Whether you're rolling d20s, soloing a paragon Ancient Wyrm, or reminding Kefka just who's boss, you can't deny it; fantasy is just awesome. But it doesn't all have to be fair elven maidens, forth-with and prithee, or even involve a THACO table. After all, it may be easy to forget, but there are a lot of games out there that can let you get your fantasy fix and aren't RPGs. Shhh, we're a little scared too, but just take our hand and we'll crack open the Vault together this week for a batch of our favourite fantastical journeys.

• How to Raise a Dragon - You should already know Gregory Weir and his talent for weaving unusual narratives into even more unusual gameplay, but this simple adventure game managed to plug deep into the squealing twelve year old girl who has always wanted to be a dragon that lives inside all of us. (Yes, even you, Dudely Reader.) In this story that takes you from hatchling to mighty beast, the choices you make determine everything from what type of dragon you are, to whether you're feared or reviled, and even the ultimate outcome of the inevitable confrontation. But what sets this one apart is that the choices aren't simple "do you want to eat the orphanage Y/N" decisions, but rather circumstances that come about because of the way you play and treat the world around you. It's short, but smart, and a great way of allowing the player to have a much more honest hand in their character's destiny than a karma system.
• Knightfall - Take a puzzle and an RPG, then smoosh them together while making kissy noises, and you'll eventually get something like this gorgeous and clever little hybrid from Megadev. You play as a knight with a mighty drill lance in a world where the devil (yes, really) has stolen your princess and you must smash your way through a series of unique match-3 levels where you flip and rotate the board to bust through enemies and other hazards to collect treasure and do battle. It isn't quite as streamlined as it could be, with the lack of an in-game tutorial being a bit of a disappointment, but if you have the patience to get the hang of it, Knightfall is a vibrant and decidedly addictive little gem that will be hard for some players to put down.
• Barbarian Onslaught: The Secret of Steel - Turns out it's entirely possible to make mass murder and cartoon levels of violence adorable. Just check out this over-the-top hack-and-slash action game and prepare to squeal in macabre delight as your enemy's head and torso go pinwheeling in entirely different directions. Control one lone barbarian hero in a bloody, sidescrolling massacre against hordes of enemies, bosses, and barrels packed with meat. While it's true that the morbid spectacle of it all is a big factor in Barbarian Onslaught's appeal, the snappy, easy-to-grasp action and breakneck pace makes it the perfect choice for a little bit of midday mayhem.
• php Zork - While this incarnation of the cult classic interactive fiction title has a few dings and scratches from a somewhat unwieldy implementation, it's hard to deny that this '70s text adventure is iconic for a reason. You begin west of a house with little instruction, but a bit of poking around will soon reveal that the house is hiding some very big secrets... like treasure, danger, traps, and grues. If you've never experienced Zork before but are willing to put your thinking cap on, Zork is still well worth experiencing for a bit of challenging gaming history. Just remember not to go into the dark.

While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!

Pop culture has taught us that caves are horrible places, literally packed to the brim with horrifying monsters, bat poop, and certain other hazards. Nitrome's first spelunking session was no walk in the park, and now things are getting even trickier with Cave Chaos 2, a platforming challenge where the hazards are bigger and the monsters are grosser.

Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to guide your furry little miner through a series of increasingly elaborate caverns chock full of explosives, beasts, minecarts, and crumbling platforms. As you move, new platforms will fly up for you, carried by helpful bats. Certain levels will tempt you with golden power-ups, like the double-jump, or a butt-bash that will allow you to crush enemies beneath your mighty hindquarters, or even the ability to "glide"... which should here be translated as "flail frantically around in the air with your feet like a Yoshi". Move with caution, but not with slowness, since the terrain will gradually crumble away to nothingness behind you. Most levels have at least one checkpoint you can activate, however, so even if your nice, shiny rocket-propelled minecart takes you on a nosedive into a cliff, you won't have to start the whole level over.

Cave Chaos 2 definitely lives up to its name, with frantic, chaotic levels that are packed full of action and surprises. There is a lot going on here, and all of it rendered absolutely beautifully. The downside is that there are times when the game expects you to take leaps of faith, and there are also times when it doesn't always seem like platforms trigger when they should which can lead to a few frustrating reloads. As a result, the game might require a bit too much trial-and-error for some players, but those of you with nerves of steel and twitchy fingers will prevail as long as you balance cautiousness with expediency. If you played the original, you'll definitely appreciate all the new hazards and elements here, from the addition of checkpoints to the new monsters and other environmental obstacles that overall makes it feel a lot more varied, but perhaps a lot slower, than its predecessor. So the only question remains... are you miner enough?!

