A Tale Of Synapse: The Chaos Theories is an abstract styled and fun puzzle platformer littered with maths-based puzzles and a distinct gameplay mechanic which can see a second player playing the role of your on-screen ally as you work through the puzzles together.
30/07/2021
29/07/2021
π️ Urban Trial Tricky Deluxe Edition | PC | Gameplay | "Press Q To Spin!" π️ @UrbanTrial #GameDev #IndieGames
Grab your seat and pull off the most savage tricks and combos on your motorbike. Ride freely, spin around in the air, go back and forth and let yourself be carried away by the fun, fast-paced gameplay, colourful visuals, and smooth controls.
27/07/2021
π·️π₯ Within The Blade | Nintendo Switch | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "Ninjas Are Cool!" π₯π΄ #GameDev #IndieGames
Within the blade is a game in the genre of stealth and platforming with elements of RPG, in which the player plays as the Shinobi (Ninja). The player can gain experience when killing enemies and eventually be able to unlock more advanced ninjutsu.
Going through the levels the player will collect the various ingredients in which he can craft weapons: shurikens, poisons, elixirs, grenades, mines, as well as the main weapon the Ninjato and Kusarigama.
At the end of each level the player gains experience for the past level completed, the game utilizes a stealth mechanic in which hide and seek can be your best weapon of defence and offence. Being able to hide in the shadows and deliver crucial and critical blows to an enemy can also give you experience in the end.
After each level, the player will be returned back to their home village in which they are able to purchase weapons, items and more advanced ninjutsu in the game.
26/07/2021
πͺπ©Έπ₯ A Way To Be Dead | PC | Review | Early Access | "Find 4 Friends Before You Buy This!" πͺπ©Έπ₯ @CraniaGames #GameDev #IndieGames
Turkish game devs Crania games bring us a grim-looking asymmetrical multiplayer game that is currently available in Early Access and runs in good ol’ Unreal Engine 4.
A Way To Be Dead is actually set in the universe of the team’s previous 2017 game, Roots of Insanity https://store.steampowered.com/app/598440/Roots_of_Insanity/ which garnered some good Steam reviews and was also set in a chilling, skin-crawling hospital.
𧲠Super Magbot | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Magnet Troubles" 𧲠@SuperMagbotGame #GameDev #IndieGames
25/07/2021
πΊ Disco Elysium | PS5 | Review | 9.5/10 | "Bringing Disco back" πΊ @studioZAUM #GameDev #IndieGames
The Disco Elysium opening tells you a lot about the game. First is a weird exchange between your limbic system and the void, and after that’s all done you awake in a trashed hotel in only your underwear, whilst hearing voices and with total amnesia. You proceed to find your clothes - which includes a talking tie - and it’s off to the races. It's interesting, it's surreal and it encapsulates the rest of the game.
24/07/2021
π️ Intrepid Izzy | Dreamcast | Review | 9/10 | "I’m off to punch a giant sea creature in the eye." π️ @SenileTeam #GameDev #IndieGames
I do love covering new releases on classic systems. When I received the accompanying press kit for Intrepid Izzy from Wave Game Studios, there was a statement in which the game was described as a blend of Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania and Streets of Rage.
I wasn’t sceptical so much as squinting into the distance, trying to visualise what that mash up would look like.
It looks like Intrepid Izzy, as it turns out.
23/07/2021
πΉ️πΊ Best Alternative Nintendo Switch Dock For Under £15 | INTPW SB-C DIGITAL AV MULTIPORT ADAPTER πΉ️πΊ #NintendoSwitch
22/07/2021
π§Ήπ§♀️ Cotton Reboot! | Nintendo Switch | Review | 8/10 | "Sweet Loving Witches Dodge Bullets For Fun In This Broom Em Up!" π§Ήπ§♀️ @ININ_Games #GameDev #IndieGames
Surrounded by a blaze of bullets and headless zombies marching along the bottom of the screen Cotton Reboot could be mistaken for a fever dream quite easily as it throws everything at you in a colourful explosion of mayhem and madness interspersed with some non-sensical cut scenes about willow candy...
21/07/2021
π¦ The Falconeer | PC | Gameplay | "Lets Go Fly A Kite!" π¦ @WiredP #IndieGames #GameDev
In The Falconeer you will soar through the skies aboard a majestic warbird, explore a stunning oceanic world and engage in epic aerial dogfights, in this BAFTA-nominated air combat game from the solo developer, Tomas Sala.
πΉ️ How Do You Celebrate Your Enthusiasm For A Franchise? πΉ️
How do you show your loyalty to a brand? For clothes, we tend to buy special edition items, such as sneakers that are around for a limited time only. For things like music, we tend to support our favorite artists by buying their 1st edition album. For books it's the same, we go to the opening of a book sale, and we get a signed copy.
So what do you do for gaming?
Well, you can buy special edition figures, t-shirts and other forms of memorabilia. However, you have to separate the cheap stuff from the quality so you can be proud of having it in your home.
20/07/2021
π₯ Within The Blade | Nintendo Switch | Review | 8/10 | "Ninjas are cool" π₯ @pixelshinobi #IndieGames #GameDev
Within The Blade looked me in the eyes and said 'play me immediately'. A game that just screams '80s Ninjas and plays like a well oiled Bruce Lee is always going to evoke the memories of playing The Last Ninja and watching Enter The dragon for the 48th time after recording it on ITV at 11.30 on a Friday night.
