In the end we did very well in that contest, placing in the final four, winning the people’s choice vote, and garnering $300,000 in winnings. Every time we wore a Swarm t-shirt in public, invariably someone would ask us about the character. People really seemed to like it. So we knew we were onto something. We just had one problem: what we created wasn’t really a game.

The prototype was cool. 50 pudgy, blue swarmites milled around and waited for you to act. You took control of a single swarmite and the rest watched attentively. You’d take some action, like picking up a rock, and the rest of them would frantically run around, trying to find rocks. There were never enough rocks to go around, and so the swarmites would absentmindedly pick up other items or even their fellow swarmites. Then you’d throw the rocks at a target and they would all follow. Every time you did something, they learned, and as you progressed through the level they used all their learning to move you forward. So the tech was very cool and the way the swarmites behaved was funny, but because you were teaching them, the further you progressed through the level, the more time you spent simply watching and the less time you spent playing.

Our response to this was to park the uber-smart Dr. Mike in a corner and let him play for three years or so. “Turn it into a game!” was our direction. He kept at it, finally hitting a big turning point when he started playing with the idea of directly controlling 50 swarmites at once. Suddenly Swarm started looking like an action game and a platformer. And there were cool examples of emergence that he kind of stumbled on. For example, if you huddle the swarm together and then jump repeatedly, they stack on each other’s heads and form a tall totem. That wasn’t planned in any design document, it just happened by accident in one of Mike’s prototypes.

Armed with some cool new control schemes, we put the game into production and set out to make the coolest PSN game ever. Then we hit our next obstacle. Turns out if you move 50 characters at once and put them in a ridiculously dangerous world with explosives, fans and other things that tend to blow them all over the place, it can get a tad confusing for the player just what is going on and where their swarm is when all hell is breaking loose. So to address this, we did what we always do: lots and lots of playtests. We’d bring in four or five fresh players that have never seen the game before, put a controller in their hand and let them give it a go. Certainly it can be a humbling experience when you watch players get frustrated with your game, but we persisted at iterating and improving it a little each week. It wasn’t long before we had something that users reported was intuitive and fun to play… no small feat for a brand new type of gameplay mechanic!

With our deadline quickly approaching, we turned our attention to replayability. What would give players a reason to want to go back and replay levels they’ve already completed? The epiphany here turned out to be our scoring system. Swarm has multipliers, multipliers on multipliers, checkpoint bonuses, time bonuses and lots and lots of shiny pickups. The upshot of all of it is that whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, you can always work to make your score better. There is no natural maximum score on any level. And the great benefit of that is it makes the leaderboards in the game naturally quite competitive. We put your results right in your face as frequently as we can so you always see how you’re measuring up against your friends on each level. We even have the game automatically facilitate a bit of smack talk.

We’re proud of what we’ve made in Swarm: it was wrought from our indie blood, sweat and tears. We’re confident you’ll like what you see when you play it.

When Braid first came out, we were really blown away by its combination of unique art style and clever puzzle gameplay, but there was just one problem – it was only on one platform! At Hothead, we really believe strongly in being platform-agnostic (we even ship our games on Linux!), so we thought it only right for PS3 players to have access to Braid too. We got in touch with Jon and suggested working together on realizing his vision on additional platforms.

As we collaborated on the project, there were two big things that we always kept in mind – the first was preserving that original impactful moment when the player begins the game, and carrying that sense of artistic wonderment, emotional engagement and unique gameplay all the way to the end, when the player puts down the controller. That was Jon’s vision and is the Braid experience – our task was to preserve that vision and that experience, leveraging the unique features of the PS3 to further enhance it with the amazing 1080p resolution and HD audio, and PSN features like Trophies.

In fact, it was one of the highlights of the project to see the art style come alive on the platform – the PS3 is particularly well-suited to showing off the intense colors and distinctive world of Braid. We took full advantage of the PS3’s hardware to make sure this version of the game never deviates from a smooth 60 FPS.

The second big thing that was top of mind for the Hothead team was getting this remarkable game to you as swiftly as possible so that you, too, could enjoy Braid on your platform of choice. We didn’t want to make PS3 owners wait a moment longer than necessary (and Jon agreed) – especially when you’ve already been so patient and so supportive of Braid and indie development!

So, what you’re about to download is a result of that amazing collaborative effort and commitment to Braid’s original immersive experience. We’re pleased and excited to see Braid on PSN and to be able to share it with you.

Joel DeYoung from Hothead Games here. At long last, we’re thrilled to be able to tell the PlayStation community that Braid will officially be making its way to the PlayStation Network on November 12 for $14.99. The gang here at Hothead has been working hard to bring this amazing game to you as soon as possible.