Play Cave Chaos 2

If you need a way to mellow out, what better way to de-stress than to be serenaded by So Far So Good's digital human beatbox? The musical webtoy Incredibox lets you drag and drop vocals, beats, and more onto a group of cartoon performers to arrange your own oh-so-funky compositions. It's simple, fun, and a stylish way for talentless schlubs like yours truly to live vicariously through more musically inclined individuals.

Originally created in 2009, So Far So Good's catchy little device has achieved web-wide recognition for its innovation, and also for being generally just cool as all get-out. There's not a tremendous amount of complexity to it, but Incredibox's style, vibe, and remarkable creativity make for a great way to kick back and relax with some hands-on musical ingenuity.

Play Incredibox

Created for the recent "Tiny World" themed Ludum Dare competition, Kumiho by Fedor Jutte and Christina Antoinette Neofotistou is an absolutely gorgeous little bullet hell shooter with an... unusual concept. According to the developers, a Goddess has transformed the world into a speck of dirt and all creatures into vicious machine entities and only your ship, originally a nine-tailed fox, is capable of stopping her. Use the [arrow] keys to steer, hold down [Z] to fire, and press and hold [X] to teleport a short distance in whatever direction you're hitting with the [arrow] keys. You'll want to use this Nightcrawler-esque BAMF! ability quite a bit, since enemies will use themselves and entire walls of projectiles to block you, and a single hit will kick you back to the last checkpoint you passed.

Kumiho is simple, but hard. The one-hit K-Os can wind up intensely frustrating later in the game as checkpoints come farther apart and some of the attack patterns require split-second mastery of your warping power to dodge. Fortunately, Kumiho is also exceedingly lovely, and has a rich, unique watercolour style that makes you wish the story and setting had been better expanded upon in the actual game so we could see more of it. If you're up to the challenge, it's a beautiful and fast-paced little shooter that we'd love to see developed further in the future.

Play Kumiho

Whoever said there are no new ideas clearly never crossed paths with an indie game developer. They're a crazy, rowdy, creative bunch, and they're delivering a whole bunch of amazing projects from towering robot centerfolds, to twenty second explosion defusing, and even time-travelling adorable (yet bloodthirsty) monsters. In addition, we've also got another giveaway for one of our favourite indie titles to help you stave off productivity a while longer, and even more great ones in the coming weeks. Why, it's almost as if we like you or something!

MacGuffin's Giveaway Brawsome's stellar off-kilter comedic sokoban-style puzzle adventure MacGuffin's Curse about a would-be thief stuck with a cursed transformation is definitely unique and definitely awesome. So we want you to get a chance to play it, too! We're giving away five digital copies of this great indie title for PC and Mac, and all you have to do for a chance to win one is to leave a comment on this entry telling us what you would use your werewolf powers for if you had Lucas's cursed Lupine Twine Amulet. Winners will be chosen at random and receive an e-mail alerting them when they are selected. Contest rules: Entries must be submitted by May 24th, 11:59 p.m. EST (GMT-5). Winners will be announced shortly thereafter. One entry per person only. You must be at least 13 years of age or older to enter. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

I Love it Already Smudged Cat Games's platformer The Adventures of Shuggy is finally making the trip from XBLA to your PC on June 13th, and we couldn't be happier. Shuggy is the hero, an adorable vampire who discovers his newly inherited mansion is packed full of all manner of evil spirits he needs to defeat. With bosses, comic-book style cutscenes, over 100 levels, and optional co-op stages, it looks like a fantastic treat for fans of old school platformers. The Adventures of Shuggy will set you back a modest $8.00 USD if you buy it during its release sale on Steam, and $10.00 USD thereafter. Hit up the official site to learn more and check out the official trailer! Spike McFang is old news... Shuggy is now the adorable cartoon vampire of my heart.

More Like AWESOME Canal... Wait, is That Weird? Eerie Canal, will you be my Special Somepony? The developers have just released the first teaser trailer and information for their upcoming twisted RPG/real-time-strategy game Dreadline, and it's crazy, creepy, and even weirdly cute. I might be a little smitten. You control a group of blood-thirsty monsters who can travel through time to historic calamities and run amok with your freakishly adorable horde slaughtering those already doomed to die. If it sounds morbid, well... that's because it is, and it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the oddly delightful art style and off-the-wall concept is sure to win a few admirers. Dreadline is scheduled to hit in the first half of 2013. Hit up the developer's site for more previews and a link to the mayhem-strewn teaser trailer.

