Vlambeer prototypes include Wild West story experiment, a new take on tower defence and "Space Murder"

Vlambeer are known for making fast, satisfying action games. In Super Crate Box , Ridiculous Fishing and the upcoming Nuclear Throne , you will know Vlambeer by the uncompromising crunch of every bullet fired and fish hooked. They're a prolific team, as well, and Kotaku UK have taken a look at their numerous incomplete and occasionally playable prototypes, which see them playing with gentler concepts in Western Hour, and some more familiar ones in "Space Murder" and a game they simply call "GTA II in space".

Also included: Space Beaver, a puzzle-platform game in which gravity acts in your favour, keeping your feet on the floor as you jump up to ceilings and walk over edges. Ffflood is an attempt to make a tower defence game that unfolds at ridiculous speed. "Untitled Space Marines Sims-alike" is an attempt to simulate what a space marine gets up to in their downtime, showering, doing push-ups, eating, doing more push-ups, etc.

There's also a prototype from their Adventure Time game jam, a stealth game called "Nambo", in which you can never be quite sure if your stealthy leaps and rolls are visible to guards or not, and Western Hour—an interesting narrative experiment that has you wandering a tiny town in the Wild West searching for the man you're supposed to kill. You'll find more, along with links to the downloadable prototypes over on Kotaku .

Tom Senior

Part of the UK team, Tom was with PC Gamer at the very beginning of the website's launch—first as a news writer, and then as online editor until his departure in 2020. His specialties are strategy games, action RPGs, hack ‘n slash games, digital card games… basically anything that he can fit on a hard drive. His final boss form is Deckard Cain.