Indie Game Spotlight #2 - An Untitled Story Name: An Untitled Story Genre: 2D Platformer This is a free game that was created by Matt Thorson back in 2007. I'd highly recommend any of his games but Untitled Story is my absolute favourite! The story is simple; you start off as an egg-like creature in a nest and one night you fall out. From the base of the tree you begin exploring. This game has a huge focus on exploration, which is something I love. At the start you'll have a measily little jump and won't be able to reach many areas, but as you explore and find upgrades you'll be able to jump much higher, increase your health, and a lot more that I don't want to spoil! The key to exploring further is finding these upgrades; many if which will be hidden or behind tricky boss battles. There are roughly 22 areas to discover, with descriptive names; NightWalk, DeepTower and ColdKeep being some of the first few that you'll find. And you'll have 18 unique boss battles to fight past. If, like me, you enjoy exploring then you'll absolutely love this game; and any fans of metroidvania games or tricky boss battles would certainly enjoy it too Available on: - PC (Free)
Indie Game Spotlight #1 - Cave Story This is a classic, and widely regarded as one of the best free Indie games out there! So it felt like an obvious start. It's a simple looking 2D platformer focused around shooting and exploring. The story begins as you awake in a cave with no memory and evolves as you try to protect a village of friendly rabbit-folk called the Mimigas from a force of nasties, hoping along the way that you'll find where the hell you came from! Throughout the game you'll collect a variety of weapons and upgrades, and see lots of really creative environments and enemies! The gameplay is near perfect and there's a ton of creativity poured into this this game, I'd definitely recommend checking this out. PC: Free! Wii: $12/£7 3DS: $40/£30 (3D remake!)