ASM Art Contest Winners

After a long two months, our Special Edition Art Contest has come to a close, with five talented winners chosen!

We appreciate everyone who submitted. Judging criteria included technical ability, uniqueness of composition, and total representation of Always Sometimes Monsters.

Without further ado, we present our glorious winners:

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Special Prize Winners

Each of these creators will be receiving a boxed copy of Always Sometimes Monsters Special Edition, when it ships.

Anaïs Thibault

Neja Zagorc

Sandra Becerra

Runner Up

This creator will be receiving a Vagabond Dog T-Shirt, a limited edition Vagabond Dog Notebook, and a copy of the Always Sometimes Monsters Special Edition, when it ships.

Klaudia Szulc

FIRST PRIZE

Out of all the contestents, it was this entry that got the most excitement out of our team during the judging.

We are therefore pleased to announce that this work will be printed on the interior cover of the special edition!

Heather Trammell

In addition, this creator will be receiving a special role in our Discord, a Vagabond Dog T-Shirt, a Vagabond Dog Notebook, boxed copy of the Always Sometimes Monsters Special Edition, and a $250 USD cash prize.

Congratulations to Heather Trammell, and thanks to all of you who entered our contest. Juding wasn’t easy, and we really admire all the effort and talent on display!

Keep posted for future announcements about the physical release as we get closer to release, later this year.

ASM Now Available On Nintendo

Today we’re thrilled to announce that our first game, and critical indie darling, Always Sometimes Monsters is now available on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo eShop.

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Players can enjoy the deep narrative, full of interesting characters, tough ethical decisions, and philosophical quandries as they journey cross-country to win back the love of their life before they marry someone else.

The game is a faithful port featuring all the content of its original release, plus some special features to the Nintendo Switch like handheld mode for on-the-go gaming and Online Cloud Saves for Nintendo Online subscribers.

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Grab Always Sometimes Monsters and experience
this indie classic on Nintendo Switch today

Pre-Order ASM On Nintendo Switch

After years of requests, Vagabond Dog is finally bringing their beloved indie classic, Always Sometimes Monsters to the Nintendo Switch on April 8th, 2021 for $9.99 USD.

Pre-orders are currently available on the Nintendo eShop with a 20% discount off the launch price.

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This will be the first time Always Sometimes Monsters has been made available on a major home console. It includes the entire narrative adventure that fans love, complete with all of its many difficult ethical choices.

In handheld mode, players will now be able to undertake a cross-country journey and win back the love of their life while literally crossing the country in the real world.

Players who pick up the Nintendo Switch version can also enjoy Cloud Saves through their Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and save moments via the capture button.

Vagabond Unplugged

September 13 - 14, the Vagabond Dog crew will be showcasing Sometimes Always Monsters at Unplugged Expo 6 in Toronto, Ontario at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (6 Garamond St).

The team’s table will be presented in the designated Gaming Zone and preview the latest build of the game, along with all the typical swag. Come by, say hello, and play the latest while it’s available.

Always Sometimes Monsters Turns 5

Five years. Half a decade.

This long, you’ve been our fans, and more.

Every anniversary, we look back and feel both grateful for all of you who played Always Sometimes Monsters, and proud that so many of you managed to find something of personal meaning within our little game.

As time marches on, and we look back at those early days of development, there are still many things that befuddle us. It’s still hard to believe in earnest that the game exists, despite remembering all the long hours that we put in to making it. It’s difficult to rationalize its success, despite meeting players all over the world. To this day, it isn’t easy to accept the support and praise that has been sent our way.

No matter how much time has passed since the game’s launch day, we know that we are very lucky to have had the experience we did. Especially today, not every indie developer gets to find the success we did, and thus we are reverent to our own history.

Looking forward, the calendar is thin.

Next year is an important one.

We are excited for you, the ultimately patient, to finally find Sometimes Always Monsters.

See you in the Discord.

4 Years of ASM

Once you've done something important with your life, it's hard not to feel like you have peaked.

