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GOG.com starts up early access Games in Development

by: Randy -
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GOG.com has started its own version of an early access program: Games in Development. Sure, Good Old Games began as a storefront for restored older titles; now it's a company selling games that aren't done quite yet. But GOG.com isn't opening the floodgates. It's putting its stamp of approval on these Games in Development. It's saying these are all works in progress, but they're pretty much good to go. You can still presumably influence a game's development by visiting the game-specific forum on GOG.com, which is part of the fun of early access. 

On top of that, GOG.com offers a 14-day no-questions-asked money-back guarantee on Games in Development. None of these games is free. And so far, there's five to choose from.

Starbound leads the pack. This Terraria-like has been on Steam Early Access since December 4, 2013. Out of 50,000 player reviews, 90% are positive ("very positive," as Steam would say). It's debuting on GOG.com with 33% off it's $14.99 price tag. 

There's also Ashes of the Singularity, another "very positive"-ly reviewed game, adding real-time strategy to GOG.com's mix. There's Project Zomboid with some 3D isometric zombie survival sandbox action. The Curious Expedition is a roguelike adventure game with maps straight out of a Greyhawk D&D campaign. And TerraTech rounds out the five titles with its open-world vehicle construction/destruction gameplay (though it's the only one with only "mostly positive" Steam reviews). All are currently at discount pricing.

I hope GOG.com sticks to its guns and keeps this section tightly curated, as it says it will. Early Access has been a grand and successful experiment. I'd just like to see GOG.com continue doing the hard work of filtering out the garbage. "After all," says its Games in Development support page, "there's no rush."