Made for the Procedural Generation Jam 2014, JET/LAG is described as a "Hyper Minimal Rogue-like-like-like featuring unforgiving tactical gameplay". What does that mean? You're a square, dropped into random arenas of dangerous geometric foes, each one with own unique behavior that you must learn how to avoid. Pick-ups imbue you with special abilities such as homing drones and a close-range electric attack, but your main means of attack is ramming into enemies. The controls and objective are simple - click to move in that direction, clear the level - but add the varied enemies and different skills and JET/LAG evolves into a fast-paced game of evasion and close calls as you move in close to ram your foes while also dodging laser-firing triangles, charging squares, homing projectiles, and more. It's a fast, frenetic, and addictive challenge.
You can download JET/LAG or play it in your browser here.
Title: Nested Developer: Orteil Platforms: Browser --- Nested isn't a game. It's hard to even call it a text adventure. At first glance, Nested seems to pale in comparison to developer Orteil's other notable creation, Cookie Clicker. But with each click, diving into another sub folder, digging ever deeper, you realize that the game's simple description - "A Simulation of Everything" - couldn't be more accurate. Nested is exploration distilled to its purest, most minimalist form in a simple text format. An infinite amount of things to discover, from the grandness of multiverses and space to the abstract plane of thoughts and memories.
Nested is randomly generated, so one could browse through its endless worlds forever. It's quite literally an endlessly fascinsting experience. Descend through ever-more-detailed folders, from space, to planet, to continent. Forgotten lands, ecosystems bustling with life, civilizations from the primitive to the futuristic and the outright bizarre. Dig further still, into the memories of a village chieftain or the thoughts of individual nanomachines. Venture deeper, into the chemical make-up of individuals and landscapes and objects and you'll find even more subatomic universes to explore, an endless nesting doll of life.
Title: Impulse Developer: Mark Zhang Platforms: Browser --- Yes, it's that time of year again. More than 600 games were submitted for IGF 2015 and that means dozens of interesting and intriguing indies to discover. One such game is Impulse, an unique take on the arcade shooter, revolving around pushing enemies with powerful shock waves rather than shooting them.
You control a sphere, trapped in increasingly claustrophobic arenas, hemmed in by the dark walls of the Void. Enemies encroach from all sides - homing spears, exploding tanks, and other varied foes - and thankfully, the Void is as dangerous to them as it is to you. Without any means to damage enemies directly, you must outmaneuver the incoming shapes and force them into the Void with your short-range concussive blasts. This twist on the usual shmup gameplay puts the focus on movement and positioning, as you consider the angle of your blasts and deftly evade the growing hordes to set up multi-kills and increase your score multiplier. Impulse is challenging, fun, and offers a lot of content between its main campaign and practice mode, complete with bosses to defeat and a Hard difficulty to truly test your skills.
Title: Terrance The Flying Eyeball Developer: Aiden Bains Platforms: Browser --- Terrance The Flying Eyeball is the first indie project from developer Aiden Bains. It's a short fun precision flyer that's worth a try.
You control the titular airborne eye, as it weaves through four stages of varied hazards. Narrow corridors, lasers, turrets, and more combine in devious patterns and configurations to test your timing and skill. The developer's focus was on teaching mechanics organically through level design and color, and to that effect, there are no tutorial or tips; you learn how obstacles and hazards behave through trial and error and simply playing through the stages. I found the controls finicky in some spots, but overall Terrance was an enjoyable experience for the 30-40 minutes it took to complete.
The developer is looking for feedback and impressions so I recommend giving Terrance The Flying Eyeball a try. It doesn't take long to complete and remains challenging throughout. You can play Terrance The Flying Eyeball here.
Title: Pocket Robots Test Chamber Developer: echa Platforms: PC, Browser, Android Price: Free, $0.99 --- I'm no programmer; I just pretend to be one. Between Glitchspace, Hack n Slash, SpaceChem (kind of), and other games, there's a certain appeal to messing with Not, And, Or variables to initiate actions. Pocket Robots Test Chamber is another welcome addition to that category.
