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

Horizontal, vertical or hybrid 2D and 3D shooters. Whatever your fancy, you'll find everything here as we unveil another twenty noteworthy shoot 'em ups from last year.

Best Freeware Shoot 'em ups 2007

  1. Varia
  2. MinishoterRS
  3. Garden of Colored Lights
  4. Return to Sector 9
  5. Prototype II
  6. Storm Assault
  7. Arcanacra Black Label
  8. Echoes
  9. Sonic Ironstorm: Fatal Attack
10. Honeyblaster
11. Fraxy
12. XED
13. Exception
14. Axion
15. Genetos
16. Kamiha
17. Gaism
18. Blast Force
19. Dotechin
20. Reincarnation

Stargirl & the Thief from the Exploded Moon is a new platformer by Bernie, developer of Darkside Adventures and Reactor 9. The game features plenty of secrets, hidden items and occasional boss battles as well.

Press the C key to jump, or hold the V key to increase running speed when available. The same button can also be used to grab and throw objects found in all levels. Press the return key to pause at any time.

Name: Stargirl and the Thief from the Exploded Moon
Developer: Bernie
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Two new gameplay videos added to Ookiblok's official web site.

An Untitled Story is a shareware platformer which was recently released as freeware by Matt Thorson, developer of the popular but frustratingly hard Jumper series. The game world is expansive but players with anything less than incredible reflexes would find it difficult to progress very far, since most of the challenges revolve around precision jumps and a knack for perfect timing.

Switching between full screen and windowed mode is only possible once a new profile has been created. Press the space key to bring up a pause menu, then choose the options tab to find this well-hidden feature.

Name: An Untitled Story
Developer: Helix Games
Category: Platformer
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB
Direct download link: Click here

Raider and Repeler is a rather creative take on the shooter genre in which the player doesn't actually do any shooting. Instead, you must intercept the enemies fire and send it back at them. However, unlike other versions of this concept I have seen, you have to intercept ALL of the enemy fire. Any bullets or enemy ships that manage to escape off of the screen will cause your ship damage.

The visuals may not astound, but the game is simply a blast once you get the hang of it. Highly recommended.

(Note, the author's last name might not actually be Shirotama, that's my best guess as to the reading of his last name.)

Name: Raider and Repeler
Developer: Yukito Shirotama
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 8MB
Direct download link: Click here

From Gamasutra: There have been few indie gaming success stories as big as Dwarf Fortress, an ASCII freeware simulation game in which the player helps to establish and govern a colony of dwarves, as they construct a Moria of their own.

The scope of the game defies belief: it contains an extensive world generator, a three-dimensional cellular automata system for simulating fluids, naming languages for all major races, an economics simulation, and even a complete Adventure Mode in which the player can explore abandoned fortresses.

It's so detailed that large web communities have sprung up around the game, both on the developer's forums and Something Awful, where players trade stories about what happened in their games. Some of these stories have even become popular outside the game's community.

Amazingly for a game as rich as Dwarf Fortress, it remains the work of just two people, programmer Tarn "Toady One" Adams and his brother Zach. Tarn supports himself primarily with donations from Dwarf Fortress enthusiasts. In this interview, Tarn talks about the inspiration and origins of the game, and some of the finer points of its construction.

This interview was originally held over a private IRC conversation, and edited into a more traditional interview format.

Interview: The Making Of Dwarf Fortress

In Yaruhara's arena shooter Nanosmiles, players have to collect inactive options scattered around each area and use them to inflict damage on the enemies. Hold the Z key to activate your targeting system. Your weapons will automatically fire at targeted enemies if the same button is held down. Press the X key to make your ship travel quicker.

Note: This new version features sixteen levels, twelve more than the original demo released shortly before Comiket 73.

Name: Nanosmiles
Developer: Yaruhara
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 10MB
Direct download link: Click here

Blast Works (Wii port of Kenta Cho's Tumiki Fighters) will be released on May 1st of 2008. Unlockable goodies include rRootage, Gunroar, Torus Trooper and the original Tumiki Fighters.

Aha, a quick side note to point out a new Gamasutra article by David Marsh, who you may know as the creator of DevBump, but is also a former big-budget and current indie game developer - which is why he's in a good position to write the feature 'Nine Paths To Indie Game Greatness'.

As he postulated in his intro: "Many game studios are crippled by the amount of resources they require to keep operations going. I have seen plenty of companies that operate "contract to contract" with little hope of ever breaking out of the cycle. The studio growth required by the increasingly resource intensive modern crop of games is many times unsustainable. In fact, the problem seems to be getting worse.

According to a report by the BBC, "Back in 1982, the Japanese company Namco produced Pac-Man for $100,000. Now, the average PlayStation 3 title is estimated to cost $15m. Even after adjusting for inflation, that is still a significant rise. While production costs have tripled in recent years with the introduction of next-gen consoles, sales and revenue have hardly changed." [EDITOR'S NOTE: Well, game industry revenue has gone up a tad in aggregate, but we abstractly take the point, the BBC!]

Independent developers usually operate with very limited initial resources. By operating without a loan of resources, they create a development environment for themselves free from outside influences or restrictions. The only obligations they hold are to themselves as developers and the people who play and purchase their games."

In any case, the full feature on Gamasutra lists a number of specific ways indies can innovate and create with less, including 'Procedural Content', 'Avoiding Photorealistic Art Direction', and by "utilizing existing free, cheap, or open technology". All fine points (and sorry I had to use the Little Miss Sunshine graphic again!)

So, the full IGF Awards show will be coming in due course, but in the meantime, the gods at Mega64 have posted up their three specially commissioned IGF skits, and they are really, happily ridiculous.

All three of the videos are rather 'special', but rather than trying to redescribe them, I'll just quote what they said on their official website:

"So as you may have heard, Mega64 once again provided videos for the big awards show at the Game Developers Conference. This year, though, their videos instead focused on the independent games. Was the Mega64 crew indie enough to do the game industry justice! Watch these new videos to find out!

And then finally, watch "Independent Inspirations" to prepare yourself to be an indie winner!"

