You know what I hadn’t done until yesterday? Plugged in my 360 controller into my PC. It’s my wired one so it connects through USB. I wasn’t about to go through the hassle of connecting my wireless controller, though I probably should have. In any case, though, I did this for two reasons: the 3rd person shooter The Last Dance and the survival horror with dynamic narrative in Night of the Cephalopods (although the actual entry to IGF is Cephalopods Co-op Cottage Defence, I’ll explain later). Damn, am I glad I took two seconds to plug that shit in! It felt great playin’ through these excellent IGF submissions via joystick/gamepad (circa 1999 I used my last “joystick” for the PC).

We at DIYgamer are still sifting through the list of IGF submissions. Last year, we began a countdown to the Independent Games Festival. The way this works is easy: we simply select games at random from the lengthy (301 total) list of IGF submissions and discuss what they’re about and how they play. Before starting this I want to emphasize that this is only meant to give you my impressions and perhaps that extra kick to try out some of the IGF submissions, whether they be these or any of the other 301. I assure you, you will discover that there is something unique about each and every game. And hey, if you’re lucky, some of them (like these) are even playable for free! All right, without further ado, here are this week’s picks.

Holy Shit it’s Like Uncharted and Sin City…in Spanish…

Anyhow, this entry is totally worth playing. The demo could barely run on my computer, probably because of the 2 GB Ram requirement (fail) but the graphics and overall feel of the game are worth a shot on a capable system. Plug in that 360 controller because it makes the gameplay flow similarly to Uncharted. What’s really awesome about this game though is its art style. It’s a city atmosphere (Chicago) in the late 1930s and uses a lot of influence that seems to come straight from Sin City. The Last Dance certainly carries the weight of a graphic novel but aspires to play seamlessly as a third person shooter. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it running perfectly on my computer, but again you should truly give it a download at this location and support the boys from Looser Team Estudent UPF.

Night of the Cephalo-huh?

Prepare to get destroyed by “legions of eldtritch octopi.” Night of the Cephalopods is some good-ol’ retro 16-bit fun. It’s the sister (or brother, sibling, whatever) of Canadian Spooky Squid Games’ actual IGF submission, Cephalopods Co-Op Cottage Defence. Since I wasn’t really with anyone who could play the co-op sequence with me, I ended up playing the hilariously narrated Night of the Cephalopods instead. While I still attempted to play the actual IGF entry, I ended up failing miserably. I can’t control both characters at once, it drives me nuts. Cephalopods Co-Op Cottage Defence is based in the same world, however, so it’s not much of a stretch from what the gameplay feels like.

You can go ahead and give it a download right here. Night of the Cephalopods also contains the capability to play with a 360 controller and the experience is optimized with this accessory. I highly suggest trying out both of these titles with the controller.

That’s it for another week of IGF Submission Picks. We’re nearing the end, folks, so get excited for our coverage of the IGF finalists in March. Happy Monday everybody!