27/09/2020
🏨 The Suicide of Rachel Foster | Review | PS4 | "A walking simulator you perhaps shouldn’t ‘Overlook’" 🏨 @One_O_One_Games #GameDev #IndieGames
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Melting
I was in the perfect zone for The Suicide of Rachel Foster. My partner had some stuff to sort out in the apartment and I had just been given a load of wine as a gift so I settled down on the couch in my usual, unusual but unusually comfortable position and turned up to the Timberline hotel.
26/09/2020
🔪🩸 Night Of The Dead | Gameplay | PART 2 | PC | "Crafting & Zombie Killing" 🧟♀️🧟♂️ #GameDev #IndieGames
25/09/2020
🌋 Welcome To Elk | PC | Ten Minute Taster | "Hello f**kheads!" 🌋 @TripleTopping #IndieGames #GameDev
GAME LINK: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1015940/Welcome_to_Elk
24/09/2020
🍗 Bite The Bullet| Review | "I love a good virtual nosh" 🍗 @megacatstudios #IndieGames #GameDev
23/09/2020
🧟♂️🧟♀️ Night Of The Dead | PC | Early Access | Ten Minute Taster PART 1 | "Seeds and Axes" 🧟♂️🧟♀️ @8uDui6pcA5Vv51w #IndieGames #GameDev
22/09/2020
🐛 Metamorphosis | PC | Review | "Its A Bug's Life For Us" 🐛 @metamorphgame #GameDev #IndieGames
In Metamorphosis, you Play as Gregor, who has been turned into a tiny bug and sets out on an extraordinary journey to unravel the mystery of your transformation.
Your main aim at the start of the game is to find your way to the Tower!
The game plays out as a first-person 3D platform puzzle adventure game set in a surrealist world inspired by Franz Kafka’s novella of the same name.
You will use your new-found Bug abilities in order to traverse the world and inch your way to the tower to reclaim your human form.
21/09/2020
Re: Turn One Way Trip | PC | Ten Minute Taster | A Creepy Pixel Play-through #IndieGames #GameDev
Trapped in a ghostly train, Saki must search the past and present to find and save her friends. More importantly, Saki must use her wits if she is to survive against an unspeakable evil hellbent on avenging unrequited love.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1195360/ReTurn__One_Way_Trip/
20/09/2020
🧭 DANDARA | Review | Switch | "A Pixel-Art Metroidvania With a Movement-Based Twist" 🧭 @RawFury #IndieGames #GameDev
Platform Reviewed: Switch
Rating: Melting
A pixel-art Metroidvania with a movement-based twist, Dandara’s neat approach to the genre really opens it up to some interesting puzzles and a fresh vibe in terms of exploration.
‘The world of Salt hangs on the brink of collapse. The citizens, once free spirits, now stand oppressed and isolated. But not all is lost, for out of this aether of fear arises a heroine, a ray of hope. Her name is Dandara’
19/09/2020
🏎️🏁 Mini Motor Racing X | Review | Switch | "I Am On a Personal Quest To Find The Perfect Top-Down Racer" 🏎️🏁 @TheBinaryMill #GameDev #IndieGames
Nintendo Switch
The Binary Mill
A wonderfully playable game that is packed with content and some really neat touches but feels subtly tarnished by its mobile roots.
As longtime readers will know, I am on a personal quest to find the perfect top-down racer. There have been many contestants but games such as Mashed and Wrecked still hold the top spot in my heart.
Whilst some are fundamentally flawed - such as the controls and physics in Tiny Racer - most are decent but lack the punch to really shake the genre. I’m pleased to say that Mini Motor Racing X is a very solid and fun experience, especially in multiplayer!
18/09/2020
🏎️💨🏁Hotshot Racing | PS4 | Review | "A Game That Should Definitely Be Drifting Into Your Game Library" 🏎️💨🏁 @CurveDigital #IndieGames #GameDev #HotshotRacing
Publisher: Curve Digital
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Ice Cool
I’ve been on a bit of a racing binge the last week or so with a few games skidding into the GF virtual office that needs the flaming gavel of justice to cast judgment upon them.
Hotshot Racing really stood out with its accessibility, stylish visuals, smooth gameplay and a great sense of balance.
17/09/2020
🧟♀️🧟♂️ Outbreak: The New Nightmare | Review | PS4 | "A Lo-Fi Survival Horror" 🧟♀️🧟♂️ @deaddropstudios #GameDev #IndieGames
Developer: Dead Drop Studios LLC
Platform Reviewed: PlayStation 4
Rating: Melting
I am always surprised by what one-man development studios can achieve and whilst there are some noticeable flaws here and the game really won’t appeal to everyone, Outbreak: The New Nightmare is a labour of love that has its moments.
