In short:
Rank your top 20 PC Indie Games you played last year (check the previous monthly threads if you want to remember what we played here), feel free to give the same rank to multiple games, like:
Code:
1. Game XY
2. Game ÖZ
2. Game GA
2. Game XD
5. Game XT
6. Game HT
Feel free to include a second list with the ranks 21-50 in the same manner, but the second list is not needed for the voting.
Also, make sure to post about why you think certain games deserve the votes, to convince others to try a game or to remind them of a certain game. We covered ~500 games last year, so its easy to miss one or two great ones. I would also suggest subscribing to the voting thread to be informed about others writing up their impressions/why this game was awesome-posts.
Didn't want to miss the monthly vote because of GotY shenanigans, so I spent my whole night with some independent customers, if you know what I mean.
Since I didn't write up OP impressions prior to this, this is my top 10 for December (in no particular order; mostly free stuff, so do consider checking it out) followed by the games that didn't make it:
DataJack: This game is pretty rad, a 2D Deus Ex in a sense. The stealth mechanics need a little work and the game is a bit buggy, but nothing a few updates couldn't fix. Fantastic soundtrack.
Westerado: Played this months ago. Maybe the best game from the OP which is not surprising - it's the logical continuation of Law of the West. Love the world it creates and the freedom it gives you.
Unfortunately, it's very buggy, and, now that I replayed it, in an unfinishable state for me (I think) since I killed the friggin'
Oil Tycoon
before I got the mission from the sheriff. That's what can happen when you're given the option to kill anyone, I guess. And I wasn't particularly trigger happy, either. I also have to mention that I hate the fact that this only playable in a browser.
Don't Make Me Turn This Car Around: This game is hilarious. Half the time I don't why I get a game over ((in)sanity, probably) and the car handles like a hovercraft, but the idea behind it is pretty genius.
RIP: So, these are two games based on one idea by two people. What to say, really. Be Not Afraid is kinda like Hang-On, I guess. The other one is, like, you're this revolutionary and, hm, you board other ships, so.. it's kinda like FTL? Maybe play it for yourself and stop bugging me about it. Only thing I know is that
those two guys are FUCKING GENIUSES OMGO?rW?*erjSDPFNasdöfl<dpLE AAAAAH
Bonus impression:
#dead
Paper Sorcerer: Didn't play much of this (rf. to Toma's post), but I like the look and the oldschool nature of it (One of the difficulty levels is named '1980's'. If that is accurate, then hoo boy.) Some stuff looks a bit crummy and I don't really know why, but overall, I look forward to playing more of this.
The Very Organized Thief:Another great idea for a game. You're a thief with a list of stuff to steal and you have a set amount of time to find those objects in the house (and get some sweet cash along the way). Sadly, I'm a pretty unorganized thief. Protip: You should away going vis-à-vis with the owner of the place. He will hit you.
Lilly Looking Through: I played a bit more of it (aka past where the demo ended). It's alright, more than alright even. Really simple adventure game, like Botanicula, but not as polished or charming. The demo is at least work trying.
The Consuming Shadow: Guess what, Yathzee still makes intriguing games. Obviously this is no Silent Hill 2 (a game he often cites), but it manages to be very unsettling and mechanically interesting despite the rudimentary look. Props to that guy.
Apexicon: I like word games, I love Puzzle Quest. Apexicon is literally those two put together. It's a real shame the KS didn't work out. Hope to see more of this soon, though (great soundtrack as well!).
---------------------------------------
Sentris: Very interesting concept, but the toy part is more enjoyable than the game part. I feel like their idea could be used for something way better if they went into a completely different direction.
Serendipity: You should try it out if it speaks to you, visually. Gameplay-wise it's a bit simplistic, sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.
Game about Vehicles: Long answer - I don't like games where I have to build the game first. I'm not the dev. I'm also not completely averse to vehicle construction. BK Nuts & Bolts is an amazing game. In this one it seems egregiously cumbersome. Also, it's super broken.
Short answer - Nope.
Silence in the Mist: Doesn't look that interesting and the controls are sluggish. When you walk, a piano plays in the background. I don't know why this exists.
