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[More_Badass]

The Universim - Free prototype (PC)

http://www.indiedb.com/downloads/the-universim-early-prototype

Leave the farms and cities behind, jump straight into managing your own planets in The Universim. The Universim is first and foremost a planet management game.
This prototype is not the final game or alpha neither beta game. This prototype will give you a good sense of the overall mood of the game, and even allow you to discover a few easter eggs hidden around the planet.

 

[daydream]

Didn't see any impressions on this: http://store.steampowered.com/app/324710/

Any of you guys play it? Looks Yawhg-esque as heck.

 

[One Foul Note]

Didn't see any impressions on this: http://store.steampowered.com/app/324710/

Any of you guys play it? Looks Yawhg-esque as heck.

Sadly no impressions, but that has been on my wishlist for a bit. I'm a big Hark, a vagrant fan and Kate Beaton (the artist behind that webcomic) does some of the art in that game so naturally at some point I am gonna have to pick it up. But with Homeworld and Resident Evil dropping on the same day this week I don't really have the funds to be impulsive at the moment.

 

[daydream]

Sadly no impressions, but that has been on my wishlist for a bit. I'm a big Hark, a vagrant fan and Kate Beaton (the artist behind that webcomic) does some of the art in that game so naturally at some point I am gonna have to pick it up. But with Homeworld and Resident Evil dropping on the same day this week I don't really have the funds to be impulsive at the moment.

Yep, same here! Although apparently it's a collab between a whole bunch of artists. Hm, I might have to take the plunge sooner rather than later. Will report back with my findings.

 

[Toma]

OP impressions:

The old Tree
Very cute little puzzle/adventure game with a great art style. Free and certainly worth playing, could be an outstanding adventure game if it had some more content.

The spooky cave
Action roguelike, that still has some growing pains. There is some promise here, but I can't enjoy this currently, mostly because of how the attacking works.

Final voting list february:

Highly recommended:
Infinifactory
Avernum 2
Besiege
Earthtongue
Quasi

Recommended:
Sandstorm
io
Just Get Through
The old Tree
NeuroIDE
Haemo
Echoes+
Naut
An Untitled Story
Colony.Exe

Decent:
Cold Contract
Overture
Forward to the Sky
Elders of Madness
Albert and Otto
Operation: Covert
The Spooky Cave
Drew and the Floating Labyrinth
All the Way Down

Not recommended:
Condor
Anoxemia
Artificial Immunity

 

[Toma]

Voting February!

RULES THIS MONTH IN SHORT: Up to 10 games, at least 4.

Why?
Because we want to offer people who first step into the thread an easy go-to list for great games. Plus it gives more attention to the titles that really deserve it.

How?
Everyone votes on his top 10 games out of the ones that already have been released AND are mentioned in the OP (So everything in Post 2). I'll tally the results and put the best 5 in the next thread. A minimum voting count of 4 is required. Feel free to vote for games that you deem "important" or the ones that you enjoyed the most. Since this is a rather communicative thread, feel free to include a short description why these games ended up on your list. Every list entry gets 1 point for the overall ranking.

When?
This thread is still open until the end of the month, so you can drop your list in here whenever you want. You can also change your list up to the last day. I wont start the count before the last day of the month, so everyone has still time to revise their lists and play some games. Speaking of which, if you dont even KNOW 7 games to vote for, there are plenty free games in the OP to check out. Most of which are rather short too. Use the remaining week to catch up with 1 or 2 titles you didnt get around to yet!

Which?
Since the list got rather long, here is the complete list of games to vote for for this month:

