MAGFest 2025 Part 3: We <3 You

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We’ve had this tradition over the years, since first showing off Shutshimi: Seriously Swole in 2015, where we put out markers and index cards, and then folks draw. Whoever did this first on the back of a Shutshimi postcard, we salute you. We then put up the art people leave for us over the weekend, something of a growing collage. MAGFest 2025 was no different. We got a bunch of art from all of you and, just like every year, we couldn’t love it more.

Getting to show our games off at shows is a dream, and seeing people enjoying our work means everything. But it’s things like this that make MAGFest a special place. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to walk the floor and pick up a controller, or draw us something to post on our backdrop. Thanks to the fine folks who run the showfloor and work in the MIVS department. Thank you to John D for his work on the arcade stick.

And without further ado, we leave you with this year’s submitted art. More news on Bruisin’ Cruisers in the coming months <3

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MAGFest 2025 Pt 2: Best Presence!

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We mentioned in yesterday’s part one post that our booth for Bruisin’ Cruisers was “award-winning” at MAGFest 2025. If you look closely at the picture above you may see one of the vaunted Chaos Emeralds. Obama eat your heart out. Anyway, let’s zoom in.

Enhance.

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The booth was the brainchild of our very own Wayne Kubiak, whose pixels and design work you enjoy every time you play one of our games. He and code wizard Garrett Varrin brought the vision of a 90’s style living room to life for the denizens of the MIVS showfloor, and they rewarded him with Mr. Purple. Professor Plum? Look, we didn’t name it yet.

Let’s take a look at the booth itself, shall we?

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End table, comfy seating, a CRT station with arcade stick action, low lighting and a shag rug to really tie the room together. Cozy. It was common to find people chilling here after hours and through the night, playing the game and relaxing in the ambiance.

Huge shout out to Spitdoll for the amazing keyart on our banner! And speaking of the banner, here’s a little tease for tomorrow’s post… stay tuned!

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We are back from the land of MAG! And what a return it was! Thank you to everyone who came to our award-winning booth to play Bruisin’ Cruisers. It was an absolute thrill to get this one back into your hands and get you chasing the Jerkwad again.

The handy infographic above shows off the total performance of everyone who played the game. Y'all took out a lot of cars! Shout out to the person who avoided pedestrian cars through the whole demo after learning they were just going about their business – you’re a hero!

More importantly, we’re taking the feedback from watching you play and improving the final game. Layouts are being reworked, enemy placements tweaked, cherries placed. Thanks to everyone for helping light the way.

Some folks may remember that we showed this off originally at MAGFest in 2017 (https://neondeity.com/post/156000999722/whoa-whoa-whoa-what-a-magfest-we-had-a-blast-at), and then JUNKPUNCHER at Magfest 2020 (https://neondeity.com/post/190126501037/magfest-2020-what-a-ride). Despite the snip-snap-snip between the two projects, we’re committed to finishing both of them. JUNKPUNCHER is a story for another day, but our target for Bruisin’ Cruisers release is 2025.

Two more posts about MAGFest to come! We did say at the top the booth was “award-winning”? Stay tuned for more!

202X is here – the X is currently 1!

Greetings compatriots of the Kingdom of Video Games! It’s been approximately one year since we’ve brought tidings on this board, but fret not! JUNKPUNCHER is still being developed! And it still does not have a release date!

To speak frankly, the last year was largely spent retooling what we have and building out new tools in the back end. We took all the feedback from the MAGFEST 2020 build we shared and have been trying to make sure the foundation is as solid as possible. As you can see in the video above, we ARE listening, no matter how big or small.

That said, we’re finally to the point where we’ve finished building the first half of the first level, which is the same scope as the demo in size. Which means we can move forward! Work has started on both the second half and the second level now. It’s hard to put any sort of timetable on things, but we anticipate things are going to start coming together a bit faster now.

2020 is behind us, and it would be nice if a lot of its unique stresses and pressures fade away with it. Here’s hoping 2021 lends itself to a faster development pipeline for us and we can share some definite news on release targets as we go forward. We’ll do our best to update here a bit more often, and we can’t wait for in-person shows to start up again in the future – we miss seeing you all!

