Have you ever wanted to tell a story about a kitten? Or an alien? Or a mummy, or a genius, or a demon, or a block of cheese, or a little girl with the magical ability to talk to soap? Well, a little bit of time and effort with Sleep is Death will let you do just that, all in the form of a playable experience for you and a friend.

Less a game and more of a collaborative story creation system, Sleep is Death is the latest release from Jason Rohrer who is also responsible for games like Transcendence and Passage.

Sleep is Death is very consciously not a game, although it does have elements of competition and co-operation. It's played with two people, a Controller and a Player, and ping-pongs control of the story back and forth in 30 second increments. The mouse-driven action revolves around being able to assemble the items, characters, dialogue, and scenes necessary to move the story forward in the 30 seconds allotted.

There is a growing fan community that is building itself around Sleep is Death, which is smoothing over a lot of the rough edges of the experience. Watching the video tutorials helps get over the hump of the learning curve, and people are already developing tools and tiles and sprites for everyone else to use. It's easy to imagine a point where there is enough user-generated content created that pretty much any tile you could want would be accessible. Once sprites are created, you can do a surprising amount with the basic flip and rotate tools, so it's not hard to fake your characters standing, turning, sitting down, etc.

Analysis: Sleep is Death has some really impressive and simple content creation tools (such as a music editor, background editor, tile and sprite editor, etc.). Using them in the 30-60 second window can be surprisingly difficult at first. It took my narrator and I several minutes just to figure out how to mark one sprite as the "player character," and we would often bounce half-finished screens back and forth until one of us had assembled enough objects to constitute the next "story beat."

The game is bundled with a lot of art, so you don't have to worry about creating images to play the game. Most of them seem a little arbitrary, though, and instead of giving you a large variety of sprites to build stories with, you seem to be limited to farm hands, horned gods, and Meat Boy.

Buying Sleep is Death means you get two copies of the game, one for you and one for your playing buddy. You need two people to get any sort of experience out of this unique title, but hosting and connecting to games is easy and doesn't require opening ports or otherwise changing your router/modem's settings.

With a strong fan base that's building some great tools and additional content for the game, Sleep is Death could turn into a universal storytelling tool. It's certainly a unique experience and, provided you have a friend that's just as in to the story as you are, will provide some very memorable moments.

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The original series of Shift Games introduced a clever new puzzle/platforming mechanic where players had to invert the play area repeatedly to navigate through one-screen levels. Now, Alt Shift gives us an all new Shift-style game with smoother graphics, deeper puzzles, and a healthy dose of mini-games. The story is one that we've heard before. It's your basic "dimensional traveler meets opposite gendered partner, evil mad scientist kidnaps partner for unclear reasons, dimensional traveler must defeat mad scientist through clever puzzle platforming," story. Like Shakespeare wrote. But the fact that the story-line in Alt Shift is so basic just complements the fact that the platforming game is so delightfully minimalist.

If you've played a Shift title before, the controls will be familiar to you. If you haven't, worry not, since they're extremely simple. [A] and [D] or [arrow] keys to move, [W] or up [arrow] to jump, [S] or down [arrow] to invert the screen. The goal in each level is to get to the exit, which is rarely as simple as walking in a straight line, as the first level would have you believe. Instead, you'll need to use your peculiar powers to flip the screen to gain access to different areas and navigate the puzzles that bar your way.

Puzzles tend to be clever rather than torturous, and the game definitely focuses more on mental acuity than digital dexterity. There are a couple of tricky jumping puzzle levels, but players have up to three skips they can use to move past levels that are proving too difficult. In a clever twist on the mechanic, you can win a skip back by beating that level at a later time, which means that you can always choose the easier of the two levels you're stuck on to beat.

Analysis: Alt Shift has had a lot of time to develop its mechanics, and it shows. The game is really polished, which is nice to see since the earlier entries in the Shift series definitely felt rough. The platforming is smooth and the controls are easy and clear. It's obvious that the design team has a great sense of how to make the inversion puzzle the most fun it can be. The addition of blocks that you can either move around or move through is a great one, and really adds some nice variability to the levels. It's not a new mechanic to the genre, but it's very well executed, and includes a pull feature! Perhaps I've been playing too much Sokoban but I'm always delighted when my character can actually pull things as well as push them.

