Indie Rotunda

Humble Bundle: A Bundle Of Love For Brandon Boyer

Link

Price: $25

Available until 20/3/14

You don’t need told to buy this. You may already have some of the games on the list but the amazing beautiful Castle in the Sky, Robbie’s man crush Thomas Was Alone and the art game Proteus. It has a few duffers there too(Such as McPixel, there are not enough words in the English language to express how I loathe thee), but these are few in number. So buy it!! And don’t forget how awesome our NHS system.

Worth it?

Yes.

Humble Bundle Weekly: SEGA

Available Until 20/3/2014

Price: $6 ($15)

Link

Alpha Protocol

Claims to be a Stealth Action RPG. In reality it a boring, and frequently frustrating, game. Small amounts of customisation do not an RPG make.

Company of Heroes

I'm sure that this is a very good game, its just I don't get RTS WW2 games.

Rome: Total War

Historical Real Time/Turn based strategy set in the time of Romans. Again, I'm sure its good, I just find them boring.

Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit

The Rabbit Prince of Hell loves his ducky. Some dastardly cad takes photos and posts them on HellBook. Stupid juvenile humor, gory and entertaining. Controls are a bit shonky but the plot will keep you going.

The Typing of The Dead: Overkill

Mavis Beacon meets Grindhouse B Movie. True happiness is killing a fat zombie by typing "Man Boobs". Yes, its as bugnuts as it sounds.

Binary Domain

Surprisingly entertaining FPS with plenty of robots to shoot in the face. Uses voice recognition to manage the squad.

Renegade Ops

Twin stick shooter in trucks. Better with friends.

10 Classic SEGA Genesis Games

Collection of retro games from Sega. Altered Beast, Comix Zone, Crack Down, Ecco the Dolphin, Gain Ground, Golden Axe, Golden Axe 2, Golden Axe 3, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master and Vectorman.

Total War: SHOGUN 2

Historical RTS/TBS but in Japan. Ok I didn't pay top tier this, as I'd never play it. Looks good and has positive reviews. Probably good if you like that sort of thing.

Medieval II: Total War

Historical RTS/TBS*

*By this point I was utter miffed with HRTSTBS, I don’t like em. If you do, tell me if its any good. Seriously, I hate them, I’d rather poke myself in the eye with a fork!

Worth It?

Yes if you like Historical RTS/TBS type games. Also yes if you like crazy stupid games (Hell Yeah and TOTD)

Indie Biscuit Roundup: SPECIAL!

Humble Bundle: Devolver

Price: $10

Link

I’m not going to review this one. Being a Brit has the benefits of the NHS. When my father was dying with cancer, he got the very best care without having to worry about bankrupting his family. I’m alive today because our health care is universal. Several of my friends are alive and happy because, through no fault of their own, survived serious accidents or illness without having to worry about how they were going to pay. I honestly don’t know why some Americans are so against Universal Health Care, it genuinely baffles me. You know what else baffles me? In the UK our healthcare system is being privatized and no one seems to notice. It saddens me greatly that money is being put before peoples health, and a situation such as this chap will happen in our country. So GO GET IT NOW!

Bundle includes:-Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition, Shadow Warrior Classic Redux, Defense Technica, Marc Eckō's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Cosmic DJ

Worth it?

YES. Help Brandon Boyer kick cancer in the balls.

Indie Rodeo for WB 3rd March 2014

This weeks Indie Rodeo is brought to by the letters H (for hungry) and P (for painkillers), so a little more random and prone to insanity. I’d love to say normal service will resume next week, but I have no idea what normal actually is.

Blink Bundle: Hidden Gems Bundle

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Available until 7/3/14

Price: $4.99 (£2.98)

Blue Toad Murder Files - A very English murder mystery, like a playable version Midsomer murders. Brave attempt at pulling multiplayer into non-multiplayer genre, sadly doesn't quite work.
Vox - Not another bloody voxel game. It would be unfair to grumble, just because I'm sick of voxel clones. This isn't a bad game, just early in its development. Potential to be quite good.
Mutant Storm Reloaded - Twin stick shooter, which made its debut on the XBOX before being ported across to the PC. Has an interesting scaling difficulty level like the Judo belts.
Bumbledore - So this sounds like a game about a bumble bee wizard. It is. That's about as interesting as it gets, as its just another tower defense game. Graphics are nice though.
King Arthur’s Gold - Part Terraria, part LOL. A 2D multiplayer brawler that revolves around rebuilding your castle and defending it from the ravaging hordes. Can have up to 32 players!
Legends of Aethereus - Very bland action game with RPG elements tacked on. Not worth downloading.
Iesabel - Disappointing Diablo clone, the flaws heavily outweigh the merits. At least the music is good
Kairo - Very odd adventure game. Stark landscape, no dialogue, just big ancient machines that you need to fix.
Little Racers STREET - 3D racing game, nothing groundbreaking but quite a good laugh with a few friends online.

