Debrysis is a Geometry Wars-style arena shooter which uses a combination of both keyboard and mouse for controls. The handy radar indicates the position of all enemies and power-ups on field which are out of your view, shown as red and blue arrows on screen. Your best score and weapon of choice can be submitted online after the end of each game.

Name: Debrysis
Developer: OUEO factory
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Online high score table

Beltality is a simple one switch game with two gameplay modes, a window resize option and online high score tables. Depending on which mode is selected, your objective is either to stop people from passing through or assemble as many robots as you can without destroying them in the process. Power-up effects are acquired by allowing the alphabets to continue towards the other end of the screen safely.

Name: Beltality
Developer: OUEO factory
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 1MB
Direct download link: Click here

Online high score table

Evolution Shmup is Petri's experimental attempt at creating the perfect vertical shooter by tracking the amount of time that a player spends on each random iteration of a new game. Every refresh creates a different result, using elements from versions of Evolution Shmup which players have spent the most time on.

[This game is one of the entries into TIGSource's Procedural Generation contest.]

Name: Evolution Shmup
Developer: Petri Purho
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

The objective of Putty Puzzle is to shift the correct coloured blocks and rest them on marked areas in each screen, achieved by breaking up and merging blobs of putty piece by piece. Use the R key to restart and press the escape key to access the main menu at any time.

The current build consists of only six playable stages in total, and requires a Java-enabled browser to run. (screenshots)

Name: Putty Puzzle
Developer: Kevin Glass
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser

Crazy Bound 2 by CraftM is a 2D action game in the style of Within a Deep Forest, in which players have to guide a bouncing object past obstacles and dangers placed haphazardly in the underground caverns. Use the up and down arrow key to view other sections of the map, and hold the space key to center the view at all times. Wall jumps should be mastered in order to progress past the second stage. Hold the cursor key in the direction opposite of a wall to jump off it, and repeat the process in a small opening to scale upwards any surface. Red platforms will turn into the last tile you're in contact with.

Name: Crazy Bound 2
Developer: CraftM
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB
Direct download link: Click here

Police Brutality: New game posted in Jason Rohrer's monthly column. (source: Lithium Leaf)

Morning's Wrath: Ethereal Darkness' isometric RPG now available as a free download from GameTap.

thatgamecompany: Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen listed in Variety's "Ten Innovators to Watch Out For" feature. (article)

Danmaku Gata: Reasons behind the closure of shooter fans' number one news site translated. (source: the2bears)

Knytt Stories: Nifflas' latest 2D platformer mentioned in the local papers.

Atomhex: A review of Mark Incitti's new arena shooter.

Two-Digit Addition: GameDesign's latest release.

Jonathan Mak's Everyday Shooter (Windows version) is now available on Steam for only $8.99, though the game will retail at $9.99 after one week. Keyboard controls are supported, but players can use a gamepad or an Xbox 360 controller as well.

For Vista users: If Everyday Shooter runs without sound, try enabling XP SP2 compatibility mode to solve the problem. Switch to 32 bit colour to make the game run faster. (gameplay videos in the extended, source: Queasy Games)

Everyday Shooter on Steam

What follows is an informal chat with darthlupi, a respected indie developer in the Game Maker build your own game community - with releases such as Raging Skies, The Cleaner, Airdoo and Winter's Heart under his belt.

He also finished first in the Retro Remakes Competition (2004 edition) with his entry, Legend of Shadow - we talk to him about his releases and thoughts on the indie scene.

Hi lupi, can you introduce yourself for the benefit of our readers?

Sure. My name is Robert Lupinek. I've been making freeware video games for the last 4 or 5 years for the pure pleasure of it.

Hmmm, I like to drink dark beer and I think that ninjas do beat pirates.

Do you develop games full-time? Or supplement your hobby with a day job?

Ok first off - I work full-time during the day as a UNIX/Oracle admin. And I hate to think of game making as just a hobby - you know? Even if I have to do something else to feed the family, I hope to be able to support myself fully with game making someday. That is if I can get the art down right.

What do you do to relax?

I go camping. That is how I chill. I like to run and go camping with my wife and take pictures of nature. And I love, love, love to snorkel. If anyone wants a super happy snorkeling buddy give me a call!

Any recollections of the first game you've made?

Of course. It was called Hell Stalker! It was coded in QBasic. It was never completed because I foolishly didn't believe in backing up my hard drive. The first game anyone played was called SpoonPage. That game was so silly and awful and fun.

new screenshot from Amanita Design's Machinarium

You Have to Burn the Rope fan art, by Hempuli.

