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What's New in Indie |
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Bringing you a singular look at Indie's newest games every month. |
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Scoring Scale |
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A game to check out if you have nothing
better to do during lunch |
A game worth
breaking a date to play (and it'll be more fun anyways!) |
Call your boss, close the shades
and turn on a great game! |
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October 2007: |
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3D Dream Bowl |
3D Dream Bowl
($19.95)
by Absorb Games Inc.
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Players can unlock a variety of balls as well as 4 alleys that range
from the ordinary to the fantastical. The play is physics
based with simple motions used to control rolling the ball.
The
Verdict:
There
are a lot of bowling games out there and I'm just not sure the world
is ready for 3D Dream Bowl. It is a straight-forward bowling
game, so don't expect the whacky-goodness of
Rocketbowl, or even the
simple pleasures of
Saints & Sinners Bowling.
The control is easy, just aim the ball, left click and off she
rolls perfectly straight down the lane. You can steer the ball
left or right by moving the mouse, but there seems to be little reason
to do so. Since the release of Wii Sports most other bowling
games have felt lacking, and 3D Dream Bowl doesn't do anything to
change that feeling.
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Biniax-2 |
Biniax-2
($0)
by Jordan Tuzsuzov
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Biniax-2 is the sequel to Biniax. Players are given a single
color that they match to a block of 2-colors. After matching the
primary color, players then control the secondary color and will need
to find a match for that color. The end result is somewhat
similar to
Glow Worm, but at a faster pace. If you find yourself unable
to match your color to another color on the board, or if you trap
yourself in a corner, the game ends.
The
Verdict:
I'm
keeping this at a 'lunch break,' simply because as fun as it is, it
still isn't the type of game you'd play all night long. There
just isn't enough long-term goals to keep you going. However, it
is definitely the kind of game you'll want to have around for anytime
you have a free minute because it is absolutely fun! (A cell
phone version would be perfect)
The action mixed with strategy really keeps you on your toes and the
retro soundtrack is pretty cool. It's free, so you have no
reason not to check it out, and it really is worthy of your
time.
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Cave Days |
Cave Days
($19.95)
by Insolita Studios
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2 Cave Men, 1 Cave Women and a lot of dinosaurs. Cave Days mixes
up a variety of thoughtful obstacles into an ancient world of plat-forming, as
players carry at tasks such as gathering food and racing the local
speedster. Players swim, swing, ride, run, attack, fly and love
their way through a variety of 2D stages with cinematic interludes.
The
Verdict:
Every
time
I play this game I'm inclined to play it more. I found it quite
hard, and that is really the only knock I have on the game, though for
many, that will probably only make it better.
The humor is spot on with a variety of cool pixel-art cut screens that
are themselves worth the download. I also got a few smiles out of the silly
antics during the levels, such as screaming as you fall an impossible
distance, splatting as you hit the ground, and then simply standing up
and shaking it off without any ado.
Cave Days really mixes up
play with different tasks to keep the plat-forming fresh and fun.
There is a fair amount of exploration and puzzle solving, but little
of it felt tedious. Honestly, it felt something like Cadash
meets Mario, and for me that's more than enough to warrant a few
evenings worth of playing.
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Fragile Ball |
Fragile Ball
($9.95)
by Bimbosoft
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After bringing us the fantastic
Dream Match
Tennis series, Bimbosoft has stepped out of the sporting arena
with the release of Fragile Ball, a 2D tilt the world game. With
a name like Fragile Ball it's no surprise that you need to be very
careful as you tilt your way to victory.
The
Verdict:
Between
a bowling and a labyrinth game this month I feel like I've installed
the
Windows XP plus pack! Unfortunately, like its counterpart,
Fragile Ball doesn't live up to the standards of that pack from years
ago.
Irregardless of the sensitivity settings used the world feels more
frustrating than fun as you watch the ball crash and shatter over and
over again. Fragile Ball requires a very careful and steady
hand, and I'm sure it rewards those who persevere (at least I hope it
does), but I found it to be the least enjoyable labyrinth game I've
ever played and a big letdown after Bimbosoft's fantastic Tennis games.
Worth a few minutes of your time just to see the intriguing levels pan
behind the main menu, but you're better off not actually trying to
play them.
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Gladiator Trials II |
Gladiator Trials II
($24.95)
by Tagged Software
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Gladiator Trials II puts players in charge of both the training and
daily needs of gladiators in addition to the actual combat. This
sim + turn-based-strategy game has players building a variety of
buildings to improve gladiator skills, while also using slaves to
maintain the day to day life and trying to keep the check-book
balanced.
The
Verdict:
Gladiator
Trials 2 is either incredibly involved or incredibly shallow depending
on how you look at it. The sim aspect of the game, which
gradually becomes complex enough to require some actual
decision-making skills, probably won't satisfy sim fans, and the
simple turn-based battles that were rather short on strategy left me
wanting to dust off my copy of
Gladius.
However, the two parts put together made for an interesting tandem
that was surprisingly entertaining, and I really had a hard time turning it
off.
The mix of sim and strategy isn't a perfect blend, but it has some
goodness to it that is worth a longer look than might first seem
evident. |
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Global Conflicts: Palestine |
Global Conflicts: Palestine
($20.00)
by Serious Games Interactive
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Similar in topic to
Peacemaker, but completely different in approach, Global
Conflicts: Palestine seeks to educate players about the conflict in Israel.