Pocket Robots Test Chamber is essentially a platformer. Your robot can move left, right, and hover with a jetpack to reach the exit of each level. That task quickly becomes more complicated than your usual game, since you don't control your robot directly, instead coordinating its actions through a simple drag-drop visual programming interface. The game starts out (relatively) simple, providing a six interval set-up to coordinate behaviors. It took me a few levels to wrap my head around how the system worked, how to best utilize And gates and Not gates; there are a few tutorials, but half the fun is figuring what to do and how to accomplish that and what isn't working.
Soon PRTC introduces colors and a variety of other twists on the base programming mechanic, and each time, it feels like a return to the square one. Not in a negative way, but a chance to learn and master something new. With 56 regular levels and a handful of user levels as well as a level editor, Pocket Robots Test Chamber has a nice amount of content. Don't dismiss the game for its simple style, or else you'll be missing out on this fun challenging puzzle game. You can download the game from itch.io or play it in your browser for free. The Android version is $0.99
Title: Super Scrapped Robot Developer: bureaubureau Platforms: IOS Universal, PC, Mac, Linux, Browser Price: Free --- Super Scrapped Robot wears its inspirations on its sleeve. The Game Boy-esque color scheme, the retro style, this is an experience that harkens back to games of the past and offers old school bullet hell challenge. Super Scrapped Robot is a dual stick shooter, dropping you onto randomly generated levels as enemies emerge from all sides. Survive the hordes, find the exit. While the gameplay is simple, it's the execution that make Super Scrapped Robot: varied enemies from charging foes that masquerade as rocks to ghostly melee attackers, weaponized hats that swaps your default weapon for a rapid fire machine gun or flame thrower, the tight controls. Limited health and a overheat mechanic encourages you to stay on the move; humorous dialogue and challenging bosses keep the player engaged.
Super Scrapped Robot is free to download and its IAP structure is unique among the IOS games I've played. Any IAP purchase unlocks a Rainbow Mode that changes the colors scheme, weekly Challenges, and a Cheat mode that lets you alter the gameplay in various ways, and you choose how much you want to pay, with tiers ranging from $0.99 to $4.99. You can download Super Scrapped Robot for IOS here, purchase it on PC through itch.io, or play the game in your browser.
Title: Epic Flail Developer: Spacenoize Platforms: Browser --- Epic Flail is still only in alpha, but it takes a simple mechanic and turns brutal gladiatorial combat into gory twitchy fun.
It's the kind of simple but addictive games that I love and one of the few gladiator games on PC that I can think of. In terms of controls, Epic Flail is quite minimal. Using the arrow keys, you aim the direction of your dash and a button press sends you slashing in that direction. An enemy in your path? Heads will roll and bodies will get bisected. The flying blood and body parts, accompanied by a few moments of slow-mo, makes each kill very satisfying. The simple controls turn the arena combat into twitchy mid-air chaos, as your enemies become more challenging, with armor and shields and various weapons. The game has a really cool lives system, where you collect armor and weapons that you've knocked off of enemies. It's fun and fast and there's also a special arena mode to unlock.
The developer plans to expand Epic Flail with bosses, a story, lots of physics-based contraptions, and more complex levels. You can play the game here.
Title: The World Beneath Developer: Clement Duquesne Platforms: PC, Browser --- Developed for Ludum Dare 29, The World Beneath is a first person exploration game set in a network of subterranean caverns. It's a short experience, but well worth playing. The abstract environments are wonderful to discover, the light from your limited torches illuminating the depths with vivid colors. There's a sense of urgency and tension as well, as your torches fade away and darkness closes in. A new cave system is generated when you restart so there's always something new to explore.
The World Beneath is simple and short, but it's also a wonderfully artistic experience thanks to its abstract angular style and lighting effects. You can play or download the game here.
