Reviewed by Maenny (www.runtime-hq.com)

Six students have realized a quite ingenious RTS game. While the gameplay does not differ from "genre-brothers", the gfx are very special - and very beautiful. Dark Oberon is a rough diamond among the freeware strategy-games, which could with some additional effort become a true gem in its genre...

The gameplay is pretty much like you know it from other RTS-games: Build, collect, build, train, collect, fight, fight, fight! You normally start with a small homebase or even without that, only with some peasants. The resources that are being collected during the game are wood and gold, food is being automatically added when you construct a farm. The homebase can be upgraded to bigger and stronger buildings, as can the tower and the workshop. Your only units are: peasants, knights, catapults and zeppelins.

They modeled everything what you can see in the game out of plasticine, took a picture of the item and integrated it as sprite in the game. The resulting look is awesome. There even are animations to be seen, the soldier walking cycle for example.

Also perfect is the music, which is dreamy and adds a warm and fairy-like atmosphere to the game. It perfectly stays in the background, and it really is not getting on anyones nerves, even after playing the game for a longer time.

Read the entire review at www.runtime-hq.com

Name: Dark Oberon
Developer: Marian Cerny and Peter Knut
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 30MB

A demo for Crazy Power Disc Perfect is available for download. [Crazy Power Disc review]

Uploaded Aquatic Sun to FileFront, an underwater exploration number by Liberation Games. Scott is currently working on Kingdom Elemental, a strategy title to be published by Chronic Logic sometime this month.

Takase is working on several new characters for Dot Fighters.

TypeStriker XE turns freeware! Download the 16MB full version from this page, then type in the following details after installation to register. [TypeStriker review]

First Name: FreeXE
Last Name: FreeXE
E-Mail: FreeXE@FreeBee.com
License Key: i?rx9x3f$xwbiy!usr_wajrpxt.iu8r@

buloght will be working on a platformer next, right after releasing The Family Treasure 2.

buloght, helm and big brother's pixel galleries can be accessed by clicking on their names.

Ether Vapor updated to version 1.06b. [Ether Vapor review]

XWars version 0.36 released. [Geometry Wars clones article, XWars review]

There's a new DHTML game by Brent Silby entitled Snapple. [Flatland, Swarm, Dark Age, Replicator review]

For Game Developers:

Here are some nice fonts to use in your games. (Thanks to Devlin.)

If you're into Visual Basic programming, then the Students of Game Design web site will be extremely helpful. (Thanks to Kryten!)

Buster's site updated with new info. The new game will be released before January 2007. [Vacant Ark review]

Operation Wolf is being remade with... LEGO blocks? Operation Block is still in early development stages, but looks very promising.

Babarageo is working on a new vertical shooter. Currently playable using either the keyboard or mouse.

Warning: May contain potentially provocative or offensive material.

Tomoyo Fighter is a doujin Final Fight clone by Chinchilla Softhouse, developer of PreCure-ACT. There are some questionable themes in it, for example an entire level featuring otaku bashing action and a special appearance by none other than Mr. Razor Ramon HG himself (who is actually straight).

The story begins with your brother abducted right out of his wheelchair, so like any other caring sister the protagonist embarks on a rescue mission and perhaps beat some sense into the kidnappers along the way. Features standard fight moves, multiple endings and eight stages in total.

Official site carries screenshots but no demo yet, and it's release date was pencilled as a few days away for several weeks now. The 20MB trailer is available to watch though. All links on the page leads to the same file.

A prequel of sorts to Titan Attacks, Puppy Invaders is an excellent shooter playable using any browser installed with Java. Instead of a score, credits are awarded for each sprite destroyed. At the end of each level, you can purchase power-ups such as shields, smart bombs, increase the ship's firepower or even firing rate.

Simple yet addictive.

Name: Puppy Invaders
Developer: PuppyGames
Category: Shooter
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB

Imagine turning the Breakout gameplay sideways. Probably the exact thought that the developers of Poing had in mind. It's pretty good for an Arkanoid clone, in which the objective is to smash the opposing wall and access the next stage by sending your ball past the edge on the right.