Alt Shift does have a couple of flaws. The mini-games aren't very well integrated into the game. They feel a little tacked on, and are basic sliding or spot-the-difference puzzles. The storyline, such as it is, is increasingly nonsensical, especially when the mad scientist tries to explain that he's locking you out of his lab using minigame-based locks. They're going for a bit of the Portal tone, but it doesn't really come together. Another (minor) beef is that the game gives you a "completion" rating when you beat a level, but the ratings seem random, and don't reflect on your speed or ability beating the level.

That said, Alt Shift is definitely a strong, smooth, polished puzzle game. If you haven't played any games in the series before, it's a great place to start, and if you're familiar with the series, it's a neat addition to the cannon. With 80 new levels to test your reality-warping skills and the ability to play as either an indistinct black blobby girl rather than an indistinct black blobby boy this time 'round, it offers a lot of play time for puzzle fiends, platforming warriors, and shadow-hopping heroes of all ages.

Play Shift Freedom (Flash)

Windows:
Download the demo
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Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

It's every young Infernal Princeling's dream: round up some Legions, grab a couple of Places of Power, maybe an Unholy Artifact or two, and see your enemies fall before you on the road to conquest. Eventually, you end up Top Dog of the Underworld, a mover and shaker in the Sunless Realms. Of course, no one ever explained to you the endless intricacies of Hellish Politics, the constant demand for tribute, the complexities of the management of a properly demonic estate. You thought that ascending (descending?) to the Throne of Hell was going to be easy? Solium Infernum will make you think again.

Solium Infernum is a turn-based strategy game of infernal conquest from Cryptic Comet that emphasizes a deep, rich, turn-based system to deliver an incredibly complex and flexible strategic experience. It has sort of a Risk-meets-Dante's-Inferno flavor to it. Unfortunately, all that depth and richness comes at the expense of some usability and clarity issues: this is definitely not a "casual" game. Forget "diving right in," because just getting a character off the ground is a challenge, and the lack of a tutorial doesn't help matters. Of course, the 30+ page manual is a good place to start...

The first aspect to the game is character creation. Players can use one of the two default avatars provided, but it's worth going through the character creation process to get a sense of what's available. Avatars buy statistics like Military Prowess, Wickedness, or Charisma from a pool of points. They can also spend those points on traits that give them bonuses in certain situations, or take flaws that will give them more points to spend. Players who are just getting into the game are advised to invest heavily in "Charisma," because it increases the amount of tribute you get, and thus the amount of stuff you can buy.

Once you actually get into the game, you'll see that you control one Legion and one Stronghold. Your Stronghold is your home-base, and if you lose it you'll lose the game, so make sure it's protected if you're in conflict with any of the other players. Your Legion is your basic military unit, but it's probably pretty weak. Play proceeds with players giving up to six orders per turn (players start only being able to give two orders per turn, but will gain the ability to give more orders later.) Orders are given on specific phases, and then are resolved first-in-first-out, which occasionally means that other players will preempt your orders and render them moot. (For example, if Player 1 gives an order to move a Legion on phase 2, he will lose that order if Player 2 has given an order to bribe that Legion on phase 1.)

Probably the most important order in Solium Infernum is "Demand Tribute" which causes your minions to go out and collect random bits of resources for you. At the beginning of the turn after you give the "Demand Tribute" order, you'll get to pick through your minions' findings and chose the resource cards you want. You can spend these resource cards to bid on Praetors or Artifacts (which can be added to Legions to make them stronger,) as well as cast Rituals, bribe Legions, buy up your own statistics, etc., etc., etc. Really, the variety of possibilities is dizzying, and without a clear sense of what it is that you're trying to do, the game can quickly get confusing.

Analysis: It's a shame that Solium Infernum has so much trouble communicating goals and game-flow to the player, because it obscures the fact that Solium Infernum is an excellent game. There are three different paths to victory: win by politics, by force, or by some clever chicanery. There are literally hundreds of strategies that a player might try to implement to see their way to any of the individual victory conditions.

