Indie Royale Mayhem Bundle

After a short trip to the moon with its excellent Lunar Bundle, it seems that time wasn’t nice at all to Earth, considering most of the thematic games in Indie Royale‘s newest Mayhem Bundle show a rather desperate struggle for humanity to survive.

On offer this time around are arcade zombie shooter Burn Zombie Burn!, alien shooter Primal Fears, RPG sci-fi horror shooter Alien Shooter 2: Conscription, all in the same top-down fashion, while adventure game Lucius puts the splatter and horror into the tried and tested point-and-click and stealth genre. Some war horror is encapsulated in the RTS-with-ships title Ironclads: Anthology, while multiplayer-robot-action Plain Sight is in stark contrast to the only game without any bloodshed in this bundle, the puzzler Droplitz.

With quite a lot of games to cover, fortunately one (Lucius) already given a full length review treatment and unfortunately two with some personal gaming issues almost unplayable, this is one bundle not easy to discuss, compared to the other compilations before.

Burn Zombie Burn!
(UK 2009, developer/publisher: doublesix, platforms: PC, PS3)

A cartoony score-attack shooter with no story might not be the most engaging title with longevity, but despite its simple premise of fighting back waves of the undead with all kinds of weapons which can be upgraded by various killing methods (burning and then destroying zombies makes dropping more unique items more likely), there’s quite a lot of fun to be had.

The graphics are not breathtaking, but they are still nice to look at, and together with an awesome punk rock soundtrack, the game becomes an addictive time waster, even if a story mode with some cut scenes would have been nice, because the gameplay of survival, tower-defense modes can get old very quick, but maybe not for highscore chasers who want to perfect their play styles.

Official Website

Lucius
(Finland 2012, developer: Shiver Games, publisher: Lace Mamba Global, platform: PC)

I already had the pleasure to play and review that game before in a full-length article, so suffice it to say that it isn’t for the easily offended because of its subject matter (young boy kills his household one by one) and graphic violence.

Still despite some gameplay issues and a frustrating difficulty level, this is a unique title which at least should be given a try by those people who always think point-and-click adventure games and stealth games play it safe with their same old mechanics and stories.

Official Website

Plain Sight
(UK 2010, developer/publisher: Beatnik Games, platform: PC)

Unfortunately I couldn’t spend a lot of time with this game because of my motion sickness. Yes, I’ve played through quite a few FPS and other 3D games, but the problem with this title is that it’s so damn fast. Imagine a deathmatch version of Super Mario Galaxy‘s running around a planet 360 degrees, which might sound great in theory, but is incredibly nauseating with its awkward camera movement.

Only to give some more info about its combat system: The player controls a small robot who has to push through his opponents. Gaining experience points, depending on the color of the enemies, means levelling up which can only be done after one makes the robot explode by itself. It sounds confusing and the controls together with the camera are even more so, but if you have the stomach for that, give it a try anyway, because the music and minimalistic graphics point to a different deathmatch experience compared to other more violent FPS out there.

Official Website

Primal Fears
(Germany 2013, developer/publisher: DnS Development, platform: PC)

Having recently played Dead Nation, this is quite similar, i.e. it’s all about survival shooting in a post-apocalyptic world. The horror doesn’t only come in the form of creepy monsters, but also because ammunition management is just as important as upgrading one’s weapons. This is done by putting money (which is simply earned by killing enemies) into vending machines a.k.a. stores.

It might not be the most original or best-looking game, but tension and horror is still created by its atmospheric sound ambience and convincing creature design. As levels can be selected freely, an overall story arc and therefore the motivation to play through each stage suffer, but then again Dead Nation and all the other top-down multiplayer shooters are simple arcade-y affairs anyway and provide some splatter fun.

Official Website

Alien Shooter 2: Conscription
(Russia 2010, developer/publisher: Sigma Team, platform: PC)

The clunky controls and collision detection could definitely be improved, but despite its similarities to other top-down horror shooters like Alien Breed, this is still a very fun game, mainly due to its simple RPG elements and the fast-paced if clichéd story progression.

The graphics and sound show their low budget, but this doesn’t distract from the fact that shooting ridiculously big waves of various enemy forms hasn’t been this much fun since the first Serious Sam games, even if the dialogues are less tongue-in-cheek and more unintentionally funny, adding to the trash quality of the game.

Official Website

Droplitz
(UK 2009, developer/publisher: Blitz Games Studios, platforms: PC, Xbox 360, iOS, Metro, MetroTab)

Whoever thought that the simple gameplay of changing the direction of water pipes in order to bring a fluid from point A to B would make for an addictive puzzle experience with a Tetris twist? This time drops of whatever liquid it is have to be led through a maze of pipes from the upper to the lower bottom of the screen. So far so old, but as more than one start and goal has to be taken into account and the fluid moves faster with each level, things start to get a little bit more hectic.

There are some additional bonus drops to consider which clear one path and open another when they hit the bottom while being directed in the right way, so one always has to adjust to the current situation. With some combo score system it’s again more for the highscore chasers than people who like a lot of variety during their playtime. But as time wasters or sinkers go, there’s certainly quite a bit to like in this title.

