Just a list of games

2013-05-16

I'm having a gaming phase. Seem to buy any (indie) game bundle that I can find. Getting a bit of an addiction :p But I'm mainly looking for original indie games these days but that's very difficult. This is why I like the indie games; they dare to experiment.

I usually play games without music (I'm a sinner, I know). I don't enjoy linear FPS very much. Same goes for zombie shooters or other done-and-done genres that don't add anything.

Let me share some experiences with you as well as titles I'm looking forward to. Let's start with the interesting stuff. Most games have a link to their home page (if any) and a gameplay video. I check out gameplay videos to decide whether I want to buy a game (I don't care much for trailers as they don't really show you the actual game).


Haves



The good stuff



Games I really enjoyed and recommend buying/playing.

The Binding of Isaac: Top-down action game. Rogue-like-like, procedurally generated levels. Many many items, had lots of fun to play this game. Best game I've seen in a while. There's a DLC pack available (Wrath of the Lamb) that's well worth it. You have to get over the fact that you'll die many many times. Trust me; once you're hooked you are hooked. (Hint: use the wiki to figure out what the items in the game do.) Another expansion coming later 2013. This game has a lot of content and the random combination of items makes each playthrough different. Many things to unlock and many (in-game) achievements/challenges to finish. Still looking for games like this, but none really seem to match it.

FTL: Simple top-down strategy game. Rogue-like concept (you can unlock ships). Had lots of fun playing this game. I would suggest playing this game on your own for a while before using the wiki to get further along. In this too, you will die a lot. It's part of the RL exerience. Hoping for an expansion pack. Seems trivial to add for this game (but of course these things are never trivial). So many opportunities for expansions. I love this game. No sign of expansions so far, I would definitely pay for dlc.

Prison Architect: Building sandbox game. Prison themed (orly). Indirect control (you assign building commands, but the game decides who builds what where and when). Currently in alpha. Paid for name in the game (I'll be a con there ;)). No ETA on final release. Good game, though after having played through some alpha's, I'll now wait a few releases before starting again.

Starsector: Perpetual alpha state. Currently mainly about big space battles with highly customizable ships. It's a bit hard to begin right now, but the game is alpha so those things still have to be worked out properly. This game might be some day finished. I've bought the game, played it through at the current stage, and now I'll wait for it to be finished (or at least get a significant gameplay upgrade). Was fun though.

Dungeon Defenders: Multiplayer FPS tower defense game. Cartoon themed. Though the game turned more into an FPS than a tower defense game with later updates. Played it through and through, but seems dead now. Company seems to focus on version 2 and to have abandoned version 1.

Gratuitous Space Battles: Space battle simulator (orly). I like this because it demonstrates implicit gameplay; you build a bunch of space crafts, set up your space army and have to wait for the simulation to do it's magic. I was hoping for some more built-in ships that actually make sense. I can't seem to build ships that do well. Wouldn't mind a bit more variety since the number of items to unlock is limited. There is also a campaign mode but I found it very hard to push forward in two directions.

Cargo Commander: Adventure action game. Space themed, rogue like. Explore random (seed generated) levels and find treasures before time runs out. Really enjoyed this game. Has a fairly original gameplay.

Hotline Miami: Top-down action game. Really liked this game. You basically have to rob places in an original knock-down gameplay style. Story line is a bit confusing, but that doesn't really matter. Wouldn't have minded a bit more content (secrets, unlockables, etc) in this game. But expansions seem pretty easy to make for this game so I'm hoping that'll happen.

Hammerfight: Physics action game. Unique playstyle, really awesome game. Arabic themed. You're a ship with one or two hammers hanging on it. You have to swirl the ship to create momentum and fight your opponents that way. I love this game and wish there was more content to it. There is a story mode but after that you have only a few endless modi to pick from. Gameplay is very original. Game is worth it, even if it's slightly buggy and hard to control at times.

Cave Story+: Platformer action rpg. Collect items (zelda style) to defeat the evil doctor. Enjoyed this game with pretty graphics.


The okay stuff



Games I liked and played a bit, but got bored with after a bit.

Droid Assault: Puzzle action game. You're a virus that takes over robots. There's a variety of robots to take over and you have to keep getting strong to move on. Fixed levels that you go through easily.

Dynamite Jack: Top-down puzzle game with a bit of action. Stealth based. Enjoyed this game but the fixed set of levels are finished quickly.

Frozen Synapse: Squad based turn based strategy puzzle game. I was looking forward to playing this game, but the actual game was a bit disappointing to me. The game isn't bad but simply doesn't fit my style of gaming. You control a squad of men and can simulate each step. However, during this simulation you ("obviously") don't get to see what the opponent does. The simulation didn't seem to match my expectations at all which is why I didn't really play this game through.

Solar 2: Space based eh puzzle sim game (?). You're a planet and need to swallow up other planets to advance. I got to be a big black hole but it seemed to be a bit too much of an open sandbox for my taste. I need something to accomplish :)

Grotesque Tactics (1 and 2): Squad based action adventure game. Toon graphics, middle ages themed, centered around a selfish "hero" and a humble leader. Lots of jokes, not very female friendly though ;) And even though I think it's obvious enough not to be offensive anymore I'm not so sure if I would feel that way if I wasn't a guy.

