Think you can handle a roguelike easy? You haven't tried this challenging, funny, strategic indie gem. You'll need more than brawn to conquer the quests thrown at you as you struggle to build your kingdom in this turn-based strategy game. Unlock powerful new classes and races, make deals with demons, discover new equipment, and much more with almost endless replayability. Highly recommended.

Blink and you'll miss it, but this painfully short action adventure game by a talented indie studio is still worth checking out. Play as a young girl who wakes up in a surreal nightmare realm and must rely only on a strange voice, and a magical camera that can manipulate reality, to see her through to the end.

When college student Miranda stumbles across a castle in Belgium after getting lost late one night, the last thing she expected was to find out vampires are real. Now, she's being held prisoner by two of them while they wait for the rest of the family to return in two weeks... but is there more to Adrian and Luca than meets the eye? A short but gorgeous pay-what-you-want visual novel with six endings and a dark side.

Set aside some time this weekend for a few games that might make you think! No promises, though...

When Lilly finds an unusual pair of goggles, they open her eyes to a surreal world of mysterious magic and propels her on a journey that will change everything. In this animated point-and-click adventure from Geeta Games, you get to share in Lilly's fascination and curiosity, and innocently earnest explorations, solving playful puzzles in order to carry on this expedition into the fantastical.

An ordinary day at school turns terrifying after the lights go out in the short but marvelously creepy little horror adventure. With four different endings and some brilliant atmosphere, it makes up for its shortcomings by providing a great creepy break.

Nicole's just started college, but the recent kidnappings of young women mean she has more to worry about than her grades. The school seems to present opportunities to make a lot of friends (and maybe more!) but who can she trust, and is anyone really what they seem in this engaging visual novel?

Though still in early development, the announcement for the sequel to one of the best tower defense games ever should be cause for excitement! Blending RPG with strategic defense battles and great writing, Defender's Quest II promises a wealth of player-requested improvement on top of everything you loved before.

So you've become a fish. You have no idea how it happened, but you've found yourself under the sea with a few extra fins and scales than usually. You are now known as Dudefish, and you have to find out who did this to you and how you can get your legs back in a silly and lovable maritime point-and-click adventure.

Wonderland Adventures: Planet of the Z-Bots marks the third in the main series of puzzle adventure games from developer Midnight Synergy. It arrives several years after the previous installment, Mysteries of Fire Island, but because it's such a large and well-built game, it's an easy delay to forgive. Planet of the Z-Bots captures every bit of magic and charm from the other releases, only now there's a lot more of it!

When robots need psychiatrists, you know we've got a robot apocalypse looming in the near future. Fortunately we have games that help us practice both our conversational skills as well as shooting abilities, so we should be fine. Mostly fine, anyway.

You play a young adventurer who may have wandered farther than considered reasonable, in Vagabond. In this classic style RPG, you'll enjoy exploring seven distinct areas with different monsters and music. As you venture in to every nook and cranny, you'll discover the secrets that will strengthen you enough to defeat the evil so you can head back home.

We're really arting up the place this weekend. Three games, three themes, and countless ways to interpret each of them (well, except maybe our stoat friend). Not for the faint at heart or the lazy of mind, unless you just want to wander around surreal worlds with no idea what's going on.

You'll either love it or hate it, but Ice-Pick Lodge's unique indie horror game is one of the most surreal and striking games the genre has seen in a long time. As a mysterious Lodger who's been having trouble sleeping, dawn seems to be taking forever... and it might never come if you can't figure out the rules to the chilling game of hide and seek you're playing with some uninvited guests, and unravel the mystery of your own past.

Based on the iconic horror movie of the same name, a routine baby sitting job turns terrifying late one night following some prank calls. Run, hide, and try to find a weapon in this incredibly tense freeware survival horror adventure... but there's nowhere to hide from the controls!

The weekends are for escaping reality. Why worry about taxes or homework or that leaky pipe in the kitchen that's causing mold to grow across the floor when you can run away to be a postal delivery person, Indiana Jones, or a bumbling kid in a crazy person's basement?

