Writings of Mass Deduction

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #88, and today’s game is “Battle Havoc”.

Battle Havoc is a bit like a real-time version of Worms or Scorched Earth, if all the combatants had jump jets they could use to quickly reposition themselves on the battlefield. This puts a great new spin on an old classic, and then dolls it up with a tonne of options and unique weapons, not to mention plenty of multiplayer and singleplayer levels both.

The impressive list of (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #82, and today’s game is “Orbyx – Mystic Orbs of Chaos”.

Did you ever play Peggle and wish there were a tonne more options? Then Orbyx is your game.

This is Peggle (which is itself just a flavour of pachinko; similar to “Plinko” from the Price is Right game show if you’re unfamiliar), but there are a lot of additions too, including:

– in about 1/3 of the levels you have a paddle at the bottom of the screen, ala Arkanoid, something that many Peggle players have yearned for

– there’s a (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #75, and today’s game is “Lumi”.

Lumi’s a winner, and I don’t mean that just metaphorically. Lumi won Microsoft’s 2010 Dream.Build.Play contest, out of a strong field of contenders, and it deserved that accolade.

I wasn’t surprised by its polish, the game comes from the same author (Christophe Panattoni) that made the absolutely stunning game Soul, that I reviewed back on day day 9 of my XBL-Indie-Game-a-day-binge. I’ve been in contact with Christophe on and off since, and he has dropped the price of Lumi from 400 Microsoft Points to only 240 Microsoft Points today in concert with my review going up, and Writings of Mass Deduction readers are the first to hear about it. Thanks Christophe!

First, from the developer:

“Lumi, the 2010 DreamBuildPlay winner is an action/puzzle/platform game, in a marvelous 2D universe. You control Lumi, a small creature with powers based on magnetism and light, and with the goal to save the universe sunk into darkness.”

Let it not be said that this game is not polished, Lumi is gorgeous through and through. And while this game is (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #67, and today’s game is “Halfbrick Echoes”.

From the developer:

“Race to collect crystals while dodging the Echoes shadowing your footsteps in this innovative, seat-of-your-pants arcade game. Try the blend of action and strategy in Arcade Mode, the tense maneuvering of Clockwork Mode, the frenetic pace of Survival Mode or challenge a friend to an intense Duel Match. With dozens of surreal levels across seven unique gameplay modes, theres plenty for everyone.”

In Halfbrick Echoes, you have to move around the playfield collecting crystals. Simple enough right? Well, you have to avoid your “echoes” (think a ghost car in a racing game that’s mimicking your moves from a previous lap). Each gem you pick up triggers another echo, leading to a growing number of them as you play each level… and contact with an echo means instant death.

(more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #64, and today’s game is “BlindGiRl”.

This is, of all things, a puzzle game based on wave propagation. BlindGiRl was an entry in Microsoft’s 2010 DreamBuildPlay contest. It’s an intriquing concept that’s at times difficult to describe, but it’s one of the most innovative games I’ve ever played. The fact that it costs only 80 Microsoft Points is a bonus, I would have happily paid more. The game seeks to (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #39, and today’s game is “FallDown”.

FallDown is an indie hit on LAN PCs and iOS devices that’s made its way to the Xbox Indie Games channel. When I first booted the game up I did was I usually do, hit start, look for something that tells me which parts of the controller do what, and then play. Hitting start right at the beginning starts the game without any further ado. The game was subsequently over in about 5 seconds, at which point it asked me if I wanted to purchase it or exit the game. What the heck?

Confused, I tried again. Same result. Was I really beating the first level in just a few seconds and then being asked to buy the game? As it turns out no, I should have RTFM.

The game’s instructions scroll across the screen when you load it up. Once you hit “start” or “A” you’re right into the action. But if you hold back from doing so, you’ll be rewarded with two things: instructions (cool!) and some genuinely amusing commentary if you wait long enough (with the game enquiring why you don’t seem to want to play, attempting to educate you on where the Start button is, etc.).

When you finally do start playing, the game launches you into a world where sawblades inexorably make their way down a shaft, and you must constantly fall down it to avoid them; last character standing wins. The game is for 1 to 8 players. 8 players you ask? Let me explain. (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #35, and today’s game is “Mithra – Episode 1, Chapter 1”.

Originally entitled Mithra: The Calling, Chapter 1 and released for XBL Community Games back in March 2009, this was perhaps the first action/adventure released on what would eventually be called the Indie Games channel. Mixing action, adventure, puzzle solving, and platforming together with a narrative, there’s a lot to like in this 240 Microsoft Point game.

My favourite element of Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee was switching back and forth between Abe and Munch to solve puzzles. Mithra Chapter 1 employs some of that and to good effect. The game (more…)

I’m purchasing an Xbox Live Indie Game every day, seeking out the quality titles that got lost in the shuffle and no longer appear in the top 50 downloads. Today is day #15, and today’s game is “まもって騎士” (Protect Me Knight).

“まもって騎士” (which apparently translates to Protect Me Knight) It is made by a Japanese Xbox Live Indie Games developer, and the number of Japanese making XBL Indie Games always surprises me given the Xbox 360 is not a huge success in Japan (as I type this only about 1.5 million 360s have been sold in Japan, a fraction of the approx. 45 million sold worldwide as of this writing). Japanese indie games, though, are among some of the more intriquing ones in the channel.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this game, the description described the premise rather than the gameplay. However, it came strongly recommended by a Kotaku commenter named Mentuss who described it as “a weird cross between a defence game and Gauntlet with RPG style levelling.” With a description like that, I was sold (literally).

In the game you protect your (more…)

Game #6 was “Solar”.

Solar is a game that just screams innovation. In the game you play as, I kid you not, a star. You compete with other stars to attract planets with your gravitational pull, and even moons to your planets. Competition for orbiting satellites apparently can get a little rough in Solar’s universe, and you can lay the smack down on other stars by reducing them to lesser stars, even eliminating them entirely.

Far from a plodding afair, in the game your star roams the universe freely and quickly making the gameplay as engaging as it is unique. There are navigational hazards you will have to watch out for in your travels, ones that can become worse if you’ve successfully snatched a tonne of planets and moons into your orbit.

For 80 Microsoft points, this is a tremendous game. I added the “simulation” tag to this article for lack of what else to call it, but I’m open to suggestions as to what better genre to categorise this in.

Click here to download “Solar”, and then please come back after playing to rate the game.

Know someone else who would want to read the review, or rate the game? “Share This” and invite them to.

Game #5 was “Miner Dig Deep”.

Miner Dig Deep is a game that is much cooler than it sounds. Remember Dig Dug? Well, this is a bit like what Dig Dug might have been if it was a management sim.

Unlike I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 which offers a lot of fun and is worth its 80 Microsoft Points despite its limited replay value, Miner Dig Deep offers expansive gameplay for only 80 Microsoft Points making it simply one of the best values for your dollar available anywhere.

Click here to download “Miner Dig Deep”, and then please come back after playing to rate the game.

Know someone else who would want to read the review, or rate the game? “Share This” and invite them to.

Click here to jump back to Recap #4: “I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1”

Click here to jump forward to recap #6: “Solar”.