Albert and Otto - Free demo (PC, Mac, Linux)
All The Way Down - Free (PC)
An Untitled Story - Free (PC)
Anoxemia - Free Demo/ $7.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
Artificial Immunity - Free (PC)
Avernum 2 - $19,99 (PC, Mac)
Besiege - $6.99 (PC)
Boid - $2.99 (PC)
BossConstructor - $17.99 (PC, Mac, Linux) (PC)
Cold Contract - Free Demo $4.99 (PC)
Colony.Exe - Free (PC)
Condor - Free (PC, Mac, Linux)
Dark Storm VR - $3.99 (PC, Mac)
Drew and the Floating Labyrinth Free Demo[/URL] / $7 (PC, Mac, Linux)
DRIVE TO HELL - $4.99 (PC WINDOWS/MAC)
Earthtongue - $4 (PC, Mac)
Echoes+ - Free (PC, Mac)
Eden Star - $19,99 (PC)
Elders of Madness - Free (PC)
Forward To The Sky - Free Demo/ $8 (PC)
Grav - $19.99 (PC)
Haemo - Free (PC)
Igneos: The Last Phoenix - Free demo (PC)
Inaris: The Cloud Temple - Free (PC)
Infinifactory - $24.99 (PC)
iO - Free Demo / $9.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
JUST GET THROUGH - $4.99 (PC)
M.I.N.E. - Free (PC)
Naut - Free (PC, Mac, Linux)
NeuroIDE - Free Cyberpunk Jam version (Browser)
Operation: Covert - Free beta demo (PC)
Overture - $5 (PC)
Quasi - $2.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
Sandstorm - $3 (PC)
Sky Arena - Free (PC)
Splasher - Free demo (PC)
Stardust Vanguards - $9.99 (PC)
Stranded Deep - $14,99 (PC, Mac)
Super Galaxy Squadron - Free demo (PC)
The Depths of Tolagal - $9.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
The Next Penelope - $9,99 (PC, Mac)
The Old Tree - Free (PC, Mac)
The Spooky Cave - Free (PC, Mac, Linux
The Static Speaks My Name - Free (PC, Mac, Linux)
Tiny Trek - $4.99 (PC)
Triera - Free (PC)
Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries - $9.99 (PC)
You.Me.Hell - Free (PC, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android)

 

[Toma]

That was a seriously great month. From the smaller games, definitely make sure to check out Earthtongue, Quasi and Sandstorm if you want to check out the less appreciated Indie gems that give great experiences.

 

[More_Badass]

That was a seriously great month. From the smaller games, definitely make sure to check out Earthtongue, Quasi and Sandstorm if you want to check out the less appreciated Indie gems that give great experiences.

Defintelt planning to check out Quasi before the month is over

 

[titch]

Wow - voting for ten games this month just doesn't seem enough.

Where do we stand for voting for a game you haven't played but feel it's getting enough positive feedback to warrant it being mentioned?

 

[Toma]

Wow - voting for ten games this month just doesn't seem enough.

Where do we stand for voting for a game you haven't played but feel it's getting enough positive feedback to warrant it being mentioned?

You need to have played it and formed your own impressions, even if its just for a few minutes for initial impressions. You still have a few days left though, make sure you play some other recommendations (Earthtongue! Quasi!)

 

[titch]

Cheers fair enough - some of the cost games will have to wait lol.

Plenty with demo's or f2p games to try though - easily got 10 with another 15 to try.

As you said what a month. Going to be fun whittling it down to 10!!!!

 

[More_Badass]

New IGS deal is Ascendant. Definitely worth the $1 IMO

 

[managore]

Sandstorm

Thanks again to Managore for the key/download, glad I got to play it. Its another unique game this month, putting you into the shoes of a traveller in the desert. The way this game handles the concept of being lost in the desert, and the style with which it executes it is pretty damn memorable. The game IS different though, and a bit more experiential, but it doesnt really hurt the experience at all. Its certainly not for everyone, but it is... intriguing and a 1-hour experience (plus more if you try to beat the higher difficulties) worth having with the best mechanic I have ever encountered about making someone feel "lost". If you have 3$ lying around for a unique experience, recommended. Small thing that didnt matter much here, but still: Someone needs to tell all devs in the world to either avoid using Z as control key or giving Y the same function as Z, its so, so, SO annoying if other common keyboard layouts are ignored.

Thanks for the review!

I made spacebar act the same as Z, but I didn't mention it anywhere, so there is no way I can expect people to know this. The annoying thing about the Z key is that, not only is it swapped with Y in many German speaking countries, but it is also swapped with W in French speaking countries. And setting Z, W and Y all to perform the same action gets a bit messy if any other parts of the keyboard's alphabet are used (which admittedly isn't the case for Sandstorm). I might try to have remappable keys in my future (non-jam) games.

 

[Toma]

Thanks for the review!

I made spacebar act the same as Z, but I didn't mention it anywhere, so there is no way I can expect people to know this. The annoying thing about the Z key is that, not only is it swapped with Y in many German speaking countries, but it is also swapped with W in French speaking countries. And setting Z, W and Y all to perform the same action gets a bit messy if any other parts of the keyboard's alphabet are used (which admittedly isn't the case for Sandstorm). I might try to have remappable keys in my future (non-jam) games.

As I said, it wasnt so bad in your case, most Indie devs that avoid this dilemma just try to avoid using Z altogether and put controls on x and c instead of z and x for example, which is not quite as randomly annoying for other keyboard layouts.

But still, Sandstorm wasnt a major issue, but right after I played Sandstorm, I played another game on the list with precision jumping requiring z and x and I was just so fed up that I didnt even write impressions on it

 

[Three]

Sadly I didn't play that many Indies this month but plan to correct that soon with your recommendations. iO reminds me of one of the minigames in LBP (vita), I think it was called StratoSphere. I loved that minigame.

 

[Toma]

A good example why I am excited at the prospects of NeuroIDE, the dev posted comparison pictures of an old version and the improvements he made to visibility and UI since the jam version:

 

[titch]

Kinda reminds me of the mini-game in Paradroid where you transferred to another robot - this defo is one to look out for!!

 

[PandaPedinte]

NeuroIDE is very competent math puzzle game, really glad to see the dev working on new version

 

[More_Badass]

1) Besiege
Medieval vehicular chaos, polished, bloody, and just a ton of fun. Of all the vehicle construction games I've played, Besiege is easily the most competent and enjoyable, between its lovely presentation, super-simple building UI, and tendency to descend into complete chaos as physics work their evil magic on your rickety wooden war machine.

2) Splasher
Marion Sunshine by way of Super Meat Boy. Paint proves to be a versatile tool, allowing you to defy gravity and scramble along any surface or bounce to great heights and off walls. This isn't a game of careful planning and puzzles; in fact, aiming and movement are all done with the left stick (trust me, use a controller). Splasher is all about speed and movement, spraying on the go, mid-air or running across the ceiling. The demo is challenging, fast, and promising; I'm eager to see more of Splasher

3) Infinifactory
What can be said about Infinifactory that hasn't been said already. It's 3D SpaceChem, that expands on that already-deep foundation by adding height and depth and wealth of new mechanics and complexities. It's the same satisfying meticulous planning and puzzling, the hypnotic rhythm of working solution in action, now on grander scope and scale

4) iO
A fun and challenging physics puzzle-platformer, that revolves around size manipulation. From that simple mechanic, the developers craft myriad tricky levels and interesting uses for your ability, as you use weight and momentum to navigate through portals and gravity fields, push around obstacles, brace against tight corridors, wall jump, and more. iO isn't groundbreaking in any way, but it's a competent and well-made game worth your time

5) Echoes+
Stuff like this is why freeware games on PC rock. A frenetic, frantic arcade shooter, with tons of content between the various modes and difficult levels. Controls are tight, the gameplay is challenging and each mode offers a unique twist on the core evade-and-blast action. Flashy visuals make every round of high score chasing a spectacle of color and explosions

6) Haemo
Another Managore game, so you know it's going to be quality. Think The Unfinished Swan meets dungeon crawler, as you navigate a white world revealed by your blood and deal with traps and interesting enemies.

7) Naut
Nice visuals and music, but that's about it. The controls are unwieldy and the game is just boring

---
1) Besiege
2) Splasher
3) Infinifactory
4) iO
5) Echoes
6) Earthtongue
7) Haemo
8) Quasi
9) Naut

 

[Toma]

voting

You mentioned wanting to play Quasi still, any opinion on Earthtongue or not your style of games?

 

[More_Badass]

You mentioned wanting to play Quasi still, any opinion on Earthtongue or not your style of games?

Still plan to check out Quasi and haven't gotten Earthtongue yet, since I was saving for Trash TV today

 

[Toma]

Still plan to check out Quasi and haven't gotten Earthtongue yet, since I was saving for Trash TV today

I'll gift it to you if you want (and still check out Earthtongue and Quasi this month before the voting), pm me your mail address.

 

[More_Badass]

Trash TV - $6.99 (PC)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/343840/

Welcome to the world of Trash TV. Cast away into a recycling center, you play an outdated tube television animated to life with a singular goal – find your remote control and become fully functional again. Navigate through the perilous pathways of the recycling factory, avoid machines set out to flatten and pulverize you into scrap parts, and pick up various weapons of wicked destruction to solve puzzles through explosive solutions and to use against haywire machines.

 

[More_Badass]

Bezier - Free demo, $2.99 (PC)

http://niinegames.itch.io/bezier

Bezier is a dual stick blaster set inside a vast computer built deep underground. The story traces the principal's escape from this "Noah's Ark" gone wrong. A simple shooter on the surface, the deeper narrative pulls in his relationship between evolution and god, family and love. These themes question his motives, force him to confront what is real and lead him to salvation.

Beyond 35000 - Free prototype (PC, Mac, Linux)

http://beyond35000.com

Beyond 35000 is a hyperfuturistic intelligent omnidirectional precision racing game. It is up to 4 players splitscreen but you can also race other player's ghosts online.
The gameplay is a mix of classical racing and free flying. You can navigate space in all 6 degrees of freedom, but staying low and sticking to the ground, walls or ceiling gives you an extra boost to win the race. You can snap your ship to any surface, thus spinning the track around.

 

[Toma]

@Baddy

I'll gift it to you if you want (and still check out Earthtongue and Quasi this month before the voting), pm me your mail address.

Yes/No?

 

[Toma]

Actually, I'll make that offer to a few more people (Maybe the 3 first taking me up on it, minus baddy).

If you buy one of the two games - Earthtongue/ Quasi (3-4$ each), I'll buy the other one for you under the condition that you'll play both of them until the end of the month to give some impressions.

I consider both of those games great examples of what this thread is capable of digging up and want more people to check them out. Fair warning, you might not like them as much as I did, but at the very least I am sure you'll find them interesting and unique. Anyone in?

 

[chadskin]

FutureGrind - PC, Mac, PS4

http://www.futuregrind.net

As the player, you control a futuristic, motorcycle-sized vehicle called a “grinder”. Your grinder has two wheels: one blue, and one red. You have to get from the start of the track to the end in one piece, while scoring the most points possible. Be careful: do NOT let the wrong wheel touch. Your blue wheel can touch blue rails, your red wheel can touch red rails, but touch the wrong rail and you’ll cause a short circuit. Watch out, short circuiting leads to, well, a bit of a mess.

 

[More_Badass]

FutureGrind - PC, Mac, PS4

This looks awesome

 

[chadskin]

This looks awesome

Yeah definitely. Here's one more gif, courtesy of the PS Blog:

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Finished up Hot Tin Roof. Was disappointed it ended up only becoming less focused the further it went on. If anyone's interested I wrote up a full review (and made a video*).

http://steamcommunity.com/id/mrninjasquirrel/recommended/253390?snr=1_5_9__402

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NfK60dM2mc

*I assume it's OK to post videos like this here, but if not let me know.

 

[titch]

Actually, I'll make that offer to a few more people (Maybe the 3 first taking me up on it, minus baddy).

If you buy one of the two games - Earthtongue/ Quasi (3-4$ each), I'll buy the other one for you under the condition that you'll play both of them until the end of the month to give some impressions.

I consider both of those games great examples of what this thread is capable of digging up and want more people to check them out. Fair warning, you might not like them as much as I did, but at the very least I am sure you'll find them interesting and unique. Anyone in?

I'd like to take you up on the offer but I don't think I will be able to commit to enough game time to justify your extra spend.

 

[Toma]

I'd like to take you up on the offer but I don't think I will be able to commit to enough game time to justify your extra spend.

Nah, no need to play them for a million hours. Try both for a while, give some impressions and if you like them put them into your voting list

Let me know via pm which one you want/need gifted and which email address you are using.

 

[More_Badass]

Bionic Bliss - Free (Browser)

http://ludumdare.com/compo/ludum-dare-31/?action=preview&uid=46811

Bionic Bliss is a game about navigating the depressing, absurd and (if you make it) funny world of customer service in the year 2312.
Take the role of Employee 852 as you play through a day in his life. Deal with disgruntled cybernetic-limb-recipients! Will you help them with their problems or treat them as your personal play-things? The choice is yours!

Off-Peak - Free (PC, Mac)

http://cosmoddd.itch.io/off-peak

You're stranded at cathedral-like train station in the near future, searching for a ticket out of town. Explore the secret passageways, interact with strangers, dig for records, and get hypnotized by the soundtrack – a new batch of never-before-heard Archie Pelago tunes

 

[Phawx]

I have an LP of Bionic Bliss available here if anyone wants to see some quick gameplay:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmq5XjX1wjg

 

[Toma]

There came an echo is out, lets see how well that works.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Sea of Solitude - PC

http://seaofsolitude.com/

When humans get too lonely, they turn into monsters.This episodic adventure is about Kay, who turned into a black monster and her journey to find out what happend to her. On her search to change, she soon finds out that her biggest enemy are not the huge monsters that she meets on her way through the Sea of Solitude, but something way more dangerous.

Saw a lot of people tweeting about this today. No idea how far off it is, but loving what I've seen of it.

 

[More_Badass]

Sea of Solitude - PC


Saw a lot of people tweeting about this today. No idea how far off it is, but loving what I've seen of it.

Oh

I want this. Badly

 

[Toma]

Oh boy, I am not sure under which laboratory condition Feep and crew tested There came an echo, but everyone I know has problems with the microphone recognition. Too loud, too quiet, or just the plain voice recognition. It works for me if I artificially put my mic closer to my mouth, and then maybe... works 33-50% of the time, which is kinda stressing.

Will wait for a few patches and see how that improves things, but I really love the voice work in this game, I actually want to play it just for that

Now I need to relax a bit, soooo... Tales of Maj Eyal maybe, or EarthTongue.

 

[More_Badass]

Finally, a project with the possibility of being an indie SotC-like
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46360.0

Super early, but I'll definitely be following its development

 

[Toma]

Finally, an project with the possibility of being an indie SotC-like
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46360.0

Super early, but I'll definitely be following its development

Seems to be more art design than an actual game concept/idea. But funnily enough I was just thinking about SotC style Indies today, really hope we get something along those lines eventually.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Oh boy, I am not sure under which laboratory condition Feep and crew tested There came an echo, but everyone I know has problems with the microphone recognition. Too loud, too quiet, or just the plain voice recognition. It works for me if I artificially put my mic closer to my mouth, and then maybe... works 33-50% of the time, which is kinda stressing.

Will wait for a few patches and see how that improves things, but I really love the voice work in this game, I actually want to play it just for that

Now I need to relax a bit, soooo... Tales of Maj Eyal maybe, or EarthTongue.

Hmm, I didn't have much of any trouble with the voice recognition, nor did a friend of mine who played it before the patch they put out.

 

[Dascu]

Seems to be more art design than an actual game concept/idea. But funnily enough I was just thinking about SotC style Indies today, really hope we get something along those lines eventually.

After the project that is after Malebolgia.

I think I told you guys before. SotC + Silent Hill + Kentucky Route Zero.

 

[timetokill]

Wait, we can't vote for Frozen Cortex? It just released this month and it's fucking great.

 

[Toma]

Wait, we can't vote for Frozen Cortex? It just released this month and it's fucking great.

Games that are released, are posted here and then included in the following month. Real time updating this thread takes too much time due to several reasons and it wouldnt be fair to include some games for 5 and others for 30 days. (Nobody made a post according to the OP guidelines for released games for Frozen Cortex yet btw, so if you want it to be included next month, make a formatted post )

After the project that is after Malebolgia.

I think I told you guys before. SotC + Silent Hill + Kentucky Route Zero.

Yes, you did! But I find it hard these days to get hyped about anything thats further away than 2-4 weeks. I wonder when that changed, when I was a bit younger I could be hyped years in advance. I was hyped for Last Guardian once, now I still really want to play it, but I lost the urge to feel hyped about anything remotely farther away.

Still, get working! ;p

Hmm, I didn't have much of any trouble with the voice recognition, nor did a friend of mine who played it before the patch they put out.

Nice to hear it doesnt seem to be a universal problem at least.

 

[titch]

THERE CAME AN ECHO - $14.99 (WINDOWS)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/319740/

There Came an Echo is a real-time strategy game in which the player assumes command of a small squadron, using an advanced voice recognition system to issue orders. It features a character-driven sci-fi narrative that stars Wil Wheaton, Ashly Burch, Laura Bailey, Yuri Lowenthal, and more!

 

[titch]

FROZEN CORTEX - $24.99 (PC/MAC)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/237350//

A hard-hitting simultaneous-turn-based tactical game from the creators of Frozen Synapse. Defeat your opponent’s plans on a randomly-generated playfield in this brutal futuresport.

 

[Toma]

FROZEN CORTEX - $24.99 (PC/MAC)

Thanks

 

[More_Badass]

Man, it's like indie devs just want to spend my money. So not is The Last Night getting a Kickstarter in March, I learned yesterday that FreezeME is getting one too

 

[More_Badass]

You're never safe

 

[More_Badass]

Wander - ????

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46548.0

Wander is a 2D, low-res Sci-fi cinematic platformer/adventure game that tells the tale of a man named Rook, a greying convict who wakes from cold sleep aboard an orbital prison facility that's crash landed on the ruins of an Earth long since abandoned by humanity. With the guidance of a hacker named Jin, Rook must navigate the station, and struggle to survive against rioting prisoners and the bizarre extradimensional beasts that haunt the dead planet.