Official Website

Ironclads: Anthology
(Russia 2011, developer: Totem Games, publisher: Strategy First, platform: PC)

Oh well, another one of those If-you-have-the-time-to-learn-all-the-controls-and-wait-for-stuff-to-attack games which might be fascinating for simulation fans, but pretty boring for RTS-lovers who prefer an engaging story, characters and varied missions over realism…so nothing really for me.

There’s certainly a lot in here for history buffs and naval combat aficionados, considering that this compilation includes Anglo Russian War 1865, Chincha Islands War 1866, High Seas, Schleswig War 1864 and America Civil War with each one individually priced around 10 dollars. But for me the graphics, controls and overall slow gameplay were already a no-go from the instant I started it. Still for fans of the genre, it might be worth a look.

Official Website

Mayhem revisited with some music to dance the madness away
After Indie Royale’s last strong Lunar Bundle offering, this package might seem a bit less spectacular with the top-down shooter formula dominating the scene with three games. This of course doesn’t mean these aren’t fun to play, because they are, even if there isn’t a lot of innovation to set them apart from so many others in the genre. The same can be said about the deathmatching, naval battling and puzzling concepts in the other titles which don’t offer anything new either. Lucius is not the most polished of games, but there’s certainly no cheaper way to experience this controversial title together with other games which go for much more money online.

Bonus content is sparse with only Burn Zombie Burn! unlocking a player’s guide, comic book and the fun soundtrack. Those who prefer some Gameboy dance moves over punk have to pay around 8 dollars to get the chiptune album Phonetic Symphony by Chipzel.

Last but not least it should be mentioned that Indie Royale also provides a link for downloading the art book of the sci-fi mech shooter game Strike Suit Zero for free.

So make sure to support the indie developers, the nice people of Desura who always put together so many bundles in a short amount of time, and pay what you want before the offer expires.

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Adventures In Episodes: Review of “Cognition, An Erica Reed Thriller, Ep. 3: The Oracle” (PC)

The episodic format in games lends itself to a suspenseful thriller which makes the player wait for each new instalment with high expectations, especially when it comes to finding the identity of a mysterious serial killer. If Phoenix Online Studios can deliver on that promise with The Oracle once again, will be seen in this review of their third episode of Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller.

Cognition, An Erica Reed Thriller, Ep. 3: The Oracle (PC)
(USA 2013, developer: Phoenix Online Studios, publisher: Reverb Publishing, platform: PC)

FBI agent Erica Reed has to investigate the murder of a psychopath in a high tower and discovers a family secret which is closely connected to her own fate and the identity of main killer she has been chasing all this time.

Learning from past highs and lows in storytelling
The first instalment in the series was quite ambitious in its narrative approach to characters, the game world and the overall story arc. The second episode lost some of its drive and made the mistake of turning certain characters into sidekicks and also substituting its former mystery with a rather lukewarm TV-quality thriller story for most of its playtime. There are still some overdramatic elements to be found in this third outing and it takes some time until the suspense and horror kick back in, but the decision to have a select number of characters and places to visit does not necessarily turn it into a more streamlined gaming and storytelling experience. Rather it offers a multi-layered plot with an interesting twist on the connection between past and present and puzzles which play with the same concept.

Two stories intertwined
It’s refreshing to see that the third episode finally merges together story strands of other episodes and at the same time engages the player on two different levels of narration, namely by introducing Cordelia (the FBI agent’s acquaintance when visiting her brother’s grave) as another playable character who shares Erica’s ability to see into the future. This makes for some interesting twists in the story when the different times and viewpoints switch from one to the other. New mysteries are uncovered, relationships between characters become more obvious and the overall suspense level is turned up a notch, especially at the end.

This interdependence between past and present is also reflected in the way how Erica and Cordelia are mentally connected and share their experiences or new information in order to progress. This also means that one action in the past can affect the future, even though the game never goes as far or abstract as a title like Day of the Tentacle with its time travel mechanics did in the 90ies. The solutions to the problems at hand might not be the most original, but compared to the second episode, they demand quite a bit of lateral thinking and are therefore similar to the difficulty of the first one.

Puzzle factor X minus Y
The puzzles are varied and range from simple combinations of inventory items to finding out codes, which of course isn’t particularly new to the genre. This usually works quite well, but there are also instances when hints are sparse and the annoying trial & error method of classic point-and-click adventures shines through. There aren’t many locations and revisiting them again and again can get a bit tiresome as well. Still it’s certainly a change of pace compared to the constant use of the map in the other episodes.

The overall linearity of the game is broken by the ability to switch between Erica’s present and the different past memories of Erica. This is done by clicking on the appropriate time line icon on the bottom of the screen. As has already been mentioned, information has to be transferred from one to the other in order to achieve certain goals and progress in the story. Even if the order in which the problems in these segments are tackled can be chosen freely, they all have to be solved at the end. It’s an interesting way to engage the player on both a storytelling and gameplay level. Observation and investigative skills are required in the former and a high degree of patience and concentration in the latter, making it a much more demanding game and more interesting story than The Wise Monkey.

