Either Defrost Games have installed the TP-205 brain-stem implant and taken us all back in time, or they’ve entered Project Temporality into the Dream.Build.Play competition again. Of course it’s the latter and why shouldn’t they? Project Temporality features time warping in all manners possible – multiple selves, time acceleration, rewinding, parallel realities; all of that stuff that your brain can only sneeze at. The important thing is that these complex maneuvers translate well to your thumbs, and judging from the glimpse of how the controls work in the game we can presume that it’s going to be easy to operate at least.

In this third person puzzler in yet another sinister testing facility, you’ll be playing as yourself…or rather, your avatar. You can see that in the character design too and it’s the only thing that we’re not all that happy about. It’s the shape of those Xbox avatars we think – there’s something odd about them. Apart from that slight displeasure, this is one of the finest XBLIG titles we’ve ever seen, in all honest, presuming the game’s puzzles are genuinely thought inducing of course.

With the entry into the DBP 2012 competition comes a new trailer and what is new this time? Defrost say that the demo contains six entirely new levels with some extra mechanics to show off, though they did want more to be included but the tight deadline made that an impossibility. Lasers and mirrors make a debut as well as puzzles built around “temporarily fielded objects”.

Interested? Confused? Either way, check out the official website and catch up with the game’s development. Who knows – maybe this is Defrost’s year to win?

The INDIE-POCALYPSE Giveaway is now undergoing so if you want to win lots of free games then you should enter, you really should.

Bludworks has recently formed in order to help promote the indie gaming community by working directly with developers to organize a whole range of things. The first effort is an impressive one – the INDIE-POCALYPSE Giveaway! Yes, a giveaway that is so epic that it can only be realised through CAPITAL LETTERS!

The giveaway is a means for XBLIG developers to have their own bundle as they can’t do it via the traditional method used by PC indie game developers. There’s a lot of games being given away (over 20) if you enter so it’s definitely worth you time.

There are different requirements for entry in the different tiers, but basically there is a top prize in which the winner gets all the games, with the many runners up receiving a lesser amount of those games. All of the games will be received via a code which can be activated on your Xbox console, except Positron, A BAND THE GAME and 48 Chambers. Those three games aren’t actually out yet so the lucky winners will receive an email a little into the future for those games.

The INDIE-POCALYPSE Giveaway is running now – from March 24th to April 7th 2012. The entry requirements are listed below:

• Gain entry into the INDIE-POCALYPSE Big bundle – Download 7 trials of the (GAMES LISTED) and take pictures as proof and send it to the contest email contest@bludworks.com with the subject (INDIE-POCALYPSE). You can gain an additional entry if you include 7 more trials and pictures of proof. (Download History on Xbox.com or take a snap shot of it on your dashboard)

• Another entry to the INDIE-POCALYPSE Big Bundle Donate to our choice of charity at KCENTSTUDIOS Mercy Children’s Hospital and send an email to contest@bludworks.com with subject “Charity Entry” with your name and proof of donation. Do not include sensitive personal information.

• Gain entry into the Wittle bundles – You’ll have to tweet this: “I want to win the #XBLIG Wittle Bundle @indiegamemag http://t.co/4esya7mA #WittleIndiePocalypse”

• Another Entry in the Wittle bundles – Send an email telling Bludworks your favorite Xbox Indie Game and take a picture of you playing it to contest@bludworks.com with subject ‘Wittle Bundle Pic’

Just in case you wanted a rather long list of all of the games, here you go:

End of Days: Infected vs Mercs /> Die Pad Die /> Little Racers STREET /> Raventhorne /> Firing Range /> Avatar Farm /> Inflamous /> Zombie Football Carnage /> Angry Zombie Ninja Cats /> Craftimals /> Bub Block /> Brand /> Castle Miner Z /> Robo Fish /> Honor in Vengeance II /> Evil Quest /> Marble Puzzle /> Space Swine /> Nomis: Legacy Islands /> Dude, Where’s my Avatar? /> Dreams of Witchtown /> Zombie Sniper HD /> Take Arms /> Magic Racing GP 2 /> FireFly Vegas /> Lemmy Lizard Vs the Mecha Eggs /> Miner4Ever /> Retro Arcade Adventure /> Gravitas /> Positron (Winners will get an email from developer) /> ABand the Game (Winners will get an email from developer) /> 48 Chamber (Winners will get an email from developer)

More information on the INDIE-POCALYPSE Giveaway can be found over on the official Bludworks website.

A new Two Best Friends Play… has been uploaded and once again, Pat and Matt take a look at the selection of games on XBLIG to some funny results.

While we are all here to take indie games seriously, it’s nice to see what an outsider sees on occasion, especially when it ends up being quite funny. Matt and Pat, if you aren’t familiar, run a regular video feature called Two Best Friends Play… and they have previously had a go with XBLIG before, as can be seen here.

This latest episode makes a triumphant return to XBLIG where it seems that many games still aren’t up to scratch, but that just makes it funnier when these two have a go with them and turn it into a disaster. Worth a watch if you want something funny to occupy your time.

A dashboard update for Xbox 360s in the US has transformed the menus entirely, making things look a lot neater and a lot easier to navigate. In a surprising twist, the update also puts an indie game channel right under people’s noses too.Should we choke on our own words? There have been many complaints about the Xbox Dashboard update in December which was argued to have put indie games in an obscure place behind various sub menus. There was even a petition for a proper indie games channel on the Xbox Dashboard started only a few days ago.Now, all of a sudden, the most recent Dashboard update which rolled out yesterday has completely reconfigured the game marketplace in US territories only.

Original Source: US Xbox Dashboard Update Puts Indie Games At The Fore

This Article was originally posted on our sister site, The Indie Game Magazine written by Chris Priestman.

The aim of the game is to match up pairs of avatars from memory, in the same style as the classic Concentration card game. Of course, this concept has been used many times before in video games – mainly as small side quests or filler material. To use the idea as the main feature of your game… well, let’s just say Avatar Hunter really is devoid of any fun whatsoever.

GAMEPLAY

Presented with a number of doors, your task is to open them, revealing an avatar behind. Reveal two similar avatars in a row, and the doors will stay open. Find every matching pair to complete the level. Move onto the next level.

This is the entire game. Each subsequent level will feature more doors than the last, providing a bigger challenge, but really it’s all the very same. ‘The very same’ meaning utterly boring and really not much fun at all. I can imagine younger children may get a slight kick out of it, but it would be a tiny, ‘did you just feel something?’ kind of kick.

There are two different game modes to play through. Time attack sees you matching avatars against the clock, while challenge mode gives you a set number of moves in which you must find all the pairs. Each mode also contains various different environments which pretty much all look the same and aren’t worth mentioning.

Just to top it all off – as if the experience wasn’t dire enough – there is a ‘fireplace mode’ on the title screen. Yes, you can press the back button to display a fireplace which can then be left on your TV for all to see. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work very well – I went all the way up to my television screen and still could not feel the heat. Must be a bug.

In summary: boring, not fun, lame.

STYLE

The background images and interface are generally pleasant, if a little too static. As for the play area itself, there’s nothing particularly interesting to talk about. Each world has its own theme, with the doors taking the form of curtains, blackboards and the like.

Strangely, for a game about Xbox avatars, it doesn’t actually use your own avatar or just friends’ avatars. I was hoping I’d pull back the curtains and my stupid, grinning face would be hanging around behind, but instead there are just lots of randomly created ones. What’s the point of using avatars in the first place if you’re not going to pull them from the user’s Xbox?

While the art isn’t too shabby, the sound is irritating as hell. Voices whoop and holler as you find pairs or fail. After ten minutes of play I had to turn the sound of, as I couldn’t bare it any longer.

STORY

An evil creature – a teddy apparently – has kidnapped avatar twins from around the world and is holding them prisoner in his mansion. By matching up the avatar twins, you are reuniting them.

It’s as simple as that – although to be fair, it’s one of the better explanations I’ve heard for matching pairs of things. According to my girlfriend, I’m meant to match pairs of socks after they’ve come out of the wash! Why bother, eh?

OTHER

Know that I am being blunt when I say that you should not buy this game under any circumstances. It is not fun and not worthy of your time.

Instead, let me suggest that you go out and buy a pack of cards for the same price. Cards can also be used to play a variety of other games, and a group of friends can play along too. Found in all good toy shops.