Pinball M Xbox Review 7.5/10 "The spookiest balls around" 👻 @zen_studios #IndieGame #GameDev

Zen Studios have release Pinball M, a game that delivers horror thrills to pinball-lovers around the world through a pretty cool mix of franchises:

– Wrath of the Elder Gods: Director’s Cut – experience the eldritch horror unrestricted for free

– Chucky’s Killer Pinball: Step into a twisted realm where the innocent becomes sinister, and the playful turns menacing. Navigate through an eerie playfield where Chucky lurks in the shadows, ready to pounce.

– The Thing Pinball: Use your pinball skills and battle against the shape-shifting alien through the arctic chill of U.S. Outpost #31. Can you trust anyone, even yourself?

– Dead by Daylight™️ Pinball: Become the hunter or even the hunted in a thrilling fusion of classic pinball and the excitement of one of the most popular horror games ever created.

– Duke Nukem’s Big Shot Pinball: Enjoy the biggest, grooviest, most BADASS pinball table ever made packed with guns and babes. Push start and play with balls of steel!

Spider Heck Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster Gameplay 🕷️🕸️ @neverjamdev #GameDev #IndieGame

Rich hates spiders BUT he loves Spiders With Laser Swords! SpiderHeck is a fast-paced couch co-op brawler where spiders dance to the death in the grip of chaotic battles using laser swords, grenades and even rocket launchers to defeat their foes. Challenge yourself by fighting wave after wave of vicious enemies in endless hours of single-player fun, or let the mayhem begin in a dazzling fight against your friends taking on the enemies in PvE; stab, sling, and scramble your way to victory in this silly spider showdown.

 

Bahnsen Knights Xbox Review 7/10 "My trousers began to slowly unbuckle themselves in anticipation..." 🕵️‍♂️ @lcbgamestudio #IndieGame #GameDev

The third in the initial trilogy of Pixel Pulp titles, Bahnsen Knights follows Mothmen 1966, and Varney Lake, visual novel titles – with a smattering of micro-games – in an 18-month period that has taken me on a journey that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed from a presentation and atmospheric perspective, but I can’t help but feel this most recent entry is the weakest of all.

Lente's Game Dev Journey | Part 2 ⛵ @LenteGameDev #GameDev #IndieGame

Following our last peak into Lente's Game Dev journey we thought it might be a good idea to follow it up with some more detail with a peek into Lente's extremely interesting life so far. 

This is an excerpt from Lente's Newsletter that we found very interesting and hopefully you will too.

You can sign up for the Newsletter HERE

Lente Talks Minecraft Memories, Living On A Boat, her first PS1 Console and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches ⛴️🥪 @LenteGameDev #IndieGame #GameDev #CozyGame

After our usual trawl through Twitter we stumbled upon a game called Spilled which has been made by a a solo indie game developer called Lente. Lente is dutch and lives on a boat and has been making games since 2015 as a hobby.

At the end of 2022, she dropped out of college for the second time and decided to finally start her long time dream of becoming an independent creative.

At that time Lente also bought her own boat to live on. She grew up on a ship and it's always stayed with her. Lente and her mum have renovated the boat together and she's happy with how it's turned out.

From that point on Lente started working on her first serious project; Spilled! A cosy game about cleaning up oil spills with a boat.

Lente started posting to Twitter and quickly found a great community of friends, which has never stopped growing.

So far, she has managed to build a community with over 11,000 people on Twitter alone and over the last few days she has launched her very first Kickstarter campaign for Spilled which was funded in half a day! 

We asked Lente if she would answer a few questions about herself and her game Spilled and this is what our new friend came back with...