The older generation of presentation
The cel-shaded graphics and voice acting still have the same problems as before: characters moving like puppets which at times results in rather unintentionally funny moments when their gestures or facial expressions don’t do the appropriate drama justice, while dialogue lines are often exaggerated making some scenes lose their serious tone. The music itself is again quite atmospheric in suspenseful or creepy sequences, but some piano notes seem too trying on the heart strings to evoke sympathetic emotions in the player, which is actually unnecessary considering the overall good quality of the script and the dialogues.

Of course the hand-drawn stills which serve as cutscenes are beautiful as ever with some pretty disturbing and shocking imagery. It’s also nice to have only a few minor technical problems in this review version compared to the rather buggy and glitchy second episode (even though most of them were fixed on release day).

Third one’s the charm
The Oracle is a brave attempt of Phoenix Online Studios to offer a less streamlined approach to both storytelling and puzzle design. The latter could have needed a few more hints at some points for novice players, but together with a strong story and unique gameplay ideas, the long playtime with over 5 hours justifies the amount of cerebral work the player has to put into it.

For the most part this fragmented style of telling a story works quite well, as it is more involving for the player to fit together all the pieces of both past and present, even if it takes a while and at times lacks the same sense of thrill and suspense the first episode managed so admirably. The family drama can feel a bit clichéd and cheap at times, but how the former cases are connected and the different elements all gel makes for an interesting tale nonetheless, especially with some nerve-racking conclusion which sets the expectations for the final episode higher than ever.

Rating: 8.5/10
(I usually don’t give half-points, but to make it clear that this episode sits quite comfortably between Ep. 1 and 2, that’s the best compromise I could come up with)

Buy the PC/Mac game on
the Cognition store

Official Website

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Indie Royale Lunar Bundle

A journey to the moon might be a long way off as a vacation spot, but thanks to Indie Royale’s latest Lunar Bundle, at least there are some otherworldly, stellar games to enjoy for less than a fiver before this becomes a reality.

This time, there are an impressive number of indie games on offer with Limbo-but-more-cheery-style puzzle-platformer Pid, arcade-y Cargo Commander, cinematic point-and-click adventure Back To The Future: The Game, rhythm-puzzler Dungeon Hearts, experimental adventure-meets-RPG The Sea Will Claim Everything, sports simulation International Snooker and brain-teaser Micron.

With a bit more time to play (thanks to an extended offer period), the following short reviews will be more in-depth than in previous articles and will hopefully do justice to this awesome package.

Pid
(Sweden 2012, developer/publisher: Might and Delight, platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3)

Being at first reminiscent of Limbo with its boy protagonist in a hazardous environment which is full of platforming and puzzling to traverse, it also becomes clear that this is a much more story-driven game with characters to talk to and special abilities to unlock.

The presentation is also much more colorful, as black and white is replaced by some beautifully drawn backgrounds and imaginative character models, even if voice acting is reduced to a fantasy language.

Still this is not an accessible game by any means when it comes to the learning and difficulty curve. Even if there’s an auto-checkpoint system, restarting some screens because of instant deaths can get rather frustrating. But it shouldn’t put off platformer and puzzle fans who like their games with a wonderful presentation.

Official Website

Cargo Commander
(Netherlands 2012, developer/publisher: Serious Brew, platform: PC)

Drilling one’s way through cargo containers before being blown out into space is quite a thrilling experience, even if the difficulty is a bit lower, as there’s usually enough time to get to another one or back home before the air-meter runs out.

The overall idea is certainly inventive enough for the first couple of minutes, and planning ahead which parts of the cargo to drill through (taking into account that gravity can work against the player sometimes) is key to rack up the most points. As with most of these arcade-like games, it can get a bit repetitive after that, so it’s nice to see that the developer included an email system to further develop the main character.

Still there’s more arcade and action than a real puzzles or adventure elements which, coupled with some cheerful country soundtrack and cartoony graphics, makes this an entertaining game in quick bursts.

Official Website

Back To The Future: The Game
(USA 2010, developer/publisher: Telltale Games, platforms: PC, PS3, Wii, iOS)

Before Telltale hit the jackpot with The Walking Dead and rose to both critical and commercial acclaim, they were already well-versed with adapting popular licences. Back To The Future was one of their first attempts to put something from the big screen on the PC gaming (and later other consoles) platform.

Nostalgia works especially well for fans of the movie series, as many jokes or references are lost in translation without knowing the source material. As a story, it fits surprisingly well into the canon of the original, not only because of the voice acting of Christopher Lloyd among others.

The only problem the game faces is in its gameplay, or more specific in its puzzle design. Compared to Sam & Max the inventiveness isn’t there anymore and what’s especially disappointing is how the complexity of the puzzles doesn’t do the time travel idea justice. The old Day of The Tentacle showed so much potential in that area which simply isn’t reached in this highly promising series.