The political system, for example, is beautifully developed. Most basically, it forces players to chose between giving other players Prestige (victory points) or allowing those players to declare Vendetta on them. Vendetta is a state where players are allowed to steal territory from or use destructive rituals on one another, but the player who has declared Vendetta must claim a goal (destroy a Legion, capture a Place of Power, etc.,) and a number of turns, and is punished if he can't complete the terms of the Vendetta in time. Dedicated strategy players are, no doubt, already contemplating the possibilities for bluffs, blinds, and betrayals that a system like this makes possible, and this is really only scratching the surface of the possibilities inherent in the system.

Part of Solium Infernum's problem is visual. It's not much to look at, and while the art direction is very strong, the game's palate of muted grays, blacks, and reds gets a little monotonous at times. The menu systems in the game are very basic, and often a little confusing, and the game's habit of working confirmation buttons into intricate scroll-worked window borders means that they get lost easily, which can prove frustrating. Better visual design could have gone a long way to letting players understand the flow of the game, and the absence of a tutorial in a game this complex is positively diabolical.

That said, if you are looking for a deep, complex, turn-based game of back-stabbing, power-grabbing, and turn-trumping, then look no further than Solium Infernum, because it's got pretty much everything you could possibly want. If possible, play the game with some friends via e-mail to get the best experience possible, as the AI in this game can be somewhat lacking. Oh, and be sure to read the manual, otherwise Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here. Seriously.

Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

Cluster Lander is a new game from Candystand, part space exploration and part racing game. You have been sent on a voyage to explore a series of "clusters," which are a little like asteroids, and your mission is to explore and retrieve the coordinates that will allow you to continue traveling through space. Each cluster is an obstacle course that you must navigate using your cleverly designed exploration vehicle.

The central element of gameplay is the way your vehicle actually works. The basic controls are simple: Press an [arrow] key, and the opposite thruster fires. The ship has a basic stabilization system that keeps it upright and relatively easy to pilot, but crashing into things or getting hit by enemy fire can destabilize you, which makes it much harder to pilot your ship. Sometimes, though, you'll want to break your own stabilizer on purpose, so that you can orient the ship differently, fit through small cracks, or fire at otherwise unreachable enemies. A skilled pilot can take advantage of the increased flexibility of the ship when it's destabilized, but learning to reestablish your stabilizer is a useful skill in itself. The controls are very responsive, which is great in a game that relies so much on precise maneuvering.

As you wander through clusters, you'll encounter lasers, locks, turrets, and other objects that will stymie your progress, as well as fuel, health, and bomb power-ups that will let you keep fighting. Tap [S] or [shift] to drop a bomb, and [A] or [ctrl] to change weapons. Since the game records your movements as you fly, you have the option of racing against a "ghost" when you try a level again, which will allow you to garner medals by flying faster than your opponent. Playing the ghost mode has a second advantage if you're getting stuck on levels, because it gives you a guide in case you get lost.

Analysis: Cluster Lander has a great premise, with tight controls, and a ton of replay value. Getting to go through the levels again for better and better times will keep medal fanatics busy, but you can always enjoy poking through clusters trying to find another weapons cache even if you're not trying to beat any specific time. In fact, you might want to take your time; piloting the lander definitely takes some getting used to, and you'll want to get a feel for what's going to send your trusty ship rocketing into the nearest wall before you stomp on the gas.

The levels are expansive and really give you a great feeling of exploring the clusters. As a bonus, hidden caches of weapons, armor, and fuel are scattered around the level, which really gives you that thrill of discovery when you find them at the right time. There are also additional clusters available for purchase if you so desire, but the original free game should be enough to keep you busy, and doesn't require any form of payment to do so.

If the game has a flaw, it's that it's almost too straightforward. Not to say that the game is simple, since the difficulty curve ramps pretty steadily, but it would have been nice to have, for example, an upgrade path to make your lander stronger, faster, or more dangerous. Since the lander never upgrades, the final levels can feel a lot like the early levels. The combat also takes a while to get used to, since you are generally dropping bombs from above your enemies and have to take momentum into account when you're launching them. These are pretty minor issues, though, when the rest of the game nails the exploration genre so dead on.

If you've always wanted to see what lies beyond the big blue yonder, and pilot an extremely fragile spacecraft through dangerous terrain, then Cluster Lander is the game for you, provided your reflexes (and your patience) are up to the task.

