The countdown continues, as we reveal some of the best freeware RPGs and roguelikes to be released in 2007.

Best Freeware RPGs, Roguelikes 2007

  1. The Crypts of Despair
  2. Dwarf Fortress
  3. Twilight Heroes
  4. Last Scenario
  5. Wilfred, the Hero
  6. Homeland
  7. Exit Fate
  8. The Desolate Room
  9. Generic Slash: Dismal Depths
10. Incursion

We've delved into some of the more obscure corners of the RPG and Roguelike universe here; if you'd like to check out additional mainstream indie RPGs, why not consult GameTunnel's GOTY Awards and Rampant Games' Best Indie CRPGs articles.

Barely one day after the release of Submachine 5, Mateusz Skutnik strikes again with a new collaborative effort called The Great Kitchen Escape. The game is extremely short, and can be completed in a couple of minutes with little difficulty if any at all. Expect to do a little pixel hunting in this one.

Name: The Great Kitchen Escape (Armor Games link)
Developer: Pastel Games
Category: Adventure
Type: Browser

N+, XBLA: Metanet had posted a comprehensive FAQ for N+ and future projects on their IGN developer journal. (web site, launch party)

Free Lunch Design: Icy Tower developer acquired by Muskedunder Interactive.

The Yore is a short, isometric adventure, in which you wake up in a haunted house and must try to get out (by solving puzzles). You have the choice of two characters - a guy or a gal. Use the arrow keys to move and the Enter key to interact with your environment (open doors, pick up stuff, etc). Graphically, the game is rather pretty and the sound does a half decent job for creating a creepy atmosphere.

Name: The Yore
Developer: Johan Hargne (Cobrasoft)
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 16.6MB

Protoganda 2 is a new 2D arcade shooter by cactus, developed in under two hours. Use the cursor keys for movement, and hold the Z key to shoot. The X key can be held down to activate your shields. Press the enter key to start a game from the main menu.

Colliding with debris or bullets will destroy the ship. Originally conceived as an unlockable game for Shotgun Ninja.

Name: Protoganda 2
Developer: cactus
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Super Kreml Kart Super Rally is an action game in which players are required to build rails for a cart to travel on. The game is controlled entirely using the mouse. Building rails drain your points quickly, but can be replenished by collecting the hammer and sickle item.

Press the F4 function key to switch between windowed and full screen modes.

Name: Super Kreml Kart Super Rally
Developer: Perfect Run
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here (right-click to save)

Shotgun Ninja is a new platformer by cactus, in which the developer limits himself to a C64 palette for background, object and sprite colors.

Use the cursor keys for movement, and press Z key to shoot. You can only fire when your assassin's feet is touching the ground. Tap the X key to lob a grenade. Hold the down arrow key to view the floor below you.

There are numerous ways to earn points in this game, from reaching the exit in the quickest time possible to eliminating all the enemies in each level. Proficiency with the wall jump technique is a prerequisite skill.

Name: Shotgun Ninja
Developer: cactus
Category: Platformer
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

Online high score table

"The fifth episode of the Submachine series. This time we go back to the very first submachine ever built - historically speaking. It was created by an unknown scientist in the early 20th century. This is the place where it all started."

Release date: Today (30th January 2008)

Play at ArcadeTown
Play at PastelGames
Walkthrough

Independent Games Festival

World of Goo: IGN previews 2D Boy's physics based puzzle game. (Wikipedia entry)

Audiosurf: There will be a third beta weekend for Invisible Handlebar's upcoming music game/crack. (Wikipedia entry)

World of Goo, Noitu Love 2: IGF entries mentioned in the latest Joystiq podcast edition.

Adventure

Adventure Game Studio 3.0: AGS 3.0 released; the editor is now .NET-based, and hardware acceleration is supported.

Resonance: Screenshots from xii games' upcoming shareware adventure game posted. (source: Gnomes' Lair)

Sydney Treads the Catwalk: Ivan Dixon's freeware adventure game is set for a release early next month.

Role-playing Games

Exit Fate: Two more screenshots from SCF's (Last Scenario) upcoming RPG game can be found in the SA forums.

The Spirit Engine 2: Trailer for Mark Pay's upcoming shareware RPG posted. (source: Total Klik)

Updates

The Endless Forest: Tales of Tales' online multiplayer game updated to version 3.2.

Cottage of Doom: Alex May's zombie survival game updated with support for Vista.

Reviews

Immortal Defense: "Portal’s story... was NOT the best story of 2007. It was NOT the best writing of the year, surprisingly." (original soundtrack)

Knytt Stories: "Since discovering Nifflas' work, my PS3 has sat idle."

Miscellaneous

Mod of the Year 2007: Results for ModDB's annual event posted.

10 Indie, Student Game Competitions: I wrote about this a while back, but was asked for the list again recently so here it is.

Armor Games Interview: CEO Daniel McNeely questioned.

Valentine's Day releases: World of Goo (delayed), Dylan Fitterer's Audiosurf, Erin Robinson's Nanobots, Lexaloffle Games' Jasper's Journeys.

Review by Arjen Voogt

What would you do if you wake up on a ship and the only sign of life are a few plants and a guy that's controlling the electronic devices throughout the ship? The smart types will probably not put their full trust into this guy. The main character in Experience 112 (named the Experiment in the US, 600 MB demo direct download link) isn't as smart and does.

