Sometimes, for DIYgamer, I step outside of my comfort zone and tackle games I normally wouldn’t play. You see, for as much as an indie fan as I am, puzzle games haven’t ever been my favorite by any means. I have always been more of an RPG/action/adventure kind of guy. I also love indie platformers, but sometimes when the going gets tough, I get the fuck out. I know I’m not the only one. After all, when there are so many games out there vying for our attention, getting frustrated is not exactly the best gameplay mechanic (although I suppose Team Meat would disagree with me on that one).

Likewise, I’ve never been a fan of puzzles in general. Jigsaw? Eh. Rubik’s Cube? Nah. Crossword? Interesting, but no. I had never even heard of Tangram puzzles, which are ancient Chinese dissection puzzles involving seven flat shapes referred to as “tans.” When I initially downloaded LetsTans on my iPhone, you can imagine how doomed I felt and, to be honest…still do. However, when thought of in terms of a game, Grabarchuk’s puzzler can get as addictive as any other puzzle game such as Tetris or Sudoku or any match-3 puzzler. But is LetsTans welcoming enough to any gamer or does it simply appeal to a very specific type of gaming fan?

Gameplay

The first thing to note is that LetsTans contains a hefty load of puzzles. Originally, the game came with 210 total. This was a result of having 70 shapes through three different game modes: “Classic,” “Replica,” and “Arcade.” But the latest update of the game provides a fourth game mode filled with 140 puzzles of its own, “Checkered” mode. Unfortunately, the “Checkered” game mode costs $0.99 to download as Grabarchuk has chosen to use FreeAppADay.com as a marketing agent. While their decision to do so is actually not a bad idea, the game itself should be worth $0.99 rather than the update alone. Fortunately, however, if you’re trying to decide whether to purchase the downloadable content, you can try it out for free. Anyhow, the point is, with the downloadable content you’ve got yourself a hefty 350 puzzles to take care of.

Now, this may sound like a lot to any gamer not used to puzzle games, especially Tangrams. But when you start playing, you’ll understand that the stages pass by quickly. LetsTans isn’t exactly the easiest game as the puzzles will have you…well…puzzled. However, Grabarchuk remedies the situation by providing you with a “hint” feature (which can be preset to help you as much as you deem acceptable, e.g. 1-7 hints). If you’re generally adept at puzzle games, you should be able to breeze through LetsTans in a couple of hours. But for gamers like me, the puzzles take a bit more time and planning–especially considering the different game modes. “Classic” is the ideal Tangram puzzle as you fit seven tans together to complete the Tangram shape. In “Replica” mode, the player must filter through the screen full of tans and tap out the shapes that form the shape desired. Finally, the “Arcade” mode requires players to drag the shaped mask and fully capture seven different color tans. The downloadable mode, “Checkered” mode, challenges players to do the same thing they would do in “Classic” mode, but with checkered tans.

There’s a couple of negative things that can be said about the gameplay, but they’re mainly affected by your point of view on this type of game. If you’re a puzzle lover, especially a Tangram lover, the only issue you’ll have is that the game contains the same 70 shapes through the first three game modes. If you’re not a puzzle lover, you’ll be frustrated by the gameplay at times when you can’t figure it out. This can easily be fixed by the “hint” function, but sometimes gamers grow impatient very easily. App lovers may also be particularly scrutinous with the way the game sneaks the paid “Checkered” mode in there, but this shouldn’t be too big of a problem considering the first 210 puzzles that are available.

Style

While LetsTans’s style is very straightforward, its presentation is more than sufficiently done. The app flows very smoothly and has rarely glitched since the 2.0 update. The user interface is extremely responsive and the colors are bright and beautiful.

Story

None.

Everything Else

The game’s sound effects and music are nothing extraordinary but they really don’t have to be. For a puzzle game, LetsTans is one of the best options on the iPhone/iPod Touch. Its presentation is user-friendly and it supplies an ample amount of content for puzzle-lovers and newcomers alike.

[DIYgamer obtained a free code for the game for review purposes. This in no way affected the outcome of the review.]

OK, so there are plenty of reasons to want an iPod Touch. A music player that browses the Web and has access to the App Store without paying an absurd monthly fee for a phone and data plan? What’s not to like. But as far as games go, nothing really drew me in.

