by Kim McMinn

Kim McMinn is a fantasy writer who masquerades as a librarian by day while she completes her first novel. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Arts from Murdoch University and lives in Perth, Western Australia with her husband and three world-domination-plotting cats. 

On a rooftop bar, on a warm Wednesday evening in Perth, local game developers Stirfire Studios, hosted by AFK, held their official launch party of Freedom Fall: a diabolical down-scrolling platform game.

Over one hundred close friends and fans celebrated the successes that the game has so far achieved since its launch last year at PAX Australia on July 19. They huddled on the couches, playing the newly released levels of the game, avoided the wrath of the eerily beautiful Princess in attendance, and imbibed the game’s custom cocktail, the Elicksir of Life.

Freedom Fall’s creative director (Art, Story, Level Design), Lisa Rye, created the delightfully twisted fairy tale adventure three years ago as a personal project. From there, it was pitched to Let’s Make Games, a non-profit association that works to support the game development community of Perth, where it sparked the interest of Stirfire Studios. Freedom Fall was launched initially for iOS, Android, Ouya, and Desura platforms, and in January this year it was given the green light for Steam, where it has already sold thousands of copies. Freedom Fall has been nominated for several awards and won Best Game at the WA Screen Awards in 2013.

Freedom Fall follows the trials of Marsh, the hero, as he attempts to escape a prison tower. But this is no ordinary prison; the beautifully creepy Princess, who finds the prison dull and dreary, has made some alterations for her own amusement. Marsh must avoid spikes, fire balls, and other devilish traps, while collecting bolts and cogs to create items that will help him through the labyrinth and find freedom. The walls of the prison are splashed in graffiti written by the Princess, delivering the darkly humorous backstory of her life. This is a Princess that you need to be rescued from!

Along with the reveal of two new levels to the game, and a door prize raffle of one of three collector’s editions of Freedom Fall, Stirfire Studios announced two more surprises for 2014. The first was the reveal of a new game called Dead End Alley that is in production with Meijer Creative. The second was a collaboration, still in its very early stages, with an Australian science fiction author who used to live in Perth, but is now based in Brisbane. It was all very mysterious and exciting, and we’ll have to keep our ear to ground to find out more about that!

Though I’m not strictly a Katy Perry fan, it’s hard not to admire how hard she works and what a marketing genius she is. I loved the ROAR video clip but this one is even better. With SUPER high production values, as you would expect, and colourful sets, Perry lets pop culture loose on Ancient Egyptian mythology with astonishing success.

So where to start praising … let’s see, the dominant mauve and blue colour themes are personally appealing, the attention to detail in the makeup and the costume show true appreciation of Ancient Egypt (thumbs up from the experts, apparently), and then there’s Cleopatra (Katy Patra) busy turning her fawning male suitors to dust once she has received their offerings.

Honestly, how could you not love this entire concept and its immaculate execution. Like Lilly Allen’s clip, Hard Out Here, Dark Horse created some serious controversy when it was released in February 2014. But while Allen was accused of being racist, Perry’s music video strayed into the treacherous waters of religion.

You can read more about that on Wikipedia. Juicy J’s featured vocals are a strong counterpoint to Perry’s sultry carolling, and I totally DIG his glasses. Golden asps, blue servants, elaborate period accessories, and puppies, this a visually sumptuous and fun feast from one of the most influential entertainers of the decade.

Directed by Matthew Cullen

by Chris Roberson , Mike Allred (Illustrator)·  

Told from a female zombie’s perspective, this smart, witty detective series mixes urban fantasy and romantic dramedy.Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan is a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a month she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her memories, but in the process she becomes consumed with the thoughts and personality of the dead person – until she eats her next brain. She sets out to fulfi ll the dead person’s last request, solve a crime or right a wrong.

Our zombie girl detective is joined by a radical supporting cast: her best friend Eleanor, who happens to be a swinging ’60s ghost, a posse of paintball blasting vampires, a smitten were-dog and a hot but demented mummy.

Paperback, 144 pages

Published March 22nd 2011 by Vertigo

Gwen works for a graveyard digging graves. This is a good job for a Zombie because she must eat a brain at least once a month so she doesn’t become a brain dead monster. From these, she obtains the deceased’s memories.

When out trick or treating, Gwen, Ellie (Ghost) and Spot (Were-Terrier) come across a house with a creepy man who makes them feel uncomfortable. There turns out to be a connection between him and the last deceased brain she’s eaten.

Across town, we learn of a Blood Sports paintball business that conducts itself at night. It also happens to be run by a group of Female Vampires trying to get easy meals without getting caught. But soon an organization comes into town trying to locate the vampires and Gwen catches the eye of one of the detectives, Horatio, who finds her attractive and alluring.

My favorite parts of this comic were the mix of different paranormal creatures, the humor in the dialogue, and inclusion of a Were-terrier who is so cute you just want to pet him. The Blood Sports paintball was a fun and new idea, giving the vampires a way to feed on the boys and men that came out to play (without having to kill them), leaving the men merely dazed and confused not dead.

This series has so many different options for story lines and so far I am hooked. I zipped right through it and it’s something I would read over again. Recommended.