Epic Llama Studio has just announced that the Kickstarter campaign for their upcoming point-and-click adventure title Unusual Findings has just launched. The funding from the Kickstarter campaign will be used to bring Unusual Findings to additional platforms, including Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 4 and 5. Any additional stretch goals will allow the team to expand the game with new scenes, mini-games and more.
8 Nov 2021
7 Nov 2021
🔶 Super Hiking League DX | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7.5/10 | "An 8bit Styled Vertical Climbing Platformer" 🔶 @bitinkstudios @qubytegames #IndieGame #IndieGames #GameDev
Super Hiking League DX is an 8bit styled verticle climbing platformer, with a jump swinging mechanic that sets it apart from the pack. You can race to the top - against a friend with local play, or you can take on the AI in Story mode and see who reaches the summit’s diamond first.
6 Nov 2021
👊💥👊 Giants Uprising | Early Access | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | No Commentary | "I Am Giant!" 👊💥👊 @GiantsUprising #IndieGame #IndieGames #GameDev
Giants Uprising is a medieval fantasy action-adventure game full of Giants and unlimited destruction! Take on the role of a powerful Giant who finally breaks free from enslavement to seek revenge on the ruthless human race.
5 Nov 2021
📀🎶 Skelattack | Original Video Game Soundtrack | Music by Jamal Green 💿🎵 @JamalGreenMusic @MondoNews @skelattack #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
Available From:
https://mondoshop.com/products/skelattack-original-video-game-soundtrack-2xlp
A perfect pack of Halloween tunes suitable for all the family, the Skelattack soundtrack is taken from the 2020 action platformer of the same name. Featuring songs that instantly come across in a very whimsical, ‘Burton-esque’ way, the joyously kooky ‘n spooky approach that Jamal Green takes really makes this an addictive listen that sets a great mood, calling to mind not just some great games but also timeless family favourite movies.
4 Nov 2021
🩸🌳 Blair Witch - VR Edition | PSVR | Review | 2/10 | "In 1999 I spent a summer working as a lumberjack" 🩸🌳 @PixelHunted @BlairWitchGame #IndieGame #IndieGames #GameDev
In 1999 I spent a summer working as a lumberjack in the mountains outside of Durango, Colorado. Each Saturday night we’d pile into a pickup and head into town to the multiplex. One visit, having exhausted most of what was on offer, we decided to roll the dice on The Blair Witch Project. None of us had heard anything about the movie, but a horror movie about a witch? Rad.
Turns out that The Blair Witch Project is the absolute worst film to watch if you’re camping out in the woods that night. With no evidence to the contrary I thought it was real and - though I still doubted the existence of actual witches - I spent the night sleeping in the backseat of someone’s car. The Blair Witch Project remains the most terrifying experience I’ve had in a cinema and makes me basically the prime target for Blair Witch VR.
3 Nov 2021
🎮 Paratopic | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7/10 | "Videodrome Vibes" 🎮 @arbitrarymetric #GameDev #IndieGame #IndieGames
Paratopic is a game that has been on the periphery for me for some time and a recommendation from the head honcho at Stumpy Frog Records was what it took to finally push me over the edge. What I discovered was an experience that was difficult to pin down, but I found that it stuck in my mind through the days following completion.
2 Nov 2021
🪓 Battle Axe | PS4 | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | Golden Axe On Steroids!" 🪓 @NumskullGames #IndieGames #GameDev #IndieGame #PixelArt
1 Nov 2021
🔥🚒 Nuclear Blaze | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay 🔥🚒 @deepnightfr #IndieGame #GameDev #IndieGames
Nuclear Blaze is a unique 2D firefighting game from the creator of Dead Cells, with all the devastating backdrafts, exploding walls and sprinklers you could expect. Fight your way through a mysterious facility and try to keep the blaze under control.
31 Oct 2021
🌑 Phobos - Subhuman | PC | Gameplay 🌑 @PhobosSubhuman #IndieGame #IndieGameDev
30 Oct 2021
29 Oct 2021
📕📗📘📙 Bitmap Books – A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games | Available 29th October 2021 📕📗📘📙 @bitmap_books
Having previously covered – and been extremely impressed by – Bitmap Books’ Game Boy: The Box Art Collection (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/bitmap-books-game-boy-box-art.html), I already knew what to expect from them this time around. Solid, robust packaging, luxurious, glossy paper as well as well-researched and well-presented text augmented by crisp imagery and screenshots. Good.