Craving your long forgotten days with your nose in your arithmetic book? Well, crave no further as Harrison Mansolf has created a delightfully weird action adventure game to take you back. Play as a lonely janitor who uses his quick-slinging math skills to get to the bottom of the disastrous happenings of his workplace building. It'll help you love math all over again!

It's not a remake, but this fangame homage to cult indie hit Yume Nikki features all new worlds, effects, and content in a 3D perspective. Madotsuki won't, or can't, leave her tiny apartment, but by dreaming she can explore the recesses of her mind through surreal imagery and symbolism. What she finds there is up for interpretation.

Inspired by cult hit exploratory horror adventure Yume Nikki, this game uses minimal dialogue and no direction to force you to piece together the story and interpret the imagery yourself. Sabitsuki never leaves her room, but through her computer, she can explore her mind... but is she ready for what she finds?

A remade version of the classic Sierra adventure game, Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded has Replay Games teaming up with original creator Al Lowe to bring Larry Laffer swinging into the 21st century. A bit dated (though that's kind of the point), but a hilariously immature experience.

Full Bore is a puzzle platform adventure from Whole Hog Games that turns you loose in a world of corrupt boar bosses and a mysterious conspiracy brewing beneath the surface. After a successful crowd funding campaign in late 2012, Full Bore has emerged as a gorgeous metroidvania-style game that's heavy on puzzle solving with just a touch of boar-flavored humor.

The Inner World is the sort of game you have to tackle with a relaxed disposition. Take your time and soak in the atmosphere. It's worth it. Studio Fizbin has assembled a fantastic adventure game, one worthy of a coveted position as a quick-click icon your computer's desktop. It's the perfect blend of humor and storytelling, puzzle solving and exploration.

Indie game creators are apparently trying to make us go mad. Evidence pointing to this can be found in a number of horror/surreal games rolling onto the internet on a weekly basis, twisting our reality so we're never really sure what we're playing. Was this thing fun, or did I just dream it?

Your choices determine the outcome of this choose your own adventure style interactive comic book. Explosions and red clouds are on the horizon. Your cell phone loses reception. Something bad is going on...will you survive? Whether you help others along the way or decide it's every man or woman for themselves, This is Not a Test offers up a great story.

Coming next year, this classic-styled turn-based sci-fi RPG from talented team Zeboyd Games knows you need more than nostalgia to make a great game. Alyssa is a galactic super-spy, but when she stumbles on a conspiracy that makes her name and face known to the universe, suddenly everyone is gunning for her!

Coming next year, the first paid download installment of Sarah Northway's deep and addictive zombie survival simulation is going to be even bigger and badder than before. With all new stories, endings, events, factions, skills, visuals, and much, much more, Gangs of Deadsville promises to devour your free time in a big, big way.

We've really flipped our lids this week. One game to make you go insane, one to make you do math, and one you might have played instead of doing math. If you play them in the right order, maybe you'll go Super Saiyan?

The XBLA indie zombie survival simulation comes to PC. Blending action and adventure with RPG elements, surviving after the end of the world strands you in a remote mountain town with limited resources is harder than you'd think. Gather unique survivors with distinct personalities and build and upgrade your facilities, trading with nearby stragglers and surviving day to night against an increasing variety of the undead.

Coming in February of next year, Nick Yonge's Emerald promises to be an atmospheric and engrossing action adventure with an emphasis on exploration. Trapped on board a derelict spaceship with no crew, it's up to you to figure out how and what systems to repair... as well as what you'll do with the information you'll uncover through secrets and flashbacks in your search.

You've toiled like every other automaton in your factory, but your numbers have been slipping. Sentenced first to confinement and then to the lash, escape presents itself from an unlikely opportunity... but the world is a lot bigger (and weirder) than you may be prepared for, and you're not going to be let go without a fight. A startlingly surreal free indie RPG adventure worth checking out.

Coming next year, everyone's favourite fantasy exterminator embarks on a retooled version of his free adventures with this premium release featuring new puzzles, visuals, and more. When Reemus and his sidekick Liam fear a competitor is about to put them out of business, the chance to save the kingdom from a Death Slug invasion might make them the heroes they've always dreamed of being... if they can survive it!

