Yesterday I was tasked with writing up some news on Flowstorm, today I tasked myself with actually playing the web alpha and after playing the levels a fair bit I can concur that i did die, and die and die….. Flowstorm is an ultrahard, highly unforgiving, nightmarish game, sadly, it is a whole load of fun as well. I don’t know what it is about this sadistic approach to gaming lately but I find myself getting too engrossed in it, I am sure it is not good for my blood pressure.

Flowstorm is a very smooth playing and fantastic looking 2.5D flight arcade game, with the goal being to beat each checkpoint in an ever faster time than the rivals and with less fuel expended also. Sounds easy right? Well… no, as your rocket breaks with the slightest tap against things and you are forced to restart the level.

The controls are very basic, yet the game itself is brutally unforgiving and does indeed remind me of games such as Super Meat Boy. I have never really been good at arcade style games, I rarely achieve a notable score, however I do find a lot of them a very fun distractions for the world and Flowstorm is no exception. It is the type of game you can pick up and play for 10 minutes in between things, however if you are a hardcore sadist and love a challenge you can spend hours of fun in this title.

Flowstorm to me is the Hannibal Lector of video games: smart, clever, well dressed and containing much depth however it is also insane! It is the latter that really gets you as the animation is very nice and the levels have been lovingly crafted but the gameplay is actually insane and what some people have managed to do on this game is a whole other matter entirely (just look at the scoreboards in wonder).

Average play time – 2 minutes

FlowStorm is currently in web alpha stage and the developers have added the increased incentive that the top 10 players in all scoreboards will get into the stand alone alpha. So if you are a big arcade player and love games that just relentlessly beat you down, get in on the action on the official site here. The standalone alpha will be released next week on the 12th of October.

If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission Day 31 – ‘Flowstorm’

I am sure there is plenty of people out there who are looking for an ultra hard, highly competitive arcade racing and aerial combat game. Well look no further as Flowstorm is heading your way and from the looks of it at quite the velocity. Flowstorm is a new title from the development duo of Jenny Nordenborg and Joachim Holmér and it looks to be shaping up fantastically.

Flowstorm is a new skill based 2.5D arcade racing and aerial combat game for both the PC and Mac. You are put in control of a highly agile rocket, however the rocket is very fragile so you must take the corners with caution. The aim of the game is to navigate the course and reach the goal as quickly as possible, this gives its arcady nature with high scoring. There is also a new shooting gallery that has been put into the new web alpha build, which will no doubt add even more fun-filled escapades! Check out the video below

Like all games that take the brutally unforgiving approach the overall concepts are very easy to pick up and play with, however the true skill comes from the competitive side of the game, being able to beat levels in record time whilst amassing fantastic bonuses, this is the true challenge.

There is currently a web alpha version available for you to sink your teeth into, it contains a single level and highlights much of what the game is about, by allowing you to get hands on and die, and die, and die… If you are anything like me at this game, that is.

Flowstorm will be entering a standalone alpha release on October the 12th, which will also include a level editor. No doubt the inclusion of a level editor will allow for some painfully difficult levels to come out of the community and increase the content of this game vastly. This release will be sent out to the top 10 players of each scoreboard of the current web alpha, so if you enjoy the web alpha get serious and make it into the top places in the highly coveted scoreboards before next week.

Head over to the official Flowstorm site here to participate in the current web alpha, with a chance to get into the standalone alpha version! If you love what you have seen/ played so far then please take your time and head over to the Steam greenlight community project here, and vote for Flowstorm.

Now what are you waiting for get over on to Flowstorm and start racking up the high scores!

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Take Up The Challenge With ‘Flowstorm’

Now this title has been around for sometime, infact, many of you may of played it on the iOS prior to its release on the PC. Super Crate Box is an incredibly addictive arcade styled shooter, complete with pixel art graphic styling this game looks just as good as it plays. Full of more weapons than you can ever hope for in any game, Super Crate Box really is the Rambo of arcade shooters.