It will probably take a while to beat the eighty levels included, though all can be accessed right from the start. An award-winning production with several recommendations under it's belt.

Name: Poing
Developer: Firestorm Productions
Category: Breakout
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Neon 2 is a rather bland Geometry Wars clone playable using only your internet browser, which is where most of it's problem lies. The frame rate is poor and common dual analog controls have been replaced with a mouse and keyboard combination.

The worst part of the game is spawn points. Enemies tend to appear right underneath your ship, a pattern that happens a little too frequently for any enjoyment to be had.

Name: Neon 2
Developer: varStudios
Category: Shooter
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB

From the Daily Click (altered heavily):

Crossworld Island is a freeware online platform game. You can build your own world and have up to four players at the same time. You can also develop campaigns with the campaign editor or build your own chat room. The online rating system sorts out user levels which can't be solved. Coins can be collected to buy special items such as the elastic spring, which can then be used in any level. Click here to download the 70MB preview video.

Features:
- login system
- level editor for own levels and campaigns
- objects and tilesets which you get step by step
- an online shop where you can buy items with your collected coins
- a living room which is like your own chat room
- you can choose between different characters with different characteristics (e.g. the diver can dive, the peasant can plant plants and the mechanic can repair things)
- day/night system which is controlled by the server. During the day, the levels are different than at night. For example: Ghosts can only be seen at night.
- wind affects the game. In the level-editor you can adjust the wind
- slippery surfaces. ice blocks can be placed in the level-editor
- teamplay. without teamplay you can't solve some levels. everyone can choose what he wants to play before the level is loaded.
- collecting. if you finish a level successfully, all collected coins and items will be placed in your online account.

Think Under Defeat, but with 2D sprites. Demolition Gunner: In Search and Destroy was originally developed for a three minute gameplay competition, then turned into a complete production featuring seven stages and obligatory boss encounters.

These battles last only twenty seconds each, so there won't be much of a struggle beating them assuming that you're good at dodging an insane number of bullets. Press the Z key to shoot, or hold the X key for a few seconds before releasing the button to launch a napalm bomb. Click on the first link after the title to download.

Name: Demolition Gunner: In Search and Destroy
Developer: DHC
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

N-E-M is the latest effort released by Akatuki Twilight, developer of two other shooters entitled Patchouli and IrK. Your ship has a unique dash attack which can be used to damage enemy ships. By pressing the Z key, any objects caught in your flight path will be destroyed.

If no directional arrow key is pressed when the action button is used, your ship will automatically zip towards the closest enemy. Features boss fights and an innovative save system that is never seen in any other shmups. While watching a replay, you can press the escape key and resume from the point where you've paused the action.

Name: N-E-M
Developer: Akatuki Twilight
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

MELISSA is another shooter by Weva which configures your joypad automatically but features bland sprites and a snail pace.

Hold the X key to shoot, or press the Z key to change your weapon assuming that at least one power-up has been collected. Definitely a labor of love but one that will be overlooked by shmup veterans with an acquired taste for frantic action. A download is located right after the section which explains power-ups and their effects, while the default unzip folder is in C drive.

Name: MELISSA
Developer: Weva
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Pronounced Z-corb, Zcorb is an action game that arrived on the scene twenty years too late. A mix of Pac-Man and Qix, your objective is to collect all the chips on screen while dodging other moving objects.

Use the arrow keys to move Xippie around, and hold the shift key to accelerate. Press the O key to bring up the configuration menu when the title is shown. The download page has an online high score table that you can submit your best achievement to as well. A cncs232.dll file has to be placed in the same folder for it to run properly, fortunately it's available from the same location.

Name: Zcorb
Developer: Acoders
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Decontrologic is another short but sweet adventure game by cactus. Any clues or description would probably dilute the experience, hence no spoilers will be mentioned.

