A Night on the Farm Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "A bite-sized slice of spookiness" 👨‍🌾👽 @FrozenFlameInt #IndieGame #Horror #GameDev #IndieGameDev

Frozen Flame Interactive deliver us a mysterious tale that follows the events of a car crash at night. Our protagonist begins the tale by clambering out of their wrecked vehicle before heading off into the night, happening across a seemingly abandoned farm.

What follows is a short romp around the farm and its grounds, as you find out more about the strange notes and items that you find scattered in this lonely locale.

Horror Tales: The Beggar | Xbox Review 8/10 “It’s Morvin Time” 👽 @CarlosGameDev #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGameDev

Horror tales: The Beggar begins with introducing the titular Beggar a human(ish) creature who has been locked away. Now freed by a helpful robot he claims he will guide you out and help you on your way.

You notice very quickly the world is broken and has been for a very long time, you will find little sign of life, unluckily for the Beggar there is one being that follows him Morvin a product of his own imagination who isn't particularly friendly and will happily attack you on sight, luckily you have powers which are introduced as the game goes on, so you aren't completely helpless when old Morvin turns up, you have the power of telekinesis so not only can you move objects that are in your way, you can also hurl objects at your stalker, which after you have hurled enough objects at him you will get some respite and can continue traversing the fractured world.

Rewind or Die PS5 Review 8/10 “The Good Stuff” 📼 @PuppetCombo @torturestar #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGameDev #HorrorCommunity

Puppet Combo games have been my jam, I think I have reviewed one of their games every month for the last several months (I have another in the pipeline already, for next month). 

I’ve enjoyed every game, and the last few releases have been some of their most diverse - with Lakeview Cabin Collection being a side scroller and The Glass Staircase being a PS2 zombie horror inspired by classic Italian films. 

Rewind or Die gets back to what I imagine when I think of Puppet Combo - A grubby, dirty slasher-inspired romp with PS1 style graphics mixed with VHS. It’s not only what I think of… it’s what I love.

Kena: Bridge Of Spirits Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Formulaic Fun" 🏹 @emberlab #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

Hey you! Yeah, you! You like platforming games, yeah? And a bit of puzzling floats your boat? How about a bit of combat to keep things interesting? Yeah? You like that? Well then, step right this way, I’ve got something I think you might enjoy, even if you’ve probably played it before. 

CONSCRIPT Xbox Review 8/10 "It captures the grinding, stifling atmosphere of war really, really well" ☠️ @ConscriptGame #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGameDev

War is hell. Thus spoke US Civil War veteran General William T. Sherman, and, let's face it, he's not wrong. Conscript is a top-down pixel-art survival horror set during World War I, specifically the 1916 Battle of Verdun. 

You control young French soldier Andre, slogging through unending miles of trenches and bunkers ridden with sucking mud, enemy soldiers, rats and mustard gas, in search of your captured brother Pierre and a safe return home.

Murder is Game Over: Streaming Death Nintendo Switch Review 7.5/10 "Detective Guy and his canine sidekick Cleo return to Switch!" 🕵️ @HitherYonGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

Back in November 2023 I covered the first title in the ‘Murder is Game Over’ series, a fun title created in RPG Maker that puts you in the shoes of Detective Guy and his trusty canine sidekick Cleo as they work together to solve the murder of the eccentric video game designer ‘Lord’ Russell Gallant.

It’s a title that can be completed in a couple of hours, but the blend of basic fact-finding and breezy investigative work – bulked up a dog-treat collecting mini-game – made for a light evening of easy, crime-solving fun. 

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Xbox Review 8/10 "Satisfying Combat and more frowning men than you can shake a stick at" ⚔️ @Focus_entmt #SpaceMarine2

There are certain franchises that can feel quite overwhelming to jump into if you haven’t been involved with them since the start, the Warhammer 40k franchise has been on the periphery for me for decades; yes, I’ve dabbled with the board games and a handful of scattered video games along the way, but as for the lore and terminology? 

Mate, I don’t know my Ultramarine from my Burnt Umber.

Thief Simulator 2 Xbox Review 7/10 "Out on the nick, again!" 🦸 @ULTGames #IndieGames #IndieGameDev #GameDev

The Thief Simulator games have been on my radar for a few years now. I played the original on Switch, and - whilst it was a flawed game - there was a bizarre moreish-ness and sense of fun to just, well… going out on the nick, quite frankly. 

This is a game made by one individual which is very commendable, but – as with a lot of 3D open-world titles made by incredibly small teams - also falls into the usual issues of overreaching its grasp in some areas - much like the Autobahn Police Simulator series does. 

However, games such as these often stand out for me and become real pleasures to play.