20 Second Hero What can you accomplish in twenty seconds? Sos Sosowski's upcoming indie point-and-click puzzler is going to push your limits if you don't want to explode. McPixel, available this June for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and more, features over 100 levels where the titular hero has just twenty scant seconds to figure out how to keep things from blowing up using just the tools available. It'll also have free DLC, a level creator, and more! The official website has all the information you need, including a free browser demo of six bizarre levels to try to conquer. It's strange and more than a little twisted, but if you can think out of the box and under pressure, it might just be for you.

Jetpack, Meet Wish Fulfillment Officially winning for "best jetpack game title ever", Dejobaan Games's newest venture, Drunken Robot Pornography, is set to hit later this year for PC and Mac. The concept? You have a jet-pack, and you're trying to strike down multi-story robots called "Titans" while a crowd cheers you on. You can even build your own "robot pin-ups" to unleash on other players, from the finish right down to the fuel and the actuators that make the joints move. If that sounds good to you (of course it does), then head on over to the official site to browse the information, screenshots, and get ready for some chaotic but undeniably fascinating robot/laser/jetpack action.

Who Says Gardening Ain't Hardcore? Combining a multiplayer shooter with otherworldly farming and defense, the currently ALPHA version Farm Fortress by Pontus Lundvall and David Hagström might be weird, awesome, or just awesomely weird. Plant and harvest to earn cash and build defenses around your humble plot of dirt to keep out mutants or even other players... who you can help or sabotage. It's free to play, with the option to buy extra lives over the three you start with, although you will respawn automatically after 12 hours, and is something you should definitely check out if you're looking for a slightly more action-packed version of Farmville.

The Case of the Post-Apocalyptic Kickstarter Love Tex Murphy? Well don't count everyone's favourite hard-boiled post-apocalyptic P.I. out just yet. Big Finish Games knows he's still got a few cases to solve, and they've just launched a Kickstarter for the first Tex Murphy title in fourteen years, currently named Project Fedora. They're looking to get a whopping $450,000.00 USD to fund their project, and for just $15.00 USD you can help them along and get a downloadable copy of the adventure game when it's complete, estimated late this December. This is big news for fans of the last game, Overseer, which notoriously ended with a big fact cliffhanger, since Project Fedora promises to pick up right where that left off. For more information, head on over to the Kickstarter page and do some sleuthing of your own.

Between Two FernsIMEAN Gamers So what's your thought on the increasingly popular free-to-play gaming model? Once the domain of Facebook apps and iOS titles, it's begun creeping more and more into mainstream gaming as a whole. Gamesbrief's Nicholas Lovell and Positech Games's Cliff Harris have been talking about free-to-play and how they feel it helps or harms the industry, and the results may surprise you. A Debate on Free-to-Play is an interesting read as both Nicholas and Cliff have vastly differing opinions on the concept and are both considering a lot of different factors. As Nicholas points out, gaming is STILL a business, and "if it is hard or impossible to make a living from making games, fewer talented people will make fewer great games." Cliff argues "that the game is no longer a shared experience or level playing field. I can now be shot by someone with a gun I didn't buy, or outrun by a car with engines I haven't bought". As microtransactions start popping up everywhere, it's great to see two people with two different positions talk about this, and something you as the player and part of that equation should be thinking about too.

Do you know an upcoming indie project or some community gaming related news you think deserves some attention? Send me an e-mail with LINK DUMP FRIDAY in the subject line at dora AT casualgameplay DOT com with the info, and we'll judge it with the all-seeing glare of our own self-importance for inclusion in a future Link Dump Friday article!

I'll be honest. I don't know much about kids, and I tend to assume that if you just leave them a can of some meat paste, something to poop in, and a cardboard box to mess around in they'll be fine. (Or is that cats?... eh!) But it doesn't take a parental dynamo to recognise that Jimp and Gary Smith's utterly adorable kid-oriented game Teddy's Excellent Adventure is something children would presumably enjoy. Part platform, part puzzle, and even a little point-and-click adventure-sy, it tells the story of a teddy bear trying to find his way back home to the little girl who lost him. Use the [WASD] or [arrow] keys to move and jump, and the mouse to click and interact with certain objects. If Teddy falls off a platform, he'll have to start over at the last screen he entered, but you'll also have to solve little puzzles in different areas by figuring out what to click and in what order.

It goes without saying that this is, by and large, a fairly easy game. A few of the later areas require a smidgen of platforming skills, but by and large this is simply a quick, colourful game meant to engage the young or young at heart. A few of the areas have some scenes and action that might be a little intense for really little'uns, and bigguns might be mildly annoyed at the way you have to keep moving with moving platforms or they'll slip right out beneath you. But with its sweet story, gorgeous cartoon and fabric style, and accessible gameplay, Teddy's Excellent Adventure is a warm and cuddly little treat that is just the right size for itty-bitty gamers to grasp, and for bigger ones to relax with while it lasts.

