It’s time for another Ask Gamedev Game Engine Showcase!
In this edition, we are visiting a game development tool that has been around for quite some time.
We are talking about MonoGame, the open-source cross-platform game development framework.
In our past videos, we've come across Monogame several times.
This time we want to dedicate a full episode to it and see what the devs in the indie scene
have created with this awesome tool.
We are Ask Gamedev and these are 7 Awesome 2D Games Made With MonoGame
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Before we get to the games, let's take a glance at the story behind Monogame and its capabilities.
Created in 2009 by José Antonio Leal de Farias, Monogame is a game development Framework built
as an evolution of the Microsoft XNA application programming interface (or API).
XNA is a freeware development library distributed by Microsoft aimed at developers that want
to access a "light-weight" version of DirectX to create games in a versatile yet simple
way.
At launch, Monogame only supported development for iOS games.
Later on, in 2011, Monogame was published on Github as a free and open-source framework
for creating powerful cross-platform games.
Since then MonoGame has seen nothing but growth.
It currently supports a wide variety of platforms including iOS, macOS, Android, Linux, Windows
Platforms, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and more.
Written in C#, Monogame features 2D and 3D rendering capabilities, a well-designed interface
with library explorers, sound playback, math solutions for games, and more.
Monogame has become a very popular Development Tool within the indie scene due to its great
versatility.
Keep in mind, this means there's a lot of coding to do with MonoGame, so it's best suited
for those who want to or are already delving into the universe of programming.
Being a spiritual successor of XNA, devs that are familiar with Microsoft frameworks and
libraries may have a better time easing into this tool.
XNA was discontinued in 2013, but it lived on through Monogame and other frameworks.
Another XNA reimplementation that is popular amongst indie devs is FNA.
FNA aims to reproduce XNA as it was made by Microsoft.
If you want to check it out too, we'll leave a link in the description below.
We'll also leave a link to Monogame's Github repository, where you can download, tweak,
transform, and repurpose this free and Open Source software to your liking.
Now without further ado, let's see our first game made with Monogame.
First up, we have Streets of Rage 4 from Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games.
This game is the resurrection of the 90's Streets of Rage franchise.
Relive the thrill of these 2D beat'em up adventures in an all-new experience pumped up with beautiful
hand-drawn art and animations, some sick 90's-inspired tunes, and an overload of braised chicken.
For some extra nostalgia trip, you'll also be able to unlock classic character sprites
and soundtracks from the original trilogy.
Lizardcube artist Ben Fiquet was inspired upon completing Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap,
a 2017 remake of 1989's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, and set his mind on doing a
remake of the Streets of Rage Saga.
With the help of Dotemu studio, they approached Sega on this matter and the idea turned into
a full sequel to the series instead of a remaster.
Dotemu was given the license to publish Streets of Rage 4, and they teamed up with Lizardcube
and Guard Crush Games to develop it.
The latter designed a custom game engine called Guard Crush Engine using bits and pieces from
several libraries and frameworks including Dear Imgui by ocornut, MonoGame, FNA, protobuf-net
by Marc Gravell, and Wwise by Audiokinetic.
This engine was fully packed with every feature they needed to develop their game.
This was all possible thanks to an XNA-based engine they had previously created for the
indie gem, Streets of Fury EX, an awesome Streets of Rage homage where the sprites are
made out of real-life photos (a la Mortal Kombat)
Streets of Rage 4 was released in April 2020 and received a gold Medal from Famitsu shortly
after.
By April 2021, a year later, the game had already sold 2.5 million copies.
It is now sitting with a 92% very positive review on Steam.
You can also pick up the game on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.
If you want a physical copy, you'll find several links on their website to retailers that sell
them.
If you're lucky you can even snag a Japanese physical copy of the game!
Based in Maryland, USA, next up is the game development studio Bit Kid with their Kickstarter
success: Chasm.
Chasm is a Metroidvania 2D Pixel Sidescroller that features a mesmerizing procedural underground
world tucked beneath a remote mountain town.
Explore the cave systems and unlock abilities that will help you delve deeper and deeper
into areas within the mountain - with each area even more eye-catching and filled with
secrets than the previous one.
The devs of Chasm worked on the title for six years before their release in 2018.
Bit Kid, formerly known as Discord Games, started developing games in 2011 as a side
hobby, using Microsoft's XNA.
In 2013 they started using MonoGame.
That same year, then went to GDC and tried to pitch Chasm to several publishers.
Unfortunately, they had no luck.
Things were about to turn around though, as they went on to launch a Kickstarter campaign.
When all was said and done, they ended up raising $191,897, cruising past their original
campaign goal of $150,000.
According to the devs at Bit Kid, MonoGame was a great step from XNA due to it being
OpenGL, giving them much more cross-platform capabilities than before.
Along with their development, they started to include SDL2 and FNA into their workflow
to make graphic, sound, and input improvements.
Chasm is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One.
Check out their website at chasmgame.com for links to all the storefronts.
From the same studio that gave life to the mega hit, Hades, comes Bastion.
Bastion was the first game developed by Supergiant Games, a team of seven people (in their early
days).
The game features a beautiful 2D isometric world shattered by a surreal catastrophe called
the Calamity.
Hack and Slash your way in this Action RPG adventure with its reactive narrator who marks
every decision and move you make.
The Development of Bastion began in September 2009.
Gavin Simon, one of the team's programmers, designed a custom engine based on the XNA
framework.
All the project was self-funded and took about two years, with the game releasing in July
2011 for Xbox Live Arcade and August 2011 for Windows.
For more on this, check out Giant Bomb’s coverage on the game’s development.
It's a great source for anyone interested in their process, we'll leave a link in the
description below.
Bastion is an outstanding example of what a Studio’s debut game should be.
It's an experience that exudes creativity every second of gameplay.
"The entire game drips with passionate artistry from the gorgeous watercolor aesthetics to
the stirring soundtrack," wrote Wired in their article about Bastion.
Additionally, the game currently boasts a plaque on Steam: 100+ Industry Awards.
Among these are several Best Downloadable Game and Best Indie Game awards.
After their success with Bastion, Supergiant Games included MonoGame into their WorkFlow
in order to ship versions of the game for Mac, Linux, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo
Switch, and more.
They even made their custom version of Monogame available as Open Source software to anyone
who wants to download it.
We'll leave a link in the description below for you to check it out.
We'll also leave a link to Bastion's website where it is available now on Steam, the App
Store, the Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and the PlayStation Store.
Now let's revisit a game that was previously featured in our Best Solo Developed Games
video.
We're talking about Axiom Verge by Thomas Happ, a Metroidvania 2D Retro Side-scroller
set in a mind-bending alien world.
Play as the scientist Trace, who, after a lab accident, wakes up in a strange and dangerous
place - not really sure if this he’s in a distant planet, the far future, or a complex
virtual-reality computer simulation.
The title’s solo developer, Thomas Happ, used to draw and sketch when he was relaxing
at home after work.
He’d try to imagine the best NES game.
What would the story be?
How would the art look like?
What characters, items, and powerups would it have?
Combining elements from his favorite games like Contra, Metroid, Blaster Master, Bionic
Commando, and others, all of this fantasizing started to morph into the concept that became
Axiom Verge.
The first version of the game was developed in MonoGame and released for PlayStation 4
in Early 2015, after nearly 5 years in development.
Thomas worked on every detail there is to his game, including art, music, and coding.
After launch he received some great help from the MonoGame team to port the game to nearly
every platform out there including Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation
Vita, Windows, and Linux.
Axiom Verge is truly one of the best solo-developed games out there.
The fact that only one person has put so much into a game is a big reason to play it.
Axiom Verge has also received a ton of industry recognition, accumulating accolades like Gamespot's
Best Of E3, Alloy Seven's Game of the Year, and more.
If you want to get Axiom Verge, you can find links to all its storefronts at axiomverge.com.
A sequel to the game, Axiom Verge 2, recently released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation
4, and the Epic Games Store.
You can check it out at axiomverge2.com.
Speaking of solo-developed wonders, our next entry is Stardew Valley by ConcernedApe.
Stardew Valley is one of those games that needs no introduction - but here’s one anyway:
Inspired by his nostalgia for Harvest Moon, Eric Barone set himself to develop the Ultimate
Farming Experience.
This dream inspired him, under the name of ConcernedApe, to create one of the most immersive
2D top-down worlds ever created in the history of video games.
The game was released in 2016, and 5 years later Eric keeps pushing updates filled with
new and fun stuff to do.
The latest content update, Stardew Valley 1.5, adds new people, quests, plants, objects,
farm layouts, mechanics, and...
Fish tanks.
When he decided to start working on his dream game, Eric wrote a custom engine for Stardew
Valley in C# making use of the XNA framework.
He self-imposed himself to work 10 hours-a-day for 4 years.
During this process, he remade the game from scratch several times until he got exactly
what he wanted.
Developing this game changed Eric's life forever - he found in it, a project worth pouring
all of his time into.
Furthermore, he inspired other devs to get into solo game development and follow in his
footsteps.
In 2017, it was announced that Stardew Valley’s revenue was over 30 million dollars across
PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation.
The following years have brought even more fame to the game, as it was released on Android,
iOS, and Nintendo Switch.
In one of our past videos, we featured an assessment of how much revenue Stardew Valley
has produced for ConcernedApe and his publisher ChuckleFish.
Click the card above to learn more.
According to Eric Barone, the Windows version was developed using the XNA framework, but
he implemented MonoGame to port the game and update the game for other platforms.
Not long ago, in August 2021, he announced the 32-bit XNA framework would be replaced
with the 64-bit MonoGame framework with the update 1.5.5 of the game.
Stardew Valley currently sits with an impressive 97% Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam.
You get it there and practically every other modern platform right now.
You can check out stardewvalley.net to learn more about where to buy it.
Remember that game that was originally born in Pico-8 and then was re-made into its final
form, turning into one of the top indie hits of the decade?
Well, Monogame was involved in its development as well!
Our next game is Celeste by ExOk Games.
The idea was born from a simple, clever, and beautiful mini-game made in Pico-8 (a virtual
fantasy console for developing and playing 128x128 16 color games).
We made a whole video about it not long ago, click the card above if you want to check
it out.
After almost 3 years of remote work, the game was released in January 2018.
According to Noel Berry, Celeste was developed using XNA for its Windows Version.
Then, FNA was implemented for its macOS and Linux versions and MonoGame for its XBoxOne,
PS4, and Switch versions.
Their game caught fire within the indie community due to its captivating story about self-discovery,
its beautiful art, and its tough-as-nails gameplay mechanics.
Celeste sold over 500,000 copies during its first year alone.
This success made it possible for the team to gather up in Vancouver, Canada, and materialize
ExOK Games.
We really appreciate Celeste and keep coming back to it in our videos.
We cant wait to see more from ExOK games.
Earlier this year they teased the development of Earthblade, their upcoming title.
It has no release date yet, but in the meantime, you can check Celeste's website to get it
for Switch, PlayStation4, XboxOne, and the different PC Storefronts that include versions
for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
If you go to their itch.io site you can even select between XNA or FNA versions of the
game.
We'll leave links in the description below.
Thanks for watching!
For more Ask Gamedev check out this game engine showcase video or this video on solo game
development.