I know it may seem odd that we are highlighting this game given all its recent media attention and all, but I don’t really care. There are few games on the Xbox Live Indie Games service that I can point to and say “that game deserves your money,” without any doubt in my mind. It just so happens that Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess is absolutely one of those games.

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess has a pretty simple concept and it’s one I’m sure you’ve at the very least seen before. It’s a vertical platformer which entails you to continually jump up a level via platforms. You have the use of a double jump and a wall grab to make your life a little easier in this regard.

The purpose of the game is to take out each subsequent level’s monster as he flees from you, The Duke, in terror (since you’re such a badass). He is fleeing from you because he (probably) stole your princess.

At the same time as he is fleeing however you’re also attempting to do two things: not fall down and die, and keep your combo going. Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess comes with a fun way to extend the life of the game. It’s a combo system where by you’ll need to continually jump on a new platform to keep your combo going. It’s challenging enough so that you’re not going to master it instantly, but also simple and fun enough that you’ll probably replay the levels a few times each just to see how many you can get.

Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess is available on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel for a scant 240 MS points. Now, I know that’s 160 more MS points than your used to, but believe me it’s worth it. You’ve probably paid three times as much for an XBLA game that didn’t deserve it…

[Buy/Try]

[This is not a review. This is a "first impressions" piece based on less than an hour of gameplay.]

Screenshots