The game starts with a woman waking up on a deserted ship. A nice variety of plantlife has infested the ship and there's a green fog. The woman finds a letter near the bed and doesn't seem to remember a thing. At first she thinks she's alone, but soon notices you are watching her through a camera. And this is where the innovative part of the game shows up. She asks you to log on into the system – the system you are using. You aren't controlling anything else but a computer, which gives you new features when you progress in the game. At first you can only move cameras around, but after a while you can turn on electronic devices, open doors and even read mails that were sent to various staff members. It's nice not to be in control of the main character for once.

The Almighty Paintbrush is a level editor for Insignificant Studio's notorious adventure platformer The Underside.

Included in the zip file are two example mods (Buddy's Nightmare, by Mr. Podunkian, and The Story, by Tommy361, a 12 year old!), as well as all the tools required to make your own The Underside mod.

Also included is a slighty updated version of the first preview of The Underside that was released awhile ago.

Name: The Almighty Paintbrush
Developer: Insignificant Studios
Category: Adventure Platformer
Type: Freeware
Size: 6MB

The fourth of the 2007 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com.blog, we're proud to present twenty of the best freeware platformers released in 2007.

Best Freeware Platformers 2007

  1. Knytt Stories
  2. The Underside
  3. Plasma Warrior
  4. Paroxysm
  5. Valdis Story
  6. Hurrican
  7. Kaipuu
  8. Deo Dorant
  9. Muon
10. Streambolt Desero
11. GoldenEye 2D
12. Once in Space
13. A Mini Falafel Adventure
14. Alex Adventure
15. Polarity
16. Punishment: The Punishing
17. Ninjah
18. Joe Gunn
19. Polychromatic Funk Monkey
20. Lost in the Static

A recording of the lecture Jonathan Blow gave at the Game Focus Germany conference (24 - 25th January 2008), titled "Programming is Easy; Production is Harder; Design is Hardest."

download the lecture in mp3 format

Ethereal Dreams is a short RPG game with original artwork, sprites, backgrounds and an air of professionalism unseen in most amateur RMXP creations. Turn-based battles, spells, quests, a multitude of equipments and items can all be found in this effort.

Random battles are determined by an indicator called the encounter orb. This round object shown at the bottom left of the screen turns from green to red at a quicker rate when you're traveling on certain terrains which are likely to cause noise. An example of this is when your party is walking on puddles of water. A journal is used to record notes and details, with comprehensive bestiary information written by the characters themselves.

The main development team consists of female artists and programmers. This is an early build, and players will be notified when they've reached the end of the demo.

Name: Ethereal Dreams
Developer: Dragonfly Studios
Category: RPG
Type: Freeware
Size: 50MB
Direct download link: Click here

An informal chat with Mark Sheinkman, the developer of Areas.

Let's begin with a little introduction of yourself, where you're from, what you do, and what games you have released.

Well, my name is Mark, I live in Israel, and currently I don't really do anything for a living. Just waiting for my recruitment date. Other then Areas I haven't released anything, yet. Recruitment date, enlistment date... I dont hear a lot of english army-talk, so I'm not sure how to call it.

Do you mean mandatory army service, like in South Korea and Singapore?

Yea. I'm not too thrilled about it.

How long is that?

3 years, in most cases. Could be more, if one chooses to.

Hell is a short horizontal shooter made in under four days, featuring five playable levels and an equal number of difficulty settings to choose from. Your ship is on autofire from start to end, and pressing the Z key allows you to switch weapons. Dodging bullets might possibly be a little easier when the X key is held.

Name: Hell
Developer: JaJ
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Basho Kioku is a simple memory game in which players have to click on all squares in thirty-six moves. Clicking on the same tile twice counts as a mistake, and you're only allowed a maximum of three errors for each session. A rather lacklustre effort, only because the developer did not take into account the minor cheat which can be used to solve this puzzler with ease.

In Planet Cruncher, players have to draw shapes around planets to earn points. Hold the left mouse button to begin drawing, and collect gems by touching them with the mouse pointer. Mismatching planets will cause a black hole to appear, but can be erased by drawing a circle around it.

Crimson Star is a 2D side-scrolling WIP platformer, which is heavily influenced by Metroid Prime 1 and other games in the Metroid series. Hopefully it's nearly done. It does look rather spiffy, doesn't it?

"This is a test of a webcam being reflected in the Goo in real time. Just requires any sort of webcam and it'll work in the Gish and Mercury Skins." - Tommy Refenes

The updated webcam version can be downloaded from http://goo.pillowfortgames.com/.

2007 Random Indie Game Challenge
"For completely arbitrary and torporous reasons I have decided to randomly select 10 independent games from recently released 'top of 2007' game lists from numerous indie game reporting blogs. I tried to limit it to games which I've either spent very little time with, or games that I've never touched. I will be ranking them in order of 1 to 10 based on initial impressions of 30 minutes or less with the games. This exercise should not be taken seriously by any stretch of the imagination, don't let the title fool you." - Matthew Williamson (shapermc)

GamePro interviews David Jaffe
"One of the most emotional video games I've ever played is a Flash game called Passage. You move a tiny 8-bit sprite character from left to right; every four to five seconds, your character ages. It's a simple, abstract, interactive expression of a life lived. It's great! It's possible to make emotional games, but it's not in my DNA at this point." - David Jaffe (God of War)

Aquaria at ACMI and Macworld
Photos from Derek's recent trip to Australia can be found over at the Bit Blot web site. Low budget video of the event in the extended.