Isn't it about time you had a good old fashioned quest? Spud's Quest by Chris Davis is a retro-styled platform adventure that draws inspiration from classic games such as The Legend of Zelda and the Dizzy series. It takes place in a fantasy world complete with items to find that unlock new areas, a sprawling map with non-linear pathways, and plenty of characters to interact with. A metroidvania, if you will, and a frightfully good one at that!

Nothing like a little nostalgia to start the weekend! Be warned, though. This nostalgia comes with a price. That price is your sanity. Because the games are difficult. But that's good. Go play.

Ironclad Tactics is a turn-based strategy game created by Zachtronics, the studio behind The Codex of Alchemical Engineering and SpaceChem. Set in an alternate-history post-U.S. Civil War era, the game pits you against the Confederates as you march your way across the country, one town and one battle at a time. There's a twist, however: steampunk technology is a thing, meaning your infantry units will have to take on ironclad contraptions and well-equipped automatons in addition to gunslingers and musket wielders. It makes for a really entertaining setting, but you'll feel bad for those squishy human soldiers.

I think we should have some bonding time. Chemical bonding, that is. In the clever chemical puzzler Sokobond, you're given a handful of atoms and the task of them joining them all by pushing and chaining them together. Like Sokoban puzzles you might be familiar with, you don't have much space to do it all in, so you've got to use the splitters, bonders, and rotators provided. Even if you don't give a hoot for chemistry, Sokobond is still a very accessible puzzle with easy-to-learn rules and an enjoyably element-ary design.

Zombies and Cheepies and Succubbi, oh my! It's so tough being a landlord in the mythical 21st century. You have to contend with groups of creatures who can't stand each other, and everyone has constant demands. On top of that you have groups of adventurers who want only to steal your hard-earned money. This storyline is the genius behind Petit Depotto's simulation/defense hybrid, Unholy Heights. Be you a hard-nosed landlord or a more gentle, giving one doesn't matter as long as they fight your enemies at your every beck and call.

Everyone can relax, Friday the 13th has ended. But then again, you probably weren't worried about it, were you? Didn't think so. Either way, here's a reward for surviving the allegedly unlucky day: three awesome freeware games!

OrangePixel has done it again! The studio known for its nigh-on perfect retro recreations has crafted a top-down arcade RPG similar to the old Gauntlet series. Heroes of Loot puts you in the shoes of an adventurer fighting his way through dungeon floor after dungeon floor, dispatching enemies and grabbing loot left and right. It's just the sort of pick up and play experience that works well on mobile devices, and you'll find yourself quickly hooked by its creative blend of action and RPG elements.

Coming next year to PC and consoles if this Kickstarter has anything to say about it, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero stars Shantae, who, after having a nightmarish vision of an ancient evil about to rise, embarks on a platforming action adventure to stop it using her unique abilities. With over 23 years of experience and 200 titles under their belt, can WayForward bring the star of the hit iOS adventure to a new generation?

In this chilling indie horror game, our protagonist awakes, dizzy and disoriented, in a dark and silent house, in a bed surrounded by a cage whose door has just been opened. Hearing the phantom laughter and pleas of children, he has no choice but to stumble forth in search of them. But what are all these locks and bars on the doors, dressers, beds and windows? What are the ornate sculpted pig masks that silently watch you from every room? Why do you suffer from disturbing, disjointed memories? Why are there so many hidden passages in this place... and why does it shake and groan around you? There are a lot of questions, but the answers might not be the ones our hero was hoping to find.

The wind at your hair. The trees by your sides. The grass at your heels. And the pitter patter of little badger cub feet as they struggle to keep pace. Shelter from pid developer Might and Delight puts you in the fur of a mother badger as she protects and feeds her young. It's a subtle and quiet game that relies on atmosphere and emotion rather than puzzles or action. It's soothing nature setting will encourage you to sit back and enjoy the ride. Just don't relax too much, as there are dangers in the forest you and your cubs must guard against.

We've all dashed into a store at the last minute to grab a forgotten item. Mr. Pink Rabbit has a whole list of items he's got to collect before the store closes--and it closes in ten seconds! Set waypoints to create a path for the rabbit to follow through the aisles and to the checkout before time runs out in this hilarious game made in three days for the Ludum Dare competition.