I felt the same way about the PS3. It would be great to have one, sure, but I was happy enough living without one. Then a game came out that seemed to be made just for me. On the PS3, that game was Demon’s Souls. On the PSP, that game was Half-Minute Hero. On the iPod Touch, that game is Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.

It’s not the first game to catch my eye. Once mine arrives, I’ll definitely pick up Hook Champ, Plants vs. Zombies and Canabalt. But they didn’t sway me like the videos for s:s&s ep.

Namely the second, vertical video, which shows the “sword” half of the game. It’s like it was pulled directly from Quest for Glory. If the game were just wonderful pixel art and a passing resemblance to a favorite game of my youth, I’d probably still be on the fence. But with part of the development in the hands of Capybara games, well, I guess Amazon is going to have a package for me soon.

Here are the two videos.

[via TIGSource]

Weekly Metroidvania is a once a week editorial that singles out an indie Metroidvania title for editorial comment and recommendation. Sometimes the title may be good, bad, or somewhere in between. This editorial examines them all and makes suggestions based on the author’s findings. Look for this editorial once a week, usually on the weekends.

Since this is the first “Weekly Metroidvania” editorial, I feel like I should elaborate a bit more and just what this is and who I am. As many of our regular readers may know I’ve been blogging here for the past half-year. In that time I’ve been able to play an innumerable amount of indie games, many of which happen to be Metroidvanias, a popular genre of indie developers.

Now I’ve been a fan of Metroidvanias since I was 6 years old when I was able to, successfully, beat Metroid (NES) on my own. Don’t ask me how I did that when I was 6 because, a few months ago when I attempted that feat again I found it to be quite difficult, eventually giving up and moving on to a different game altogether. Regardless, since that very young age I’ve been addicted to the genre.

Today, indie gaming has allowed me to experience similar games a hundred times over as indie developers, big and small, pay homage to the genre we all know and love called Metroidvanias.

So, it is with great delight, that I present my first Metroidvania editorial: An Untitled Story.

Released in 2007, allow me to start by saying that An Untitled Story is a great Metroidvania. One of the best I’ve ever played, actually.

The game starts out with you as an egg, in a nest. It’s from here that you are able to roll out of your nest and begin your journey. Why are you on a journey? Nobody knows, and it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the fact that there is a huge world waiting for you to explore.

Now when I say explore, I truly mean explore. There are a few Metridvanias out there that don’t rely on that pinnacle aspect of the genre so much, while relying on other stuff (such as item gathering, or multi-paths) much more. An Untitled Story does rely on it. If you can’t get someplace yet, turn arund and head in the other direction. Chances are there is some door, corridor, or path that you missed along the way.

Of course, what really makes An Untitled Story so unique isn’t the fact that it has solid exploration. It’s that it does all this stuff under the very simplistic, yet incredibly charming art style. The game looks as though it was made with Windows Paint, but with an almost child-like wonderment that really makes the game feel better than even the most graphically intense games out there.

Additionally, the game’s own music is well served throughout the title, offering such highs and lows when fighting a boss, or traveling throughout an otherwise desolate area. There’s little not to enjoy about the catchy little tunes that are sure to bore themselves into your head after only a few minutes of playtime. But don’t worry! The only side affect you’ll have to worry about is smiling all day long from these happy little tunes.

I know it must sound like I’m just heaping tons and tons of praise upon this game when, in reality, nothing can be this good, but, to be absolutely honest, there wasn’t a single thing about this game I didn’t enjoy. The boss battles are unique from each other and don’t always involve “jumping” on their head — like some other popular platformers we all know of — to do damage. The difficulty can be a pain in the ass, but, luckily, the game ships with five different levels for you to choose should you deem one be too hard. And, to top it all off, the game comes with native support for a gamepad (I used an Xbox 360 controller) which means you can, literally, sit back and enjoy the game without have to hunch over a keyboard.

So, for anybody… and I do mean anybody… who is bored this fine Sunday afternoon and is looking for a new game to idly pass the time, this is what you’re looking for. Don’t blow your money on some big name title just cause you are bored. Download this thing right now. It’s free and it’s 100% worth your time.

[Download via MattMakesGames]

Do you know of a great Metroidvania title that you want me to spotlight in this series? Let me know! Drop me a line in the comments, or you can find my email address in the sidebar just to the right of this post.