Line Golfer works exactly like Line Rider, except that you have to play golf on the course that you design instead of riding a sled. A level editor is included, and user created levels can be shared.

Name: Line Golfer
Developer: Candystand
Category: Sports
Type: Flash

World of Goo: 2D Boy's debut commercial release will be out for the PC and Nintendo Wii on the same day. Unfortunately the game is set to miss its original February 14th release date.

Adventure

ScummVM: This useful virtual machine program for classic adventure games was recently updated to include support for Lure of the Temptress (freeware), Elvira series, and Harlan Ellison's critically-acclaimed I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

Nearly Departed: John Green's upcoming freeware adventure game gets a new trailer.

Competitions

3Punge: Screenshots and information for entries in latest Three Minute Game Competition (17th edition) are up.

YoYo Games Competition: According to a very reliable source, the next contest will begin sometime this week or the next.

Development Journals

Metanet's N+: Raigan and Mare will be posting a series of articles for IGN in the coming weeks, leading up to the release of N+ for the XBLA. A preview with new screenshots from the PSP version can be found at PSP Fanboy.

Lila Dreams: The developer journal for Creatrix Games' Kongregate-funded MMO game is up. [GameSetWatch article]

Previews

Ore no Ryomi 3: Vertigo Games will release new information and screenshots from their latest game next week.

Varia: Screenshots from Kairos' upcoming project posted at 64Digits.

Miscellaneous

DAN-BALL: ha55ii's Irritation Stickman and Powder Game were both recently updated.

Reversi: Thomas Weibel has released a Javascript/DHTML remake of this popular strategy game.

IndieFAQs: Distractionware's new site aims to serve the needs of gamers looking for hints or walkthroughs for their favorite indie games.

Let's Play Forums: A new hangout for indie game speed runs.

Faith Fighter is a fighting game with seven characters, all of them major religious figures: Jesus, God, Mohammad, Ganesha, Buddha, and the Laughing Buddha, and one secret character. I like a lot of the details the game has (like the Flying Spaghetti Monster appearing occasionally in the background and so on).

(As an aside, one of my friends and I once had an idea for a slightly similar game -- maybe we'll make it one day.)

Name: Faith Fighter
Developer: Molleindustria
Category: Fighting
Type: Flash

Take control of Rean, treasure hunter of dark and lonely places, as she gets in and gets back out in record time. Find the key to open the treasure, get the treasure itself, and then get back out of the maze in as little time as possible. You can't see very far, so be sure to keep track of the layout of the maze as you go.

Name: Rean: Conqueror of the Labyrinth
Developer: Yurabo
Category: Quick Play
Type: Flash

An interview with Russell Carroll, the authoritative figure when it comes to indie games. Also runs GameTunnel, a Marketing Director at Reflexive, and a full-time family man. Recently published another edition of the brilliant compendium which is the GameTunnel's Game of the Year Awards, showcasing the best indie games released every year.

Hi Russ, let's begin with an introduction of yourself, your work, and your involvement in the indie games scene.

I'm Russ Carroll. I started 'in the industry' by working on what we called indie games with my brother about 7 years ago I think. I wasn't very good at helping him, but during that time I played a lot of downloadable games and thought they were desperately needing a place to review them. So I started scheming up a website to review indie games and in December of 2002 GameTunnel was born.

After running GameTunnel for awhile I was offered a job to work with Reflexive and was very excited to take it. That was in February of 2005. I've been at Reflexive ever since, though I continue to run GT as I have time.

Caution: strong language.

Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden is the full version of the earlier Chapter 1 release seen last year, which tells the tale of the outcast basketball player named Charles Barkley and his quest to clear his name of a crime he did not commit.

The game is standard RPG fare but features an outlandish apocalyptic setting with the basketball sport and matches outlawed, while the players either condemned, executed or sentenced to a life of anonymity.

It will probably take around five hours to complete the entire adventure.

Name: Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Developer: Tales of Game's Studios (bort, Chef Boyardee, Drule, GZ)
Category: RPG
Type: Freeware
Size: 60MB
Direct download link: Click here

Screenshots in the extended.

The third of the 2007 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com.blog, we're proud to present twenty of the best freeware adventure games released in 2007.

The adventure game genre certainly isn't dead, and IndieGames proves this by picking the top freeware adventure independent titles released last year, from Rorschach through the awesomely named Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy.

Best Freeware Adventure Games 2007

  1. Fedora Spade
  2. Covert Front
  3. Anika's Odyssey
  4. Makibishi Comic
  5. The Infinity String
  6. Fate by Numbers
  7. Masq
  8. Dr. Lutz and the Time Travel Machine
  9. A Tale of Two Kingdoms
10. Ben Jordan Case 6
11. Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy
12. Passage
13. Soup ver 0.9
14. Ruckblende (Flashback)
15. The Adventures of Cagney
16. What Makes You Tick
17. Stranded 2
18. Menulis and Miestas
19. Thule Trail
20. Rorschach

Monster Cats Nekonikoban is a Three Minute Game Competition entry by Fumuyume, in which players have to collect as many items as they possibly could within the time limit for high scores.

