ELIK is an action platformer…in 3D! It looks like a classic PlayStation Sega Saturn platformer, with comical low-poly graphics and actual platforming that takes place in three dimensions. Do they still make 3D platformers anymore? I was excited to see the game in the press system, but sadly, I couldn’t get it to run—and, you’ll be careful to note the disclaimer at the bottom of the profile suggesting that you try the demo before you buy. If you’re one of the lucky ones who can run this game, it looks pretty cool for only $2.00!
DOGGINS is a game about—LOOK AT THE DOG. LOOK AT THAT DOG. Man, that dog is going on an adventure! Apparently, the game got nominated for some awards and stuff, but LOOK AT THE DOG. Sadly, the game is only available for Android, so I wasn’t able to play it even though it’s on the itch.io press system. What a shame! It looks like a really cute point-and-click adventure game, taking this little dog around to collect items and complete puzzles. For only $3.99 (not including the cost of trading in your iPhone 6 for an Android device), you can see what that dog is up to.
ChikkinGun: Postmodern War Fair is a retro action platformer that yes, does—in fact—feature a “Chikkin Gun”. You literally shoot chickens at enemies. Go watch the trailer. The trailer pretty well backs up the game’s profile, which says that you stumble across “a dark lair of mad science and pretentious art”. I’m sold on the premise alone. There are puns and the art is pretty great, too. Are you a bad egg? For $4.00, you can shoot things with chickens. Sounds like a deal to me!
Velocibox kind of reminds me of Audiosurf, except without music and in 3D. I mean, yeah, Audiosurf is in 3D…but, this one plays in 3D. Instead of just moving left or right, it looks like you have to spin the world in order to dodge obstacles. It seems like a game that would do best on mobile, but it’s only available for Windows and Mac. It looks really cool, though, and I love creative gameplay. The $4.99 price point seems a bit above average, but I’m not going to shame a developer for charging what a game is more realistically worth.
Def gives you all of your usual tower defense action, boiled down into little blocks. The game is going for $4.99—which seems a little steep, but it could be worth a shot to support the developer if you really like tower defense. It’s available for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
Traumerin is an interesting example of a type of game that I (and, presumably, many other devs) have thought about at some point. No, no—I don’t mean that it’s a game styled after the Game Boy. It’s a platformer…in which you do RPG-style combat with enemies you run into. It’s interesting to see that someone actually put the time and effort into bringing this one to completion, although I’m curious to see how it plays out in reality. For only $4.99 (Canadian!), you can try it out and decide for yourself!
Robonomy is one of those Risk-based strategy games, except this time you fight with robots. The graphics are clean and kind of cute, but there’s no trailer or demo to see what the gameplay is actually like. For only $1, you can force robots to fight it out for your entertainment!
Detective Chirpums is a game in the “bird-based visual novel” genre. I’m sure this one will be a hit with ‘Cola fans—or, if nothing else, former ‘Cola Editor-in-Chiefs! The art style also looks vaguely familiar. It appears that the main character is a bird…and, a detective. How can you pass up a story like that for only $3.49? I’d say that there are demos, but it looks like they’re only available if you pay…maybe someone should contact the developer about that one.
Fat Beets is a great terrible survivable pun, and it’s also a rhythm puzzle game. You have your usual “click three”-style puzzle game, but you can’t just click on whatever color you want! In Guitar Hero style, you have to click the color specified as it scrolls along the top. I like puns creative gameplay like this, and for $2.99, this seems like a good investment to see what future games this developer will come up with.
Iridescence was brought to my attention after the last edition, and I’m a bit sad I missed this one! Going by screenshots, it’s not much to look at—it can be tough to tell what’s going on in the trailer video. Playing it, however, is an entirely different story. From the intuitive design of the game itself to the creative puzzles, you can get the idea that the developer put some time into this one. You might be able to finish it in one sitting if you’re good, but the $2.99 price point seems pretty reasonable.
