🌼💀 Dread X Collection 5 PC Gameplay "Get Ya Flowers In The Well & Run Like HELL!" 💀🌼 @DreadXP_ #GameDev #IndieGames

Dread X Collection 5 is a horror anthology in the Dread X Collection series.

Featuring 12 new games from up-and-comers along with veterans, all wrapped up in an old, run-down party venue that may be hiding more than it's letting on...

😱 Source of Madness Xbox Series X Review 6/10 "A 'Nearly' Game" 😱 @CarryCastle #IndieGames #GameDev

It's happened again. 

Anything with 'Lovecraft' in the description is summarily thrown my way by the GamesFreezer gods, so this landed in my inbox before I'd even heard of it. 

Source of Madness is a roguelike action platformer, wherein the best traditions of the genre, each run is designed to teach you more about the game before your next attempt. 

The Lovecraft connection comes in through atmosphere, tentacled monsters and the odd reference to Cthulhu or Azathoth here and there.

🐼 Pinball Freedom Switch Review 5/10 "Pinball freedom, but not a dream" 🐼 @CGAStudioGames #IndieGame #GameDev

Currently priced at under a fiver on the UK Nintendo eShop, Pinball Freedom by developer CGA Studio Games offers five separate pinball tables as well as an air hockey table, but some foundational issues with the in-game ball physics and flat gameplay detract from the inherent draw of pinball.

💿 Jettomero: Hero of the Universe Video Game Vinyl Soundtrack Review 💿 @stumpyfrogrecs @GhostTimeGames #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl

Jettomero: Hero of the Universe – Vinyl Soundtrack

Stumpy Frog Records

Composed by Gabriel Koenig

Purchase Link - https://www.stumpyfrog.com/

A warning that this article contains spoilers for the game Jettomero: Hero of the Universe, if you don’t want to read them but wish to know the outcome of the article - the soundtrack to Jettomero is fantastic and you should listen to it extremely intently and often.

🔵🟢🔴 In the Dark Game Boy Review | 8/10 "A surprisingly fiendish and simple puzzle title that feels right at home on the Game Boy system" 🔵🟢🔴 @BitmapSoft #IndieGame #Retrogaming

Developed by Binary Sonata Studio | Published By Bitmap Soft

The minds behind a plethora of new releases on classic systems, Bitmap Soft have games across a multitude of platforms, from Amstrad CPC through to the Mega Drive.

The first handheld release I have covered in quite some time, In the Dark’s simple premise, means that it’s a great ‘dive in ‘n out’ puzzle title for your Game Boy.

📽️🍿 Rifftrax: The Game XSX Review 9/10 @widerightgames "The creators of What the Dub once again strike comedy gold" 📽️🍿 #IndieGame #GameDev

Having been a big fan of Wide Right’s previous game, What the Dub – I was intrigued as to how Rifftrax: The Game would differ, and what it would bring to the table – especially as it appears to be based on a more American-centric show not familiar to me at all (although I was vaguely aware of the precursor show Mystery Science Theatre 3000).

It turns out that no prior knowledge of Rifftrax is required, as Wide Right Games have created a fantastic and often hilarious party game that is accessible to all, and this is a game I highly recommend whenever you have friends or family around.

🃏🔥 Deck of Ashes Xbox Review 6/10 "Spire Slayer?" 🔥🃏 @AygamesO #GameDev #IndieGame

After the more cartoony and simple presentation of Slay the Spire (the most famous and probably well-regarded of card battle games), the distinctive aesthetic of Deck of Ashes immediately drew me in. 

Hand-drawn, Lovecraftian creatures abound. Ghoulish witches and genuinely unsettling undead creatures litter the battlefield, and I am all in favour of it. 

On top of this, the battles themselves are brought to life by creepy animations (the jester character sprouts monstrous claws from his back when he attacks) and a suitably gothic soundtrack.

🐁🐭🖱️ Trust GXT980 Redex Wireless Mouse Review 🐁🐭🖱️ @TrustGaming

I have been using the trust GXT980 Redex Wireless Mouse solidly for over a week now, having used it heavily for work, home use and gaming - and it has very much replaced the other mice that were scattered around my home and office due to its style, comfort and practicality.

🔥🌞IMP OF THE SUN | NINTENDO SWITCH | TEN MINUTE TASTER 🌞 🔥 @impofthesun #IndieGame #GameDev

 

Restore the Sun’s light and end the Eternal Eclipse in IMP OF THE SUN, a 2D fast-paced puzzle-action-platformer game inspired by Peruvian cultures. 

Explore hand-crafted environments, battle and improve your skills to defeat the Four Keepers that stole the power of the Sun.

🤖 The Cursed Knight Mega Drive Review 8.5/10 "A curse for the knight, a blessing for your Mega Drive" 🤖 @TKthegame #IndieGame #GameDev

Funded in just seven hours on Kickstarter, it’s clear that there was a lot of interest and high hopes for GGS Studio’ creation. And rightly so.

