A Weekend in Puzzleburg
Discount to celebrate release of spin-off game "There's Always a Madman"
That's right - the secret agent Franklin Benjamin, as seen in the "Always Say Always" film on channel 10, is now getting his own full-fledged game called There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight.
There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight is a comedic spy thriller interactive novel that can be found on Steam here. And I'm celebrating by discounting A Weekend in Puzzleburg, the game where secret agent Franklin Benjamin makes his first appearance!
Full details on the connection between A Weekend in Puzzleburg and There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight can be found in this company blog post titled Is there any connection between A Weekend in Puzzleburg and There's Always a Madman?. What I've mentioned above only scratches the surface of the connection between the two games!
A Weekend in Puzzleburg Steam page
There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight Steam page
And let's not forget the newly released content update for A Weekend in Puzzleburg called This Town Ain't Big Enough which just released last month for no additional cost. This update expands the town of Puzzleburg with new characters, new quests, and more!
As you can see, there's no better time to pick up a copy of A Weekend in Puzzleburg or perhaps dive in for one more weekend vacation. And make sure to keep an eye out for all the Franklin Benjamin references you can find - now they're Easter eggs for the game There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight!
The free content update "This Town Ain't Big Enough" expands Puzzleburg
Here are the three quests now added to A Weekend in Puzzleburg:
1. Billie the Kid (side quest): this is an Old West-themed game of hide-and-seek that puts your knowledge of the town to the test as you try to find a kid who goes by Billie the Bandit hiding in different spots all around Puzzleburg (if you can catch her four times, she declares "I knew this town wasn't big enough!")
2. The One Yo-Yo (side quest): here you may very well determine the entire future of Puzzleburg! Two girls in town each seek a yo-yo that is prophesied to belong to the future mayor of Puzzleburg. It falls to you as the "yo-yo bearer" to decide which candidate should receive the legendary object and become anointed as the chosen one who will someday rule the land (or you can hold onto it for yourself, of course)
3. Do Not Disturb (main quest): at a random point in the game, your hotel room key will malfunction, prohibiting you from entering your own hotel room. But rest assured, a simple trip to the hotel front desk will resolve the situation. Just a bit of flavor here to better capture the vacation slice-of-life. And note that you will only ever get locked out of your hotel room a single time no matter how many times you use the room key (this quest occurs at random when trying to access your room, and only after a certain point in the game after you've gotten used to entering and exiting your room freely, for maximum effect)
And of course, Dante the hotel concierge has hints for each stage of these new quests. Just like all the quests in the original release, he always has a hint at the ready so you never get stuck!
The two side quests are also added to the Everything You Can See and Do in Puzzleburg guide so you know exactly how to trigger each one (the new main quest is triggered automatically and at random, so there's nothing special you need to do to trigger it).
Whether this will be your first trip to Puzzleburg or an enticement to go back for a return trip, I hope you enjoy the new things to do in town with the free content update This Town Ain't Big Enough that is available now.
And if you've played the game but haven't already left a review, please consider leaving a review for the game on Steam. After being out for a year, the game still only has two reviews. With ten reviews, the game would receive a rating (positive, mostly positive, mixed, mostly negative, or negative). I would like to reach the ten review mark, so please consider leaving a review - it doesn't matter whether your review is positive or negative, simply sharing your perspective will let others know what to expect with this indie game. You can leave a review directly from the game's Steam store page if you already own a copy of the game. It's that easy.
A Weekend in Puzzleburg is available for purchase on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929760/A_Weekend_in_Puzzleburg
Free content update "This Town Ain't Big Enough" coming to Puzzleburg Feb 13
When I launched A Weekend in Puzzleburg back on February 17, 2024 (almost one year ago at this point), there were a few ideas I really liked but were too complex to get into the game by its launch date. So I held onto those ideas and kept plugging away on them post-launch. Here are three quests that will be added to A Weekend in Puzzleburg on February 13, 2024:
- Billie the Kid (side quest): this is an Old West-themed game of hide-and-seek that puts your knowledge of the town to the test as you try to find a kid who goes by Billie the Bandit hiding in different spots all around Puzzleburg (if you can catch her four times, she declares "I knew this town wasn't big enough!")
