🏐⚽️ Bang On Balls Chronicles | PC | Gameplay | Early Access | "Watch Me Bang My Balls" ⚾️🏀 @bangonballs #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

Bang-On Balls: Chronicles is an oddball of a 3D platforming game with a collect-a-thon spin! Become a reckless hero as you do missions, collect items and search for secrets rolling through various (inaccurate) historical events!

🔊 Tronsmart Bang 60 Watt Portable Speaker with Light Show, Patented TuneConn™ Technology and Four Drivers 🔊

I just saw this speaker press release pop into the Games Freezer mailbox and now I'm excited about the launch of Tronsmart’s newest speaker, the BANG 60W.

The new speaker has some great features with Built-in Power Bank and the ability to link with up to 100 other Bang Speakers, for amplified sound.

The Bang 60W is IPX6 Waterproof and also comes with a built-in Power Bank. 

How handy is that?

🤖 Primordia | Nintendo Switch | Review | 8/10 | "Sounds Like Heaven" 🤖 @WWSGames #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

Primordia managed to slip by me upon its initial release - which is strange, as a post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk, point and click adventure game sounds like heaven! 

Now that it has been ported to Nintendo Switch, I thought it would be a good time to jump in and see if it was my videogame version of heaven.

📷 35mm | PS4 | Review | 4/10 | "The very last task you’re given is to find three batteries hidden in a city..." 📷 @PixelHunted

When the apocalypse arrives it’ll probably be kinda boring. Games like Fallout, The Last of Us, and Days Gone are all razzle-dazzle combat, world-changing drama, and malformed flesh-eating monsters to mulch.

Contrast that with 35mm, in which I spent an hour trudging through an abandoned village trying to find a bucket so I could use a grubby broken-down well. Let’s face it, that’s probably a more realistic scenario for you if civilisation collapsed.

💿💽 ENCODYA | An Original Soundtrack by Yann Latour | Vinyl Review 💿💽 @_YannLatour #vinylrecords #videogamemusic #videogamevinyl

I’ve covered a lot of records over the last few years, but ENCODYA stands out as one of the most memorable. An almost purely ambient release devoid -for the most part – of beats, drums or percussion, the layers of mood and scene are punctuated by guest spots of organic instrumentation that add character and identity whilst never deviating too far from the focus on melodic simplicity.

An album that really set me in a (much appreciated) zen-like state. Good.

🐔🥔 No Place Like Home | PC | Gameplay | Early Access | "A Relaxing Farming Sim With A Hoover" 🐔🥔 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

No Place Like Home - Humanity Trashed the Earth and left for Mars. Only a few remained. EXPLORE the world. Clean the environment, CRAFT with recycled resources. Domesticate animals. Rebuild your village. Restore the environment and run your own post-apocalyptic FARM as there is No Place Like Home!

🤖 Blackwind | Xbox Series X | Review | 3/10 | "Groundhog Slay" 🤖 @drakkardev @maxharvey79 #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

My first impressions of Blackwind were positive. I’m a fan of the mecha anime aesthetic, and the story of a boy having to use a super-powered robot suit (à la Titanfall) to battle enemies and rescue his father, was an appealing prospect. The voice acting is a little cheesy, but I felt like it set the scene well, with an AI voice in the suit giving instructions that worked as a tutorial without that being too contrived.

But. 

BUT.

⚔️ Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection | Six games - 21 versions - In One Limited Edition Collection ⚔️ #Retrogaming #WonderBoyCollection

Strictly Limited Games is looking forward to the pre-order start for the Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection on March 6th.

In the course of this announcement, they also revealed the extensive list of games that will be included in this very special collection of one of the most influential series from gaming’s past.

⚽️🥅 GOAL! - The Club Manager | "A Challenger For The Football Manager Crown?" ⚽️🥅 @Toplitz_Prod

This is an interesting piece of news about a Football Management sim that passed me by and is now ready for a reboot...

First released in 1993, the series is considered a milestone for realistic sports management mixing tactical depth with deep involvement in all areas of the club from finances to stadium extensions and a deep youth system while adding a healthy dose of humour. 

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, 2tainment and Toplitz Productions are looking forward to working together on this title to deliver a memorable experience as a club manager to gamers.

🥊KAO The Kangaroo | PC | Gameplay | The 3D Kangaroo Platformer 🦘 @Kaothekangaroo #IndieGameDev #IndieGame

 

Inspired by the golden age of 3D Platformers, Kao The Kangaroo returns in a whole new adventure! Embark on an epic journey, master magical gloves, explore lush environments and take Kao through his most grand tale yet!