Yes, they may not be smooth, tight or polished experiences - but there’s a vision, charm and idiosyncrasy that makes these sorts of games a very memorable experience that more often than not resonate with me as a player.

Lakeview Cabin Collection PS5 Review 8.5/10 “A Love Letter To Classic Horror” 🔪🏚️ #indieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

Friday the 13th, Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, all giant staples of the slasher genre. Large, masked angry men on a mission to gut mostly teenagers - but they are happy to brutalise pretty much anyone. 

Whilst watching one of these films we've all thought, ‘what a stupid man, don’t drop your weapon, and then go into the basement blindfolded after just having sex while telling everyone “I’ll be right back’, that's a great way to get killed! 

I would definitely know what to do if a hulking, masked, machete-wielding maniac appeared suddenly in my house, I’m super smart and would not panic, or give into my fear, I would 100 percent survive, and would wipe the floor with those stupid hulking maniacs.

Just Crow Things Xbox Review 8/10 "Welcome to the Poopy Party" 🐦‍⬛ @UnboundCreation #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

I find real pleasure in diving into games that are suitable for all the family, especially those that have a humorous streak running through them. My three-year-old is a bit of a litmus test when it comes to the child-friendly titles I cover here at GF, and when Just Crow Things came on, he was intrigued, but when he found out there was a poop button? He was sold.

From Unbound Creations – the team behind Rain On Your Parade – Just Crow Things ostensibly casts you in the role of a young crow that is on a quest to get her sunglasses back from bullies, but the real meat of the game is just having fun and causing carnage throughout the game’s stages. 

Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand Xbox Review 7.5 / 10 "Atlas falls, and rises again!" ⚔️ @Deck13_de @Focus_entmt #IndieGame #GameDev

Atlas Fallen is the newest release from Deck13 - the team behind Lords of the Fallen and the Surge series – and, whilst it was initially released in 2023 to mixed reviews, this free update to the Reign of Sand edition aims to fix some key issues that affected the initial release, namely:

• An expanded world
• New enemies and challenges
• Revamped progression
• New quests
• Reworked voice acting
• Additional difficulty mode and a New Game+ mode

I didn’t cover the initial release and so can’t really do direct comparisons; and so I’ll review the Reign of Sand version of Atlas Fallen completely on its own merits.

Fading Afternoon Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "A powerful game… for some" ⛅️ @shin_yeo #IndieGameDev #GameDev #IndieGame

Fading Afternoon was an oddly tough game to review because its unique blend of genres - life simulation & 2D brawling – and its player-driven gameplay (as opposed to narratively driven) can lead to a sense of aimless meandering as much as it can seem a deep and powerful experience.

Unfortunately, whilst I can see that this was a real underdog gem for some, I didn’t connect with the game in the same way some folks did, which was a shame. That said, I still found Fading Afternoon to be a memorable experience, clearly created by a developer that follows their vision, which is always something that I appreciate and fully support.

Retro Revengers Xbox Review 7/10 "Retro Revenge is Sweet" 🕹️ @shinyuden @RatalaikaGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

A short and snappy title that harks back to 8-bit platformers. Retro Revengers has a modern twist mainly through the narrative, and whilst it is a very brief title at around an hour or two, this brevity is what keeps the gameplay and somewhat snarky story fresh up to the end.

Over Horizon X Steel Empire Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 "An MD Fave Returns!" 💥☄️ @ININ_Games #Retrogaming

Ratalaika appear to have burrowed into my mind over the last couple of years and unearthed Mega Drive memories with which to delight me, as last year they re-released Gynoug and now they’ve turned their sights towards Steel Empire. 

What I’m enjoying about these is that whilst these aren’t super-rare, import-only hidden gems, they are games that were somewhat underdogs and may have been initially missed by fans of Sega’s 16-bit system – they are also games that hold up incredibly well today, and it’s great that modern audiences now have the chance to discover them – or rediscover them, as the case may be.

Project 13 PS5 Review 7/10 “Has that plant always been there?” 🪴 @DRYBREAD_games #IndieGame #IndieGameDev #GameDev

I’ve never had an easier time describing a game as I have with Project 13 - you are in an asylum and by ‘an asylum’ I mean ‘one corridor within it’, which you walk down again, and again, and again and again…you get the drift. But, each time something may change and it’s your job to find out what. 

There are 35 anomalies which can range from the obvious to quite subtle, so you have to examine the corridor with a fine-tooth comb. If you spot an anomaly, you have to pull down a lever and start again, simple. 

Except, every time you get it correct a counter raises - get to 13? You've escaped, and are rewarded with freedom, get one wrong and the counter resets back to 0… and you start back over, that’s right, 13 anomalies in a row, or that comb is coming back out! 

