precision platformer and a character action game.

Whenever I'm not contemplating hurling my controller from my second story office window, They Bleed Pixels is an absolute blast.

Spooky Squid Games' action-platformer, They Bleed Pixels, launched on Steam today. The game features level designs from a variety of guest artists and a gameplay system that rewards skillful combat with checkpoints.

For the launch week, the price is discounted 20 percent from the normal $10 price point. They might bleed pixels, but you won't hemorrhage much money if you want to try it. There's also a Special Edition that includes a soundtrack by DJ Finish Him, currently at $10.39.

They Bleed Pixels is Now Available on Steam and 20% off.*

They Bleed Pixels is a fiendishly difficult action platformer inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and classic horror. Rendered in a distinct visual style that blends pixel art with paper and ink textures, They Bleed Pixels is a singular mix of intense platforming and fierce beat-em-up action. At the core of its fighting system is a simple one-button combat scheme with surprising depth and versatility. Button mashing is discouraged while kicking shadowy monsters into saws, pits and spikes is rewarded, thanks to a unique system that lets you earn and place your own checkpoints through stylish kills. The fancier your kills, the faster you fill the checkpoint meter.

*Offer ends September 5th at 10AM Pacific Time.

Patrick and Jeff attempt to stop the 8-bit blood loss incurred by reckless platforming and ponycorns.

Many, many moons ago, we ran an article that featured They Bleed Pixels on this very site. Of course, things were very different back then. The shadow of Windows 8 wasn’t looming over us, Rhode Island still hadn’t achieved its dream of owning a major videogame franchise, and – according to John – I wasn’t even born yet. Also, They Bleed Pixels was splattering its pointy plasma all over Xbox Live’s Indie Game channel. But oh how the times have changed. Now the murderously Meat-Boy-ish platformer is a Steam exclusive, with its XBLIG release dropped in favor of Steamworks support, cloud saves, and other such features. And after eons of waiting, you’ll be able to venture through its impractically spike-laden doors next week.

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They Bleed Pixels, Spooky Squid Games' intense, lo-fi, collaboratively designed, combo-based platform action game, is moving from Xbox to PC, abandoning its planned XBLIG release in favor of Steam.

In the last year, Spooky Squid added more levels than were originally planned, and integrated Steamworks leaderboards, achievements, and cloud saves. There's no release date for the now-PC game. "We're just finishing up sound and squashing a few pesky bugs," said creative director Miguel Sternberg. "It's been a busy year and I think players will really appreciate the additional content and polish."

Everyone frickin' loves Ponycorns, and Spooky Squid Games is no exception. The developer revealed that its upcoming XBLIG platformer They Bleed Pixels will feature a wonderful, entirely inappropriate crossover level designed by Sissy's Magical Ponycorn Adventure creators Cassie Creighton and her father Ryan.

That's not even the least likely crossover. There's a level designed by journalist Mathew Kumar, based on his exp. Magazine, and "featuring black and white photocopy art, an extra rare copy of exp. minus two, and words like orotund, grandiloquent and turgid!" Other guest levels include one based on the unreleased XBLIG game Techno Ninja by Michael Todd, and one based on Golden Gear Games' Starfall.

If all this weirdness hasn't convinced you to watch the trailer, there's also a Ponycorns remix song by DJ Finish Him that you should really hear.

Photo by Jeff Kubina

Last month, we spread the word that we wanted to poach as many Xbox Indie games as possible from Microsoft’s console based XBLIG service. Today, I’m here to tell you that the exodus is well under way. Here are ten of the most promising-looking XBLIGs which are already planning to boost their audience by making themselves available to the millions of happy, sweet-smelling PC gamers. Strap yourselves in, web-travellers, we’re going on a journey into the heart of our Xbox Indie Outreach Roundup! (more…)

"They Bleed Pixels is a fast-paced, gothic lo-fi, platforming beat'em up that drips, gushes and flows," explains the website for Spooky Squid Games' new XBLIG platformer. We'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more accurate, succinct description.

Check out the above trailer and you'll immediately see every element of that loaded sentence in motion. They Bleed Pixels combines the tiny protagonist and enclosed, danger-filled platforming challenges of a game like Super Meat Boy or N+, with a one-button combo attack system that rewards skillful execution with checkpoints.

They Bleed Pixels will be released this summer on XBLIG, featuring a soundtrack by DJ Finish Him "created using unconventional instruments and gadgets often not meant for musical use." You can find samples of the soundtrack at the official site.

Promising intense platforming meets beat-em-up action.