It almost passed us by, but today is the day of the Exodus alpha release! Hurrah! To give your memory glands a shake, this is the game that we’ve been comparing to Oddworld quite a bit – the 2D metroidvania-like platformer with rather good art. We haven’t got around to playing it ourselves yet but from what we’ve seen it’s worth giving the game at least a try.

You’ll be sneaking past little snoozing creatures, jumping across lava, solving small puzzles and avoiding some pretty large spiders. As well as the colorful exploration parts outside, you’ll be heading into more challenging areas we’re told are called Extractors. It is in these parts that the real platforming begins, though the gameplay footage shown so far shows none of this. However, the alpha does apparently contain glimpses of this gameplay.

There’s two playable characters as well, which we suspect have different abilities, though without having played the game yet we can’t say for sure. Just go to this page and click on the download link to grab yourself the alpha build. Then you can tell us how you find it to be – we’ll give our own impressions soon!

First, Indie Royale. Then Humble Bundle, then another Indie Royale! The bundling sites seem to be going blow-for-blow lately, and everyone wins. Indie developers get more coverage, and gamers get more great games for cheap, and this lineup isn’t shabby at all. Four more easily recommended games for one pay-what-you-want (within reason) price. This fortnight’s lineup: PSN hit Pixeljunk Eden, Steam re-launch of Konjak’s Noitu Love 2, relaxing ambient puzzler Auditorium and the PC debut of XBLIG refugee Escape Goat. As a bonus extra, this bundle includes an updated work-in-progress build of Konjak’s eagerly awaited The Iconoclasts, although this purchase doesn’t count as a pre-order.

This may not be the largest of indie bundles, but it’s one of the most solid we’ve seen in a while, and while not quite as high-profile as the latest Humble Bundle, these are all games well worth owning. We reviewed Noitu Love 2 not long ago, and despite being a little aged, it’s still one of the best pure action games PC indie gaming has to offer. It plays a lot like a long-lost PC cousin to Gunstar Heroes, 16-bit aesthetic playing to it’s strengths.

Pixeljunk Eden is a unique platformer, and previously big news on PSN. Rather than your usual running and jumping action, you instead play as a largely stationary creature that hops from point to point, and swings/accelerates using a spider-like thread to propel you higher and higher. There’s a great minimalist/painterly aesthetic going on here, plus a similarly minimalist but effective electro soundtrack from Japanese artist Baiyon.

Auditorium fits in well with Eden. Minimalist again. A simple (at first) puzzle game about manipulating winds through sound-generating points on the screen. Your goal is to have the wind whistling through all the instruments at once, adding layer upon layer to the music and building up an abstract symphony.

Last, but by no means least, is Magical Time Bean’s Escape Goat. Previously one of the best games on XBLIG, it’s made the long journey to PC shores and is now finally home. It’s a strange little bit of retro design – a pointedly 16-bit style platform puzzle game about a goat imprisoned for the crime of witchcraft, and the teleporting mouse that it discovers inside the great magical prison.

The big surprise of this bundle is the bonus item, though. A new work-in-progress preview build of The Iconoclasts. It’s still nowhere near finished, and this doesn’t count as a preorder (consider it an early demo), but it once again confirms that the game is one of the most interesting indie titles in development at the moment. All of us here at IGM can’t wait to get our grubby hands on the final playable version. A rather grander project than Noitu Love 2, this is a metroid-style game in an unusual world where robots run rampant, but technology is controlled by a zealous church. Unfortunate for the young female protagonist, who’s an engineer by (secret) trade. Worth a look, even in this unfinished state.

While not quite as impressively high-budget as the most recent Humble Bundle (which is ending in a few hours), this is a fine set of games. Here’s the platform info:

• Pixeljunk Eden: Windows, Steam Only
• Escape Goat: Windows, Desura & DRM-Free
• Noitu Love 2: Windows, Desura, Steam & DRM-Free
• Auditorium: Windows & Mac, Desura, Steam & DRM-Free
• The Iconoclasts: Windows, DRM-Free

No Linux support in this lot, unfortunately, but good news for Windows gamers for sure. Well worth the asking price if any of these catch your fancy – they’re all easily recommended games.

Ah – this again! Yes, Valve have now launched The Potato Sack Reunion which contains the same 13 games from the original Potato Sack deal at a money-saving price. That price being £14.99 or $19.99 instead of a much steeper £54 or $84. Of course, if you bought into the Potato Sack back in April 2011 then you’ll already have the games being offered, but maybe a poor friends of yours doesn’t? If so, this would make a lovely surprise, would it not?

If you look around the internet you’ll see a lot of speculation regarding this Potato Sack Reunion, largely due to it originally being part of the Portal 2 ARG. We’re thinking that maybe it’s just a sweet deal that Valve are offering up again for those who may have missed it. We’ll have no part in this pondering. Head over to the Steam page to grab yourself the large discount on the games – they can be bought individually for half price as well as a pack.

The line up is as follows:

• 1…2…3… KICK IT!
• AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! for the Awesome
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• AudioSurf
• BIT.TRIP BEAT
• Cogs
• Defense Grid: The Awakening
• Killing Floor
• RUSH
• Super Meat Boy
• The Ball
• The Wonderful End Of The World
• Toki Tori

Head on over to the official Steam page to begin your mass purchasing, either for you or a friend.

With the only sign of the Sweden we’ve come to stereotypically know being the decrepit IKEA signs left hanging around, you’ll be glad to have a squad with you as you scavenge the post-apocalyptic wastes in Krater. Fat Shark’s latest is a modern and surprisingly colorful take on the old school action-RPG. You’ll be playing from a top down view so you better hope the floor reflects the grandeur artwork we’ve been mesmerised with leading up to the game’s release today.

In any case, the visuals aren’t the most important part of Krater – not by a long shot. Consider that the game comes with an extensive crafting system. Items, weapons, gear and even the abilities and powers of your characters can be crafted. That’s just a mere taste of the depth we’ve been promised though. Fat Shark boast an pretty impressive 60+ locations and 200+ quests to keep you going on and on for hours, as most action-RPGs plan. Just in case that wasn’t enough, the various dungeons and events that occur are randomized.

You’ll probably be more concerned with your zany cast of characters though. If not you should be because this is a game in which injuries live up to their real life counterpart. You get hurt in Krater it can’t simply be solved with a magical potion. Equally as permanent is death. Lose one your precious characters and that’s that. Thankfully, you can bring a friend in to help you out with the game’s co-op capabilities, though you’ll have to wait until July 10th for that update.

Also in July, Krater will be available for Macs. Right now, only those with Windows can play the game. If you should want to, then you better head on over to Steam and grab it while it’s hot. There’s plenty more information on Krater on the official website.

It’s the start of a fresh week and apparently it’s time to revisit a classic indie game from 2008 as Noitu Love 2: Devolution has been released on Steam and with a launch week discount.

Well this is odd – four years ago Noitu Love 2 was released and those who played it mostly fell in love with it. Only now has it been released on Steam – at least it’s getting some more of the attention that it deserves, even if it is a little late. For those not in the know, this is a sequel to the freeware Noitu Love and as such it improves on it in every way. From the gleaming graphics to the chaotic music to the innovative mouse-centric gameplay – this was and still is an indie game that we loved and many others like us.

We’ve actually revisited the game with a review which you can read, the most important thing about this Steam release being that it is a straight re-release – “No widescreen support, no leaderboards, no achievements”. Straight up. So really, you could buy it on Steam, or you could buy it straight from the developer. The only difference being that it is currently on sale on Steam at the moment. So, at least for this week, you can get it for 20% off the full price of $4.99 via Steam.

You can purchase Noitu Love 2: Devolution on Steam or you can buy it straight from the developer. There’s also a demo available on the official website.

You can find out more information about Noitu Love 2: Devolution over on the game’s official website.