Here’s a game that shouldn’t exist. I read the backstory of the developer’s inspiration before playing, which seemed like a very conscientious thing to do. The original Yeah Yeah Beebiss I, a NES game known only from a listing on a US mail order leaflet, is shrouded in mystery, conjecture, and baseless theorising; almost like …
Random generation has been a boon for indie developers the world over. Used correctly, it can add near-infinite variety and replayability to your game, providing something fresh and new for your players over multiple hours of playtime. However, it’s a bit of a double-edged sword, because if it’s mishandled, what you’ll end up with is …
When ’80s and ’90s publishers folded and began consuming one another, it wasn’t always immediately obvious who owned the rights to what. In an industry fixated on the future, nobody gave it much thought, but nowadays – with retro gaming being huge – it’s up to IP holders such as PIKO and Nightdive to try …
With a name like Pupperazzi, you have to wonder what came first: the desire to make something centred around canine photography, or thinking of that pun-tastic name and then devising a game around it. Either way, it gives us hope that our game – Stalingrad, entailing a bunch of starlings squabbling over mealworms on a …
Some games revel in your success, pushing you onwards to greater and more satisfying accomplishments in the moment-to-moment loop. Trigger Dungeon would like you to die and suffer while you’re doing it. Immediately familiar to anyone with a history of ‘rage games’ (I Wanna Be The Guy, et al), Trigger Dungeon isn’t so much about …
A commercial for a certain brand of butter once convinced the world that homemade cakes are better than store-bought. Sure, they may have runny icing, burnt edges, unevenly placed sprinkles and contain the occasional teaspoon, but it’s the care and graft that counts. Indie twin-stick space shooter Guntech 2 echoes this sentiment. It was made …
Sometimes you stumble across a game that, as soon as you see it, think “That’s a great idea! Why didn’t someone do that before?” because it’s one of those obvious things that should’ve made complete sense to anyone to make. This was my reaction upon first seeing Cat Box Paradox on Twitter for #screenshotsaturday – …
Indie games are often designed to arouse nostalgia for the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Occasionally the 32-bit era, too. When Drakkar Dev set about creating this top-down mech hack ‘n slash/shooter hybrid, we very much doubt they hoped to bring back memories of the Xbox 360/PS3 era. Or more specifically, a half-baked licensed movie/cartoon tie-in …
Modern puzzle adventures are usually relaxed affairs that give ample time to solve their brain teasers. Summertime Madness is the exception, intended to be played with a six-hour time limit. At any time, it’s possible to bring up the protagonist’s pocket watch to see how much time is left. This isn’t merely a gameplay feature …
Almost by default, futuristic racers are lustrous things. For this, we can thank a combination of exhilarating speeds, curvaceous and desirable vehicles, rollercoaster-style courses, and speaker warbling soundtracks. It’s no surprise that numerous consoles launched with a futuristic racer – they’re ideal showpieces. Repixel8’s Gravity Chase ticks most of those boxes. Vehicles get up to …
Labyrinth Legend is an early entry into the 2022 competition for World’s Most Generic Game Title, and it revels in following that genericness down to the gameplay. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s an isometric 2D pixel art action-RPG dungeon crawler, a sentence more complicated than the actual moment to moment action is. Pick …
Although inspired by a micro-computer game of yore – 1982’s often ridiculed Spectrum hit Horace Goes Skiing – this homage has a rather arcade-like feel to it. This isn’t necessarily due to its physics engine or polygon visuals, but its limited amount of content and features. With the £5.79 asking price in mind though (just …
Xbox Game Pass has left such an impact on the gaming landscape that we’re starting to see bespoke experiences tailored specially for the service. These tend to be short, narrative-driven, affairs with family-friendly themes – snackable games, if you will. The Gunk is the latest, coming from Image & Form – a studio known to …
This 3D platformer has a storyline that’s sweeter than a sugar-coated kitten, creating a wholesome vibe from the outset. The titular castle was once a refuge for wizards seeking a quiet life, only for them to mysteriously vanish after sightings of a ferocious dragon. Shrouded in mystery, the castle still stands, only reachable to those …
Following on from the recent Unpacking and Exo One, Townscaper is the latest zen-like experience to grace Xbox Game Pass. Not only is it even more relaxed than those two, but it’s also far simpler. Yes, even simpler than Unpacking – a game centred around unpacking boxes, unsurprisingly enough. In Townscaper, pressing the A button …