Hey guys, I know a lot of you have avoided PayPal and have been contacting us on AIM, etc. for ways to buy Overgrowth without using it. It's frustrating because for a long time, PayPal has been the only way to order Overgrowth and we know that a lot of you guys have been holding off because of anti-PayPal sentiments.

Well, now we support Google Checkout! Google's reputation is pretty much the polar opposite of PayPal. They are one of the most beloved companies on Earth, so buy with complete confidence. Furthermore, Google gives us a much better deal than PayPal, so please use Google if you are ambivalent. Google Checkout accepts most credit cards and debit cards.

Head over to the preorder page and try it out!

To recap, preordering Overgrowth gets you:
- The warm fuzzy feeling of directly supporting indie game development
- Access to weekly alphas of Overgrowth, every week, until it's done via SPF
- The Mac, Windows, Linux, and now the Steam version of Overgrowth!

P.S. Please grab Lugaru for free this Christmas and give it away to all your friends.

Aubrey was showing me some of the new assets he has been working on as of late. He has been making some awesome blocks, pillars, walls, roofs, and other architecture. He was showing me how they can be put together in a number of ways to make a house using Phillip's awesome map editor (post on that coming soon, or dare I speculate, a video tutorial?). I thought that was awesome, so he took a screenshot, and I annotated it:

Click for bigger:

P.S. Please tell all of your friends about our free Lugaru deal! We'd like to spread Lugaru as widely as possible!

In order to bring awareness of our upcoming independent game, Overgrowth, we are giving away free copies of the game that started it all: Lugaru!

Lugaru is a cult classic, indie video game that was created by David Rosen when he was in high school. It is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Since its launch, it has been sold for $19.95 without exception -- until now!

This Christmas, we are giving it away for free!

All you have to do to have your free copy emailed to you on Christmas Eve is join this Facebook event and join the Overgrowth Facebook Page. Don't open it until Christmas Day! Make sure you're a fan of the Overgrowth Facebook Page, and be sure to invite your friends to this event!

I made a video to help explain, this is my first attempt -- I'm not as good as David, sorry!

After our Steam announcement, we got this question a lot: if I preorder now, can I get a Steam version after the release?

We were a bit concerned because we didn't want to make people choose between us and Steam. When it comes down to it, supporting us directly, getting weekly alphas, and access to SPF are awesome perks of preordering, but a lot of people really love Steam and Valve Software.

Well, after talking to Valve some more, we can go through the horns of the dilemma -- we are pleased to announce that your preorder will be honored by Steam!

So if you preorder, not only do you get the Mac, Windows, and Linux (pending Ryan Gordon's availability) versions of Overgrowth from us, you get Overgrowth on Steam as well! In other words, Valve rocks, and now is the best time to preorder.

I just finished my second design tour video, this time about Knytt Stories. Since it doesn't use hardware acceleration I had to use my video camera to record it at a consistent framerate, so I apologize for the slight lens distortion!

Be sure to click here watch it in HD!

Press the triangle button for captions (download transcript)

I asked Nifflas how Knytt is meant to be pronounced and he said "Knytt is hard to pronounce unless you speak Swedish. I don't think you have our 'y' sound, and the K is strong and does not disappear, like it does in the word 'knit'." I ended up just going with the 'knit' pronunciation and not embarrassing myself by attempting the Swedish one :) In response to the whole video, he said "There's nothing I want you to change! I'm very honoured that you did this, not to mention that you really seem to like it a lot! Thanks again!"

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don't miss our upcoming design tours! If you missed the first design tour (World of Goo), check it out here!