Indie sales are plentiful this weekend, with seemingly every digital distributor getting involved. Let’s get right into it!

First some deals that deserve individual highlighting:

Though technically not a sale, Totally Tiny Arcade! is free until July 26. Go here for more info. Also remember that GamersGate has had a week long sale on good indie platformers, RPG’s and adventure games through Sunday as well. Oh, and as I mentioned in a previous post Eufloria is 50% off into the week.

Multiple outlets have the following titles on sale for half off, you get to choose a game and a vendor (this is the format we’re pulling this week so go with it):

Mount & Blade for $15 — Steam — D2D — Impulse – GamersGate –

Mount & Blade: Warband for $15 — Steam — D2D – Impulse — GamersGate –

Mount & Blade Bundle — D2D ($30) — GamersGate ($27.50) –

Fort Zombie for $5 — D2D — Impulse — GamersGate –

Penumbra Black Plague — D2D ($6.50) — GamersGate ($5) –

Penumbra Black Plague Gold Edition for $7.50 — Steam – GamersGate –

Penumbra Requiem for $5 – D2D – GamersGate –

Penumbra Collection for $10 — Steam — D2D –

Sword of the Stars for $5 — D2D — GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars: Argos Naval Yard for $4.50 — Steam — D2D — Impulse – GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood for $7.50 — GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars: A Murder of Crows for $10 — GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars Complete Collection for $15 — Steam — D2D — Impulse – GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars Ultimate Collection for $15 — D2D — GamersGate –

Sword of the Stars Ultimate Naval Yard Edition for $19.50 — D2D –

Other sales include:

Gratuitous Space Battles Complete for $26 (normally $41) and Quantz $6 (normally $10) on Impulse.

Just dropping by quickly to let you know what’s going on with those discounted indie games this weekend. The major digital distributors provide the lion share of the oomph today, but if you know of any developers running their own personal sales, please comment or email them over so we can add them to the list. Oh, and on that note: remember that Jason Rohrer’s pay pretty much what you want sale for Sleep is Death is still going on.

On Steam, Altitude, Killing Floor and Madballs are all 50% off to celebrate Mac releases (you can play the games on either OS.) Quantz is still $3, Flotilla is a dollar off, and a ton of RailWorks DLC is on sale at a variety of discounted prices.

Impulse has a nice discount for the just released RPG Eschalon: Book II that I touched on here, taking the $25 title down to just $18.72 through the weekend, Bob Came in Pieces is 50% off at $5.

GamersGate has the same 50% off deal for Altitude and 25% off of Max and the Magic Marker throwing in both PC and Mac copies of the games. Puzzle Bots gets a slight pre-order discount as well.

Indie Sales, for the people. As we’ve been forced to in the past (fortunately!), we must highlight the stand-out of the group: Sleep is Death, two copies, pay what you want (min. $1.75). This is a whole different kind of experience that is at least worth what you’re willing to contribute to give it a try, it’s not for everybody but give it a chance to sweep you away with the possibilities.

While far and away the best sale out there, SiD is not the only offering of Indie discounted goodness this weekend; oh no, not by a long shot. Oh and remember, if for whatever odd reason you haven’t come across and donated to The Humble Indie Bundle, it’s still on until midday tomorrow, Saturday May 15. The rest of the offerings from across the web:

Sales

AI War: Fleet Command, its expansion The Zenith Remnant, and an already discounted bundle of both have been slashed in half on GamersGate as part of the distributor’s Space Battle Week promotion.

Come to think of it Gratuitous Space Battles (along with its ‘Complete’ bundle), Flotilla, Armada 2526, Light of Altair and Evochron Legends and Renegades are all half-off with the promotion with other smaller discounts offered up as well, check out the full list here through the weekend.

Bob Came in Pieces is 50% off on Direct2Drive, bringing the ship rebuilder down to just $4.95 as the distributor’s Deal of the Week. The sale runs through May 21, check out Peter E’s review.

Both Steam and D2D are offering Torchlight for 50% off. Note that’s $10, not the $5 which the game has been discounted to before and probably will again.

Gamerizon’s puzzle game Quantz is 70% off on Steam, bringing the title down to just $3, you can check out my review if you wish.

Steam is offering The RailWorks Glasgow Airport Rail Link add-on at $10 off its standard $40 price (25% off), with those who have purchased the Class 380 add-on for the train sim title receiving a much better discount at nearly 75% off.

Mode 7′s (The guy’s working on the much anticipated Frozen Synapse) sword-fighting multiplayer title Determinance is $11 down for $17 on Impulse.

Pre-Order Discounts

Frictional Games’ upcoming survival horror Amnesia: The Dark Descent is being offered for 20% off on GamersGate for those who purchase before its release on August 15. The title will run $20 but can be had for both Mac and PC for just $16 prior to launch.

Other Offers

Impulse is offering up Quantum Flux Games’ Make Something Unreal Contest stand-out Prometheus for free, as in no munnies.

Vote for Your Favorite Indie Game!

We here at DIYgamer.com have started our very own bracket-styled tournament to find the best indie game, as voted on by you, the gamers. So head on over to our tournament page to vote on your favorite games!

The Tournament
Cave Story vs. Torchlight
Braid vs. Runman: Race Around the World
Spelunky vs. 5 Days a Stranger
Dwarf Fortress vs. Trine

What do you look for in your puzzle game? With the match-3 genre overcrowded as it is, those looking to create a title like Quantz certainly must keep this, along with a few other items, in mind.

The dilemma lies in bringing original components into the game while not disrupting the already tried-and-true addictive gameplay of the genre’s best. While there’s certainly more of a clear cut formula for success in the type, nowadays you need originality; something new to grab the audience’s eye.

With those thoughts, I went into reviewing Gamerizon’s title looking to answer two questions: What does Quantz bring to an already full table, and is it enough to stand out from the crowd?

Gameplay

In Quantz, you control a six-sided magnetic box covered in colored marbles. You can choose to play Strategy, Action or Puzzle mode; each have their own intricacies, but the goal is to match as many marbles of the same color together as possible to set off chain reactions for extra clearance and points. This is done by reacting to the marbles that are launched at the covered cube. The 3D aspect comes into play seamlessly, as you must rotate the cube in an effort to have the falling marbles land in their corresponding color clusters.

Speed counts, but if you’re in too big of a hurry when rotating the cube, the marbles will be thrown out of wack. Though gravity is centered to the cube, they can jump off and slip and all over the place. This immediately brought up memories of the frustrations that came with attempting to solve a Rubik’s Cube. Though let’s be honest, I’ve never thrown any physical iteration of this game out of my window before.

Fast mouse movements that cause the marbles to shuffle aren’t just a determent however. A well-timed shuffle can get you through the particular puzzle you’re on faster than if you stood pat with where the marbles started. Its a nice feature that can be completely controlled and implemented by the player where they see fit.

The controls only require you to use the mouse, which at first brings a certain acceptance of the ambiance of the game; that changes as you go further down the rabbit hole and realize that what’s going on in front of you demands your attention much more than the pretty space around it. Tend to it if you don’t want a giant puzzlely mess on your hands.

As is my problem with most match titles, the lower levels last a bit too long for my taste and naturally the game can become stale if it lacks the challenge. This can of course be remedied by getting right into the more challenging portions and modes of the game. It’s just a personal preference: I want the game to naturally guide me from easy to hard difficulties faster, but still seamlessly. After putting it that way it sounds more like a ridiculous demand. Still that’s coming from more of a casual perspective as I’ll be the first to tell you that most of the time I’m not a hardcore puzzle gamer.

Story

Your quest is to become the Quantz Oracle, and like most match-3 types, this portion of the game is of little importance in comparision to the gameplay and presentation.

Style

Though the gameplay components that make Quantz standout have already been mentioned, I’d simply be remiss to overlook the amount of effort put into the design that also provides a boost ahead of the competition. The title is extremely polished, it sheds the browser look many of its brethren wear in exchange for a much more encompassing experience.

The soundtrack is solid and non-intrusive, the effects are great and the overall look of the game is just so much better than you’ll typically see from others like it. It’s presentation alone will garner the love of many puzzler enthusiasts.

Everything Else

The variety of game modes, worlds and puzzles to solve all add up to hours and hours of content to play. More importantly, those hours are enjoyable be it in long or short sessions.

In the end your level of interest in the genre will dictate how long you play for, but be sure that whether you have a passing interest in the genre or are a hardcore thinker Quantz should grab your attention and not give it back for sometime.

Quantz is currently available on Steam and other major digital distribution platforms.

[The developer/publisher gave DIYgamer.com a copy of this game for review purposes.]

In celebration of its launch on D2D, Gamerizon’s action puzzler Quantz has been given a 70% discount, bringing the $10 indie down to the $3 range through next week via the digital distribution service.

The game brings simple, addictive gameplay through mouse-only controlling of a 3D cube covered in colored marbles, the goal is to match colors to cause chain reactions and receive power-ups and bonuses.

I’ve been having a go at the game recently so look for my thoughts on it soon. The ‘launch week’ sale goes through next Wednesday, February 10.