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