Official Indie and Free Games Thread!

[Smithee]

Damn, did the sequel come out? I was hoping to play it on Christmas, but I guess I forgot or something...

I'll wait 'til next year, they're better "in season", y'know?

Good stuff though, recommended as well!

[Gendo Ikari]

I was forgetting, however, to mention Merry Gear 2's biggest flaw: a sizable chunk of game time is spent on backtracking.


Ville Monkkonen is a finnish indie developer who released several free games of increasing quality in the first half of the 2000s. From the humble start of The Forge (a mediocre arena fighting game with an interesting control system - the mouse is used to swing the sword freely), through the interesting action-rpg Magebane 2, to Notrium, a mix of action, exploration and adventure where the player must survive on a very hostile planet, using pieces of his ship's wreckage to build tools, finding food and shelter from the harsh climate, and repelling the voracious animals. Maps are randomly generated, and a few mods are available. It's too action-packed - sometimes the fauna never lets you go for a second, and by author's admission, melee combat is quite weak. Good game and an interesting mix of genres, but might prove too frustrating for some.

After some years of silence, Monkkonen is currently developing Driftmoon, which looks like an evolution of Notrium in a fantasy setting, although with more traditional RPG elements (like the ability to recruit a party). Right now, and not surprisingly he's concentrating on the combat system.

[Gendo Ikari]

Klik & Play was the first game making utility by Europress. While its potentialities are quite limited, and has been quickly surpassed by its successors The Games Factory and Multimedia Fusion, some programmers were able to make the best from it. Here's two egregious examples.


Destruction Carnival is a great arena shooter still holding up pretty well, 13 years after its release, thanks to excellent playability and a steep difficulty curve, especially in regard of the three bosses. Cute graphics with some nifty details, like the protective glass of the brain-aliens shattering. It even got a recent remake, now fully playable on XP and Vista (although I never had problems running the original version on XP), also ported to Mac and Linux.


Cerberus is exactly as its author describes it, "Metroid meets Zelda": sci-fi setting, overhead view, weapons, tools and gameplay elements from both franchises thrown in a good mixture. The game offers a small play area overall, but it's also quite challenging, right from the very beginning. Graphics are adequate but the action takes place in a ridicolously small windows. It originally had a small site on Geocities, complete with map and walkthrough, but it's gone now.

[Gendo Ikari]

Operation Cleaner is the simulation of a demolition company. With the available budget, the player must hire workers, set up explosives and protections for neighbouring buildings, and have the building destroyed in a single blast - failure to do so, damages to other buildings, or simple mismanagement (I once performed a perfect demolition but realized I could have the same result with less powerful and cheaper explosives) obviously result in losses of money. There are several cities, each with jobs of increasing difficulty. The original 1998 version is a DOS game and runs badly in DosBox, so it's better to head directly to the 2005 sequel, a Windows game with cleaner (no pun intended!) but essential graphics, a better but still cumbersome interface, and some more options, although the core gameplay hasn't changed much, making it essentially an update. It's hard to digest and very unforgiving even with the lowest difficulty settings, but deserves attention for its uniqueness.

For some strange reason, there's a version 1.03 of OC2 for download at Fun-Motion but not on the official site.

[lgb]

These are all free:

Super fast-paced 3D shooter, "GearToyGear". (You need to download XNA Framework Redistributable, I believe this is the correct one)

Texmaster is a neat little TGM simulator/practice thing

tastystatic is the "new version" of the DOS Skyroads, hopefully that is enough said

RunMan - Race Around The World: If you don't have this yet, you really should get it now; crazy cool platformer based around speed, not so much the Sonic kind of speed but more like the Alien Soldier kind of speed

[Gendo Ikari]

Rom Check Fail is a loving tribute to the games of yesterday. In an imaginary MAME gone crazy, several classic games roms are mixed together; backgrounds, music, enemies and even the player's character change randomly at regular intervals, and move in accordance to their original games (for example, while Link can move around all the screen, Mario is subjected to gravity towards the bottom). Despite the inherent confusion of the concept, and some unfair situations, especially when you turn into the lousy Space Invaders craft (probably for this reason the player is awarded an extra life for completing a level), it is pure fun if you are even only vaguely familiar with the originals; when the 20 levels are completed, it starts over with higher difficulty. More recently, the author has released a Flash shooter called Captain Forever - I haven't had the chance to try it so far but it has been quite acclaimed.

[wyrdwad]

Has anyone mentioned "Saira" yet?

nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?page=1001Saira

New game by Nifflas, the dude behind Within a Deep Forest, Knytt, Knytt Stories, and the upcoming NightSky (formerly Night Game) on Wiiware.

