This is the fifth in a series of Slamdance Finalist reviews.

Plasma Pong is Steve Taylor's remake of Atari's 1972 arcade game Pong, but it's a remake with a very interesting twist. Instead of batting a ball back and forth in the 2D, gravity-free vacuum of the classic, Plasma Pong moves the game into a 2D fluid field.

As the ball bounces and the paddles move, they interact with the field through simulated fluid dynamics. The state of the field is presented with both a color map (showing---I'm guessing---the fluid pressure at each point in the field) and particles that are suspended in the fluid. The suspended particles help to reveal currents, eddies, and other features of the flow. The ball is also suspended in the fluid, and its motion can be affected dramatically by the flow. As the fluid gets stirred up, the ball's motion can become quite unpredictable.

You can affect the state of the fluid with more than just the motion of your paddle, however. The left mouse button sends a stream of fluid out from the center of your paddle, while the right button sucks fluid into your paddle. The suction is strong enough to attract and retain the ball. Once the paddle fills with fluid, releasing the right mouse button creates shockwave in the fluid that hurtles the ball back into the field.

The game is visually dazzling. Yeah, it's very 2D, but I still found my jaw on the floor---it's hard to believe that a computer in 2006 can actually produce such a display.

Read the full review at Arthouse Games.

Name: Plasma Pong
Developer: Steve Taylor
Category: Classic Remake
Type: Freeware
Size: 7.41 MB

Calling this just an expansion pack is practically a crime, as it contains twice as much content as the original. The demo for Jets'n'Guns Gold only showcases two levels, though they are replayable with earned credits accumulative and added to your total after consecutive attempts.

There's plenty of stuff to shoot at and it does get rather annoying when your weapon overheats but an expensive cooling system upgrade should solve that problem. Sprites are extremely detailed, thanks to a game resolution increase. New ships, enemies, weapons and secrets, the list of new features doesn't seem to end.

Undoubtedly one of the best 2D horizontal shooter available.

Name: Jets'n'Guns Gold
Developer: Rake in Grass
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 20MB

Object and world editors have been included in the latest Thrust Xtreme download. [Thrust Xtreme review]

X-Out's Gravitron updated, now comes with an online high score system. [Gravitron review]

A new version for Spider was recently released to cater for owners of videocards that do not support pixel shader 2.0 features. [Spider review]

The expansion pack for Jets'n'Guns is now available, simply entitled Jets'n'Guns Gold. [screenshots, features list]

Click here for a list of all 104 IGF Student Showcase entries to try out.

Some of the entries previously mentioned: Invalid Tangram, NaaC, The Blob, Spider, Plasma Pong, Fire and Forget, Base Invaders, Toblo, Spherious, Helium Boy, And Yet It Moves.

Anything by students of the Game Academy is pretty impressive: Explosion Train, Desire, Into the Tale: Dream Fall, Fate, Weaponed Head.

Worthy mentions: Space Shooter 3D 2k7, Opera Slinger, Lily and the Giant, etc...

This is part of a series of Slamdance Finalist reviews and interviews.

Book and Volume is an interactive fiction (IF) piece by Nick Montfort. If you're wondering what IF is, think of an old-school text adventure and then turn the literary craft up a few notches. This particular piece deals with information-tech and geek culture, and it has a bit of a cyberpunk flavor.

For me, reviewing IF is tough: I'm so new to the genre that almost all of it is 100%-pure magic. Here's my take on it: an almost palpable world comes to life right inside your head. Because you can explore the world actively, it feels even more compelling than what I've ever experienced while reading non-interactive fiction. The result, for me, is incredibly powerful---almost to the point of making me feel like my mind is coming unhinged.

Of course, it's what the creator does with the medium that really counts. Mr. Montfort is obviously a solid prose writer, and his descriptions are what bring the 24-block city of nTopia to life. Within this artificial world, he tells a relatively simple story, at least in terms of surface-level plot points: Some servers in the city are down, and you need to reboot them; a user needs tech support; another server is down. Beyond completing the various maintenance tasks that are assigned by your in-game boss, the rest of the story---I'll call it the sub-plot---seems to be optional.

The piece plays on a fixed in-game time schedule, and it always comes to an end eventually, no matter what choices you make. Thus, you can't get "stuck" at an obstacle half-way through that will keep you thrashing for many real-world hours. You always get an ending of one kind or another after reading for a while.

One ending, it seems, is the "winning" ending, although the piece does not make this very clear. That ending ties the whole work together with a some nice prose flourishes and a heavy dose of post-modern self-referentiality. I'm still thinking about the piece, mining the experience for meaning. Issues such as illusion, reality, creators, creations, and corporate culture are explored nicely.

Nick Montfort is not only an active IF creator, he's also the field's chief theorist. His book Twisty Little Passages was the first to analyze IF. I recently had an opportunity to interview Nick by email, and we discussed, among other things, the importance of storylines to successful games.

Read the full review and the full interview at Arthouse Games.

Name: Book and Volume
Developer: Nick Montfort
Category: Interactive Fiction
Type: Freeware
Size: 221 KB

First in-game screenshot from FTG released. [The White Chamber: International Edition]

Mike Bithell (Visiting Day) is currently developing Reunion.

An image of the complete Jet Set Willy Online cast can be found at oddbob's site.

Herculean Effort Productions (Apprentice) will release Super Jazz Man soon.

Asougi is a freeware vertical shooter that resembles ESP Ra.De., a Cave arcade favorite featuring characters with the ability to fly and amazing psychic powers.