Name: Decontrologic
Developer: cactus
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Vector is another game by that is based on an interesting concept but flawed in execution. Your ship can be moved around using the W, A, S and D keys. The player is required to draw a line in order to fire a shot, which can lead to an undesirably high number of random mouse clicks.

There's a unique boss encounter in every fifth stage, though implementing dual analog input should have been the developer's main priority. Innovation is great, but going against standard control method preferences for the sake of accomodating a streak of ingenuity will always be a risk. In this case, alienating most of the target audience and discouraging many from playing further than the first few levels.

Name: Vector
Developer: DS
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

StarTag is a decent Thrust variation with emphasis on mini-games. Sprites and level designs are pretty enough, plus several multiplayer modes are made available for some party fun. Only four keys are required to play, with one button reserved for special moves.

Tasks include navigating mazes, collecting coins, flying through hoops, popping bubbles, avoiding bombs or being tagged by your opponents. Only three of these can be accessed in the demo.

Name: StarTag
Developer: Straylight Studios
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 20MB

Bad, Bad Bots is a decent 2D platform puzzler which requires no precision jumps. Instead the player has to figure out a way to reach the exit in each stage by unlocking doors, disabling fans, activating teleporters and pushing crates amongst other actions.

The first few levels act as tutorials, providing hints and explanations on every gadget to be encountered in your journey. Another quality entry in this year's IGF competition.

Name: Bad, Bad Bots
Developer: Medium Edge Games
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

Cramgene is a pretty interesting puzzler from Yamisoft Entertainment. The objective of the game is to feed your pet before your opponent does, by splicing genes and creating a creature which matches exactly the one they're thinking of.

Choose creatures from your stock to examine their DNA strands, then pick the traits you need to create the right meal for your pet by determining matching genes. The gameplay system is a little complicated but fortunately the tutorial offers proper guidance to get any player started in just a matter of minutes.

The difficulty can be adjusted from the options menu, plus the trial version is not time limited. Don't be fooled by the graphics, even for grown-ups the game can be quite challenging.

Name: Cramgene
Developer: Yamisoft Entertainment
Category: Puzzle
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Dizzy has had it's fair share of halfhearted remakes. With Spud's Quest, fans no longer need to endure such indignity though our lovable egg has now been replaced with a protagonist named Spud.

You can only carry three items at any time, so expect a lot of backtracking in this game. Items are regularly placed inside houses, while grabbing the pliers require an incredibly precise jump. It's left to the player to figure out that Spud can stand on clouds.

A walkthrough and world map for Spud's Quest was released recently.

Name: Spud's Quest
Developer: Chris Davis
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Trick or Treat is an alright action game made by Dustin Gunn and Steven Burgess for a small Halloween competition. Featuring mostly ghouls and skeletons, the sprites looked pretty decent but gameplay itself is rather mediocre after the initial excitement fades off.

Still, it fits well with the holiday theme and there's nothing wrong with a free platformer spanning five levels. Note that swinging the chainsaw is slightly more effective against skeletons in some cases.

Name: Trick or Treat
Developer: Dustin Gunn
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Anyone looking for their common casual matching variety will be fairly suprised with D.N.A as the gameplay in this one requires a lot of thought, especially if you're not very good at recalling color combinations.

The player has to match at least ten proteins to burst a cell, a task made harder by the fact that they don't stay still in one place. There's a quota to fulfill in each level, and time ticks away for every second the player spends on mulling over their next move.

The puzzle mode is much more relaxing as the time restriction is removed, but one mistake means repeating the whole challenge all over again.

A fairly notable entry with an extremely slick presentation, something that would have been expected from a Japanese game development studio. Definitely a publisher to keep an eye on.

