Sonny is a turn based RPG game following the story of a man named Sonny, who wakes up on a ship only to find himself turned into a zombie.

The game offers four different classes to choose from, thirty-one levels, six bosses, original soundtrack and voice acting as well. Krin Juangbhanich has made plans to add new levels (10 fights + Boss) every two weeks so that people may continue with their characters.

Name: Sonny
Developer: Armor Games
Category: RPG
Type: Browser

[Hey folks - Simon @ GameSetWatch here. May be popping in occasionally to mention our Indie Game Festival/Summit line-up as GDC 2008 approaches - which is, to be sure, a bit more 'pro'-focused than a lot of the games mentioned here, but has some good crossover potential. In this case, we released info on the Indie Summit at GDC's line-up.]

The organizers of the 2008 Independent Games Summit have announced the majority of the line-up for the February 2008 event, with postmortems of N+ and Schizoid alongside talks from notable creators at Introversion, Queasy Games, Kongregate, WayForward, ThatGameCompany, and more.

The 2008 Independent Games Summit (operated by CMP, as is this site) seeks to highlight the brightest and the best of indie development, with discussions ranging from indie game distribution methods through game design topics, detailed postmortems of independent titles, digital distribution-centric business concepts, and much more.

Once again, the IGS is a sister event to the 2008 Independent Games Festival. Taking place on the Monday and Tuesday of Game Developers Conference 2008, February 18th and 19th, the event follows the successful Independent Games Summit in 2007, for which multiple videos have been posted on Gamasutra in the last few months.

While speakers representing IGF Grand Prize winner Aquaria, World Of Goo, PixelJunk Racers, fl0w/The Night Journey and more already confirmed, the new set of confirmed 2008 Independent Games Summit lectures include:

GameTunnel is currently running a series of articles listing the best indie games released this year in a special countdown which ends tonight. The latest 'What's New in Indie' feature for the month of December is also up.

GameTunnel's Game of the Year Awards 2007

Braid: Jonathan Blow had posted a couple of new screenshots from his upcoming 'platformer' (term used loosely), due out on XBLA early next year.

Jasper's Journeys: Lexaloffle's new game will be released this coming Valentine's Day.

Eschalon Book 1: Basilisk Games' first indie RPG release is now available for the Linux platform.

Lila Dreams: Creatrix Games had posted a small design sketch from their upcoming Kongregate-funded MMO game, Lila Dreams.

Fraxy: mon's Fraxy gets a new update.

Village Destroyer 2000: JTR (Death Worm) had posted a new experimental game in the GMC forums.

The Hawksmill Horror: smila is currently working on a horror adventure game.

From Digital Tools - "Rolling Madness 3D a complete rebuild of the original 1984 Marble Madness with original graphics and original sound. The funky detail here is, that it's rebuild with a 3D-engine and that you can switch between different isometric and perspective views and also turn the game to the 'balls perspective'. Very clever. Playing an arcade classic in a new and interesting fashion."

The download link is located on the top-right corner of the Rolling Madness 3D website.

Name: Rolling Madness 3D
Developer: Luca Elia
Category: Arcade
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

A collaborative effort between cactus and alillm (Abstract Sea, Neon 2), MSOIDS is an arena shooter originally developed using the Game Maker engine, then ported to the Flash platform for all to enjoy.

Use the W, A, S and D key to move. Rapid fire is activated by holding down the left mouse button, though this is only temporary as shot frequency begins to whittle down when used for a prolonged period of time. Press the space key to switch background colors.

Name: MSOIDS
Developer: alillm, cactus
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser
Online high score table: Click here

Article by Lim-Dul

DrPetter, a talented programmer from Sweden has taken the indie community by storm with his brilliant sound generator sfxr. It was one small step for him but a giant leap for game developers everywhere since now there isn't a single excuse for not including nice sound effects in a game left.

As nice as sfxr might be, few people are aware of DrPetter's other projects, especially Musagi.

What started out as a simple and intuitive music editor for Peter's brother turned into a fully functional and feature-packed application. Don't be deceived by the humble version designation of 0.1 pre-beta - it works and is more polished than many a shareware or commercial product.

