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twmac

Community/Indie games

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Having already posted in a previous thread about these, I decided to delve through a few more of the indie releases on the Xbox Marketplace. Sweet SEGA there is some dross in there. That said there are some perfectly wonderful games (some recommended by people here) so far the list of ones I have enjoyed:

Weapon of Choice - Great Contra-style game with multiple characters and endings

I MAED A GMAE W1TH ZMOBIES INNIT!!!!!11 - You should get it because it is only a dollar on XNA and it has zombies in it. Twin Stick shooter by the same studio that did 'Dishwasher: The dead samurai', best song ever.

Beat Hazard - Procedural twin stick shooter that uses the music on your hard drive to spawn enemies and power your bullets. Great visual treat.

Bit Stream - Simple racing game for up to 8 players on the same console (2 people sharing a controller), you play a pulsing dot racing through neon tracks. I can't beat the firs tournament but it is awesome.

Clover - It is basically fantastic Dizzy with an awesome soundtrack and an entertaining plot. It has references to UKResistance in the opening 10 minutes.

Boom Chick Chick - Four player 'single stick' shooter. The interesting part is as you kill stuff they turn into pastel splats in the background and that builds up over time. It isn't the best game I've played here but it is 80MSP.

Carneyvale: showtime - Cool platformer where you have to chuck a performer from rotating platforms. The game is highly addictive with its multiple challenges for each level. It encourages you to go back and replay areas you were stuck as it introduces new skills.

I was wondering if anyone had bothered to look through the hundreds of massage games and fireplace screensavers and found anything else worth playing?

I'm eyeing up a couple more 'Angry Barry' and 'Frequency', but I haven't heard any other positive things about any other games.

Edited by twmac
added more info to my preferences

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Miner Dig Deep - http://www.bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/sit-back-relax-and-dig-deep.html

Groov - Twin-stick shooter with a whole musical element tied in. I enjoyed it more than a game like Everyday Shooter, for instance.

Pocoro - Simple puzzle game, flash demo available, more levels in the indie game release.

Word Soup - I'm sure you can guess.

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I like Kaiten Patissier. Sort of puzzle platform thing where you can rotate the world around, with the aim being to finish a level with the fewest rotations possible. Has some really nice level design in places.

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I bought Jump, which is an incredibly gorgeous looking platform game. It is way too long and has no save feature, so I will never reach the end. I still like it though.

The old Technos team released a new version of Super Dodge Ball as an indie game. It looks fun and it controls just like the old NES game. I played the demo but haven't purchased this one because I've always been terrible at this game.

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I've not had a chance to download it yet, but Leave Home looks fantastic...

In case you don't feel like reading all the crap beneath this sentence, what you really need to know is: PLAY ZOOMAROOM.

It is. Also..."The Impossible Game" is a great abstract on-rails platformer (new genre?) if you don't mind trial and error. "Border Wars" is kind of neat, because it's a shmup where you can draw and design your own custom ship from scratch. "Don't Be Nervous Talking to Girls" is ridiculous enough that it's worth playing the demo. "Ikaroids" is a nice semi-clone of Super Stardust HD that looks pretty and throws a lot of different stuff at you in a way that keeps things interesting. "Machiavelli's Ascent" is a pretty, artsy but simple and flash-like game that involves collecting momentum to propel a jellyfish toward the surface of the ocean. "Pixel Man" is a super-minimalist platformer that's tricky and satisfying. "Platypus" is a claymation shmup that's worth playing even for the visuals alone. "Powa Valley Classic" is an HD remake/clone of the freeware classic "Slime Volleyball" which looks to have a bunch of interesting modes and characters if you plunk down for the full game. "Pyromaniac" is a fun fast-paced arcadey thingamajig...watch the colors...press the buttons...faster...FASTER!!! "Run Away" is really funny for a minute or two. "SFG Soccer" is a surprisingly decent soccer game (if you're into that sort of thing). "Slingstar" is a great momentum based space-shooter without the shooting. "WhipCrack" is also neat and kind of like "Slingstar," I guess, but you play as a whip. "Zoomaroom" is my personal favorite. It's a physics based not-quite-platformer where you play as a monkey who has a slippy slidey yellow ball for a torso and you try to collect coins and reach exits. Furthermore: it has a level editor.

