We took a detour last time with our interview with indie developers The Odd Gentlemen — hope you enjoyed that — but this week we’re back to the games. Interestingly, reaching letter I also meant a bunch of recommendations, so after the jump, look for four indie games write-ups for your reading pleasure. Bet you can’t play just one!
I:
I Maed a Gam3 with Zomb1es 1n it!!!1 (Xbox Live Arcade, $1)
I Maed a Gam3 with Zomb1es 1n it!!!1 quickly developed a cult following — certainly as much as any indie Xbox 360 game I know it. I heard it mentioned on numerous podcasts and couldn’t help but wonder if it could match the hype, simply because it was rapidly approaching overexposure status (due in no small part because of the current zombie overload).
I’m a lover of mindlessly great games, though, and this one hit the spot. It’s a twin-stick shooter in the Robotron/Smash TV vein, with the biggest strategy involving lots of twitchy reaction.
The key to Zomb1e’s success is how it keeps elevating the enemy waves, rarely giving you a breather. Just when you think you have a handle on the mobs of zombies thanks to the minigun, you get to face a slew of bisecting blobs. And then you’re fighting off a horde of slithering snakelike smiley faces with some shurikens. After that come some flying diamonds, followed by more zombies.
The harried, frenzied as the screen just becomes thick with enemies, and the deaths come in bunches. It may not be as slick as Geometry Wars, but Zomb1es sure wins out in terms of bizarre soundtrack department and trippy backgrounds.
Icycle (Browser, free)
Fellow Bitmobber Brett Bates pointed me in the direction of this one. Icycle is an annoying yet captivating game from the wonderfully titled team at Damp Gnat.
The game is simply about a dude on a tricycle in a “work your way to the right” affair that features lots of panoramic shots and physics-heavy challenges. You mostly aim to clear spikes and other obstacles while amassing bubbles, with momentum and timing being critical elements in achieving these objectives.
So yes, it’s challenging. A lot of levels will have you retrying them incessantly, such as one where a building is falling on you and you have to time it just right so that you are situated where it’s window will hit and then jump to clear another part of a wall.
You’ll be beaten down, but then you’ll get that brief moment of satisfaction. Until the next screen.
I Wish I Were the Moon (Browser, free)
A girl in a boat and a boy on the moon. That sets the stage for I Wish I Were the Moon, which isn’t a typical game, but more of an experiment in messing around with the one-screen world. Your interaction simply involves using your cursor to take a picture, then drop the object of that picture somewhere else on the screen and see what happens.
If you’re like me, you’ll first warp the boy off the moon and into the boat to join his beloved…at the cost of the moon floating away. Or perhaps you make use of the passing seagull as a mobile platform.
I wouldn’t even say I Wish I Were the Moon has a goal, per se. You spend a few minutes getting a few endings, then restarting and trying something else. Maybe you go for all the endings, or perhaps you’re happy with the first one you reach.
It will challenge you in terms of finding all the endings (of which eight exist in the most recent version), but really, it’s a mellow experience that ups the charm with its pixelly graphics and soothing breaking waves sound.
IndestructoTank AE (Browser, free)
Another suggestion I came across mere hours before publishing time was IndestructoTank AE. Bitmob reader James DeRosa suggested it, saying “It’s kind of a mindless ‘while-at-work’ kinda game.”
That sums it up well. I hit the link, took a level to master the controls and “keep the combo going” concept, and 20 minutes later I’m on wave 12, locked into a zone where I’m bouncing my impervious tank off of choppers, planes, and some strange car with drill in front. I was so tuned in, so adept at my tank, in fact, I couldn’t imagine anyone ever reaching my level of mastery — think the Wizard but updated to the aughts.
When the game ended, I eagerly checked the medals screen to realize…I didn’t earn even one. Oh.
Ah well. My dreams of retiring on the winnings from some epic IndestructoTank tournament may be gone, but the game is still an entertaining time killer. Just like James said.
Nine letters — and dozens of games — in, I can only imagine the wonders J will bring. If you too wonder, check back in a couple weeks as the Indie Scene marches on. Thanks to The Indie Game Database for pointing me in the direction of I Wish I Were the Moon. And thanks as always to the readers and editors for their suggestions — you seem to have a knack for sending me good ones!
The Indie Scene Interview: The Odd Gentlemen