Direct2Drive’s crazy spring sale has hit the indie world. You can now snag a copy of Dejobaan’s freefalling game Aaaaa! for a pocketful of change. That’s $1.95 for anyone wondering exactly how much a pocketful of change is. Unfortuntaly, Direct2Drive does not accept loose change (unconfirmed as of press time) so you’ll probably have to pay with a credit card.

Between our review of the game and my excitement over the iDevice versions of the game, you’re running out of excuses not to play it.

Their Spring Sale also includes 75% off of Eufloria, so you can snag that title for $4.95 as well.

Which came first, the finalists or the sale? The Direct2Drive Vision Award has just named its five finalists vying for a $10,000 prize to be announced at the Independent Games Festival. Last year was the first year this award was presented, with Osmos taking home the cash.

Chosen from the full pool of entrants that Arsen has been sorting through, there are a few new faces and some repeats from other categories. In no particular order they are:

*Hurricane X2
*Joe Danger
*Nyxquest: Kindred Spirits
*Super Meat Boy
*Max and the Magic Marker

[Source: Official IGF Site]

Direct2Drive, one of the sponsors of the Independent Games Festival, has just launched a sale to end all indie sales.

From today through March 12, you can snag ten hot indie titles for just $29.95. The math works out to 78% off, or a savings of roughly $105.55. If you’re interested in a mere 4/10 of those titles, you’re already making a savings. Now try to complain that indie games are too expensive.

Games included are:

*World of Goo
*Puzzlegeddon
*Gish
*The Maw
*Braid
*Cogs
*Aaaaa!
*Osmos
*Machinarium
*Crayon Physics Deluxe

Not bad, not bad at all. Snag them while they’re (indie) hot!

And here’s the link to the UK version of the sale, which clocks in at a still respectable £19.95 for the bundle.

Direct2Drive has slashed 50% off of Lazy 8′s acclaimed puzzle game Cogs, going for only $5 now on IGN’s digital distribution service.

The title has players building machines from sliding tiles, with simple puzzles giving way to more complex, three dimensional ones as you progress through.

The title includes 50 levels and three gameplay modes: Inventor, Time Challenge and Move Challenge. With new unlockable puzzles gained by building contraptions quickly and efficiently.

The typically $10 title is available now for $5, though exactly how long the sale lasts is unclear. From the feature list:

Cogs Download Features

Inventor Mode: Starting with simple puzzles, players are introduced to the widgets that are used to build machines — gears, pipes, balloons, chimes, hammers, wheels, props, and more.

Time Challenge Mode: If you finish a puzzle in Inventor Mode, it will be unlocked here. This time, it will take fewer moves to reach a solution, but you only have 30 seconds to find it.

Move Challenge Mode: Take your time and plan ahead. Every click counts when you only get ten moves to find a solution.

D2D continues to offer good discounts on top indie titles, today announcing Dejobaan Games’ unique free-faller Aaaaa! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity at 50% off as their Deal of the Week. In the title, you try your best to impress a crowd who watch as you base jump from the top of skyscrapers, creating and performing stunts on the plummet downward.

The title was recently nominated for the IGF 2010 award for Excellence in Design and is certainly worth the $5 its going for through next Friday, January 15.

Check out the Dejobaan’s next project Musorqua, a similar-looking music title still in early development.

Since the start of December, Direct2Drive has been holding a ’24 Days of Christmas’ event that sees a different PC game discounted every day. Today, Amanita Design’s well received adventure title Machinarium goes for 50% off the standard price as the indie has been spotlighted on the 21st day of the digital distributor’s holiday sale.

The award-winning adventure puzzle game has you in control of a small robot who must return from the scrap yard he was thrown and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood to save his robot-girl friend. ‘Nuff said.

Machinarium is just $10 through tomorrow, December 22 at 10 AM PT, when the next game sale will be unveiled. Check out our review of the game and interview with Lead Designer Jakub Dvorský.

As indie gamers, we often encounter games with a lot of character. These games can be of any genre or category, but are most impressive when they take a concept that can clearly be done in overstimulated 3D, and instead make a 2D rendition of epic proportions. Here at DIYgamer, we’re often let down by otherwise wonderful games because they don’t contain one key component that has adds the extra umph to many titles: multiplayer.

However, even with multiplayer-centered games come flaws. Those that have no leveling system or loot offered eradicate any sense of future desire for continuous play. But not to worry since Nimbly Games will release Altitude on December 4 via Steam, GamersGate, and Direct2Drive. In Altitude, you will hone your skills in online multiplayer by piloting a plane and shooting down others. With a multitude of game modes, from Team Deathmatch to Plane Ball, the developer promises that you will be deeply occupied with the title.

Direct2Drive is doing a ‘twitter exclusive’ sale on Runic Games’ excellent action RPG Torchlight, taking 25% off the game through tomorrow, November 22. Just enter the code 5OFFTORCH at checkout and you’ll get, you guessed it, $5 off Torch.

The gameplay really takes the Diablo style to another level, and with the title you get the TorchED editor which lets you customize practically everything you see. It’s a real great game, well worth the standard $20–let alone only $15.

If you need further convincing, check out Geoff’s review.

Torchlight, an indie Action RPG in the same vein as Diablo, was released late last month to much fan fair from both the gaming community and the general gaming press. However, with little to no real marketing budget I don’t think anybody really expected it to sell all too well. But, what do you know? It seems to be doin’ just fine taking the number 6 spot on Steam and the number 5 spot on Direct2Drive.

Also worth noting is that, on Direct2Drive anyways, the Best of Indie Bundle Vol. 2 seemed to sell adequately. Yes, I put that in the past tense purposely because the bundle was removed on the 16th following the end of the amazing 75% off sale. A real shame considering the bundle was actually quite good. Here’s hoping the introduce a Best of Indie Bundle Vol. 3 soon.

Stats after the break.

Direct2Drive has revealed its deal of the week, offering up KlooniGames’ indie hit Crayon Physics Deluxe for 50% off the standard price. CPD is a 2D physics puzzle/sandbox game where players interact with crayon drawings as if they were real physical objects.

The IGF 2008 Grand Prize Winner packs over 70 levels, a level editor and more. The title runs $20 standard but can be had for half that through Sunday, November 22 on D2D.

A demo for the title is available via Steam.