Sickhead Games
| Sickhead Games, LLC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Limited liability company |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 2002 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Products |
|
Number of employees | 5–10 |
| Website | sickheadgames |
Sickhead Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer based in Dallas, Texas. It was founded in October 2002 by Tom Spilman and Russell Fincher and specializes in porting, remastering, and co-developing games for consoles and PC, in addition to producing its own original titles. Titles the studio has ported or co-developed include Darkest Dungeon, Stardew Valley, Celeste, and Slay the Spire.
Sickhead's early work centered on the Torque engine before the studio shifted its focus to MonoGame, an open-source framework for which Spilman is a project lead. It released its first original title, ARMED!, in 2013, and the following year began porting console versions of independently developed games, starting with TowerFall Ascension. Since then, the studio has ported dozens of titles to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms and has produced HD remasters of older games such as Grandia and ExZeus. It released Space Invaders Deck Commander in 2024 and began releasing the Jaleco Sports Series in 2025, a line of revived NES, SNES, and Famicom sports games developed with Jaleco.
History
Sickhead Games was founded in Dallas, Texas, in October 2002 by Tom Spilman and Russell Fincher. In its early years the studio worked with the Torque series of game engines, later shifting its focus to MonoGame, an open-source framework that lowered the barrier for indie developers bringing their games to consoles.
In 2013, the studio released its first original title, ARMED!, a multiplatform turn-based strategy game for mobile devices and Windows. In 2014, Sickhead began porting independently developed games to consoles, starting with the PlayStation 4 version of TowerFall Ascension. Later ports included Octodad: Dadliest Catch for the PlayStation Vita in 2015.
The studio went on to port further indie titles to PlayStation and Xbox One consoles, including Darkest Dungeon, Stardew Valley, Axiom Verge, and Slay the Spire. Support later expanded to Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms.
Alongside its ports of contemporary indie games, Sickhead has produced updated versions of older console and PC games for modern systems, including ExZeus, Enclave, and Grandia. In 2024, the studio released Space Invaders Deck Commander with Rock It Games and Taito. In 2025, it began reviving classic NES, SNES, and Famicom Jaleco sports titles, beginning with Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded and Jaleco Sports: GOAL! on Windows.
MonoGame
Co-founder Tom Spilman has served as one of the framework's project leads and, as of July 2026, sits on the board of the MonoGame Foundation. After Sony and the MonoGame team connected in 2013, Sickhead was brought on to help move the arena-combat game TowerFall from the Ouya to PlayStation 4 as TowerFall Ascension. That project led to further porting contracts for numerous other MonoGame- and XNA-based indie titles.
Video games
Developed games
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | ARMED! | Mobile, Windows | Sickhead Games |
| 2015 | Be the Astronaut | Windows | Eureka Exhibits |
| 2015 | Be the Dinosaur | Windows | Eureka Exhibits |
| 2018 | Floating Log Raft Simulator | Windows | Eureka Exhibits |
| 2024 | Space Invaders Deck Commander | PlayStation, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch, Windows | Rock It Games / Taito |
| 2025 | Jaleco Sports Series | Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 | Rock It Games / Jaleco |
Ports and remasters
| Title | Release date | Platform | Developer / Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| TowerFall Ascension | March 11, 2014 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| December 15, 2015 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| January 24, 2017 | Xbox One | ||
| Dust: An Elysian Tail | October 7, 2014 | PlayStation 4 | Humble Hearts |
| Escape Goat 2 | October 21, 2014 | PlayStation 4 | MagicalTimeBean |
| Ironclad Tactics | January 20, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | Zachtronics Industries |
| Apotheon | February 3, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | Alientrap |
| TowerFall Dark World Expansion | May 12, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| January 25, 2017 | Xbox One | ||
| Octodad: Dadliest Catch | May 26, 2015 | PlayStation Vita | Young Horses, Inc |
| Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-a-Fide Edition | June 2, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | 17-Bit |
| July 11, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Axiom Verge | April 19, 2016 | PlayStation Vita | Thomas Happ Games |
| September 29, 2016 | Xbox One | ||
| October 5, 2017 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Score Rush Extended | May 31, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | Xona Games |
| Darkest Dungeon | September 28, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | Red Hook Studios |
| September 28, 2016 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| Stardew Valley | July 29, 2016 | Mac OS X | ConcernedApe |
| July 29, 2016 | Linux | ||
| December 13, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| May 22, 2018 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| December 13, 2016 | Xbox One | ||
| October 5, 2017 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| December 25, 2025 | Nintendo Switch 2 | ||
| Salt and Sanctuary | March 28, 2017 | PlayStation Vita | Ska Studios |
| CRYPTARK | June 27, 2017 | PlayStation 4 | Alientrap |
| Tooth and Tail | September 12, 2017 | PlayStation 4 | Pocketwatch Games |
| Celeste | January 25, 2018 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| January 25, 2018 | Xbox One | ||
| January 25, 2018 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Mercenary Kings: Reloaded | February 6, 2018 | Xbox One | Tribute Games |
| February 6, 2018 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| TowerFall | September 27, 2018 | Nintendo Switch | Maddy Makes Games |
| Chasm | July 31, 2018 | PlayStation Vita | Bit Kid, Inc. |
| October 11, 2018 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Slay the Spire | May 21, 2019 | PlayStation 4 | MegaCrit / Humble Games |
| June 6, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| August 13, 2019 | Xbox One | ||
| June 13, 2020 | iOS | ||
| February 3, 2021 | Android | ||
| Eagle Island | July 11, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | Pixelnicks / Retroware |
| Grandia HD Collection | August 16, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | Game Arts |
| March 26, 2024 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| March 26, 2024 | Xbox One | ||
| Grandia HD Remaster | October 15, 2019 | Windows | Game Arts |
| Grandia II HD Remaster | October 15, 2019 | Windows | Game Arts |
| Monaco: Complete Edition | October 21, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | Pocketwatch Games |
| Door Kickers: Action Squad | October 23, 2019 | Xbox One | KillHouse Games |
| October 24, 2019 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| October 28, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Real Heroes: Firefighter | November 27, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | Epicenter Studios / Golem Entertainment |
| March 10, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | Epicenter Studios / 612 Entertainment, LLC | |
| March 30, 2022 | Xbox One | Epicenter Studios / Ziggurat Interactive | |
| Ikenfell | October 8, 2020 | Xbox One | Happy Ray Games / Humble Games |
| October 8, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| October 8, 2020 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Unrailed! | September 23, 2020 | Xbox One | Indoor Astronaut / Daedalic Entertainment |
| September 23, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Wildfire | December 3, 2020 | Xbox One | Sneaky Bastards / Humble Games |
| December 3, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| December 3, 2020 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Mundaun | March 15, 2021 | Xbox One | MWM Interactive |
| March 15, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Heavy Burger | April 27, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | Lub Blub, International Headquarters / G-MODE, 612 Entertainment |
| Eagle Island Twist | May 28, 2021 | Nintendo Switch | Pixelnicks / Retroware |
| May 28, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| May 28, 2021 | Xbox One | ||
| Axiom Verge 2 | August 11, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | Thomas Happ Games |
| ExZeus: The Complete Collection | September 30, 2021 | Xbox One | HyperDevBox, Sickhead Games / Ziggurat Interactive |
| September 30, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| September 30, 2021 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Fae Tactics | November 17, 2021 | Xbox One | Endlessfluff Games / Humble Games |
| November 17, 2021 | Windows | ||
| Prodeus | September 23, 2022 | Windows | Bounding Box Software / Humble Games |
| September 23, 2022 | Xbox One | ||
| September 23, 2022 | Xbox Series X/S | ||
| September 23, 2022 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| September 23, 2022 | PlayStation 5 | ||
| October 28, 2022 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Space Engineers | May 11, 2023 | PlayStation 4 | Keen Software House |
| Enclave HD | June 29, 2023 | Nintendo Switch | Starbreeze Studios / Ziggurat Interactive |
| June 29, 2023 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| June 29, 2023 | Xbox One | ||
| Until Then | June 25, 2024 | PlayStation 5 | Polychroma Games / Maximum Games |
| Real Heroes: Firefighter HD | December 6, 2024 | PlayStation 5 | Epicenter Studios / Ziggurat Interactive |
| Jaleco Sports: GOAL! | June 26, 2025 | Windows | Jaleco, Sickhead Games / Rock It Games |
| November 20, 2025 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded | April 15, 2025 | Windows | |
| November 20, 2025 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| November 20, 2025 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Jaleco Sports: GOAL! 2 | April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | |
| April 2, 2026 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded 2 | April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | |
| April 2, 2026 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Tamashika | April 21, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | QuickTequila / EDGLRD |
| April 21, 2026 | Xbox One | ||
| April 21, 2026 | Xbox Series X/S | ||
| April 21, 2026 | Windows Store | ||
| April 21, 2026 | PlayStation 5 | ||
| Kynseed | August 4, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | PixelCount Studios |
| August 4, 2026 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| August 4, 2026 | PlayStation 5 | ||
| August 4, 2026 | Xbox Series X/S | ||
| Jaleco Sports: Faceoffs | September 4, 2026 | PlayStation 5 | Jaleco, Sickhead Games / Rock It Games |
| September 4, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| The Royal Writ | September 10, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | Save Sloth Studios / Yogscast Games |
| September 10, 2026 | PlayStation 5 | ||
| September 10, 2026 | Xbox Series X/S |
References
- ↑ Chapple, Craig (March 26, 2014). "MonoGame on Lowering the Barrier to Entry for Consoles". MCV. Develop.
- ↑ Sarkar, Samit (March 14, 2014). "TowerFall creator: Sony was 'super proactive' in bringing about PS4 version". Polygon.
- 1 2 Tibitoski, Phil (May 20, 2015). "Octodad: Dadliest Catch Wriggles Onto PS Vita May 26th". PlayStation.com. Sony Computer Entertainment.