The game plays out like a Pac-Man variation, in which talismans can be acquired and used for temporary invincibility against all the other ghosts. Picking up the small blue object changes the other half of the screen, usually populating it with more of the same items but with different maze patterns.

A control configuration program is included.

Name: Monster Cats Nekonikoban
Developer: fumuyume
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

3Punge Competition package

Petit Strikers is a Three Minute Game Development entry which plays out in a small window, and features two short stages. The mouse is used to control your ship. Hold the left mouse button to shoot.

Name: Petit Strikers
Developer: 12
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Download: Click here

3Punge Competition package

Mazer Mayhem is an XNA-only arena shooter by Kenta Cho, in which the player is given control of a tank as they attempt to destroy as many orange balls as possible while collecting green objects. The action takes place in a large enclosed area, and some traveling is required to search for more enemies.

The W, A, S and D keys can be used to move your ship. Cursor keys have a similar effect. Press the X key to simultaneously execute the dash move, launch a grenade and shoot. Hold the Z or C key to turn your craft around. This build also provides support for the Xbox360 controller.

Players can store a maximum of a hundred green items at any time, with a counter shown at the bottom right of the screen. When entering hyper mode by pressing both buttons, this count will deplete at a very quick rate. Replenish it by finding and destroying more balls.

To play Mazer Mayhem, simply install Visual C# 2005 Express Edition, its update, and XNA Game Studio 2.0. The click on Mm-Windows-0-1.ccgame twice to unpack the game.

Name: Mazer Mayhem
Developer: Kenta Cho
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB

Requires the installation of XNA Game Studio 2.0.

Review by Anthony Pecorella

Areas, a new Flash game by Ridiculous, is an abstract arena shmup with no color, no text, no sound effects, no keyboard, and no clicking. What's left? A sublimely addictive game that generates a sense of claustrophobia and paranoia. This feeling of fear and desperation is compounded by a haunting musical piece composed by e-d.

The game features a very creative collection of power-ups and special weapons with some impressive firepower. Even more interesting, these power-ups have additive features, encouraging a lot of creativity from the player as they try to survive. With a non-trivial learning curve and 74 levels, Areas will challenge even the most seasoned gamer for hours.

Name: Areas
Developer: Ridiculous
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

Here is the download link for the new official beta version of Audiosurf, posted by Dylan just a couple of hours ago:

http://media.audio-surf.com/SetupAudiosurf_BetaWeekend2_1.19.08.exe

Caverns of Underkeep is a short roguelike game which will run on any internet browser with Java runtime applet installed. Developed by Joshua Smyth, this release features seven levels, the usual array of character classes and a comprehensive list of equipments to acquire or purchase from the nearby town.

The latest version still has some balance issues to be sorted out, but nothing too serious that a few code fixes can't solve.

Name: Caverns of Underkeep
Developer: Joshua Smyth
Category: Roguelike RPG
Type: Browser

A teaser trailer for Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, the physic-based velociraptor hunting game from Fun-Motion. [source: indiegamer.com]

D.K. has ported Good Luck Natsuki to the GP2X. Almost all of the levels are completely new, and there is a hidden character to be found by clearing all fifty stages and then pressing 'x' 16 times on the title screen.

Name: Good Luck Natsuki
Developer: Alpha Secret Base
Category: Puzzle/Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 21MB
Platform: GP2X Only
Direct Download: Here

According to Rich, Pedro and Ordep's Space Adventure was made to fund the development of Gamma Bros 2. Script was not written by any members of Pixeljam, but the game does feature a couple of minor additions such as a new end level boss.

Name: Pedro and Ordep's Space Adventure
Developer: Pixeljam Games
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

[Hey guys, Simon cross-posting in to point out the official announcement of the IGF Audience Award voting, with 10 games submitting playable demos this time. May the best game win - indie hounds may note that this is the first public version of Audiosurf and Goo, and the guitar-controlled Fret Nice is available in demo version again now.]

Organizers of the 2008 Independent Games Festival (IGF) have launched the IGF Audience Award voting website, allowing game fans everywhere to download, play, and choose a favorite all of the eligible Main Competition finalist indie games which submitted a publicly playable demo.

Online voting is open now and continues through the day of the IGF ceremony, taking place alongside the Game Developers Choice Awards at the 2008 Game Developers Conference February 20th. The games with eligible demos/versions are: Goo!, Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island, Synaesthete, Gumboy Tournament, Iron Dukes, Clean Asia!, Fret Nice, Battleships Forever, Globulos.com, Audiosurf, and Tri-Achnid.

The winner of the Audience Award will be awarded a $2,500 prize, part of the $50,000 total in prizes being given as part of the IGF Main and Student Competitions. Downloads and web-playable versions of eligible Audience Award games are available at the official IGF Audience Award website; the full list of IGF finalists is available at the Independent Games Festival website.

In addition to those available to play via digital download, all finalist games will be playable at the IGF Pavilion, February 20-22, on the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Expo floor. Finalists were chosen from a record 173 entries and represent the growth of the independent games movement with innovative games of excellent quality, across various platforms. GDC, CMP Technology’s annual conference dedicated to the art, science and business of games, takes place Feb. 18-22, 2008 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco.