Title: Limbs Developer: Rezoner Platforms: Browser --- Limbs' inspiration is quite obvious from the moment you start playing. That isn't a strike against the game, but a mark of praise. Limbs takes Paper's Please's basic idea and builds a unique inventive experience from that foundation.
Rather than manning a booth and checking documents, Rezoner's Cyberpunk Jam entry seats you at the workbench of a cybernetic repair shop. Clients come to you with an order and a hand and it's your job to break these limbs down to their components, replace parts, swap out damaged pieces, adjust CPUs, check warranties and other registration information against an extensive manual of rules and guidelines. While Limbs doesn't have Paper's Please subtle narrative and desperate urgency, it stands outs in other ways. The gameplay is just incredibly tactile and engaging, as you unscrew pieces and place new parts in the right place. The sound effects add to that feeling of messing with a robotic hand. The various clients also help build a compelling futuristic setting; you're not merely fixing a broken hand, but rather de-arming an assassin or installing specialized fingers for a spy.
Sometimes you play a freeware or flash game and it just begs to be expanded into something bigger and better. Games like Gods Will Be Watching, SuperHOT, Westerado, and, in my opinion, Limbs is yet another addition to that list. The flash game is great, an experience with the potential to be so much more. You can play Limbs here.
Title: Catcher Developer: Tobias Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Browser --- Catcher is a cousin to the common bullet hell shmup, save for one unique difference: you don't shoot. Rather than blowing away enemies with projectiles, Catcher offers a far more interesting and intimate means of destruction.
With your left mouse button, you divide your vessel in two, stretching a deadly energy net between the two halves, and with your right mouse button, you contract, allowing you to tighten the noose around ensnared enemies. It's fluid, fast, and adds a strategic offensive angle to this kind of evasion-heavy gameplay. While it may seem like your limited arsenal would make the game repetitive, its vast array of enemies is what adds challenge and diversity. While the game starts off with simple stationary shapes and hordes of erratic homing foes, you'll soon find yourself weaving and ensnaring everything from spike-ridden stars, rocket and laser turrets, and enemies that phase in and out of existence, to massive snakes, shielded enemies that require timing to surround, and more. Catcher is a game of skill, precision, and focus, especially if you want to build extended combos. Knowing your enemies, how they act and maneuver, is key to surviving the increasing challenging levels.
Catcher is still in development, with more enemies and polish to come, but it's extremely playable and fun in its current state. You can download the game or play the latest version in your browser here, and follow Catcher's development on TIGForum.
Title: Nothing To Hide Developer: nCase Platforms: PC, Browser Releasing late 2014 --- As a fan of the genre, I've played many stealth games, from Thief and Chaos Theory to Blood Money and Dishonored. But I've certainly never played an anti-stealth game. Nothing To Hide wraps its unique gameplay mechanic in a thought-provoking framework of dystopian control and total surveillance that deserves your time and support. What is anti-stealth? It's always being seen, needing to stay in line of sight of the cameras that watch your every move. It's assisting your own surveillance by carrying these camera around, making sure you're always in sight. Slip into the shadows and you'll seen be shot full of tranquilizer darts by your unseen masters. Playing as the daughter of Prime Minister of this society, you're attempting to flee and this creates the framework of the intriguing puzzle game that is Nothing To Hide. The charming visuals belay a unsettling atmosphere, reinforced by your character's wide scared eyes and the messages that appear to you in the environments.
Nothing To Hide is currently seeking funding, hoping to gather $40,000 by March 12th. The developer's open piecemeal approach to crowdfunding, as well as sharing the source code, is another element that makes this project one worth checking out. You can play the browser demo here; while the demo already feels very polished and playable, the developer has said the mechanics in the preview only account for a tenth of the ideas he has planned, some of which include mobile cameras, camera-attracting mannequins, line of sight reflecting mirrors, and more.