Play Teddy's Excellent Adventure

Just one more turn. Just one more level. Just one more card battle. Just thirty more random encounters. We've all been there. We've all found that game that scratches our particular itch so we can't put it down, even when we have other things we really should be doing. Here are a few games we've found hard to walk away from over the years... I mean, except for me. I don't do game addiction. *elitist, condescending nerd snort* And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go wade through the tall grass another thirty or a hundred times until I get a shiny Meowth.

• Robot Unicorn Attack - We probably don't need to tell you that Adult Swim can be a little weird, but check out this glorious jump-and-run arcade game and you'll see they're more than a little wonderful. Combining a ridiculous premise with fast, snappy gameplay and the musical stylings of Erasure, it's as silly as it is sensational. You control a unicorn, that is a robot, racing across a fantasy landscape, and tap keys to jump and dash through obstacles for as long as you can. If you keep it up long enough, you get magical robot dolphins for accompaniment. It's since spawned several successful themed spin-offs, but you know what they say; you never forget your first.
• Phit - Phit! I do so love it when a game is as fun to say as it is to play, and Jeff Wofford's massive tangram/sliding block puzzle is definitely fun. All you have to do is find a way to slip and fit all the Tetris-style blocks at the top of the screen into the yellow space at the bottom... preferably in as few moves as possible. It sounds easy, and its fast moving, vibrant presentation is exactly the sort of devilish formula that draws in cocky can-do'ers and keeps them up late into the night. Phit is a perfect example of a simple concept taken and polished to a beautiful shine. And given a catchy name. Phit. Phit. Phitphitphitphit...
• BowMaster Prelude - LostVectors knows that deep inside each and every one of us is a glorious Legolas yearning to break free, and few games plugged into that urge as neatly as this action-packed defense game. You are an archer, tasked with defending a castle, and as you shoot down incoming enemies you gain gold and experience you can use to purchase upgrades to make your life a little easier. By packing in a variety of troops, enemies, and even arrow types to use, BowMaster gives you great incentive to keep playing, and while mastering the aiming will definitely take a little practice, by the time you've done so you'll be hard pressed to put the game down. So go ahead. Indulge your inner Orlando Bloom. The kingdom needs you.
• Kavalmaja - No discussion on addictive gaming is complete without mentioning the best secret Pokemon of them all; Tonypa. Kavalmaja is a tile-based exploration adventure that offers up puzzling maze gameplay but not a whole lot of hand-holding. You're simply dropped into an odd minimalist little world, and it's up to you to explore and figure out the rules. Figuring out why you died or how to get around an obstacle without much feedback may sound frustrating for some, but for others it represents another puzzle to crack, and it's definitely worth spending some time trying to suss out the mechanics on your own. If you die, you have to start all over, but for some players the curious mystery of this unassuming little game is going to be worth coming back to again and again to try to conquer.
• Craziest - Finally, a bonus... an animation about a lady who really knows something about game addiction. Specifically, Scrabble. Liz Dubelman delivers a bizarre narrative about a young woman obsessed with letters and numbers, and the lengths she goes to uncover their true meaning. By turns funny and freaky, it's a superbly well-told little tale with a hypnotic delivery and beat-poet style of narration to it that makes it worth watching. Just a little something to keep in mind the next time you get a little too excited about that triple-word-score.

While we welcome any comments about this weekly feature here, we do ask that if you need any help with the individual games, please post your questions on that game's review page. Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and rediscover some awesome!

Bikini Bottom is covered with a noxious green ooze after a blinding light fills the sky, and everyone has gone missing!... well... except SpongeBob. He's around. *snicker* Get it?! A-round?!... forget you guys, he would love that! SpongeBob Marbles and Slides by Gilded Skull Games for your iOS or NOOK Tablet is that rare breed of tie-in game that gets almost everything right, from the all-important plinky-plonky soundtrack and beautiful style to the most important ingredient... fun. A physics puzzle game with pinball elements and its own quirky storyline, this is one top-notch casual mobile title fans of the series and the genre alone will want to check out.

Something weird is afoot (or aflipper) in SpongeBob's beloved hometown... everyone has turned into a marble, and a vast network of underground pipes has appeared. There's only one itty-bitty megalomaniacal genius that could have caused all this... but SpongeBob and crew are going to need a little help getting around if they want to get to the bottom of things and restore the town. In each level, your job is to guide all (or a specific number) of marbles safely to the drain leading to the next level. Draw paths on the screen with paint to direct the marbles as they roll, tilt your device to guide them along, and make use of other devices like time-stopping buttons, super-magnets, and more. If you lose your marbles (literally) by allowing them to fly offscreen or fall into the toxic goo, you'll have to restart the level. Sounds daunting, doesn't it? You can do it! Come on, say it with me... I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready...