Name: Musagi
Developer: DrPetter
Category: Sound Editor
Type: Freeware
Direct download link
Size: 1.3 MB (Unbelievable!)
Direct download link: Click here
Tutorial: Here

A video walkthrough of Ikiki's new action game, Tekkyuuman. This shows all 12 levels from start to finish, but it isn't a single life playthrough - I edited out my mistakes, so you'll see a few cuts here and there if you watch the whole thing.

Tip for people who are having trouble with the later levels: You can stock up on as many lives as you want in level 9! Everytime you kill the boss you're given two extra lives, so if you kill yourself (by walking off the side) you'll still have one extra. Repeat as often as you like.

Enjoy! - Terry

Antbuster by Marcel Stein is a Flash tower defense game about defending your pizza, um, I mean cake from ants. The towers have branching paths of upgrades, so a lot of the fun of the game is in discovering which branches you like best.

One problem I had is the game is a bit slow, because a lot of the time the ants (much like real ants) wander around aimlessly rather than moving in a line or toward any goal. Oh, and don't get the boomerang tower, that one seemed to be pretty worthless.

Name: Antbuster
Developer: Marcel Stein
Category: Tower Defense
Type: Browser

Amoeba is a short action game consisting of twenty-three levels, in which players have to collect all white microbes while avoiding contact with viruses to complete each stage.

Hold the left mouse button over a part of the amoeba to move it around, and grab a DNA to acquire temporary invincibility.

Name: Amoeba
Developer: Pop Ethos
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Patrick Murphy had posted a new interview with Ron Carmel and Kyle Gabler over at Gamasutra, in which they talk about 2D Boy's upcoming release World of Goo. The game will be out for the PC platform on Valentine's Day 2008, with Mac, Linux and Wii versions to follow.

- Read 2D Boy Interview

Card Sagas Wars is versus fighting game made with MUGEN, featuring popular video game characters such as Link, Samus, Cloud, Chun-Li and others.

A beta version with four playable fighters was originally scheduled for a release before Jan 2008. More screenshots in the extended. [source: Indie Games Group]

Great article by Alistair over at GameCareerGuide.com, listing ten indie and student game competitions which would interest developers who are keen on getting a little attention for their projects or releases.

The rundown (unranked) points to ten events throughout the world in which indie game developers and students can show their works to compete for cash prizes, as well as that first big break in the industry.

Read 10 Indie, Student Game Competitions

Syobon Action is basically a remake of Nintendo's cult classic, but with a little 'creative license' added for kicks. Every platform you stand on could be a death trap in disguise, and collectibles are often booby-trapped if not made extra difficult to acquire. There is also a nod to The Big Adventure of Owata's Life towards the end.

Music is from Cheetahmen II (Super Ghouls and Ghosts for level 4). Videos from stage 2, 3 and 4 are in the extended. Unforgiving! [source: Lord Jezo]

From the comments: The video title says, roughly, 'A Mario-like game I wrote myself and then made my superior (co-worker) try to play.' Text shown with the blue screen is 'omake', which basically means outtakes or bonus footages.

Name: Syobon Action
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Download: Choose the first link on this page

The Almighty Paintbrush is a level editor for Arthur 'Mr. Podunkian' Lee's game, The Underside. Podunkian has said that the level editor will be released soon, along with a version of The Underside engine that allows for simple mod support, which should allow for people to make their own level sets and stories within the engine. Though no release date has been set, the level editor is nearly complete, and all that really remains is to finish the modifications to the game engine as well as the documentation.

SCRXXX AS3 is nekogames' attempt at remaking Scramble, a horizontal-scrolling shooter in which players have to navigate towards the end zone while avoiding collisions with the terrain and enemy ships. Press the Z key to shoot, and use the X key to bomb objects on land. Fuel can be replenished by destroying the yellow fuel tanks on ground level. Hold the A key to shoot and launch bombs at the same time.

Name: SCRXXX AS3
Developer: nekogames
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

Here's some news - the Independent Gaming weblog is moving to a new domain and becoming IndieGames.com: The Weblog, as part of the CMP Game Group (Independent Games Festival creator)'s outreach into the independent gaming scene.