Lake Seasons Greetings DLC Ten Minute Taster PC Gameplay "Those parcels won't deliver themselves!" 📬☃️ @Gamious #IndieGame #GameDev #DLC

After Rich visited Lake a while back it was time to go back and sample some Christmas DLC cheer in February...with Lake Season's Greetings DLC

Take a look at what Rich got up to 👇

Sonic & Chill Music Review (Digital) by LoFi Lee 🎵 @GameChops #VGM

Sonic & Chill is the latest release in Gamechop’s …& Chill series, bringing a downtempo, laid-back feel to classic game soundtracks. This instalment is dedicated to the famous blue hedgehog, and follows the franchise right from the beginning. The composer, Funk Fiction, has a background in game music, having contributed tracks to No Straight Roads, Omega Strikers and the excellent Crypt of the Necrodancer, as well as releasing a variety of remixes and original work under his own name.

Best Month Ever Nintendo Switch Review 6/10 "Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest?" 🤰 @Klabater #IndieGame #GameDev

Looking for a unique game that stands out from the rest? If so, The Best Month Ever! might just be what you're looking for. This game will take you on a journey back to the 1960s USA, providing an experience unlike any other. 

You will follow the character of Louise as she experiences the joys and challenges of motherhood while also discovering her true identity as a person. The Best Month Ever! is a click-and-choice adventure game developed by Warsaw Film School Video Game & Film Production Studio.

Witch Rise Nintendo Switch Ten Minute Taster "I raise my wand and cast ye a spell!" 🧙‍♀️ @byJulianoLima #IndieGame #GameDev

Rich gets his wand out 🧙🏻‍♂️and makes his way through Witch Rise’s retro corridor shooter maze of pixel art madness. Beware of those pesky Bats 🦇 spinning you around in these corridors of doom and keep your eye 👀 on the compass 🧭.

Arizona Sunshine 2 Meta Quest 2 Review 6/10 🐕 @pixelhunted #IndieGame #GameDev #VRGames

The VR dream isn’t dead, but it’s starting to look a bit wonky. The Metaverse is a joke, PSVR2 is dying on the vine and, almost four years after the release of Half-Life: Alyx, there hasn’t been a title that comes close to its production values and ingenuity.

Enter Arizona Sunshine 2. The first game released in 2016 across multiple VR platforms and, while an utterly boilerplate zombie shooter, at least delivered on its promise of letting you mow down hordes of the undead with a variety of high-powered weaponry. 

We’re now eight years on and the sequel has finally arrived. So, what’s changed?

Video Game Lo-Fi: Super Mario 64 Vinyl Review 💽 @CuragaRecords @MateriaMusic #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl #LoFi #VGM

There’s something about these lo-fi records that makes them feel oddly perfect all year round. The last time I covered one back in November, it was a very wintry  entry in the Curaga lo-fi series, matching perfectly with the change in weather.

As I listened through this Super Mario 64 record in quite bracing weather, it felt calming and warming, but I can just as easily imagine it seeming as mellow and engaging on warm summer days, adding a layer of groovy coolness to the proceedings.

Voxlands PC Ten Minute Taster Gameplay Video "Minecraft With Guns!" 🎃 @voxraygames #GameDev #IndieGames

 
In Voxlands Rich gets to explore gorgeous raytraced voxel lands, meet the local mutated wild-life, find out what went wrong, and quest, craft, loot, build, destroy and shoot his way to the top of the food chain!

CANNIBAL ABDUCTION is coming to Consoles | February 8th 2024 🔪🩸📼

You’re the latest guest in the home of a cannibalistic family, and it’s almost dinner time… Cannibal Abduction is bringing fresh meat to Xbox, Playstation and Switch on February 2nd!

Selewi (Tomás Esconjaureguy), the developer that brought you the hair-raising hit horror game “The Night of the Scissors” is teaming up with Torture Star Video to serve this southern style nightmare to all the hungry horror fans looking for a new meal. Put yourself in Henry's sneakers and try to escape from the house of cannibals in this thrilling survival horror game inspired by classic slasher movies from the 80s and survival horror PSX games. 

Can you unravel the mystery of this freakish family before it’s time to dine?

Crashy Laps Xbox Series X (mini-review) 7/10 🏎️💨 @cheapeesoft @JanduSoft

Harking back to classic top-down / isometric racers such as Super Skidmarks, Crashy Laps by CheapeeSoft (which could have easily genuinely been a wonderfully 8-bit, British development house name back in the ‘80s!) is a budget title that aims to capture that vintage arcade-racing feel, with modern touches.

