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[fernoca]

Bought Doodles and Streets of Fury.
Doodle is really cool and looks..nice and clean and "HD"..

Streets is..cool..is like Pit Fighter mixed with Streets of Rage, mostly got it because of the digitized actors/characters.

 

[SAB CA]

Streets is..cool..is like Pit Fighter mixed with Streets of Rage, mostly got it because of the digitized actors/characters.

Streets of Fury actually has move cancelling, double jumps, aerial raves, momentum based jumps, fairly proper hit stun when attacking, unlockable characters, and 2 story modes with seperate mini-cinematics, too! It's so well put together, overall! It's gameplay feels rather well fleshed out, and that still impresses me about the product.

On to other topics, even though Silver Dollar Games really aren't my cup of tea... I didn't think Hockey Fights was all that Bad, really. Artwork isn't too bad, and going for the "jersey" to land a chain of blows actually adds something to the game.

And I think Samurai VS Zombie was concieved as a Love Letter to Oneechanbara, but with somehow even lower production values! It's kinda fun though, I'd probably buy it if it had some more polish, but it's a decent attempt... gotta love the insanely cheezy DEEP SAMURAI VOICE that narrarates your actions in game, lol. "MUL-TI-KILL!"

 

[Spyn Doctor]

Actually, looking at the boxart on Xbox.com shows it as being by Vector 2 Games and/or David Flook. So heaven knows where I noticed it.

No, that's correct. It's David and his brother who are behind Silver Dollar Games. They switched the name from Vector2 a while ago. David is a really nice guy too - helps out a lot in playtest / peer review.

Doc

 

[HadesGigas]

Yeah it's kinda sad that they released that many games after Blow and I hate pretty much every one of them. I'd buy Blow 2 in a heartbeat, though.

 

[qupe1975]

I have read elsewhere today that Microsoft will be switching off the servers for original xbox games, so no online play for games like Halo 2.

This has brought me back to the issue of Indie games not being able to play them offline, what happens when Microsoft do this with the 360, all the Indie games will be unplayable?

I still think this is a huge issue and something microsoft need to look at to push the Indie scene, because at present it's kinda like renting a game.

Will they make games playable offline in the future? Does this bother many here? What do you developers think about this?

 

[barkers crest]

Thanks for the feedback on the Avatar RPG everyone it confirms what direction I will take with the game...and I'll be sure to incorporate some of the neat ideas.

I have read elsewhere today that Microsoft will be switching off the servers for original xbox games, so no online play for games like Halo 2.

This has brought me back to the issue of Indie games not being able to play them offline, what happens when Microsoft do this with the 360, all the Indie games will be unplayable?

I still think this is a huge issue and something microsoft need to look at to push the Indie scene, because at present it's kinda like renting a game.

Will they make games playable offline in the future? Does this bother many here? What do you developers think about this?

At this point I'm a bit more concerned with what will happen when Xbox 360 -> Xbox 720.

 

[Anso]

I have read elsewhere today that Microsoft will be switching off the servers for original xbox games, so no online play for games like Halo 2.

This has brought me back to the issue of Indie games not being able to play them offline, what happens when Microsoft do this with the 360, all the Indie games will be unplayable?

I still think this is a huge issue and something microsoft need to look at to push the Indie scene, because at present it's kinda like renting a game.

Will they make games playable offline in the future? Does this bother many here? What do you developers think about this?

They'll probably release a patch pre-shut down so you can play all games without LIVE connection OR intergrate 360 live into 720 or whatever

 

[DerrickH]

I downloaded the trial of Hockey Fights. I wouldn't buy the game. But there was a "More Games from Silver Dollar" section... holy fuck, Silver Dollar has made something like 25 or 30 games in the last year. It's insane. Even at 2000 sales per game that's a living wage for a single worker, and I suspect that some of them are probably more around the 10k-15k range especially stuff like Head Shot and R U FRAID OF TALKING 2 GIRKLZ

The large majority of xbox indie games dont get close to 2k worth of sales. Maybe 30 or 40 will break that barrier. But the rest are a LOT farther down the sales ladder. Breaking 1k is considered hitting the big time in XBLIG. Its more likely that a game will approach maybe 500 or so.