Please change your bookmarks to point to IndieGames.com: The Weblog at http://www.indiegames.com/blog - indygamer.blogspot.com will no longer be updated. The Feedburner RSS feed for Independent Gaming has been automatically switched to point to the new site. Comments are being migrated as we speak.

Thanks to the CMP Game Group and Simon Carless for the invaluable support and hosting of the new site; we promise to continue to serve all your indie games news and review needs as we have done before. Here's a word from Simon about this change:

Simon: "Hey folks - you may know me already from running GameSetWatch and also helping to manage various other Game Group properties like Gamasutra, Game Developer magazine, and - of course - the Independent Games Festival, which is definitely the most relevant for this announcement!

This whole concept started a couple of months ago when Tim announced that he might have to shut the Independent Gaming blog unless he got some help in hosting and partly paying for his time working on the site. We wanted to help out, and we'd already launched IndieGames.com to help educate people about independent games, so having him move his blog over here made a lot of sense.

So nothing is really changing here - Tim [EDIT: And other IndyGamer editors who would like to contribute, of course] has still got an open editorial remit to blog and interview who he likes, and we may occasionally pop in to mention IGF and other Game Group-related news - which is likely of interest anyhow. We'll also be working with him to look at whether we can help to better develop the indie scene through setting up better distribution mechanisms for independent games - though we've only just started thinking about this."

Tekkyuuman is a new release by prolific Japanese developer Ikiki, famous for a number of controversial games featuring ninjas, bloodbath and outrageous violence. Usually with all three elements at the same time.

In this game, you must make your way towards the green spiky object and smash it with the flail. Use the control key to swing your weapon and tap the left shift key to jump. A wall jump can also be executed by pressing the same shift key when scaling up walls.

Red switches can be activated either by touch or hitting them with your flail. An extra life is awarded after every boss fight.

Web site address belongs to the musician.

Name: Tekkyuuman
Developer: Ikiki
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here
Video walkthrough: Available (major spoilers!)

UPDATE: cactus has decided to update the game due to the feedback he's gotten. The jumping level is now easier and skippable for those who have trouble beating it. There's been a few other changes as well, including vital bug fixes.

This is cactus entry for the winter competition at YoYoGames.com.

"Welcome to Mondo Agency! An eerie cyber FPS with horror and puzzle elements. As an agent it is your mission to kill laser indians and save the president!

Turn off your lights and turn up your speakers for maximum enjoyment!"

Name: Mondo Agency
Developer: cactus
Category: FPS/Adventure/Weird
Type: Freeware
Size: 7.5MB
Download: link 1
Walkthrough: link

Interview by Paul Eres

MDickie is the author of dozens of unique games, and probably needs no introduction for most of this audience so I'll get right to the interview.

1. One thing that's notable about you is how fast you complete games, often in three months; did you ever have problems with procrastination, or is working so fast natural to you? Do you use any productivity tools such as to-do lists or schedules, or do you just work on things as you feel like it?

MD: Well, let's not fly that flag too hard because time is gushing away from me like water at the moment! I estimated it would only take 3 months to turn Reach into a wrestling game, but the project is heading into its 6th month and I'm still working 12-hour days. Of course, 6 months is still pretty astonishing for a game of that size and sophistication. My closest counterpart, "Pro Wrestling X", has clocked up a good 3 YEARS in production - and that's a team effort! As you say, 3 months is the standard for me now though - so my fans get restless at anything longer. After all these years, I guess I just know what I'm doing. I instinctively know exactly WHAT needs to be done, WHEN it needs to be done, and HOW I might best achieve that. It's a lot like a puzzle - I just know how to put all the pieces together as quickly as possible. One of my best tricks is dividing the day into art work and programming work. I create media in the morning and then bring it to life in the afternoon, so there's a nice flow to what I'm doing. Other than that, it's a race against the clock that makes me work so fast. I don't really have a choice! It may be a cliché, but time is money. The longer I spend making a game, the more money it has to make. For instance, if I had spent all year making World War Alpha I'd be out of business now because it didn't fly. Game over. I'm only here because Hard Time arrived and picked up the slack. My scattergun approach makes me failure-proof. If one concept doesn't work, another one is right around the corner to take the next shot. And on and on it goes, evolving towards perfection. The weak concepts die out and the strong concepts live to fight another day...

