Digital Eel is a self-funded

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

video game development Video game development (or gamedev) is the process of developing a video game. The effort is undertaken by a developer, ranging from a single person to an international team dispersed across the globe. Development of traditional commercial PC ...

team located in the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington area. Digital Eel is best known for its ''

Infinite Space is a 2009 role-playing video game co-developed by Nude Maker and PlatinumGames for the Nintendo DS. It was published by Sega in 2009 in Japan, and 2010 in Western territories. The science fiction storyline, set across the Small and Large Magel ...

'' series of space

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charac ...

History

The group was formed in 2001 by Rich Carlson (

Ion Storm Ion Storm, L.P. was an American video game developer founded by video game industry veterans John Romero and Tom Hall, both formerly of id Software. Despite an impressive pedigree and high expectations, the company only produced one commercial ...

Looking Glass Studios Looking Glass Studios, Inc. (formerly Blue Sky Productions and LookingGlass Technologies, Inc.) was an American video game developer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was founded by Paul Neurath with Ned Lerner as Blue Sky Produ ...

), Iikka Keränen (

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...

) and Bill "Phosphorus" Sears (

KnowWonder Foundation 9 Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game company based in Irvine, California. The company was formed in March 2005 through the merger of video game developers Backbone Entertainment and The Collective. History Foundation ...

GameHouse GameHouse is a casual game developer, publisher, digital video game distributor, and portal, based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a division of RealNetworks. GameHouse distributes casual games for PC and Mac computers, as well as ...

). In April 2013, Digital Eel announced plans for the third installment of the Infinite Space series, ''Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars'', and turned to Kickstarter.com to

crowdfund Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and alternative finance. In 2015, over was raised worldwide by crow ...

the project. Funding was successful.

Developers

* Rich Carlson – design, sound, music and art * Iikka Keränen – design, code and art *Bill "Phosphorus" Sears (deceased) – artist, music and design *Henry Kropf – code, macOS expert *Chris Collins - code, macOS expert, Android expert

Games

*''Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space'' (Android, iPad, iPhone, 2021) *'' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'' reissue (Linux, macOS, Windows, 2020) *''Goblin Slayer Third Edition'' (boardgame, 2019) *''Protagon'' ( VR game,

HTC Vive VIVE, sometimes referred to as HTC Vive, is a virtual reality brand of HTC Corporation. It consists of hardware like its titular virtual reality headsets and accessories, virtual reality software and services, and initiatives that promote appl ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

, 2017) *''Infinite Space Battle Poker'' (card game, 2016) *''Pairs: Infinite Space'' (card game, 2016) *''Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars'' (

, Mac, 2015) *''Eat Electric Death!'' (boardgame, 2013) *''Infinite Space Explorers: X-1 Expansion'' (card game, 2012) *''Infinite Space Explorers'' (card game, 2012) *''Data Jammers: FastForward'' (Windows, Mac, 2011 & 2015) *''Space Ludo'' (boardgame, 2009) *''

BrainPipe ''Brainpipe: A Plunge to Unhumanity'' is an action video game developed by Digital Eel for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and handhelds and was released on December 24, 2008. The game received "Excellence in Audio" award at Independent Games Festival ...

: A Plunge to Unhumanity'' (Windows, Mac & iPhone, 2008 & 2009) *''Goblin Slayer'' (boardgame, 2008) *''Soup du Jour'' (Windows &

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

, 2007 & 2011) *''Eat Electric Death!'' (boardgame, 2007 but publisher defaulted) *''Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space'' (Windows, Mac, 2005, 2006, 2011 & 2014) *'' Diceland Space: Terrans vs. Urluquai'' (setting, ship types & art, tabletop game, 2005) *'' Diceland Space: Garthans vs. Muktians'' (setting, ship types & art, tabletop game, 2005) *''Independent Games'' (

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

30-game compilation CD-ROM that featured ''Big Box of Blox'', ''Dr. Blob's Organism'', ''Plasmaworm ''and '' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'' Windows, 2005) *''Mac OS X Boiler Plate Special'' (Mac, 2004) *''Digital Eel's Big Box of Blox'' (Windows, Mac, handhelds, smartphones, 2003–2008) *''Dr. Blob's Organism'' (Windows & Mac, 2003) *'' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'' (Windows, Mac & handhelds, 2002-2020) *''Plasmaworm'' (Windows, July 17, 2001)

Reception

Digital Eel is best known for its ''Infinite Space'' series of space roguelikes, '' Strange Adventures in Infinite Space'' (2002), ''Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space'' (2005) and ''Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars'' (2015). Strange Adventures and Weird Worlds pioneered the space roguelike subgenre, inspiring later efforts like '' FTL: Faster Than Light''.

Awards

*Excellence in Audio: Brainpipe ( IGF, 2009) *Innovation in Audio: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space ( IGF, 2006) *

Seumas McNally Grand Prize The Seumas McNally Grand Prize is the main award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is na ...

finalist: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space ( IGF, 2006) *Quest/Adventure Game of the Year: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (Game Tunnel, 2005) *Innovation in Visual Art: Dr. Blob's Organism ( IGF, 2004) *Innovation in Audio: Dr. Blob's Organism ( IGF, 2004)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.digital-eel.com/ Companies based in Seattle Indie game developers Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies Video game companies established in 2001