- ↑ Purchese, Robert (April 27, 2016). "Darkest Dungeon delayed a bit on PS4 and Vita". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ↑ Osborn, Alex (June 13, 2016). "E3 2016: Stardew Valley Coming To Consoles". IGN. Retrieved September 25, 2016.
- ↑ Happ, Tom (March 31, 2016). "Axiom Verge Comes to PS Vita April 19". PlayStation.com. Sony Computer Entertainment.
- ↑ Happ, Tom (September 14, 2016). "Achievement Unlocked!". Axiom Verge. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 Romano, Sal (September 17, 2021). "ExZeus: The Complete Collection launches September 30". Gematsu. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- 1 2 O'Reilly, PJ (June 10, 2023). "Feature: Enclave HD's Producer On Bringing Starbreeze's ARPG To Switch - Frame Rate, Resolution, New Additions". Nintendo Life. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
- 1 2 Doolan, Liam (August 11, 2019). "Sickhead Games Helped Out With The Grandia HD Collection". Nintendo Life. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
- 1 2 "Space Invaders Deck Commander – The Board Game announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. March 6, 2024. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
- 1 2 3 Wutz, Marco (June 26, 2025). "Jaleco Sports: Goal! gets revived for PC". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2025.
- 1 2 "Two New Jaleco Sports Collections Are Out Today, Bringing Even More SNES And NES Games To PS5 And Switch". Time Extension. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
- ↑ "MonoGame: A Framework for Indies". 80.lv. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
- 1 2 Acevedo, Paul (September 27, 2016). "How MonoGame is bringing more indie developers to Xbox One". Windows Central. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ↑ "Creating video games with C# and MonoGame with Tom Spilman". Hanselminutes Technology Podcast. Retrieved July 6, 2026.
- ↑ "Be the Dinosaur: Life in the Cretaceous". Reading Public Museum. Retrieved September 23, 2026.
- ↑ "Sawmill Museum". Eureka Exhibits. Retrieved September 23, 2026.
- ↑ Khan, Jamal. "Dust: An Elysian Tail PS4 Review". Gamers FTW.
- ↑ "Escape Goat 2". Giant Bomb. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ Purchese, Robert (April 27, 2016). "Darkest Dungeon delayed a bit on PS4 and Vita". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ McGibney, Jesse (November 7, 2014). "Greek mythology-inspired side-scroller Apotheon hits PS4 in January 2015". PlayStation.com. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ Venter, Jason (August 8, 2017). "Axiom Verge Has a New Release Date on the Nintendo Switch". Shacknews. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
- ↑ Couture, Joel (January 10, 2018). "Amid a rising tide of games, devs reflect on state of the Switch market". Gamasutra. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
- 1 2 Allegra, Frank (July 20, 2016). "Stardew Valley is finally coming to Mac". Polygon. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ↑ Lada, Jenni (May 14, 2018). "Stardew Valley Arrives On The PlayStation Vita On May 22, 2018". Siliconera. Retrieved July 8, 2026.
- ↑ Allegra, Frank (October 2, 2017). "Stardew Valley hits Switch later this week". Polygon. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
- ↑ Silva, James (March 24, 2017). "Brutal Action RPG Salt and Sanctuary Hits PS Vita on March 28". PlayStation.com. Retrieved March 24, 2017.
- ↑ Finck, Bryan (November 23, 2022). "A Conversation with James Silva, Creator of Salt and Sanctuary". Superjump Magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- 1 2 Thorson, Maddy (August 29, 2017). "Celeste Expedition Log: August Edition". Medium. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ↑ Thorson, Maddy (July 3, 2017). "'Celeste' releasing January 2018". Medium. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ↑ Thorson, Maddy (August 28, 2018). "TowerFall is coming to Nintendo Switch on September 27th!". Medium. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ↑ "Chasm Is Coming!". Kickstarter. April 2, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (July 9, 2018). "Indie Metroidvania Chasm, in the works for six years, hits July 31". Polygon. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ↑ "Chasm for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details".
- ↑ "Cast off for adventure!". April 2, 2018.
- ↑ "GRANDIA HD Collection Launches March 26, 2024 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One". Gung Ho Online. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 12, 2024.
- ↑ "Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine is a single player or co-op heist game. Assemble a crack team of thieves and pull off the perfect heist". Nintendo.com. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
- ↑ "Eagle Island Twist headed to Nintendo Switch on May 28th". Perfectly Nintendo. May 19, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2026.
- ↑ "Real Heroes: Firefighter HD". PlayStation Store. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
- ↑ "Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded 2 Second Season and GOAL! Two Official Launch Trailer". IGN. Retrieved April 3, 2026.
- ↑ Romano, Sal (June 23, 2026). "Kynseed coming to PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch on August 4". Gematsu. Retrieved September 23, 2026.
- ↑ Romano, Sal (September 4, 2026). "Jaleco Sports: Faceoffs announced for PS5, Switch, and PC". Gematsu. Retrieved September 5, 2026.