Saira is Nifflas' first HD game, and in addition to being perhaps the single most gorgeous indie game I've ever had the pleasure of playing, it's also got a really nice atmosphere (as is par for the course, with Nifflas games!), and really clever puzzles, too. There are downsides - the control is very precise and "slippery," and there are lots of timed platforming segments that can get a bit frustrating - but overall, it's not only a great game, but a great game worth buying, if you like the demo version (and I did!).

In terms of other games, it reminds me most of Flashback, or Out of This World (Another World in PAL regions). If you're a fan of those types of games, DEFINITELY check out Saira. You won't be disappointed.

Here's a video of one of the later stages of the game. Admittedly, the scene it depicts is one of the more frustrating in the game, but it's also oddly exhilarating and fun. Can't explain why, it just is. (:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEyQumSObrs

-Tom

[Gendo Ikari]

I'll have to try the demo. A friend of mine who loved previous games by Nifflas, bashed Saira for being, in his opinion, just a HD rehash of the aforementioned.



Duel Toys plays on the bizarre concept of putting a fighting game inside an overall Pokemon-style structure (and the concept of mini-robots that the owner can shape to his liking reminds me of CLAMP's Angelic Layer). Neither of the two parts is particularly developed: the exploration and dueling section, shown in cute isometric graphics, is simplistic and repetitive on the long run, while the fighting engine is sub-par - blocking makes a character impervious even to super moves (tip: use grabs in this case). However, it's better than the sum of its parts, thanks to many unlockable characters (23 regulars and 26 with a role similar to the Strikers from KOF '99 to '02) from several franchises plus some original ones thrown in, and an Arcade Mode that allows the player to gain Arcade Points for the Duel mode. A sequel is in development and promises a very large cast of characters. Source and assets of the first episode are available here.

Recently the author has released Bullets of a Revolver, a cartoony fighting game with a Wild West theme, based on the engine of DT2. Story Mode allows for only the two main characters to be selected (and sometimes only one can be used), but there are several cutscenes and minigames inbetween fights, among them a parody of Custer's Revenge of all games. The fighting engine, while certainly better, still feels quite "woody" and could have used much more polish, but the game is fun while it lasts and offers nice cartoony graphics (although the "puppet" style is recognizable) and original music.

[Gendo Ikari]

Between Heaven and Hell

A novice Orpheus, comatose in the real world after an accident, braves the dangers of the limbo his soul's stuck in to find his girlfriend before she's mistakenly sent to Hell. Despite the grim premise, the game is actually quite campy and not meant to be taken seriously. A side-view action/adventure built with the AGAST engine (like Yahtzee's 1213 with the Adventure Game Studio), it's an evident homage to Another World, down to the level passwords (you can see the current one by pausing). It's only a few hours long but offers nice variety between its scenarios, ranging from pure action, to precision jumping, to simple but fun and sometimes even ingenious puzzles. Characters are digitized, the protagonist is goofy but surprisingly well animated; the backgrounds are practically made of some Photoshop effects but have a painted look that's perfect for the game. One of the craziest final bosses ever. Only two gripes: overly long dubbed cutscenes that _cannot_ be skipped, and a short section aboard some flying thing on rails that's more frustrating than fun.


Speaking of the original Another World, author Eric Chahi himself re-released the game as an indie in 2006 for the 15th anniversary of the original publication. The new version allows for higher-resolution vector graphics and new, more detailed background that don't betray the original style. It's also possibile to use just the original graphics. In spite of its short lenght, and a gameplay that relies too much on trial-and-error, AW deserves the status of cult classic thanks to its intense, cinematic action (realized with no dialogue whatsoever), great atmopshere, and some ingenious environment puzzles.
A freeware Game Boy Advance port, programmed thanks to the source code provided by Chahi, is also available.

[wyrdwad]

I'll have to try the demo. A friend of mine who loved previous games by Nifflas, bashed Saira for being, in his opinion, just a HD rehash of the aforementioned.

Not even remotely. It has almost NO resemblance to Knytt or Knytt Stories in any way. The gameplay is 100% different. Knytt Stories was all about exploration and fast, care-free platforming. Saira is all about solving logic puzzles and slow, calculated platforming. It's a VERY, VERY different experience, and I honestly don't know how anyone could say it's just a rehash of Knytt unless they only looked at screenshots, and didn't bother playing the game.