Lumen: Better than you would expect, but not good enough (played it last month).
Blade Rush: Too generic for my taste. I can really get behind these kinds of games as long as the handling is on par. In this case, the jumping is too loose, the wall jump feels very awkward (it's a challenging touchstone, I know), and stringing kills either ends up being awesome or it sends you flying to your death.
Skinwalker: G-g-ghosts?! Sorry, I could say some mean things about this, but eh. You'll figure it out.
Ex Amante: You play a tank with legs trying to pick up the pieces of a broken relationship. The game glitched out on me when I was walking through a text bubble repeatedly, waiting for the text to appear. Or maybe the game had enough of itself. Wouldn't blame it.
CATDAMMIT!: I don't think you can play this right now, they're working on a new version. Tried it a few weeks ago and, well, that was my time with that game. Looks interesting, but is a little thin on the gameplay side. I was disappointed, tbh.
Hi Marco! Thanks so much for playing FJORDS. I keep meaning to add a way to reset the game from within PIZZAPLACE but things got a bit crazy with the launch and the port. Sorry!
Open readme.ini and find the following variables:
DROQ
SMES
WHIT
BYRN
ZZZ
set them all to 99999. Be careful! PIZZA is perilous...
There are some obvious comparisons to Starseed Pilgrim, the way the world and its mechanics are introduced, or the lack of it, which is always great. I think that Fjords is a better game in the core, allowing you to experiment more with the tools you are given, solving micro puzzles in a lot of different ways (I love this aspect in puzzle games), but overall I felt stronger connection with Starseed - it felt just more open and shrouded in incomprehensible mystery. Still, it's one of the most interesting games I played recently and I will definitely get back to it now that you've found out how to do it.
Ok, I think I've got only few pizza slices left. And the doors tool is the best in my opinion - you can even cheat with it moving horizontally (well, you can do it with all the sets which create a platform), by standing on the edge.
There are some obvious comparisons to Starseed Pilgrim, the way the world and its mechanics are introduced, or the lack of it, which is always great. I think that Fjords is a better game in the core, allowing you to experiment more with the tools you are given, solving micro puzzles in a lot of different ways (I love this aspect in puzzle games), but overall I felt stronger connection with Starseed - it felt just more open and shrouded in incomprehensible mystery. Still, it's one of the most interesting games I played recently and I will definitely get back to it now that you've found out how to do it.
Ok, I think I've got only few pizza slices left. And the doors tool is the best in my opinion - you can even cheat with it moving horizontally (well, you can do it with all the sets which create a platform), by standing on the edge.
There are quite a few things the game allows with its mechanics, it always almost feels a bit like glitching through the world, like
standing on the edge to drop a boat, and I cant remember how I did it, but by entering a certain door in glitch world, I got to a super glitch area. It was weird.
I am sure there are quite a few things I havent discovered yet. Oh and yeah, I voted it higher than Starseed for the reason you mentioned, its just the more coherent game even though Starseed offers "more".
There are quite a few things the game allows with its mechanics, it always almost feels a bit like glitching through the world, like
standing on the edge to drop a boat, and I cant remember how I did it, but by entering a certain door in glitch world, I got to a super glitch area. It was weird.
Cool, what was inside this glitch area? Oh, and by Doors I meant it combined with Magic, which gives you ability to penetrate blocks going upwards, and the possibility of moving left and right at the top of it makes it a sweet combo. Replaying it as I write
So, I just grabbed pizza slice in NEWSGROTTO and now I'm trying to reach this thing on the upper right side of the screen: http://i.imgur.com/0tDM9t2.jpg. Any idea how to do it and does it even trigger anything?
So, I just grabbed pizza slice in NEWSGROTTO and now I'm trying to reach this thing on the upper right side of the screen: http://i.imgur.com/0tDM9t2.jpg. Any idea how to do it and does it even trigger anything?
Considering the rest of the game, I am sure you can get there somehow. I tried getting there with the elevator on the same screen, but that didnt work out all that well. I'll try again because I definitely want to know what that is too.