Nothing To Hide is a polished promising experience that impresses with its unique anti-stealth gameplay, visuals, and atmosphere. You can learn more about the game and support its development on the official site.
Title: Bosses Forever 2.Bro Developer: TOO DX Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Browser --- Bosses Forever is stuck in Greenlight hell and that's a damn shame. I first learned about the game today, thanks to the Monthly Showcase over on r/gamedev, and it only took one playthrough to see that Bosses Forever is a fun charming challenging game that deserves far more attention.
Warning Forever was the first game I know to introduce the concept of an adaptive boss, an enemy that evolves and adapts to your playstyle. Surprisingly few games have attempted to put their own twist on the mechanic, but Bosses Forever does and does so admirably. Playing solo or cooperatively, you control your floppy haired, gun wielding character as you face off against a series of increasingly challenging bosses. The controls are simple, but very responsive, allowing you to precisely wall jump, dash, and evade the myriad projectiles that comes your way. With each new foe, Bosses Forever quickly enters crazy bullet hell territory as you deftly maneuver around missiles and all manner of bullets and explosives. And like the game that inspired its name, bosses will adapt to your tactics: if you stay in one spot, expect homing missiles soon, stick to the walls, and you'll have wall riding energy projectiles to deal with, and more.
Bosses Forever offers a challenging 2D arena twist of Warning Forever's concept that requires skill and precision to survive and is just a fun frantic experience. You can play or download the game here and vote for it on on Steam Greenlight.
Title: Maverick Bird, Flappybalt Developers: Terry Cavanagh, Adam Saltsman Platforms: Browser --- Flappy Bird needs no introduction. Both the game's rise, the media and public response, its subsequent removal, and the myriad clones that flooded the App Store in its wake has been the source of discussion and debate for days. To support developer Dong Nguyen , a Flappy Jam was started and all the dozens of games that have been submitted, I think these two stand out the most. It helps that they're from the creators of Super Hexagon and Canabalt.
Cavanagh's Maverick Bird takes the aesthetic, creativity, and awesome music of his biggest hit and molds those elements into a new Flappy-inspired reflex action game. The controls are simple: up to flap, down to dive. The physics are spot on and controls are tight, the music has the kind of beat that just drives you and easily lets you get into the zone. The gameplay is simple yet has some complexity due to the ability to dive, which allows for obstacles not possible in similar games. It's just all its elements in sync delivering some top notch quality twitch gameplay.
Similarly, Saltsman's Flappybalt puts you in control of one of Canabalt's signature birds. Rather than the usual Flappy gameplay, here your goal is to bounce of the walls, precisely timing your flaps to avoid the spiked panels that appear on the sides of the screen. It's a nice take on the mechanic and the game is very challenging.
Maverick Bird and Flappybalt are both excellent fun game that demonstrate how creativity can give a common mechanic a new twist.
Title: Magnetized Developer: Rocky Games Platforms: IOS Universal, PC, Browser Price: $2.99, Free --- Magnetized has had one hell of a ride to the App Store. First released as a browser game on Kongregate and Newgrounds, then as freeware through GameJolt, the game's developer also struggled to remove a clone of his game from XBIG. Now Magnetized is on IOS, and you should not miss it. The simplest way to describe Magnetized is a mix of Slingshot Racing with twitchy puzzle action and a stylish neon aesthetic. Like that game, Magnetized utilizes a simple one-touch control scheme to great effect; your cube moves forward automatically, and you must hold and release to latch onto nodes throughout the level to swing around corners and other obstacles. But I feel like Magnetized takes that proven mechanic and improves it for the better. Rather than racing other vehicles, you're evading crushing walls, weaving between tight corridors and other hazards. There are three kinds of nodes, each with a different function.: attach to blue nodes to swing in an arc; use purple nodes like grapple hooks to pull yourself towards them; teleport between yellow nodes. Soon levels will include all three nodes and perfect timing and quick reflexes are a must if you want to finish all 80 levels as well as pick up the collectibles in each.