Worth it?

Not really, unless you don’t already own Kairo or fancy King Arthur’s Gold. I don’t consider £3 for seven rather mediocre games a good deal.

Indie Royale: Mixer 2

Link

Available until 13/3/14

Price £2

Face Noir - By the numbers point and click adventure. Nothing special but will entertain for a few hours.

The 39 Steps - Based on the book of the same name. Disappointing, just feels like a barely playable point and click.

Data Jammers: FastForward - Simple and to the point blaster game. Easy to pick up but a swine to master. Its something you can pick up and play for ten minutes.

Fairy Bloom Freesia - Short and vaguely amusing brawler in a manga style. Little replayability and can get a little repetitive. 

LightFish - Action arcade style game, with the same style as the classic Qix. Nothing groundbreaking.

Fish vs. Crabs - Underwater tower defence game. Can build your own reef and have it as a screen saver. Still in active development adding new features, but so far a solid game.

Primal Fears - Rubbish isometric shooter. At least it has nice graphics.

Dawn of Fantasy: Kingdom Wars - Until today I didn't know that MMORTS were a _thing_ This is one of them. Its an ok game, just not my cup of tea.

Worth it?

Sadly many of IRs recent bundles have been a bit of a let down. Fish vs. Crabs and Data Jammers are good, so probably worth it if you don’t have them from elsewhere.

Flying Bundle 6

Link

Available until 11/3/14

Price: $3 (£1.79)

Crater Maker - A game that is still in the Alpha phase of development. A space sim with a mix of modes that should keep gameplay interesting.

Cubetractor - Some sort of mental hybrid of puzzle and tower defence with a chiptune soundtrack. Bonkers, tricky but fun.

Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project - Oh look its Duke, NEXT.

Hero Siege - HacknSlash adventure game. Fun graphics and straight forward game play. Death mechanic can be punishing. Oh yes, and loot, we like loot.

Perfection - Randomly generated puzzler, entailing the trimming of shapes. Once complete, its gone forever. There is no continuing agonizing over levels and high scores.

Skyward Collapse - Brilliant turn based version of Populous, only you have to stop the two nations wiping each other out. Can be as laid back or as difficult as you want.

Skyward Collapse: Nihon no Mura - DLC for Skyward Collapse, adding in Japan and its mythology. Nice addition to a great game.

Swarm Arena - Arcade shooter much like Geometry Wars, with tight game-play and lush graphics. A little short but will entertain for a few hours.

Worth it?

Yes. Skyward Collapse and DLC in of itself is worth the tiny price tag. The others are a nice extra. Flying Bundle is a greatly underrated collection that really needs more coverage.

Crossposted to MatureGamerPodcast 

Indie Roundup W/B 24th Feb

Bit of a short one this week because of impending family visit that I found out about today!

As such, I must clean ALL THE THINGS! and also bake some cake.

Humble Indie Bundle 11

Available until 4th March
Price: $4.50 (~£2.70)

Guacamelee! Gold Edition - Stupid stupid platformer beat-em-up puzzler. Crams in ALL THE MEMES
Dust: An Elysian Tail - Action RPG game set in a wonderfully detailed and rich world. 2D platformer with really fluid and well done combat.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams - Another take on the flipping worlds puzzle platformer. Based on a C64 game from 1987, so full of retro but modern game play.
The Swapper - A puzzle platformer that is very much existential horror. Also amazing hand crafted graphics, which helps with the immersion.
Antichamber - Part art project, part mind fuck. Brilliant. Still haven't finished it.
Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine - Itty bitty Oceans 11, in Monaco. Can be single or multi-player steal-em-up.
FEZ - A masterpiece of a game, a 3D adventure game with some baffling puzzles. So baffling that whilst playing I threw the controller down and stomped off to find paper
Starseed Pilgrim - I have no idea what this is about. It is very _odd_
Beat Buddy - Brilliant rhythm based game, lush graphics and groovey tunes. Also I LOVE the hi hat crabs and their dancing legs. If you have an AlienWare PC its even better!!