19/07/2021
πΆπ· VGM Live – Pecaminosa Live Performance & Mark ‘TDK’ Knight πΉπΆ #vgmusic
The last couple of years have seen me getting more and more into video game music, resulting in covering the LVGO (London Video Game Orchestra - https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2020/03/london-video-game-orchestra-classics.html) – pre-lockdown, natch – and embracing the releasing of soundtracks on vinyl (https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/video-game-vinyl-britt-recommends.html / https://www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/2021/05/games-freezer-interviews-blipblop-vgm.html).
I wanted to write an article on two shows that really stood out to me over the last year…so I did.
18/07/2021
π Where the Heart Leads | PS4 | Review | 9/10 | "A warm-hearted tale of life and all its possibilities" π @ArmatureStudio #IndieGames #GameDev
When I was asked about reviewing Where The Heart Leads the only knowledge I had was that it was a dreamlike, narrative adventure with a lifetime of choices, which are words that fill my heart with glee.
Making decisions is probably my favourite thing to do in terms of mechanics, I love it. Having to contemplate things like morality, ethics and predicting outcomes are things I enjoy in other media as well as life in general, so I was very excited for Where the Heart Leads.
17/07/2021
πͺπ©️☁️ Black Skylands | PC | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "By Hook or By Crook" πͺπ©️☁️ @BlackSkylands #GameDev #IndieGames
In Black Skylands you can build your skyship and explore the open world, fight factions of pirates and monsters, claim your territory by foot or by your flying vessel.
You're the captain and the sky is the limit in this Sky-Punk Open-World action adventure!
16/07/2021
π Beautiful Desolation | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Isometric Desolation" π #IndieGames #GameDev
BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION is an isometric adventure game set in the distant future.
Explore a post-apocalyptic landscape, solve puzzles, meet new friends and make powerful enemies, mediate conflicts and fight for your life as you unravel the secrets of the world around you.
15/07/2021
π§ π₯ Fire: Ungh's Quest | Nintendo Switch | Ten Minute Taster | Gameplay | "Fight Fire With Brains" π§ π₯ #IndieGames #GameDev
14/07/2021
ππΈ Mushihimesama | Review | Nintendo Switch | 8/10 | "Mushihimesama, or Bug Princess Bullet Hell" ππΈ @cavegames #IndieGames #GameDev
Despite this being a fairly obscure Japanese game, I had stumbled across Mushihimesama before. I read an article about the "bullet hell" sub-genre of shoot-em-ups and found a couple of YouTube videos of examples. One was called Perfect Cherry Blossom (Japan, there) and the other was this one, Mushihimesama, or Bug Princess.
13/07/2021
π©️ Red Wings | PS4 | Gameplay | Ten Minute Taster | "Barrel Rolls Ahoy!" π©️ @RedWingsTheGame #GameDev #IndieGames
π₯ Gearing up for the release of BEEP’s side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Cotton Reboot! π₯ #GameDev #IndieGames
ININ Games is gearing up for the release of BEEP’s side-scrolling shoot ‘em up Cotton Reboot! releasing both digitally and physically on Sony PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Europe, Australasia and North America on 20th July.
Cotton is already a much revered and iconic brand appearing on many consoles and computers from PC Engine, Neo Geo Pocket Color, right through to Playstation. Cotton Reboot! presents PlayStation and Switch gamers a fun, colourful, cute ‘em up that offers brand new features, 7 stages that really highlight what a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up should deliver and it does it in abundance, together with a dazzling display of onscreen cast and challenges.
The player takes the role of the young witch Cotton, who ventures out on her magical broom on a quest to get her favourite candy. What unfolds involves her getting entangled with several world-threatening terrors which she must destroy. A really cool feature is the more enemies the player kills the more he can upgrade his weapon by collecting power crystals. Players can also charge their weapon for special attacks and enlist the aid of Silk, Cotton’s magical fairy friend who can form up in different “option” configurations.
Visual/Audio/Gameplay Features
- Remastered with hand-drawn HD graphics
- Remixed soundtracks
- Comes with Cotton: Fantastic Night Dreams in the X6800 original mode
- + 2 more game modes
Arrange mode features 16:9 screens, redesigned graphics and characters.
Score attack mode: the player competes for scores online within a limited time (2 minute and 5 minute modes can be selected).
Nintendo Life (Import)
Of all the "cute 'em ups" out there, it remains one of the best……………. 8/10 GREAT
M! Maniac (Import)
The gameplay is as precise as it is powerful, the shots have a lot of bang and the levels are interestingly designed. And the X68000 version is not just a nice bonus, but a completely independent game with its own challenge and different systems - a great package for every shooter fan!
Successful shooter package: Enjoy an action classic in its best home version and a great reinterpretation. 81%/100
Cotton Reboot! really does define what is best about the cute ‘em, shoot ‘em up genre and offers a whole lot more in what is a really magical and enchanting, atmospheric experience.
For more information, visit https://cotton.inin.games/.
Limited Edition with Special Offerings
In addition to the physical and digital retail versions, there are three premium limited editions available, exclusively in the Strictly Limited Games Partner Shop.
- The Limited Edition comes with a manual and is available for €39.99 and limited to 3.000 copies for Nintendo Switch and 1.500 copies for PlayStation 4 worldwide.
- The Collector’s Edition is available for €79.99, limited to 2.000 copies for Nintendo Switch and 1.000 copies for PlayStation 4 worldwide and includes a tea set, the original & remastered soundtrack, an art book, shikishi and more.
- The Deluxe X68000 Collector’s Edition is already SOLD OUT due to huge demand.