You won’t find Mario or Luigi here, but what you will find are two mechanics who are not only brothers but share some of the same habits and tendencies as those “other” more popular brothers most people have heard of. According to the developers we can fully expect the game to be “a pixelated family fun adventure of running, jumping, collecting, racing against the clock.”

So here’s an interesting puzzle platformer for you guys: Backworlds, a fascinating take on the puzzle platformers that we’ve not yet seen before. Or at least I haven’t. In any case, the game is very unique in the simple way you get through levels by erasing either the front or backworld in order to play on that. Confused? So was I…

Hitbox Team’s long awaited action platformer Dustforce is finally available for all of us to purchase and play on Steam. Reviewers so far have been showering the game with praise for its polish, and many have been comparing it to indie hit Super Meat Boy in terms of difficulty, frustration, and satisfaction of level/goal completion. The title currently sitting at the 11th spot on Valve’s top 20 sellers list is a pretty solid indication that players are in agreement.

Three Dead Zed is an upcoming Zombie puzzle platformer that’s going to be on PC next week. Of course, there’s going to a small change to the typical archtype zombie game… this time you’re the zombie.

In the indie market a great pitch is paramount and I have to commend Gentleman Squid Studio for Three Dead Zed. They start by addressing the rather large undead elephant in the room:

The early news rush continues this morning with India-based indie developer RealAxis Software revealing their sidescrolling platformer (platforming sidescroller?) Stained with an announcement video. A short trailer that shows off both a thematically dark and visually vibrant game, with the unique idea of creatures made out of stained glass out to impede your exploring of an ancient, mysterious castle.

Playdead’s critically acclaimed and wholly distressing sidescrolling adventure game Limbo (another good game with featuring nasty, huge arachnids) had already made its way onto Steam for PC back in August after being an XBLA-exclusive for what seemed like an eternity. Now several months after that, Mac owners finally get the opportunity to get in on all that tense puzzle platforming action with an OS X version just added to Valve’s platform.

Think of a sin, any sin – well, any of the canonical seven. Now imagine yourself as that sin taking on the form of an immortal warrior as you fight your way from the depths of hell to the tufty clouded peaks of heaven. Having trouble? Of course you are. It’s a big task if you don’t happen to be completely mental.

Hitbox Team has finally revealed a release date for their highly anticipated action platformer Dustforce, PC owners will be able to purchase the game January 17th via Steam for $10. Mac owners will have to wait, but only a short bit, before the title is available to them as well through Valve’s distribution service. Great news, right? Hitbox thinks so too, and has let loose a pre-launch trailer to celebrate.

What do we know about Gunpoint? Well, we know it’s a stealth platformer that boasts missions and upgrades and techno-jobbery. We know it comes from the mind of PC Gamer UK journo, Tom Francis. We’re also aware that it’s been helped along by a cascade of community collaboration: John Roberts and Fabian van Dommelen have provided the artistic content, a submission was picked for which sound should signify use of the game’s Crosslink device and now, through further competitioning, he’s chosen three soundtracks for Gunpoint’s varying states of play. You can check them all out via his blog, here, which will also helpfully afford you your daily jazz fix.

So, it seems Ben ‘Yahtzee’ Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame/notoriety/loveliness is currently working on something entirely new, as officially announced on his personal blog. The project is to be called Poacher and will be a Metroidvania platformer, which is pretty intriguing given his past tendency towards old school adventure gaming.