Ah yes, and one more things from the Mega64-ers - a little vignette, if you will: "My favorite thing about GDC is how every time we go, we seem to have one defining moment that makes us realize, 'Wow, this was totally all worth it.' This year, for me, it was Jason Della Rocca, after winning his Ambassador Award, coming down to tell us that Ralph Baer, the father of modern video games, apparently looked like he was going to have a heart attack during our awards intro video.

Now of course we love Mr. Baer and everything he's done for video games, and would never wish any ill will unto him. But just the fact that we even heard that spoken to us was just a mindblower- How the hell did we get here? I mean, really? (Love you, Ralph)."

Knytt Nano is a small platformer created as an experimental piece by the author of Within a Deep Forest and Knytt Stories. Use the cursor keys for movement, or hold the A key to run quicker. Tap the S key to jump.

The game has a proper ending. (full map)

Name: Knytt Nano
Developer: Nifflas
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

From Wired: "Everyday Shooter creator Jonathan Mak baffled attendees of the Game Designer's Rant when he didn't use his segment of the panel to complain about the state of game design, but rather to play some catchy music and release a number of balloons into the crowd."

Balloons, Not Words From Everyday Shooter Creator
Three Wild Theories About Everyday Shooter Designer's Rant
Jon Mak Makes GDC Real
GDC08 Six things to take from Game Developers Rant Balloons! - Joystiq

Vegetable Soup Tactics is the result of an attempt by Stewart Hogarth and Lyall Bruce to create a physics-based tile matching puzzler in under one day for the Dundee Game Jam meet in Scotland. Similar to Digital Eel's Soup du Jour, players must remove ingredients from the pot by selecting three or more of the same food stuff with each click of the left mouse button.

Use the add vegetable or shake option for extra points.

Name: Vegetable Soup Tactics
Developer: Stewart Hogarth and Lyall Bruce
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

The Behemoth's upcoming console release is set to be released on the XBLA this summer 2008. (trailer in the extended)

Flipside of the Divine is an action game with deep puzzle elements, created by a team of university students for their school project last year. Players guide the onscreen warrior using the keyboard, all the while attempting to reach a portal usually located at the end of each level. Camera view can be controlled by moving the mouse around or scrolling the wheel.

Press the left mouse button to release a bird and flip up to five separate platforms. The game introduces limited resources, enemies, walls, fire, winds and more as you progress through the main campaign.

Name: Flipside of the Divine
Developer: Team Flipside
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 50MB
Direct download link: Click here

Metro.Siberia is a remake of an old classic in which players only need to hold or release one key to control their ship. The game includes three levels with varying difficulty. Press the S key to mute sound, and use the P key to access the pause feature at any time.

Name: Metro.Siberia
Developer: Tommy Salomonsson
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Nick Montfort calls Passage a better game than Portal in an article recently posted on Grand Text Auto. (source: Play This Thing)

Thanks to Cycle for reminding me about this piece as well: Immortal Defense is better than Portal AND Bioshock

PvP: Portal versus Passage
A Lie Worse Than The Cake

From GameSetWatch: A complete set of Mega64 videos shown during the IGF awards ceremony.

More clips in the extended. Videos are also available for download from the Mega64 web site. (may not be safe to watch at work; strong language)

Alan Probe: Amateur Surgeon is a new flash game by Adult Swim. You play the role of a pizza delivery boy who has to undertake an emergency operation to redeem himself for a mistake, then quickly proceeds to make it a new career choice with comical results.

Be prepared to handle numerous inconventional operating instruments as you attempt to carry out life-saving emergency surgeries in a number of awkward situations. The game isn't without it's flaws though, as certain nicks and cuts are extremely difficult to spot in a sea of blood. There are ten patients to treat in the first act.

Name: Alan Probe: Amateur Surgeon
Developer: adult swim
Category: Action
Type: Browser

New set of photos posted on the 2D Boy web site. Text in red refers to an inside joke.

Ultimate Vengance Power 4: The Lemon of Justice is an experimental game submitted by Sophie Houlden for a recent Ludum Dare competition, in which developers must create a playable prototype and post their hastily-made project on the site in less than 48 hours.

Use the cursor keys to move the protagonist around, and grab as many stars as you can for points. Press the Z key to jump, and tap the X key to shoot.

Name: Ultimate Vengeance Power 4: The Lemon of Justice
Developer: Sophie Houlden
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Cubetendo is another Ludum Dare entry made in under two days, with gameplay resembling the Flash puzzler Bloxorz. Players have to color all floor tiles in each level by moving the main block over them one step at a time, though this task is made a little more difficult with the low horizontal camera perspective.

The game can be restarted using the backspace or R key. Press F11 to switch between full screen and windowed mode.

Name: Cubetendo
Developer: mjau
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Tetris: Compromise is a messed up version of Alexey Pajitnov's popular puzzler, in which players have to control pieces on both sides of the playing field with only one set of controls. Use the cursor keys to move each pair of blocks around.

A new variation of an old classic is introduced on Retro Sabotage Games every Thursday.

Name: Tetris: Compromise
Developer: Retro Sabotage Games
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Flatliner is a physics-based action game which comes with a fully-featured level editor. Players can sort through user creations by date or ratings using a simple search filter. In addition to basic save and upload functions, level codes can also be generated as a string of text and numbers for sharing purposes.

There are plenty of vehicles to choose from, and best completion times for each stage can be submitted online as well. Controls are pretty much limited to the cursor keys. Simply collect all coins in a level to activate the exit.

Name: Flatliner
Developer: Tom Thornton
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Game|Life's Chris Kohler, on GDC 2008. (source: GameSetWatch)

GDC Overview (video)
Indies Take the Cake at Game Developers Conference

Petri Purho's winning acceptance speech, now on eBay

Rod Humble's Stars over Half Moon Bay (presented during the Experimental Gameplay Sessions at GDC 2008) is now available for download, public discussion and debates.