We've all dashed into a store at the last minute to grab a forgotten item. Mr. Pink Rabbit has a whole list of items he's got to collect before the store closes--and it closes in ten seconds! Set waypoints to create a path for the rabbit to follow through the aisles and to the checkout before time runs out in this hilarious game made in three days for the Ludum Dare competition.

Trolls and kittens and robots HOORAY! It's like an internet geek's paradise in this edition of Mobile Monday. If only we could have worked in some meme references, too. But, you know, ain't nobody got time for that.

A quiet train ride turns out to something else entirely in this short, bloodless and jumpless freeware horror adventure. Though potentially both too obvious in its twist and heavy in its symbolism, Sepulchre is a beautifully executed and eerie little tale that's worth checking out.

Up for funding on IndieGoGo, Luc Bernard's action adventure game about a young boy named Samuel and a talking fox plans to take players on a journey few games ever dare to... to explore the human stories of the atrocity that is the Holocaust. Daring? Educational? Or misguided? Opinions are bound to be mixed.

1897. The country of Galicia has been wracked by conflict between opposing economic and ideological factions. They meet under one roof during an uneasy time of peace. As an avatar of death, you must take the life of one, and live with the consequences in Postmortem, an adventure game by Jakub Kasztalski. A serious text-heavy work, but those intruigued by intrigue should find it quite intriguing indeed.

1897. The country of Galicia has been wracked by conflict between opposing economic and ideological factions. They meet under one roof during an uneasy time of peace. As an avatar of death, you must take the life of one, and live with the consequences in Postmortem, an adventure game by Jakub Kasztalski. A serious text-heavy work, but those intruigued by intrigue should find it quite intriguing indeed.

As a reporter determined to uncover the truth behind years of lies and governmental cover-ups, you venture alone into Mount Massive Asylum. But you won't be prepared for the horrifying truth and the effects the mountain has had on its inmates. Run, hide, and try to find a way out while searching for evidence in this harrowing action adventure that might be one of the most gory and disturbing games to ever come along.

Planned for PC and Mac in 2014, if you're a fan of FTL: Faster Than Light, Don't Starve, and most importantly, Fallen London, this Kickstarter should get you excited! Failbetter Games wants to deliver a darkly humourous roguelike RPG adventure as you staff and captain a steamship to set sail for a legacy on a massive underground ocean filled with madness, adventure, terror, and more!

This week, we wanted to have a theme where every game had a number in its title. One game fits that rule, another one can be sorta stretched to fit it, and the third, well, that's when we decided rules are dumb and ate some nutella instead.

If two apples and five pears cost 37 cents and five apples and three pears cost 45 cents, how come math problems are so boring? A Game of Numbers is a puzzle game that challenges the stereotype of boring math problems, by giving you a maze of numbers and operations to solve. Even if you're not a numbers buff, there's still a lot of fun to be had finding the right path to the exit, while keeping your numbers in check.

Got your ears turned on? Sound Blaster plugged in? Hearing aid charged and ready to go? This edition of Weekend Download is mostly about sound. Songs and music, perhaps, or a machine voice that spits back insults as you type at it. Either way, crank up the volume and get ready to go!

Visually stunning and packed with creative characters that are as cute as they can be freaky and grotesque, Skullgirls is one of the most addictive fighting games around. The Skull Heart can grant the wish of any woman, but if she isn't pure of heart she'll find her wish and herself warped by its power into the terrifying Skull Girl. Now that a new Skull Girl has risen, a whole new cast of characters take up arms to take her down... and get the power for themselves!

Currently playable in Alpha, this indie stealth game has you searching for fragments needed to rebuild your portal back home after you accidentally end up in another world. Sound simple? Not quite. With dapper armed robots hunting you across the countryside and surrounding islands for sport, you're outgunned and outnumbered, and all you have is what you can scavenge. It's not looking good for you...

It's easy to tell what's on our mind this weekend: sleep, abstract experiences, and butler. The former because sleep is good. The middle one because rhubarb pie. The latter because Mr. Belvedere was a fantastic television show.