This is particularly common in the world of games that encourages indie developers to put every ounce of energy they have into their projects, just for the chance of breaking through the surface of this crazy industry. 

At the end of the day, we're just some folks who enjoy making games. We were never emotionally prepared for the reception that we got, and have been in a very strange personal space since the release of our studio's debut with Always Sometimes Monsters four years ago. Though, we remain insanely grateful for this amazing position.

Get ASM FOR $1.00

As a special thanks to all of you who've found and loved our game, and for those who continue to share it with your fellow Vagabonds, we're offering DRM-Free copies of Always Sometimes Monsters for just $1.00 today.

If you've already bought a copy (or 10), know we still have Free Worldwide Shipping on our T-shirts, at a new discounted price. Just use promo code: YEAROFTHEDOG

Love, Thanks, And Appreciation

Extra gratitude to everyone at Devolver Digital, who took a ridiculous chance on some goofy neophytes with a big dream and absolutely no idea how to make games. Without their support early on, Always Sometimes Monsters may never have come to pass.

Much love to the Indie Megabooth crew, for giving us our first (and many more) chances to showcase our game at so many lovely conventions. Without which, we'd never get to meet any of you in-person.

Finally, infinite love to all of you who ever played the game. Without your passion, and desire to share it with your friends, family, and lovers, we would not be where we are today. Thank you for your grace, patience, and adoration through all of our confusing antics and awkward silences. You're the reason we love doing this.

The Future

We are still hard at work on Sometimes Always Monsters, fully aware of how eager you all are to play the game.

The project has turned into something far larger than we ever realized it could be, advancing almost every aspect of our formula with more depth and complexity. It may be a difficult waiting period, but we promise the game will be ready one day. Until then, we hope you enjoy life to its fullest, and join us for the inevitable launch.

ASM on PS4

After quite some time coming, we are very happy to finally announce that Always Sometimes Monsters is now available for PlayStation 4 in most regions. It's the same intense narrative game as on PC and other platforms, but presented in HD resolution and with some trophies.

This is our console debut, and first foray into the PlayStation community. We'd like to take a moment to welcome all the new Vagabonds joining our tribe today, and thank you all for playing. We will continue looking for more platforms going forward, as opportunities present themselves.

It is exciting to have so many new players joining. Together, we can begin to unravel the layers in each of our stories, and come to a better understanding of ourselves. Don't be afraid to share your experience with Always Sometimes Monsters, as there are depths learned only in communication of difference and contrast.

Devolver Digital Reunites With Vagabond Dog For ASM Sequel

Not to be confused with 2014's critically acclaimed title, Always Sometimes Monsters, sequel Sometimes Always Monsters is set for late 2016 release, and also probable confusion no matter how hard we try to explain the two different titles

Your Guarded Desires - Vagabond Dog and Devolver Digital have reignited their romance to publish a sequel to the lauded, semi-biographical, digital novella, RPG, life-sim, Always Sometimes Monsters, called Sometimes Always Monsters, scheduled for release in late 2016. (No, YOU'RE using commas wrong.)

Fans attending PAX East this weekend can get the original title (Always Sometimes Monsters) for free by playing the sequel (Sometimes Always Monsters) in the Indie Megabooth. During PAX East, the original title from 2014 will be 90 percent off through Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/274310/.

In this upcoming sequel, you've finally arrived: the love of your life is at your side, your book is on the best-seller's list and everything is as it should be – stable, comfortable and well-deserved. But success isn't all it's cracked up to be. Despite all of your achievements, whispers from the shadows grow, calling you a monster, manipulative, and unrepentant.

Only you can decide if they're right.

Seeking inspiration, you join a cross-country bus tour with a band of like-minded authors as each stop presents a new city to explore. Fans and strangers alike invite you into their lives – forever shaping their worlds for better or worse as you pass through town with a whirlwind of choice and consequence.

