Weekly Xbox Indies - 10/24/09
Heads up about this week's update: all games that were 200 MS points have been dropped to 80 MS points. That's only $1! After the jump you'll still find the games that have been updated, but since over 100 games have dropped in price you won't find all of the price changes. For the full list of price changes check out here. But since some awesome games are now much cheaper, after the jump there will be a buyer's guide for the best games that were included in the price drop.
Yay
- Minigolf Mania - 400 MS points. Minigolf Mania is the game I have been secretly dreaming of for a long time. There are plenty of arcade-style golf games, but until new there hasn't really been a good minigolf game, with moving obstacles and winding greens. Minigolf Mania fills this niche with 4 courses that range from the typical windmill holes to ice-covered greens to make the ball skid. In addition to the main golf game there is safari golf, which puts animals on the course that you need to collect before going for the hole. It's an odd diversion, but a fun one none the less. Minigolf Mania is a joy to play, and I highly recommend it to anyone else who has been secretly wishing for a fun game to putt around in.
- Echoes+ - 240 MS points. Echoes+ is what would happen if Asteroids was reborn as a twin-stick shooter with Geometry Wars-esque neon glow. And though it may look like Geometry Wars, Echoes+ surpasses it in just about every way. Asteroids, moons, planets, stars, and black holes fly into the level for you to destroy, crumbling into smaller pieces to be destroyed. Unlike similar games, Echoes+ uses a health bar rather than a 1-hit kill policy, which is much appreciated when hundreds of tiny asteroids are floating around the level. There are a number of gameplay modes such as classic, time attack, survival, and more for unique challenges like dodging meteors and fighting snake-like asteroid belts. On a final note, it's also the sequel to the awesome freeware PC indie game Echoes, so be sure to check that out too.
- Astro Match3 - 240 MS points. Astro Match3 is a fun twist on the typical Bejeweled clone. Whenever 3 or more shapes are matched together the background of those squares changes color, first to red, then blue, then gold. The level is then complete when all squares have been changed to gold. This traditional mode is fun on its own, but there is also an alternate mode that only lets you move the shape from wherever your last selected square was, but that shape can be swapped with any other square on the board. This mode adds a whole different way of strategic thinking that is refreshing from all of the "me too" puzzle games out there.
- Banana Split - 240 MS points. Banana Split is a 2D platformer starring a dapper banana in a top hat. I was sold right there, but it turns out the gameplay is actually good on top of the great concept. The jumping does feel a little heavy at first, but it doesn't take long to get used to it. If you're in the mood for some classic platforming action, then give Banana Split a try.
- Crate Expectations - 240 MS points. Crate Expectations has very high production values with a great visual style crisp, clean graphics. The game is a competitive sliding block puzzle, where
twoup to 4 players try to slide crates into the other player's base. There's a lot of strategy involved since crates can block the opponent's path, or temporary ice blocks can be placed on the level to act as walls. Thankfully there is a single player mode so solo players can still get in on the fun, or practice for multiplayer matches, but the game truly shines in multiplayer where it encapsulates the mantra of "easy to learn, tough to master." - Carcophony - 400 MS points. Carcophony is a puzzle game that has you directing traffic on 5 different city streets. You only actually control the traffic lights at intersections, trying to get all of the cars to where they want to go while trying not to cause major traffic jams. It's highly addicting. It may be priced a bit high, or perhaps I'm just spoiled because I have a similar game on my iPhone that was only $1 (Gridlocked, for those wondering), but regardless of price it's just a well made fun game.
- Pumpkin Chop - 80 MS points. I went into Pumpkin Chop expecting it to be a simple pumpkin "carving" app where you put the equivalent of decals on a picture of a pumpkin. This is not the case. Pumpkin Chop is a very versatile little app that lets you design pretty much any pumpkin design that you can think of. Give it a try, you'll be impressed by all you can do with the simple interface.
Ay?
- Crosstown - 400 MS points. Crosstown is a retro styled game right down to the opening video of a person loading up a mock Commodore 64 disk. The gameplay is addicting, new enemies and gameplay elements are added almost every level, the narration is funny, and overall the game is a lot of fun. I do think that at 400 MS points it's priced a bit above where it should be, but it's definitely worth at least giving the trial version a download.
- Influence - 80 MS points. Influence is a highly original twin-stick shooter. Instead of killing enemies by shooting them, you convert them to your team, and once the entire enemy team has been converted you win the level. It's an excellent concept, and I would love to see it explored more in other games. As you progress you can also upgrade attributes such as your speed, rate of fire, and weapons. There do seem to be some AI issues with your allies still firing at converted enemies or converted enemies still firing at you, but hopefully future updates will fix that.
- Krisotron - 80 MS points. Krisotron is yet another twin-stick shooter. The gameplay hook this time around is ability and weapon upgrades. The game is quite good if you're in the mood for a mindless blast-fest, but there are so many twin-stick shooters already on the 360 that most gamers will probably feel like they've already played this before. If you haven't gotten your shooter fill though, Krisotron is definitely above most of the pack.
