Sickhead Games

Last updated
Sickhead Games, LLC
Company type Limited liability company
Industry Video games
FoundedOctober 2002
Founders Tom Spilman, Russell Fincher
Headquarters,
Number of employees
5-10
Website SickheadGames.com

Sickhead Games, LLC is an American independent game development studio founded in 2002. It is best known for its multiplatform turn-based strategy game ARMED!, its involvement with the MonoGame framework [1] and Torque series of game engines, and the development of several PlayStation 4/5, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch ports of indie games including TowerFall Ascension , [2] Stardew Valley , [3] Darkest Dungeon , [4] Octodad: Dadliest Catch , [5] Slay the Spire , and Axiom Verge . [6] [7] The studio has updated classic console and PC games from the late 1990s and early 2000s, including ExZeus , Enclave , and Grandia , to run on modern gaming systems.

Contents

Games

This is a list of the original video game titles developed by Sickhead Games.

TitleRelease
Year
Platform(s)Publisher
ARMED!2013Mobile and WindowsSickhead Games
Be the Astronaut2015 [8] WindowsEureka Exhibits
Space Invaders Deck Commander2024 [9] Playstation, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch, PCRock It Games / Taito

Game Ports

This is a list of video game titles ported to various platforms by Sickhead Games.

TitleRelease DatePlatformDeveloper / Publisher
TowerFall Ascension March 11, 2014PlayStation 4 Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd
December 15, 2015PlayStation Vita
January 24, 2017Xbox One
Dust: An Elysian Tail October 7, 2014 [10] PlayStation 4Humble Hearts
Escape Goat 2 October 21, 2014 [11] PlayStation 4 MagicalTimeBean
Ironclad Tactics January 20, 2015 [12] PlayStation 4 Zachtronics Industries
Apotheon February 3, 2015 [13] PlayStation 4 Alientrap
TowerFall Dark World Expansion May 12, 2015PlayStation 4 Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd
January 25, 2017Xbox One
Octodad: Dadliest Catch May 19, 2015PlayStation Vita Young Horses, Inc
Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-a-Fide Edition June 2, 2015PlayStation 4 17-Bit
July 11, 2019Nintendo Switch
Axiom Verge April 19, 2016PlayStation VitaThomas Happ Games
September 29, 2016Xbox One
October 5, 2017 [14] Nintendo Switch
Score Rush Extended May 31, 2016PlayStation 4 Xona Games
Darkest Dungeon September 28, 2016PlayStation 4 Red Hook Studios
September 28, 2016PlayStation Vita
Stardew Valley [15] July 29, 2016 [16] Mac OS X ConcernedApe
July 29, 2016 [16] Linux
December 13, 2016PlayStation 4
May 22, 2018 [17] PlayStation Vita
December 13, 2016Xbox One
October 5, 2017 [18] Nintendo Switch
Salt and Sanctuary March 28, 2017 [19] PlayStation Vita [20] Ska Studios
CRYPTARK June 27, 2017PlayStation 4 Alientrap
Tooth and Tail September 12, 2017PlayStation 4 Pocketwatch Games
Celeste [21] January 25, 2018PlayStation 4 Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd
January 25, 2018 [21] Xbox One
January 25, 2018 [22] Nintendo Switch
Mercenary Kings: Reloaded February 6, 2018Xbox One Tribute Games
February 6, 2018PlayStation Vita
TowerFall September 27, 2018 [23] Nintendo Switch Maddy Makes Games
Chasm [24] July 31, 2018 [25] PlayStation VitaBit Kid, Inc.
October 11, 2018 [26] Nintendo Switch
Slay the Spire May 21, 2019PlayStation 4MegaCrit / Humble Games
June 6, 2019Nintendo Switch
August 13, 2019Xbox One
June 13, 2020iOS
February 3, 2021Android
Eagle IslandJuly 11, 2019 [27] Nintendo SwitchPixelnicks
Grandia HD Collection August 16, 2019 [28] Nintendo Switch Game Arts
March 6, 2024 [29] PlayStation 4
March 6, 2024Xbox One
Grandia HD Remaster October 15, 2019Windows Game Arts
Grandia II HD Remaster October 15, 2019Windows Game Arts
Monaco: Complete Edition October 21, 2019 [30] Nintendo Switch Pocketwatch Games
Door Kickers: Action Squad October 23, 2019Xbox One KillHouse Games
October 24, 2019PlayStation 4
October 28, 2019Nintendo Switch
Real Heroes: Firefighter November 27, 2019Nintendo Switch Epicenter Studios / Golem Entertainment
March 10, 2020PlayStation 4 Epicenter Studios / 612 Entertainment, LLC
Ikenfell October 8, 2020Xbox OneHappy Ray Games / Humble Games
October 8, 2020PlayStation 4
October 8, 2020Nintendo Switch
Unrailed! September 23, 2020Xbox OneIndoor Astronaut / Daedalic Entertainment
September 23, 2020PlayStation 4
WildfireDecember 3, 2020Xbox OneSneaky Bastards / Humble Games
December 3, 2020PlayStation 4
December 3, 2020Nintendo Switch
MundaunMarch 15, 2021Xbox OneMWM Interactive
March 15, 2021PlayStation 4
Heavy BurgerApril 27, 2021PlayStation 4Lub Blub, International Headquarters / G-MODE, 612 Entertainment
Eagle Island TwistMay 27, 2021Nintendo Switch [31] KillHouse Games
May 27, 2021PlayStation 4
May 27, 2021Xbox One
Axiom Verge 2 August 11, 2021PlayStation 4Thomas Happ Games
ExZeus: The Complete Collection September 30, 2021 [32] Xbox One HyperDevBox, Sickhead Games / Ziggurat Interactive
September 30, 2021 [32] PlayStation 4
September 30, 2021 [32] Nintendo Switch
Fae TacticsNovember 17, 2021Xbox OneEndlessfluff Games / Humble Games
November 17, 2021Windows
Prodeus September 23, 2022WindowsBounding Box Software / Humble Games
September 23, 2022Xbox One
September 23, 2022Xbox Series X/S
September 23, 2022PlayStation 4
September 23, 2022PlayStation 5
October 28, 2022Nintendo Switch
Enclave HD June 29, 2023 [33] Nintendo Switch Starbreeze Studios / Ziggurat Interactive
June 29, 2023PlayStation 4
June 29, 2023Xbox One

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MonoGame is a free and open source C# framework used by game developers to make games for multiple platforms and other systems. It is also used to make Windows and Windows Phone games run on other systems. It supports iOS, Android, macOS, tvOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. It implements the Microsoft XNA 4 application programming interface (API). It has been used for several games, including Bastion, Celeste,Fez and Stardew Valley.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">BlitWorks</span> Spanish video game company

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