Worth Getting?

Yes, all top notch games, plus as with most HumbleBundles, the soundtracks are included.

Indie Bundle Roundup W/B 17th Feb 2014

Hopefully the first of many round up articles. Trying to keep up with indie bundles as they are published is like trying to wrestle an octopus into string bag.

Bundle Stars: The Neo:Retro Bundle 

Available until 16/3/14 

Price: £2.86

Link

Jets’n'Guns Gold
   Entertaining side scroller shooter. Has plenty of weapons, enemies and levels. 
Inquisitor Deluxe Edition
    DOWN WITH THE UNBELIEVER! Arrest heretics and torture them. Very much an old school RPG.
Ethan: Meteor Hunter
    Puzzle platformer with a rat with a long tail. Involves messing with physics, so that’s all good.
Universe Sandbox
    Does what it says on the tin, being a sandbox of the universe. Play with planets, smash them together!! Good clean fun.
Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual
    Although not having time to play, the trailer probably makes it seem more exciting than it is as its voiced by DramaticVoiceOverGuy.
3079 – Block Action RPG FPS
    I dislike this game immensely  It throws you in at the deep end, and explains nothing. Another voxel game, kinda Minecraft with an RPG put on it. 
Realms of Arkania – Complete Classic Trilogy
    Based on the pen and paper RPG of the same name. Sounds and looks like it fell though a portal from the mid 90s
3089 – Futuristic Action RPG FPS
    By the same people as 3079, but this one is more polished and less annoying.

Worth Getting?? 

If you like retro flavoured games.

Groupees: Steampunk 2 Bundle

Available until 27/3/14

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Bionic Dues
    Mechs meet Roguelike. Has a huge amount of depth and detail. 
Airship Dragoon
   Another turn based tactical game very much inspired by X-Com, but with steam punk.
Syberia I & II
   Immersive point & click adventure. Following the LucasArts style of game, it involves mammoths. 
Steel and Steam
   A JRPG Steampunk adventure, much like the early games of the FF series.

Worth Getting??

   This bundle also contains a number of albums and ebooks of the Steampunk genre, in addition to the games, so is actually quite varied and awesome! That’ll be a yes then.

Lazy Guys Studio: Moon Landing Bundle

Available until 2/3/14

Price: $3.99

Link

BEEP
   Cute platformer about a ship of drone robots called BEEP. You can’t really die, as a new BEEP is pooped out the mothership when one dies.
Hero of the Kingdom
   Short casual point and click story that dreams of being a RPG.
Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood
   A FPS that makes me think of CoD breeding with TF2. Stupid and gory!
Orborun
   If GlaDOS made a game, this could be it. Puzzle platformer marble(?) sim.
Stonerid
   A fiendishly tricky 2D platformer that uses the dimension flip ability seen in the likes of Guacamelee. A "DEATH EVERYWHERE" game.
Inside The Gear
   Another physics puzzle game. Simple goal, get wheel on platform. Sounds simple? It isn't. Also like Crazy Machines, but without the balloons.
Snake Blocks
   3D puzzle game where if your spacial awareness is poor you are going to be in trouble. Controls are a little tricky, but the concept is sound. Get the snake in the box, round its little snakey friends.
Astro Emporia
   Casual game, essentially Galactic Trader Lite.

Worth Getting?? 

BEEP, HotK and Snake Blocks have recently featured in other bundles. Its not on a “Must Get” list but not too shabby

The Humble Weekly Sale: IndieCade

Available until 20/3/14

Price: $6

Link

And Yet It Moves
   Platformer with the interesting mechanic of rotating the world 90 and 180 degrees. Lovely paper macramé style graphics.
The Dream Machine (Chapters 1, 2 and 3)
   Point and click. Its all animated by hand, beautiful and surreal. Very short but utterly wonderful.
Luxuria Superbia
   Trippy action game, i think. I don't quite know what it wants to be. Its very sexual, in a not sexy way.
Dear Esther
   Straddles the line between art and game. The graphics are amazing and very realistic, having spent many years in remote(ish) windswept parts of Scotland I know desolate and windswept. You can almost smell the salt.
The Bridge
   Imagine M.C. Escher made a game. Much like AYIM rotation mechanic, although more analogue. Also a time reverse mechanic, much like Braid, when you get smoshed by something or manage to drop something vital from the level..
7 Grand Steps
   Is it a board game, sim, turn based strategy game? Little of all. I can't get past the bronze age, people keep dying. Buggers.