GDC 08: Experimental Gameplay Sessions
GDC 08: Nuances of Design

The entire clip can also be downloaded as a 350 MB .wmv file from GameVideos.com. IGF and indie games mentions starts around the thirteenth minute mark, though the show makes a bit more sense when watched from the beginning.

Note: This is an old post, updated with one new video. (source: Gamerscore)

A couple of photos taken during Metanet's N+ launch party were posted on the official site. Raigan and Mare had also updated their development journal on IGN with a list of their favorite platformers and games.

In other news, Kotaku recently published a preview for the upcoming PSP version of N+.

N+ XBLA launch party photos
GameSetWatch press coverage
Freeware recommendations
N+ PSP impressions

Chief XNA architect Chris Satchell explains XNA's community features to G4TV's Adam Sessler. (video demonstrations of JelloCar, Little Gamers and Zauri in the extended)

Seen in video, Andy Yang demonstrates the new GarageGames' service InstantAction (currently in beta test phase). Think Kongregate, but with fully-featured 3D multiplayer games.

Joystiq's InstantAction preview

Skit shown during Microsoft's GDC keynote to promote the new community features for XBLA.

From Gamasutra: Excited about the revelation of XNA's new peer-reviewed community game distribution service for Xbox Live? Following the GDC keynote unveiling, Microsoft's Dax Hawkins goes in-depth on exactly how game submission, review, and posting will work for the Spring beta of the service.

As part of the new sponsored feature, created for Microsoft's Gamasutra-based XNA microsite, Hawkins explains the details for XNA Creators Club members:

"As many have foreseen - and passionately anticipated - the next step for community game development is to let creators share their games widely with others. We are pleased to announce that in spring of this year we will enable community game distribution with a beta for Xbox LIVE.

As a premium (paid) XNA Creators Club member, you'll be able to share your games with other creators via Xbox LIVE Marketplace. (For information on becoming a premium member, see XNA Creators Club Premium Membership.) After the beta, you'll be able to share your games with 10 million Xbox LIVE users.

This article provides general instructions on how to prepare your game for submission. It goes over the guidelines for acceptable content, describes the peer-review system, and shows you how to download and play a community game. Some of the procedures for the beta differ from the general procedures. This article will specify the beta differences."

You can now read the full Gamasutra sponsored feature on the subject, with plenty of details and screenshots on how submission and review will work, possible rejection criteria, and what the approved games will look like on the service.

The winners for the 2008 IGF competition have been announced. The official IGF press release from GameSetWatch in the extended. (winning entries are in bold, more videos arriving very soon)

Student Showcase ($2,500): Synaesthete
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Empyreal Nocturne
Galaxy Scraper
Gesundheit!
Mayhem Intergalactic
Poesysteme
Polarity
Ruckblende
Synaesthete
The Misadventures Of P.B. Winterbottom
Flipside (Half-Life 2 Modification)
Foamzilla (UT2004 Modification)

Technical Excellence ($2,500): World of Goo
World of Goo
Goo!
Audiosurf
Axiom: Overdrive
Gumboy Tournament

Excellence in Visual Art ($2,500): Fez
Clean Asia!
Fez
Hammerfall
Synaesthete
The Path

Design Innovation Award ($2,500): World Of Goo
Battleships Forever
Fez
Fret Nice
Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island
World Of Goo

Excellence in Audio ($2,500): Audiosurf
Cinnamon Beats
Fret Nice
Audiosurf
Clean Asia!
OokiBloks

Best Web Browser Game ($2,500): Iron Dukes
Iron Dukes
Globulos.com
Tri-Achnid

Gleemie Award:
Desktop Tower Defense (winner, $5,000)
Skyrates (first runner-up, $3,000)
Quadradius (second runner-up, $2,000)

Audience Award ($2,500):
Audiosurf (winner)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($20,000): Crayon Physics Deluxe
Audiosurf
Crayon Physics Deluxe
Hammerfall
Noitu Love 2: Devolution
World of Goo

Petri Purho interview (14th February, 2008)
Gamasutra interview
Wikipedia entry

Advice from previous and current IGF winners - Jonathan Mak (Everyday Shooter), Paul Preece (Desktop Tower Defense) and Petri Purho (Crayon Physics Deluxe) discusses game development in this special 1UP article posted just two days ago.

1UP: So You Want To Make A Game

An offline version for this IGF Web Browser Game category winner was recently made available for download; players encountering lag or stutter problems with the browser version of Iron Dukes can grab this file instead, available in both 800 x 600 and 640 x 480 flavors.

This demo features one playable level only.

Iron Dukes download page
Flash Game Pick: Iron Dukes (One Ton Ghost)

More photos in the extended. (source: David Sandberg, Vincent Diamante)

Note: Tons of pictures from the IGF awards ceremony added.

P.B. Winterbottom, Noitu Love 2, World of Goo, Fez

Joakim interviewed by Veronica Belmont

SHOT is a new browser-based puzzler by GameDesign, in which players must push all balls off the edge of the green area save for one to complete each stage. There are certain rules to adhere to, but instructions are simple enough for players to learn in just a matter of seconds.

Each level is randomly generated, so there is very little chance of playing a similar puzzle after each restart. The game ends when time runs out, but you're allowed to undo as many moves as you like before that happens. An online high score table is included.

Name: SHOT
Developer: GameDesign
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Another gameplay video from Fez, winner of IGF's Excellence in Visual Art award.

A couple of games from the much touted XNA user-created games for the Xbox Live Arcade service. (more videos in the extended)

Rough release dates for both Jonathan Blow's Braid and The Behemoth's Castle Crashers were revealed in a recent Microsoft's press release. Braid will be available on the XBLA this spring, while Castle Crashers is due out this summer 2008.

More photos in the extended. (source: The 1UP Show)

cactus, Clean Asia

Dylan Fitterer, Audiosurf

An informal chat with Mateusz Skutnik, developer of Submachine and the Covert Front series.

Hi Mateusz, can you provide us with a little introduction for the benefit of the readers who are unfamiliar with your works.

I'm a flash games architect, most known works include Submachine series, Covert Front and DayMare Town, and I'm also graphic novelist, with ongoing series of Rewolucje, Blaki, and more one shot albums. I live in Poland and here are my graphic novels published, that's a reason why you probably associate me more with online games, than comics.