“The independent game movement is truly about giving everyone a voice, so it is always important to us to echo that sentiment by giving the public their chance to give out an IGF award,” said Matthew Wegner, IGF Content Director.

The IGF was established in 1998 by the CMP Game Group to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers, in the way that the Sundance Film Festival honors the independent film community. Wizards Of the Coast’s Gleemax.com is the 2008 Platinum Sponsor, alongside Microsoft’s XNA division and Sony as the Silver Sponsors, and DigiPen is the Platinum Student Showcase Sponsor.

For more information on the Independent Games Festival and to register for GDC, please visit the official Game Developers Conference website.

Gnome's Lair has a new article up, called 100 Excellent Free Games - featuring a selecting of remakes, mods, IFs and freewares galore to tickle anyone's fancy.

A demo for The Blackwell Convergence is now available for download. The first section of the game is playable, and includes a short tutorial plus voiced dialog.

The full version is scheduled for a release sometime in mid of 2008.

Name: The Blackwell Convergence
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Category: Adventure
Type: Demo
Size: 20MB

Audiosurf is a music game that works with any song you choose. Music that gives you an adrenaline rush are converted into wild roller coaster rides full of color and motion. Tunes that calm you down appear as cool colors against a relaxing sky.

In Audiosurf, you race down a futuristic and colorful highway. The highway, the traffic patterns, and the scenery are all synchronized to the music you have chosen from your own collection. You earn points for clustering together cars of the same color on the highway, and can compete with others on the internet for the high score on your favorite songs. Audiosurf builds a highway for any music CD, MP3, iTunes M4A, WMA, or OGG song you choose, so the experience that you have is totally up to you.

Audiosurf is one of only two games to get finalist status in three IGF categories (Seumas McNally Game Of The Year, Excellence In Audio and Technical Excellence). The winners of each category will be announced at the IGF awards ceremony at GDC, February 20. [Gamasutra interview]

Name: Audiosurf
Developer: Invisible Handlebar
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 60MB
Download: from 2008 IGF Audience Award page

http://media.audio-surf.com/SetupAudiosurf_BetaWeekend2_1.19.08.exe

Dragonforce in the extended.

Goo is a soft body fluid physics game which can only be played using an Xbox360 wired controller. The goal of Goo is to surround enemy goos using your goos. When you surround a piece of enemy goo, you'll assimilate its mass and earn points. Like oil and water, goos don't mix, but they can be pulled and pushed around to surround or cut through each other.

You control a goo via the cursor called a Pilot. This Pilot can move around in 2D by using the left or right analogue stick. Moving the pilot around the Goo slightly perturbs the liquid near it. By pressing the right or left trigger, your Pilot will suck nearby goo, creating a dense patch of goo.

Name: Goo
Developer: PillowFort
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 30MB
Download: Click here
Requirements: Xbox360 controller

2008 IGF Audience Award page

Just a small collection of platformers by Lazrael that will never see the light of day. [Poyo]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their continued support, and also to two special people who helped out with some small changes to the site today. DrPetter sent an image fix for the header, and oranda assisted with adding permalinks to the title of each post.

If you're still having problems with the absence of formatting from the RSS feed, do let me know. We'll also try to provide a more comprehensive site search feature as soon as possible. Thanks!

Beluga Mk II is a brilliant throwback to a simpler era, when nobody cared that playing games and having seizures were synonyms. With a splash screen that proudly advertises "Four Colors System" and "8-bit Color Computer" in red, blue, and yellow, you know you've got a winner.

The list of things you can do in this game is simply huge, and translating all of the instructions out would be crazy. Generally speaking, though, pretty much everything is controlled by the 'z' key, with your attack changing based on where you are, what button you are pushing, and what direction you are moving. For example, pressing down while on the ground and firing will launch some mortar like bombs, holding the fire button before releasing while in the air produces a block-like returning weapon.

Name: Beluga Mk II
Developer: T. Matsushima
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 55K
Direct download link: Click here

You Found the Grappling Hook is a simple rope physics game consisting of ten short levels, featuring music by Aaron Kurtz.

Use the arrow keys to swing your character left and right. You only release the rope when the space key isn't held. The up and down cursor keys can be used to climb or descend. Press the F4 function key to switch between full screen or windowed mode.

Name:You Found the Grappling Hook!
Developer: messhof
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Quantasm is an arena shooter in which the location of your turret is fixed, right in the center of the screen. Enemies appear from all sides of the arena, and you must prevent them from reaching the center or lose a ship.

Hold the left mouse button to shoot, and use the right button to clear the screen of enemies. Latter stages include rotating arenas, a variety of enemies, powerups and damsels to rescue.

Name: Quantasm
Developer: Ovine by Design, Smila
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

Online high score table

An interview with Michal Marcinkowski (pic. left, Soldat) and Sigvatr, developers of the upcoming Link-Dead and Berserker. (Link-Dead FAQ)

Hi guys, let's begin with a short introduction of yourselves.

MM: Hey, I'm Michal Marcinkowski and I make computer games since I can remember. My most known project so far has been the multiplayer mayhem called Soldat. It was first released 5 years ago and it is still growing.