OK, so here’s the deal guys, coming out in August is a new indie survival horror game called Amnesia: The Dark Descent, by Frictional Games. We briefly covered the technology behind the game’s amazing graphics a few months ago. Needless to say the game’s level of detail and lighting are amazing, especially for an indie game, and even in the trailer it’s pretty clear that this game will have a seriously frightening atmosphere.

But here’s where things get interesting. Frictional Games is promising that if they can get a mere 2000 pre-orders via their site, by the end of May (May 31st to be exact) they will add additional content to the game prior to release in the form of a commentary track.

This doesn’t mean they’ll give you a code to unlock the commentary, or that pre-orderers will gain exclusive access to it. This is a straight up deal whereby, if the develpers make enough money by the end of May they’ll be able to reinvest that money into making their game even more badass than it already looks to be. This is the kind of “pre-order investment” I can get behind, one where the developer is, literally, promising to reward gamers who trust them enough to make a great game.

Anyways, they must meet their goal by the end of May or else there won’t be enough time to implement afterwards. And, in order to get you blood flowing in anticipation, I’ve embedded a nice little trailer just below. Watch it, feel it, pre-order the damn game.

[pre-order via Amnesia]

Elder Games has released the latest version of its distant-future RTS with RPG elements Arcan, now available for download. Arcan takes place at some point far into the future where human numbers have been reduced to the hundreds, though no one readily understands what happened to make it so. To protect themselves from the barren wastelands that is now Earth, the surviving humans construct Arcan Central to hide from the outer world. Inside The Council, an organization that ensures the survival of the structure and its inhabitants, is formed.

This is where you come in. As The Controller, elected by the people, you must prevent any of the council members from gaining too much power by commanding a Droid army constructed by the very Council that is to be contained by it. A very interesting and creative setting that you’re now up to speed with.

The update brings the game to v1.6.1.7 brining a variety of balance changes and bug fixes to the title. Both the full client and the patch are available now via ModDB, the title is free to download so have it Hoss.

From the change log:

Arcan v 1.6.1.7 – Release

BUG FIXES:

- Separated Arcan into two exe files: an Arcan_Eng.exe and an Arcan_Hun.exe

- Running Arcan_Eng.exe will no longer display “characters are too large or too many” if the user doesn’t have the full Arial character set

- The Droid Warrior’s Regeneration ability now works even if the Droid Warrior is owned by Player 1

- The Nova attack graphics will now properly appear when using it with a Droid Thane

BALANCE CHANGES:

- The Droid Warrior’s initial attack damage was reduced from 15 to 12.

- The Droid Warrior’s initial hit point count was reduced from 220 to 195.

- The Droid Warrior’s initial shield was increased from 50 to 65.

- The Droid Warrior’s regeneration levels were increased from 5%/10%/15%/20% to 10%/20%/30%/50%

- The Droid Warrior’s shield regeneration was increased from 5% to 25%

- The Serpent Watcher’s healing wave power was increased from 10 to 30

- The Serpent Watcher’s initial hit point count was decreased from 480 to 455

- The Droid Destroyer’s initial shield was decreased from 550 to 425

- The Droid Destroyer’s initial attack damage was increased from 40 to 45

- The damage of the Nova ability was increased from 10/20/30/40 to 15/30/45/60

- The Droid Lord’s initial hit point count was decreased from 350 to 325

- The Droid Lord’s initial shield was increased from 50 to 75

- Campaign level 3 became easier

Over a year after its initial release, developer Elecorn has released a free update for action title Caster bringing with it a new episode for the game packed with all the goodies.

Episode 2 brings a new playable female Caster, seven new missions, new gameplay mechanics, new music and art, performance improvements, visual effects enhancements and more. The update also brings built in support for community mods with a level editor and other mod tools now at players’ full disposal.

The title is available now out now for $5 and is available via Steam and the dev’s site for the game. A demo of the title can also be had from the site. From the change log:

Caster Episode 2

• New playable girl Caster
• 7 new missions (22 total now)
• New game play mechanics
• New music from Monte Emerson
• Built in support for community mods
• Level editor and other mod tools
• Better controller customization
• New art
• Updated play balancing
• Visual effects enhancements
• Performance improvements

I’m kind of surprised I didn’t see this posted anywhere else. Gaming awards are usually an awkward affair, and this year’s IGF Awards weren’t any different (I think costik overreacted, but he isn’t wrong), but they held my attention longer than this year’s Oscars.