Pom is a self-absorbed, foul-mouthed, pop-culture obsessed Pomeranian pup who wants nothing more than to spend all day (every day) on the internet, which might hit a bit too close to home for some of us. Things get, uh, complicated, however, and suddenly she finds herself stuck somewhere with no internet connection, and thus begins a quest to get hooked back up online.

Gone Home is an unconventional story exploration adventure game created by The Fullbright Company. It's a game that's void of traditional puzzles, flashy cutscenes, and hidden rooms filled with guns and ammo. Somehow, though, it manages to capture your curiosity from the beginning and never, ever let go. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery or the feeling of uncovering a story piece by piece should check out Gone Home right away. Everyone else should read the rest of this article, then go play the game!

Lucas Pope delivers a bleak dystopian thriller in the form of a simulation in this game where you play a newly assigned border agent to the first immigration checkpoint opened in your rigidly controlled country in years. As restrictions rise and tensions mount, checking documents for accuracy and forgery becomes harder... especially when you find yourself forced to juggle the health and well being of your family against your own humanity.

Crack open your weekend with three games that should give everyone something to "weekend" about. If that doesn't work, you can stay up all night trying to figure out why we used weekend as a verb. Or writing us angry letters!

The mad-cap death-defying platforming roguelike action returns to PC in this HD remake of the cult classic by Derek Yu! Descend into an ever-changing labyrinth of tunnels in your search for treasure, with innumerable deadly traps and enemies standing in your way. Featuring new levels, items, and monsters in addition to cosmetic changes like different playable characters, various Damsels, and a whole new look and sound, Spelunky HD is just as addictively fun/frustrating as it was before.

When we say 'Love Hotel', we don't mean some tawdry motel off the highway. We mean luxurious themed suites, haute cuisine and state of the art hot tubs. Well, eventually, anyway. Love Hotel is a mischievous, fun-loving management simulation in which you strive to get the coveted six stars by constantly improving your services and catering to your passionate customers' needs.

Here is everything you'd expect from a Tesshi-e escape-the-room game although it departs from the usual in two ways: the puzzles are more challenging and it's available only as a paid download. High quality graphics lend depth and detail to Mr. M's beautifully decorated high rise flat, where you must solve a numerous cleverly abstruse puzzles to earn the key—and bonus happy coin—all for your love of escaping.

It's the first weekend of August! That should be something special, but it probably isn't. One thing can help make it interesting, though: a game designed by Knytt creator Nifflas! And a fan-made Mario game! And a real-life postal service delivery simulator!!!

Cast out of his tower by a magical reaction, a wizard must battle his way back to the top and collect funky beats along the way to unlock new abilities. Simple and challenging, yet oh so addictive, Savant: Ascent is what more arcade games should be, with a stunning design and soundtrack alike.

You Still Won't Make It is a high difficulty action game from Vetra Games. It's name and form with this platformer, as each time you start a stage you know you probably won't make it to the exit. Even if you do, it won't be without splattering your insides over a precisely-placed spike trap. With level design by Karoshi veteran Jesse Venbrux, You Still Won't Make It is the kind of indie game you're going to hate while you fall in love with it.

Bizarre, unnerving, and always more than a little confusing, this indie adventure sends you on a quest to retrieve artifacts for a goddess to save the world... peeing on everything along the way. Though decidedly low-res and over-the-top surreal in its dedication to parodying almost everything about gaming, it's also surprising, funny, and even... fun?

Though still in beta, this zombie-filled first-person action adventure's first installment has atmosphere and action in spades. A routine run for supplies into an abandoned warehouse leads you on a chase to an old hospital with a secret when you discover the clues to a conspiracy.

In the world of Shadowrun, magic and the digital age collide in a dangerous age where dealing with backstabbing dragons running drug cartels is every bit as likely as corporate espionage carried out by cybernetically enhanced trolls. Harebrained Schemes puts a fresh spin on the cult classic tabletop game and brings it into the digital era with this engrossing turn-based strategy RPG, including the tools to make and share your own campaigns for free.

What do you get when you mix Hieronymus Bosch, a minimalistic setting and a curious teenager? Madness, that's what! CAVE! CAVE! DEUS VIDET. is a bizarre trip down the rabbit hole, during which you can expect everything from the seven deadly sins to learning about medieval history to slowly losing your mind. And it's all weirdly awesome.

