PixlBit

As much as I love my Marios and Halos, the burgeoning indie scene is becoming undeniably compelling with hugely creative works gracing everything from the PC to the iPad. Unfortunately, for every Super Meat Boy, Spelunky, and Gone Home, there are hundreds of wonderful titles that remain tragically ignored or overlooked.

Coincidentally, one of my hobbies is searching through the depths of app stores and indie marketplaces alike in search of those hidden beauties. And if I’m going to do that, I might as well share my finds here, right?

I will do my best to review at least two titles a week. Hopefully, someone will find them useful!

 

Don’t Shoot Yourself!—iOS—Ayopa Games

 

One of the nicer surprises I happened upon over Christmas was Michael Silverman’s Don’t Shoot Yourself!, a minimalist shooter that, at first glance, looks vaguely like a cross between Asteroids and Everyday Shooter, the latter of which is another fine indie title available on the PS3.

But aesthetic pretensions aside, the game is quite unlike any shooter I’ve ever played. Players take command of a triangular little ship that is trapped within the boundaries of various geometric shapes. As the player moves around, a steady stream of bullets fire from the rear of the ship, soon filling the entire playfield with a ricocheting barrage of projectiles. The objective? Well, Don’t Shoot Yourself!

In other words, the player must continue weaving his ship through the blaze of bouncing bullets—unscathed—until the timer expires. The entire experience is surprisingly fun, addictive, and, of course, very challenging. My only gripe is with the occasionally sluggish and erratic controls, and the fact that each tier (of which there are six) must be completed perfectly before its respective “boss” level appears. And yes, there is that one level I just can’t complete perfectly no matter how hard I try, which means I can’t see the entire game!

Nonetheless, I heartily recommend this little ditty of a game. And for a mere $0.99, who can resist?

 

LCD Dungeon System XL—Xbox Live Indie Games—We Love Hamsters Software

 

Remember all those terrible portable LCD games we (old-timers) used to play before the advent of the Game Boy? You know, those Tiger Handheld titles based on their much better NES counterparts? Well, if this game is any indication, an alternate earth exists in which these primitive games were actually good.

And that’s the crux of LCD Dungeon System XL—it’s a game lovingly crafted to simulate what a portable first-person RPG might have been like had someone attempted such a feat in the mid-80s. Indeed, the game is remarkable—despite the rudimentary graphics and display, the game features both a (albeit limited) stat and inventory system, a variety of different enemies, and even a neat dice roll mechanic that decides who wins or loses each battle. The “device” itself resembles an old dual-screened Game and Watch title, and switching between the two displays (the top for navigation and action, the bottom for stats and inventory management) is as seamless as pressing a button. And while maneuvering the levels themselves can be bland and disorienting, the developer throws in a cheat in which, at the press of a button, a sheet of graph paper appears with a mock pencil sketch of the already explored areas of each floor. Indeed, in the old days, this concept of creating a map by hand would have been the only way to find one’s way through the otherwise indecipherable labyrinths the game provides.

The question, of course, is whether the game is actually fun, and I admit I stopped playing once the novelty wore off. But at a paltry $0.99, the game is worth purchasing for the nostalgic mind trip alone. Wasn’t there a game like this once upon a time? If not…why wasn’t there?

 

 

Thanks to iTunes and Xbox Live for the pics.