The Most Popular Games Developed by Airtight Games

Any new game developer must find immense success to stay afloat. There are companies with great titles that simply can’t remain operational. Airtight Games was such a company, albeit with titles that still survive.

This independent video game developer was founded in 2004. After releasing a few titles, the Airtight Games company closed its doors in 2014. In 10 years, Airtight brought us six games that players still love. Each features a unique theme. The storytelling is also top-notch, immersing players further. Among the six titles, here are the four truly exceptional options for gamers.

Dark Void

Dark Void combines thrilling aerial and ground-based combat for all sci-fi lovers. Players adopt the persona of Will, a pilot who crashed into the mysterious Void while flying over the Bermuda Triangle. This is a dangerous place where an alien race plans to threaten the world. Will teams up with rebellious humans, The Survivors, to beat Earth’s enemies.

Dark Void takes combat action to a new level. Will has a jetpack enabling free aerial movement. This means high-intensity dogfights in the air and plenty of tension. Players can not only shoot enemies but also hurl them toward the ground from miles up. The game features interesting characters too, including Nikola Tesla!

This was Airtight Games’ first release that captured people’s attention due to its fast-paced, vertical movement. It was published by Capcom in 2010 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Windows.

Quantum Conundrum

Avid puzzlers will love Quantum Conundrum. It’s a first-person title in which gamers play as a 12-year-old boy. The protagonist is sent by his mother to his genius uncle, Professor Quadrangle, who resides in a mansion and conducts scientific experiments. One day, an experiment goes wrong when the boy is about to enter the house. An explosion is heard, and his uncle’s nowhere to be found!

Players must locate Professor Quadrangle by solving various puzzles. Initially, you’re able to walk, jump, and interact with objects. Then, you discover an Interdimensional Shift Device to change dimensions and continue your search within a new level. There’s the Fluffy dimension in which objects become light to shift them easily. In the Reverse Gravity dimension, things start floating.

No matter which dimension is accessed, your movement remains normal. This unique dynamic allows you to fix problems easily. Combining different physical realities’ effects is both fun and challenging. For example, throwing something in the Fluffy dimension and then switching to Heavy will make it fall, breaking something underneath.

Quantum Conundrum is truly a masterpiece in the puzzle genre that was released in partnership with Square Enix in 2012 for the PS3, the Xbox, and Windows. The game is available on Steam with several positive reviews.

Soul Fjord

What would happen when one fuses ancient Norse mythology and 1970s funk? You’d get Soul Fjord. This weird and uncommon game definitely gets frustrating too. It’s still impossible to put down the courtesy of the overall gameplay.

Soul Fjord is a mashup of various game styles, containing elements of dungeon crawlers and classic brawlers, and merging them into the mechanics of rhythm games. Gamers control Magnus Jones, who’s been rejected to enter into Club Valhalla. To get accepted, he must traverse 9 stages, battling enemies all the way through. The frustrating part here is restarting upon dying while all your loot and items are gone!

The gameplay’s rhythmic part requires hitting attack keys corresponding to the beat line running at the screen’s bottom. Think of how you’d hit relevant buttons in Guitar Hero while watching the timeline. This requires observing the timeline while huge spiders and squirrels try to kill you.

All this leads to a kind of irritation that makes players want to continue trying. Soul Fjord is not for the impatient, yet it’s a lot of fun! It was released in 2014 for the Ouya console only, causing lower accessibility.

Murdered: Soul Suspect

The best release by Airtight Games for fans of investigative titles is Murdered: Soul Suspect. This murder mystery hides a massive twist: you’re playing as Ronan O’Connor, a dead Salem police officer trying to solve his own murder. Although it sounds strange, this well-thought-out game takes investigative gaming to the afterlife.

Players get to analyze various clues and discover the killer in all the game’s sections. This isn’t limited to visual hints at the ground and walls. Since you’re a ghost, you’ve got supernatural abilities that enhance the gameplay. For example, you’ll see vague energies and ghostly forms of past events. You may even possess people and read their thoughts.

Murdered: Soul Suspect contains side quests and mini-stories too. Helping other ghosts solve their deaths adds to the gameplay. Combined with the ability to freely explore Salem, you’ve got a compelling title that’ll keep you hooked.

This was the company’s last release, published in 2014 by Square Enix for PS3, PS4, Xbox, and Windows. The title serves as a solid legacy for Airtight.

Final Word

Several indie game makers existed in the past, most come and go without any trace. Airtight Games isn’t one of those. Even though it stayed around for just a decade, gamers got quirky and captivating titles to enjoy for years to come. The games hold up even today, offering challenging and action-packed gameplay to those who seek something different. Airtight’s secret lies in the fact that the company attracted top developers and designers like Kim Swift (Half-Life, Portal). This company was a crucial stepping stone for her impressive career, bringing her to Amazon Studios, EA, and Xbox.