Name: D.N.A
Developer: 5th Cell
Category: Puzzle
Type: Demo
Size: 12MB

From the creators of Professor Fizzwizzle comes FizzBall, an effort which probably comes the closest to replicating BreakQuest's success but with it's own gameplay mechanics. The puzzle element has been ditched by Grubby Games, in favor of an action game to draw in more players. Essentially a Breakout clone, the comical style from it's predecessor has been retained and improved in this iteration with more animation and additional characters.

Professor Fizzwizzle has to capture animals by bouncing the FizzBall his invention and trapping them inside the bubble after it gains a certain size. The ball can be used to smash obstacles, shake trees and grab bonus items among other things. One talking point is the contraption's ability to blow the Fizzball upwards, it's use only limited to the amount of energy left as displayed on the right.

Features over a hundred and eighty levels, complete with over fifteen types of power-ups to collect.

Name: FizzBall
Developer: Grubby Games
Category: Breakout
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

Developed by Reflected Games and BlitWise Productions, Neon Wars is another arena shooter that will only run properly if you have OpenGL 1.2 or above installed.

Your ship can only be moved around using the mouse, plus the primary weapon is fired automatically at the nearest enemy. Nevertheless, the one level included has no time restrictions and replayable at any time even though several power-ups have been disabled. A recommended download if not a purchase.

Name: Neon Wars
Developer: Blitwise Productions
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 3MB

Reviewed by Maenny (www.runtime-hq.com)

This great 3D RTS game is one of the kings in the freeware community. Glest could easily overrun the popularity of one or another commercial game, having a superb design and astonishing possibilities concerning modding. Play it, and you know what I am speaking of.

At the moment, there are two "races", both humans, but one time based on magic, the other time based on technology. The tech-trees differ, of course, and there are different units in each of the clans. While on the one hand you have sorceresses and wizards being able to summon powerful creatures like dragons, on the other hand the humans defend themselves with "robotics", a kind of mech-like, human-steered war-robot (three double words!). By building the library/blacksmith you can either build new units or upgrade existing ones to more powerful warriors or wizards.
Resources are being gained as usual: Peasants don't hesitate to follow your command when you are in need for wood, stone or gold. Energy resources are gained by contructing a kind of manafountain for the magic people and a farm for the technology people.

Glest is an ambitious project. From their homepage: "Glest is a project for making a free 3d real-time customizable strategy game." That means, the units can be changed, that is you can easily replace the models and script (with XML) new behaviours for them. Like that you can create a 3D RTS game with your own models and your own artwork. No surprise, the community is growing fast.

Read the entire review at www.runtime-hq.com

Name: Glest
Developer: Glest Team
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 50MB

In Packin' Plax, the player has to stack colored plaques on a table so that three of the same color are connected either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. This is done by catching the plaques using the loader object controlled by pressing the left or right arrow keys. Tap the space key to drop an object onto the table.

You can only fail to catch up to five plaques, though it's possible to replenish your chances by increasing the current level or collecting power-ups. An excellent Klax clone, with only bland textures and absence of gamepad support as minor disappointments.

Name: Packin' Plax
Developer: xCept
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Dimension Diver is a decent abstract shooter that does everything well enough but never quite extraordinary. Gamepad is supported, plus four difficulty levels have been included to provide a challenge for both experts and beginners.

The Z, X and C keys are mapped to different types of shots. Press the C key to bring up a pause window. One for the collection but the fun doesn't last longer than an afternoon or so.

Name: Dimension Diver
Developer: TILTO
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Super Nova is a decent shooter by Virtanen Games, in which you can use the left and right arrow keys to move around while shooting at enemies appearing from a distance. There are quite a number of power-ups to collect but difficulty is rather high and it can be tough to stay alive for longer than a few minutes.

Hold the control key to shoot and use the left shift key for a boost which slows down the speed of all objects temporarily.

Name: Super Nova
Developer: Virtanen Games
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Joakim posted a teaser image from the next platformer project on his site. [Noitu Love, Tripline review]

A new AGS adventure game entitled The House That Ate My Soul was released today. Still buggy unfortunately.

bob recently did an interview with PC Zone about Grid Wars, Bizarre Creations and remakes in general. (Warning: strong language)

Here's a list of casual game portals compiled by Logler.