Fork Parker explained, "When they first brought it to us, we got so confused by the title. Totally thought it was their first game, the one I'd already paid for. Figured the Vagabonds were trying to scam us. Put a bounty on their head and everything. Thankfully one of the interns opened the damned thing, cleared the whole mess up. The game's incredible. Would have been a total shame if one of my hitmen finally got to them."

"These games are antithetical to one another, and so their naming must mirror that," clarified Justin Amirkhani, Creative Director at Vagabond Dog. "We spent a long time considering alternatives, but this was the only thing that we felt truly fit. Adding a number to the end just didn't make sense because this game doesn't feel like a forward progression. It's more like an opposite, or a reflection of the first."

Sometimes Always Monsters is set for later this year, in the meantime stay in touch on Twitter @VagabondDog and keep up to date with Devolver's various ramblings at @DevolverDigital.

A Good Continuity Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Although it is not required, Sometimes Always Monsters will allow you to import your completed save file from Always Sometimes Monsters. Doing this will alter key factors about the narrative, as well as retain characters and continuity across both stories.

We'd like you to send us your completed ASM save files.

That little universe you cultivated with your decisions is important to us, and we'd like to make sure the most important parts of it are preserved as we develop SAM.

Having access to real player data will help us better understand how you interacted with the game, help our testing process, and inform our design going forward.

Just e-mail a copy of it to continuity@vagabonddog.com

You can find it in your ASM install directory on your PC.

If helping us make better games is not enough, we also offer your world some permanence as it will be carried on the Vagabond Dog pilgrimage to PAX Prime 2015 and beyond.

The chosen few will receive free swag from the show.

Don't worry if you haven't finished yet. There's still plenty of time before Sometimes Always Monsters releases.

It's not like we're judging you anyway, right?

Android & iOS Take Always Sometimes Monsters On The Go

If you've ever been outside in the real world and wished you had a pocket-sized artistic representation of said reality to distract yourself with, Always Sometimes Monsters is now available for your enjoyment on iOS / Android tablets and smartphones.

The game includes all the content from the PC version, formatted to fit the tiny screen you've permanently affixed to your life.  We believe this version is the most digestible edition of Always Sometimes Monsters to-date, and it's also our cheapest; currently priced at only $1.99 for a limited time!

Always Sometimes Monsters Now Available On Mac & Linux

Finally we can be united as Always Sometimes Monsters is finally available for Mac and Linux, as well as Windows machines. It has been an interesting road porting the game, but it’s something we really wanted to do after receiving so many requests.

If you’ve had friends on the fence about sharing the experience with you, or they’ve just been unable due to their OS, now’s the time to buy them a copy and shove it down their throat!

ASM Inspired Asset Pack Now Available For RPG Maker VX Ace

Today we are happy to announce our partnership with Degica and the RPG Maker for the release of our own asset pack for RPG Maker VX Ace.

Environments From and Inspired by “Always Sometimes Monsters” is a collection of tilesets reformated to fit the RPG Maker VX Ace engine and any project looking to replicate the urban jungle of Always Sometimes Monsters.

Complete with everything you’ll need to create city streets, parks, homes, offices, dirty back alleys, and more!The pack is currently available on the RPG Maker VX Ace Asset Store for $19.99.

Vagabonds Steal Two Canadian Videogame Awards

Last night Always Sometimes Monsters took home awards for both Best Writing and Best Indie Game from the 2014 Canadian Videogame Awards. In addition to the awards won, Always Sometimes Monsters was also nominated for Best Original Music, and Best Downloadable Game.

Fellow nominees included excellent Canadian-made games like Super Time Force, The Long Dark, The Fall, Mercenary Kings, Child of Light, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. 

It was an insane night for all of us and a total surprise to hear our name called at all, nevermind twice. As it always does, seeing friends and peers from the Canadian game industry reminded us how fortunate we are to live in a country that supports and lavishes such attention on its creative talent. We are truly honoured to be a Canadian game studio and part of Toronto's independent game development community.