If you just want a list of the awards, they’re available all over the place, but this way you get to see , It’s worth watching just for Cactus’ acceptance speech.

The event was streamed live, but if you missed that, the ceremony is embedded below. You can also watch it at its home, Gamespot.

[via Play This Thing]

Sometimes, it’s just bad luck. One day, you write about how the indie games you hear about are usually good, the next you’re handed a review code to game that makes you cringe a bit.

Canno-Blast is a game for Xbox Live Indie Games that developer Rascal Haven says is a mix of “Crossfire and Hungry Hungry Hippos, but with a twist.” And I suppose that’s accurate enough. It’s a game designed for four players, like Hungry Hungry Hippos. And you’re basically shooting virtual marbles at a spiked ball, which is a bit like what you did in Crossfire.

And to be honest, the game works as a concept. But it’s ugly to look at and it stumbles in execution.

Gameplay

Four players, either human- or computer- controlled, man four turrets around an arena with one to four spiked balls in the center. Each turret shoots small marbles (I assume they’re actually cannon balls) that are the same color as the turret. When the marbles hit a ball, the ball takes on the color of the marble. When spiked balls hit turrets of different colors, the turret takes damage. The goal is to knock out the other players’ turrets.

In the single player mode, you play four rounds. The first game has one spiked ball, and another one is added each round. I hated the first round. The computer across the arena from me is always the first to go, and the one to my left usually follows. Then, unless the difficulty is set to easy, the ball remains in the upper left quadrant of the arena for minutes on end, until a powerup or randomness takes one of the remaining players out.

That’s because there’s no real strategy to use. Hitting the ball with a marble always has the same effect, changing the color and moving it forward a little bit. Hitting it on the edge doesn’t give the ball a little spin. You can ricochet the marbles off of the arena walls, but then they don’t have enough power to get the ball out of the corner.

The fourth round wasn’t much better. With four balls in play, it was hard to have any kind of strategy, but at least the rounds were over quickly.

The second and third rounds are a little more interesting, and I feel like I have some control. Things aren’t as hectic as the four-ball round, so I could split my fire between the balls. But really, the single-player mode is a pretty big letdown.

The multiplayer mode has a lot more promise. This is, after all, a very simple game that anyone should be able to pick up. Still, because it’s an ugly game, I had a hard time convincing anyone to play with me. I finally got my roommate to play, but he quit after a few rounds.

One big problem we had: Each player gets to pick an upgrade, but you only start with one. By the time my roommate joined, I could choose from a double shield, rapid fire and a more powerful shot. But all he could pick was a single shield. And it takes a long time to earn points to buy the upgrades. To ask one player to unlock all the game has to offer is annoying, but standard practice. To ask the other three players to spend an hour on single player to be on the same playing field kills the game’s casual appeal.

Also, I kept playing in multiplayer mode after my roommate left and I don’t think the rounds ever end. Certaintly not after the seven or eight rounds I lasted. The multiplayer mode randomizes every round, choosing one to four balls and picking between the three arena shapes: a square, an octagon and a circle, which do change the mechanics slightly, but not enough for it to make a huge difference in how you play the game.

In both modes there are powerups that do things like give you a triple shot, or change the other players’ marbles to your color or extra health. They’re helpful, but they’re usually over before you even realize you’ve picked them up. And there are three difficulties, but the only thing that seemed to change was the speed the computer-controlled players could fire at.

Canno-Blast also does a lot of inexplicable things. For instance, sometimes the ball leaves the court, as if dragged off by a tractor beam. It could do this when the ball was against the wall or in the middle of the arena. Also, the game allows you to assign what button you use to fire, but when the only means of input are the analog stick and the fire button, why not just make every button a fire button?

Style

Well, one thing you can say about Canno-Blast is that it has a theme song. The audacity of simply thinking their game was worthy of one earned the developers quite a bit of respect in my book.

Unfortunatly, they would have been better off spending the money on an artist, because the game doesn’t look very good. It’s a mess of bright solid colors, with little thought for how one color compliments another. The combinations that show up on screen are bland at best and ugly most of the time.

It also randomizes the color of the computer players, so sometimes you end up with one player playing orange, and another playing a slightly redder orange.

Story

It’s an arcade game, so it doesn’t have one. At least, I don’t think it does. It’s possible there’s a story in the theme song, but I didn’t spend much time figuring out the lyrics.