16/09/2020
🌳🌲 Cloud Gardens | PC | Ten Minute Taster 🌳🌲 @noio_games #IndieGames
15/09/2020
🎺 CrossCode on Nintendo Switch Gets an EU Boxed Release! 🎺 @ININ_Games @HoundPicked #CrossCode #IndieGames #GameDev
🎶🎸 No Straight Roads | Nintendo Switch | Review | "Great Licks and Solos But Not Always Bang on The Beat" 🎸🎶 #GameDev #IndieGames @MetronomikIncEN
Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Metronomik
Rating: MELTING
From the minds of Wan Hazmer (Lead Game Designer of Final Fantasy XV) and Daim Dziaudin (Concept Artist of Streetfighter V), No Straight Roads puts you in control of May and Zuke, a duo that make up the band Bunk Bed Junction and who use the power of rock to defeat the ‘evil’ EDM that has completely taken over Vinyl City, their hometown.
A game that dances around several genres, No Straight Roads has some really tasty ideas and great moments but it does feel like it is spinning too many records at once and this adds up to a game that doesn’t feel as flowing and cohesive as the amazing soundtrack and artwork that backs it all up.
14/09/2020
💀🏔️ KHOLAT Nintendo Switch Classic Horror Is Getting Physical (Based on True Events)... 💀🏔️ @REDARTGAMES #IndieGames #GameDev
Red Art Games has announced that the online pre-order for the physical boxed version of Kholat on Nintendo Switch is available now, with a limited edition of 3800 copies (€29.99/£27/$35)
Pre-Order Link: www.redartgames.com
Billed as the most terrifying journey of your life, Nintendo gamers can experience this epic adventure game, which was created by Polish indie developer IMGN.PRO and narrated by British actor Sean Bean.
📜 A Fold Apart | PS4 | Review | "An Emotionally Charged Origami Puzzle Platformer" 📜 @LRGthunder @AFoldApart #IndieGames #GameDev
13/09/2020
⚔️🛡️ The Vale: Shadow of the Crown | PC | Ten Minute Taster | " A Game That Requires You To listen" ⚔️🛡️ @FallingSquirrel #IndieGames #GameDev
The Vale is a story-driven, action-adventure that utilizes the full potential of 3D audio and haptic controller feedback to deliver visceral gameplay that shatters the barrier between player and character.
As an audio-based game, The Vale sets out to breathe new life into medieval combat and provide a truly novel experience for visually impaired and sighted gamers alike.
12/09/2020
🧃 Britt’s Brief Bulletin | Drink More Glurp / Haunted Halloween '86 🧃 #GameDev #IndieGames #Nindies
Rating: MELTING
Billed as ‘a wacky physics, sports(ish), hot seat, party game set on a distant world where aliens have copied Earth's summer games and got everything slightly wrong.
Having binge-watched broadcasts of Earth TV the aliens are convinced that advertising is the most important part of any sporting event.’
Drink More Glurp uses purposefully loose controls –the flailing of limbs, mostly - to create humorous events in which you must either traverse the landscape, collect items or use one of the sponsored items (such as the brilliant turbo glove) to boost your way around ad complete the many events.
The single-player experience does offer an online leader board and whilst it is surprisingly fun to see yourself inch your way (hopefully) closer to the top with each event, much like Heave-Ho, this really needs multiple players to get the most out of it.
The fact that it is so easy to pick up and play means that it’s open to gamers of all ages and is definitely worth a purchase if you like physics-based comedy multiplayer mayhem with some folks who drink liquids with a percentage marked on the bottle that they glug from.
Haunted: Halloween ‘86
Rating: MELTING
There are two types of modern retro-styled games. The first type - such as Crosscode – which utilises the base characteristics of the console it intends to evoke (in the case of Crosscode, the SNES) whilst clearly doing things far beyond the abilities of the system it apes.
The second example is HAUNTED: Halloween ’86 which is built within the limitations of the original console, in this case, the NES. Available to purchase as an actual NES cartridge, the musical and visual stylings of the game are ones that are very much from that era of 80’s gaming.
The 8-bit nostalgia evoked here is almost palpable and the dynamic of flicking between the male and female characters to extend your health bar is a nice touch that eases off on the difficulty naturally present in this type of 2D platformer from the era.
This is a smooth ride and, aside from the occasional difficulty spike and confusion in background/foreground during some platforming segments, HALLOWEEN ’86 plays very well, especially in portable mode.
You’ll be surprised how quickly you naturally move from the thumbsticks to D-pad when those rad bleeps start pumping out of your Switch and chunky pixels fill your vision.
