Recommended Indie Games p3

In these lists of indie game recommendations, I'm hoping to bring light on some great games I've enjoyed recently by smaller and lesser known developers. Now with Christmas sales coming up, there's no better time to pick up some of these. Check out part 1 and part 2 as well!

Orcs Must Die! 2

Developer: Robot Entertainment
Publisher: Robot Entertainment

Last time I recommended Orcs Must Die! 1, and since then I got a chance to try out its sequel. Needless to say, it matched up to the fantastic quality of the original, now with a whole lot of new levels, new traps, 2 playable characters, and even a co-op mode.
10/10

Full Review

Crypt of the Necrodancer

Developer: Brace Yourself Games
Publisher: Brace Yourself Games, Klei Entertainment

A very challenging, but incredibly addictive rogue-like dungeon crawler with a rhythm element. Keep moving to the beat of the song and learn enemy attack patterns. Very light-hearted atmosphere, charming art style, and out of this world soundtrack.
9.5/10

Full Review

Bionic Dues

Developer: Arcen Games
Publisher: Arcen Games

You have 50 days to save your city from an incoming robot invasion! Do whatever you can to prepare your mechs and weaken the enemy. Spend your days wisely, for each one brings you closer to the final confrontation at the end. Great game with a turn-based on-grid combat, rich customization of your battle units, and an incredible soundtrack.
9/10

Full Review

Project Temporality

Developer: Defrost Games
Publisher: Defrost Games

A really well-executed sci-fi themed puzzle game that uses a concept of time-manipulation. Create alternate timeline clones of yourself to help you solve the game's puzzles. The puzzles are all well-designed and provide a nice sense of reward once you've figured out a solution.
9/10

Full Review 

Binding of Isaac

Developer: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Publisher: Edmund McMillen

A fun and addictive rogue-like dungeon-crawler with a huge variety of enemies, lots of items to find, simplistic but rather unique visuals, and over the top cartoony gore.
9/10

Full Review

To the Moon

Developer: Freebird Games
Publisher: Freebird Games

A short but very emotional interactive story that lets you traverse through a man's memories and to witness which people and events have had an impact on his life.
8.5/10

Full Review

Project: Snowblind

Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Publisher: Eidos, Square Enix

Although this game has been published by a big name, it seems to be fairly unknown and overlooked. It might not be a grand epic, but it's a nice little FPS game set in a dystopian future that was originally planned to be a part of the Deus Ex series.
8/10

Full Review

The Stanley Parable

Developer: Galactic Cafe
Publisher: Galactic Cafe

A fairly short but a very interesting parody game that pokes fun at various aspects of player choice mechanic in gaming.
8/10

Full Review

Defense Grid: Awakening

Developer: Hidden Path Entertainment
Publisher: Hidden Path Entertainment

A gritty-looking futuristic tower defence game with some tough enemies and a somewhat quirky A.I. narrator.
7.5/10

Full Review

Fort Defense

Developer: 8floor Ltd, Creobit
Publisher: 8floor Ltd

A pretty standard but well-put together naval-themed tower defence game. Fortify your base with guns to fight off those persistent pirate ships!
7.5/10

Full Review

Unpossible

Developer: Acceleroto Inc
Publisher: Acceleroto Inc

A very nice-looking and challenging game to test your reflexes and precision.
7.5/10

Full Review

Recommended Indie Games p2

At last, here’s part 2 of my list of recommended indie games. If you haven’t yet seen part 1, check it out here. In these lists I try to bring attention to some fun games by smaller and lesser known developers that I’ve enjoyed playing recently.

Without further ado, let’s get going, shall we?

Alien Robot Monsters (ARM)

Developer: Kraftix Games

Publisher: Kraftix Games

A top-down sci-fi themed tower defence game spanning 37 stages across 5 different biomes and containing a large variety of towers for you to build and enemy robots to encounter. Very fun, addictive, and provides a nice challenge. Highly recommended for all tower defence fans.

Full Review 

Orcs Must Die!

Developer: Robot Entertainment

Publisher: Robot Entertainment

Another excellent tower defence game, though this one is controlled in 3^rd person. You are a War Mage tasked to defend various fortresses from orcs, ogres, and other nasty creatures. At your disposal you have a variety of ingenious traps, spells, and weaponry. Set them up in clever ways to make sure no orc gets through to the rift.

Full Review 

Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death

Developer: Zootfly

Publisher: 505 Games

3^rd person adventure meets B-movie action with lots and lots of crazy fights and explosions. It’s the underdog hero vs an evil corp boss who wants to unleash evil powers and rule the world. Very cheesy, but also very funny, and the combat and platforming are both top notch and fun.

Full Review 

Lethal RPG: War

Developer: EyeSpyda Games

Publisher: Black Shell Media

Charming art and music, and well-made turn-based battles akin to many of the old-school RPGs. Face a wide variety of enemies and challenging bosses, assemble a team of heroes, craft weapons and armour, and save the world from impending evil.