Which do you prefer to be associated with, if you had to make a choice? Your art, or your games?

Hard to tell, if you'd ask me that question before the Submachine outbreak I'd say by my comics, but now... They're equal let's say. Besides I do manage to fit my art into the games as well, so it's like the same story, just different medium.

From Gamasutra: At its GDC 2008 keynote, Microsoft announced the full range of peer-reviewed community features coming for amateur-made XNA games and a new XNA game player for its media player Zune.

To fully illustrate where Microsoft wants to take the community orientation, Chris Satchell officially revealed Xbox Live: Community Games, its service it says will put "power in the hands of the community." Split into four distinct stages -- create, submit, review, play -- the service will be community managed, and will be restricted by Microsoft only for IP conflicts and otherwise "massively objectionable" content.

For the submission stage, developers will create a "creator identity," similar to the standard gamer identity that tracks achievements and reputation. The creator identity too will help developers build a reputation and a history of games developed. When a game is submitted, the creator is expected to accurately rate the game on a sliding scale, with "blood, injuries, hostility, and cruelty" categories shown as an example.

From Gamasutra: A gigantic panel of independent developers - including Noel Llopis (Powerof2Games), Jacob Van Wingen (Gastronaut Studios), Jamie Cheng (Klei Entertainment), Jon Mak (Queasy Games), and Ryan Clark (Grubby Games)

Starting off, Klei Entertainment's Jamie Cheng (Eets: Chowdown) revealed that he's working with Nexon to make a free-to-play, pay for items title - but only with 5 or 6 employees.

He pointed out of the indie scene:"The opportunities that have come around have made us kind of come full circle" - from bedroom programmers in the '80s back to simple bedroom programmers. He suggested indie developers can, if they choose, make mass-market games that aren't quirky.

Following on, Noel Llopis of Power Of Two Games tried defining the independent genre: "Indie games are like porn... you know it when you see it", he quipped at one point.

More photos in the extended. (Ookibloks interview)

Ookibloks booth

Blackwell Series Developer to Produce Adventure Game for Playfirst: PlayFirst, Inc., the leading publisher focused exclusively on casual games, today announced a publishing deal with Wadjet Eye Games, an independent game developer that was nominated for "Best New Studio" at the 2007 Game Developer's Conference. Under the terms of the agreement, Wadjet Eye will develop a new casual adventure title to be published by PlayFirst.

PlayFirst will fund Wadjet Eye's game development and take the lead over the sales and marketing of the game, allowing Wadjet Eye to focus on game development.

Press Release

A new gameplay video of Fez, nominated for IGF's Design Innovation Award and Excellence in Visual Arts.

Arthouse Games interviews Fez designer, Phil Fish
Arthouse Games' Fez preview

From Gamasutra: In an Independent Games Summit talk on Tuesday, Metanet's Mare Sheppard and Slick Entertainment's Nick Waanders discussed the making of N+ for Xbox Live Arcade, debuting on XBLA tomorrow, taking a great in-depth nuts and bolts view of making a downloadable console game, and estimating a $125,000 minimum cost to make an Xbox Live Arcade game.

Starting out, Sheppard commented from a console starting-point: "A well-developed prototype is worth its weight in gold." She also noted it was important to prove to your distributor the game could work, commenting: "Microsoft was [initially] concerned that they wouldn't translate to HD in a very... exciting manner" - but an HD demo version convinced them otherwise.

More photos in the extended. (Konjak interview)

Joakim (IGF finalist Noitu Love 2), inside GDC

A superb three part tutorial by Richard Grillotti of Pixeljam Games, in which Photoshop users are given the rare chance to be schooled in the Way of the Pixel. (part three coming soon)

Creating Pixel Art with Photoshop, Part 1
Creating Pixel Art with Photoshop, Part 2

A gameplay video taken from Q-Games' upcoming release, PixelJunk Eden.

From Gamasutra (excerpt): In the final Independent Games Summit lecture of Monday, Japan-based Q Games' Dylan Cuthbert discussed the PixelJunk series for the PS3's PlayStation Network, some of the only true 'indie' titles not funded by Sony on the service.

He revealed the four games in the series - PixelJunk Racers, PixelJunk Monsters, both already released - and coming soon, and confirmed for the first time - PixelJunk Eden and PixelJunk Dungeons.

In this PC adaptation of Games Workshop's popular board game, players take control of a Space Marines squad by issuing battle commands to counter the threat posed by Genestealers, a dangerous alien race bent on preventing your soldiers from completion their given mission.

This Space Hulk project was created using the Allegro Gaming Library, and should run on both XP and Vista operating systems. Edit the resolution.sh file value from 1 to 2 for a larger game window. This temporary workaround is only applicable for desktops with high resolution, so if the program crashes then change this number back to 1 to get it working again.

Name: Space Hulk
Developers: Niklas Åstrand and Jörgen Nilsson
Category: Strategy
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB
Direct download link: Click here

From Gamasutra: "Wizards of the Coast revealed its plans today to publish two new games based on its popular collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering. The two titles will supplement Magic: The Gathering Online, an online edition of the franchise which already boasts over 350,000 active accounts.

UK studio Stainless Games has partnered with Wizards of the Coast to develop one of the games for the PC and XBOX Live Arcade. Mind Control Software will also work with the publisher on another Magic: The Gathering title for the PC and Mac."

With extensive experience in development of turn-based strategy games such as Oasis and Stomping Grounds, a partnership with Wizards of the Coast can only mean good tidings for past IGF winner Mind Control Software.

WotC are also awarding three of the seven selected IGF finalists cash prizes to the sum of $10,000 in total (with an opportunity to sign distribution agreements worth at least $50,000) for the Gleemie Awards as well.

Mind Control Software Press Release

2D Boy's Ron Carmel was recently interviewed by Wii Fanboy. In the article, Ron has revealed that the Wii port will have cooperative multi-player mode (unlike the PC version), while it's release date is set to be announced during GDC.