Little Inferno: Burn stuff game. Really, that's all you're doing. Burn stuff and watch the story line (which is nice). Try to find combos to burn and advance. Got a bit boring near the end. Also the game is too obviously cloned from a mobile game because items have an arbitrary waiting period (which I'm sure you can buy off with in-app purchases in the mobile version). For some reason that wasn't stripped from the PC game so you're stuck waiting for stuff to arrive, for no apparent reason. That was very much bullshit, but the game was otherwise very original and I enjoyed it.

Planets under attack: Node capturing puzzle game. You control certain (graph like) nodes, which build up their strength. You have to overtake other nodes by using that strength. This game has some nice gimmicks on top of that concept.

Twin Sector: FPS puzzle game. Very similar gameplay to Portal, ex the humor... and portals. You have gloves with which you can push and pull stuff with kinetic energy (including yourself). The puzzles are up to the same level as in Portal, but Portal had more humor :)

Cubemen: Strategy puzzle tower defense game. Probably just tower defense game actually. I like the way it looks. Have to admit I didn't play it very long, though. Not sure why, I still like the game.

Galcon Fusion: Node capturing puzzle game. Build up force in your nodes, then conquer other nodes. Repeat and win. This version is very straightforward, good to play. The attack sprites could have gotten a bit more work though...

Wizorb: Arkanoid clone with a side of adventure. I liked the adventure part of playing Arkanoid though it could have been involved even better :)


The meh stuff



Games that are good in general but not my cup of tea or get boring quickly.

10.000.000: Puzzle game. Match icons (like gems) to make a character advance as a side effect. Wouldn't mind a bit more content though because it gets boring quick for me.

Beat Hazard: Asteroids/avoider game. "Levels" are based generated by music clips (I guess? I didn't play with music). Lot's of flashing graphics.

Closure: Platform puzzle game. You can't stand on ground that you can't see, uses light as a puzzle gimmick. Have not played this very long, got boring for me quickly.

Dungeon Hearts: Puzzle game. Align good gems to attack bad gems. Too difficult fast paced to enjoy for me.

Shank 2: Classic arcade fighting game. Fighting games got boring for me so I didn't play this very long (part of a bundle).

Graphics are not my style so haven't played this much.

Ion Assault: Asteroids clone using particles. I like to play with particles, but the control scheme in this game kind of sucks. It also got boring quickly for me, like most astroid clones.

Iron Grip: Warlord: Assault FPS game. Defend something with a constant stream of enemies attacking. Sort of a tower defense meets Team Fortress. It was kind of fun in the beginning but there didn't seem to be a real goal as my actions (positive or negative) didn't seem to make a whole lot of a difference. Didn't really like the feeling of gun handling either, but that's personal taste.

Jagged Alliance (Back in Action): Squad based action game. I love JA since the first title. This BiA version is a refurbished JA2 game. It's okay for for a die-hard fan of the genre. It's not okay for a die-hard fan of the frenchise. Apart from already having finished JA2 a bunch of times, this version is missing some key features from the original game. But what really killed it for me was the bugginess of the game. Squad members seemed to randomly forget my orders. Like ignoring attack commands while being attacked by a horde of marauders. Yeah, that'll happen.

Nightsky: Artsy puzzle platformer. You're a ball and have to keep moving forward. Not really my cup of tea because the levels build up very slowly, so didn't play this very long.

Nuclear Dawn: Multiplayer fps war game. Nothing new, in fact, seems to lack stuff like vehicles. Shiny but boring.

pid: Platformer puzzle game. You can throw bombs of light in which you can travel a bit. Looks artsy, original gameplay, but still I got bored of the concept quickly.

Shattered Horizon: Mulitplayer anti-grav FPS. Only played this quickly because, well, I don't care about mulitplayer fps.

Snapshot: Puzzle platformer. You control a photo camera that can warp items which help you overcome obstacles in the world. Looks pretty, regular platformer otherwise.

Trapped dead: Isometric zombie action adventure. It's not a regular shooter so I played this a bit longer than average. But in the end there wasn't enough of a gimmick for me to play it through and through. So high hopes, but wishful thinking.

Trauma: Artsy point-and-click discover game. Meh.

Twin worlds (1 and 2): Third person FPS action/adventure. I tried to get into the game but the gameplay and graphics were not right for me. Did not really get past the whole tutorial story line.

Legend of Grimrock: FPS dungeon crawler. Not my type of graphics (anymore, I used to love this). Did not like the gameplay feeling of the game either.

Micron: Puzzle game. Place objects to guide particles from their start point to an end point. Was not able to keep my attention very long. (Came in a bundle :))

Oilrush: RTS. Played it for a while, was fun. But nothing new.


The bad stuff



Crappy games. Fair warning. Didn't bother getting links for most.