D

 

[Anso]

Dream Build Play 6th place Kaleidoscope just entered peer review! Be sure to review it you guys who have access (I'm looking at you noogy :lol )

I'll obviously post again once it's cleared and on the marketplace!

 

[Psychotext]

Just purchased Your Doodles are Bugged. Excellent little game and a no brainer at 80 points.

Try it! (then buy it)

 

[Noogy]

Dream Build Play 6th place Kaleidoscope just entered peer review! Be sure to review it you guys who have access (I'm looking at you noogy :lol )

I'll obviously post again once it's cleared and on the marketplace!

Will do I've been dying to try it since well before DBP. BTW, did you ever get a chance to try my title?

 

[Stumpokapow]

The large majority of xbox indie games dont get close to 2k worth of sales. Maybe 30 or 40 will break that barrier. But the rest are a LOT farther down the sales ladder. Breaking 1k is considered hitting the big time in XBLIG. Its more likely that a game will approach maybe 500 or so.

D

Yeah, I think you're drastically underestimating Silver Dollar Games.

Headshot was #4 in overall sales last year. Who Did I Date Last Night was #7. #3 did 74k. #10 did 24k. Head Shot 2 was #12, somewhere between 12,000 and 12,350 sales. Every single one of their games makes the weekly top 20 for at least a few weeks.

I would be willing to wager that most or all of their games have broken 2k, and regardless of the sales on the other games... between Headshot, Who Did I Date Last Night, and Head Shot 2, they're looking at ~120k sales.

 

[DerrickH]

Silver Dollar, Barkers Crest, Mommy's Best, Ska Studios, are all kicking ass and rightfully so. But dont think that's the norm for Indie Games. For every 1 title that breaks 2k in sales there are dozens that struggle to get 200. And even though a ton of the low sellers suck balls, a lot of them are good. Games like CaveIn, Leave Home, Abbadon, etc are sitting at the back of the pack. And with about 800 titles on the service(out of which probably 100 or so are actually pretty decent -> very good), its not like the market is flooded.

 

[Anso]

Will do I've been dying to try it since well before DBP. BTW, did you ever get a chance to try my title?

Nope, don't have a membership myself actually. Is it in peer review or should I have tried it some other way?

...I don't even own a PC by the way.

 

[qupe1975]

liking the look of this game, not entirely sure if it's an Indie release yet

Zeit Squared

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AraulZN3X8

 

[charlequin]

Thanks for the feedback on the Avatar RPG everyone it confirms what direction I will take with the game...and I'll be sure to incorporate some of the neat ideas.

I'm a little late to the party on this one, but I wanted to reiterate that a short, whimsical RPG that included at least one or two towns to walk around in and talk to NPCs and that let me use my friends' avatars as party members would be an instant purchase for me.

 

[mujun]

Thanks for the feedback on the Avatar RPG everyone it confirms what direction I will take with the game...and I'll be sure to incorporate some of the neat ideas.



At this point I'm a bit more concerned with what will happen when Xbox 360 -> Xbox 720.

Please please please please make it like Ultima 4 where you start off and have no idea what your quest is. You have to go around and ask various people to find out where you need to head first to get the adventure started.

 

[Psychotext]

I was just playing Soul and found myself wondering why they felt the need to mess with an otherwise beautiful and challenging game by including that stupid scream scene. It's shocking once, and then it just becomes annoying.

You made a game with good audio, excellent visuals, and tense gameplay... now how about patching it so we can turn that stupid scream crap off?

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I was just playing Soul and found myself wondering why they felt the need to mess with an otherwise beautiful and challenging game by including that stupid scream scene. It's shocking once, and then it just becomes annoying.

You made a game with good audio, excellent visuals, and tense gameplay... now how about patching it so we can turn that stupid scream crap off?

Seriously, what a shame, the scream shit was interesting the first time, and a good shock effect. But that's all, it's something it works once, the game is enough creepy at it is, no need to put that screen over and over, you know it's tense, and not because is scary, is tense because everytime you die, you wonder if that damn scream will appear to annoy you.

 

[Psychotext]

I might have a dig around to see if I can find the contact details for the dev.

 

[Noogy]

I'll forward your complaint.

 

[toythatkills]

It stopped bothering me after a while, barely even notice it. It'd be cool if it just happened randomly during levels to screw you up, though. The first time it happens, when you pass the girl, that was brilliant.

 

[Noogy]

I guess I forgot how it was implemented. I thought it was random. Personally I don't think it's a big deal, but I've made the suggestion to Kydos.

Of course, it'd be a shame if they changed it so that it randomly restarted the game Then we'd be begging for the scream.

Edit: Kydos got back to me saying that those instances will be much more infrequent in the update. Props to Kydos.

 

[Psychotext]

Yeah, the first time with the shadowy girl was fine, it's the random times afterwards.

...and nicely done Noogy.

/thumbs up

 

[Dr Zhivago]

Doodles are Bugged is really good, but I hate the ink restriction on some of the levels - I want to be able to construct a bizarre set of ramps rather than try to guess the one correct solution. Still one of the best titles on there, though.

 

[Spyn Doctor]

Doodles are Bugged is really good, but I hate the ink restriction on some of the levels - I want to be able to construct a bizarre set of ramps rather than try to guess the one correct solution. Still one of the best titles on there, though.

Glad you like the game!
BTW, most of the levels with limited ink were not created with a specific "correct solution" in mind. Or in other words, the ink limit is not meant to force you to find the correct solution, as there is no such thing. There are endless possible solutions. The ink limit simply forces you to erase some of your work to get the ink back for other places, that's all there is to it.

Doc

 

[Anso]

Still haven't gotten around to playing it, I feel bad. :[ Damn life and Mass Effect 2 stealing my attentino.

 

[Gorki247]

After seeing how Rotor'scope makes use of Facebook, I was wondering why more Indie games don't do this? For one, it could help spread the word about the indie service, not to mention advertise the game itself.

I wonder if MS will update XNA Game Studio to allow for official Facebook support?

On a similar note, would it be technically possible for Indie developers to introduce a service like Plus+ or OpenFeint as a way to compare achievements and high scores? I can understand why MS don't want Indie games to have regular achievements, but it would be great if there was an alternative - like a Live lite service with achievements that we can compare for, but do not add to your overall gamerscore.

 

[HadesGigas]

After seeing how Rotor'scope makes use of Facebook, I was wondering why more Indie games don't do this? For one, it could help spread the word about the indie service, not to mention advertise the game itself.

I wonder if MS will update XNA Game Studio to allow for official Facebook support?

On a similar note, would it be technically possible for Indie developers to introduce a service like Plus+ or OpenFeint as a way to compare achievements and high scores? I can understand why MS don't want Indie games to have regular achievements, but it would be great if there was an alternative - like a Live lite service with achievements that we can compare for, but do not add to your overall gamerscore.

Pretty sure the only way Indie Games can interact with anything outside of themselves is through passwords like Rotorscope does. Lines also had a password system for high scores, but it's website no longer exists.

 

[zukalous]

Bought Doodles and Streets of Fury.
Doodle is really cool and looks..nice and clean and "HD"..

I agree, Spyn Doctor, you did a good job of making a game that looks simple while still looking polished. That is a hard thing to do.

Are you more of a programmer or an artist? It seems like it is hard to come by someone who is both.

Also, way to use a Jan Van Eyck painting in your trailer. Really classes it up.

 

[Psychotext]

I've got an utterly huge opinions post ready to go... but I'm going to wait for the new page because I'd hate to see it disappear almost immediately as it took me hours to write.

 

[Sydle]

Just purchased Your Doodles are Bugged. Excellent little game and a no brainer at 80 points.

Try it! (then buy it)

Thanks for the recommendation. Great game!

 

[Psychotext]

No problem.

 

[toythatkills]

I've got an utterly huge opinions post ready to go... but I'm going to wait for the new page because I'd hate to see it disappear almost immediately as it took me hours to write.

Just quote it for the new page. Get it posted!

10 Seconds or Less is, well, it does exactly what you'd expect from the screenshot. You're given a photo and then asked to find a small section of it by moving your cursor around. Speed and accuracy net points. It's not the most thrilling game I've ever played but if there is a market for this type of game, it doesn't really do much wrong.

Avatar Quest in which you have to move from the bottom to the top of a grid of coloured blocks. Once you step on one you're tied to that colour unless you step on a white block, in which case you swap to another colour. Time bonuses are awarded for stepping on every block of a certain colour, which is where the puzzling happens, but you can also just cross to complete a grid. To be honest, it's just not really hard enough, the concept doesn't allow it to be. It's always really obvious within a second or two which colour to step on to reach the other side and even stepping on every square of a certain colour isn't too difficult. It moves so slowly that it feels like you'd have more time left if you didn't bother trying to do that! Just not hard enough, and as a result, not that satisfying.

Earth Shaker, a retro game in which you have to collect diamonds by ploughing through earth, avoiding boulders and such. I'm sure everyone's played a game like this, this one is weird, neon, the maps are huge, the controls don't always work as you'd want (analog stick in a 4-way control scheme, never successful) and you move too far, too quick, mostly. I didn't find it much fun and stopped way short of the trial ending itself.

Horn Swaggle Islands is a steal at 80pts, but will require patience. Controls and GUI are both quite awkward to get used to but the underlying game is pretty solid if you give it a chance. Tower Defense with a piratey twist.

Rotor'Scope is an excellent idea for a puzzle, but I didn't like the controls much. In my head, the triggers would make more sense to rotate the puzzle left and right and I found X/B quite odd. Also found it difficult to anticipate the effect of flipping the puzzle but the undo feature on LB makes that redundant, you can see what happens then reverse it. It is an excellent idea, as I say, and you can tell masses of effort has gone into the presentation, story, world, etc. Worth persevering with, for sure.

 

[Psychotext]

Earth Shaker, a retro game in which you have to collect diamonds by ploughing through earth, avoiding boulders and such. I'm sure everyone's played a game like this, this one is weird, neon, the maps are huge, the controls don't always work as you'd want (analog stick in a 4-way control scheme, never successful) and you move too far, too quick, mostly. I didn't find it much fun and stopped way short of the trial ending itself.

I can't tell you how much I disagree with you on that one... it's point perfect retro, even down to the old methods of making gems "sparkle". I even thought that the controls worked well, as long as you remember the old rules of moving before you actually need to.

I guess it helps that I was a demon at these sorts of games as a kid, and I've retained my ninja like boulder avoiding reflexes. :lol

 

[toythatkills]

Hah, maybe I came to gaming just slightly too late to really be able to appreciate it! I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I could play it with a joystick or a decent d-pad. It was the analogue controls that really killed it for me.

(And the colour scheme a bit)

 

[Psychotext]

Hah, maybe I came to gaming just slightly too late to really be able to appreciate it! I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I could play it with a joystick or a decent d-pad. It was the analogue controls that really killed it for me.

(And the colour scheme a bit)

Funnily enough, I mention the age thing in my comments on it... how old are you? (I want to see if my prediction fits)

 

[toythatkills]

I'm 27, and really started gaming with a Master System - hence only slightly too late! Though saying that, I did play a fair amount of games on my dad's Sinclair QL, of all things, so I can certainly appreciate it a bit

 

[Spyn Doctor]

I agree, Spyn Doctor, you did a good job of making a game that looks simple while still looking polished. That is a hard thing to do.

Are you more of a programmer or an artist? It seems like it is hard to come by someone who is both.

Also, way to use a Jan Van Eyck painting in your trailer. Really classes it up.

Thanks for the praise
I have to admit I'm more of a programmer / software developer. Although I have some general talent in art / graphic design, it's certainly limited.

Doc

 

[Psychotext]

I'm 27, and really started gaming with a Master System - hence only slightly too late! Though saying that, I did play a fair amount of games on my dad's Sinclair QL, of all things, so I can certainly appreciate it a bit

Damnit, I was slightly off. I reckoned 25 would be the cutoff point. :lol

Hey Spyn Doctor... unlimited ink cheat please!

 

[Spyn Doctor]

Hey Spyn Doctor... unlimited ink cheat please!

LOL - can't do that, sorry - would disrupt the record lists too much.
But if you solve all 20 main doodles, you unlock the "Free Play Arena". That's an empty canvas + unlimited ink + 1000 bugs to play with. There can doodle to your heart's content. It even saves your creation (and the bug positions) on exit, so you can come back to it later. Want to write your own name and see the bugs crawl over it? Or create a rabbit warren or tunnels and chambers like in an ant-colony, populated by bugs? Or whatever else? That's where you can do it!

Doc

 

[Psychotext]

But I suck too much to do that. lol

 

[toythatkills]

Would it be completely impossible to allow the player to import photos (via URL?) into YDAB as playable levels? If it just said that anything that isn't white space is walked on, etc.

 

[Psychotext]

Would it be completely impossible to allow the player to import photos (via URL?) into YDAB as playable levels? If it just said that anything that isn't white space is walked on, etc.

I don't think Indie Games can have web access can they? They can access the local HDD / a media server though. Even so I guess you'd need pure white space for it to work (or a transparency channel?)

 

[Psychotext]

Time for another update... you'll have to excuse me if some of my comments are a little short, there was a hell of a lot to get through.

So here goes on what I've tried that I think might be worth a look. I'm also including a link to the xbox marketplace page for each game so you can see some screenshots, add it to your download queue and see if other people recommended the game. Just click the header for each game to get to the page.

Along Came A Spider (Platformer) - 400 points
I'm struggling to properly describe what this game is. It's a platformer, but the challenge really comes not from jumping, but from mastering swinging on the threads you can hook onto the edges of the platforms. Simple visuals, but really well done. I'd argue it's a little expensive for what it is, but then I haven't really got through a lot of it yet so I may be a little quick to judge.

Arkedo Series - 01 JUMP! (Platformer) - 240 points
Excellent retro style platformer... and I wont really say much more than it's a no brainer if you're a fan of platform games. Give it a try.

Arkedo Series - 03 PIXEL! (Platformer) - 240 points
Top notch art style on this one, quite unique. I must say that I really like the main character too... he seems to really enjoy jumping about (and his meow attack is hilarious). The little "zoom" sections are a great little touch which serve to break up the platforming sections quite nicely. Another impressive game from Arkedo.

Avatar Wave: Snowball Fight (Action) - 240 points
When I first saw the user ratings on this I was a little sceptical. I was wrong to be, it's a surprisingly polished little game that's a lot of fun to play, expecially in local multiplayer. Nice enough graphics too, and the avatars seem to fit quite well (they stand out like a sore thumb in many games).

Banana Split (Platformer) - 80 points
One of the better platformers on Indie Games, and has a lot of character. It's a little unforgiving though, so don't expect it to be a cakewalk. Bright, colourful graphics, but the animation could have done with a little work. Great value at 80 points.

Beat Hazard (Two Stick Shooter / Music) - 400 points
This is one of the most distintive two stick shooters available on Indie Games. Polished graphics, and a rather unique gameplay element which generates levels based on music on your 360 or media server. Play it with the right music and it's utterly insane, you'll find yourself rushing for the volume up power ups to really get the beat going. You can see examples here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC--RFvicNg and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC--RFvicNg . My only real wish is that the developers add an option to let the game completely scan through your media library (no matter how long that takes) because it takes quite a while to manually get each track that you want to play in game.

Carcophony (Puzzle) - 240 Points
A simple puzzle game, but one that gets increasingly challenging. Part strategy, part speed... quite different. Slick presentation.

Cavemen Vs Aliens (Strategy) - 400 points
There's been a lot of effort put into the presentation on this game, which is always a good sign. Starts off simple, but gets tricky quickly as you find yourself trying to hold onto captured territory whilst simultaneously trying to move onwards. The controls are inspired, and once you're used to them you'll be concentrating 100% on your strategy rather than getting tied up with complex commands. Well worth a look.

Dark (Puzzle Platformer) - 80 points
Took me a little while to work out what I was supposed to be doing in this, but after a while it clicked. Well worth sticking with as it's really quite different. Some excellent use of lights and shadowing.

Earth Shaker (Puzzle) - 80 points
Like oldskool games? Like REALLY oldskool games? Ready to have your eyes bleed from the pure awesomeness that's ZX Spectrum graphics? Go and download this and weep tears of pure nostalgia... and then punch the walls in rage when you remember how much less forgiving games used to be. (I fully expect anyone younger than 25 to be utterly dumbfounded that people used to play games like this!)

Gerbil Physics (Puzzle) - 80 points
I may be wrong, but this appears to be a more polished version of another game. A great deal of the polish seems to have gone into adding gerbils... but that's ok (I kid, pretty much everything is better than the other game, especially graphics). Challenging physics based puzzler, which will have you scratching your head on many of the levels.

Gravity (Puzzle Platformer) - 240 points
I'll say straight off that this could do with a great deal more polish (especially the animations and audio)... but look past the flaws and you've got a fairly interesting gravity based puzzle platformer for a reasonable price.

Headshot 2 (Shooter) - 80 points
Given the name (and the first game) I expected this to be dire... but it was actually a lot of fun. Track the disguised terrorist until you're ready to take them out as precisely as possible. Hard to do it justice by talking about it, give it a blast.

Ikaroids (Two Stick Shooter) - 240 points
A solid example of a two stick shooter, but I've pretty much had my fill of these so I'll leave you to judge for yourself. Graphics are good, and some of the enemies are particularly impressive. Borrows a lot from Geometry Wars and other two stick shooters, but that's in no way a bad thing.

Impossible Game (Platformer) - 80 points
Crazymental. Try and beat it... go on. I challenge you to retain your sanity. I could barely get anywhere in practice mode, let alone the normal mode.

Invasion Defender (Tower Defense) - 240 points
One of the better examples of tower defense games on Indie Games, and one with some fairly unique features. Reasonable graphics, and fast paced, challenging gameplay. I particularly liked that the enemies aren't just drones that head from one point to another... after a while they'll learn to avoid where your strongest defenses are, meaning that you can't just rely on the standard tactics which get you past most games in this genre.

iRiS 2.0 - Visualizer Studio (Music) - 400 points
Not really my sort of thing, but I had a mess around with it for a while and managed to create a couple of good visualisers. I can imagine that anyone with the slightest bit of artistic talent would make a better job of it than I would. Given the lack of quality visualisers on the 360 this has a place... and as I've now been informed that you can share your visualisers with other owners of the app (assuming XBL Gold etc) then I'm sure you'll be able to get your hands on some good ones.

Johnny Platform Saves Xmas! (Platform) - 240 points
You should already know of Johnny Platform... and if you don't, go and try it, it's great. This is more Johnny Platform, but even better because the levels are now in widescreen rather than narrowvision. As such it's pretty much essential for any platformer fans.

KGB Episode One (FPS) - 240 points
I'll say right off that this is no * insert popular FPS here *... but it is probably the best attempt at one so far on Indie Games. A step in the right direction, and a bit of mindless fun. Just don't expect miracles.

Leave Home (Side Scrolling Shooter) - 240 points
Sylised retro side scrolling shooter... with bonus retro tape loading noises! One of the sharpest and prettiest games on the service, and dynamic difficulty should mean that you're always challenged. Definitely one of the hidden gems.

Missing Reel (Shooter) - 240 points
A very playable, "B Movie" styled co-op shooter. It's not going to win any awards for graphics, but it's enjoyable... even when played with the co-op AI (who will happily steal all the power ups just like a real player would).

Ninja Bros (Puzzle Platformer) - 80 points
Mind bending puzzle platformer with an old school graphical style. Controlling one ninja is fine, two is challenging, three is crazy, four will melt your brain. Well worth a look. On a random note, this seems to use a really strange resolution... which you'll notice when you play it.

Platypus (Side Scrolling Shooter) - 400 points
Side scrolling shooter with claymation graphics and C64 sounds? Sign me up! This put a massive smile on my face and was purchased the second the trial over screen appeared. If you like side scrolling shooters, you need to give this a go.

Powa Volley Classic (Sports) - 80 points
Probably doesn't stand up too well if you're just going to play single player, but local multiplayer is particularly hectic and a lot of fun. Well presented, if not particularly impressive graphically.

RC Racing 360 (Kart Racing) - 400 points
I found this by looking at the IGN recommends section... and after glancing at the user ratings I wondered what IGN had been smoking. However, they've got a point as this is arguably the best looking 3D racing game on the service, and it's got the potential to be a classic little racer... but the controls are basically broken. I'm not sure what happened that the dev(s) didn't notice, but the steering is so unbelievably twitchy so as to make the game almost unplayable. It could be that it's limited only to certain vehicles, but the car I picked was horrible to drive. Still, you may fare better, and it's clear that a lot of effort has been put into the game, so it would be a shame to see it ignored off hand.

Run Away (Platformer) - 80 points
This is basically a flash game, but it had me laughing out loud a couple of times during play and it's a lot of fun. If it doesn't put a smile on your face, you're dead inside.

SFG Soccer (Sports) - 400 points
This is a great little football (no, not soccer, football) game. Captures the fun of the old footy games and adds a pretty good career mode (with RPG elements)... and yes, it has bicycle kicks.

Sidehill Gouger (Puzzle) - 80 points
I'm not entirely sure about the gameplay on this one, but I'm a sucker for any title where the developers have shown that they've put some effort in. To be honest, I don't think I'm the target market as it seems to be a take on a game I'm no fan of... minesweeper. However, that description really doesn't cover it, because in a way it's as much a simple detective game as anything. I really can't describe it... bah, just try it and blame me if you feel like you wasted 10 minutes.

Snake Maze (Maze Game) - 80 points
It's a maze game... but it's a fairly challenging maze game with dynamically generated levels. Starts easy, gets crazy.

Sol Survivor (Tower Defense) - 800 points
One of the DreamBuildPlay 2009 finalists, this is an excellent little tower defense game. Some of the most interesting enemies and defenses I've seen in a tower defense game, and some great multiplayer if you can find someone else with the game to play against (a depressing problem with indie games). Unfortunately 800 points looks pretty steep these days, but it's a great game that's had a lot of love put into it so it's well worth a look. Decent multiplayer commentary vid here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_YlUYwar3I

Soul (Action) - 80 points
An extremely pretty game let down by the rather strange decision to try and shock / scare you every couple of minutes with a screamy horror scene (we've all seen the youtube videos of the same ilk). The main problem is that it stops being shocking after the first time and gets steadily more annoying from that point on. It also had me reaching for the mute button, which is a shame because some of the audio in the game is quite good. Supposedly this is being toned down in an update, time will tell. Very, very tricky... requires some extremely precise control of the thumbstick.

Square Off (Shooter) - 240 points
Charming little shooter. Crisp, colourful graphics, impressive animation / effect and solid gameplay. Some of the weapons pack a real punch, and there's a great sense of desperation when you're being rushed by tons of aliens.

Whipcrack (Action) - 240 points
This is another one of those games where my opinion seems to differ from the people rating the games on XBL. I suspect it's because the game start off particularly slowly, and the first few levels are nothing to write home about. It's worth sticking it out though as the game has a lot of character, and some fairly clever gameplay elements. Can take a look at the trailers here: http://whipcrackgame.com/default.aspx

Wool (Action / Puzzle) - 80 points
I really love this game, and it's probably only partly because I'm Welsh... Gameplay is solid, graphics are good and co-op is tons of fun, as long as you don't end up killing each other when you screw up. A simple premise, executed pretty much flawlessly.

Yet Another Zombie Defense (Shooter) - 80 points
I'll be honest, the graphics on this game are iffy, the interface is iffy, the sounds are iffy and the gameplay is basic... but it grabbed me, and judging by ratings, I'm not the only one. Very simple shooter with some aspects of tower defense. Build your defenses and keep the zombie hordes from snacking on your face for as long as humanly possible.

Your Doodles Are Bugged! (Puzzle) - 80 points
One of my favourite indie games so far. I was initially a little concerned that the pen would be a little difficult to control (it would lend itself naturally to the DS) but its quite functional. Full of character, and really a no brainer at 80 points. I'd really like to see some levels with unlimited ink (Edit - Apparently you get free play once you complete the game), or even the ability to make your own levels... but that's in no way a criticism and it wouldn't be fair to expect that sort of functionality in an Indie Game. My only real criticisms would be that the difficulty curve is pretty steep and that it really needs multiple levels of undo.


Hopefully some people actually read that, or some of it. It took a ludicrous amount of time to do.

 

[Psychotext]

...and the TLDR version with what I think are probably the cream of those (taking price into consideration):

Arkedo Series - 01 JUMP! (Platformer) - 240 points
Arkedo Series - 03 PIXEL! (Platformer) - 240 points
Beat Hazard (Two Stick Shooter / Music) - 400 points
Invasion Defender (Tower Defense) - 240 points
Johnny Platform Saves Xmas! (Platform) - 240 points
Leave Home (Side Scrolling Shooter) - 240 points
Platypus (Side Scrolling Shooter) - 400 points
Wool (Action / Puzzle) - 80 points
Your Doodles Are Bugged! (Puzzle) - 80 points

 

[Spyn Doctor]

Would it be completely impossible to allow the player to import photos (via URL?) into YDAB as playable levels? If it just said that anything that isn't white space is walked on, etc.

Yes, unfortunately this is completely impossible. Simply because there is no way of getting photos or pictures into the game. The XNA sandbox for XBLIGs simply doesn't allow this (no access to the local drive or USB ports, no access to the internet at all, etc.).

Doc

 

[Psychotext]

Yes, unfortunately this is completely impossible. Simply because there is no way of getting photos or pictures into the game. The XNA sandbox for XBLIGs simply doesn't allow this (no access to the local drive or USB ports, no access to the internet at all, etc.).

Doc

I assume the mechanism that a game like Beat Hazard uses for Music doesn't work for something like photos? (I guess there's extra functionality exposed because of custom soundtracks)

...although, there's functionality exposed by the XNA framework which seems to cover it:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.xna.framework.media.aspx

Specifically PictureCollection, Picture and MediaLibrary

 

[toythatkills]

Sol Survivor looks awesome but you're right about the price. On XBLA I'd have probably paid that in a second but there's something stopping me here. I'll give it a trial later, methinks, I need more TD after Defense Grid sucked me in so much.

Wool I never really got, maybe I needed to give it more time. It all felt a bit... Pointless. It's one game that would really benefit from leaderboards and achievements, just to make it feel like you're doing something. I've no real idea why it made me feel that way, to be honest, I'm sure it's no different to many other games I've liked.

Agree with you on pretty much all of those. Are you really that bad at The Impossible game? I've managed to get to the end with six flags, must do better than that...

Yes, unfortunately this is completely impossible. Simply because there is no way of getting photos or pictures into the game. The XNA sandbox for XBLIGs simply doesn't allow this (no access to the local drive or USB ports, no access to the internet at all, etc.).

Thought that might be the case

 

[Psychotext]

Yeah, Wool would certainly have been improved by leaderboards... but the challenge of getting all of the sheep within the time limits was enough for me to have fun with it. (Rather than just getting enough to finish the level)

As for Impossible Game... I guess I could do better if I tried to memorise it but I just don't have that much patience.