Worth Getting??
Yes, if just for Dream Machine. Every game will please you in some way. Well worth it!

Bundle Stars: Crazy Machines Bundle

Available until 12/3/14

Link

Crazy Machines 1, 1.5, 2 (+ DLC)

   Puzzle game that has you building bonkers machines with mice in boxes, bowling balls and balloons.

Worth Getting??

   If you want a silly crazy puzzle game then you’ll love this.

Groupees: Be Mine 11 Bundle

Available until 20/2/14

Price: $1

Link

Grimm
   The Grimm fairytales (the originals) are damn dark to start with, American McGee managed to make them darker.
Infected: The Twin Vaccine
   Not set in Oxford, UK, which is a pity because that would be awesome. Creepy point and click adventure, short but still good.
ÆRENA – Clash of Champions (Early Access)
   Not being judgemental because of its early access status. Turn based version of LoL from what can be seen. Potental to be rather good.
Shufflepuck Cantina Deluxe
   Air hockey in space. Shame about fact that it rips off almost every sci-fi IP in the world, and isn't that good. 
Redshirt
   Facebook in space. Poo.
Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge
   A homage to 80s and 90s video games, so feels very retro. Plot is of angry woman searches for troll to rip his bollocks off. So that’s good.
IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
   Flight sim, so I can’t really comment on it.
The Body Changer
    3D action adventure. Some interesting mechanics and some intriguing plot.
1953 – KGB Unleashed
    Another point and click puzzle adventure, this time set in 1950s Russia in a mysterious bunker.

Worth Getting??

Grimm and I:TTV are the gems in this collection so worth it just for them. Added value with Body Changer and KGB Unleashed.

A Link To The Past Gameplays

I have a shockingly bad memory. In younger years I had a kind of PsudoPhotographicMemory. I could recall images of textbook pages in my mind, and wizz through stuff. It made multiple choice exams a doddle at Uni. 

And then it went away. I don't know when that happened, and certainly in the last few years it has deteriorated further. There is a period of my life that I have a shockingly poor memory of, starting at the time of my father's to some point later. My life has actually lurched from one disaster to another with alarming regularity, which I'm quite frankly utterly sick of. Since I can't stop family members shuffling of the mortal coil, or exs being absolute scum bags, I was on and off a variety of strange and colourful tablets. I still am, but I like being not in pain so I still have a memory like one of those things that make the water come out of pasta.

But there is a plus side, because I have to have something positive come this saga of woe and little white tablets.

I've completely forgotten the plots, twists and joy of certain games. I can play them again and extract the same joy as I did the first time I played them. For example, I decided recently to replay Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I had nearly finished it, or so claimed the save file. Well, I think someone else played that, because I have no memory of getting that far. As I played, little moments shook loose from the dark recesses of my brain. Take the Temple of the Sea King, how could I forget having to go through that place so many times. Seriously, Link, ladders and a pickax could sort that out. Vast swaths were new to me, which is oddly pleasing as I get to enjoy it all again (Apart from the temple, that can die in a fire) OK so its not a great plus, but at least its something. How could I forget Chu-bombs?

Now, what games should I replay?

The One Where Our Hero Nearly Loses Her Shit

Day 1

Picture the scene. I work by a quayside, so there are boats going about doing their thing most days. There is also a couple of Para Handy style boats that seem to be eternally moored there. Mostly it is quiet about here, since there is only the island past us. However, on this day something went very odd. I suspect that one of the boats had become possessed by the spirit of an angry air raid siren, or at least that is what it sounded like. Annoying and loud, which carried on for about 30 minutes or so. No idea if an exorcism had take place or what. Peace eventually ensued.

Day 2

As I walked to work, it was foggy as all hell. The closer I got to work, the thicker the fog became. This was not morning fog, we're talking 11am fog, which you must admit is quite freakish. The houses across the water were but a vauge outline. With the quite deserted feel of the area, as anyone who knows Chatham Outlet Center will know, it was quite spooky with all that fog.

Now, add these two days together.

Silent Hill

Thankfully they were on different days, as I would have totally lost the proverbial plot. Out the door, down the street and away, keeping an eye out for big men with pyramids on their head. You would not see me for dust (or rather the fog as it closed in my wake)