28 Oct 2021
🔥 Far Cry 6 | Review | Xbox Series X | 8.5/10 | "Rum and Rifles (also the names of my fists)" 🔥 @FarCrygame
My relationship with Far Cry 5 was rockier than Sylvester Stallone in 1976. The darker tone and focus on twisted zealots, cults and brainwashing (sadly reflective of the over-arching social climate of the time, which could well have added to my tiring of it) – not to mention the constant, constant dream sequences - wore me down and it was only through revisiting it via the online co-op campaign some months later did I eventually begin to settle into it and enjoy the experience.
Far Cry 6 however, drew me in straight away. Whilst there are darker moments here, the overall sense of the game is that of fun and the traits of the series return in a way that makes exploration feel enjoyable - not through any real reinvention but rather through the solid gameplay, vibrant presentation, jaunty music, moment-to-moment scenes and satisfying gunplay.
27 Oct 2021
🎴 🧟 Cards of the Dead | Xbox Series X | Review | 7.5/10 | "A Halloween Title Shambles into the Fold" 🧟🎴 @BoomfireGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Just in time for Halloween, Cards of the Dead bursts from the deck to eat our brains. A fun, well-presented and accessible title that only really falls short when it comes to the balancing act.
26 Oct 2021
🕹️👾 Arcade Tycoon | PC | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "Dream Arcade" 🕹️👾 @thearcadetycoon #thearcadetycoon #GameDev #IndieGames
25 Oct 2021
🚴♂️💥🚗 Crash: Autodrive | Nintendo Switch | Review | 6/10 | "Who’s gonna drive you home?" 🚴♂️💥🚗 @StudioNightcap #GameDev #IndieGames
A lightly futuristic visual novel with some adventure elements, Crash: Autodrive puts you in the verbose shoes of Emily, a young woman who – sharing an auto-driving cab with three other passengers – hits and kills a cyclist, a cyclist that everyone personally knows – and all involved have motives for murder.
24 Oct 2021
💿📀 BattleTech: Original Game Soundtrack Vinyl | Composer - Jon Everist | Produced by – Black Screen Records 💿📀 @blackscreenrec #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
Black Screen Records: BattleTech
Our home is one filled with love for Jon Everist, as mentioned in my previous Vinyl Fantasies article (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/video-game-vinyl-britt-recommends.html) I was quite taken by his Shadowrun: Hong Kong soundtrack and even now, almost nine months on, we listen to it pretty regularly.
Whilst this game was also created by Harebrained Schemes – those heroes behind the resurgence of the Shadowrun franchise - it’s the first soundtrack that I’ve listened to from Jon Everist outside of the Shadowrun series and so I was intrigued as to how his approach would differ.
23 Oct 2021
💿📀 Narita Boy Original Soundtrack on Vinyl "A retro-futuristic audio heaven" 💿📀 @studiokobaGAME #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
Available from (https://studiokoba.com/music/)
By Salvinsky (https://salvinsky.bandcamp.com/)
Narita Boy was a title that I reviewed back in April and, whilst the gameplay didn’t click with me, the visual and audio presentation were real highlights - a vision of a digital future purely viewed through the lens of a romanticised ‘80s mindset was a heady mix and this soundtrack, comprising of a selection of thirteen tracks from the game, feels like a well-chosen highlight reel and has been firmly glued to my turntable since receiving it just over a week ago.
22 Oct 2021
🃏 🐺 Inscryption | Demo | PC | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster 🐺🃏 @DMullinsGames #GameDev #IndieGames
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie.
Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards...
21 Oct 2021
🚂 If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "The Silent Room" 🚂 @deadidlegames #GameDev #IndieGames
If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers is a narrative-driven point-and-click adventure with horror elements that explores the stories of four characters in a masked ball taking place aboard a train in the late 1920s.
It's also currently FREE on Steam!
⚔️ INFERNAX | "A Blood-Splattered, Demon-Slaying Retro Action Adventure" ⚔️ #GameDev #IndieGames @TheArcadeCrew @berzerkstudio
Publisher The Arcade Crew (The Last Spell, Young Souls) and developer Berzerk Studio (Just Shapes & Beats) today announce Infernax, a demon-slaying action-adventure inspired by 8-bit retro classics, which is bashing monsters into a spectacularly bloody pulp across PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in Q1 2022.
20 Oct 2021
💻 Tips for Looking After Your Tech 💻
Technology is expensive, so unless you want to be paying out to fix or replace it, you must invest your time in looking after your tech. Whether you use your devices for gaming or work, likely, your setup is not cheap. Looking after your tech will not only save you money in the long run but also help you benefit from more efficient functions and better security features to keep your data safe.