🦖Elex II | XSX Review | 6.5/10 | "More RPG action from the team behind the Gothic and Risen series" 🦖 @Piranha_Bytes #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

When I came across Elex in 2017, it really made an impact on me. I resonated with the dry humour that was scattered throughout the game and, whilst it had technical issues, the sense of character that ran throughout made it stand out from the crowd, despite not being a graphical showcase.

I’ve been eagerly awaiting this sequel and, whilst it retains the humour and fixes some problems that were present in the first game, I couldn’t quite relax fully, due to some vague mission design and implementation which ultimately marred the experience.

📷 Martha Is Dead | PC | Gameplay | First 20 Minutes | "A Massive Twist Within The First 20 Minutes!" 📷 #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameDev @MarthaisDead @LkaGames @WiredP

Martha Is Dead is a dark first-person psychological thriller, set in 1944 Italy, that blurs the lines between reality, superstition and the tragedy of war.

⚔️ Super Dungeon Maker | EARLY ACCESS | PC | Ten Minute Taster | "Build me A Dungeon!"⚔️ @rokaplayHQ #IndieGames #GameDev

Super Dungeon Maker is a creative pixel art dungeon editor inspired by the best 2D adventure games. Choose however many levels, enemies, secret rooms, traps and items you want. Challenge your friends and the community to master your dungeon or play the countless dungeons of the community.

⛵️ Submerged Hidden Depths | Ten Minute Taster | "Relaxploration" ⛵️ #IndieGames

Boat, climb, interact and do some relaxploration in the beautiful ruins of a sunken world.

 

🐲 Metal Dragon | Mega Drive | Review | "There will be bullets" 🐲 #IndieGames #GameDev #Homebrew #SEGAGenesis

Known mostly for their MSX releases, Spanish developers Kai Magazine are now branching out into the Mega Drive world with this, their first release on the platform - a run ‘n gun shooter that is presented with tongue firmly in cheek.

“Kill everyone, destroy everything, save the girl… just because you can” – great tagline.

Set in a parodic version of the ‘80s, Metal Dragon comes boxed with a reversible cover – representative of the grid / blue box art versions of Mega Drive games that changed over time.

I kept with the earlier ‘grid’ style as Metal Dragon feels like a game from the early ‘90s. The cover of each features our hero standing heroically atop a tank as a massive explosion looms behind – as does other, general carnage– as he holds his machine gun aloft, with the President’s daughter at his arm, scantily clad – natch.

⚔️ The Wonder Boy Collection coming for Nintendo Switch and PS4 | Four Games In One Collection ⚔️

ININ Games and Strictly Limited Games are excited to announce the Wonder Boy Collection coming to Nintendo Switch and PS4 including the most iconic adventures from the legendary game series of the 80s and 90s.

⌨️🎧 Trust Gaming Launches Eco-Friendly Thian Wireless Gaming Headset and Callaz Tenkeyless Mechanical Keyboard in the UK ⌨️🎧

The lightweight and eco-friendly designed Thian Wireless Gaming Headset is made from recycled materials and durable leatherette earpads with a mesh top layer

It features a 5.8Ghz USB dongle for a blazing fast collection and a foldable 

microphone with a pop filter

⛳️⚔️ RPGolf Legends | Nintendo Switch | Review | 5.5/10 | "Fighting for Par" ⛳️⚔️ @KEMCOGLOBAL #IndieGames #GameDev

I went into RPGolf Legends with as much enthusiasm as I could possibly muster for a game.

Being a huge RPG fan and a complete golf nut, my excitement for this game was immense. All signs pointed to a hole-in-one but, like my actual golf game - it didn’t take long to realise it's more likely going to be a double bogey.

🏰🏯 Castle Morihisa | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7.5/10 "Lucky I was such a fan of Slay the Spire" 🏰🏯@ThermiteGamesHQ #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameDev

I always thought deck builders were an odd choice for a standalone game type. I'm a seasoned veteran of card-based minigames, from Triple Triad in Final Fantasy 8 through to

Gwent in The Witcher 3 (which of course got its own release), but was never attracted to the idea of a full game. Then a friend recommended Slay the Spire, and since it was on Game Pass I thought I'd give it a quick bash to see what it was like. 

Long story short, I spent a day off work playing it for nine hours straight. 

So that was my gateway to the world of card slinging.

🧟🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️ Heaven Dust 2 | Nintendo Switch | Review | 7/10 | "A charming but flawed love letter to Resident Evil" 🧟🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️ #IndieGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Over the past twelve months, I’ve played several games that are effectively love letters to Resident Evil, only one really captured the essence of the early survival horror. Heaven Dust 2 does capture some of the spirit and certain aspects do make it stand out, but at its core, it sticks so closely to the Resident Evil formula that it just becomes a facsimile without its own identity.