Interview: World of Goo's Ron Carmel

From Gamasutra: The Flash games panel at the Independent Games Summit on GDC at Monday showed an interesting dichotomy of different approaches to making money from Web browser-based games - though it's clear that the monetization angle is still being explored.

The panelists for the session were Chris Hughes (FlashGameLicense.com), Chris Pasley (Kongregate), Joseph Lieberman (Arcadetown), Josh Williams (GarageGames/InstantAction), and they discussed the state of the Flash game business in terms of both real and potential revenue.

The state of the industry right now is that sponsorship and in-game ads can help fund already-developed titles - if only in a minor way. For developers, ArcadeTown.com pay out $500 to $6,000 per game up front for use on their Flash game portal sites - and it's a non-exclusive deal.

For FlashGameLicense.com, one-off sponsor licenses could range up to $10,000 to $20,000 at the absolute maximum, with more smaller non-exclusive deals possible.

Overall, it's suggested that it's difficult to find an audience if you put your own game on your own site - and there are a lot of distribution channels for developers through external websites, so it's possible to make good money as a hobbyist, but it's not yet clear you can completely make a living making Flash games and then

New technology and the lure of the Web is a particular theme - with Kongregate experimenting with 'Premium' games that they are funding to the tune of $50,000 to $100,000, including multiplayer elements and microtransactions.

InstantAction indicated that its funding for its 3D browser plugin titles can run anything from $250,000 to $1 million, and may be funded through microtransactions or even subscriptions.

GarageGames is using a plugin on InstantAction.com that has a single, 'download-once' plugin that will allow any engine to run through it - from Flash through Torque Engine even all the way to Unreal Engine, which GarageGames is testing using in web browsers.

In fact, GarageGames' Williams ended the panel on an optimistic note: "GDC 2013 will be mostly web games."

IGS: The State Of Flash Games (source article)

From Gamasutra: In an afternoon Independent Games Summit talk, Metanet's Raigan Burns (N+) discussed creativity and the making of unique technology to make unique gameplay, starting out by admitting: "We don't like programming... but it really is the only way to do some things."

Burns compared the evolution of using 'unique knobs' in indie games to the evolution of the Beatles from the buttoned-down George Martin years to the odd and more flowing experiments later in the group's life. He suggested that home made technology is less powerful and less reusable, but is quirkier and has more 'flava'.

In other words, the Canadian game creator suggested, even though some games have unique technology, very few of those games have technology that is the core of the game.

From Gamasutra: In a well-received Independent Games Summit lecture, Derek Yu and Alec Holowka from Bit-Blot discussed Aquaria, the IGF Grand Prize winner from last year, presenting a postmortem of their critically acclaimed 2D underwater action title.

They discussed the early days of the company, making the I'm OK parody game about Jack Thompson, and actually started off with a game called Eminent Kingdoms, which they demonstrated in prototype form at the IGS, and which "...randomly generated a new Final Fantasy every time you play the game."

Cat's out of the proverbial bag: N+ will be available for download this Wednesday, February 20th, at 9am PST to be exact. 450 stages, new graphics, a level editor, plus online cooperative and competitive multiplayer for only 800 points. There's the free version if you haven't tried that out and still need a little more convincing before parting with your precious MS points. (Gamasutra article)

metablog announcement

Destructoid's Anthony Burch finally mentions Pixel's masterpiece on his regular weekly column, Indie Nation - in which the author of the article calls Cave Story 'the perfect game'. Deserving?

Indie Nation no. 6: Cave Story

Matt Thorson has announced that his first shareware game, An Untitled Story, will be released as freeware in the coming weeks. Several screenshots from his new project (Flail, due out soon) were also posted in his development journal over at EO.

An email interview of Jonathan Blow conducted by Jeff Lindsay a few weeks ago can be found on GameHelper's web site.

In it, the developer of Braid discusses about his decision to release the latest project on the XBLA platform, marketing an indie game, innovation in game design, some of his favorite indie games, and more.

If you're at GDC, don't miss out on the Experimental Gameplay Workshop and Nuances of Design (22nd February, Friday) - a session in which audiences are given the chance to play the games while allowing presenters to guide them through the experience. (source: Braid's official site)

Jonathan Blow interview

From Gamasutra:

"Comcast's G4 has announced it will present 5 days of exclusive coverage of the 2008 Game Developers Conference, including the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards via its video game program X-Play.

The coverage, broadcast nightly at its regularly schedule 8 pm ET/PT slot, will also have coverage of GDC's keynotes, and will culminate in an Awards Night special featuring the IGF and Choice Awards, to be broadcast shortly following the end of GDC." As part of this, they've released the above and below videos from X-Play (click play to check them out!)

Mr. Chubigans has made an announcement for Sandbox of God 2: Ancient Warfare, which will be produced in collaboration with FredFredrickson of Reflect Games and scheduled for a release before the end of April 2008.

This freeware project will be submitted as an entry for YoYo Games' Ancient Civilization competition. Meanwhile, Vertigo Games' follow-up project to Shellblast was also revealed as Spirits of Metropolis, due out in June 2008.

A contest sponsored by Jennifer Ann's Group, in which participants (according to the original Kotaku article) must create a Flash game about teen dating violence prevention and to do so without violent content or a violent theme.

Grand prize winner is to be rewarded with USD 1,000. Judges include Kotaku's Brian Crescente, IGF's Simon Carless, MTV News' Stephen Totilo, and Persuasive Games' Dr. Ian Bogost.

The contest closes in two months' time from now (15th of April 2008), with the results to be announced just two weeks later. Only U.S. citizens are allowed to enter.

If you need some help with Flash to start off with, do check out Andrew Wooldridge's recommendation of twenty free tutorials for creating your own Flash games.

Life Love Game Design Challenge

Hey look, Jonathan Söderström interviewed by the good folks at Gamasutra.

Clean Asia is an IGF finalist, so if you're at GDC then you'll have a chance to meet up with him as well.

