This week's Link Dump Friday is brought to you by Nitrome, X Gen Studios, and the letter "S" for "space pirates with guitar cannons". No, seriously.

Digging and Demolition With Buddies You remember Motherload, right? TRICK QUESTION. Of course you do, because X Gen Studios' mining sim was awesome, and is still imitated to this day. Well, did you know it's going to be reborn in a major way with Super Motherload, an upcoming PC/Mac and even console version currently in development with multiplayer capabilities and some big upgrades? The game's Kickstarter earlier this year was unsuccessful, unfortunately, but it seems like development has still gone forward, which is fantastic news for fans, and though more concrete details like pricing and such have yet to be nailed down (and delivered in a tidy website format for interested parties) you can check out the newly released official trailer and start rounding up space canaries right now.

Use Your Imagination and Your Feedback Steam has just added a new section to their popular Greenlight service with the addition of concepts, which allows developers to post their ideas for upcoming games they haven't actually finished yet. Though your ratings won't count towards getting the game on Steam (y'know, since it doesn't actually exists), developers should look at this as a potentially valuable opportunity to test the water for their new ideas and games in a way that allows them to get feedback from would-be players and even build a community. Sounds like a good idea to me. I've been looking for a place to pitch my dance sim/tower defense/word game "My Little Pony: Iron Chef is Magic".

Green is a Good Colour for Ducks In case you missed it, Nitrome is taking their first crack at Steam through Greenlight with their upcoming game Flightless, a puzzle platformer about thieving ducks searching dangerous ruins for gems to pay back a debt, and you can actually check out a pretty hefty demo for it right here. As you might expect from Nitrome, it looks fantastic, and uses its core mechanic (a magical ladder, since your ducks can't fly or jump) in some seriously clever ways. It feels like the Greenlight page lacks some important basic information, like what the full game will ultimately contain and cost, but if you're a fan, you'll jump at this chance to help Nitrome succeed even more than they have and get a crack (quack?) at one way cool game in the process.

Space Pirates AND Guitar Cannons? Visual novels can be pretty awesome, but it seems like most of them are about romance or slow mystery or kawaii... and there's nothing wrong with that, but it does mean the genre doesn't exactly have a reputation for being action-packed. Well, Axel Shokk's gloriously trippy upcoming adventure Kat Attack! could change all that, and it's up for funding on Kickstarter. What's it about? Well... apparently it's an "action-oriented interactive comic set in a distant dystopian future about a guitar-beam-cannon wielding space pirate named Kat who battles ruthless mercenaries and mobsters as she searches for the legendary astroturf." But you should really check out the Kickstarter page for more info, since the gorgeous trippy style and player-driven story and gameplay makes this one look like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Ads for Good The concept of a "free-to-play" game is one that can make a lot of gamers wince, since it tends to be synonymous with obnoxiously designed titles that seem determined to milk extra purchases and microtransactions out of its players. Well, a team of developers wants to change all that with their up-for-funding IndieGoGo project Game It Forward. The idea is that while you're enjoying your free-to-play game, any ads you see and purchases you make within the game split their revenue between funding the actual game and a charity of your choosing. Though initially only the Seattle Children's Hospital is available, they plan to add more different charities to choose from so you can pick a cause that really matters to you, as well as different games from their first planned concept "Tringo", an "approachable casual game that combines light-hearted trivia with the excitement of bingo". If the idea of goofing off in your freetime actually benefiting other people and changing lives sounds good to you, head on over to their funding page to learn more.

Do you know an upcoming indie project or some community gaming related news you think deserves some attention? Send me an e-mail with LINK DUMP FRIDAY in the subject line at dora AT casualgameplay DOT com with the info, and we'll judge it with the all-seeing glare of our own self-importance for inclusion in a future Link Dump Friday article!