Here are some top tips to help you look after your tech and increase its lifespan.
⚔️ Tales of Arise | Review | PS5 | 8.5/10 | "A Tale As Old As Time" ⚔️ #TalesOfArise
Tales of Arise is one of the games that I've been most excited about all year, finally getting to play a JRPG on the PS5 from a long-standing series that I deeply adore.
My expectations were sky high, I was counting down the days to play it; frothing at the mouth, staring at my watch, screaming at time to move more quickly… ok maybe that’s hyperbole - but I couldn’t wait to finally load the game and start my experience.
19 Oct 2021
🚙 Gearshifters | Switch | Review | 8/10 | "A very smooth and addictive genre mash-up" 🚙 @NumskullGames #IndieGames #GameDev
I’ve had my peepers on Gearshifters since being introduced to it via a Numskull (the publisher of Gearshifters) presentation on YouTube earlier in the year.
The thought of combining top-down vehicular combat with the style of a classic horizontal shooter really unbuckled my trousers and folded them neatly in a drawer.
When the review copy was sent over, I was a little apprehensive as the previous game we had covered from Numskull – RICO: London – hadn’t been scored too well by my colleague, luckily those worries were unfounded as Gearshifters quickly held me captive in its cleverly designed, moreish, skidmark-laden world.
🥶 New Trailer Heralds the Release of We Were Here Forever! 🥶 @WeWereHereGame
18 Oct 2021
🕵️♀️🔎 Murder Mystery Machine | Xbox Series X | Review | 5/10 "A disappointing experience that had the potential for so much more" 🕵️♀️🔎 @BlazingGGames #IndieGames #GameDev
When I saw the trailer for this game, I thought, “wow this looks up my street! An isometric murder mystery where you solve the cases by linking evidence on a diorama board, having to piece together means, motives and opportunity… this sounds amazing!”
17 Oct 2021
🍌 Super Monkey Ball | Banana Mania | Ten Minute Taster | PC | Gameplay | "Tally My Banana!" 🍌 @SuperMonkeyBall
Go Bananas with your favourite monkey gang in the ultimate Super Monkey Ball adventure!
Roll through wondrous worlds with AiAi and friends as you race to stop monkey mad scientist Dr Bad-Boon from blowing up Jungle Island! Join the all-star monkey team of AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, Baby, YanYan and Doctor as you bounce, tilt, and roll your way across hundreds of delightfully crafted levels and mazes. It’s monkey business for the gang as you take down Dr Bad-Boon and steal back your beloved bananas!
16 Oct 2021
☢ Chernobylite | Xbox Series X | 7.5/10 | "A mystery wrapped up in a beautiful misery" ☢ @ChernobylGame #GameDev #IndieGames
I’ve always enjoyed titles by developers from Eastern Europe, there’s a way in which they embrace darkness and struggle with a twist of idiosyncratic humour that appeals to me.
From the well-meaning but overreaching Boiling Point: Road to Hell, White Gold: War in Paradise and Precursors to the...well, also well-meaning but over-reaching Hard Truck Apocalypse – which has a gorgeous acoustic guitar-led soundtrack that yearns to be released on vinyl.
The games were janky and tough to run on PCs of the day but they had such flair and character that I always got excited when I picked one up.
Of course, a game from that area of the world that was one of the most influential – and is currently coming back with a sequel – was S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, which remains one of the most intense gaming experiences I’ve ever had - alongside Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - and Chernobylite continues in that vein – a vein that very much scratches an itch that I didn’t even know I had in modern gaming. Good.
15 Oct 2021
🧟♀️🧟 Deadly Days | XBOX SERIES X | Review | 8/10 | "With Pixel-Art Graphics and a Dash of Humour" 🧟♀️🧟 @pixelsplitgames #IndieGames #GameDev
With pixel-art graphics and a dash of humour, set in a zombie apocalypse, it's hard to play this game without comparing it to the excellent Death Road to Canada.
14 Oct 2021
⛳️🏌️♂️Tee off for the unknown - A Little Golf Journey Takes To The Greens Today ⛳️🏌️♂️ @PTonicFriends #GameDev #IndieGames
I'm well into this premise of a game, hopefully, it lives up to my expectations, in the meantime, I'll just salivate over the trailer...
"A Little Golf Journey is all about the journey, not the driver. Explore diverse biomes, uncover each course's secrets and enjoy a relaxed, playful experience built around a stripped back version of the game of golf.
Created by a duo of former AAA games developers and launching on Steam & GOG for PC and Nintendo Switch today, A Little Golf Journey allows players to soak up the natural beauty of the course, spend all your time out of bounds or shoot straight for the greens. But who knows what mysteries you might uncover if you explore a little?"