Vlambeer is an indie studio from the Netherlands who have a distinct love for all things retro and arcade styled, whilst also infusing a nice level of humour in on the top. Super Crate Box is no different as it falls in perfectly with what they strive to achieve in this modern age of gaming.

The gameplay is very simple, you play as the protagonist starting out with just a basic pistol, with the aim to kill the enemies and collect enough crates to unlock the next level. Super Crate Box is all about the high score, but achieving this can be very difficult as much like the classic arcade games of the past you can tailor your strategy around different weapons. Though with every crate giving you a different weapon at random the experience can be very random but fun. The controls on the keyboard are fine, however it also fully supports a variety of gamepads.

The graphics styling and music is very inkeeping with the classic arcade style that Vlambeer have captured in the game. The music and audio in general is great and works very well adding to the whole feeling of the game really making you feel that you are playing an arcade classic.

Average play time – 5 minutes

Super Crate Box is a very difficult but highly addictive arcade shooter game which offers a great deal and can suck up a surprising amount of your time without you even realising. It can be downloaded from the official site here or conversely if you would rather add it to your Steam library totally free it can be acquired from Steam, also for free.

If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission Day 29 – ‘Super Crate Box’

The Game: Alone in the Tower

Developed by: Viima Games, @ViimaGames on Twitter

The plot of Alone in the Tower is rather straightforward: you are alone, in a tower, on a hill. There are demons and monsters coming to eat you because, well, that is what demons do, and you must fend them off by hurling boulders at them from of the top of the tower.

The games works like a single-stand tower defense. At the top of the tower, players are given a 360-degree view of the fields and outlying forest surrounding the tower. The demons approach from any angle, and oftentimes multiple angles at once. The tricky part is that the hill is jagged, as are the boulders, so the boulders roll like if you went bowling with an American football and you tried bouncing the football at the pins.

Along with the boulders, you are armed with three fire-bombs, which when used, cover a small area with flames for a short time period. They come in handy once the enemies start coming at you in large clusters all at once. Throw a firebomb at one group’s path, and focus on rolling boulders down at the other two incoming groups.

I would recommend trying out Alone in the Tower because it is a different angle on tower-defense games, and it is really simple to pick up and play. The arrow keys pivot your character around, holding space charges how hard you chuck the boulder, and “c” launches one of the firebombs.

Alone in the Tower is playable on Kongregate, here. So far, I’ve made it to wave 11, can you do better?

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – IGM Arcade – ‘Alone in the Tower’ A Fresh Take On Tower Defense

Dot Matrix Co has launched a new website, which features four free-to-play games on their arcade, as well as retail desktop packages of the same four games. Dot Matrix Co is a two man development team based out of Australia, who made their new website to promote their games and allow for direct developer to player sales.

Dot Matrix Co features a library of four games titled Dungeons of Insanity 2, Gardens of Insanity, Return to Super Death Canyon: Payback Time, and AAARRGH My Housemate is a Cannibal. All four games are free-to-play on Dot Matrix Co’s arcade site or available for purchase at the Dot Matrix Co online store, which allows for downloading the game for higher framerates and full screen capability. The two most recent titles are Dungeons of Insanity 2 (DOI2) and Gardens of Insanity (GOI).

DOI2 is a rogue-like arcade shooter, which requires the player to travel through dungeons and destroy as many enemies as possible. After doing so the player can find the key to the boss room and fight and beat the boss to progress to the next level. Before doing so the player might want to check throughout the dungeon for more items or else he or she will find that the next levels will be overwhelming.

GOI sounds like a tower defense game of sorts. Players are tasked with planting food for animals and encouraging them to breed while protecting them from the world. The game lasts ten minutes and the players score is the number of white animals he or she has at the end of the ten minutes. Players can turn their animals white by absorbing the colors of plants you gave them.

You can check out more info on Dot Matrix Co at their website as well as on their arcade page and Facebook. For more on Indie Games, make your one and only stop Indiegamemag.com.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Dot Matrix Co Announces New Website and Free Arcade Games

I am surprised I haven’t really heard much about Private Infiltrator before as it sounds like it is completely up my alley. The idea is an arcade-like stealth game created specifically in a noir art style from developer Espionage Noir Productions, I feel the name does say it all about their market.

The whole idea to bring out this highly stylized stealth game is fantastic with the use of lighting really playing a major factor in the whole ambiance of the game setting the scene very nicely for what looks to be a great stealth game and to be honest I feel this genre of late has fallen away a little. Some of the impressive features in the game are:

• Arcade-like core mechanics : easy to pick up but hard to master gameplay
• Unique Neo-Noir art direction
• A great number of security measures : offering many different opportunities to showcase your talent in sneaking and bypassing the obsticales
• Multiple soundtracks : Several soundtracks in game along with the option to import your own music
• Free content updates

This is not an exhaustive list of all the features that are being implemented into Private Infiltrator but sums it all up pretty well. If this is not enough to sway you however the multiplayer looks devilishly fun and full of whimsy, check out the video below:

The idea of the multiplayer system at the moment is a two player competitive cat and mouse game, the idea factors into spying in its purest form and is a stroke of genius. It is very simple one player plays as the hunter whilst the other the hunted, and did i mention you are boxes. Bazaar i know but I like it.

Private Infiltrator is still under development and is indeed one to watch for the future as it already looks fantastic. You can follow Private Infiltrator on indiedb here, vote for it on the Steam Greenlight community project here. If you would rather wait around The Indie Game Magazine (who can blame you), we will also bring you all the latest as it develops.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Up And Coming ‘Private Infiltrator’

Today I am going to be looking at Geometreek a stylized three dimensional arcade puzzler from french developer Yannick Jouneau. Geometreek is a very interesting take on the puzzle genre of games and is a very fast paced affair travelling through space at an ever increasing pace whilst matching the shapes to the holes.

It is an interesting dynamic and is routed in a very simple original concept, the humble peg game which I am sure most, if not all of us played as young children, which invovled matching the peg of a specific shape to the correct hole. Yannick Jouneau took this initial concept and brought it up to date with this fast paced arcade styled puzzle game.

Geometreek is a very fast paced game that gets harder as you succeed at placing the correct shapes in the holes, the controls are very simple and quick to put up as it only requires a left click and an ever increasing level of dexterity to move the mouse around to fulfill the goals. The art style is basic but it works well and with the addition of some particle effects and flashy lights over the top I think graphically this game would really fit into the arcade genre well.

Geometreek is very much a work in progress at the moment however what is available to play is great fun although very difficult so it will definitely be geared to the hyper competitive end of the market who love setting the top high scores, but this said it can be played casually whilst being great fun. With more work this title will no doubt shape up to be a great addition to the arcade genre as it allows you to sink as little or as much time as you would like into it.

Average Completion time: 3-5 minutes

I hope out good hope for the finished product and it is a one man effort so where it current stands is very commendable. Geometreek can be downloaded here, you can follow Yannick Jouneau’s development on Geometreek on his blog here. Geometreek is also on the Greenlight community project here so be sure to vote for Geometreek if you like what you see and want to see the game in all its glory.

If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – Indie Intermission Day 10 – ‘Geometreek’

Warp Shooter is a recently released dual stick shooter by indie developer, Hoosier Games.  Currently available on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace, Warp Shooter shows just a vertical slice of the full game Hoosier Games aims to eventually make.  Warp Shooter is a step above your typical dual stick shooter, aiming to be one of the first 3-vector dual stick shooters.  This provides not only your normal 2d movement, but also gives you control of a warp beacon that allows you to move through space.

The rest of the game plays similarly to most dual stick shooters, allowing use of thrusters and a variety of different weapons, including: lasers, death rays, rockets, and a plethora of other weapons.  Combined with the introduction of its new gameplay mechanic (3-vector movement), Warp Shooter is looking to be a worthwhile buy.  There are also a number of game modes available to players, each with features that can be customized, and if you’re looking for a bombastic experience, you can face your friends in Warp Shooter’s multiplayer mode.

Hoosier Games is looking to expand the features of Warp Shooter in the future, expanding the game horizontally with tons of new game modes and integrated Xbox Live matchmaking features.

Warp Shooter is currently available on the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 80 Microsoft Points (about $1).  If you want to learn more about the game, you can find out more at the Warp Shooter official website (they also have tips and walk throughs available on their site).

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Warp Shooter’ Available On XBLIG

I can honestly say that out of all the game available in the game marketplace jousting Jump’n’Ride games seem to be losing out a little, although Last Knight looks to address this gap in the market in a very stylistic arcade manner. The arcade mode comprises the largest proportion of the game with each ride randomly generated offering a unique experience and considering how in each ride you only have one shot to make that high score along with bettering your previous failed attempts you will be restarting from the start a lot. Check out the trailer below for a good overview on what to expect:

Even though the arcade modes is the heart of this game a lot of effort has been up into other areas to fully round Last Knight with the main features including:

• An exciting story based mode
• Randomly generated world in the arcade mode making every game a unique experience
• Cutting edge graphics delivered via the Unreal Development Kit
• Six different fantasy stylized environment themes
• Six different power-ups including the unicorn horn and second sight
• Player customization of your Knight allowing you to add your own personal flare, pimp your pony so to speak
• Various distinct enemy’s each with their own specific behaviours
• Ragdoll physics making the kills look even better (along with your deaths)
• The arcade mode environments will gradually increase in difficulty as the ride goes on
• Destructible obstacles

The power-ups will add extra abilities to master whilst racing down the track giving your joust a rest periodically to change it for the Big Boom Cannon which allows you to fire a cannonball at anything that stands in your way, or used the power of the unicorn horn to summon rainbow bridges. The selection of power-ups really should help create a standout game in Last Knight adding additional gameplay elements.

So if jousting is your hidden passion Last Knight is scheduled to launch along with the Greenlight bundle on the 30th of this month for PC and Mac whilst an iOS version is in the works for a future release.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Last Knight’ Rides Thursday

I think I speak for every American person, man, woman, or child, when I say groans are induced every year across the nation because of tax season. All those forms need filled out, and money is taken away from you by the “government.” It exists as a dreadful period in time to remind you that you must deal with bureaucracy. Some of you my enjoy tax season. To you, I apologize for my unfounded notions about the American people. But I do know someone who absolutely hates tax season. Tim.

Tim despises tax season. He has an especially disgruntled taste left in his mouth because of this tax season. Poor Tim is an IRS agent. He just finished up all of his assigned tax returns; however, one was missing. So Tim sets out into the famous Vermont Jungle to find the form. Unfortunately for our protagonist, Zombies, Starfish, and “self-aware Vermontese Alligators” await him at a log bridge. So Tim must be quick and resourceful to thwart his enemies. Thus is the premise of Alligators on a Bridge.

So you are now asking yourselves (I know because I too was) “What weapons does Tim have at his disposal?” Well he has nothing on his person. But luckily the jungle has supplied him with an ample dosage of rocks. Tim uses these rocks while racing laterally back and forth to knock down water-faring zombies and those darned alligators. Do not miss or else you will see this humiliating screen:

I think I am more petrified of the idea of self-aware zombies than I am of losing the game though. Poor Tim must be one ballsy IRS agent. With that ballsy IRS agent you can wrack up high scores and try to find that missing tax form. But beware, there is danger lurking in the jungle and they are hungry for an IRS agent.

If you like tax collector’s, or are fond of arcade style high score games, alligators, and zombies then you should check out Alligator’s on a Bridge. You can purchase it for the PC for $1 over at developer Snail Software’s official website or at the Alligators on a Bridge game site.

Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘Alligators On A Bridge’ – There’s a Missing Tax Form