Genetos is a vertical shooter by Tatsuya Koyama featuring stages with design styles from different eras of arcade gaming classics. Use the cursor keys to move your ship, and tap the Z key to shoot. Press the X key to launch a bomb if available.

Name: Genetos
Developer: Tatsuya Koyama
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Midwinter Rites is an incomplete interactive fiction adventure made to mimic the look of a Commodore 64 release. There are few commands to use but important objects and characters are always highlighted.

Name: Midwinter Rites
Developer: Mattias Gustavsson
Category: Adventure/IF
Type: Demo
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

RGCD is a downloadable CD-ROM based magazine containing retro reviews, features and developer interviews. Each issue of RGCD contains direct links (to files on disc) of each game, emulator or tool reviewed irrespective of platform.

Previews of each issue are available at www.rgcd.co.uk, but in order to actually read the rest of the articles and reviews you'll need to download the .ISO image and either burn it to disc or mount it on a virtual drive. There is also a cut-down 'lite' version (excluding all games and emulators) provided as a downloadable .ZIP archive.

RGCD is 100% spyware free and all files are virus checked before uploading. Magazine contents are posted in the comments section.

Pen Pen Xmas Olympics is a skiing game with seventeen events consisting of slaloms, downhill races and ski jumps. In the first two categories, players must attempt to reach the end of each track under the qualifying time to progress or lose a credit if they fail.

Use the cursor keys to control the protagonist's speed or direction of travel, and press the space key to jump over obstacles.

Name: Pen Pen Xmas Olympics
Developer: Army of Trolls
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB

In Frozzd, you take the role of an astronaut tasked with the mission of freeing orange-colored creatures named Mubblies from their frozen state. You begin each level with King Mubbly as your companion, who has the ability to unfreeze his subjects or attack the Frozzds with a tap of the space key. Drink coffee to increase your suit's temperature, and use the points you've acquired to unlock new stages.

Each of the twelve levels introduces a different enemy, and points acquired from previous stages can be used to unlock new ones.

Name: Frozzd
Developer: Jesse Venbrux
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Kei Mesuda's Arcanacra Black Label is an update of his earlier browser-based vertical shooter release. Another Mode can now be accessed right from the start, and replays of any level by the top ranked players can be watched even if you have not attempted that particular stage yet. Bomb stock is also increased from three to five.

Click on the screen to add credits. Press the Z key to shoot and hold the shift key to target enemies with your ship's homing lasers. Switch between rapid and spread shot by holding either one or both shoot buttons. The boss of each stage can be beaten easily once your ship has a persistent lock on it, especially when the lock weapon has been upgraded.

Push the right arrow key when the main menu is displayed to view the high score table.

Name: Arcanacra Black Label
Developer: keim
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

Eyeball 3: Rorschach Dungeon is a short game in which both of the main characters can be controlled with the same mouse. Left click on an area to approach it, and hold the right mouse button to use your eye beam. Right clicking on one of the character's pupil will cause it to generate a shield, protecting it's caster while damaging other enemies on contact as well.

The health indicator at the top of the screen is shared by both eyeballs, and can be increased by colliding with enemies of the same colour.

Name: Eyeball 3: Rorschach Dungeon
Developer: Sergio Cornaga
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

The North, Pohjola is a strategy game which resembles David Galindo's The Sandbox of God. Players have to help a tribe survive a harsh winter season by making decisions limited to the four cards drawn in each round. The game ends once all thirty cards from the deck have been exhausted, and scores are then calculated for online submission.

Population count is represented by a percentage at the top left of the screen. Temperature can be manipulated by choosing the right cards to maintain a warm surrounding for your tribe. Certain cards award bonus points, and may only affect proceedings when their specific conditions are met.

Name: The North, Pohjola
Developer: Fire Dragon
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

R-Theta 2: Expanded Edition is a game based in polar coordinates. Every point in the game is assigned a radius and theta value, denoting the distance of the point from the centre, as well as the angle it makes with the x-axis.