- The One Yo-Yo (side quest): here you may very well determine the entire future of Puzzleburg! Two girls in town each seek a yo-yo that is prophesied to belong to the future mayor of Puzzleburg. It falls to you as the "yo-yo bearer" to decide which candidate should receive the legendary object and become anointed as the chosen one who will someday rule the land (or you can hold onto it for yourself, of course)
- Do Not Disturb (main quest): at a random point in the game, your hotel room key will malfunction, prohibiting you from entering your own hotel room. But rest assured, a simple trip to the hotel front desk will resolve the situation. Just a bit of flavor here to better capture the vacation slice-of-life. And note that you will only ever get locked out of your hotel room a single time no matter how many times you use the room key (this quest occurs at random when trying to access your room, and only after a certain point in the game after you've gotten used to entering and exiting your room freely, for maximum effect)
And of course, Dante the hotel concierge has hints for each stage of these new quests. Just like all the quests in the original release, he always has a hint at the ready so you never get stuck!
The two side quests will be added to the Everything You Can See and Do in Puzzleburg guide when the free content update goes live so that you know exactly how to trigger each one (the main quest is triggered automatically and at random, so there's nothing special you need to do to trigger it).
Whether this will be your first trip to Puzzleburg or an enticement to go back for a return trip, I hope you enjoy the new things to do in town when the free content update This Town Ain't Big Enough arrives February 13, 2024.
A Weekend in Puzzleburg is available for purchase on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929760/A_Weekend_in_Puzzleburg
A look back at 2023 and a look ahead to 2024
2023:
- Released my first video game A Weekend in Puzzleburg on February 17, 2023 - you can purchase it on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929760/A_Weekend_in_Puzzleburg
- Received my first review for A Weekend in Puzzleburg (LadiesGamers.com gave it a rating of "I Like It" here)
- A Weekend in Puzzleburg was featured in the Kotaku article Ten New Games on Steam Bursting with Imagination
- Published a demo for my next video game, the interactive spy novel There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight, which is a spin-off from A Weekend in Puzzleburg based on one of the hotel room TV channels
- There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight participated in the October Steam Next Fest
- I ran my first-ever Kickstarter (for There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight). The Kickstarter unfortunately didn't get funded, but the game will still be completed and released in March 2024 (albeit without having a James Bond-esque theme song like I envisioned)
2024:
- I am hereby announcing a free content update for A Weekend in Puzzleburg called the "This Town Ain't Big Enough" update coming in the first half of 2024. This will add three new quests to the game, including one quest where you play an Old West-themed game of hide-and-seek trying to find a kid in different spots all over town and another quest that may very well dictate the future of Puzzleburg itself!
- There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight will release in March 2024 - you can wishlist it and play the free demo on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2390500/Theres_Always_a_Madman_Fight_or_Flight
- I am also in pre-production on my next game, which will be a second entry in the There's Always a Madman series. I expect that game to release in Q1 2025
So there you have it - everything going on in the world of Sunny Demeanor Games as we wrap up 2023 and head into 2024 (and even a sneak peek at something on the agenda for 2025).
Please remember that A Weekend in Puzzleburg is already for sale on Steam here. You can also wishlist and play the free demo for There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight on Steam here.
Discount to celebrate Kickstarter of spin-off game "There's Always a Madman"
That's right - the secret agent Franklin Benjamin, as seen in the "Always Say Always" film on channel 10, is now getting his own full-fledged game called There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight.
There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight is a comedic spy thriller interactive novel that can be found on Steam here and on Kickstarter here. And I'm celebrating by discounting A Weekend in Puzzleburg, the game where secret agent Franklin Benjamin makes his first appearance!
Full details on the connection between A Weekend in Puzzleburg and There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight can be found in this company blog post titled Is there any connection between A Weekend in Puzzleburg and There's Always a Madman?. What I've mentioned above only scratches the surface of the connection between the two games!
A Weekend in Puzzleburg Steam page
There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight Steam page
There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight Kickstarter campaign
As you can see, there's no better time to pick up a copy of A Weekend in Puzzleburg or perhaps dive in for one more weekend vacation. And make sure to keep an eye out for all the Franklin Benjamin references you can find - now they're Easter eggs for the upcoming game There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight!
Kickstarter launches Oct 9 for spin-off game "There's Always a Madman"
I hope you've enjoyed your weekend vacation in Puzzleburg! I'm happy to announce that my next game is a spin-off of A Weekend in Puzzleburg.
This new game is a comedic spy thriller interactive novel called There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight and has a Kickstarter campaign launching Monday October 9th, 2023 at 1pm US Eastern time.
- Wishlist and play the free demo for There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight right now right here (the game is even part of the October 2023 Steam Next Fest): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2390500/Theres_Always_a_Madman_Fight_or_Flight. The free demo contains 5 of the 11 chapters from the full game
- Sign up right here to be notified when the Kickstarter campaign goes live on Monday October 9th at 1pm US Eastern time: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sunnydemeanorgames/theres-always-a-madman-fight-or-flight
- Preview the Kickstarter rewards tiers in this company blog post: What rewards will be available in the "There's Always a Madman" Kickstarter launching Oct 9, 2023?. A copy of the game costs <$10, but you can obtain early bird discounts, get your name in the credits, play the game up to 2 weeks before the release date, or even get a character in the game named after YOU
About There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight
Step into the shoes of the suave secret agent Franklin Benjamin in this single-player spy thriller interactive novel. Drive fast cars, charm beautiful women, and do whatever it takes to save the world from a madman against impossible odds. Because there's always a madman, and you're the best agent we've got!
For full details on the game, please check out the game's Steam page or the Kickstarter campaign once it goes live.
How is There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight connected to A Weekend in Puzzleburg?
The character of fictional secret agent Franklin Benjamin first originated in A Weekend in Puzzleburg where you can view a few scenes from his spy film "Always Say Always" on the hotel room TV's channel 10. There are a few other instances where he comes up in the game, including the actor's biography and the "Always Say Always" in-game video game item that you can acquire. I like to think that There's Always a Madman is representative of how the "Always Say Always" video game item in A Weekend in Puzzleburg would play
For further details on the connection between these two games, please refer to this company blog post: Is there any connection between A Weekend in Puzzleburg and There's Always a Madman?.
Does this mean that development for A Weekend in Puzzleburg has ended?
Not necessarily! I'm planning a free content update for the game at some yet-to-be-determined point.
Lastly - for member of the press and streamers, the press kit for There's Always a Madman: Fight or Flight can be found here. And the press kit for A Weekend in Puzzleburg can be found here.
Streaming developer playthrough for the Cozy & Family Friendly Games Fest + Sale
The "A Weekend in Puzzleburg" Steam page
To celebrate the inclusion in the Cozy & Family Friendly Games Celebratin, I'll also be running a stream on the game's page with a developer playthrough of the first hour of the game for the duration of the festival 24/7 running 6/1-6/5. This is a pre-recorded video, so if you miss the beginning or want the ability to rewind/fast-forward at your own leisure, the same playthrough is located on the company YouTube page.
And please don't forget to check out all the other great cozy & family friendly games in the festival while you're at it.
One of Kotaku's "Ten New Steam Games Bursting With Imagination"
Check out the article for yourself here, if you like: https://kotaku.com/steam-pc-best-indie-games-demo-youtube-trailer-1850485229
A Weekend in Puzzleburg v1.1.2 - minor bug fixes
Streaming developer playthrough for the Storyteller's Festival + 20% discount!
The "A Weekend in Puzzleburg" Steam page
To celebrate the inclusion in the Storyteller's Festival, I'll also be running a stream on the game's page with a developer playthrough of the first hour of the game on 3/27. This is a pre-recorded video, so if you miss the beginning or want the ability to rewind/fast-forward at your own leisure, the same playthrough is located on the company YouTube page.
And please don't forget to check out all the other great story-driven games in the Storyteller's Festival while you're at it.