Magnetized may not have jaw-dropping visuals, but the gameplay shines brightly nonetheless. You can play the game online here and support the developer by purchasing the game on IOS for $2.99. If anything, the developer is motivated; he also plans to release Magnetized on Steam, Desura, Windows, and Amazon.
Title: ISIS Developer: Liz England Platforms: Browser Price: Free --- A playthrough of ISIS only takes a good 15-20 minutes. You can make different choices, different options on other plathroughs, but the story remains relatively the same. ISIS is a short narrative game; where you choose different options to change the story of your one-man crew and his ship's AI orbiting the sun, but really saying any more than the basic premise would ruin your enjoyment. What I found most interesting about ISIS was how the writing was able to change your perspective and get the player thinking differently thanks to the wording and atmosphere.
Title: Dengen Chronicles Developer: Mangatar Platforms: PC, Browser Price: Free to play --- Trading card games have been around for decades; I remember the Pokemon, Digimon, and Yugioh crazes when I was a kid. The recently released free-to-play Dengen Chronicles mixes card-based battles with manga art, and RPG elements. Choose your bloodline, be it ninja or robot, and then you'll be thrust into various battles against varied and challenging opponents. Each battle, you choose from a selection of offensive and defensive actions, as well as a number of stat boosting or support ability cards, and then engage. These battles play out in short comic panels, and victory grants you currency to upgrade your characters. The RPG elements had some depth to the gameplay, allowing you to equip gear and level up, and the art is vibrant and stylish.
I'm that well versed in the card game genre, but the game was fun and offers the play some strategic depth thanks to the gear and skills. You can download Dengen Chronicles from Desura or play the game in your browser here.
The raiders left you with nothing, nothing but the ragged clothes on your back and a glass shard. It had been foolish to rest in such an exposed location but the desperate search for shelter from the freezing rain had trumped your nagging exhaustion. And now your mistake had cost you dearly. Another night, another restless sleep in the rain. Hypothermia is a given now. Have to find shelter, real shelter, and supplies...or else death would be coming for you sooner rather than later.
Movement. A lone bandit in the distance. You hurriedly cover your tracks and hide. From your vantage point, you can see the rusted crowbar, the patchwork hide clothing, the backpack. Supplies, warm attire, weapons. The opportunity is too good to pass up.
That's just one moment from a typical NEO Scavenger playthrough. It's a bleak gritty post apocalyptic roguelike with a focus on realistic survival and it's one of the most intense and immersive experiences I've played in a while.
NEO Scavenger is a turn-based roguelike, set across a hex-based map, action menus, and text vignettes. That may not seem all that exciting, but it's the underlying gameplay mechanics that make the game stand out. Set in a world ravaged by supernatural occurrences and warfare, you awaken in an abandoned cryotube facility. Choose your traits and skills wisely, as different specializations open up new choices and options. (i.e. an Atheletic person can easily outrun enemies, but a person proficient in Hiding could more easily find cover and sneak away). Once you leave the facility, an expansive map is open to explore. How long you'll survive is another matter.
Sleep in the rain without a sleeping bag? Prepare to come down with severe hypothermia overnight or maybe you'll just freeze to death. Run away from bandits over treacherous terrain? Maybe you'll trip and break a rib. Forgo sleep and stay on the move? You'll pass out from exhaustion. Get cut in a fight? You'd better have painkillers and bandages to prevent the wound from getting infected. Forget to hide your tracks before sleeping? The raiders will have found you by morning. The wealth of options and variables to consider are astounding. Life is short and cheap, death is always lurking on the horizon. The combat is ruthless and brutal, akin to the quick violent encounters seen in The Road or No Country, and while the encounters are experienced through menus and text, you always have a wide array of tactics at your disposal, ranging from simply fleeing to trying to break line of sight and hide to forcing enemies to surrender or just surrendering yourself. Raiders and bandits are numerous and merciless, but the otherworldly creatures and mutants that roam the map are even more dangerous.