Wanna see a crazy experiment in game design? Experiment 12 is a collaborative game created by twelve developers, with each level building on the story set by the previous ones. You wake up in a testing chamber, but it's hard to tell where you'll be headed from there, as each level chapter introduces a new puzzle or platform element for you to tackle.

InFlux from Impromptu Games is a puzzle adventure game starring a shiny little orb-like protagonist. This orb has but a few basic powers at its disposal, but somehow it manages to solve all sorts of puzzles as it makes its way across forest and through puzzle rooms. InFlux is a straightforward third person puzzle game. No strange pretenses, no strange gimmicks, just some genuinely challenging puzzles that will get your head churning.

Since it's the weekend, why not download some stuff? Come on, it's not like you were actually going to clean the kitchen or cut the lawn or finish that book on quantum physics you've been leafing through in the bathroom.

The days drag by, each one the same as the one before, but in this chilling horror game by Ryuuchi Tachibana, translated by Vgperson, not everything is as it seems. Stuck in a rut in your dreary apartment, you barely notice the changes at first, but soon they'll be impossible to ignore. With almost 40 different endings and a unique approach to gameplay and storytelling, it may require some trial-and-error, but it's definitely worth a look.

Weekend Download is back! Because there's always one more game we'd like to share, our weekly indie freeware round-up (well, mostly freeware) has returned, supplying you with more options than the usual "cut the lawn" or "spend time with your family"!

It's hard being an android. Especially after crash-landing on an unknown planet with a directive that you and your AI friend conveniently forgot. Fortunately for the android in PlanetScape, a procedurally-generated resource-management game, the necessary materials to reconstruct your pod are below the surface of the hostile planet.

New York can be a tough city, especially during the great depression. You play Jack del Nero, P.I. in this wonderfully atmospheric adventure game. You're mixed up in something bad. So bad that you are accused of murder, and the police chief seems to think you are guilty until proven innocent. Can you clear your name while unraveling the mysterious circumstances that got you here?

Dusty is out for revenge. You can tell because it says so right in the title! Dusty Revenge is a wild west-themed action game from PD Design Studio that effortlessly blends a sidescrolling brawler (think Castle Crashers) with a simple platform game, turning the whole genre mix on its head by dumping in a lot of guns and artwork that would make even Shank blush. It can be a bit over the top on occasion with its cheesy story and quick combat tactics, but the overall tone keeps you interested in beating up enemies until your lengthy bunny ears are soaked in blood.

Brash, sassy, and punchy, Ittle Dew and her friend Tippsie want just one thing... adventure, and lots of it! Fortunately the island she's stranded on has that in spades, along with challenging puzzles, humour, and weight-lifting cacti. Ludosity serves up a knee-weakeningly adorable and funny indie action adventure that calls upon classic inspirations like Zelda and The Secret of Mana without ever losing its own style and creativity.

Huenison has arrived, and Huenison wants to remind you how amazing retro-styled games can be. Developed by Simone Bevilacqua of Retream and published by the retro gaming experts at RGCD, Huenison was inspired by a mish-mash of several classic arcade games, including Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Dyna Blaster, and Tetris. It's an abstract turbo puzzle shmup, a mixture of genres that guarantees you're in for an extreme challenge.

Ever since the Behavioral Act of 1923, the government's had a little more freedom to enforce... certain things. Have you done well in school? Have you behaved? If so, you've got nothing to worry about. If not, you may end up in a house stuffed to the gills with surveillance equipment, forced to play 3 Blind Mice: A Remediation Game for Improper Children. Made by Seemingly Pointless, it's more an experience than a game... but if you like creepy situations or dystopian settings, it delivers both very well.

Gorgeous, funny, and packed with wickedly devious levels, this is one iOS/Android game you won't want to put down. Play as an itty-bitty thief and his ferret companion as you point-and-click your way through beautifully designed stages and chapters, each with their own unique story and setup, to rob from the buttheads and give to yourself... or those who need it more.