There is also a special announcement on his site. Here is an excerpt from that post:

"No new games this time, but I've got some cool news. Me and VilleK of Z Game Editor has decided to try our hands at a joint effort to start up a business as independent game developers. This has been under the works for the past few months and we've got some things in the works, but for now they'll remain secret a bit longer.

Some of you will be glad to hear that this will eventually lead to games not made in Game Maker. Which amongst other things could mean creations that will be playable on Mac and Linux.

Feel free to bookmark our site lofiminds.com for further updates. Not much there right now, but we'll try to post updates frequently once I return from GDC/IGF."

Jonathan Söderström interview

Ron and Kyle are sending out playable preview copies for World of Goo to anyone who preorders their first release. This offer will be valid for the next few days as well, just in case anyone needs some time to think about the purchase. If you're not going to GDC this year then 2D Boy's debut game (USD 20.00) and Audiosurf (USD 9.95) are two excellent choices as cures for that particular hangover.

The preview copy has more than ten levels to play, and casual players will take at least a couple of hours to complete all. Experts might spend days or even weeks trying to best their own scores, which can then be submitted online.

Bonesaw is now out, and it seriously rocks some serious awesome. Like, seriously.

You play as the last remaining member of the Golden Knights hockey team, after the mysterious Ref M- removed the rest of the team to an inter-dimensional penalty box. Find your teammates and pummel the "sluzers" who try to take you down along the way. Defeat enough of them and release the power of the almighty mighty bonesaw.

Part Kirby, part Super Mario World, a lot of Mega Man sound effects and an original soundtrack combine to make one of the better freeware games I've played lately. Highly recommended.

Name: Bonesaw
Developer: Kyle Pulver
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 59MB
Direct download link: Click here

An informal chat with Petri Purho, the developer of Crayon Physics Deluxe.

Hi Petri, how about a little introduction for the readers before we begin with the questions?

Well, I'm Mr. Purho and I'm probably the best known for being the guy behind Crayon Physics. Also I've made couple of other lesser known and more sucky games, which I've published on my blog: Kloonigames.

Do you keep count of how many experimental games you've released so far? Any favorites besides Crayon Physics?

I think there are now 17 games (I'm not sure), and there have been a number of favorites besides Crayon Physics. I seriously like SM Word a lot, but apparently I'm the only one :) Pluto Strikes Back is probably my other favorite and Amazing Flying Brothers is quite fun also. And I really kick myself in the head every once in while for making Daydreaming in the Oval Office.

[Cross-posted from GameSetWatch, originally by simonc: Just how rampant is piracy in PC casual gaming? In a startling instalment of his regular Gamasutra column, Reflexive's director of marketing Russell Carroll (Wik, Ricochet) reveals the 92% piracy rate for one of his company's games, and what worked (and didn't work) when they tried to fix it.]

“It looks like around 92% of the people playing the full version of [the pictured] Ricochet Infinity pirated it.” It’s moments like those that make people in the industry stop dead in their tracks.

92% is a huge number and though we were only measuring people who had gotten the game from Reflexive and gone online with it, it seemed improbable that those who acquired the game elsewhere or didn’t go online were any more likely to have purchased it. As we sat and pondered the financial implications of such piracy, it was hard to get past the magnitude of the number itself: 92%.

In the casual games space, where the majority of the industry is tied to an internet-distributed product, piracy is a common problem. Search for any casual game through Google, add the word ‘crack’, and the search engine will help you find and illegally acquire every casual game you can imagine.

One way to fight the search-engine facilitated piracy is to work to remove the ever-expanding number of links to illegal copies, but in many cases improving the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system to be more secure can be more effective as it renders a large number of those links obsolete. This is tricky to be sure, because improving the security must be done without making the DRM so onerous that it keeps honest customers from purchasing games.

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

Gems of the yesteryear rebooted, reimagined or simply touched up for a new generation of gamers to enjoy. Indiegames.com steps into the time machine to bring these classics back to live, as we recap some of the best freeware remakes for your reading pleasure.

Best Freeware Remakes 2007

  1. Wizball
  2. Zub
  3. Space Cabbage
  4. Phoenix
  5. Millenipede
  6. Patrol Falcon
  7. Super Obliteration
  8. The Nameless
  9. Driller
10. IO
11. Doppelganger
12. Aetherzap
13. Return to Wor
14. Battle City X
15. Galaxian 2007
16. Dragonfire
17. Metro4K
18. Marippy
19. Excit
20. Pipeful Sunday

[Cross-posted from GameSetWatch, originally by simonc: 'In order for us to run the Independent Games Festival every year, sponsors have to step forward to help us out, and this year's Platinum Sponsor is Wizards Of The Coast - who you might know from Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, but are getting into digital games in a major way.

Here's their announcement of their own sponsor-backed awards to be given out next week at the ceremony during GDC. Quite apart from the extra money/prizes for worthy indies, it's particularly neat to see they've picked both IGF entrants and finalists to contend for their own Gleemie Award. Here's the press release.']

"In a world of stagnating digital strategy gameplay, Gleemax™, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.’s (NYSE: HAS) community for gamers, consisting of social networking, online gaming and game related content, today announced the finalists for The Gleemax Award for Strategic Gameplay (“The Gleemie”).

Prizes will be awarded to those representing creativity in innovative strategic game design at the 10th Annual IGF Awards Ceremony on February 20, at CMP’s Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, the world’s largest industry-only event dedicated to the advancement of interactive entertainment, takes place February 18-22 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center.

You can now pre-order Invisible Handlebar's Audiosurf on Steam for $9.95 (there is a 10% discount for pre-orders). The game will be released on the 15th of February 2008, while a demo will be posted up on the same day. The official web site was also relaunched with a new look to celebrate the announcement.

This download contains the extra bonus of Valve's The Orange Box soundtrack to play with, which includes Portal's "Still Alive" song. (Gamasutra article)

A release date (before March 31st, 2008) has been attached to the sequel of the popular ragdoll physics game. The developers (Secret Exit) are keeping their cards close to their chests but promises to reveal screenshots from their upcoming shareware game soon.