Despite some gameplay flaws and an outdated graphics engine, great storytelling in both characterization and humor more than make up for it. Not to forget the playtime of 2-3 hours with each of the five episodes. Still for those adventure fans who want to have more interactivity and puzzles, this might be one of the last compromises between accessibility and head-scratching difficulty.

Official Website

Dungeon Hearts
(USA 2013, developer: Technobabel, publisher: Devolver Digital, platform: PC, iOS)

The Match-3-of-the-same-color puzzle pattern has been around for some time and has been popularized by games like Puzzle Quest, so it’s no small surprise that this game has a fantasy setting and offers an upgrade system. The only major difference is that it’s much faster-paced.

More like a rhythm-action game in the vein of Final Fantasy Theatrhythm (only with the heroes on the left side and one enemy to defeat on the right side), the stones come quick and fast, and even the levelling up procedure can be quite frantic, as fast reflexes are key to survival.

With more and more extra stones introduced, the task at hand can be overwhelming at times and is therefore more for the experienced puzzle fan than the casual crowd. The gameplay is as addictive as ever, but some time to breathe or get involved in the story would have been nice as well.

Official Website

The Sea Will Claim Everything
(Greece 2012, developer/publisher: Jonas Kyratzes, platform: PC)

While reviewing the first Bundle In A Box, I already had the chance to play this for quite a while, without really getting all of it.

Seemingly a mixture of text adventure (read: a lot of dialogues and descriptions of places) and light RPG elements (read: quests), it’s much more about visiting different places, speaking to illustrious characters than actually following a plot or solving intricate puzzles.

At times it also feels more like an experimental parody on what the player expects, with an inventory which bursts from its countless items, a quest log book which gives more and more tasks than can actually be completed. So it’s more about the atmosphere, the setting, the music which turns the game into a journey unlike any other, defying genre conventions.

Official Website

Or some especially fun trailer which doesn’t show anything from the gameplay

International Snooker
(UK 2012, developer/publisher: Kiss Ltd., platform: PC)

I have to confess I’ve never been much of a sports fan and I found watching a game of snooker on the TV as boring as playing it on a small PC screen, even if trying it in a real pub is pretty fun nonetheless. So yes, maybe it’s simply not for me to decide if this is a good simulation.

Suffice it to say that both (female) commentator and the audience add to the realism while scoring points to buy better equipment is another incentive to keep on playing. A multiplayer game might even be more fun if one finds someone like-minded with time on his or her hands.

All in all, it’s a bit weird to find this sort of game in an indie compilation which usually tries different sorts of things with innovative gameplay or a unique presentation.

Official Website

Micron
(Canada 2012, developer/publisher: Apparition Games, platforms: PC, iOS, Android)

The concept is not the most original, as it has already been done in stand-alone puzzlers or mini games, but this doesn’t mean that using a limited number of deflecting mirrors to let something go from point A to point B can’t be mindbendingly difficult and fun at the same time.

In this case, it’s not a ray of light, but a ball which has to be guided to the exit. But the added difficulty is that more than one are sometimes necessary to break through certain walls or that buttons have to be pressed in order to open doors.

Something quite unique is how the soundtrack is created with the way the balls hit their targets. Just like a rhythm-action game, in some levels it’s absolutely essential to both listen to and watch the balls patterns with care in order to proceed.

Official Website

To the moon and back with some gaming goods
Indie Royale’s newest entry in their ongoing series of indie bundles is without a doubt one of their strongest yet, especially when it comes to playtime. The price of admission is already justified with the five episodes of Back To The Future, but the other titles are genuinely fun to experience as well (even if that snooker game feels a bit out of place) and will last more than a couple of days until the next wave of games arrives.

Even if there is only the soundtrack of Cargo Commander to unlock, the number of games more than makes up for the lack of extras. Paying more than 6 Euros will give you some Amiga tunes goodness with TDK’s Reawakening.

As the offer will expire in less than a day, make sure to pay Indie Royale’s website a visit and get this cool collection of indie games.

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Indie Royale Debut 2.0 Bundle

It hasn’t been long since Indie Royale’s Debut Bundle hit the online streets, but they’re back again with Debut Bundle 2.0. This time with an emphasis on giving some games the chance to be published on Valve’s Steam (except for one), it’s a nice touch too to make the indie community or wider audience aware of their existence.

Included are anime-hack-and-slash arcade game Croixleur, comic first-person-boxing-simulation Beast Boxing Turbo, 2D-action-RPGs Battlepaths and Diehard Dungeon, space sim Dawnstar and puzzle-action-platformer Out There Somewhere.

As there was even less time than usual to give the games the playtime they deserve, the review-like writing I usually apply to each individual title, will be substituted by some simple sentences which hopefully (together with the trailers) give a good idea what to expect. If there’s no text for some titles (unfortunately half of them), that’s because I really didn’t even have the time to play any of them. Next time there will be more, I promise…

Croixleur
(Japan 2013, developer: souvenir circ., publisher: Nyu Media, platform: PC)

Cute anime visuals with some rather tedious text wastes to get through make way to an arena-based arcade game in which floors of enemies have to be cleared in a limited time frame. Even if graphics and music are pleasant to the ear, a bit more variety would have been nice, especially since dying means restarting from the beginning.