Gioteck™ Gets Smarter with the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller, the Ideal Choice for TV Based Gaming Services @GioteckArmy 🎮

New Wireless Controller Effortlessly Connects to Multiple Devices Including Your Smart TV, Tablet, Phone and PC for the Authentic Pro Gaming Experience

Gioteck™, a leading videogame accessory brand and part of Embracer Freemode, introduces the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller, a wireless controller which can be used across cloud gaming services on Smart TVs and PC.

Ideal for those with accessing gaming services via a smart TV, the Smart TV+ Duo Wireless Controller uses Dual Band Wireless technology in the form of advanced Bluetooth® or 2.4GHz technology via a USB adapter to provide a rock-solid, low-latency wireless connection. A fully featured controller the Smart TV+ provides a professional, reliable, and authentic gaming experience no matter the service you are using to play via your smart TV.

BIGBIG WON Unleashes the Ultimate Gaming Experience with its RAINBOW 2 Pro Translucent Frosted Wireless Controller 🎮 @BIGBIG_WON

BIGBIG WON have announced the release of their RAINBOW 2 Pro Wireless Gaming Controller. This controller is now available across multiple platforms including Windows PC, Xbox, PS4, Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch. 

It's a competition grade controller that boasts an array of high-end features that cater to the needs of both hardcore gamers and casual gamers alike.  

The RAINBOW 2 Pro is available for RRP £64.99 from Amazon UK and $64.99 on Amazon. It is also available as a combo with a charging dock, 3 sets of joystick caps and 2 sets of D-pad caps for RRP £79.99 on Amazon UK and $79.99 on Amazon.

Uzzuzzu My Pet: Golf Dash (mini-review) Nintendo Switch 4/10 ⛳️ @RedDeer_Games #GameDev #IndieGame

Based on a popular South Korean franchise, Uzzuzzu My Pet: Golf Dash takes visual, stylistic and gameplay cues from What the Golf?

But it unfortunately fails to capture the charm and replayability that oozes from every pore of the game that it apes. 

Super Arcade Racing Nintendo Switch Review 7/10 🏎️💨 @outofthebit #IndieGame #GameDev

I recently covered Full Void by OutOfTheBit, and in requesting a code for reviewing purposes, I noticed their previous release, Super Arcade Racing.

As a fan of top-down racers, I thought it would be fun to do a mini-review of this, as I hadn’t heard of it before stumbling across it on the developer’s website, and it takes a slightly different approach to its gameplay when compared to games of a similar ilk, in that it’s much more of a fun, unfolding narrative than simply disjointed races.

Kingdom Eighties Summer of Greed – Original Score by Andreas Hald Vinyl Review 💿📀 #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

I do enjoy diving into a soundtrack for a game that I have no context for, having covered Raw Fury’s previous OST Cassette Beasts – a game I was very familiar with – Kingdom Eighties is a game that I was aware of, but hadn’t yet played.

Written and performed by Denmark-based composer Andreas Hald, This soundtrack hurtled at me out of nowhere to become a real favourite due to the world conjured up by the rich production, emotive compositions and powerful melodies. There’s so much to take in here, with echoes of some of my favourite albums through the years from the wonderful, alien oddities of Chase Bethea’s work on Aground, through the wide-eyed synth innocence of Salvinsky’s Narita Boy, the cyberpunk expanse of Encodya, to name a few that come to mind – all popping with the expertise mastering at the hands of Adam Ayan at gateway Mastering Studios, a huge high-five especially in this regard as the album is so clear and bright, it makes for a glorious listening experience and completely brings the music to life.

The 10 Best Video Games To Play With Your Kids 💙 🕹️ @CommonSense

As gamers of many years, playing video games with our children at Games Freezer has been a constant source of joy and we thought it would be a great idea to cobble together some recommendations based on what works for us as a family of gamers with children aged between 4 and 11.

Hopefully this is useful...let us begin.