Analysis: SpongeBob Marbles and Slides is one of those rare games that give you hope for affiliated titles as a whole. Despite its cartoon roots, it doesn't feel cheap, rushed out, or insultingly simple. It is, actually, pretty darn great. Loaded with the show's signature style from the visuals to the music and packed with creativity and charm, it manages to balance being both true to form while serving up something genuinely unexpected. The fact that they actually went ahead and wrote up an appropriately bizarre storyline to explain the game concept is great, and so is the chatter between the characters at the beginning of levels. (I appreciate you Squidward.) More importantly, however, the gameplay is unique, fun, quirky, and even a little challenging at times, though kids will certainly be able to master it with a bit of determination.

The different elements introduced across the many, many levels help keep things fresh and interesting as well, though you'll doubtless has a few you'd rather see more of, and even some you'd rather see a lot less of. The physics are, for the most part, reliable in a way that generally means any difficulty you encounter is probably because you're going about solving a level the wrong way. The achievements feel a little random and token, but the real reward is seeing even more of the beautiful, clever design as you play and uncovering more of the oddball story. SpongeBob Marbles and Slides will doubtless be enjoyed most by fans of his cartoon adventures, but thanks to some genuine heart and effort by the talented folks at Gilded Skull, this is one physics puzzle adventure that's easily recommended to everyone. It's pure goofy, joyous fun, and sets a new standard for media tie-in games that will be hard to surpass in the future.

iTunes App Store (iOS):
Get SpongeBob Marbles and Slides (iPhone, iPod Touch)
Get SpongeBob Marbles and Slides LITE (iPhone, iPod Touch)
Get SpongeBob Marbles and Slides (HD) (iPad)
Get SpongeBob Marbles and Slides LITE(HD) (iPad)

Nook Apps:
Get Spongebob Marbles and Slides (NOOK Color/NOOK Tablet)

NOTE: This game was played and reviewed on an iPad (1st gen). Game was available in the North American market at the time of publication, but may not be available in other territories. Please see individual app market pages for purchasing info.

If you've ever tried to write something, you know how rewarding and challenging the creative process can be. When it comes naturally it's the best feeling in the world, but if you try to force it you can feel like you're fighting something that hates you... figuratively speaking, of course. Renowed writer Alan Wake knows that feeling better than anyone, and with his agent and his fans breathing down his neck two years after his last book, writer's block is starting to feel more like writer's noose. But sometimes the stories we tell or find ourselves in aren't always up to us, and Alan's vacation to the idyllic mountain town of Bright Falls with his wife Alice takes a nightmarish turn for the surreal in this action adventure game from Remedy.

When Alice vanishes after an argument, Alan regains consciousness to find himself alone and bloodied in the middle of nowhere, with no recollection of how he got there, or where Alice is. Things get even stranger when he starts finding pages to a manuscript... one bearing his name that he doesn't remember writing. Especially when the things within those pages start coming true. With everyone doubting Alan's sanity, including Alan himself, will the truth be stranger than fiction? Or will Alan even survive to discover it as the darkness in the sleepy little burg of Bright Falls and its inhabitants begins to grow? Only Alan and the one person who believes him, his sidekick Parka McNot-as-Good-as-Zeke, can find out.

Use the [WASD] keys to move around, and the mouse to aim and fire if you've got a gun equipped. Holding [shift] will let you sprint for a while until Alan runs out of breath, and using [shift] in conjunction with one of the directional keys will cause him to dodge that way. [E] interacts with objects, while [R] reloads, and you can tap it to speed up the process if you're feeling the pressure. Along the way, you'll find a variety of firearms and flares you can swap between using the number keys or mouse scroll, and I'll tell you right now you can ignore those finely honed shooter hoarding tendencies I know you've got. Since the game is set up in a series of six episodic chapters, Alan typically finds a way to contrive losing most or all of the weapons and ammo you have stockpiled between each one, so don't be afraid to spray hot shotgun death when things get hairy.

Until Tuesday May 15th at 06.59 AM EDT, Alan Wake is 50% off at GOG.com! Includes both DLC episodes "The Signal" and "The Writer".