Full Review 

Star Crawlers

Developer: Juggernaut Games

Publisher: Juggernaut Games

This game is still Early Access, but I thought I’d mention it because it already feels like a fun and polished game. It’s a first-person sci-fi dungeon crawler with turn-based battles and lots of customization of your team and abilities.

-No Review Yet-

The Swapper

Developer: Facepalm Games, Curve Studios

Publisher: Facepalm Games

A fun and rewarding puzzle game with a simple but well-executed mechanic. Use a cloning device to create clones of yourself and swap bodies with them in order to solve puzzles and make progress through a dark and eerie space station.

Full Review 

The Expendabros

Developer: Free Lives

Publisher: Devolver Digital

A short and sweet free game done in the same style as its older brother, BroForce. This game has you play as the cast of Expendables 3 and complete several missions by blasting your way through camps of enemy soldiers and challenging bosses.

Full Review 

Iron Brigade

Developer: Double Fine Productions

Publisher: Double Fine Productions

A third-person mech shooter with tower defence elements. Play solo or co-op, and annihilate hordes of tubes that want to wreck your base and rule the world with their broadcast.

Full Review 

Invisible Inc

Developer: Klei Entertainment

Publisher: Klei Entertainment

Pick your missions and acquire assets in order to build a powerful team of spies. Fans of challenging stealthy dungeon crawlers should enjoy this.

Full Review 

 

Recommended Indie Games p1

It’s been a long while since my last blog entry here, but perhaps now is as good time as any to recommend some more games.

In this series of lists I want to bring a spotlight on some fun games that I enjoyed recently. The games mentioned here will be by indie developers and smaller, lesser known companies, the games that I think deserve some more attention.

Axiom Verge

Developer: Thomas Happ

This is an incredible game that takes a lot of inspiration from the Metroid franchise. Not only does it offer a fun gameplay with non-linear exploration, but it manages to greatly improve on the Metroidvania formula and adds some of its own personality to it. The game offers a decent level of challenge that will leave you buzzed at the end whilst still keeping it fair. And in addition to its addictive fast-paced gameplay, it’s full of superb music tracks in each level and some great backstory concepts. The fact this game was developed by merely one person makes it all the more impressive. For fans of Metroidvanias, this is a must play.

Full Review 

Of Orcs and Men

Developers: Cyanide, Spiders

Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Through a collaborative effort of Cyanide and Spiders studios, we got ourselves this pretty cool game set in a dark-ish epic fantasy world, except with a twist – our main protagonists are a goblin and an orc. The two leading characters, Styx and Arkail, are very well-developed and lovable. With hilarious dialogue exchanges between the two, as well as a challenging combat system that makes you think before you act, this game is well worth checking out for all fans of RPGs.

Full Review 

Mars: War Logs

Developer: Spiders

Publisher: Focus Home Interactive

Another game by Spiders studio, except this one takes place in a dystopian sci-fi setting with a post-apocalyptic feel to it. Mars: War Logs takes us to a colony on Mars with an oppressive government and very low standards of living. The game has a really well executed crafting mechanic that allows you to customize your equipment with a variety of bonuses, and a fun, fast-paced combat. Despite the ending feeling slightly rushed, this game was a load of fun to play, and I am very much looking forward to the sequel that’s been in works for some time.

Full Review 

Apotheon

Developer: Alientrap

Apotheon stands out first and foremost with its unique visual style that resembles Ancient Greek pottery decorations, but there’s a lot more to this game than just unique visuals. The game features an open world with big, non-linear levels, a tonne of weapons to collect, and plenty of secrets to find. Ascend Mt Olympus and challenge the gods!

Full Review 

T.E.C. 3001

Developer: Phoenix Game Studio

Publisher: BulkyPix

If you’ve ever wanted something challenging with a great sense of speed, this might just be a game for you. T.E.C. 3001 has you control a robot inside a virtual reality simulation and chucks you into a variety of stages – some being high speed lane running, others taking a form of a drag race, and thirds being completely open and having numerous paths through the level. Watch your step out there!

Full Review 

Dex

Developer: Dreadlocks

With its lovely art style and incredible musical score, Dex can easily immerse us in its cool cyberpunk setting. The story might be pretty standard for this genre, but it offers some interesting story choices, as well as a load of sidequests. It does have a few small bugs and odd balance issues here and there, but it’s no doubt a very immersive and addictive game that’s worth a look.

Full Review 

Betrayer

Developer: Blackpowder Games

Eerie, atmospheric, and mysterious. Betrayer takes us to the coast of America at the start of 17^th century. Upon arriving, the player discovers that the colony (aside from one person) is gone and every location is empty. Your job is to find out what happened. The game has a semi-open world with a lot of exploration and a somewhat tough combat, since every enemy poses a real threat and needs to be approached with great care.

Full Review 

 

Nihilumbra

Developer: BeautiFun Games

A beautiful 2D platformer with a heavy emphasis on puzzles. Nihilumbra has you traverse several different areas, each one introducing a new colour which has to be used creatively in order to overcome the obstacles ahead. As the player collects more colours, the puzzles and enemies require more thought and several colours to be used at once.

Full Review