Unlike the sim Peacemaker, GC: Palestine puts players on the front
lines as a reporter writing for various newspapers about the conflict.
The game play revolves around talking with different people in
different parts of town and gathering quotes, which are then assembled
into an article. The quality of the quotes in establishing the
point of your article determines your score.
The
Verdict:
Most
games treat death as meaningless (see King Mania below). GC:
Palestine takes a very different approach pushing players to involve
themselves in the Israeli- Palestine conflict. The game is
rather challenging as balancing hard-hitting interrogations with
keeping good relations with the NPCs that will remain present through
each of the scenarios requires a lot of skill.
Moving around the huge map, one click at a time was certainly boring,
as was some of the dialog that felt like you were lead along more like
an interactive storybook than a real participant. However, the
story is great, and you do get to choose everything from which paper
you are writing for (Palestinian, Israeli or Neutral), to how truthfully you
make your article after talking with various sources.
GC: Palestine will get you thinking. Definitely not a game to be
tackled when you're looking for light-hearted fun, but for those who
look for a little more grown-up gaming, it's not to be missed.
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King Mania |
King Mania
($19.95)
by 300 AD
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King Mania is a quick strategy game where players use towns, castles,
mines, and magical towers to wage war for the 'fun of it.' The
game play is focused on taking over each of the buildings on the map
and using your increased might to spread further and remove the enemy
king from his throne. Buildings can be upgraded to produce more
materials and have more defense. In addition, each building has
a variety of special up-grades including the Dragon that the castle
can summon, the mighty fireball from the tower, and the
Franken-monster from the city.
The Verdict:
King
Mania does exactly what it says it does. It's a great short
strategy game that is short in both the time it takes to play and the
actual strategy involved.
The game is really about overwhelming the enemy, so figuring out how
to take the most land the quickest and then slowly building up a huge
army is the only key to winning. That said, King Mania seems
well aware of its shortcomings and packs in a humorous self-awareness
that is makes the whole game just 'work.'
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Machines at War |
Machines at War
($19.95)
by Isotope 244 Graphics
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Machines at War is an RTS game that follows in the steps of many games
before it, but deviates in a few key areas. The terrain is destructible as players build up their
armies both in the ground and in the air to take on the enemies.
The game includes more than 40 different building types and a deep
technology tree. Also included are bridges for building over
water, walls for protecting your territory and a wide variety of
stationary cannons.
The
Verdict:
It's
hard to go wrong here. Machines at War is a very deep RTS with no
campaign, but a lot of good old-fashioned fun. It focuses more
on building than on the commanding of the troops and automates a great
deal of the busywork such as resource recovery and scouting.
The way remains of buildings and vehicles scar the
terrain adds a nice touch, but what really makes MoW enjoyable is the
wide variety of strategies available to players. Research points
are limited, which allows players to choose from a limited number of
upgrade options. Getting deeper on any one part of the
technology tree means passing up other options and defining your
approach to play. The units sometimes get lost on the
screen, the graphics feel a bit dated, and the help screen desperately
needs some attention, but the game is so rewarding to play that it's
easy to overlook these minor quibbles. Machines at War is
fantastic fun that every strategy fan should check out.
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Plant Tycoon |
Plant Tycoon
($19.95)
by Last Day of Work
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Following the sim leanings of Last Day of Work right back to their
roots, Plant Tycoon puts players in charge of a nursery and greenhouse
where they must come up with a variety of plants to make a
living.
Like
Fish Tycoon and
Virtual Villagers, Plant Tycoon takes place in
'real time,' making it a game that requires a very watchful eye.
The
Verdict:
I
really enjoyed Fish Tycoon and loved Virtual Villagers. I
thought the second Virtual Villagers was also a good game, though perhaps a
bit too needy of my time. With Plant Tycoon I was excited to see the
improved graphics and the brilliant variety of plants.
However, the game felt rather lifeless. Watching plants grow is
about as much fun as watching water boil. In VV there was life
all around and character as the villagers lived their lives and
Fish Tycoon had continual movement. There is a lot to like in
this game from the interesting seeds to the fun of creating your own
hybrids. That's not to say it's not fun, it is without question
a solid game by any measure.
However the game does feel like it's missing something and falls short
of the magic of the other LDOW games.
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Words Kingdom |
Words Kingdom
($14.95)
by MagicIndie Softworks
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Words Kingdom places players in the fight to save the kingdom, but you
must first gain their trust by proving your ability to create
many words in a short period of time.
The game plays like most classic word games, with additional points
given for using 'lesser' letters, and adds bonus periods where players
need to make words of a certain length to receive additional points.
The
Verdict:
I
find that I don't typically enjoy word games, so when one happens upon
me that I do like it makes the experience all the more memorable.
I was tempted to just ignore the sword in the stone story and what seems
like a meaningless medieval theme, but they were so inviting that I
found myself lost in the game for some time. It's not quite as
engaging as Dungeon Scroll or
Bookworm Adventures, nor as
fun as Thomas and the Magical
Words, but it probably goes next on my list of the best word games
available, and that is high praise...at least from me ;). If you like
word games at all, or any of the ones I mentioned above you ought to
give Words Kingdom a look.
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By: Russell Carroll Posted: Sunday October 28, 2007
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