Some of the details posted about Stair Dismount 2:

- The game will have improved graphics
- Face support(!)
- Multiple Dismount scenarios
- Online leaderboards

More details in this post.

The sequel to last year's Sydney Finds Employment, Sydney Treads the Catwalk is a new AGS adventure game by pixel artist extraordinaire Ivan Dixon. Eccentric humor is once again the main focus of this title, though the author has taken heed much of the feedback received by it's predecessor and implemented them into this release to please fans of the genre.

The point and click interface from early Sierra releases is used here, so players who are familiar with those classics should feel right at home. Left click to interact with an object, or right click to cycle through all available actions. Move the cursor towards the top of the screen to access the inventory. (this game is not suitable for children)

Name: Sydney Treads the Catwalk
Developer: Ivan Dixon
Category: Adventure
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB
Direct download link: Click here
Walkthrough: Available

shooot 2: revenge of square is a new arena shooter from the prolific tonypa, in which scarce instructions are provided to players though the game itself isn't too hard to figure out with a little thought or assistance.

Your square can only shoot periodically from certain edges, and the shape itself rotates in one direction at all times. The only action controllable by the player is the rotation speed and movement. Press the left mouse button to pause. Collect small dots for powerups, and destroy coloured circles to advance in level.

There are some surprises and even boss battles to reward perseverance. An online high score table is included.

Name: Shooot 2
Developer: tonypa
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

Continuing our pursuit for some of the worst games on the net, we present to you: Sh*t Game, a short platformer created by the developer of Space Barnacle and Standard Bits. Use the arrow keys to move, or press the left shift key to jump.

An ending is included, though gameplay mechanics are indescribable as they are not governed by standard platforming design rules.

Name: shit game
Developer: Mark Johns
Category: Platform
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

Interviews

IGF 2008: GameDev.net interviews half of the finalists in the first of their two special articles.

Lila Dreams: Wired chats with the developer of Kongregate's upcoming MMO game.

Oddbob: Robert D. Fearon questioned about his involvement with Retro Remakes, and also games development in general.

Updates

Irritation Stickman: DAN-BALL's physics-based platformer updated with one new world.

Blood Car 2000 Deluxe: An offline version of Cryptic Sea's driving simulator is now available for download.

Macintosh

Neon Tango: A new glowy vector arena shooter from Freeverse; trailer available from information page. (4Gamer.net review)

Previews

Card Sagas Wars: Third trailer for this MUGEN fan game posted. (web site)

Saturated Dreamers: New screenshot from RPGCreations' upcoming exploration game posted. (Wiki entry)

Press

Indie Nation: Destructoid is running a semi-regular column on indie games, currently up to it's fifth edition.

Free Gaming Review: Six more freeware game recommendations offered in TechConnect Magazine's special feature.

Miscellaneous

Shift 2: A sequel to the popular Flash platformer is in the works.

DrilNES: Joshua Jersild's NES emulator updated. (development journal)

Mother 3 Fan Translation: Follow the progress of this fan project here.

Barkley Jam Gaiden: FAQ for the parody b-ball RPG now available.

qrp is a small GM project from the creator of Battleships Forever, an IGF finalist competing in the Design Innovation Award category. Possibly inspired by Rod Humble's The Marriage or Jason Rohrer's Passage.

The game has more keys to use than what is originally stated in the included text file.

Name: Qrp
Developer: Sean Chan
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Panchira is a short Flash game by Yoshio Ishii in which mouse gestures are used to complete each of the three stages on offer. The game sports some content intended for mature audiences, but the material on show in this effort is mild and comparable to one of the puzzles found in Hoshi Saga 2.

Name: Panchira
Developer: Nekogames
Category: Action
Type: Browser

The sixth of the 2007 Best Of Features here on the IndieGames.com.blog, we're proud to present ten more notable Flash and freeware games released in 2007.

Best Freeware Games (Others) 2007

  1. Rose and Camellia
  2. Ratmaze 2
  3. Too Many Ninjas
  4. Streets of Rage Remake
  5. Dot Fighters
  6. Crayon Physics
  7. Hammerfall
  8. Toribash
  9. Sumotori Dreams
10. Coaster Rider

Treasure Seas Inc is a treasure hunt adventure game which involves navigating a sub in treacherous depths of the vast sea to search for chests, seaweeds, and even underwater cavern maps. Press the space key to launch the sub, and use the A key to grab an object. Your progress can be saved at Mermaid's Bay, in Maka Koa Route.

Additional plating. oxygen capsules, floodlights and battery packs can be purchased from towns or village stops. Instructions are readily available to peruse at any time, making the game easily accessible even though the process of scavenging for loot does sound complicated at first.

Name: Treasure Seas Incorporated
Developer: Felix Wiesner
Category: Action
Type: Browser

View Scores

Electrical Bird is very pretty 3D arena shooter in which you must destroy and dodge an ever increasing amount of enemies until you have met each level's kill quota.

A warning to those who get queasy easily, there is a LOT of spinning in this game.

Name: Electrical Bird
Developer: TUREZURE
Category: Arena Shooter
Size: 10.1MB
Direct download link: Click here

You Found the Grappling Hook: Messhof's platformer updated with a new gameplay mode, two bonus items and an online high score table.

Shotgun Ninja: cactus' latest platformer updated with two new enemies.

Blast Miner: Cryptic Sea's action puzzler now available on GameTap as a free download. (installation instructions)

Penumbra - Black Plague: Demo for the final chapter of Frictional Games' horror FPS is now available for download. (source: RPS)

Gravortex is a short platformer by Beau Blyth consisting of twenty levels, an obvious nod to Valve's Portal with it's mix of puzzle elements requiring the use of gravity vortexes to solve.

Left click to place an entry portal, then right click to place an exit vortex. Press the space key to reset portal placements. Use the W, A, S and D keys for character movement.

Name: Gravortex
Developer: Teknogames
Category: Platform
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here

Arrange Numbers is perhaps the most brutally honest name for a game I have ever seen. You take the numbers, and you arrange them. That's it. And it's addicting as heck, almost as bad as Chain Factor (although sadly much shorter).