Most enemies you'll encountered can't be harmed until you deal with the protective darkness shrouding them, but luckily for you, you have history's deadliest weapon at your disposal... and you're packin' double As. Aiming a flashlight at an enemy slowly burns away the dark, and holding down the right mouse button boosts the beam to speed up the process at the cost of faster battery drain. When the light has beaten them down, you'll finally be able to put them down for good with whatever weapon you have on hand. Alan's health is displayed around the radar in the top-left corner, so you'll want to avoid getting hit whenever possible and seek out safe places in light for faster health regeneration. Of course, if you do take one too many whacks, it's not the end of the world; the game operates on a checkpoint system, so you'll just be kicked back to the last one you passed. Checkpoints are typically fairly frequent, fortunately, so even if you take an axe to the face you won't lose that much progress.

Analysis: Alan Wake is, first and foremost, a great story. Invoking everything from the works of Stephen King to classic schlock like the Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside, and even modern day thrillers, it's a scary and engaging wild ride. While it delivers its share of predictable jump scares, a lot of the fear in Alan Wake comes from the unknown as it melds the supernatural with the everyday to create the downright bizarre... like the ax-wielding maniac chasing you through the forest shrieking about non-refundable deposits or keeping your pets leashed at all times. It's a wonderfully weird and intriguing story, and even if some elements feel familiar, it If you go hunting around, you can even watch short episodes of a little show called Night Springs that delivers a different little scary story each time... some of which make more sense than others, but hey, most mountain cabins don't even get cable, let alone haunted cable, so show a little gratitude.

The game is, as a whole, pretty darn good looking. Environments are stunning with some of the best light effects you can hope for. You will spend rather a lot of time running around in the forest with a flashlight, but the stunning attention to detail that packs the woods with atmosphere and foreboding makes it hard to be bored. Characters are likewise well modeled, though watching them talk is about as realistic as watching a pair of sock puppets jaw at each other. Voice acting is sort of hit and miss in that some actors seem a bit more into it than others, but the Taken people you encounter can be flat-out terrifying with their bizarre ramblings and worn-out tape recorder voices. Sure it would be nice if most enemies were varied beyond "guy with a sharp thing" and "slightly bigger guy with a sharp thing", but by and large Alan Wake is so good at creating tension and panic that more set pieces will be the last thing on your mind.

Since Alan Wake originally started on a console, the biggest issue a lot of PC gamers might encounter is the odd, over-the-left-shoulder viewing angle the perspective takes. While you'll get used to it, it's sort of like being drunk on a cruise ship, only the cruise ship hates you and is trying to kill you. The light as a weapon mechanic isn't really that new, though Alan is at least better at it than ObsCure ever managed to be. Combat in general has an appealingly frantic feel to it, but what it lacks is a fluid feel. Okay, granted, Alan is a random schlub and not Leon Scott Kennedy, but come on... who plays video games to be reminded of their own inept fumbling? The shoulder-mounted camera works fine for exploration, but in combat situations with multiple foes where you're trying to stay light on your feet, it just feels dizzy and disorienting, especially combined with that drunken dodging.

Alan Wake isn't exactly a perfect game, but it's still a very good one. Despite a strictly linear progression and action sequences that occasionally drag on for too long, it still manages to keep the story roaring along thanks to a likable cast and plot twists aplenty. It has an extremely cinematic style, and it definitely has potential for a lot more beyond even the upcoming PC port of the standalone title Alan Wake's American Nightmare. If you're big on thrillers with supernatural twists, Alan Wake's story will likely keep you glued to your chair 'til the end. If you want to visit Bright Falls again, you can check out the short, six-episode live action web series that acts as a prequel. It's also a great way to find out if you're interested in the tale the game has to tell. If you've ever tried to write anything yourself, you'll probably sympathise with Alan's own creative frustrations. But even if you haven't, Alan Wake is a solid and exciting horror thriller that's well worth checking out.

Windows:
Get the full version

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

Peppy, cheerful Miley Verisse wants nothing more than to start up her very own club in her school, but her former friend and now student council member Octavia Richmond is carrying a grudge a mile long and has no intention of making it easy. Miley just wants to follow in the footsteps of her idols and become one half of a new comedy duo, but the rules state that new clubs require a minimum of five members to start. With a deadline for the end of April just a month away, are Miley's dreams of comedic greatness over before they even begin? Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is a unique, light-hearted game from 773, Nyu Media, and Capcom that delivers a blast of ultra-high energy sweetness to your day. Part adventure, part visual novel, part simulation, and all beautiful, light-hearted fun.