Sig: My name is Eric Vaughn, but I go by the monicker Sigvatr on the internet. I can't really pin down exactly what I do for a living because there are so many different things I do with my time. Generally speaking, I do whatever I want, but in this particular case, I'm working on Berserker and Link-Dead with Michal.

You've recently announced Berserker, which is currently being developed in parallel with Link-Dead. Can you describe both games in your own words, and how is working on two projects simultaneously even possible?

Sig: Link-Dead is about using your brain, while Berserker is about using your anger. For me, making Berserker is a bit of a political thing because the country I live in (Australia) doesn't have an R18+ rating for video games. Any video game that would qualify for such a rating is simply banned immediately. I want to challenge the Australian censorship lobby by releasing an explicitly violent and sexual game for free on the internet because they won't be able to do anything about it.

I want to put my best graphical efforts into Link-Dead, so Berserker has been good practice in the meantime.

MM: Working on these two games is possible because Berserker is like a mod for Link-Dead. It uses the same engine, character animations and physics. This is possible and fairly easy because of my new engine.

Seizuredome is a new remake of Unholy Stage, the arena shooter released by cactus back in 2007. The objective of the game is to stay away the edge of the screen, which can be rather complicated when enemies are attempting to push you off the suspended platform at every opportunity.

Use the cursor keys to move, and hold the left mouse button to shoot. Right click for an alternate firing method, applicable to all weapons available for acquisition from vanquished enemies.

Name: Seizuredome
Developer: cactus
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

High score table

Harpooned is a Cetacean Research Simulator disguised as a vertical shooter, in which you play the role of a Japanese scientist performing research on whales around Antarctica.

Name: Harpooned
Developer: monoRAIL
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

Fishie Fishie is a new release from the creator of Polychromatic Funk Monkey, in which players only require the use of a single button to play. The aim of the game is basically to grab all the fishes in each level to progress, and a checkpoint is placed in every fifth stage.

Hold the space key to turn in one direction, or tap it rapidly to swim forward. An addictive little one-switch effort, though extremely challenging towards the end.

Name: Fishie Fishie
Developer: Farbs
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

In Kyle Gabler's latest release, your objective is to guide a group of robots as they cause destruction to everything that attempts to stand against them. The mission starts out simple enough, but town inhabitants will soon retaliate with armies and helicopters in an attempt to stop the invasion.

There are only two robots to purchase, and the upgrades will max out after a while. Hearts collected can be used to heal your droids as well.

Name: Robot and the Cities that Built Him
Developer: 2DBoy
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Sigma Team has unleashed a new game which is essentially another sequel to Alien Shooter, but with zombies populating the dark corners of each level instead of the usual variety of extraterrestrials. The demo limits your playing time, but cheat do allow players to take the weapons (old and new) for a test run.

For serious AS fans only. [source: Indie Games Group]

Name: Zombie Shooter
Developer: Sigma Team
Category: Action
Type: Demo
Size: 30MB

A general FAQ to answer most of the common questions asked, such as running Game Maker games on Vista, unzipping files with .RAR or .LZH extensions, and also a solution for users with keyboard layouts that do not have the Z, X and C keys next to each other.

The second of the 2007 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com.blog, we're proud to present twenty of the best freeware arcade games released in 2007 - from Chalk through Gesundheit to a host of other neat titles. Here's the rundown:

Best Freeware Arcade Games 2007

  1. Chalk
  2. Trilby: The Art of Theft
  3. Flywrench
  4. Death Worm
  5. Gesundheit
  6. Iwanaga
  7. Pen Pen Xmas Olympics
  8. Frozzd
  9. Garden Gnome Carnage
10. Winter's Heart
11. Swarm Racer
12. dive
13. Cottage of Doom
14. Tekkyuuman
15. Rider V2
16. Colocoro
17. Merry Gear Solid
18. Non-Stop Action Hero
19. Chaffinch Challenge
20. Empyreal Nocturne

The first of the 2007 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com.blog, we're proud to present a countdown of ten of the best freeware games released by cactus in 2007.

IndieGames.com interviewed Cactus, who is a current IGF finalist with Clean Asia!, back in November, and Gamelab.com also recently quizzed him in more detail, particularly commenting on:

"The quirky, unique freeware games made by Swedish developer Cactus - his shooters, adventure games and experimental titles have a visual aesthetic that combines mathematical precision and unruly chaos, and their gameplay is tight, balanced and challenging."

Best Freeware Games by cactus 2007

  1. Akuchizoku
  2. Burn the Trash
  3. Clean Asia
  4. Fractal Fighter
  5. Minubeat
  6. Mondo Medicals, Mondo Agency
  7. MSOIDS
  8. Protoganda: Strings
  9. Silent Chain
10. xWUNG

IndieGames.com's Best of Features special is now up, with two new categories already in place. More will be posted over the coming weeks; expect to see the best of adventure, platformers and shmups indie games released in 2007 soon.

Jesse Venbrux had recently won YoYo Games Winter competition with his entry Frozzd (direct download link), and was richer by USD 1,000 in the process. In this interview, we attempt to find out if it's true that he attends the same school as the students involved in the development of the upcoming Wii release, de Blob (IGF 2006 Student Showcase Winner).

Hi Jesse, let's begin with a little introduction of yourself.

Well, I'm Jesse Venbrux, 20 years old, and a student of Game Design & Development from the Netherlands. I have been making 2D games for a few years now.