Some of the bullet patterns are rather unique and not the sort commonly found in recent shmup releases. It's also rather friendly to beginners as the number of continues are set to unlimited, though progress past stage three is only allowed to players using three credits or less.

The executable file with a longer name is the version with less effects for slower computers. Click here for the direct download link.

Name: Asougi
Developer: Asougi Project Team
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 120MB

RIAH is a decent but short platformer with most of its gameplay elements originating from the Castlevania series. Press the Z key to attack, hold the X key to jump or use the C key to swap weapons. Choose from axes, knives, hammers and spinning discs.

The double jump skill is available by tapping the X button twice, and an editor is included as well to facilitate user creations. Click here to download the file.

Name: RIAH
Developer: Folio
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Something Amiss is an adventure game made using the LASSIE creation tool and playable in any Flash-enabled browser, though this particular production showcases only two screens worth of puzzles and little of anything else. Based on a novel of the same title.

Name: Something Amiss
Developer: Tucker Bowen
Category: Adventure
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB

This is the fourth in a series of Slamdance Finalist reviews.

flOw is a game that defies genre classification. Actually, it might not be a game at all, depending on what definition we use, because there is no explicit goal. We can look at it instead as a work of interactive art, or as a digital sculpture. In fact, I can imagine it working well in a physical installation with a flat-panel, touch-sensitive screen.

In flOw, your mouse clicks control an aquatic, segmented, worm-like creature. The world is divided into a number of depth levels, and you start out near the surface. The deeper your go, the darker the water becomes.

At a given depth level, there are various small creatures (they look like diatoms or plankton) that you can eat. Each edible has a slightly different effect on your creature (some cause extra body segments to form, others cause existing body segments to expand, still others cause limbs to sprout or mandibles to become temporarily enlarged). Along with the easy-to-eat are other worm-like creatures, similar to your creature. Deeper levels contain larger creatures, and even some creatures that will try to eat your creature.

The presentation is stellar, with smooth, geometrical renderings of all the creatures. My words "segmented" and "worm-like" above should not mislead you---the feel is not creepy-crawly, but rather translucent, graceful, and flowing. I'm reminded of a jellyfish exhibit at the aquarium. All the activities in the game are accompanied by musical sounds that blend into an ambient soundtrack. Thus, we could also view flOw as a kind of experimental musical instrument. This one could make Brian Eno proud.

Read the full review at Arthouse Games.

Name: flOw
Developer: Jenova Chen
Category: Experimental
Type: Flash
Size: 8.4 MB

The Whispered World is an abandoned project that is only made available as a demo for download, with the full version unlikely to surface due to publishing problems. A verb scroll is used for interaction, while accessing the inventory bag only requires a right click anywhere on screen.

The backgrounds are absolutely gorgeous, but unfortunately there's only two screens to explore with very little to do in this release.

Name: The Whispered World
Developer: Marco Hullen
Category: Adventure
Type: Demo
Size: 50MB

Saucelifter is a brilliant Choplifter remake featuring vector graphics for enemy vehicles, turrets and buildings. Press the Z or C key to shoot in either direction, or hold the X key to aim downwards. The landing gears will appear automatically when your ship approaches the ground.

The aim of the game is basically to grab up to eight hostages at any one time and transport them to the teleporter on the right. Land right next to it and they will exit the ship and walk onto the platform automatically.

Paul was also one of the developers involved in the Sword of Fargoal remake.

Name: Saucelifter
Developer: Paul Pridham
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB

The gang of three returns for a new adventure in RIP 3: The Last Hero, this time with a trio of usable support characters and an extended set of twenty-five weapons to choose from. The darker look and feel will certainly please fans of it's predecessor.

Each level offers a different challenge as turrets, tanks and even dragons return to provide the additional firepower when required. It's rather difficult to put down the mouse when bullets are flying and explosions pepper the entire screen.

A hotseat mode is included as well for some multiplayer action involving either the mouse and keyboard combination or joystick support. The game itself isn't short on content either as the one hundred stages included will take some time to beat.

Name: RIP 3: The Last Hero
Developer: White Elephant
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 30MB

Originally a Ludum Dare competition entry, the improved version of Galcon by Phil Hassey now includes an online multiplayer mode and net ranking. Up to twelve players can participate in one single game, with team options and all tracked statistics available at the push of a button.

Instructions are quite simple. Left click on a planet to select, then right click to start an invasion. It's also possible to draw a line from one location to another for a similar effect. New orders can also be issued to a fleet during an invasion or cancelled altogether by left clicking on any ship.

Conquer larger planets to increase ship production. The scroll wheel can be used to command the size of your invasion fleet. A free version with Ludum Dare levels and enemy AI is still available from the download page, though multiplayer is where most of the fun can be had.

Name: Galcon
Developer: Phil Hassey
Category: Strategy
Type: Demo
Size: 5MB

Out of the many Pengo remakes released in recent years, Push Push Penguin by Tomaz Kac still stands as the best one available with minor changes made to vary gameplay. Among some of it's improvements include a simultaneous two player mode using joysticks or a single keyboard, a new freeze move and additional bonus items to collect.

This particular effort may not impress the current generation of gamers but anyone who fondly remembers the arcade classic won't be disappointed one bit.

Name: Push Push Penguin
Developer: Army of Trolls
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

The new GROW ver.1 was just released by Eyezmaze, featuring less choices but more animation than other works by the same author. Only two options are available to the player at any one time, though exploring all of the multiple selection paths will take several tries.

Short in length but fans of the Flash series will once again be pleasantly delighted with this production. Unlock the undo feature by completing the game with maximum points.

Name: GROW ver.1
Developer: Eyezmaze
Category: Puzzle
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB