Four men, a sack-full of Boom, a spaceship full of mutant alien beasties and a high-energy chiptune track to keep you moving. What’s not to like? Pineapple Smash Crew – the first game by one-man outfit ‘Rich Make Game!’ (with help from chiptune musician Syphus) – has been one to keep an eye on since it’s debut at the Eurogamer Expo last year, where folks played and enjoyed it a lot. Now it’s out and available to buy from Steam, Desura and other stores – so, the big question: How does it hold up to long-term scrutiny?

Analogue is an anomaly – a glitch in the system. A ‘visual novel’ almost without visuals, or an adventure game without an inventory or an avatar. Putting you in the far-future shoes of a lone researcher sent to the fringes of known space to investigate the circumstances behind a recently-rediscovered Korean colony-ship’s disappearance hundreds of years ago, you’re tasked with interviewing the on-board AI’s and cross-referencing the crew’s logs to unravel the mystery. It’s a fascinating concept, but does it work as well in application as it does on paper?

The first time I played Lunar Flight I spent over half an hour piloting my little lunar capsule head first into the many rocky craters of Earth’s largest, greyest satellite. It was hectic, spiraling lunacy that almost always resulted in some marvelous catastrophe. Mostly this was hilarious and I did at least feel like I was making some minor progress with the controls before I exploded at the end of every adventure into a ball of impossible flames.

[Guest review by Ken Ellis.]

Trapped in a world of music and battles! Do your fingers have the rhythm to dance the dance of DEATH!?

The original Home Sheep Home was a freely available Flash game that gave players a selection of physics-based puzzles to work their way through in the company of a trio of clever cud-chewers. Here, with Home Sheep Home 2, our fluffy friends are back and once again engaging in escapades far beyond the comprehension of any typical farm animal.

RocketCat Games should — by this point — be synonymous with iOS games… excellent iOS games, actually. Everything they have released up until this point has been gold, certified by thousands of gamers and dozens of press and industry figures (IGF anyone?). So why is it so surprising that Mage Gauntlet is their best game thus far? For one thing, it doesn’t involve hooks, although it does involve a very unique (and awesome) gauntlet. For another, it’s much more of an RPG than their earlier titles, which were based around jump/hook/platforming kinds of experiences. Either way, Mage Gauntlet is an absolute must-own on the iOS because it’s pretty much the definitive mobile action-RPG — minus some terrific RPG elements that could have improved the overall experience.

If you played Vlambeer’s Super Crate Box when it first released on PC, you know that it is two things: ridiculously addictive and downright unfairly challenging. Well, I’m happy to say that it seems Halfbot has been able to translate the title over to the iOS. In some cases, though, it’s a bit more difficult and annoying. On the other hand with OpenFeint integration, achievements and unlocks get a lot funner, but on the way to those achievements… I wanted to chuck my phone at the nearest bystander so he could experience at least some of the pain I was experiencing. Yes, it’s fun.

The Indie Fund’s first foray, Q.U.B.E., has been available for purchase for a couple of weeks now from several online outlets. Dominic gave us a quick preview at the time of release but recently – and to coincide with its 6th Jan appearance on Steam – I’ve given myself enough time to play it through for review.

I’m a sucker for games with colorful, vivid artwork, so when I saw LucidDreams’ ‘A Walkabout Journey’, my interest was immediately piqued. Its style is really quite impressive, mixing a dreamlike aesthetic with a somewhat Burton-esque edge.

In the game, you control a rag-tag group of adventurers who must be guided through a variety of the levels. Honestly, I’m not 100% on what they are, and even the app store description calls them ‘mysterious characters’. They look like a bit of an odd cross between scary redheaded children, clowns and those not-at-all-terrifying dolls with button eyes.  While I found the environment beautiful, the characters were more on the off-putting side.

I’m a huge fan of action runner games like Canabalt and Robot Unicorn Attack, where you avoid obstacles as your character runs. It’s so great to run as fast as you can, jumping to avoid doom and getting faster to the point where the you can’t see what’s happening and you start frantically crying as you try to dodge falling debris. Well, the last part is mainly just me I imagine, but I still think running platform games are good fun that most people can enjoy. I don’t get to see enough 3D ones, though. I also don’t get to see enough where you’re a massive mountain of a man who looks a bit like ‘The Thing’s’ less rational cousin and you smash right through rocks and barrels. Definitely a nice touch.