Parasol Stars: The Story of Bubble Bobble III Xbox Review 8/10 "Twirl that parasol!" ⛱️ #Retrogaming

Released by Taito in 1991, Parasol Stars - the sequel to Bubble Bobble (1986), and Rainbow Islands (1987)– stuck closer to the formula of the original with single-screen action, this time with brighter visuals, larger sprites, and advanced audio – and yes, the soundtrack is absolutely as much of an earworm as the original!

Abathor Nintendo Switch Review 8.5/10 "A golden throwback to 16-bit co-op classics" ⚔️ @Abathor_Game @JanduSoft

I’ve covered hundreds of games during my time at The Might GF, and some can pop up seemingly out of nowhere and blow me away, some can be stewing for months and months, as I hungrily follow every dev post on social media, my appetite whetting ever further...and then the final game gets slopped on the floor in front of me in a steaming mess, leaving me smoking enigmatically up at the night sky, wondering what could have been as Bohren & Der Club of Gore play sexily in the background, the minimalist jazz soundtrack to my burgeoning disappointment.

Sometimes, though – I’ll stumble across a game that looks funky – like Abathor – and each tease or online trailer will have me adjusting my tie as steam comically toots through my collar. Good. 

From the early days of its inception, developer Pow Pixel Games promised to deliver us a throwback platformer, and by Jove, did they ever!

Crow Country XBOX Review 7.5/10 "A throwback survival horror with narrative depth" 🐦‍⬛🌎 @SFBTom @SFBDim #GameDev #IndieGame

I’ve enjoyed the recent spate of games harking back to the visual style of the PS1 – albeit with the juddering, flat polygons and tedious loading screens removed – as it’s not only a style that feels as yet pretty un-mined but is also rich with nostalgia – as well as being suited to lo-fi horror with the low polygon vibes setting the imagination alight. 

With this in mind, getting my hands on Crow Country was a delight, and the fact that the game offers two primary modes – one more combat-centric, whilst the other eschews combat in turn of a more story-based approach – made the game even more appealing, due to its openness and accessibility for players who enjoy both styles.

The year is 1990, and we are introduced to the protagonist of the story - Mara Forest – approaching a seemingly abandoned amusement park called Crow Country, she claims to be a special agent with memory issues, and is determined to locate the missing owner of Crow Country… Edward Crow – for unknown reasons. 

What follows is a solid and intriguing few hours of pretty classic gameplay, in that you’ll find yourself scavenging for ammo, reading lots of lore, and working your way through both environmental and inventory-based puzzles. 

Whilst the crunchy polygons and incredible aural atmosphere (courtesy of composer Ockeroid) carry the game pretty far, as the combat and puzzles get a bit tired, it’s the narrative that will hook you through to the games’ end. 

That said, if you want the ability to play at a more leisurely pace, the aforementioned ability to remove the combat gives a breezier approach, leaving you to fully focus on the atmosphere and unfolding, twisting story. Don’t worry, there’ll still be some scares!

SUMMARY
A tasty PS1-esque survival horror title with a far more engaging and involved narrative than you’d expect, SFB Games have come out swinging with this, and for lovers of vintage survival horror, it’s time to get a ticket to Crow Country.

Justice League: Cosmic Chaos Xbox Review 7.5/10 "A fun, family-friendly title with surprisingly cool music" 🦇 @PHLCollective @Outright_Games #GameDev #IndieGame

As a fan of Batman in most of his incarnations through the decades, I’ve always leaned towards the darker interpretations of his character. That said, as the father of a young boy just discovering video games, the fact that I can get hips deep into some Diedrich Bader-voiced Batman action aimed at a younger audience is very, very fine indeed with me.

The story here is that life in Happy Harbor is turned upside-down by Mr. Mxyzplk, who usurps the current Mayor of the town by using Starro’s mind control powers to take control of members of the Justice League, leaving Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman – with a little help from some very super friends – to restore order to the idyllic town.

RoboCop: Rogue City PS5 Review 8/10 "Oh, how I miss squibs!" 🤖 @TeyonGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Oh, how I miss squibs. These days action movies simulate blood splatter from gunshots with CGI and, while now relatively convincing, it just doesn’t have the same visceral impact as detonating a small bag of fake blood. 

RoboCop: Rogue City developer Teyon clearly feels the same way. This is a game almost entirely about blasting sneering criminals with high-powered weaponry and every thumping shot sends beautiful fountains of the red stuff spiralling through the air and onto the scenery. If this somehow isn’t enough, the game offers a “More Gore” weapon upgrade to truly paint the town red. Paul Verhoeven would be proud.