Even if it WERE just an HD rehash of Knytt, though... why would that be a bad thing? Honestly, I'd've probably enjoyed the game even MORE if it were, as I *loved* Knytt, and would love to play another game like it! Saira is cool and all, but Knytt Stories still remains Nifflas's absolute best game IMHO.

-Tom

[Gendo Ikari]

Five Magical Amulets - A fairy tale adventure. Interestingly, every location is full of hot-spots, but only really relevant objects and characters, highlighted when the cursor turns red, can be interacted with. Many ups and downs: beautiful backgrounds and music but much worse characters with woody animations; inconsistent writing with some very stereotyped characters and a ridicolous nemesis; long and with many puzzles, but several are difficult and not very logical; great final puzzle followed by a rushed ending.


Pleughburg: Dark Ages - An extremely old crime adventure. Let's be clear: graphics were ugly when it was released already, imagine now. The backstory of the titular city is a bit bizarre. It also mixes realistic investigation techniques (pick samples and objects with gloves, take photos of the crime scenes...) with crazy inventions made by the main character's genius friend. And there a location where you *must* take a metal bar under a crashed van to avoid making the game unwinnable. But it's also a long game with lots of good puzzles, nice atmosphere despite the bad graphics (and the murders are quite brutal), and four endings depending on the choices in the last part.


Plasma Warrior is a small exploration platformer made with only seven colors, although it seems to have just four for every screen, making the palette similar to the old CGA. Jump physics are lousy but strenghten the feeling of a lost mid-eighties game. Fun but way too short, at least the final (and only) boss is well made. An earlier game from the same author is Paroxysm, a gory platformer where the character must made his way through dungeons in one piece - literally, since they are littered with traps eager to hack, cut and crush him to bits.

[Gendo Ikari]

wyrdwad: I've finally gotten to try the demo of Saira, which is more "generous" than I would have throught. Good platforming (I really like the climbing mechanics) and some lovely details, like the pinball minigame in the PDA while traveling between solar systems. Unfortunately, one thing breaks the immersion for me, and it's the graphics. I love when they put many levels of parallax, but the foreground line is a blurry mess, the main plane is similar to the graphics of the Knytts and sometimes very pixelated (but, along with the main character and her dresses, appropriate for each environment, and the little creatures, still the best part), and the background is blurry and "semi-realistic" (I read that sometimes retouched photos are used). I justify the blur as letting the player focus on the only important plane, but I really don't like such graphical inconsistence - more is not necessarily better, and that's what happened here. My friend was wrong about Saira, it's a good game, but loses something in atmosphere IMO.


------


Speculum Mortis: Regret is a rare example of adventure made with Game Maker. A short haunted house story (declaredly inspired by the Chzo Mythos, homaged several times throughout the game) rendered in grayscale, with just some dashes of color here and there for better atmosphere, it also employs classic "scare tricks" effectively. Unfortunately, the pacing is ruined by a clunky interface (right-click on the arrow in the bottom interface to move back from the current location?) and some unfortunate game design choices: several objects can be examined but not used/taken until the game makes it possibile - although there's some logic as the character does not see it necessary to do so. Still worth a try to see the ending.


Apprentice 1 and 2 are centered on a wizard's apprentice (duh) who wants to be taken into better consideration by his master. The first episode is short with only a few locations, while the sequel is much longer and has a better interface. Both offer great cartoony graphics and good puzzles (but some are a bit twisted - the cheese in the first episode...), an optional speech pack is available for the first game. Apprentice 2 ends on a big cliffhanger but sadly developer Herculean Effort Productions released a commercial adventure, Super Jazz Man, and nothing new has been seen afterwards - no Apprentice 3 is in sight.


The Battle for Wesnoth is a turn-based fantasy strategy game that's been in development for nearly a decade and is available for several platforms. I still have one of the earlier versions, 5 megabytes, no sound, some placeholder graphics and few missions... and now the installer is over 200 megabytes in size! Aside from much better graphics and sound, many campaigns were added over time to the titular one, along with multiplayer options and an editor. Tons of add-ons are available (from the in-game interface or directly from here), and it's even translated in almost 50 languages, although only partially done with many of them - but where other have you seen an indie game in Latin?


Warrior Dragon is worth mentioning as a small curiosity: a Dragon Quest, or better Dragon Warrior clone, where the main character is a dragon on a quest to save eggs from an evil black knight! If you are nostalgic of the old-style, barebones gameplay, give it a try even if it could get boring after a while.