Everything Else

I think this game came out before it was ready. The concept is great, but the execution needs a lot of work, and the team needs desperately to hire an artist.

However, it costs just 80 MS points, and there is a unique game under the harsh exterior.

[DIYgamer.com was provided with a copy of this game for review purposes. This in no way affected the outcome of the review.]

Binary Tweed’s XBLIG Clover has received its updated (and upgraded) PC release and is now available for purchase from GamersGate. An exciting announcement, especially for those who had a curious experience with the title on the Xbox 360.

If there were any complaints before with the game, it would have to do with the lack of length. I had such a great time enjoying the item-combination adventure game that when it came to a halt so suddenly, I was left wanting more. Apparently, my prayers have been heard as the PC release carries 50% more puzzles, new characters, locations, a remastered soundtrack and…multiple endings! *Girlish Squeal*

Clover is available now for $10, A demo is also available, if it’s anything like the 360 demo you just have a time limit and are allowed to explore as far as you can before its reached. I’ve just now come to the decision that I’ll be reviewing the PC version as well, so look for that.

From the GG page description:

Clover: A Curious Tale is a new and enhanced version of the political platform puzzler. Rendered in hand-crafted watercolour, featuring a remastered piano score and laced with political themes, Clover: A Curious Tale sees players solve mysteries through both exploration and talking to a range of fully voice-acted characters.

Set in a medieval world ruled by a monarchy with a welfare state, Clover: A Curious Tale tells the story of Sam, an adolescent teenager. Recently orphaned after his lone parent mother died in a shock attack on the proud nation of Sanha, Clover: A Curious Tale follows Sam’s journey of discovery as he explores the land and events surrounding his loss. If he can outsmart the mysteries before him, Sam may have his beliefs challenged by what he discovers.

Abandoning traditional gaming conventions like ‘lives’ and ‘health’, Clover: A Curious Tale offers a thoroughly modern take on adventuring classics like Fantastic Dizzy and Maniac

Mansion. Hand-painted watercolour artwork, a melancholy piano soundtrack and a plethora of ambient effects combine to create a relaxing and immersive experience that can be taken at the player’s pace whilst still challenging their puzzle-solving skills.

Game Features

• Multiple endings, playable epilogue and side quest
• Hundreds of megabytes of hand-painted watercolour artwork
• Unlockable artwork gallery
• Remastered piano soundtrack
• Over 8,000 words of dialogue
• New characters, new locations and 50% more puzzles than the original version

Since it’s original announcement, Super Meat Boy has found its way through both the mainstream and independent press. It’s existence is no secret and its original version can be player for free, right now. But the new version, the one worthy of the Super tag, is still a few months from release.

I tried my hand at the game on the IGF show floor and daresay it’s exactly what I expected, which is a good thing. For those unaware, it’s a punishing platform game in which you control a small blob of meat as he runs around different worlds trying (and failing) not to die. His objective in each level, ranging from the simple jump up a few walls to the escape from countless giant saw blades trying to kill you, is to save Bandage Girl, his muse to put up with this punishment. But at each rescue, the evil Dr. Fetus (a fetus in a jar atop a body, with a monocle on the jar) snatches away Meat Boy’s prize into a new, and more insane level of grueling action.

I only played through a few of the early levels, not much standing in my way outside of a few misplaced jumps slicing me into pieces. But later on I watched as Derek Yu battled through some of the most difficult levels in the game, to the point where Edmund asked him to stop so as not to let the crowd think the game was impossible. The variety of levels are huge. From silhouetted stylish maps, to mountains of deadly salt, Meat Boy has a lot to overcome in his journey.

While the game is polished and solid in its current state, there is still a lot of work to be done. Edmund said that they have a ton of content yet to put into the game and multiplayer to implement for XBLA. The multiplayer will entail four to eight players racing ghosts of each other through a series of levels voted on by the competing group. I hadn’t imagined multiplayer in the game, as it’s generally just a battle between player and the player deciding the jump out their window in a dramatic fashion. But the idea of a race seems like it could prove solid and create some insane speed runs that will inevitably wind up on the internet for less skilled players to gawk at.

While XBLA is getting an earlier release, Edmund said that the window between platform releases will be in the same month. Good news for those still aiming to get the Wii version. The game is still scheduled for a release this summer.