11/09/2020
🏀 NBA2K21 | Review | PC | "Slam Dunk The Funk" 🏀 #NBA #NBAPlayoffs @NBA2K #NBA2K21 shooting #NBA2K21 vc #NBA2K21 build
It’s the 22nd instalment in the NBA 2K franchise and was released on September 4, 2020, for PC , Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, and will later be released for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
10/09/2020
🎮 Venom XBOX ELITE SERIES 2 Controller Customisation Kit 🎮 @VenomGamingUK #XBOXELITE
09/09/2020
🐬 Beyond Blue | PS4 | Review | "A Blue Planet Inspired Video Game" 🐬 #IndieGames #GameDev
08/09/2020
🧩 Eternal Hope | PC | Ten Minute Taster | "A Cool LIMBO Inspired PC Puzzle Platformer" 🧩 @DoublehitGames #GameDev #IndieGames
07/09/2020
04/09/2020
🌭 Teenage Blob | PC | Review | "If Sayonara Wild Hearts is The Popular Older Sister, Teenage Blob is Her Scrappy Little Brother" 🌭 @PixelHunted #IndieGames #GameDev
Everyone having access to the majority of all recorded music ever has turned it into background noise.
Before the internet you might have trawled record fairs for that one bootleg album of rare cuts, going home and listening intently to the jewel you’d finally unearthed.
Now? Everything is a few clicks away. All of which makes one relatively new trend in video games very welcome: the ‘interactive album’.
The most famous example is the amazing Sayonara Wild Hearts, in which you zip through a neon-drenched virtual world to Daniel Olsén and Jonathan Engkickass’ kickass synth-pop.
The act of playing means you don’t get distracted and the rhythm of the gameplay tangibly connects you to the music. And so to Team Lazerbeam’s Teenage Blob.
03/09/2020
🏰 Maid Of Sker | Review | “Calon Lan Has Never Been So Ominous” 🏰 @WalesInter #IndieGames #GameDev
02/09/2020
🔎 Jenny LecLue Detectivu | Switch | Review | "A Delightful Murder Mystery!" 🕵️ @Mografi @JennyLeClue @Mografi_Joe
https://joe-russ-saiu.squarespace.com
Jenny LeClue Detectivu was successfully funded on Kickstarter in August 2015, with nearly 4000 backers the campaign raised over $105,000 and was initially released on PC.
You play as Jenny LeClue, an aspiring young detective and obsessive pursuer of the truth.
The story is told through the eyes of the writer of the Jenny LeClue books as he is tasked with spicing things up in his long-running and beloved series of books.
The problem is that nothing exciting ever happens in the world of Jenny LeClue and she longs (along with the readers) for a really exciting and juicy adventure to get their teeth into.
01/09/2020
⚔️ Eastern Exorcist | PC | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "A 2D Swordplay Master" | #EasternExorcist ⚔️ #GameDev #IndieGames
Play as a skilled exorcist against chaotic evil to fight your way through the brutal world, and experience different stories of joy and sorrow.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1120810/Eastern_Exorcist/
31/08/2020
⚔️ 🧙♂️ Wheel Of Fate | PC | Ten Minute Taster | " A Good Vibes Early Access RPG" ⚔️ 🧙♂️ #IndieGames #GameDev
Fate changes everything.
Fate is the force keeping order in the universe. An Affliction is destroying order by severing Fate’s connection to reality.
As the Avatar of Fate, you are compelled to spin the Wheel of Fate to change the world.
You'll be battling through new paths opened with each spin, and discovering what Fate has in store for you.
How will you spin your destiny?
🕹️ GAME LINK 🕹️
🎙️❄️ "Please Subscribe, Like & STAY FROSTY!" ❄️🎙️
28/08/2020
⛳️🏌️ Game Title: PGA Tour 2K21 | Review | Xbox One | "The Best Golf Simulation That I’ve Ever Played" ⛳️🏌️ #PGATOUR2K21 @2K
From early loves such as PGA Tour Golf 2 on the Sega Mega Drive through to the arcade classic NEO Turfmasters and the myriad Tiger Woods-era EA titles, I’ve had some really good times with the genre (Not forgetting a gem that I discovered only a couple of years ago called Links 2004 on the Xbox, definitely one to try if you missed it, amazing arcade-style game. Also, Golf Story is a golden ray of light).
27/08/2020
🚤 Kandagawa Jet Girls | Review | PS4 | “Jet Set Boobies” @marvelous_games 🚤 #IndieGames #GameDev
26/08/2020
⚔️ Mortal Shell | PS4 | Review | "A Tough Shell To Crack" ⚔️ @MortalShellGame #GameDev #IndieGames
Whilst I never clicked with the Dark Souls games, personally, my friend was telling me of a moment whereby, after two weeks of trying to defeat the final boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, he finally succeeded and, in his words, ‘fell to the floor on his back and clawed at the air with his limbs, whilst giggling...like a happy puppy’.
