I wanted to like this game, being the big fan of obscure games I am. A piece of art, it is. It's a fantastic example of random/programmatically generated graphics and music that adapts to changes in the environment. Sadly, it's a pretty dry gaming experience with controls that just don't feel right. - MK

In Transcend you place flower like objects in the middle of the screen so they'll bloom and you can shoot bigger things to hit apparently malicious geometrical shapes that float around menacingly. I don't think you can die. This isn't really a game, it's a game experiment. It kind of makes you think about games and gives you weird ideas. So I like that. - SR

This has much more of the feel of "college project" than of "computer game". There is virtually no game here (in part because it's exceedingly unfinished). It is definitely innovative, but in that avant garde, must-wear-a-beret-to-appreciate sense. You could check it out to see the unique musical blending or whatever, but as a game, I definitely don't recommend it. - MH

It's another game of matching colors! Graphics are cute, it's well put together, but I just don't need to ever try to match 3 of the same color again in my entire life. I feel bad reviewing these types of games, I know someone put a lot of work into this, but as a consumer, I just have to say... enough already! - MH

Yep. Another matching game. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just everyone and their uncle's has a matching game. It's well produced. The game includes many standard modes (play forever, point challenge, timed). Nice clean graphics, and good sound and music. - MK

Whooptie-doo, another "match three colors, then match three more, then...well, you get the idea!" game. It's been literally hours since I've seen one of these. After popping some uppers in preparation for another clone I got to work, because I was sure it wouldn't be "fun." Now, I'm not sure if it was my new 20mg friends, or the fact that this game rocks, but I've really enjoyed PPS (that's the game, not some dope slang). Sure, the only semi-new elements here are the power-ups you get, and collect, to keep things rolling, but everything in this very straight forward and entertaining package is fun. I'm not sure whether or not PPS is the color match game of the year, but it's certainly the best one of the month. - GM

This game surprised me! The graphics are absolutely phenomenal, with the smoothest animation imaginable! It's also got a great control feel, and very simple and fun game play. It's actually too simple to warrant a 10, but it's incredibly well done for what it is. This is more a game for kids than adults with its very simple play, but it is a very good one. - MH

This is a remake of a really obscure old game. It's... okay. The biggest problem with the game is fundamental in the design: it's tedious to constantly have to backtrack to beat the monsters before they bite your line. When you're not backtracking, it's pretty fun to collect all the cash, but the constant sirens of impending doom and backtracking just hurt the fun factor. - MH

The nearly identical game reviewed last month, X-Ray Ball, is a little superior. This game has nicer graphics, but both do the "Breakout in 3D" concept, and I think the lesson learned from both is that Breakout should be 2D. The 3D structures look nice, but consist of too many bricks, so you go from painful individual brick-smashing to collecting tons of power-ups and mowing everything down. And then they wear off and it's back to plinking away! - MH

This is only a game by a very broad definition. About 90% of your play time is spent either waiting for the next color drop to arrive, or picking a color and clicking on the same colored spot on the screen. This is only a challenge to the color-blind, and to them it's not a surmountable one. The remaining 10% of game play consists of mixing colors, which at least requires some reasoning, but is still extremely easy. The entire game is very easy and feels pointless, since it consists mostly of rote clicking. - MH

A great game! It's very original, though it reminds me of a breakout game called Jardinains because of the great fun moment I had when I first realized I could snatch the monkeys out of mid-air as they fell from their perches. It's fast paced, fun, funny, and very simple to play. Nice! - MH

Awesome! Essentially the game is you, Cactus Bruce, fighting monkeys using a giant claw. The claw is a very cool mechanic. It can be used to shield you, as well as grab and throw just about anything (other than blocks). The game features a great demoscene'ish soundtrack, and some surprisingly humorous pirate taunts. Nice one Blue Tea. - MK

The interface to this game is very difficult and clunky (as is the animation of the soldiers), and more than once I fell victim to accidental movement when trying to click an action button. But it is a solid strategy affair, which should appeal to X-Com or Jagged Alliance fans, if they can master the interface. - MH

It's telling that the most fun I had in this game was when I realized that the "Show Last Move" button bounces the last placed ball up a little, and can be repeated while it's airborne. The actual game play, well, it's Connect 4 in 3D. No bells, no whistles, no options except difficulty. I can't recommend that. - MH

An interesting 3D tic-tac-toe/connect 4'ish strategy game. The game is well produced, and has a great look, feel and general atmosphere to it. The only thing I can complain about is the name, which is quite blah. Nice. - MK

This game is pretty well done and I enjoyed the music, which reminded me of playing Samurai. Overall the game doesn't provide much challenge if you are playing against the computer, which limits its overall value, but I found it somewhat fun nonetheless. - RC

This is definitely a game for football fans, but as someone who literally couldn't care less about it, I still enjoyed it a lot. It's got strategic depth, and the goal blocking attempts are fun in a frustrating sort of way. A little more feedback (like a sound when they hit your gloves vs. the net) would be nice, and some explanation of the icons during the game, but I have to nitpick to find complaints! Oh, and the news girl is funny looking. - MH