So, I just grabbed pizza slice in NEWSGROTTO and now I'm trying to reach this thing on the upper right side of the screen: http://i.imgur.com/0tDM9t2.jpg. Any idea how to do it and does it even trigger anything?
enter from the right, you can access the upper right platform. From there I managed to change to glitch world on the right side, then fell down to the lower right platform and escalated myself to the mystery platform and then was on there. Only problem now was that I was still in glitch world, so I couldnt check the screen. I also couldnt find a way to unglitch myself safely.
The Swapper ($5.09), Risk of Rain ($6.69), and Spelunky ($3.79) are currently all Daily Deals, if you need to catch up on some 2013 indies. If you at least get one, I'd recommend the Swapper
I finally found the time to methodically go through Gone Home, opening every door, reading everything, etc. I think I did a good job, even though I'm already reading about easter eggs that I never stumbled upon.
The whole villa is superbly designed and your progression through the house feels like a real journey at the end which is maybe the greatest thing about it, since you really weren't doing anything special or, rather, not looking at anything special (opening every drawer and armoire in an empty house while leaving all the lights open is not an everyday activity, admittedly).
I don't think it is at all "pretentious" or any such nonsense to call this a big step in gaming. Not everything has to become 'Gone Home', that goes without saying, but rarely do you find a story so well told, so expertly voice acted and so powerful like in this game.
I think the divided reaction is a testament to everything the game does right, i.e. the fact that a game like this is considered controversial among certain groups tells you a lot about where we're at right now.
I also checked out Tetrobot & Co., played through the first five or so levels, which has prompted me to put it in my top 20 for now, knocking Dust off the list. It's got a ton of content, some really cool puzzle ideas and a really good soundtrack. Curious to see how it mixes things up going forward.
I also remembered that I have 'Blocks That Matter' on my 360. Should fire that up sometime.
Tiny & Big is really good. More "action-y" than I expected, well at least the third level. I haven't had this much fun with destructible environments since Red Faction Guerrilla. If the levels and lengths stay consistent, I'd estimate my playthrough will take about 5 hours, which is pretty good IMO
Tiny & Big is really good. More "action-y" than I expected, well at least the third level. I haven't had this much fun with destructible environments since Red Faction Guerrilla. If the levels and lengths stay consistent, I'd estimate my playthrough will take about 5 hours, which is pretty good IMO
I finally found the time to methodically go through Gone Home, opening every door, reading everything, etc. I think I did a good job, even though I'm already reading about easter eggs that I never stumbled upon.
The whole villa is superbly designed and your progression through the house feels like a real journey at the end which is maybe the greatest thing about it, since you really weren't doing anything special or, rather, not looking at anything special (opening every drawer and armoire in an empty house while leaving all the lights open is not an everyday activity, admittedly).
I don't think it is at all "pretentious" or any such nonsense to call this a big step in gaming. Not everything has to become 'Gone Home', that goes without saying, but rarely do you find a story so well told, so expertly voice acted and so powerful like in this game.
I think the divided reaction is a testament to everything the game does right, i.e. the fact that a game like this is considered controversial among certain groups tells you a lot about where we're at right now.
I also checked out Tetrobot & Co., played through the first five or so levels, which has prompted me to put it in my top 20 for now, knocking Dust off the list. It's got a ton of content, some really cool puzzle ideas and a really good soundtrack. Curious to see how it mixes things up going forward.
I also remembered that I have 'Blocks That Matter' on my 360. Should fire that up sometime.
Just finished Gone Home too. Way better than I was expecting and I ended up giving it my #6 spot on my list. I dont even get how people think its controversial. I wouldnt go as far as to say its a "big step" in gaming, but it was a really, really well done story driven exploration game with masterfully crafted progression curve.
Man, Evoland sucks. I pulled it from the backlog today because I wanted a short game to play and what a letdown. It tries to do so many things that none of the individual pieces end up being fun. Even with immense nostalgia for the games they are trying to ape it was still a miserable experience. I appreciate the amount of technical work that the game probably required but a fun experience it is not.
Man, Evoland sucks. I pulled it from the backlog today because I wanted a short game to play and what a letdown. It tries to do so many things that none of the individual pieces end up being fun. Even with immense nostalgia for the games they are trying to ape it was still a miserable experience. I appreciate the amount of technical work that the game probably required but a fun experience it is not.
