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Hopagon

It's been ages since I last played a fast paced one-button autorunner game. This one gets so many things right that it's worth a mention. The levels get tricky real soon but the "one more go" factor is really high, helped by the fast level restart. The graphics are minimalistic but they could be used as a tutorial on how to draw facial expressions :). Anyway, worth a go. And another. And another. And another. Etc. :)

Escape goat

I'm pretty sure that if anyone cares to read this blog might get the false impression that I like platform games :P.

So anyway, this is what got me excited this time:

See that purple thing at the top? That's you! A purple goat! Moving around the screen, jumping around (beautiful jump curve, fits the game perfectly), double jumping, hitting switches that change the platforms (worth mentioning that this mechanism is very nicely manipulated in this game; every tile can potentially change place by hitting a switch, so the whole level can transform in front of you in 1 second), charging and hitting crates, having a tiny mouse as an accomplice (which can get to places the goat can't) with the goal of getting to each level's exit.

There's a browser version in HTML5 which is the full game ported from .NET, so you might imagine that the requirements are a bit steep (my netbook can't really keep up with the action if there's anything else than the goat moving around), but if you get smooth movement the game is Fun with a capital F. I'm almost convinced to buy the full game! The rest of you can, like me, try the browser version and see for yourselves!

Fear less

In short, it's yet another Canabalt inspired game, yet I liked it because of the excellent audio and visuals, and the power up system makes it a bit more interesting. I should mention of course that at first its a 2-button game since you have to time your jumps and sword swinging; a powerup later makes the sword redundant so you can concentrate on jumping. Still I'm shit at it :). A small whine is that the foreground and backgound objects aren't too easy to distinguish, so you can easily make mistakes and miss a jump. Still, likey :)

fear less

The button affair

Take a dose of Another world (rotoscoping, cutscenes, animation when you get fried), Prince of Persia (rotoscoping, steel traps), Canabalt (non-stop running, at least in most parts) and add scripted levels and checkpoints, Flashback (rotoscoping, cutscenes) and finally add James Bond-'60s-like aesthetics and plot. And, you get this:

It's more than the sum of its parts though, the game isn't Canabalt-hard, it's hard but not impossible and of course you have a clear goal. Visuals and audio are top notch (although I'd liked some more frames in the cutscenes, but it's not a game coming from a multi-million-dollar studio so it's quite fine). Aw, go on, give it a try already, it's good I tell you! It's from the same creative team that made The cat that got the milk if that tells you anything :).

simian.interface

If you tried Coign of vantage, you'll feel right at home with this. Although of course there's much more variation than simply aligning a picture; there's cubes, irregular lines, stray pixels etc. It's not really hard, but completing each level makes you feel a bit smart! Did I also mention that it's short in play time? Anyway, click and play.

Papers, please

Now here's a role you don't assume very often in games: you're working as a papers checker at the border, trying to sort out people's papers. All sorts of conditions are there, and there's a clock to beat (imagine the poor people waiting in line!). Even in its (currently) alpha state it's very interesting!

Sacrifice

You start with a party of 7 people with different skills. There are 7 obstacles to overcome (including the final boss) and in each turn you have to sacrifice one of your people. You have to make sure that a) the sacrifice isn't in vain (i.e. the rest of the party survived), b) you did select the right character for the job (i.e. you won't need it further in the game). Takes a few playthroughs to get it right but it's worth it! (from Nekogames, author of Hoshi saga, Piscal, Underworld trip, SCRXXX AS3 and so much more!)

Proke

Okay, it's a simple word puzzle game. You've got limited time, and you have to find words that start with some set letters, or end with some other set letters (or both). Combos galore! Nicely executed and lots of fun! Play.

Inishie Dungeon

Well, it's an RPG. And in Japanese. And it's in beta. But well, it's FUN! Fun small cute sprites. Fun animations (smash a few things together and see the particles fill the screen!). Fun gameplay. No bogging down with stats a lot (I never used them). Fun weapons. Fun fun fun! If it was more fun, it'd be giro day!

P.S. here's some hints (from the relevant freeindiegam.es post):

-When making a new character, click the sword box to choose a sprite.

-When you have a good sprite, click the second option from the bottom-right menu to play.

-Click on people to talk to them.

-Click on the dialog box that pops up, while over stairs, to descend.

-Click on special items that drop to pick them up.

And one from me

-The exit to the dungeons is at the top right of the map.

So, have fun!

U-Bend

This is an insanely fun game, it's got to be said from the start! As the author says, this is a blend of "Pong/Antipong, pinball, and to a lesser extent Beebop 3". There are lots of different "missions" in there which gives it a lot of variety, with the ultimate goal being to collect all letters so you'll win. Play it, play it, play it! (Windows version)

400 years

From the author of the very nice Deep sleep comes this rather interesting platformer. Like his previous attempt the graphics and sound are lovely (just wanted to get this out of the way quickly). What makes this game stand out is the gimmick of time control. Not Braid-like where you can go back and forth - this just moves time forwards, which is needed to overcome the puzzles present. Enough said, go play it!

A rabbit fable

God damn this is bizarre. Other than it's a point'n'click adventure and it features a rabbit as its main character, there's not much for me to say for this game. Well, I could say it draws some parallels to Jim Woording's Frank in its bizarreness (and of course it's convenient for me to say so since Woodring himself can't explain the Frank stories :)). Anyway this is a nicely crafted game, and if you're into nonsensical stuff, you'll like it!

(P.S. the author says that this is his first completed game - who knows what else there is in store for us ;))

The Sagittarian (series)

I'm not sure if the series is finished or not (having just played the 4th installment I think it is, but time will tell), but I thought it's time I mentioned it here.

Usually when I see anything that has something to do with zombies uprising, I usually steer clear away from it. I dunno, I just don't like the genre so much, and it's been done to the death anyway. So I'm not sure what kept me interesting with this series. Perhaps it's the comics style visuals?

Maybe the nice build-your-own-adventure interface with clever rewinds when you die? Maybe the dialogues? Maybe the character build-up at the breaks between fights? Maybe the bluegrass songs played throughout the series? Or perhaps the series comes from the prolific creator of Alice is dead and Hood? Probably a bit of all of the above.

Each episode takes only a few minutes to play, or if you want to be thorough and try all story arcs probably a bit longer, so it can't be that bad, right?

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (Berger), Part 4 (Bayou).

Qoosh

Here is a charming platform game about a green blob that is able to teleport itself. Any object that occupies the space you're teleporting into takes your former place. Also, you have the ability to slow down time before you teleport. These features make for some really twisted puzzles which are fun to solve. Graphics and sound are cute but not too cute. The scientist's voice and monologues made me chuckle a few times here and there, which is noteworthy :). And here's your link!

First Person Tutor

Or as I'm calling it, the "Grammar Nazi game" :). You have about 30 seconds per level to find as many grammatical and typing errors as possible in order to flunk a paper, because you're an undergrad student and your professor's pissed off at the others :). Combos for finding errors quick are there, as well as penalties for marking a correct word. Every time I pick up this game I can't stop playing - it's really addictive, so I can only suggest you try it for a couple of minutes :).