Indie sport games are few and far in-between, and since I'm a sports nut I'm always anxious to play any new indie sport titles. This one comes off pretty well, though probably a half notch below their last sport effort Universal Boxing Manager. The interesting side of this is the combination of some action to go along with the simulation. Definitely a different look on soccer/football than you'll find anywhere else. - RC

A good logic puzzle game with cute graphics (reminiscent of Metal Slug even), but with its PDA roots showing clearly. The main complaint I have is that the control scheme is awkward. I can see why it's this way instead of a gamepad type of scheme, but a little pathfinding would help. Having to click 8 times to cross an area with no dangers in it seems excessive. In addition, it seems to throw new gameplay elements at you without any explanation, leaving you to do some guesswork. However, the tricky puzzles were pretty fun to solve anyway. - MH

To call Little Soldiers a Lemmings clone with guns would be an insult to just how great a game Little Soldiers is, besides, I'm sure someone else on the panel has already said it. The graphics aren't the greatest, and in fact it's easy to miss important gameplay elements in the somewhat busy brick layouts, but they're more than adequate. The levels are extremely fun, even if they can be frustrating for someone who can't plan ahead, such as your truly. Giving a perfect 10 to a game with numerous technical and design problems? Sure, why not, today we're going to just say that 1 + 1 = 3. Sometimes a game is not necessarily the sum of it's parts, and in the case of Little Soldiers it's much greater than the sum of it's parts. Thank (insert random deity here) for Little Soldiers, it helps the pain caused by other games go away. - GM

The logic game trifecta is complete! This is a good puzzle game - sort of a cross between Sokoban and Boulder Dash with some original stuff too. It's got cute style, but one wonders why a Rock N' Roll game has no background music at all. It's not a fantastic game, but it's good and I didn't get stuck until nearly the end of the demo! - MH

A stylish push puzzle game. Nice graphics and audio. Has some good variety with maps with and without gravity. Cool game. - MK

This could be a good game with a lot of tweaking. The player is so underpowered! Unlike real golf where a hole will take from 3-5 strokes, the best I got here was 14! It's also very screwy to face the way you want and the camera is in too tight and your player will often decide the next best shot is in a random direction (which you can correct with arrow keys). It's colorful, and is really a silly game with a small relationship to golf. I think there is potential, but right now it is confusing and difficult to play. - MH

Ok, I am a sucker for weird looking games. Amju's not quite your regular mini-golf game, as you collect Hearts, Moons and other shapes found in Lucky Charms, and free animals trapped in tiny houses. You have a very short drive but a lot of swings, so it's clear the game isn't interested in punishing you the same way other golf games do. Graphically its reminiscent of Animal Crossing, as cute but much more girl themed (i.e. pink) than most indie games. That strikes me as odd, having worked on my share of girl games (not my first choice, let me tell you :D). For all I know, Amju Jason just might be a brilliant businessman, attempting to drive some profit from the untapped female gaming market... or an anime fan, either works for me. Stacked up against the other bizarre golf games, it's no Ribbit King or Super Monkey Ball (Mini Game) killer, but Amju is still a nice game. - MK

While it won't win any awards for originality, it does score points for bucking the hamster trend and going gerbil instead. This game is great (stressful) fun, and extremely well put together, with an awfully cute gerbil to boot. I have no complaints! - MH

Not a bad game in any definition of the word, but I couldn't help wishing I was playing Hamsterball instead. The big difference between the two in my mind is that in that game you control the ball, in this one you control the platforms, which you tip in order to make the ball move...I know it's not that way, but that is how it feels. Overall a good game that is worth a download, but if you are looking for this type of game there is at least one other game like this out there that you should check-out. - RC

Balance seems to be a key problem in a lot of indie games. In this game, I typically scored between 100 and 30,000 points on a level (not very consistent!). Except on one level, I scored over A BILLION points. Seriously. All because of one fairly large pop (worth 500 million, and then I got another 500 million as a bonus for doing better than the computer). It felt pretty good to get a billion points, I must say, but this game is weird. It's a click-3-of-the-same-color game. - MH

This is a really good game! It's vaguely (vaguely!) reminiscent of Icy Tower rendered as a side-scrolling adventure. The only thing keeping it from being a really classic game is that it gets a little tiresome going through very similar long levels (and then going through them again should you actually die!). The abilities Glace has and the way he attacks are all really simple and intuitive, but they provide you with a lot of crazy jumping around fun. - MH

The one game this month that you absolutely cannot go wrong with, after all it is free!? Glace is a great platform adventure game that is quite entertaining and challenging despite the developer's statement that the game is for kids. I think everyone ought to check this game out as it is one of the better adventure games to come out this year and great fun to play though. With unlockable characters (just glace with more cool powers) that become available as you progress deep into the game there is a TON of game play here and it is fun!- RC

Dr. Lunatic as an RPG, even down to the "I'm Cool Cat Bad" remark. I might be experiencing deja vu, as I swear I've seen some of these monsters before. Ignoring that, it's still a nice game. It's unmistakably a Hamumu game, with it's share of 'dumbness' references and sarcastic/blunt humor. It's rather challenging at times too. - MK