Man, Evoland sucks. I pulled it from the backlog today because I wanted a short game to play and what a letdown. It tries to do so many things that none of the individual pieces end up being fun. Even with immense nostalgia for the games they are trying to ape it was still a miserable experience. I appreciate the amount of technical work that the game probably required but a fun experience it is not.
Fun fact, just read that my GOTY has been bought by only 5000 people.
The game I consider the BEST during the past year, has only 5000 people who bought it. That is currently boggling my mind. I mean even if you consider piracy and demo-only players, there still probably not more than 20-30,000 people who even know of the game.
Edit: After writing that, I realized that Hofmanns GOTY might be even less well known
*looks it up*
Ah , KRZ, so not quite. But Paradis Perdus probably takes the crown regarding the most unknown game in the top 20 charts votings.
Fun fact, just read that my GOTY has been bought by only 5000 people.
The game I consider the BEST during the past year, has only 5000 people who bought it. That is currently boggling my mind. I mean even if you consider piracy and demo-only players, there still probably not more than 20-30,000 people who even know of the game.
Just finished Gone Home too. Way better than I was expecting and I ended up giving it my #6 spot on my list. I dont even get how people think its controversial. I wouldnt go as far as to say its a "big step" in gaming, but it was a really, really well done story driven exploration game with masterfully crafted progression curve.
Yeah, okay, "big step in gaming" sounded a bit lofty, you're right. But I do think it's a step forward in storystelling, both in terms of how a story gets told and, more prominently, the kind of story that gets told. I'll be happy to mention this game in an academic context when the opportunity arises, something that I will able to do with every game _someday_, when "the world is ready", but right now, Gone Home needs no justification, if you get what I mean.
Man, Evoland sucks. I pulled it from the backlog today because I wanted a short game to play and what a letdown. It tries to do so many things that none of the individual pieces end up being fun. Even with immense nostalgia for the games they are trying to ape it was still a miserable experience. I appreciate the amount of technical work that the game probably required but a fun experience it is not.
Super unknown currently still, at the time I was talking about the game during the march/april thread, the official forums didnt even have 100 members. The devs are still diehard set on not advertising it too much until its in its final version, I just hope they wont miss the train of actually starting to sell it to people at one point.
Super unknown currently still, at the time I was talking about the game during the march/april thread, the official forums didnt even have 100 members. The devs are still diehard set on not advertising it too much until its in its final version, I just hope they wont miss the train of actually starting to sell it to people at one point.
I understand their decision but I find it strange, with an indie game you need to keep building hype and interest in people for the game have a strong launch.
5000 ain't bad, considering the game isn't even released. Before selling alphas and betas was even a thing they would have sold 0 copies. That 5000 probably kept them afloat while the game is being developed. If you look at it that way, it's sufficient.
I don't really want to blame them for not advertising the alpha that much. Since they have already sold a decent amount of copies I'd imagine that time is better off spent developing the game and making it as good as possible. They'll have more time to devote to marketing when the game is in it's final stages.
5000 ain't bad, considering the game isn't even released. Before selling alphas and betas was even a thing they would have sold 0 copies. That 5000 probably kept them afloat while the game is being developed. If you look at it that way, it's sufficient.
I don't really want to blame them for not advertising the alpha that much. Since they have already sold a decent amount of copies I'd imagine that time is better off spent developing the game and making it as good as possible. They'll have more time to devote to marketing when the game is in it's final stages.
Well even their first version had enough content and polish for a Full release. What they did afterwards could also easily described as post release content instead of an alpha or beta.
Another Perspective: a simple puzzle platformer with original mechanics (several bodies in different dimensions, which serve as platforms with different gravity directions, etc.)
Didgery: a relaxing solitaire.
Lily Looking Through: a charming yet short and sometimes tedious point-and-click game.
Sym: a game in black-and-white like Closure. There is an interesting mechanic of logic circuit and two dimensions (black and white) with different gravity directions. Some platforming levels are unnecessarily tedious. The game has a major con: the animations are way too fast and I think it might trigger massive headaches (at best) due to all these blades rotating all over the screen. I still vote for it for the nice game design (but not for the animations).