🌲🪓'Len's Island' Gets New Gameplay Trailer | Launch Date 26/11/21 🌲🪓 @LensIsland #GameDev #Indiegames
13 Oct 2021
📘🚶♀️ Book Of Travels | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Take A Walk With Me" 📘🚶♀️ #GameDev #IndieGames
Ready your pack, grab your walking stick and step into a world of mystery and legend in the Book Of Travels game. Craft a unique character and immerse yourself in the enchanted lands of Braided Shore. Set your own goals and adventure alone or together with Travellers you meet on the road in this serene TMORPG.
12 Oct 2021
🛡️ EFFIE | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Runes R Us" @Klabater 🛡️ @InvergeStudios #GameDev #IndieGames
Effie is a 3D action-adventure game that combines the classic elements of the genre, such as combat, platforming and puzzles, with the exploration of an expanded world. In the game, we play as Galand, a young man in his quest to recover his youth after a witch cursed him with premature old age. Powerful black magic controls the cities of the region of Oblena and to face evil, we will carry a magic shield called Runestone. This shield has a very important role in our adventure because it will be our only weapon and tool. It will allow you to defend yourself, to fight and to surf across the red grassland.
11 Oct 2021
⚔️Ghostrunner | PS5 | Review | 9/10 | "Your enemies are hapless mooks destined to be carved into chunks"👻🏃 #IndieGames #GameDev @GhostrunnerGame @PixelHunted
9 Oct 2021
8 Oct 2021
💿📀 Children of Morta | Vinyl | Video Game Soundtrack 💿📀 @minimum_records #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl
Available From:
Label - Minimum Records
Music by - Hamidreza Ansari
https://hamidrezaansari.com/home
Taken from the 2019 ARPG game ‘Children of Morta’ developed by Dead Mage, the game tells the story of the Bergson family, who are trying to erase ‘the Corruption’ from their home, Mount Morta.
Children of Morta is a game I have played only briefly, it just so happened to be a game I was just tucking into – not to review for GF, just stumbled upon it on Game Pass – just as a deluge of things that required coverage came into the GF HQ and the flaming gavel of justice was required elsewhere once more. Whilst I only spent an hour or so with the game, I was digging the presentation and mood and so I’m intrigued by how the soundtrack feels as a standalone piece of music.
7 Oct 2021
🤡 A Juggler’s Tale | Review | Xbox | 7/10 | "Well-presented with some strings attached" 🤡 @ajugglerstale #GameDev #IndioeGames
The 2.5D platformer genre is one that I’m often attracted to, whether it’s something along the lines of Shadow Complex or more akin to Inside or even something that leans towards more of a hack-and-slash affair, there’s something about the distant expanse that paints the picture of a rich and full world - yet tied to streamlined, linear gameplay. The presentation of A Juggler’s Tale is very much a highlight, as is the audio work. It’s in the mechanics and controls that the splinters begin to appear.
6 Oct 2021
🕷️🕸️Spider-Man Original Video Game Soundtrack Music by John Paesano 🕸️🕷️ #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
Available at Mondo - https://mondoshop.com/collections/all/products/marvels-spider-man-original-video-game-soundtrack-2xlp
The first record we’ve covered from either Mondo or musician John Paesano, this double-LP of Insomniac’s 2018 hit pulls no punches with the sprawling filmic audio expanse that it creates.
5 Oct 2021
🚒🔥 EMBR | PC | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "Come On Baby Light My Fire!" 🧯👨🚒 @EmbrGame #GameDev #IndieGames
4 Oct 2021
🌕 Jettomero: Hero of the Universe | Nintendo Switch | Review | 6.5/10 | "I’m stompin’ around, move out of my way" 🌕 @GhostTimeGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Having so recently been completely enamoured with the GOTY contender Tux and Fanny, I delved into Jettomero, the previous title from Ghost Time Games. Whilst it didn’t grab me in the same way that Tux and Fanny did, there are some real highs here but they are unfortunately offset by some points that ultimately heavily detract from the experience.
3 Oct 2021
💿 Video Game Vinyl Fantasies | #2 | Britt Recommends 💿 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl
My previous Vinyl Fantasies article on VGM vinyl back in May (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/video-game-vinyl-britt-recommends.html) resulted in some absolutely wonderful conversations, feedback and comments.
The article appeared to really resonate with a lot of people (thank you to all!) and so it made perfect sense to get hips deep again and talk about other albums that really stand out for me – as well as some recent additions to the GF collection.
