"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