To be precise I did two of those Not the usual stuff, cause I thought we're gonna have something like the most promising 2014 games in the future section for January. Last screenshot saturday had some really cool games, though, so I'll probably post them, if not here, then in the next thread.
Tinselfly is an upcoming video game with an emphasis on character development and storytelling through game mechanics. I’m hoping to submit it to the Independent Games Festival some year.
Bandits and Bounties is a Spaghetti Western themed Action-RPG inspired by movies such as A Fistful of Dollars, Sartana and Sabata where you play as a gunslinger offering his services to the highest bidder.
The Little Crane That Could. It is the most advanced crane simulator game for iOS [also now on PC and Greenlight], offering amazing gameplay.
A realistic physics simulation gives you full control over the crane: rotate, elevate, bend, extend and grapple. It's no walk in the park, no casual game by any means. You'll need to hone your spatial skills before you will be crowned a crane expert.
I am working on an original action/RPG game called Ophidian Wars.
This game is mean to appeal to the explorer/adventurer type of gamers - those who fell in love with the early Zeldas, Secret of Mana, and even crossing over in to the Diablo crowd.
Inspired by the retro glory days of 8-bit games, Rex Rocket is a traditional 2D platformer brought into the 21st century. Paying tribute to classic NES platformers like Mario, Mega Man, and Metroid, old-school platformer fans will find Rex Rocket a breath of fresh air. Rex Rocket features one-of-a-kind handmade pixel art, over 100 handcrafted levels connected in an expansive starship filled with a wide variety of puzzles, enemies, hazards and bosses.
A 2D side scrolling arcade shoot ‘em up, but turn based. An ultra-modern tactical UI, an 80’s arcade shooter theme, a sprinkle of physics, some smart level design inspired by classic shooters, a dark plot, some mild RPG-like progression, and you’ve got a tactical 2D shooter like no other. It’s about tactics, not reflex. Your move.
I have no idea how it plays but the screenshots and pixel art is so very intriguing. I'm eagerly awaiting the Kickstarter
Here's the game's site: http://galactic-princess.com/
Edit: some more info, don't remember this before
Manage your crew's abilities: from repelling intruders on your ship, to boosting the ship's systems.
As a smuggler you deal in all sorts of merchandise. From perfectly normal space pizza to pricey
and dangerous contraband such as space drugs, and even slaves. Beware though, even in space the police are watching.
The galaxy is wide. During your journey you will encounter many species...
Will they become trusted allies to trade with?
Will they be dangerous enemies who need to be eliminated or captured?
Will they join your crew as comrades, or as slaves?
Reach the speed of light to explore the galaxy.
Create your own ship and design its shape.
Place your engines wherever you want to change the mobility. Their position will affect the control of your ship.
I have no idea how it plays but the screenshots and pixel art is so very intriguing. I'm eagerly awaiting the Kickstarter
Here's the game's site: http://galactic-princess.com/
Yea I had googled the game and found their site but didn't see much on gameplay. The premise and setting sound cool, I just hope the gameplay is interesting (and they reveal more in the Kickstarter). Make sure and post back here when that goes live otherwise I will forget to look for it again.
Hey guys, do you remember a game from a thread or two ago, not yet released, was a physic puzzle platfomer with destructible environments and dynamic fluids?
Hey guys, do you remember a game from a thread or two ago, not yet released, was a physic puzzle platfomer with destructible environments and dynamic fluids?
Hey guys, do you remember a game from a thread or two ago, not yet released, was a physic puzzle platfomer with destructible environments and dynamic fluids?
No indies are safe when bloodthirsty Indie GAF members are at work!
This would be a cool contest, guessing which game someone has in mind, found in the previous threads. The one who wins would choose another game and so on.
Just a bit sad we didnt notice earlier 
Not the usual stuff, cause I thought we're gonna have something like the most promising 2014 games in the future section for January. Last screenshot saturday had some really cool games, though, so I'll probably post them, if not here, then in the next thread.