Official Website

Beast Boxing Turbo
(USA 2012, developer/publisher: Goodhustle Studios, Inc., platform: PC)

Reminiscent of Nintendo’s Punch-Out series, the characters are comic, the dialogues often hilarious and the fighting system demanding, i.e. learning the individual strikes with the right timing is key to survival. Overall a nice looking and playing little fighting gem.

Official Website

Dawnstar
(USA 2013, developer/publisher: Wraith Entertainment, platform: PC)

Official Website

Battlepaths
(Germany 2012, developer/publisher: Key17Games, platforms: PC, Xbox 360)

Official Website

Out There Somewhere
(Brazil 2012, developer/publisher: MiniBoss, platform: PC)

Turning a simple bullethell shooter into a puzzle-centric platformer is quite ingenious, and when it comes with some very nice music and lovingly crafted background visuals, there’s certainly no fault in trying out this charming little game, especially since the hero can use a teleport gun, something which sets it apart from so many other genre staples.

Official Website

Diehard Dungeon
(UK 2013, developer/publisher: Tricktale, platforms: PC, Xbox 360)

Official Website

Spin Wars
(Germany 2013, developer/publisher: Brightside Games, platforms: PC, iOS, Android)

Official Website

Come to the green light
Additionally to the 7 games on offer are included soundtracks of Beast Boxing Turbo, Battlepaths and Out There Somewhere plus the alternative to Söpinwars, titled Button Wars. Paying more than 8 Dollars unlocks gameboy-created chiptune music album The Reality Chipmusic Love Industry by BRIGHT PRIMATE.

As always, it’s easy to see the benefits of Indie Royale’s output: Cheap in price and a satisfying amount of playtime with different genres which can’t be found anywhere else. So show some indie love, maybe greenlight certain titles when you’re at it and head over to their website before the offer expires.

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Indie Royale Spring Sun Bundle

Right on time when the temperature is finally rising to the point one can assume winter is over, Indie Royale presents its newest collection of indie games with the appropriately titled Spring Sun Bundle.

Included are the atmospheric puzzle platformer Knytt Underground, the comic text-adventure-RPG-action-hybrid The Real Texas, humoristic FPS-cum-tower-defense title Monday Night Combat, side-scrolling space-blaster SATAZIUS, Metroid inspired FPS-action-platform-puzzler Gentrieve 2 and bloody shooter with tower-defense mechanics infused I am weapon.

With not much time left before the offer expires, here’s again a quick rundown of what my first impressions of the titles were.

Knytt Underground
(Sweden 2012, developer/publisher: Niffla’s Games, platform: PC, PS Vita, PS3)

First looks can be rather deceiving, as this title seems to be a bit like Super Meat Boy. But even if jumping feels like that and deaths are quite frequent, the game sets itself apart by relying more on puzzles than fast reflexes. It’s also nice to have constant checkpoints on each screen to make it less a frustrating and hardcore experience.

The atmosphere is also quite different, as the underground system evokes various moods and emotions in the player due to its change between dark and light while offering variety in its own flora and fauna. Together with an ephereal soundtrack and an emphasis on character interaction (plus quests), the game is much more casual-friendly and immersive than Team Meat’s hardcore platformer. Actually, there aren’t any similarities between these two, come to think of it, making them classes of their own with unique styles and gameplay.

Official Website

The Real Texas
(Canada 2011, developer/publisher: Kitty Lambda Games Inc., platform: PC)

Don’t be put off by the bad-looking graphics (even if the soundtrack is very enjoyable) and the initial clunky control system which uses the very outdated text adventure parser (typing in certain actions by hand).

After some playtime though, it doesn’t really matter how the game looks or that the battle system (yes, there’s some sort of RPG in there as well) feels a bit underwhelming as well, because the script is genuinely funny and engaging, making it a joy to explore the strange alternative locations.

Official Website

Monday Night Combat
(USA 2010, developer/publisher: Uber Entertainment, platforms: PC, Xbox 360)

A mix of tower defense, tongue-in-cheek FPS and light RPG mechanics, this is quite a fun time waster, even if it has the same problems so many of its peers share, namely a non-existent story and repetitive gameplay where boredom settles in rather quickly. Still this doesn’t mean this is not a polished experience.

Graphics are pretty slick and smooth even on older systems, the metal soundtrack and cheesy voice acting complement the stadium-filled sports event turned into a deathmatch without any bloodshedding. So it’s not only casual-friendly with its easy-to-understand gameplay, but also more fitting to an audience who doesn’t want to see a lot of realistic violence on screen.

Official Website

SATAZIUS
(UK 2011, developer/publisher: Nyu Media, platform: PC)

A very old-school (speaking in graphics and gameplay terms) shmup for people with fast reflexes and endurance when it comes to getting a small ship with upgradable weapons through bullet hell. It might not be the most innovative concept, but together with some adrenaline-fulled soundtrack and big bosses there’s quite a lot of fun in there. A checkpoint and fair continues system also helps to make it a bit less punishing than most older shooters.