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A single crystalline planetoid floats in the depths of space. It is surrounded by malevolent forces, twisted creations of metal ready to unleash electric death on the beleaguered people of that tiny world, and the only thing that can stop them is the power of rubber-bands and gravity.

Tetraform, the new game from Tyler Glaiel and Greg Wohlwend, casts you in the role of planetary defender, and combines space combat, yo-yo physics, and elements of the Grow games to do it. In the center of your screen is your pretty polyhedral world. Waves of enemies come in from the sides of the screen, all prepared to crash into your fragile little planet. The only way to stop them is to click on two of them, causing them to become irresistibly attracted to one another, resulting in their eventual spectacular collision. These collisions net you points and also rain resources down on your little planet.

As the game progresses, you'll deal with larger and smaller ships, each of which have their own specific gravity or abilities, including being able to shoot missiles or phase into two identical copies, only one of which is real. You'll also learn to turn enemies' weapons against them, and snare multiple enemies into collisions that cause larger explosions and net more points. Sometimes when waves end, you'll have a chance to pick up health power-ups, as well as procure some power-ups that appear as structural additions to your planet, but be careful, as waves will start quickly one after another, so be speedy about getting your goodies.

Analysis: Tetraform's biggest asset is definitely its clever gameplay. The attraction/gravity mechanic, while reminiscent of a couple of other games, feels exciting and well thought-out, and having to plan which ships to crash into one another manages to be both strategically satisfying and explosively fun. The game suffers, however, from the lack of a tutorial, as there are mechanics and ideas that don't seem well explained. What, for example, are the plates of dirt and grass that appear on your planet? The game is called Tetraform, which seems to indicate that terraforming the planet is some kind of goal, but it's never clear how you're supposed to reach it, or whether making grass grow on your planet is part of that goal.

That being said, the rest of the game is really smoothly executed. A variety of enemy types force you to constantly reconsider your strategy, and while the difficulty of the first couple of waves is pretty reasonable, the game quickly gets hectic when smaller crafts zip around your planet like water circling a drain. Learning how to send larger ships careening into swathes of smaller ships is one of the great moments of the game, and even figuring out how to use your power-ups can be fun, if a little baffling. The thing that originally looked like some kind of sun/solar power collector turned out to be a morning-star to run ships into, and you can click twice on the radioactive scaffolding to destroy everything on screen, which is crucial when things start getting really frantic.

If anything, the difficulty ramps a little too fast, but fortunately you can always simply continue the game any time you die (though your score gets reset,) so you'll even be able to pass the (long, fun) boss-fight with a little bit of patience.

In general, this is an exciting game with an inventive and well-executed mechanic. The simplicity of the gameplay means that the lack of tutorial isn't too much of a problem, and the music is really catchy. Take it out for a spin!

Play Tetraform

Have you ever found yourself wandering, lost and alone in a dark maze? If you have, you should probably consider buying a cell-phone. But if you haven't and you want to, then you should play Finding Friends by Pixelate, the first entry in a series of games called The Black Forest.

The title is pretty apt. You start the game wandering around in the darkness, a little black square (with cute little white eyes) against a black background, in a maze with black walls. You only know where the walls are by bumping into them. Eventually, though, you find a friend: a little pink square that follows you along and paints the ground behind itself, letting you see where you've been. It's with the help of the friends that you'll be able to find your way to the exit of the maze, because they'll be painting your path so that you don't double back.

The game is effective because it manages to, in a couple of deft and simple strokes, give you a pretty powerful emotional experience. The early part of the game, where you're alone and pretty much navigating blindly, is frustrating and lonely. As soon as you touch your first friend, though, you add both color and music to your experience, and with each friend you touch, you get another gorgeous layer to the music and another helpful little buddy illuminating your path. You can find the end without finding all the friends, but by the time you're there, you'll feel so bad about leaving the little guys in the dark that you'll go off to save them anyway. As a bonus, while the last friend you touched follows you faithfully, the other friends roam around their areas at random, with the benefit that sometimes they illuminate paths you hadn't seen before. After all, isn't that what friends are for?

Play Finding Friends