Miley needs three (or more!) new recruits by April 31st, so it's time to hit the pavement and track down likely candidates. Gameplay is split into three time periods, and during each one you'll be able to decide where to go and what to do. Potential members are all over town, but a winning smile will only get you so far. You'll need to buddy up to them and increase their Friendship Level to 5 to win them over to your cause, so make sure you spend time with them. Miley has the gift of gab, so you can participate in activities to boost her chat capabilities and charm people faster. Of course, different people are different things, so it's important to make sure our heroine is well versed on a variety of topics, from video games, to history, to travel, and much more. You can check out how suave Miley is by viewing her Repertoire in the menu when you hit [esc]. Additionally, you can perform a variety of part-time jobs to earn cash to spend on items to increase Miley's knowledge, or even just to pass the time. Just remember, you can only discuss each topic with a character once, so it might be a better idea to wait until Miley is stronger at a particular subject to get the most out of it.

During regular gameplay, use the [arrow] keys to move Miley (hold down [spacebar] to run) and press the [up] arrow in front of buildings to enter and [spacebar] to talk to people you're standing in front of. From the town map, you'll be able to travel to different locations where you can encounter different characters and story events. At Miley's dormitory, you'll be able to chat with her friend Harriet to save the game, but also work on... ugh... homework. The pencils represent the number of assignments she has left to complete. In addition to keeping her grades up, you'll also want to keep an eye on Miley's fatigue at the bottom of the screen and make sure she isn't running herself ragged. Just don't forget to keep an eye on the date; as new potential recruits become available, you'll want to prioritize winning them over. But don't give up! If Miley can't achieve her dreams, who knows what horrors the comedic world will have to make do with instead?

Analysis: If you're trying to find a game more aggressively energetic and cute than Cherry Tree High Comedy Club, well... good luck. From the vibrant presentation to the cheerful, wonderfully light-hearted story and concept, it's just the sort of game that makes you feel happy. It looks absolutely beautiful. Each of the potential recruits Miley can interact with have their own stories and personalities, and Miley herself makes for a particularly... dynamic lead, but it's nice to see how unexpectedly perceptive and caring she can be around her friends. The goofy jokes and overall tone of exuberant silliness won't be for everyone, but sometimes all you really want is to play a game that's trying its hardest to make you smile. It's chock full of anime and pop culture references, jokes, likable characters, and a whole lot of colour. If I could give some sort of award to this game for being like a shot of rainbow sprinkles in the eye, I would. It's very refreshing compared to some of the heavier titles around.

In a way, Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is structurally (and even rather stylistically) similar to Atlus's Persona series, specifically the two most recent titles. Only, uh. Without the deep soul searching, demons, and murder. If you've played Persona, then the relationship building mechanics will feel very familiar to you, and What this means is that Cherry Tree is at once both simple and yet surprisingly engrossing; the time can fly by before you realise it. In a way, this is also a bit of a curse. While the short game time demands you spend all your time interacting with people in a way that staves off repetition, it also makes the skill and homework mechanics feel a lot shallower and more like busywork. Especially since only being able to talk about something with any given person a single time is silly, even if the skills only serve as a boost to the standard chat option. The game's simple mechanics aren't necessarily a bad thing since it makes it a lot more approachable, but on the other hand players who crave deeper experiences will feel like there's some missed opportunity going on for it to be even bigger.

Light on drama but heavy on style and charm, Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is a gorgeous, peppy gem for people who are looking for something different and friendly. While it definitely feels like some aspects of its mechanics are underdeveloped, it's still a perfect casual introduction to the genre and excellent relaxing gaming. At around three hours or so, it's a bit on the short side, although if you want to get all of the potential club recruits you'll probably want to play again. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, of sorts, or at least a strong implication that there's another installment coming somewhere down the road. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is a lot of fun while it lasts... a light, occasionally unexpectedly touching treat that's perfect to brighten your day.

Windows:
Get the full version

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

If your typical garden-variety bullet-hell shooter just isn't magical enough for you, then Giest118's free indie download My Little Pegasus - Kizua DoPonyPachi might be just what the doctor ordered. Provided, that is, your doctor is in the habit of prescribing you with aggressively colourful, completely nonsensical games with pony motifs.

Choose from Fluttershy (yay) or Rainbow Dash in your mission to... uh... it's not really made clear, but presumably the angry flowers and eels and such spitting lasers and bullets are a danger to Equestria, so you can probably surmise it's a good idea to put them down. Fluttershy is slower, but has a wider shot range, while Dash is quicker and has a narrower, but more powerful, range of attack. Use the [arrow] keys to steer, and [Z] or [X] to fire. Both pegasi have a special attack you can activate with [C], but be careful; you only have a limited number of these "bombs", and if you don't use them, they can absorb a single hit per bomb for you.