Blue Tea Games (Cactus Bruce and the Corporate Monkeys) will release a Breakout clone entitled Crazy Critters next month.

danjo of Acoders fame is currently working on a secret project entitled Alien Shooter. Currently undergoing beta testing. [LadyBug 2k6, Pacman EX 2 review]

News of a Spindizzy remake had recently surfaced over at the RetroRemakes forums.

The original is a C64 game which was compared frequently to Marble Madness. In it, you control a craft named GERARD (Geographical Reconaissance And Land-mapping Device) on a mission to explore new dimensions and collect energy levels.

Planned features:
- Full 3D OpenGL graphics
- Original game map plus new ones
- Isometric and first-person viewpoint
- original and new soundtrack

The game will be released sometime in February 2007 as open source for Linux, Windows and MacOS X with a map editor included.

GameTunnel's October Monthly Round-Up was recently posted.

Here's a summary, presented Famitsu-style:

Beast Invaders 2 is a remake of an old Space Invaders hack by Jeff Minter for the Atari 2600. Only one of your shots can remain on the screen at any time, though enemy projectiles are not restricted in such manner.

The aim of the game is basically to earn a decent high score by shooting at enemies and picking up coins or plates of curry. Fans of classic shooters will want this in their collection.

Name: Beast Invaders 2
Developer: Retrovision
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Alligator Garden is about two blokes who have to move crocs back to the ponds in each level safely. Bulldozers block your way but fortunately these can be driven and used to push boulders into holes.

Puzzle elements include tight spaces and limited vehicular movements. You can't climb into a bulldozer from the front or back either, though it's possible to drop the docile reptiles by pressing the enter key. Includes an editor as well.

Name: Alligator Garden
Developer: Anahara Masataka
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

Ebyss is a decent Game Maker production that has a strange shot system adapted from Taito's RayStorm and RayCrisis. Your lobster can only fire at enemies after getting a lock on them. The game design is innovative but controls are poorly implemented.

Pretty innovative but it's inaccessibility will discourage most players from getting very far. A great example for budding GM developers to learn from.

Name: Ebyss
Developer: Anahara Masataka
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

A testament to the popularity of Microprose's classic series, the turn-based strategy gameplay can now be experienced using Pocket PC devices. Pocket UFO is an excellent freeware to have if you're always on the move.

Gendo Ikari recommends downloading version 1.24, since it's the most stable. (Thanks!)

Name: Pocket UFO
Developer: SMK Software
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Two of the best turn-based strategy games involving squad and resource management, X-COM: UFO Defense and Terror from the Deep downloads have been patched to run without problems on any modern rig.

Shoot down enemy UFOs, trap your enemies and salvage their technology to improve your own. Night missions tend to be extremely suspenseful, especially when your team is whittled down to it's last few members in an area packed with aliens.

Many sleepless nights were blamed on this series. The first episode requires a little configuration since it's map scroll speed is set to maximum.

Name: X-COM: Terror from the Deep
Developer: Microprose
Category: Strategy
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Two of the best turn-based strategy games involving squad and resource management, X-COM: UFO Defense and Terror from the Deep downloads have been patched to run without problems on any modern rig.

Shoot down enemy UFOs, trap your enemies and salvage their technology to improve your own. Night missions tend to be extremely suspenseful, especially when your team is whittled down to it's last few members in an area packed with aliens.

Many sleepless nights were blamed on this series. The first episode requires a little configuration since it's map scroll speed is set to maximum.

Name: X-COM: UFO Defense
Developer: Microprose
Category: Strategy
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Spherical is a rather bland Sokoban clone but for a freeware there really isn't much to complain. What is interesting though is the author's attempt at getting the game published, and an online journal which I believe will be taken down shortly since it contains the replies from all major publishing portals.

Name: Spherical
Developer: membrain
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB