The Indie Game Magazine » action

On Trial: Minotaur China Shop

Mike — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:50:35 +0000

Minotaur China Shop is an absolute scream. As the name implies, you play as a Minotaur that owns a China Shop in ancient times – you’re big, move awkwardly and become enraged if you break too much stuff. The game takes the popular Time-Management genre and infuses it with some much needed physics and violence. As the owner of a China Shop, you must fetch the correct item for each customer. The quicker you deliver the item, the more cash you make. Of course knocking over and breaking china costs you money and angers you. Break too much and your get enraged. Lucky for you, the Minotaur’s shop has Rage Insurance so everything that you break during this period earns you positive cash. What makes Minotaur China Shop great, is that it’s like 2 games in 1. There is a legitimate time-management game here; there just also happens to be an equally fun violent destruction game as well. Personally, my strategy in the game is to play 1-2 rounds of time-management to build up my cash so that I can maximize my inventory, moves, and insurance for some great destructive payouts. The Minotaur’s angry noises are pretty funny and build to the real payoff of this game which is the enraged bashing, stomping, and charging of the Minotaur. The game is quick, simple and easy fun and while the Minotaur moves a little clunky – it serves the game well by creating accidents. For me, Minotaur China Shop shines as Blurst’s best title. Score: 9.5/10 – Rank: 1st

PixelJunk Shooter Review

Mike — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:46:04 +0000

PixelJunk Shooter’s one major fault is that it is over too soon and leaves you wanting more. The game is as simple and addictive as they come; you control a small subterranean rescue ship on a mission down into the depths of a strange mining planet. The plot is simple and takes place in the future. Humans have done their

Osmos Review

meg — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:53:42 +0000

In Hemisphere Games’ Osmos, you play as a hungry organism in a primordial soup of other growing and drifting orbs. Smaller organisms are absorbed by bigger ones when they touch, so it’s either absorb or be absorbed in this blob-eat-blob world. Gameplay: In order to move quickly enough to catch smaller blobs and avoid the bigger blogs, you’ll need to expel more matter, becoming smaller and making the Osmos world more dangerous. But drifting aimlessly into the path of larger, predatory orbs has its own challenges. For most of the game, Osmos is relaxing and beautiful with an enjoyably slow pace. There’s time to enjoy the swirling orbs and delicate soundtrack, all the elements I enjoyed in Music Catch and other ambient art games. But there’s still a goal, even if it’s the simple mellow goal to become the biggest, so there’s still a sense of challenge and accomplishment. The basic game challenge is finding a balance between expelling enough mass to move at the desired speed, without expelling so much mass that you become small, easy prey. Later levels add twists on this basic eat-or-be-eaten, with various success. Some levels include intelligent orbs to either chase or escape, or gravity forces that change the paths of the orbs. I did want some additions to the basic, enjoyable become the biggest challenge, but I wasn’t altogether pleased with some of the later levels. Certain levels require so much patience that it began to feel more like a tedious work assignment than a game. Sure, the right mouse button can slow down or speed up time, but either way there’s such a lot of waiting for orbs to collide. There’s an odd contrast between the relaxed music and floating orbs of Osmos, and the stress of some of the challenging levels. Graphics: In the blobiverse, bigger blobs consume smaller blobs. Red blobs are bigger than you, and blue blobs are your size or smaller, which is visually simple and stunning. Other colors and patterns appear in later levels, and it’s hard not to zone out watching the dance of the Osmos. Later on, I had trouble spotting the black antimatter blobs on the black background, which may well be the point, but it didn’t add to the enjoyment of the game. Overall, Osmos has great style… the branching menu tree of available levels seemed to resemble molecular structure, for another touch of artistic science. Even the name evokes cosmos and osmosis, adding to the scifi feel. Music: The music in Osmos really is wonderful. This relaxing ambient blend is somehow more that background music, without ever dominating the game. The musical pieces come from a variety of different artists, creating a varied but cohesive soundtrack. Lasting Appeal: Osmos comes so close, but ultimately just misses the mark. Intensively challenging levels ruin the mellow mood, but too many become the biggest levels seem repetitive. A near-perfect short game becomes an underwhelming longer game. The first couple levels have excellent replay value, since there’s something addictive about mellow beauty of drifting orbs. I imagine I’ll pick this game up again from time to time, for the relaxed playstyle, delicate soundtrack and sparkling orbs, but I also imagine becoming annoyed with the later levels all over again.

Pros:

Great replay value, delicate soundtrack, enjoyable slow pace at the start

Cons:

Challenge can ruin the mellow mood, levels become repetitive

Rating:

81%

IGF On Trial: Rocketbirds

Mike — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:12:26 +0000

Ashley: 7 Rocketbirds Revolution is a humorous look at a serious subject: oppression. Of course, it’s really George Orwellian in the fact that the chickens must overcome their evil penguin suppressors, and there’s one chicken that has just the right skills to get the job

IGF On Trial: Igneous

Mike — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 10:20:20 +0000

Ashley: 8 Igneous is a fast-paced action game that sees you trying to escape a raging volcano as it explodes around you. One of the truly excellent things about Igneous is the physics that are involved. You play a tiki that is hell-bent on escaping the fury of a volcano, and your only skill is rolling. Rolling really, really fast. The physics of the game prevent the same experience from occurring over and over, so even if you learn the different events as they occur, it will never feel as though you’ve truly learned the game. It’s free, so definitely give it a shot if you enjoy fast paced reflex based games. Andrew: 8 If you want to spend five minutes jumping over pits of magma while pillars of stone collapse around you and giant laser beams tear apart the ground beneath you, Igneous might just be for you. You won’t do much beyond holding forward,

IGF On Trial: Star Guard

Mike — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:10:33 +0000

Ashley: 6 Star Guard is a throwback to the old Atari 2600 days in which you play a bright blob on the screen shooting other bright blobs. The gameplay mechanic have been done to death, but if you love pixelated shooters, then Star Guard could probably stand to receive

Jetsom Sam Mini-Review

Colt — Wed, 12 May 2010 09:53:52 +0000

Jetsom Sam is an iPhone game developed by Plasmaworks, a company cranking out titles ranging from strategy to combo-based action. In elementary sidescroller with an elementary look, you play as Sam, who’s goal is to rescue Kay from invading Aliens, and sometimes Robots.The cartoon look is unfortunately vacant of exaggeration that the medium would permit. I think this deign choice is merely due to Plasmaworks pushing the game out more quickly and cheaper rather than any IPhone graphical limitation. Jetsom Sam employs the Rocket Knight Adventures mechanic of zipping across the screen via rocket boots and bopping Aliens on the cranium. Environments include a city, a volcano, and the invading enemy’s ship. You control Sam by tapping the screen on the area you wish to fly, and Sam will boost there to the best of his ability. I say this because Jetsom Sam adheres to gravity and a strict physics engine; Sam flies in straight lines only and, thanks to constant momentum, lands more in the general vicinity than the exact bulls-eye. This leads to pounding on the screen more than necessary, grabbing coins scattered around the level. The coins, to my knowledge, are superfluous. Maybe there are certain level requirements of a set number, but I did reach such a level. Viewing the game is not an entirely lost endeavor; the character animation is fluid, with Sam spinning head over heels as he rockets around the map. This adds some characterization that is sorely needed. Even a small scene of Sam, our unlikely hero, donning these rocket boots and blasting off, nervous but determined. This is all set to a pulse of Bucky O Hare space age discovery tunes, and the whirring of carnival laser zaps and blasts. Fortunately the sound effects slow an already choppy game, so that’s more incentive to play on mute.

Level design is comprised of a constant background and a foreground of changing obstacles. The first level, City, has buildings that hinder Sam’s progress, billboards with cute advertisements, and speeding cars. Modes of play include Survival, in which the camera pans right with Sam staying ahead of it, and kill X amount of enemies. There is also an endless mode. I’m sure that’s cool. There is no real narrative tying any of this together, only a terse tutorial: “Fight the Aliens” and “Use [your] rocket boots to save Kay.” It’s difficult to be glib about Jetsom Sam. It’s not so much intentionally lazy, boring and tiresome, but this is moot since the result is the same. Jetsom Sam just has minimal personality, and it feels like Plasmaworks

Steam Brigade

Mike — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:24:36 +0000

Download the Demo

Steam Brigade is a side-scrolling, real-time strategy game set in an alternate history where airships and steam-powered tanks rule the battlefield. It’s an older indie game, but it’s definitely worth your time and purchase. It’s incredibly unique and has a really sweet art style. Check it out.

On Trial: Blood Frontier

Mike Gnade — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:58:50 +0000

Erika: 8 Blood Frontier has got to be one of the best open-source FPS games I’ve played. A modification of the Sauerbraten engine, the game supports both single and muti-player and maintains a general theme of tactics and low gravity. For an open-source FPS, Blood

Free Flash Game: Minima Bomber

Mike — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:07:28 +0000

Minima Time is a Platforming game where time is of the essence. Race against time and explore the world as you attempt to extend your last 10 seconds for as long as possible. You can play it online for free right here!

About: Minima Time was inspired by the Experimental Gameplay Project’s March Theme of ‘10 Seconds’. It was made over 5 days in Flash with a total time around 36 hours. You can learn more about the game’s development process and any future