Inspired by Cave's classic arcade shooters and a love of all things pony because why not, My Little Pegasus doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's a surprising amount of fun. The lack of upgrades or power-ups makes this a fairly simple example of the genre, but even if you haven't picked up on the pony phenomenon, it makes a great, exhilarating blast of shooter action for your day. Although... if you don't know ponies, you probably won't get as big a laugh out of stage three's mini-boss. With a snappy soundtrack and bullets galore, this is one fast, fun little trigger-finger exercise. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it. After all... you rock. Woo-hoo!

Windows:
Download the free full version

We love you! And not just in a platonic, help-you-move-your-furniture type way, but in a have-some-free-stuff way! That's right, because you're so awesome we're now going to be doing weekly giveaways here at Casual Gameplay with copies of some of our favourite old and new indie digital games! Check back each week for a new chance to win a piece of gaming greatness, and check below for this week's contest. Additionally, ponies are finally playable on your computer, London is creepier and more fascinating than ever, you can't keep adventurers off your lawn (or out of your volcano) and more!

My Little Demo The game is afoot! Or, uh... ahoof, I guess, which just sounds weird. Regardless, the Case 1 demo for the adventure game My Little Investigations has been released! It's on the short side, which is why it isn't getting its own article just yet, but it is free and available for all platforms. In it, Twilight Sparkle, fed up with the incompetence and slowness of the only investigative team Ponyville can call on, decides to go looking for Rarity's stolen gem and cat herself. The gameplay is very similar to the Phoenix Wright titles, and you'll need to talk to everypony you can to get to the bottom of things, as well as track down evidence. Fully voiced and with beautiful graphics, it's a stunning example of fan dedication and the perfect itty-bit of gaming to help tide you over until Season 3.

Giveaway Quest There's a lot to love about Level Up Labs' addicting, funny, and engrossing tower defense RPG Defender's Quest. Trust me, I know; I can't shut up about it, I can't put it down, and I'm very excited for the upcoming GOLD edition. And to help you get excited, we're giving away five free copies of the full game! To enter, just play the free flash demo and leave a comment using your Casual Gameplay account with valid e-mail address about it on the original review. We'll select five winners at random to journey with Slak and Wrenna, and a bunch of other heroes who aren't Slak and Wrenna and thus not as important.
Contest rules: Entries must be submitted by May 17th, 11:59 p.m. EST (GMT-5). Winners will be announced shortly thereafter. One entry per person only. You must be at least 13 years of age or older to enter. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Cursed Productivity You might remember a little game from 2010 called Cursed Treasure. If not, let me tell you about it briefly. It was a tower defense game, and it was stupidly addictive. Well, prepare to have your work load suffer once more, and get your excuses ready for your boss because Cursed Treasure 2 is on the way! At the moment, the only thing we've got is a brief teaser trailer, but if the original devoured your time like it did ours, it's enough to start getting excited. For more news, you should keep an eye on developer IriySoft's Facebook page. You kids these days and your Facebooks.

Get Your HD On Hey there good lookin'. Whatcha got cookin'? Well, in this case it's the stunning HD release of SkyGoblin's luscious and intriguing point-and-click adventure The Journey Down, which focuses on Bwana and Kito as their ordinary life is disrupted by an unexpected adventure that might lead them to the truth about their father. We rather loved the game in our 2010 review, but on May 18th Chapter One will be re-released for PC and Mac (iOS and Android to follow) with more than just a shiny new style. In addition to full voice acting, you can expect a lot more content in the form of more story, characters, locations, and even puzzles. If you're interested, you really should think about pre-ordering to support a talented indie developer. Of course, the original version is still free to download and play!

Fallen Echo London Bazaar If you haven't made the trip to Echo Bazaar in a while, you might want to do so, but don't be too surprised if it looks a little different these days. Rechristened as Fallen London a while back, the multiplayer RPG with the air of sinister yet bizarre gentility is just as richly engaging as ever before, though tweaked to feel more streamlined and packed with more stories to engage. If you've never played it before, there's no time like the present to sign up for a free account (old members will, of course, recall that making a stock Facebook or Twitter account solely for gaming like this is a great way to keep your privacy if you're concerned about that). Get back on the streets and see what Fallen London has for you to experience. Which is to say, quite a bit, and if you're Persuasive, Watchful, and even a little Dangerous, you might just survive it all.

Do you know an upcoming indie project or some community gaming related news you think deserves some attention? Send me an e-mail with LINK DUMP FRIDAY in the subject line at dora AT casualgameplay DOT com with the info, and we'll judge it with the all-seeing glare of our own self-importance for inclusion in a future Link Dump Friday article!