Alien Shooter Revisited, Zombie Shooter, and Zombie Shooter 2: Isometric zombie shooter. Pretty much the same game. These zombie games get boring for me quickly unless there's a gimmick. Unfortunately these don't have that.

Alien Hallway: Sidescrolling defense game. Eh, came in a bundle but would never have paid for it, have played better free flash games in this genre.

Darksiders (and Darksiders 2): Fps game. Very straightforward. I got seriously bored with these shiney linear fps games.

Dead Horde: Isometric zombie shooter. Nothing special.

Future wars: Turn-based isometric strategy game. Got boring quickly.

Greed: Black Border: Isometric action third person action game. It looks nice but it gets boring pretty quickly.

Stellar Impact: Space RTS game. Looks like fun. Got it in a bundle. But it requires registration (even after buying the game) and I haven't been convinced to register yet. Why require registration :s

Unstoppable Gorg: Tower defense with a twist. Haha, twist. You basically build planets/satelites that act as towers. You can move them around in their orbit to guide them to the onslaught of enemies. I like tower defense games but did not like this twist. Too much micro management for my taste.

X-Blades: Third person action hack-n-slash. Linear, shiny, boring.


To get list:



In order of how good I think they might be ... sort of :)

Monaco: Top down coop puzzle game. I found it through this Penny Arcade comic. Looks really cool, though the price is a bit steep.

Carmageddon: Race game with gore. Classic game refurbished. Mobile versions have just been released, waiting for a PC release. Not sure on ETA, probably later 2013.

GunPoint: Platform puzzle game. The video looks good, though the art is juuust a bit off for me. ETA is unknown.

Space Pirates and Zombies: Space based puzzle/action/strategy game. Looks like many things in once and I like the art.

The Cave: Platform action/puzzle game. Really like the art on it. And it seems like there are multiple ways to play the game, so yay.

Star Command: Isometric adventure game. I'm not sure about the actual game, but the art is already a winner for me. It sounds like it'll have lots of content and unlocks, so I'm already game. Oh looks like the iOS version has just been released, I'll be waiting for the PC version...

Planetary Annihilation: Space/worlds based RTS. Looks pretty good. ETA is summer 2013.

ShadowRun: Isometric squad based action game. Alpha gameplay looks good. Not yet released.

Starlight Inception: Space battle game. Not sure yet. ETA later in 2013.

Republique: Third person 3d adventure/puzzle game. Not sure yet, but could be good. ETA later 2013.

Xenonauts: Isometric squad based game. I've been tempted to buy it but reviews have been a bit lacking. I love turn based squad games though.

Dead State: Isometric (squad based, turn based?) zombie game. Not a super fan of the zombie theme, but the videos look promising. ETA December 2013 (so somewhere 2014 ;))

Swords of the Stars: The Pit: Isometric adventure (or hack'n'slash..) with a touch of rpg. It looks cool.

Dollar Dash: Isometric action/puzzle game. Heist themed. Looks cool so I'll buy this soon.

Bleed: Action platform game. Like the art and gameplay looks nice. What else :)

Guy vs The Wicket and Nefarious Land: Top-down action game. Art looks a bit off to my taste, but it looks like there's lots of content.

Mark of the Ninja: Action platform game with a side of puzzle. Like the art and the gameplay looks good as well.

Castle Crashers: Multiplayer isometric sidescrolling platformer. Cartoon themed art. I'm a bit afraid that the side scrolling theme gets boring really quick though.

Capsized: Platform action game with a touch of physics puzzles. Looks great, what else :)

Stealth Bastard: Platformer stealth (or action) puzzle game. I like the art and will probably pick this up soon.

Rogue Legacy: Platform action game with a side of rpg. Cool graphics. What else. Bit expensive though.

King Arthur's Gold: Build sim slash rts? I'm not sure yet. Also it looks as if it's free, but there's also a paid game. Anyways, I like how it looks.

Retro City Rampage: Isometric old school pixel action (/puzzle?) game, NES style. It looks really cool, though gameplay looks a bit crazy.

Hammerwatch: Isometric dungeon crawler. Cool graphics, looks like solid gameplay.

Great Permutator: Puzzle game. I'm afraid it's a bit monotonic, but it looks nice anyways :) Doesn't seem to have a real homepage though (wot).

Out There SomeWhere: Platform action puzzle game. With cool graphics.

Mutant Blobs Attack: Platform puzzle game. Haven't picked this up yet because I'm not sure if I'll really enjoy it.

Super Ubi Land: Platform (hardly action) puzzle game. Looks a bit straightforward, but might be fun anyways.

Humans Must Answer: 2d Space shooter. I like to play a good shooter every now and then. This one looks like a good candidate :)

Sine Mora: Shooter (just 2d, I think). Stunning graphics. ETA unknown.

Paranautical Activity: FPS minecraft style. Looks promising, still in development though you can buy into the beta.

Diehard Dungeon: Isometric minecraft-style adventure/action game. I really like how it looks.

Ok. That should keep you busy for a while... :)