April's Best Indie Games

cyrus_zuo writes "Game Tunnel has just published its April Independent Video Games Round-Up. This article looks at ten indie games from the last month with four different people reviewing and rating each game to provide a variety of insights into each one. In addition, each month the best Independent Game wins the Game of the Month award. This month's winner is Titan Attacks, a 'retro-modern' fusion that puts out some of the best action we've played since Geometry Wars."

Comments

Titan Attacks

[AKAImBatman]

If I may be so bold...

Titan Attacks ROCKS!

Caspian Prince has spent years perfecting his Game Design skills, and it has finally paid off with Titan Attacks. The control is excellent (though it may take a bit to realize that you're supposed to be slow before you buy upgrades), the graphics are top notch, and the game is just all around fun!

FWIW, it's taken Cas about four major games to reach this point. First it was Alien Flux (a great little game, but complex controls!), then it was Super [Elvis|Dude] (Seems to be defunct these days. :( ), then he finally found his image with UltraTron. After UltraTron, he realized that he'd nailed the game style he wanted, but he really needed to reward the player more. So what did he do? Well, UltraTron was originally a small Applet intended to replace the PuppyInvaders Java game on his front page. So he thought, "Why not make a sequel to PuppyInvaders?" So he did.

You can still see the original PuppyInvaders, plus all his other games at: http://www.puppygames.net

Make sure you download at least Titan Attacks! I guarantee that you'll buy it. :)

Re:Titan Attacks

[master_p]

Yeah, Space Invaders rocks, even after its millionth incarnation! [/sarcasm] I see that there are no new gameplay ideas for a long time now...from the era of Tetris actually; the old stuff is being recycled into better graphics and sound, but that's about it. Personally I find it extremely boring.

Here is another game that will make you use your brainshells:

No Action Jackson

In the tradition of Maniac Mansion...

Geometry wars?

[nb caffeine]

I wasn't a big fan. At least, not big enough to buy the full version. Marble blast ultra, now theres some killer indie fun.

Back On topic, I love indie gaming, but there really isnt much there that catches my eye. I'll have to take a look at Titan Attacks, since it was at the top, and Steam Brigade looks quite interesting. Plenty of other derivitive stuff there, however, but if it is how the indies pay the bills, more power to them! I understand that not every indie game can be Darwinia

Re:Geometry wars?

[nb caffeine]

Also, something that I found interesting a while back when I first stumbled across gametunnel. I originally posted this over at garagegames, and still have not really found an answer that makes me feel "good inside"

I like the site gametunnel.com. It's great that there is a site dedicated to indie games in this fashion. However, their review policy has me a little... confused. They charge for reviews. It's something betwen 35 and 70 dollars, depending on affilliate status. It seems strange to me that you would be paying for a review. Seems like a little "conflict of interest" could be happening. I understand they gotta pay the bills. At least the same oppertunities exist for indie developers to submit their games to GT, but, I don't know. Something about that system just doesn't jive well with me. Guess I can't really explain it.

Re:Geometry wars?

[cyrus_zuo]

Howdy! Just FYI as it appears this rumor is still out there, Game Tunnel doesn't charge for reviews. It stopped doing so more than a year ago to help clear up any possible questions of impropriety (notably reviewers were never told whether or not they were getting a paid review or a non-paid one). Anyway, paid reviews haven't been around for a long time...hope that helps resolve this question :).

Re:Geometry wars?

[nb caffeine]

Thanks for clearing that up! It just never sat well with me, I guess. Yes, that was a bit of an old discussion. I'm glad they are able to keep their site up without charging for a review on their site.

Re:Geometry wars?

[Threni]

> They charge for reviews. It's something betwen 35 and 70 dollars, depending on
> affilliate status

That's a bargain. Companies like EA pay thousands per review....uh, I mean advert.

Steam Brigade

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually enjoyed Steam Brigade quite a bit. It reminded me of Choplifter, but with RTS elements. I'm surprised that Titan Attacks won out over it.

I'd also like to take this time to say that Dink Smallwood was one of the all-time best indie titles.

Huh huh. He said "dink."

titan attack

[YourM0m]

Titan attack is a lot of fun. I just downloaded the demo and gave it a try. I wasn't disappointed.

Titan Attacks!

[BiiigFoot]

I second (or third) the Titan Attacks proppin'. It's an amazingly addictive game. Kudos to you, Cas!