The complete video walkthrough for Yume Nikki.

"I remember people saying that they liked the EB0 area's music, so I figured I tell you all how to find it. Go into Yume Nikki (Folder, not game) -> Music, and look for a file that's a bunch of gibberish. It's an MP3 file, and it's 1.34MB. You may need to look through a few files to find it, but to help the file name has 001 at the end of it." - Giegue

pararalyzer is a generic vertical shooter consisting of only three short levels. Hold the Z key to shoot, press the X key to use your stun weapon and tap the C key to activate your shields. Collision with enemy ships or bullets will decrease your life gauge, though the red bar can be restored and even increased permanently by acquiring life ups and extends.

Pause the game at any time by pressing the S key. pararalyzer also features three difficulty settings and an online high score submission function. (source: shmups.system11.org)

Name: pararalyzer
Category: Shooter
Type: Browser

Ad Nauseam 2 seemed to be a pretty big hit on GamingW compared to your other games and a lot of people have said good things about it, what was the concept and idea behind it?

Well, first I started out wanting to make a game with powerful explosions. A shoot 'em up felt like the easiest way to do it. Technical limitations pretty much excluded most other genres anyway. So I decided to make as many enemies as I could before I got bored, and ended up with three levels worth.

I wanted the game to have a theme so I designed it after the game's title. I used the internet as the point of focus. The first level in the game is about my hate for emoticons. Unfortunately I've started to use them myself. It seems to be really hard to avoid them.

The next bit was about text, which there really seems to be no limit to how much there is on the net. And most of it is a waste of bandwidth, it seems. The final bit is about spam. Here we got porn, viagra, drugs and money, which seems to be the kind of e-mails I usually get that end up in the junk folder.

What programs do you use to make the graphics in your games?

MS Paint, or GM's built-in graphics editor which is practically the same as MS Paint.

Cactus Interview (Gaming World, forums)

Review by bigbossSNK

Dino Run (Pixeljam mirror) - The pyroclastic wall of doom is approaching. Nothing survives it. The premise is clear, you either run ahead of it, or you die. No one said survival was going to be easy in this dino-eat-dino world.

Pixeljam's latest game lets you decide the fate of a dino, and has the typical* features of a free indie game: old school pixel art, multiple areas to explore, achievements to unlock, upgrades and secrets to obsess over.

And to prove these dinos live in packs, the developers have included an online multiplayer mode that'll have you competing against other dinos across the Pangea. (Smack talking optional)

*By typical, I mean extraordinary

Name: Dino Run
Developer: PiXelJAM games (kindly donate)
Category: Action
Type: Browser

Defend your Castle will be released for the WiiWare this May 12th, 2008. (announcement, interview, multiplayer gameplay video in the extended)

Review by Gr.Viper

It's time for some wanton destruction - Japanese style! Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2 features giant armed mechs (designs borrowed from Gundam) fighting in dense urban environments. Powerful weapons demolishing city buildings with one shot, jetpacks taking you sky high and special abilities like brief transformation are in common use both by player and AI bots, so battlegrounds tend to get pretty hot seconds after the battle begins.

The game also features Practice mode with disabled enemy AI. The other two modes are large scale battles with AI teammates - either until one team is destroyed or (in Blitz mode) until it loses its motherships which are huge and tough but not invulnerable.

Players are offered a good selection of gear to try on. Some mechs are pure melee types with a neat special ability thrown in (like long plasma whip), while others are designed for sniping and dealing massive damage at medium ranges. Several mechs can transform in flight to gain more speed but jetpacks rapidly drain energy, so long flights are impossible. Luckily, weapons drain energy from a different pool and each of them has its own cooldown counter so you'll never be unarmed even if your mech has no sword.

The default control scheme isn't very convenient to use but keys can be reassigned. Key combinations required to perform different tricks are listed in the manual, which has been translated into English along with readme and the few captions in game.

Mech models and animations are well done. Without shiny armor and plasma beams in the air the streets look pale and boring, although you won't have time to notice it unless you press the escape key and give the shot camera feature a try (controlled by cursor keys, W, A, S, D, Z, X and R for reset). A DirectX 9 video card is recommended, and the installation of .NET 2.0 is also required. With graphics set to full the game tends to get choppy when many mechs get together, although options to disable HDR and shaders are present. (screenshots, trailer in the extended)

Name: Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2
Developer: Y. Kamada
Category: Action
Type: Freeware
Size: 60MB
Direct download link: Click here

Behind the scenes footage captured by Kyle while creating the introductory screen for World of Goo, chapter 2.

Also: Castle Crashers