- HuntersLunch - 80 MS points. HuntersLunch is a Japanese Sokoban/sliding block puzzgle game. It has an interesting twist with rocky terrain that can only be traveled while in a jeep, but while in the jeep you are unable to move blocks (which seems odd that a jeep is weaker than a person, but it works for gameplay). There are also enemies to avoid, and tools that can be used to dig holes, build bridges, or smash large boulders that come into play in the puzzles. Just be prepared to restart the levels over and over and over again, as there is a lot of trial and error involved.
- Powa Volley - 400 MS points. Powa Volley is a high production value take on the popular slime volleyball web browser game (which has also appeared on the Xbox indie games channel). This version adds some new features, like a cast of well designed characters each with special abilities that can impact gameplay. There is also a collection of mini-games, which it is always nice to see a developer put in the extra effort. Would I pay $5 for it, not likely. But the trial version is fun enough that I could imagine a fair amount of people who would pay.
- Poker Blinds - 240 MS points. Poker Blinds is a poker tournament management application. I'm not an avid poker player, nor do I know anything about how to run a poker tournament, so honestly I can't rate how well it functions.
Nay
- Boring Space Shooter - 80 MS points. Boring Space Shooter is a twin-stick shooter that is anything but accurate to its title. There is a constant stream of enemies coming at you keeping the intensity level high. To help with the overwhelming odds your ship has a time rewinding ability mapped to the A button, as well as time freezing bombs. Unfortunately there are lots of little things that bring the experience down. The hit detection for your ship seems to be some invisible aura around your ship, since I often died only to see that the enemy never touched my ship. There's also the fact that enemies explode into millions of little blue dots that are the same color as your own bullets, making it difficult to aim if you happen to have killed more than 2 enemies in a row. The time abilities help alleviate the on-screen confusion, but they have limited usage, leaving you blind.
- Epiphany in Spaaace! - 80 MS points. I never expected to find a text adventure in the Xbox indie games, but here one is. It tries to be a comedy, but the writing and jokes often fall flat. It pokes fun at Sci-fi archetypes by simply giving you Sci-fi archetypes with a wink as if to say "see, look at this cliché, isn't that hilarious?" Yes, I see it, but just because it is a cliché doesn't mean it's funny, you actually have to do something funny with it.
- yOm - 400 MS points. yOm is a game that seems to draw it's inspiration from Pac Man, but doesn't live up to that inspiration. You control a monster eating different colored clovers while pigs swarm the level trying to kill you. If the pig is the same color as the clovers you are eating then you can eat the pig, but otherwise the pig takes away a life or a large portion of your score. These pigs are also changing color completely randomly, so there is no way to plan a safe route. Sometimes instead of stealing lives or score from you a pig will initiate a minigame to press the prompted button as fast as you can, but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what causes this to occur. There's just too many random elements at work in this game to be any fun.
- LOL Runner - 80 MS points. LOL Runner is a racing game based on pressing buttons as fast as you can. The game will show a button over your character's head and you need to press it as fast as you can followed by whatever the next button above their head is, and so on. Mashing random buttons in random order usually isn't fun, and LOL Runner is no different.
- Speed Factory - 80 MS points. Speed Factory tries to be like Dance Dance Revolution for your thumbs. Buttons come from the middle of the screen and when they reach either the right or left side (depending on which player you are) you have to press them in time with the music. The better one player does, the more the middle bar moves toward the opponent's side of the screen, giving them less time to react to the button presses. It's a great gameplay mechanic, but unfortunately the button presses don't seem to correspond with the music that is playing, which can quickly kill a rhythm game.
- Night of Doom - 80 MS points. Night of Doom is a very basic FPS that has you fighting off zombies. The zombies have to be the least animated reanimated corpses I've ever seen, with a whole zero frames of animation. Presentation aside, the zombies are in far too few a number in far too large an area for any sense of tension to excitement to build from shooting them. Give Night of Doom a pass.
Updated Games
Physics Sandbox
Sol Survivor - added 3 new maps and a number of bug fixes
BounceCrazy
Sudoku X
Meet UR Match
Pastels Squares
Galactic Escape
Minesweeper Mayhem
Price Drop Buyer's Guide - The following games are now 80 MS points.
Light's End
Halfbrick Echoes
Skwug
Maladras
Nebulon
World Revolution
ZP2K9
Scallywags
Spy Chameleon
Dock'em
Rabid Gophers
Writer's Block
Machiavelli's Ascent
Bloc
Lines
NaviFairy
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 24 October 2009
· Comments (2)
Other stuff like this: indie, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, xna
Thanks for the excellent Echoes+ comments. Much appreciated.
Hey, I'm Duncan from Haiku Interactive, and popped by to say ta very much for your comments about Crate Expectations! Really pleased you enjoyed it :)
Also wanted to clarify that it supports up to 4 players (local play including controller share, system link, or online) rather than just the 2 though, in case people read it that way. Hope anyone that likes the sound of it gives it a shot!
Thanks again guys. Keep up the good work; it's really great to have people covering the Indie Games channel like this!