Congratulations on your YoYo Games Winter competition win. Has YoYo Games contacted you about the prize yet?

Thanks! Yeah, they asked if a check was ok, haha.

Can you tell us a bit about Frozzd (the winning entry for YoYo Games Winter competition), for those who had not played it yet.

In Frozzd you play as an astronaut, jumping from planet to planet much like in Mario Galaxy. You help free the Mubblies (the cute orange creatures) who follow you and attack enemies. You guide them, make strategic decisions and explore the different levels...

Mr Walter's Grand Excursion is a platformer with simple rope physics, in which you step into the running shoes of a rabbit who cannot jump. Instead, he must use his grappling hook to swing across gaps or reach higher ground. Use the W, A, S and D keys to move. Click on a platform above you to grapple and swing. Left click again to unattach.

Unlock additional suits and costumes by completing achievements. The game was created by the author of the popular Dark Cut series, and consists of eleven levels in total.

Name: Mr Walters Grand Excursion
Developer: jmtb02
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Irritation Stickman is a ragdoll style game with a simple premise: use the mouse to pick up the little stickmen and fling them around each stage, collecting coins, time bonuses, and finally getting them safely to the goal. The red meter next to your mouse cursor indicates how much longer you can hold onto a stickman before you lose your grip and let go.

Name: Irritation Stickman
Developer: DAN-BALL
Category: Arcade
Type: Browser (Java Applet)

Winter Competition Results: YoYo Games have announced the winners for their Winter Competition.

Adventure

Submachine 1: Mateusz Skutnik has redone the interface for the first of his escape series in preparation for the release of chapter 5. [play, walkthrough]

Rückblende: The web site for this IGF Student Showcase Finalist is up. A working download link is also available from the information page.

Nanobots: Erin Robinson's new freeware adventure game will be released on Valentine's Day.

Consoles

Vib Ribbon: The PSOne music game Vib Ribbon could be available from the Playstation Network soon.

N+ Preview: UGO previews Metanet's upcoming XBL release.

Miscellaneous

Saturated Dreamers: The cast for RPGCreations' upcoming game revealed.

Rampant Games Interview: Jay Barnson quizzed by WorldIV.

[Note from Simon: The organizers of the 2008 Independent Games Summit (that would be me, Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink!) have announced the full schedule for the February 2008 GDC event, with several new speakers confirmed and the January 16th early-bird deadline approaching. Here's the info - we promise to return you to your normal indie game recommendation goodness forthwith!]

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 in the last few months.

This year, we're inviting Independent Games Festival Main Competition and Student Showcase finalists to attend the IGS, as well as a pretty formidable speaker line-up from the indie scene and many indie/pro level attendees who are also attending the GDC. The full line-up with times and bios:

[We'll be counting down the top freeware arcade games of 2007 over the next few days - here's the first five entries!]

16. Colocoro

Colocoro is an action game which involves the act of getting a metal ball to touch the blue exit area. Wii controller support is included, though it is still playable using the mouse or keyboard controls.

Press the enter or space key to navigate the main menu. The kicker course requires the use of a plunger to move the ball around, while holding down the mouse button shifts the maze around in rotation course. The same act is required in rolling course, though the ball's speed depends on the length of the line drawn. You can only tilt the maze slightly using the left or right mouse button in Colocoro course, but holding down both will cause the ball to jump.

Features an online high score table.

Name: Colocoro
Developer: inaka
Platform: PC
Size: 1.09 MB

[ CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ]

Centipong is a promising mashup of two great Atari 2600 classics, though the game itself is still in an early development stage. The current release features alternative resolutions and orientations, plus soft use of particles for added effect.

Name: Centipong
Developer: Jayenkai
Category: Arcade
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

A Flash demo for Taito's action/puzzle game EXIT is now available to play using any internet browser.

Click on Mr. ESC, then any accessible location on screen to move the protagonist around. The same method can also be used to interact with objects or use inventory items.

Name: EXIT
Developer: Taito
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Blood Car 2000 is an overhead driving simulator developed by the Cryptic Sea team, featuring music from Kyle Gabler of 2D Boy. There are two game modes to choose from, but the controls might be a little difficult to handle for most.

Name: Blood Car 2000
Developer: Cryptic Sea
Category: Arcade
Type: Browser

ritMika is a short arcade game from the development team responsible for both Menulis and Miestas. Much like Dragon's Lair, there are a couple of action sequences to break the cutscenes, which are basically the highlights of this release.

Name: ritMika
Developer: Teshla and Jurgis
Category: Arcade
Type: Browser

Natsuki Boost 2 is a new mouse based arena shooter from the creators of Fairy Attackers and Good Luck Natsuki. Featuring gameplay somewhat reminiscent of Chalk, you must clear enemies from the screen by knocking them into each other with the left mouse button, and use the right mouse button to keep Natsuki out of harms way.

Hover the cursor over bananas to refill time lost from colliding with enemies. Running Natsuki into an enemy after it has been bounced off of a wall and is stunned will launch a powerful missile attack.

Name: Natsuki Boost 2
Developer: Alpha Secret Base
Type: Freeware
Size: 11.2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Gamelab has published an interview with freeware developer cactus.

"I never pursued the idea of making real video games [...] until I found a tool that proclaimed that you didn't need to write a single line of code to be able to make games with it."