[Snarboo]

An Untitled Story

I had heard of this game before, but I decided to play it after being linked to a DIYGamer article about the Top 10 Best Indie Metroidvanias from the IndieGames Blog. Needless to say, I was sucked into the game last night and spent anywhere from 3 to 4 hours jumping and exploring through its labyrinth world. I doubt I was even halfway through the game before deciding to go to bed. It really is a great metroidvania title and one that you shouldn't miss if you enjoy the genre. Don't be fooled by the MS Paint style graphics! The game exudes charm and moves incredibly smoothly.

If there is one caveat, it's the difficulty. The game can be very difficult in places, and you'll really need to scour for health and ability upgrades if you want to make it through this alive. Some of the puzzles are also a bit cryptic, but if you pay attention you should easily figure them out. The game does include 4 difficulty settings, from easy to super hard.

[wyrdwad]

wyrdwad: I've finally gotten to try the demo of Saira, which is more "generous" than I would have throught. Good platforming (I really like the climbing mechanics) and some lovely details, like the pinball minigame in the PDA while traveling between solar systems. Unfortunately, one thing breaks the immersion for me, and it's the graphics. I love when they put many levels of parallax, but the foreground line is a blurry mess, the main plane is similar to the graphics of the Knytts and sometimes very pixelated (but, along with the main character and her dresses, appropriate for each environment, and the little creatures, still the best part), and the background is blurry and "semi-realistic" (I read that sometimes retouched photos are used). I justify the blur as letting the player focus on the only important plane, but I really don't like such graphical inconsistence - more is not necessarily better, and that's what happened here. My friend was wrong about Saira, it's a good game, but loses something in atmosphere IMO.

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree on that, as I actually think it's a really awesome, quite well-realized visual style. But either way, glad to see you gave it a look. (:

And Snarboo: Top 10 best indie Metroidvanias?! Man, did you ever catch my attention with THAT! (: Link clicked, and I have a feeling I'm going to be playing a lot of games tonight. (:

-Tom

[Gendo Ikari]

I second the recommendation for An Untitled Story, even if some screens require excessive precision and are therefore more frustrating than challenging. It's also the chance to recommend www.indiefaqs.com/, it's not been updated for months but has some nice resources for several games, AUS included.

---

Pocket UFO is an unofficial Pocket PC version of the first X-Com game (also known as UFO: Enemy Unknown). Not possessing such a device, I tried the Windows version and while on a PC it's obviously better to play the original version since this one uses a very small window, it allows to appreciate the great port. Scrolling in the tactical battles is achieved with a clickable grid on the borders of the screen; some adjustments were made to compensate for the lack of a second button (like changing the direction the soldier faces towards with a long press instead of a right-click); the world map is not 3D (a static image with three levels of zoom takes its place) but mantains the day/night cycle; the economic management screens were redesigned and look even better than in the original; some adjustments were made to grenades, now leaving more fire and smoke. Unfortunately, development was abandoned while the program still needed polishing; there are bugs, risks of crashes (save often) and no difficulty levels, the challenge is inconsistent and sometimes shifts from lousy to frustrating and back. Still, the greatness of X-Com: UFO Defense is there, its clear isometric graphics are perfect for the device; it also retains the repetitive yet immensely atmospheric music.
Latest version is 1.26 (you can easily find several sources googling the title), although some say 1.24 is better; avoid 1.25 because of its major bug, the inability to prime grenades.

---

Galshell: Blood Red Skies. If you thought Psyche Metal was creepy, just play this: not only blood and disturbing monstrosities, there's even nudity - but not as sexy as you'd think, quite the opposite. Graphics are superb, a cross between H. R. Giger, Go Nagai and Shinichi Hiromoto, rendered in a brighter, sometimes almost acid palette. It's also a better game than the aforementioned overall. The two "ships" have a main shot (Z key), upgraded with bonuses, and a homing shot (Left Shift). There are four difficulty levels (highlight the first option and press left/right before selecting), with some differences in gameplay between each.

Easy: when an enemy is killed, its shots turn into bonuses. If you finish an enemy with the homing shot instead of the main one (better turn the "enemy hp" option on), however, it'll release few or no bonuses.
Normal: enemy shots don't turn into bonuses. If you finish an enemy with the homing shot instead of the main one (better turn the "enemy hp" option on), however, it'll release few or no bonuses.
Hard: enemy shots don't turn into bonuses. Enemies will release the same bonuses if killed either with the main or the homing shot.
Omake: when an enemy is killed, its shots turn into bonuses. Enemies will release the same bonuses if killed either with the main or the homing shot. The stages scroll three times faster, so enemy waves pile up one after another.

Even at easy difficulty, the final multi-staged boss is not a cakewalk. Highly recommended.