You clear blocks (and the numbers within them) by filling all connected blocks of the same color with the same number. Clicking on any number will allow you to drag it horizontally and vertically, but it will also drag all other numbers in that row or column. Be careful, because if you get too many of the same border color touching each other, it will be impossible to clear them due to a lack of any single number.

The game is over when there are no more possible moves.

Name: Arrange Numbers
Developer: Taddi
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Platform: Windows
Direct download link: Click here

In SKT's new flash game Samurai Movers (Hikkoshi Bugyo), players have to use the catapult to fling objects in an attempt to place them at the marked locations inside the elder's house.

Left click once to start the catapult swing, then click again to release the object. If the trajectory is correct, the furniture will land right inside the building at the right spot, else the entire house could come crashing down when the angle if off by even a few degrees.

Name: Samurai Movers
Developer: Takahiro Miyazawa
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

10 Gnomes is a short hidden object game in which players are given ten minutes to discover the location of each gnome, some cleverly hidden in small nooks and crannies found only by hovering the mouse cursor over them to reveal clickable spots.

Name: 10 Gnomes
Developer: Mateusz Skutnik
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Nigoro: A teaser for GR3 Project's new flash game was posted on their development journal.

Braid: Another lecture presented at the Nordic Game Jam is now available as a MP3 download from J. Blow's site.

Press

Eurogamer: Kieron Gillen briefly reviews all of the IGF finalists. (source: GameSetWatch)

MTV News: A couple of indie games (N+, de Blob and Braid) mentioned in Multiplayer's Top 10 Under the Radar Games in 2008 article. (source: GameSetWatch)

Interviews

Goo Interview: Gamasutra gives Pillowfort Games' Tommy Refenes the third degree.

Bit Blot: Curiosoft interviews Alec Holowka. (more interviews)

Releases

Kloonigames: Petri releases a new shmup.

AtomHex: Mark Incitti's upcoming arena shooter will be released this year. The new Tempest remake is a recent addition to his site. (AtomHex preview)

Space Hulk: The Allegro remake of this classic board game will be released in the first half of February.

Miscellaneous

Katakijin: Updated version for this GM hack and slash platformer now available for download.

PD Roms Coding Compo: A four color competition which started last week, and ends on March 2nd 2008.

Tormishire: New trailer for James Whitehead's upcoming platformer posted.

70 Gametap Free Games: A list of ad-supported free games offered on GameTap, supplied again by GameSetWatch.

Toribash was recently updated to version 3.1; changes include the usual bugfixes and increased FPS performance.

Toribash 3.1 released

Game Giveaway of the Day currently has Realore Studios' Mad Cars up for free download, and according to the Retro Remakes gang it's a decent game - especially if you're a fan of the original SuperCars series. The offer is still valid for another eight hours.

Download Mad Cars

Murder Mystery: The Crown Jewels is a short but rather suggestive point and click adventure game which involves questioning a number of suspects as you attempt to solve a crime committed by one of the king's castle staffs.

Name: Murder Mystery: The Crown Jewels
Developer: Maven Design
Category: Adventure
Type: Browser
Walkthough: Available

Martin Wisniowski of Digital Tools recently sat down to have a chat with prolific developer/superstar Jonathan Söderström, in which they talk about Clean Asia's development process and some of his favorite games that ended up as inspirations for his works.

Digital Tools Interviews Cactus
Gamelab Interview

In the vertical shooter Uwabami Breakers, the character you control is a female drunk who gains power by destroying alcoholic drinks or substances (I'm not kidding). You must fill your alcohol content gauge as shown on the right before closing time, which is indicated on the left side of the screen. Avoid getting hit as the colliding with enemy bullets will cause time to pass quicker.

Use the C key for rapid fire, or tap the Z key quickly for the same effect. Hold the Z or X key to activate your special attack. The left shift key can be used to reduce your character's movement speed, which can be handy when players are doing their best to dodge bullets. A boss will appear and attempt to kick you out of their establishment when you're drunk enough. Score is indicated by the food bill you're running when drying and emptying the eatery of its refreshments.

May require the installation of Windows' East Asian language pack to work properly. ZUN's well-known drinking problems may have inspired the creation of this game.

Name: Uwabami Breakers
Developer: Nonbekai
Category: Shooter
Type: Demo
Size: 160MB
Direct download link: Click here

Coil is a new abstract Flash release by the Cryptic Sea development team, featuring art by Edmund McMillen. The entire game is controlled by using mouse gestures, for example moving the cursor counterclockwise repeatedly starts a new game or skips a message shown on screen.

Essentially a collection of mini games strung together with an obscure plot, players would have to figure out the objective of each stage as they attempt to find the solution required to progress.

Name: Coil
Developer: Cryptic Sea
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Shift is a platformer with puzzle elements based on the idea of shifting dimensions, not unlike one of Nitrome's controversial release from last year. Use the cursor keys to move your character, and press the space key to jump. The left shift key can be used to switch positions.

The game is rather short, but an online high score table which tracks players with the quickest completion time has been included to increase replayability by a small measure.

Name: Shift
Developer: Antony Lavelle
Category: Platform
Type: Browser

The theme for the second YoYo Games competition was announced today, and entrants are given roughly three months to develop and submit their works for a chance to win up to USD $1,000. ($500 and $250 for runner-ups).

The challenge is to incorporate elements of Ancient Civilizations into your Game Maker creation for eligibility in participation. The competition theme is described as follows:

Ancient Civilization - Not just the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians, but also the Mayans, Aztecs, Vikings, and Celts (to name but a few). So many lands, empires, city states, peoples, cultures, beliefs, and symbols.

Final submission date is 27th April 2008.

YoYo Games announcement
Competition details

Kermix is a decent Flash puzzler which involves shifting blocks to and fro using the cursor keys, all the while collecting coins and stars to pass each of the twenty-five levels in succession.

The objective of the game is to move all red blocks into the positions marked green, though latter stages are made much more difficult when players are required to move two or three blocks at the same time with every key press.

Name: Kermix
Developer: Cuatic Games
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Also playable at Kongregate