Another game by Illustrious Panel member Mike Hommel. Kid Mystic plays and looks a lot like Dr. Lunatic, though I was immediately a little more drawn to this one due to the Zelda/RPG influence. There is many hours of time you can spend on this game and the variety of environments keeps it fresh and fun. - RC

A fantastic cross between bowling and mini-golf! With rockets! I always like to get in my complaints, so here they are: the course graphics are very bland, even ugly, and it's missing a great opportunity for some personality, since the bowlers are not visible, and there are no voices. But the style in the interface and the music make for a really great retro 50's feel that just enhances the fun of the simple and elegant gameplay. - MH

It feels strange to give Rocket Bowl a seemingly low grade, especially since I get the feeling that other members of the panel will rate it much higher. The game is just too bland to warrant a higher score in my opinion. When you first download the game it seems as though it's going to be some wacky out-of-the-box experience that we can use as an example of innovation in indie gaming. But nope, it's basically a bowling game with very basic controls and a few power-ups and bonuses tossed in for kicks. Graphics that range from excellent (the menus) to bland and uninspired (the game itself) don't help things either. - GM

A decent game with some flaws that make it just average. There are some glitches with regard to jumping on the edges of platforms, no reaction from enemies when you hit them, and some clunky stuff in the menu interface (like ESC twice exits the game). But the worst part was when I got to a boss level, and was excited to find that it had bosses, then died and was unhappy to find that running out of lives means repeating the entire level set over. The gameplay is pretty good, but marred by some glitches and flaws. - MH

Coin Planets has so much going for it that I almost feel bad not giving it a higher score. The extremely interesting levels, amusing enemies, and great backdrop made me think long and hard about giving it a mere 6. The reason it doesn't rate higher is that your character's movement is so sluggish that most of the enjoyment found in the game will be lost on slamming keys in a vain attempt to have the lethargic character get the lead out. One small change could easily make Coin Planets a 9. - GM

Astoundingly grand! If we were just comparing Breakout games, it'd be 10/10. Since it has to compare to all genres, it can only get a 9. But it's a well-deserved one. I have no complaints on this game, it even almost totally avoids the classic last-brick tedium (although most levels end up being a frenzied blast of power-up madness... but that's fun!). - MH

I am a huge fan of the Ricochet series, honestly. The snazzy graphics, the mostly unique power-ups, and mind blowing levels make playing the various Ricochet games a real pleasure. But for whatever reason playing Recharged was decidedly un-fun when compared to it's predecessors. The single biggest issue that the level design is so uneven, there's a ton of levels here but few of them are really enjoyable. The inclusion of such classic gameplay types as "hit one brick, everything blows up" or the always entertaining "last brick caught behind indestructible obstacle" makes for hours of pleasure. I'm not going to be a cynic and say that Reflexive is milking fans by releasing a bunch of fan-made levels and asking for money in exchange, I'll leave that up to you. - GM

A very polished trivia game! It's hard to find complaints, but I have two: one, it's a trivia game, so there's not much to it, just lots of questions to answer. Two, I would have liked to see tighter categories, to where you have more of an idea of what will be asked. For instance, instead of "Science", which nobody knows all fields of, there could be "Botany" and "Chemistry" and so on. - MH

Finally, some indies got the whole trivia right, well, mostly right. Trivia Machine has a slick interface that is easy to use, this applies to all aspects of the games' navigation, from the main menu to the top score screen you get at the end of the game. The biggest limitation in most trivia games is that after a short period of time you're bound to start seeing the same questions over and over. Fortunately the gang at HipSoft have included an option to download new questions automatically, his should really help the longevity. My only real gripe with Trivia Machine is the lack of a multiplayer mode. Every time I got a real brain bender right I jumped up and went to give the player next to me a high five, except there wasn't anyone there. I'm lonely HipSoft, give me multiplayer capability! Or a hug. - GM

I think low-key is the best word to describe this game. The challenge is very low-key (I never got less than 1st until the second to last race!), the graphics are subdued, sounds and music dull and relaxing, the speed of racing is slow, even the cars themselves are nice little Japanese subcompacts instead of powerful racing machines. I guess in the future people are more concerned about fuel economy than raw speed, which is pretty realistic. The announcer is hilarious! - MH

Excellent, a racing game! Look at those not-too-shabby graphics! That long list of tracks! The impressive array of car modifications! The split screen multiplayer mode! The crippling control! Hey, wait a minute, who put the world flakiest and least responsive driving controls into my beloved Jam XM? On second thought, I want my exclamation marks back, I'd rather use them on a less punishing game. Oh, and you know the "50 witty comments" mentioned in the features list? They're not that witty, so there! - GM

It's fun to take out your frustrations in these pre-election days (probably too late for you reading this), but this is much too simple to amuse for more than a couple of minutes. On the other hand, it's free, so why not whack some crooks? It's well-made for the very simple gag that it is. - MH

Easy to pick up and play, just smack your mallet on the faces of presidential hopefuls and a few bad guys too. Definitively not of the caliber of President Forever or some of the other presidential games released recently, but well-worth a few minutes of your time if you are feeling bored and want to smash some heads. - RC