Read the full interview here.

Rooms: The Main Mansion is an updated version of HandMade Games' IGF Student Showcase Finalist, Rooms.

This February 2008 release will feature eighty stages, improved graphics, new items and a level editor to accomodate user creations.

An interview with Matt Verran, one half of the Ooki Bloks development team.

Hi Matt, let's begin with an introduction of yourself, and what you do for a living.

Er well I'm an indie game developer from the UK, been coding games for years but started hermitgames about five years ago. Oh in the real world I work for a games company as a programmer.

And what are you working on now?

Ooki Bloks with Studio Work3, which is an IGF finalist and 3 or 4 other little, probably freeware, projects I need to finish off.

Dead Frontier is an action game which resembles Crimsonland in more than a few ways. The first two chapters are one-room affairs, but the third requires the player to reach the rescue helicopter in under ten minutes to escape. Use the W, A, S and D keys to move your character. Hold the left mouse button to shoot, and press the R key to reload. Tap the space key to switch weapons at any time.

Name: Dead Frontier
Developer: Jagged Blade Software
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Play Night One, Play Night Two, Play Night Three

Tarnation is a short action game consisting of eleven levels, in which players must defend their garden by turning seeds into flowers of different colors to repel bugs coated with tar. Simply draw a rectangle by holding down the left mouse button in any of the three directions to change seeds into flowers. These flowers will hover around bugs of the same color while causing damage, and disappear when there are no enemies to attack.

Created by Brad Merritt, a game designer who works for Cartoon Network.

Name: Tarnation
Developer: Brad Merritt
Category: Arcade
Type: Browser

Psychosomnium is a new freeware platformer by cactus in which players find themselves in a sparse dream world filled with a cast of quirky characters. Use the cursor keys to move, and press the Z key to carry out a specific action when available.

Video walkthrough by Grawl in the extended. (major spoilers)

Name: Psychosomnium
Developer: cactus
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Death Village is the latest game to come out of Nigoro. A little over a year in production, the extra effort really shines through in pretty much every aspect of the game.

Slam doors, open windows, and generally scare Kevin out of each stage while keeping him away from mummies, ghosts and other monsters.

A level editor is also available, which the author encourages everyone to use. All user created levels are available from within the main game and playable by anyone.

(Editor's note: Some people have (correctly) pointed out that an earlier build of this game was posted to Nigoro in the spring. This is the completed version of the game, with network uploading of custom stages and a level editor.)

Name: Death Village
Developer: Nigoro
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Cursor*10 is a puzzler which involves directing the actions of all ten cursors and clicks, one at a time. Events will loop, but it will take at least a couple of tries to figure out a solution for all sixteen floors.

Name: Cursor*10
Developer: nekogames
Category: Action
Type: Browser

"...the game will be nauseating. And hard." [Flywrench]

You play as an unwilling hero in EverEternal WinterWorld, thrown into a quest to stop a villain from inflicting eternal winter upon the lands. The game features an original soundtrack, three different weapons, seven levels, four bosses and hordes of evil enemies.

Try disabling snow via the options menu item if you experience any slow-down.

Name: EverEternal WinterWorld
Developer: SilverNova
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Due out for the Nintendo DS and Wii in spring 2008.

A gameplay video taken from Q-Games' second release, PixelJunk Monsters - previously previewed in a GameSetWatch article.

Tarnadon is a simple rogue-like game in which you wander between several large maps killing monsters and collecting other people to add to your party. Added party members will copy your attacks, but they are very weak and die easily.

Use the Z key to use your boomerang and the X key to fire a powerful magic attack. Magic attacks are limited, but can be replenished by picking up extras along the way.

Name: Tarnadon
Developer: N.I.
Category: Rogue-like
Link: N.I.'s Website
Direct Download: Download

Iron Dukes is basically a collection of three different mini games, repeated with increasing difficulty as your three crew members gain seaworthy skills by equipping an odd array of treasures and loots.

Fights involve shooting at objects flashing red for maximum damage, while diving requires the player to left click on a safe spot shown on the right of the screen as they sink further into the sea in search for treasure chest. Clicking on a skull incurs a health penalty.

This demo features one playable level only. A finalist in the IGF Web Browser category.

Name: Iron Dukes
Developer: One Ton Ghost
Category: Arcade
Type: Browser

An interview with John Bardinelli, the reviews coordinator of JayisGames.

Ok John, let's begin with an introduction of yourself for the readers who are unfamiliar with your journalism activities.

I'm John Bardinelli (JohnB), a freelance writer who stumbled into video game journalism about five years ago. The last few years I've focused on the indie gaming scene (hooray!) as well as online gaming, especially casual Flash games on the main site I work for, JayIsGames. In the past I've worked for several sites, a few of which are now defunct (DS Central, Playgressive), but I also do some indie game writing for Joystiq, which is nice. And of course the odd gaming/geek-related article on my personal blog (http://www.bardinelli.com/) .

"Here’s a month by month guide to the best of 2007 in the world of Remakes. Well, the most notable, anyway." - oddbob

My personal favourites from the list are: Chaffinch Challenge, Zub, Typhoon 2001 and G-Force. But don't take my word for it; the rest are just as good.

The 2007 Retro Remakes Awards