This level of dedication and perseverance isn’t really ingrained in me but I did appreciate and respect someone having that approach and ‘I can do this’ attitude to gaming.
25/08/2020
🛣️🚗 Road to Guangdong | PS4 | Review | “A Familial Chinese Tale” 🚗🛣️ @RoadToGuangdong #GameDev #IndieGames
24/08/2020
⚔️ Griefhelm | PC | Review By @PixelHunted "I shudder to think of the hundreds of millions of individual times I’ve whacked stuff with a sword in a video game" ⚔️ @griefhelm #GameDev #IndieGames
Enter Griefhelm, the new title by solo developer Johnny Dale Lonack, a guy who has clearly done his homework on virtual swordplay.
16/08/2020
🏎️🚓 Tiny Racer | Review | Nintendo Switch | "Toy Racing At Its Worst?" 🏎️🚓 #IndieGames #GameDev
From the early multiplayer days of Micro Machines and even Hi-Octane - an overlooked Amiga PD classic (for me, anyway) – to what is probably the last truly great example of the genre, Mashed on Xbox and PS2 (not forgetting its spiritual successor, Wrecked. Again, an overlooked and very fun title).
It is a genre that, when everything clicks, can result in dozens of hours of fun but when the elements don’t gel, as is, unfortunately, the case here, fundamental issues can bring the game to its knees and strip out any enjoyment from the racing.
13/08/2020
⚔️ Ancestors Legacy | PS4 | Review | "Total War + Company Of Heroes" ⚔️ @DestCreat_Team #GameDev #IndieGames
07/08/2020
⛳ GolfTopia | Review | PC | Early Access | "The Spiritual Successor To Sim Golf?" ⛳ #IndieGames #GameDev #GolfTopia
Game Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1144020/GolfTopia
06/08/2020
😱 Carrion | Review | Nintendo Switch | "Carrion Screaming" 😱 @devolverdigital #IndieGames #GameDev
Whilst there are games that cast you as an anti-hero or even full-blown villain, there aren’t many examples whereby you play an all-consuming, morphing beast that lurks in the shadows, a force of sheer terror.
Game Title: Carrion
Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Rating: ICE COOL
05/08/2020
🎮 Crosscode | Review | PS4 | "I’m The Seven-Foot-Tall Mecha-Unicorn Called Funty Quank" 🎮 @ININ_Games #IndieGames #GameDev
Game Title: Crosscode
Platform Reviewed: PS4
Rating: Ice Cool
🎮 Venom Travel Kit | Review | A Cool Piece Of Kit For Use With XBOX ONE and XBOX ONE ELITE Controllers 🎮 @VenomGamingUK
Rating: ICE COOL
Available on Amazon and priced at £19.99, the Venom Travel Kit is a handy, robust and practical package designed with the upcoming Project XCloud in mind.
For me personally, however, it was surprisingly useful beyond this and actually opened a doorway into a different realm of gaming.
30/07/2020
👹 Roki | PC | Review | "A Grimm Fairytale" 👹 @UtdLabelGames #GameDev #IndieGames
28/07/2020
🕹️👾 Britt's AntStream Arcade Adventure 🕹️👾 @AntstreamArcade #Arcade
For those who aren’t aware of the service, it’s a subscription-based site that allows you to stream games ranging from the 8-bit home micro-computers of the 80’s such as Amstrad, Spectrum and Commodore 64 through a selection of 16-bit titles from systems such as the Amiga and Mega Drive up to an impressive amount of arcade ports that span decades.
27/07/2020
💥 UltraCore | Review | PS4 | Switch | "Run & Gun Retro Fun!" 💥 @RealStrictlyLTD #IndieGames #GameDev #RetroGames
24/07/2020
🔫 Outbuddies DX | Review | Nintendo Switch | "A Hefty Metroidvania With Retro-Styled Visuals" 🔫 @HeadupGames @IndieJGames #GameDev #IndieGames
Game Title: Outbuddies DX
Developer: Julian Laufer
Platform Reviewed: Nintendo Switch
Rating: Melting
23/07/2020
🕹️🎮 Britt's Personal Top 20 Video Games 🕹️🎮 @BrittRecluseuk #RetroGaming #IndieGames
I find any list of this type to be very fluid, listing the top twenty games of all time objectively would be impossible.
What I’ve done here is to list the games that had the biggest impact on me across a broad spectrum of genres as possible and always come to mind during these types of conversations.
I actually wrote out this list a couple of weeks ago and then returned to it later to see if it still felt ‘right’ and it did, so I stuck with it.
Next month, who knows? It could be a different story.