Round-up is back with so much good stuff to share from all across the indie line. Popular indie titles being picked apart, notable indie developers talking about anything/everything and of course, lots of free games to discover and play. Thank you, come again.

A Tantalizing Session With The Witness, The Next Game From The Creator Of Braid (Stephen Totilo/Kotaku)
“Unattended, unlabeled, unmarked… the new game from the small team led by Braid creator Jonathon Blow was stealthily present at the Penny Arcade Expo this weekend. The adventurous — and those who recognized Blow standing off in the shadows — got a delightful surprise.”

The Weekly Report #1 (Paul Eres/TIGSource)
“This is a new feature where I’ll be covering ten notable releases and newly posted games in production of the past week. A couple of people suggested I call this “The Eres Report” but it’s really just as much Ortoslon, who suggested most of the games here. These are all good games so try them all out, the numbering is just in the order of my preference. I’ll also include a weekly classic (2+ years old) game that was never covered in TIGSource.”

The Arena Shooter Tribute (Pixel Prospector)
“This Video showcases 6 sec clips of 93 enjoyable Arena Shooters that all happen to be free…Lean back, enjoy the show and then have a good time by checking them out afterwards.”

In(die)credible: Best New Indie Games You Haven’t Played (Tim W/IndieGames)
“At PAX 2010 there was an awesome panel that highlights a couple of indie games which you may not know about. This video features indie superstars like Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany), Eitan Glinert (Fire Hose Games), Nathan Vella (Capybara Games), Dylan Fitterer (developer of Audiosurf) and Andy Schatz (Monaco) recommending some of their favorite indie games to the audience.”

Interview: Carpe Fulgur’s Dice Talks Recettear, Indie Charm (Kyle Orland/GameSetWatch)
“New import publisher Carpe Fulgur has brought quirky Japanese ‘item shop’ indie RPG, Recettear, to PC digital distribution services, and talks to our own Kyle Orland about localization challenges and plans.”

In-Depth: RedLynx On Life After Trials HD (Simon Parkin/GamerBytes)
“Trials HD developer RedLynx tells our own Simon Parkin about MotoHeroz, the studio’s recently-announced stunt racing game for WiiWare that “has as much in common with Super Mario Brothers as it does Trials HD.”"

Review: Tidalis (James Murff/Big Download)
“The folks at Arcen Games have been hard at work continuing AI War. Once of the sleeper hits of last year, it’s a stellar strategy title that builds design around cheating AI, as opposed to simply having it there. However, they are not just working on AI War’s expansions. Recently, they released a new game that is far outside of what one would expect from an indie strategy darling. The game is Tidalis, and it is a casual puzzle game in the same rough ballpark as Bejeweled. Tidalis is not just for casual players, however. Under its simple match-3 exterior hides a game of incredible depth and complexity that will intrigue players from every camp.”

Indie Game Challenge Deadline (IndieDB)
“Only 1 month remains to enter the indie game challenge and have a chance to win over 200,000$ in prizes. On October 1 2010, entries will close to the 2010 indie game challenge. With two prizes worth $100,000 each it is well worth your time to have a crack. Just ask last years winners COGS how it worked out for them.”

Interview: In Conversation With Rudolf Kremers – Co-Creator Of Eufloria (Marty Mulrooney/AMO)
“Following on from our recent review of Eufloria (Version 2.05) on PC, AMO caught up with co-creator Rudolf Kremers to discuss the future of his studio Omni Systems Limited, Eufloria’s pending PSN reboot in 2011 and life as a full-time indie game developer.”

2010 IGC Winner Cogs has been given a 50% discount as part of GamersGate’s Game of the Week promotion.

Lazy 8 Studios steampunk puzzler just recently won the professional entry grand prize in GameStop’s Indie Game Challenge, netting the independent developer a cool $100k in the process.

It appears the love is being spread back, as the $10 game runs only $5 through the weekend. If you’ve yet to check the game out, a demo is available here. Sale ends Monday, March 15.

Two games that sound like they belong inside a watch took home the biggest prizes at this year’s Indie Game Challenge. The winners were announced last night at D.I.C.E. Summit. Lazy 8 Studios took the professional grand prize for Cogs, and five Digipen students won the non-professional award for Gear. Both prizes are worth $100,000, but Level 8 also gathered awards for achievement in art direction and gameplay, which are worth another $2,500 each.

The other winner of the night was Nimbly Games. The team won the technical achievement and gamer’s choice awards, worth $12,500 together, for Altitude.

There is still one other Indie Game Challenge prize that hasn’t been announced yet. One of the finalists will receive an SMU scholarship, but that won’t be revealed until the spring. Also, the winner of th Gamer’s Choice Award sweepstakes won’t be announced until March 19.

Learn more about the finalists that didn’t win here.

[via Indie Game Challenge]

The finalists for the Indie Game Challenge competition have been revealed, with a dozen games in all competing for more than $350,000 in cash and scholarships in this year’s AIAS, Guildhall at SMU and GameStop-sponsored event.

The winners will be announced during the awards presentation ceremony following the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas later this month on Friday, February 19th. The Gamer’s Choice Award which includes a cool $10,000 cash prize, can now be voted on by the public. No registration is required to cast a vote, but if want to participate in the sweepstakes for an all-expense paid trip to the event you’ll need to send a mail entry. You can read more on that here.

The selected finalists follow:

Non-Professional Category

• Climb to the Top of the Castle (TwO Bros. Games)
• Dreamside Maroon (Terraced)
• Galactic Arms Race (Galactic Arms Race)
• Gear (Team 3)
• Waker (Poof Productions)
• zeit² (Brightside Games)

Professional Category

• Aaaaa! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity (Dejobaan Games, LLC)
• Altitude (Nimbly Games)
• Cogs (Lazy 8 Studios)
• Fieldrunners (Subatomic Studios)
• Miegakure (Marc ten Bosch)
• Vessel (Strange Loop Games)

Are you an indie game developer who believes they may be one of two winners who will be lucky enough to receive $100,000? As if that’s not enough, do you want to be one of the 12 finalists who will have “face-to-face meetings with executives from AAA publishers including Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Microsoft, NAMCO/Bandai, THQ and Ubisoft?” Then what are you waiting for?!

The deadline for the Indie Game Challenge (IGC) is October 31st. That means submissions must be post-marked by October 31st in order to be considered part of the competition. You can find the complete set of detailed rules at the Indie Game Challenge website. In the meantime, here are some quick tips taken straight from IGC.