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Sweet, I will definitely try out Border Wars (I saw this and liked the idea but it has been getting really bad user votes), Zoomaroom and Leave Home.

Groov, Jump and Kaiten Patissier will also be added to the list.

Nachmir if you like the visuals of leave home I urge you to try Beat Hazard (yes, I know I've been harping on about it but seriously)

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Groov is awesome. I love the music-making element it has.

Solar is another interesting one. You play a star moving around a field, gathering planets and moons to battle other stars.

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I'm about to start working on an XNA game with friends so I've been looking at a lot of games lately.

Aside from those already mentioned, I think Platypus is kind of cool. It's a pretty basic 2D shooter like Gradius with remixed C64 music, but it's cool enough. But mobygames says it's also on the PSP and PC, so I think it's odd that it was released as an XNA game.

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Okay I tried out Jump, Border Wars, and Leave Home!

Jump is excellent, it reminds me of the Bill and Ted game on the original green screen Gameboy whereby you have to diffuse bombs and dodge enemies. The controls are really tight (it seems obvious that they would be but there are so many platform games that don't nail it) and it is definitely worth getting.

Leave Home! is also fantastic, you play through the game in about 10 minutes but each playthrough will be slightly different as the game adjusts to how well you are playing and rearranges the challenges accordingly. If you die a lot then there will be less for you to see and do. It is also a visual treat and the opening section had my eyes fried. If you like shooters then you need to download this.

Border Wars was a bit disappointing. The idea is really nice, it looks like it was some kid's doodle at school, the sound effects are all done by a guy mimicking them with his voice (he goes 'Pew' every time you fire the gun) and reminds me of the sort of stuff I used to do to pass the time myself. The problem is that the controls are not very good and the enemies are quite unfair. Maybe once you customise your ship it gets better... Maybe. Anyway I would love to see someone take this guy's aesthetic and put it in a better game.

Edited by twmac

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Border Wars was a bit disappointing. The idea is really nice, it looks like it was some kid's doodle at school, the sound effects are all done by a guy mimicking them with his voice (he goes 'Pew' every time you fire the gun) and reminds me of the sort of stuff I used to do to pass the time myself. The problem is that the controls are not very good and the enemies are quite unfair. Maybe once you customise your ship it gets better... Maybe. Anyway I would love to see someone take this guy's aesthetic and put it in a better game.

Yeah, It's not a great game, but I love drawing the most ridiculous things and then flying them through shmup levels. That's why I recommend the demo and not the full game.

There's just a simple lizard-brain thrill for me in the core concept.

Also, isn't Jump! fucking gorgeous? Especially for an XBLIG game. Arkedo is very professional and they have a very distinctive flavor to their games. Have you played Swap!, their other game? That one's nice too (maybe not as good as Jump! but worth a look, for sure).

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Leave Home is fantastic, downloaded the other day then me and the girlfriend spent about an hour and a half taking turns. It's beautiful.

Thanks for all the recommendations, especially the comprehensive ones GrouchoClub. Planning to get around to a few more of these over the holidays.

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Sure, I will download that tonight.

I agree Groucho, Jump has simplicity that does, in turn, make it look very nice. They just put out a new game called Pixel! So I downloaded it last night. Haven't played it yet.

I tried out Kaiten Patissier, it was completely not what I expected from the screenshots (it has bold, pixelated anime characters in a chibi style that I find a little too much). It is actually a really sweet platform puzzler which reminded me of a indie game a while back called 'Everything moves' or something like that. The puzzles are really good and I like the fact that the game doesn't punish you too much for being a bit rubbish at rotating the game world properly but tells you what the par is if you want to go back and try again. The art style has grown on me but the music hurt my head.

I have Platypus, Pixel! Zoomaroom and Solar waiting for me when I get home tonight.

Update:

Platypus - This was another game that visually was really good but gameplay was a bit meh. Maybe it was a bad demo but the game seemed like a very average shooter. The clay ships are effects was really nice but I would probably have preferred it if they had made a platformer... Or maybe an RPG.

Solar - Is genius, I couldn't figure it out at first (it is sort of a puzzle game that also has free roaming RTS elements) but once I got planets rotating around my Star that were producing fighters that could attack other solar systems... I was hooked. As soon as I can afford to do so it will be downloaded. The screenshots don't do it justice.