Official Website

Gentrieve 2
(USA 2012, developer/publisher: Pr00t, platform: PC)

This is actually the first time I didn’t get a game at all. Described as a Metroid style action game with randomly generated worlds, it got me confused right from the start by not letting me know what to do. Of course in an age with more signposting and tutorials than necessary, this is a bit weird. Not that a game needs this (just look at SATAZIUS), but at least it would have been nice to have some kind of hint before being thrown into a rather less than compelling game world.

Even if the soundtrack has some nice tunes, graphics don’t go beyond what Metroid Prime did ages ago with some better storytelling and more motivated gameplay. Maybe this is one of those games which will open up after a couple of hours or by reading the manual, but in this form I simply didn’t get any enjoyment out of it. Even if the trailer promises some interesting puzzle and level design…

Official Website

I am weapon
(Russia 2012, developer/publisher: Sigma Team, platform: PC)

Tower defense games are time a dozen these days, but it’s still refreshing to see that some developers try to mix different styles. In this case it looks and sounds more like a Serious Sam game, meaning heavy metal meets bloody carnage on screen when the hero shoots his way through enemy lines… while defending his own sleeping body.

It’s all a bit crazy, silly and even if the graphics aren’t mindblowing, it’s an interesting, bloodier experience compared to all the other games with the same formulas.

Official Website

Sunny gaming and music for a limited time only
Together with both soundtracks of The Real Texas and Gentrieve 2, Indie Royale again manages to put quite a lot of different genres and ideas together in its latest bundle. Even if most of them can’t compete with mainstream graphics and one alienates with some obscure game design (see Gentrieve 2), it’s still a fun and inexpensive way to spend the cool evenings and wait for summer to come.

Paying more than 8 Dollars also unlocks Adventures in Pixels by Ben Landis, an especially interesting concept album which fuses 8-bit chiptune music with a comic book.

As there’s less than a day to go, don’t waste any time and check out this indie games collection on Indie Royale’s Website.

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Indie Royale Mighty Bundle

Another week, another indie games output by Indie Royale. Their newest collection with the title Mighty Bundle comprises 6 games: arcade-puzzle-action Waveform, turn-based RPG Avadon: The Black Fortress, survival-strategy Zafehouse Diaries, platformer-under-water-with-paper-fish Derrick The Deathfin, block-puzzler Tidalis and anime-strategy War of the Human Tanks.

With even less time to play and write, here’s just a quick overview of the specific titles (except for War of the Human Tanks which was already discussed in the Bundle in a Box Eclectic Delights article).

Waveform
(Canada 2012, developer/publisher: Eden Industries, platform: PC)

The basic gameplay can already be deducted from the title, as the goal is to alter the form of a line which serves as a road for an energy ball which has to collect as many other smaller energy orbs while avoiding dark matter.

It’s a simple concept which can get quite hectic, as the patterns of the wavelengths demand fast reflexes and a steady hand with the mouse. Add some ethereal music, a score system which awards the player with stars to unlock further levels, and this becomes quite addictive fun.

Official Website

Avadon: The Black Fortress
(USA 2011, developer/publisher: Spiderweb Software, platform: PC)

Standard RPG fare with quite a lot of text to read, making it at times seem more like a text adventure, which can either create more immersion in the game world… or get a bit too much and boring. The character animations are a bit disappointing, but the hand-drawn character portraits, still cutscenes and the background music plus ambient sound effects add to some fantasy atmosphere.

I haven’t played much of it, so I can’t say anything about the quality of the story or the quests, but old-school RPG purists will most likely find enough in here to keep them occupied for a while, even if this probably won’t reach the same level of polish and quality as Baldur’s Gate.

Official Website

Zafehouse: Diaries
(Australia 2012, developer/publisher: Screwfly Studios, platform: PC)

Quite an interesting idea to take the zombie-survival premise and transport it into the world of a diary for strategic purposes. A lot of planning and management is necessary even before the first movements can be taken, so it’s definitely not for the impatient gamer crowd.

Only with games like The Walking Dead out, it all looks a bit too static and antiquated, so the question is if the diary-like presentation is really enough to create chills and thrills, keeping its audience engaged throughout its playtime? Especially since every action is just described in lots of text without any cutscenes or actual in-game graphics.

Official Website

Derrick The Deathfin
(UK 2013, developer/publisher: Different Tuna, platforms: PC, PS3)

A more arcade-action version of Ecco The Dolphin? Definitely more light-hearted with some unique paper-cut visual style. Diving through the ocean and taking a quick jump out of the water while eating all kinds of fish before health slowly runs low, is simply a lot of fun, even if the controls via keyboard aren’t the best to enjoy the title. Good thing there’s a joypad option (even if I couldn’t seem to make it work with my Xbox controller).

One of those few platformers which don’t need complicated controls or obscure puzzles, and simply concentrate on the most important factor in games: fun. The presentation is also top-notch with its colorful graphics and catchy soundtrack.

Official Website

Tidalis
(USA 2010, developer/publisher: Arcen Games, platform: PC)

From the looks of it and how it plays, it might not seem much more than the typical match-3-tiles puzzler. Still by introducing the concept of changing the direction in which the tiles’ “power lines” go with a limited range in mind, the game turns into a much more cerebral effort than other iterations of the same formula.

Cheerful music and colorful background graphics help to stay calm even on the highest difficulty, making the game an addictive and fun experience for short or long bursts of play.

Official Website

Mighty fine bonus time…or not
There aren’t a lot of extras in the bundle, as only a hintbook for Avadon: Black Fortress and the soundtrack of War of the Human Tanks will be unlocked. Much more interesting is the Chiptunes 2012 album by Darkman007, but which costs 8 Dollars as an entrance fee.

Even if the bonus content is a bit lacking in Indie Royale’s newest bundle and the games themselves don’t offer a lot of innovation or originality, let alone boast graphical finesse, they’re still worth to get for less than 5 Dollars. Sometimes simplicity can offer just as much enjoyment, especially when it comes to arcade gaming and puzzlers.

So if you want to show some love to and for the indie community, make sure you give it a try and pay what you want.

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Cerebral Bundle In A Box

It’s been a while since Bundle In A Box released their Eclection Delights, but they’re finally back with a new collection of indie games, titled the Cerebral Bundle, with a clear emphasis on games for the brain.

With a minimum price of 1,99 Dollars, there are 6 games to be enjoyed (or rather 10 if you count the individual ones in the Amidos Puzzle Collection): mindbending puzzlers Vampires!, Dédale De Luxe, experimental not-game Dinner Date, classic but no less humoristic top-down RPG Phantasmaburbia, text adventure (with some music to listen to and pictures to look at) with that certain trash factor Necrotic Drift Deluxe and the aforementioned collection with number-puzzlerConnect, move-until-it-fits Robotic Arm, snooker-with-explosions Balls, pave-the-eating-way-for-the-snake Snazzle and Sokobanesque Evil Goat.

Paying more than the average price (at the time of writing less than 6 Dollars) unlocks adventure-strategy-puzzler J.U.L.I.A., experimental not-game I Get This Call Every Day and both episodic adventure games Cognition Episode 1: The Hangman and Reversion – The Meeting.

Quite a lot of games to cover with so little time at hand, so let’s get straight to the short round-up writing business for each individual title… except for Vampires! which was already covered here and Cognition Episode 1 which had been rated there with their respective 8/10 and 9/10 scores.

Dinner Date
(UK 2011, developer/publisher: Stout Games, platform: PC)

More an experimental short story with control mechanics similar to Heavy Rain‘s button presses to perform certain motions, there’s little gameplay to be found. It revolves around the main protagonist waiting for his date, sitting at his home’s table and sharing his thoughts with the player.

This of course poses some problems. Even if the script is honest and thought-provoking, one can get easily bored by only looking at a clock, moving fingers, staring at a wine bottle etc. while listening to the seemingly neverending monologue of one guy. It doesn’t help either that the icons for the possible actions are too small to decipher, making it a simple press-the-button-just-because-there-isn’t-much-else-to-do affair.

The graphics engine isn’t anything to get excited about, and so does the amateurish voice acting at times grate on the ears. Technically not really impressive then, and the lack of gameplay makes this a rather lacklustre experiment for art’s sake. Which reminds me that I saw that game and spoke to the developer in 2011 at the Not Games event in Cologne before going to the Games Com. Organized by the Tale of Tales people, there were a bunch of those not games which experimented with gamer’s expectations (in this case letting go of the main character’s control to a certain degree) but ultimately being an antithesis to games with actual gameplay breaking new ground and moving the audience without relying too much on experimentation.

Official Website

Phantasmaburbia
(USA 2012, developer/publisher: Dumb and Fat Games, platform: PC)

A turn-based RPG which looks a bit like a graphically downsized version of Scott Pilgrim, but nevertheless provides some very atmospheric and even creepy tunes while offering a funny script at the same time.

The gameplay might not be the most innovative, as it relies on the same old template so many other games in the genre have used for years, but what I’ve played so far avoids the pitfalls of needless grinding (because levelling up is pretty fast), head-scratching distribution of attribute points (it’s done automatically) and wasting time on countless deaths (due to fair save points).

There are also some puzzles in it, but due to the lack of time, I haven’t had the chance to get there. Still with the little playtime I had, it’s definitely worth checking out for those people who want to get an easy entry point for RPGs.

Official Website

Necrotic Drift Deluxe
(USA 2004 (original), developer/publisher: Jolt Country, platform: PC)

A text adventure with some real-life photos and music, this is at least a bit more accessible than the typical interactive fictions of old with countless pages of text. I admit I haven’t really been into that genre at all, only starting with graphic point-and-click adventures. But spending a little bit of time with this game, it’s quite an interesting experience how following the story, dialogues and actively participating in the fictive world is almost as engaging as controlling a character by mouse prompts.

The script has a bit of Kevin Smith humor, which also means it loses itself at times in wise-cracking jokes and not-so-funny lines. I’ve not played much more than the first two chapters, so I can’t really say how the game develops after that, even if I know it turns into a survival horror scenario. People who want to try out an interactive story with a slacker-tone might want to give this a try.

Official Website

Dédale De Luxe
(Ukraine 2012, developer/publisher: Sergey Mohov, platforms: PC, iOS)

Sometimes the simplest ideas and game mechanics in puzzle games can create a very addictive and challenging experience. In this case the task is simply to fill in white tiles by moving over them with the mouse cursor. It sounds like a straightforward affair, but as the patterns become more complicated and passing over one white tile makes it useless for the next time, planning ahead becomes instrumental to completing each level. With later stages introducing tiles which can be passed over multiple times, even more steps have to be taken into account.

The graphics are simplistic, but they don’t need to be anything else. Music is created by the player’s movements, as each tile resonates a piano key, turning the game into something like a rhythm-puzzler. A fun little game then which is easy to understand in terms of gameplay and controls, but difficult to put down.

Official Website

Amidos Puzzle Collection
(Egypt 2013, developer/publisher: Amidos Entertainment, platform: PC)

Including 5 games which merge accessibility with a few unique twists, this collection won’t win any rewards for the best and most polished presentation or gameplay, but for a quick play to while away the boring office hours, there’s certainly more originality and fun to be found here than in the typical round of Solitaire or Minesweeper.

Official Website

J.U.L.I.A.
(Czech Republic 2012, developer/publisher: CBE Software, platform: PC)

A mixture of different genre elements makes this game quite a unique experience. By finding resources on planets, harvesting them for repairing the ship or upgrading it, it feels a bit like those sections in Mass Effect, which also means it can be a bit tedious to find the right spots to dig them up.

Exploration is done by a first-person viewpoint, but more akin to the old text adventures, only without typing in the actions, instead clicking with the mouse on the appropriate options. There are also quite a few mini games and puzzles, like building a specific tool with the placement of the right parts or reconstructing the ship’s memory with tiles which have to form pictures, only this time done in a more creative way, i.e. working on multiple puzzles at the same time.

It all sounds a bit convoluted, but the game elements strangely work together, which is in no small part due to the suspenseful storytelling, (mostly) good voice performances and the atmospheric music and wonderful art design, displayed in both well-done cutscenes and beautiful artwork. Exploring space and its various planets is both captivating and fun in this adventure-strategy-puzzle-hybrid and this title already shows CBE’s creativity when it comes to crossing genre boundaries.

Official Website

I Get This Call Every Day
(USA 2012, developer/publisher: David S. Galant, platform: PC)

Just like Dinner Date, this is more an experiment than a game which is dialogue-driven. It’s not very long with less than 10 minutes, the drawings are crude, but at least the voice acting is quite good while the script is funny and realistic at the same time, dealing with problems in a customer service call center.

It’s difficult to rate this title, as it’s more an expression of personal experience brought to the screen than any gaming pastime. The biggest problem with these not games is that after experiencing them, there’s not any incentive to try them again when the novelty has worn off.

Official Website

Reversion: The Meeting
(Spain 2013, developer/publisher: 3f Interactive, platforms: PC, iOS)

A classic point-and-click comic adventure which boasts some well-drawn backgrounds, even if the character animations aren’t that great. It’s only too bad that this is the second episode which leaves the uninitiated baffled with no explanation whatsoever what to do. Of course the first one can be downloaded for free, but it would have been nice to have it included in the bundle as well, or at least indicated that it’s an episodic adventure game.

Nevertheless after the initial confusion, the tried and tested formula of picking up everything, combining items and applying them to the environment to proceed, becomes almost second nature like so many games in the genre. And maybe that’s the problem. Even if the puzzles remain logical (despite some backtracking), there isn’t much of originality to be found. The story and characters aren’t intriguing as well, and some mediocre voice acting doesn’t help proceedings.

It’s one of those adventure games which will do to fill the void between those bigger releases, being more like light entertainment than leaving any lasting impression, despite the impressive artwork which went into it.

Official Website

A collection for the brain and heart
There’s certainly quite a lot of variety to be found in the latest Bundle In A Box release. The quality of the not games is questionable for sure, and seeing Cognition again in such a collection becomes a bit boring (even if it’s still one of the best adventure games for a long time), but considering that one could pay easily more than 6 Dollars for each individual title and pleasant surprises like Phantasmaburbia and overlooked gems like J.U.L.I.A. and Vampires! definitely deserve a bigger audience, it’s more than worth the entrance fee.

It should also be added that bonus content are also included: artworks, soundtracks of Phantasmaburbia, Dédale De Luxe, Reversion, Cognition (including the prequel comic) and the source code of Necrotic Drift.

Don’t forget that part of the money also goes to charity with The Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family and direct developers’ support with the Indie Dev Grant.

So don’t waste any more time (before the bundle expires in less than a day) and head over to Bundle In A Box and pay what you want.

If you liked reading this article, make sure you pay a visit to Future Sack which kindly features it as well, and every Facebook LIKE or comment is appreciated .