- The guys at Neon Deity Games

MAGFEST 2020: What a ride!

We came. We saw. We MAGFested. And boy-oh-boy what an awesome and invigorating ride it was! We had the pleasure and privilege of bringing JUNKPUNCHER to the MIVS showfloor, and we were absolutely humbled by the response.

First, thank you to everyone who took the time to play the game. We spent a lot of time over the last year or so building up what eventually became this demo. And our efforts were rewarded in a big way, as we were able to snag a runner up spot in two award categories: Tones: Best Music, and Developer’s Choice. It means the world to us that people enjoy what we’re putting out, and it’s somewhat unbelievable that we placed this high.

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Secondly, thank you to everyone who joined in the speedrun competition! Our demo isn’t lengthy by any stretch – it’s roughly what we hope half-a-level will be in the full game – but it takes most people between six-to-eight minutes to get through their first time. That we saw times dip below 2:20 was mindboggling. New tech was being discovered up until the end of the show and we couldn’t have been more impressed. Big ups to the winners, Luis, Mike and Zach (2, 1 and 3 respectively)! We can’t wait what you and the speedrun community show us in the final game!

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Third and lastly, we’d like to thank everyone involved with the MIVS setup, whether you’re a fellow dev showing off your game or a member of the staff helping run the show. It’s one of our favorite times of the year and it’s a true delight to be a part of things. Special shout out to our boothmates at Typhoon Unit and KickBot. They were awesome to chat with all weekend and their games are great as well.

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We’ll be putting a bunch more pictures up on our Facebook at some point soon, so head over there to see them and follow us if you aren’t!

We’re planning to finalize our framework and fill out the rest of the game over the course of the next year. We aim to share regular updates with you over that time. Until next time, stay cool and punch on!

- Anthony, Neon Deity Games

JUNKPUNCHER

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A 2D robo-smashing punch ‘em up in the vein of classic late-era NES action-platforming games. JUNKPUNCHER follows the story of our hero, accidentally attached to a dangerous bio-mechanical prototype: a robotic arm called The Atlas. When military robots attempt to procure The Atlas by force, our hero panics and decides to return it to the company that created it: The Pantheon. A cooperative global conspiracy is eventually revealed by both The Pantheon and the military. Our hero, with the aid of The Atlas, must put a stop to their nefarious plans.

Hey: the JUNKPUNCHER demo is playable in Buffalo on 7/17

You looking to try our newest demo for JUNKPUNCHER? We’re going to be at the Rec Room showing the game off during the TWRP / Protomen show! Come join us and catch some sick tunes as well!

Get your tickets here: https://www.ticketfly.com/event/1847950-twrp-protomen-buffalo/

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Crack those knuckles: JUNKPUNCHER is coming!

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Jeeze, it’s been about four years since we released Shutshimi: Seriously Swole. Time flies! Surely we’re up to something new… right? Well, turns out we are! JUNKPUNCHER is Neon Deity Games’ newest project! It’s a 2D robo-smashing punch ‘em up in the vein of classic NES action titles.

We’re all huge fans of NES-era action games here at Neon Deity Games, and we thought it would be fun to take a crack at making one of our own. Our objective is simple: Make a 2D action-platformer that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the classics. You’ll certainly find influence from companies like Konami, Tecmo, Natsume and Capcom, but we want to pack this with our unique essence and style as well.

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While JUNKPUNCHER is cut from that 80s-era cloth, we don’t want players to suffer that familiar 80s-era frustration. We’re paying special attention to modernizing some of the more outdated or frustrating elements found in many beloved entries in this style. That said, the plan is to include a variety of difficulty levels, so those who prefer a more era-accurate experience will feel at home as well.

We don’t know when JUNKPUNCHER is coming (expect a hearty “When it’s done” if you ask!) but we’re targeting Nintendo Switch as a platform with others under consideration. Development is already underway so we’ll be sure to keep you updated here, or on our Twitter,  or our Instagram.

- Anthony

PS. Some of you may remember or have even played builds of another project we were working on called Bruisin’ Cruisers. Don’t worry, it’s not cancelled – It’s currently on hold, though we hope to pick back up on it after Junk Puncher is finished and released.

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