Despite being quite playable, NEO Scavenger is still in beta, with more areas, weapons, items, enemies, story vignettes to come. The developer regularly provides updates on what he's working on and adding, and the full game is set to release early 2014. You can purchase the beta here or on Desura. A demo is also available.
Title: Transmover/Transmover: New Generation Developer: Polygon Gmen Platforms: Browser Price: Free --- Released in 2009 and 2011 respectively, the Transmover games are not the most visually impressive or exciting flash games, but they take a simple puzzle mechanic and wring out dozens of inventive ways to test your spatial puzzle solving skills.
While the intructions are in Japanese, the menu options are in English and you can change the language settings to English in the Options. Either way the controls are very simple: arrow keys to move, WASD to shoot your raygun in one of those directions. You can only jump the height of one block and can shoot while climbing ladders, hanging from poles, and jumping. Your raygun isn't used to kill enemies or blow away obstacles; instead shooting special green blocks allow you to swap places with the block. Throughout your quest to collect keys and unlock the level exit, this mechanics opens the door for a huge variety of challenges across the main levels and hundreds of user levels across both games: from walls that only allow you or your laser to pass through, blocks that can only be shoot from a certain angle, blocks that can only be swapped once, blocks that change orientation when swapped, and more.
The Transmover games offer a wide range of puzzles that will keep you entertained for hours. You can play Transmover here and Transmover: New Generation here.
Title: Hyper Gauntlet Developer: Udell Games Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Browser Free --- When immersed in a racing game, it's not uncommon to find yourself leaning your body in anticipation of a sharp turn or moving the controller as if it were a steering wheel. These games become almost a full body experience. Hyper Gauntlet shares that same appeal, with a sense of speed that will have you ducking and letting out a sigh of relief after every close call and near miss. The objective is simple: a 3x3 grid of squares rocket towards you (or are you racing towards them) down a endless corridor, aligning yourself with each grid's empty spaces allow you to pass through safely. You can get hit three times until it's game over. Pressing the space bar offers a second of slow motion and power ups grant you abilities such as periods of autopilot, invulnerability and longer slow motion. By itself, the game would be a challenge but the presentation takes the gameplay to another level. You only have mere moments to study the incoming grid and orient yourself and when it passes by, the screen shakes like you dodged a freight train by inches and it's insanely intense. The onslaught of grids come at you so fast in later levels that even that precious second of slow motion feels like such a calming respite.
If you're even remotely a fan of games like Super Hexagon and Pivvot, let Hyper Gauntlet put your reflexes to the test. You can download the game or play it in your browser here. (Requires Unity)
Title: Strata Developer: Graveck Platforms: IOS Universal, PC, Mac Price: $0.99 --- While Strata was released for PC and Mac (buy on Desura, vote on Greenlight) earlier this year, the game was always designed with mobile platforms in mind and now you can play this brain-teasing abstract puzzle game on IOS. Your objective is simple: presented with a grid, you must fill each channel with a colored ribbon to match a pattern. The catch is that the color ribbon represented on the pattern must always be the top weave. You earn a rating of Perfect for achieving this feat on one try and while some may disagree, I don't think earning these ratings is trial and error. Strata is the best kind of puzzle game, the type where you can achieve perfection if you think about the mechanics. You can study the grid and envision how the ribbons will interact, how one move will affect the outcome three or five moves later, and once you place the first ribbon, the solution falls into place with some thought and analysis. The logical approach to the puzzles is incredibly rewarding and excels at making the player feel smart, especially when the grids grow in size and amount of colors.
On top of the brilliant puzzle mechanics, Strata is a masterful blend of minimalist audio and visuals. The design is such a natural fit for touchscreens in terms of its simplicity and the interplay between music and weaving creates a soothing relaxing atmosphere. For 0.99, Strata offers over 150 levels with another 150 available as IAP level packs. You can purchase Strata for IOS here.