Prophour23 is, uh…a tower defense game, maybe? The game describes itself as a “fast-paced, replayable real-time strategy” game. I’m not sure, but I really like games that do something a little different. You start out with just a heart, spending the blood it pumps on adding more organs. You connect the organs in different combinations to defend against bugs that try to attack your heart. I was a little wary of the $10 price point, but watching the trailer, I’d say it’s worth the cash if you’re looking for an interesting puzzle/strategy/organ management/tower defense game.
Rooftop Cop gives you not only five games, but a music album as well! Each game has a different play style, but share an overall theme of “a world of police that have forgotten what, and why, they are policing”. Sounds a bit topical, as of late, and five games plus seven songs for only $5? Not a bad deal either way.
Shattered Stone is sort of an FPS, but saying that really doesn’t do the game any justice. You shoot arrows, with an emphasis on timing and accuracy. Maybe just go watch the gameplay trailer to get the idea. I think this one’s pretty neat, and not a bad deal at $2.49!
Reject False Idols is a fast-paced action game where you not only reject false idols, but you destroy them—and their followers. Going by the trailer, it looks like a decent enough game. Worth the $2.12 price tag, at least!
Terror Aboard the Speedwell looks like a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure book…game. It’s not a visual novel, and it’s not even quite a text adventure in the traditional sense. Instead of typing in commands like “scream bear“, you just select from a list of options for each page. The story is one of post-apocalyptic sci-fi survival horror—and with 60 different endings, it’ll keep you entertained for longer than most games for $2.50. Keep in mind the content warnings, but if you’re fine with a an intense read, this is definitely one to check out.
SinaRun 2 reminds me of a recurring dream I used to have as a child. I'd be playing outside, when I would suddenly start jumping higher and higher! I would try to come down, but every step that hit the ground would send me flying off—descending so slowly that I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to jump off a small hill in time to keep myself from falling into a pond or running into a wall. SinaRun 2 seems to embody that vague idea. A long story about a simple game, but you can pick it up for $1.99 if you’re interested in experiencing the literal nightmares of my childhood.
Luminosity is kind of like JezzBall. The basic idea is that you split up the map with walls in order to separate enemy drones. This game seems to expand on that concept by adding different ships, power-ups, and obstacles. If the free demo still doesn’t sell you on the €4.99 (~$7) price tag, there’s a separate Android-only release for only €1.99 (~$2.75)! The full version comes with Windows, Linux, Mac, AND Android copies, but you can check the other if you’re low on cash and just want to play on your phone.
It’s Time To Get Out From the Solar System is a very long name space shmup that has you flying past each of the planets on your way out of—you guessed it—the solar system. The gameplay seems alright, but I mostly like the theme. Or, maybe I just like the name. For $2.99, it’s available for Windows and Linux. If you’re like me and think that it’s about time that we got out from the solar system, you might like to check this one out!
Words for Evil is the kind of game I like to see! There’s classy pixel art, there are RPG elements, and there’s creative gameplay. It looks like you basically play Boggle, finding words in a mixed up batch of letters, in order to battle enemies and handle other in-game challenges. It reminds me of an old idea for an RPG-styled typing tutor I came up with ages ago. Depending on the amount of content, $4.99 (Canadian, if pennies matter to you) seems like a reasonable price for a game that gives you something a little different. This is my favorite pick out of this week’s lineup!
Rimid: Bugs Army is a cute game that entertains me. I’m not sure if the game is actually any good, but I’d at least be willing to wager my $1.49 on this one. That’s something that most of the other games released on itch.io in the last two weeks can’t say. It’s the cheapest game on this week’s list, so at least it has that going for it.
Core Miner is one of those space shooter/business simulators. Why does that genre sound familiar?! Your goal is to smash up asteroids and harvest minerals. Sell off what you’ve mined, upgrade your ship, and mine some more! I’ll warn you that it’s for Android only, but at £1.74 (~$3), it seems like it should at least be as fun as any other space shmup/business sim games we’ve seen published on itch.io.
PixelPics is one of those picross games. You know, picross—it’s kind of like sudoku, except you make a picture! I don’t know, do people know about picross? The point is, it’s a cute picross game with a huge number of puzzles. £7 (~$12) seems a bit pricy, but there’s a huge amount of content, and a 40-puzzle demo if you’re on the fence about it. Give it a shot!