Miner Dig Deep - Very cool variation of Dig Dug that seems to have a lot of depth, what struck me was that the soundtrack, like Pixel! and Solar, is great. Why aren't these people making music for bigger games? It is 80MSP and it is definitely worth it. The guy needs to get a better piece of cover art for his game though as it is extremely off putting.

Pixel! Groucho if you liked Jump! then you will love Pixel! You play a cat who is roaming around a world full of sentient fruit and flowers. the platforming is good and it has a minigame involving investigating things with a magnifying glass that turns into a puzzle game. The soundtrack is great.

Edited by twmac

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Sure, I will download that tonight.

Cool, let me know what you think then.

Mo

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Will do, it is next on my list alongside Groov and Zoomaroom. I'll probably update my post after Christmas.

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Okay went on a bender over the Christmas period and played a bunch of the games.

Groov - I tried this out and liked it, it is basically Geometry Wars but every time you hit an enemy it emits a different sound and these can be combined to make a song of sorts (I hate the one that makes the human sound it is utterly irritating). The thing is I have played so many games like this now that it sort of fails to shine.

Duotrix - Is a solid mix of tetris and columns except that you have to focus on two separate puzzles at the same time. SiN, are you releasing your other games on XNA? I would definitely buy them if they are to the same quality. I also liked that you offered different modes, the main mode gets too much for me as I'm mildly colour blind and I start to get the orange/yellow and blue/turquoise mixed up; the puzzle mode has a perfect learning curve and makes it much easier for me to take my time and figure it out.

Zoomaroom - I totally :tup: in agreement with Groucho on this one. If you like puzzle games then it is excellent. I would recommend turning off the sound effects though.

I also tried out the super dodge ball game and I have no fucking clue what I'm doing. Much like the original. I have failed to win a single game. I've also become addicted to Miner Dig Deep I'm almost at 200 meters and found all the blueprints as well as bought the high powered lantern. I'm wondering if it ever ends. On Christmas Eve after playing Solar for about 2 hours I managed to turn one of the planets orbiting me into a smaller star. No idea how.

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Cheers twmac. VERY sorry about the colourblind issues ... I keep telling myself "this puzzle game *will* be colourblind friendly" and then the time is never there. Next time, promise! :)

As you may have heard, sales haven't been great on indie games, so there isn't real incentive to make more games for the platform. If things had gone better, Smiley would be on there by now. Moreover, my game design mind is leaning toward handheld these days, so I'm focusing on the iPhone for now. Still, I'll let you know if I've got anything coming up on XBIG.

Mo

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Hey, don't worry about it it happens to me in everything and I've gotten used to not being able to play games to their fullest sometimes. At least i have both my hands and can actually see. Most games don't take that into account at all.

If you were going to include a colour blind friendly mode I would suggest 1 of 2 things. Make each unit in a puzzle game a different shape, or offer an icon edit mode that way people like me could mark each type of symbol distinctly. For other games though this becomes a lot harder to do (the modern warfare complaints about the red and the green being indistinguishable which I don't think I've had a problem with so far).

I tried out Pocoro, Amazing Wizard (I have an awesome screenshot for that one that I will upload it at some point), a Wizard's tale, At light's End, Amniotic, Angry Barry, Mech battles (or something like that), Machiavelli's Ascent and 2win ghosts. Of those, only 4 were any good.

I'll double post later in the week. Hopefully with some screenshots.

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Okay I have been watching 'The Indepedint Charles show', which is by Rab from Consolevania/videogaiden and he recommended 'Along came a Spider'.

I agree wholeheartedly with this recommendation the game is awesome. You play as a spider catching flies in an abstract world of outlines, the platforming is extremely fluid and involves switching between grappling onto certain points and using gravity to swing to other ledges and crawl up them. The music is fantastic and reminds me of early Massive Attack/Lemon Jelly. The gameplay is so intuitive that it becomes second nature immediately.

I have also recently checked out 'You will die' which is a simple shooter where you fight one boss that increases in size every round, it reminds of an old PC game a friend showed me, the title is not wrong you will die.

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Since this was getting bumped, Explicit gamer has started a new feature about XBL Indie games:

Also, I've been toying around with a simple puzzle game in XNA. I don't have 360, so I wasn't planning on putting it on the indie store but if anybody with a developers license was interested let me know. I'm thinking of porting it to SilverLight and comparing the Xbox marketplace to the new Google web store.

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