Sometimes referred to as T.C.K, The Cursed Knight is set in the year 3122 - long after the fall of civilisation – and casts the player as Kalder, a knight who is in love with his king’s daughter and must set out to rescue her when she is kidnapped by nefarious forces just as the king bestows his blessing on their relationship.

☢️ Chernobylite Xbox Series X Review 7/10 "Events of 1986 Resulted in Far Weirder Things Than Just Nuclear Fallout..." ☢️ @ChernobylGame #IndieGame #GameDev

Coincidentally, I was given Chernobylite to review the same week I finished the brilliant Chernobyl mini-series, so I was in the perfect frame of mind for this. Saying that you get about five seconds into the game before it diverges far, far from reality and into a world where the events of 26th April 1986 resulted in far weirder things than just nuclear fallout.

🌳 ITORAH PC Gameplay Ten Minute Taster 🌳 @GrimbartTales #IndieGames #GameDev

 

Discover the world of Nahucan in this 2.5D action platformer.

You are Itorah, the only human in this strange place. Explore, fight and survive to uncover your past and save Nahucan from its biggest threat, a mysterious plague!

🎧 Thian Wireless Gaming Headset Unboxing (PC,PS4 & PS5) 🎧 @TrustGaming

Rich unboxes the THIAN WIRELESS GAMING HEADSET and is impressed by the price and comfort of this lovely budget headset!

AMAZON LINK:

Amazon Affiliate Link

🐔🐴Chicken Police- Paint It Red Xbox Series X Review 8/10 “A clucking good noir” 🐔🐴 @ChickenPoliceG #IndieGame #GameDev

I’m sure my reaction to first hearing about Chicken Police mirrored a lot of others, “What the hell is Chicken Police?”. I then looked it up on Google and realised that it’s a noir with anthropomorphic chickens. It’s a very intriguing and almost confusing idea, one which could easily be hit or miss.

💿 GOTHAM ’89 Video Game Vinyl Review From Shapeshift Records 💿 @shapeshiftvinyl #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Purchase Link - https://shapeshiftrecords.com/products/gotham-89

A perfectly-timed release, with Batman being on a lot of minds following Matt Reeves’ (excellent) The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the scowl under the cowl – Shapeshift Records’ GOTHAM ’89 is a re-imagining of Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman score as a 16-bit epic. Good.

Considering that this is Shapeshift records’ first release, it’s an impressive achievement as the presentation, design, sound – and quite frankly –the idea behind the album is all awesome.

🐢 Creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge’s Talk Modernizing Timeless Beat-Em-Up Fun in New Behind-The-Scenes Video 🐢

 

Dotemu and developer Tribute Games, in partnership with Nickelodeon, today detailed their vision for channelling and evolving the timeless fun of beat-em-ups while creating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.  The Heroes in a Half Shell’s all-new adventure is reaching PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One this summer.

🛣️ Road 96 Original Soundtrack Vinyl Review G4F Records 🛣️ @G4F_Records #VideoGameVinyl #Vinyl

Purchase Link - https://www.g4f-records.com/en/soundtrack/road-96-soundtrack/

My esteemed and roguish colleague Pixel Hunted recently covered Road 96, a narrative adventure from French developer Digixart – and had this to say:

“Road 96 has its heart in the right place, looks striking, is crammed full of good ideas, and has an exceptional soundtrack (it’s telling that the collectables are cassettes and that the game is full of tape players to listen to them on).”

Naturally, this information stayed rooted in my brain like an arrow of pleasure fired from a bow of joy, and so when I had the opportunity to cover the soundtrack on vinyl - I leapt upon it ferociously.

☠️🍷Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus? PC Ten Minute Taster Gameplay 🍷☠️ @WalesInter #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

 

Rich takes a look at Who Pressed Mute On Uncle Marcus, an eccentric FMV murder mystery with a twist: someone has poisoned Uncle Marcus. Uncover the truth in the yearly family quiz and try to save him before it is too late.

🌺 Sephonie PC Review 8/10 "Sephonie was my first Analgesic game. It won’t be my last." 🌸 @han_tani #IndieGame #IndieGameDev

A two-person development team has no business making a 3D platformer. Why not settle for something a little more achievable like a visual novel, a flash game, or just firing up the ‘ol RPG Maker like so many budding game developers have before.

But Analgesic Productions - comprising Melos Han-Tani and Marina Kittika - ignored the easy road and strode headlong into the fire with Sephonie. 

Surrounding them are the weatherbeaten remains of late 90s developers who tried and failed to crack the 3D platformer.

💿 Shatter Vinyl Review | Composer – Module (Jeremiah Ross) 💿 @jeramiahrossnz @PikPokGames

I had been previously unaware of Shatter, a physics-based puzzle game released on Steam and the PSN store back in 2009 by developer PikPok- and I certainly wasn’t aware of the quality of the soundtrack.

Following a news article that I posted on Twitter – regarding the games’ soundtrack now being available on streaming services – the original composer, Module – mentioned that there had been a limited vinyl release in 2011 through New Zealand-based label Mushroom Records…and there were actually a few records still available. Fast forward several weeks and the Shatter soundtrack arrived here in (not so) sunny Wales - and thus my love affair began.