The player is in control of a triangular shooter, built into a constantly rotating radar-scope which must be protected from collision with other enemies. Use the up and down arrow keys to decrease or increase the ship's radius from the centre. Hold the X key for rapid fire, tap the C key to shoot and use the Z key to launch a destructive missile. Keys can be reconfigured by pressing the F2 function key at the title screen.

This updated version includes nine new enemies and an adjustable difficulty setting.

Name: R-Theta 2: Expanded Edition
Developer: Theta Games
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here (Vista version)

Interview by Eden

I interviewed Jon Blow, creator of upcoming XBLA (and PC eventually!) game Braid, and found him to be an wonderfully nice and insightful fellow.

EB: How do you go about designing a level? In Braid, the levels are sort of no-nonsense. They're very efficient.

The game is about understanding what it means if time behaves in certain ways -- exploring the consequences of these hypothetical laws of spacetime, and the puzzle pieces you collect are concrete tokens representing the understanding you have gained. So, every puzzle in Braid has a very specific point; it is there to tell you one thing.

Because I wanted the game to be focused (and not long and bloated with filler), I decided early on that the levels would only contain the elements necessary to create the puzzles inside them. There aren't lots of random enemies to jump on or big levels to just sort of wander through. Everything is in the game for a specific reason. After being in the game for a while, the player might start to pick up on some of the nuances (why certain puzzles are grouped together, for example).

What I've said here only applies to Braid, though; if designing a different game, I would probably take a different approach.

The evolution of physics games which involves drawing objects using basic lines or circles. (post updated with download link for Chalk Physics)

Chalk by Joakim Sandberg
download, 3.85 MB

Crayon Physics by Petri Purho
download, 5.63 MB

Bonus: Video walkthrough for Aquaria, full version

The IGF organizers have announced the 12 recipients of the 2008 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase awards from a field of over 125 entries. Each student showcase finalist will receive a $500 travel stipend to help aid their trip to GDC 2008. The $2,500 Best Student Game prize winner will be announced during the same event this coming February.

View the list of twelve entries (after the main competition finalists)

Winter's Heart is probably my favorite of the over 100 Game Maker winter contest games I've played so far. It's made by Bit Pimp aka Darthlupi, who is responsible for some of the best classic Game Maker games (such as Mage Craft, Raging Skies, The Cleaner, and Legend of Shadow). It fits in no one genre, it has puzzle and action elements, and RPG-like upgrades.

Use Z to hoist and then strike with your staff, holding it longer produces more forceful blows. This however cannot harm enemies, but it can be used to knock snowballs into them, which can create chain reactions and temporarily stun enemies -- and while they are stunned, use the staff again to banish them. You can also use X to roll up snowballs for this purpose if you run out of a level's starting set, although this drains your freeze meter. Press C to use a spell (which takes away from your score), and press A and S to cycle between your spells (which you can buy and upgrade using your score).

I like that it isn't just a set of levels, but there's a background story, bosses, and really great music. One thing I like about the game is that it's very economical with its elements, you only have two meters. The freeze meter doubles as health (you have to restart the level when it fills) and, because it's constantly moving down, also triples as your time limit. Your score and doubles as your magic points, because you use it up when you cast spells, and it triples as your currency, because you use it to buy new spells and upgrade them.

Name: Winter's Heart
Developer: BitPimp/Darthlupi
Category: Arcade/Action/Puzzle/RPG
Type: Freeware
Size: 3.2 MB
Direct download page: Click here

Review by Paul Eres

Same Cube is an addictive puzzler which involves using the Z and X keys to rotate four tiles clockwise or counterclockwise to make a match of four blocks with the same color. Remove the blocks quickly to increase time, and complete all ten levels to unlock the unlimited mode.

Glass tiles are automatically removed if an entire column or row of these exists when the game is in progress.

Name: Same Cube
Developer: Yamahara
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

Clock Tower's Secret is a platformer in which players have to figure out a way to reach the exit portal by activating the correct switches to rotate the entire world towards the direction shown by the blue arrows.

Hold the Z key to zoom out, and tap the C key to jump. Press the X key when your character is next to a switch to activate it. Developed by ssi for a recent Three Minute Game competition.

Name: Clock Tower's Secret