Once again, there is so much solid gold out there that I keep coming across music that quite frankly makes my trousers fly off my legs and turn into butterflies that scatter across the universe…so here are more records that soundtrack my days.
2 Oct 2021
💿 Dead by Daylight Vinyl | Review | "Michel .F April’s brooding, atmospheric score" 💿 @MichelFApril #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl
This is the first release I’ve covered from Return to Analog - a label based in Canada - and the contact, support, shipping and packaging were excellent, so it was off to a great start!
Being unfamiliar with the Dead by Daylight game, I went into this album with no prior expectations...but, upon seeing some of the track titles (Being Watched, Suffering, Enduring Torment, Threatening Gloom…) I did wonder if I’d have to listen from behind a tear-absorbent pillow.
1 Oct 2021
♞♚♛♜♝ Chessplosion | PC | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Bomberman Chess" ♞♚♛♜♝ @CTMatthews #IndieGames #GameDev
30 Sept 2021
💿💿The Angry Video Game Nerd 1&2 Deluxe Vinyl | Review | "An Expansive Triple Vinyl" 💿💿 @blackscreenrec #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl
Having been a fan of The Angry Video Game Nerd for a good few years (I think the first video I ever saw was The Silver Surfer), I can remember when the games based on the series were first released - in 2013 and 2016 respectively – and their addictive ‘dive in and out’ qualities combined with laser-focused platforming challenge and shining 8-bit audio work made such an impression on me that I leapt to cover the deluxe versions when they were released last year (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/search/label/AVGN%201%262%20Deluxe).
29 Sept 2021
🎮 NACON MG-X | "Designed for Xbox" Mobile Controller |Review | 9/10 | "OMG-X!" 🎮 @Nacon
It was a sad, sad day when I relinquished my Switch Lite. Having been a fan of the Gameboy and Atari Lynx in my misspent youth, I enjoyed getting hips deep into Mario (oo-er) on bus and train journeys. But, having bought an Xbox when the latest generation came out, I couldn’t justify the expense of running two prime consoles and the double game costs associated with it (I realise this is Games Freezer heresy as Britt has every console available, including TWO Magnavox Odysseys. Probably).
28 Sept 2021
🔥 Dustwind | PS4 | Ten minute Taster | Gameplay | "Eat My Dust!" 🔥 @dustwind_game #GameDev #IndieGames
27 Sept 2021
🏁🏎️💨 Cruis’n Blast | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7.5/10 | "I Have Very Fond Memories of The Cruis’n Series" 🏁🏎️💨 @rawthrills
I have very fond memories of the Cruis’n series, both in terms of the original arcade versions and homeports – well, some of them.
Originally released in 1994, the first game in the series – Cruis’n USA – was a fixture in a lot of arcades I visited in my teens and I was instantly drawn to the twitchy handling, energetic music and pure arcade gameplay.
The home ports were decent and got better with each iteration, meaning that Cruis’n Exotica was the highlight for me, despite the pop-in, smoothness always wins the day!
26 Sept 2021
👻 Tormented Souls | PS5 | Review | 8/10 | "Like Early Resident Evil" 👻 @PQubeGames #IndieGames #GameDev
Before Tormented Souls, I had played two games this year where the developers’ goal has been to emulate early survival horror games such as Resident Evil or Silent Hill. One was bad, the other is my least favourite game of all time and contained design choices that still make me angry to this day.
I was very sceptical going into Tormented Souls, thinking that maybe this type of game should be left in the past, so I don’t have to watch my love and nostalgia being quickly eroded by games trying to recapture their spirit.
Luckily, I love Tormented Souls, it did exactly what it was supposed to do - first and foremost, allow me to enjoy the experience but also fired up my nostalgia and transported me back to the early days of survival horror.
25 Sept 2021
🏠 No Longer Home | PC | Review | 7/10 | 🏠 @PixelHunted #GameDev #IndieGames
There’s a thin line between homage and plagiarism. No Longer Home lifts a lot from Kentucky Route Zero, with the flat-shaded graphics, magical realist elements, font-choice, animation, controls, and general vibe suspiciously familiar to anyone who’s played Cardboard Computer’s indie classic.
As a big-time fan of Kentucky Route Zero this isn’t exactly unwelcome, but when you’re a tiny indie developer with the freedom to make whatever you want cribbing heavily from someone else’s aesthetic feels like a creative lapse. Then, late in the game, you walk into a room to find a computer with Kentucky Route Zero on it and you’re asked if you want to name your dog Blue or Homer.
Well, fair enough then. At least they aren’t being subtle about it.