Along with today’s announcement, we thought you’d enjoy taking a peek at the Braid trailer and a few screens of the gameplay experience. Check ‘em out below:

Stay tuned next week to catch an in-depth look at bringing Braid to PSN – It’s been a real pleasure working with Jonathan Blow and Sony on this project and I’m looking forward to sharing more details of that effort with everyone here. See you soon.

We promised to release this highly-anticipated episode of the series before the end of the year, so we’re happy PS3 fans get a chance to sink their teeth into Episode Two this week. Plus, as I mentioned in previous entries on this blog, with every episode we’re getting better and better at cutting down the time between the PSN and other version launches. I think less time waiting and more time playing is good news in anyone’s book!

We have been listening to feedback from everyone that played Episode One, and have incorporated a bunch of it into this new installment. Episode Two features difficulty settings so that you can tackle the game at your own level. And for the truly hardcore, finish the game to unlock Insane Mode which will both test your mettle and reveal several exclusive unlockables. Oh, and don’t forget trophies or all of the other PSN-specific features you’ve come to expect. ;)

And last (but certainly not least), the game features a story and characters whose ridiculousness surpasses even the last one. If you thought those little robots with proclivities for small orbs of fruit were weird, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Download Episode Two on Thursday for $14.99 on the PlayStation Network. Enjoy!

In case you missed some of the earlier descriptions, the game is set in an alternate 1920s universe inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, where Gabe and Tycho operate the Startling Developments Detective Agency, taking cases that are far from routine. After a giant robot stomps your house to rubble, you join the duo as they follow the malevolent machine and attempt to solve the mystery (and find you a new place to live). Every aspect of Episode One was crafted by the team here at Hothead to feel authentically Penny Arcade, with Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins themselves directly involved in the game’s creation. Check out the trailer to see a little bit of this first installment of the RPG-Adventure series in action.

The first episode features 6-10 hours of gameplay and will be available for download at $14.99. We integrated the game with a number of PSN-specific features, including the oft-requested trophies. You create a customized character that you see not only in 3D but also in the game’s comic-strip style 2D cutscenes. And if you play future episodes in the series, you’ll be able to carry your character’s look and stats over from one episode to the next on the same platform. New episodes will follow every few months, with Episode Two becoming available on PSN before the end of this year.

At Hothead, we’re really proud of the game and hope you enjoy it. We are excited about our debut on PlayStation 3 and think this will be just the beginning of what we have in store for the platform. And we’re always happy to hear what you think: come on over to our forums and give us your feedback.

One last thing. I would be remiss not to mention the rumors you may have heard: this game shows robots doing things to fruit that not only skirt the edge of decency, but that may be illegal in some states. All of these rumors are true. Go check it out tomorrow on the PlayStation Network!

What happened is that very late in development we realized that the version of the engine we licensed for this game didn’t really have the same chops on console that it did on Windows, Mac and Linux. Imagine essentially rewriting whole sections of the engine to capture the look and feel of Penny Arcade for each console – it added months to our release date! We had to make the tough decision to get the game done and out on fewer platforms, rather than delay the whole thing several months more.

Fortunately, we were able to resume work on the PS3 version right away after that, interspersed with our work on Episode Two. Our engineers and artists have been hard at work getting the PS3 version working just right. Rest assured that future episodes will ship in a more timely fashion, as we get better at porting the code and tweaking the engine. Plus, we have plans to support PLAYSTATION Network with other Hothead games for a long time to come.

The game’s classic comic book look and feel was so well-received when Episode One was first released, it was critical to us to retain that element in bringing the game to a new platform. It truly looks amazing with the PlayStation 3’s graphics, and should be well worth the wait – check out a little of it below:

The PS3 version is going to integrate with a bunch of features on the PLAYSTATION Network, including Score Rankings and the oft-requested Trophies. Plus, don’t forget that you’ll be able to customize your character to appear in both 3D and in the 2D cutscenes and that character (look, stats and inventory) can carry forward to future episodes! Last, but not least, the game supports full 1080p resolution. We’re putting the last touches on everything now for SCEA’s final approval and the game’s launch on the PSN this winter.

With the game looking so good, we’re excited to show it off at the Penny Arcade Expo this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ll be demoing the game every day of the show at the Hothead Games booth (#1114) and conducting a panel where we answer any questions you have about the Penny Arcade game or about the PS3 version in particular. Plus, we’ll be giving away a signed PLAYSTATION 3 to one lucky PAX attendee at the panel, so don’t forget to stop by the Walrus Theatre on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there!

Even if we won’t see you at this year’s PAX, we’ve made arrangements to meet up with Jeff from the blog at the show for a video interview. If you have some specific questions you’d love to get answered, write them in the comments field below, and Jeff will ask me them right then and there.

Look for that interview next week and more updates on the game soon!