And now we've reached the portion of the program where we delight you with things perfect and beautiful! Toki Tori 2 is a new metroidvania-style puzzle platform game from Two Tribes. It's a long-awaited follow up to the original Toki Tori released on Game Boy Color back in 2001. Featuring improved puzzles, longer levels, more varied gameplay, much better graphics and many, many other additions, the minute you fire up this game you'll realize it was worth the wait!

Oknytt from Nemoria Entertainment is a old school-styled adventure game steeped in Swedish folklore. You play as a small unnamed creature who wakes to find itself inhabiting an unfamiliar world. By helping it solve a few puzzles and explore its surroundings, you and the small creature will slowly gain an understanding of its place in life. It's a beautiful, touching tale that's told at a gentle pace by a narrator who will make you feel like you're listening to a story sitting around the campfire with nowhere to go and nothing to do but become entranced.

A simple road trip becomes a nightmare when four friends are stranded in a strange mansion by a swamp, and things start going... wrong. Could it be the mermaid's curse? Mermaid Swamp, a free horror adventure by Uri, is disturbing in ways that many other games aren't, but handles the subject matter well and, in the end, provides a chilling and memorable horror experience.

In the middle of the US Civil War, a soldier has been captured and is about to be executed by hanging. If only the rope would break, perhaps he could make his way home... An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge, made by Seemingly Pointless, is an artsy adaptation of a story that many of you may already know. Does it hold up? That's for you to decide.

From Size Five Games, the team behind Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please!, comes a game that's pretty much nothing like those games. Gun Monkeys is a multiplayer arcade arena shooter that pits monkeys against each other as they fight over energy cubes. It's about as ridiculous as a premise as you can have for a video game, but it's also very well-balanced and easy to get into, especially if you start up a "friendly" competition with a couple of friends.

Though still in its Alpha stage, this indie exploration-based action RPG is coming for your free time in a big way. Create a character and journey through endless randomly generated worlds filled with monsters, crafting, pets, and much more. A steep system requirement yields beautiful visuals, and the casual controls mean this is that much more fun with a group of your best friends along for the ride. You'll need them when the alpacas attack.

Casper is a boy living in a black and white world with a gambling drunkard for a father. When he finds out his dad has gambled their ranch away, he must find a way to save his home. Cross Stitch Casper is a bleak story of a broken family and an unusual point-and-click experience, made even more poignant by the unique embroidered graphics.

Cellar Door Games delivers a challenging roguelike mixed with brutal platforming action in this indie game. Take on an ever-changing castle filled with peril and challenges, and when you're inevitably struck down, your children will take up the cause... and your children might be more than a little unique. Featuring upgradeable classes and powers, equipment, runes, and even traits ranging from simple color-blindness to dwarfism, this is one game that offers both a challenge and a unique look at the ideas of heroism and "disability".

Sick of doing well in the games you play? Tired of not cursing in anger every 5.08 seconds? Rotational is here to help. The quick-fire arcade game from Kevin Messman is a sort of 3D homage to Terry Cavanagh's Super Hexagon. Instead of a nice and "easy" flat surface to slide around, Rotational sticks you in a series of shrinking colored boxes with only one way to escape. Rotate the screen so you pop through the open end, then immediately rotate everything again so you'll survive the next layer of box shrinkage. Oh, and, try not to breathe or blink or anything.

The latest DLC chapter for TellTale's stellar adventure series has arrived to tide us over until Season Two arrives. Featuring five engrossing short stories with five drastically different protagonists, the game delivers powerful, sometimes horrifying punches and consequences from the decisions you make... even if it's over far too soon.

Outer Wilds is a space exploration game currently under development by Alex Beachum. It's a wide-eyed stroll through your own sense of curiosity, handing you a ship and a solar system to explore led only by your inquiring mind. Maybe you'll mount an expedition to that strange looking watery planet you just passed? Maybe you'll land on an uninhabited chunk of rock and discover ruins beneath the surface? Or what's inside that comet, you wonder? Whatever you do, there's plenty to capture your imagination in this game, and you'll play it for hours just to see what you can uncover next.

Outer Wilds is a space exploration game currently under development by Alex Beachum. It's a wide-eyed stroll through your own sense of curiosity, handing you a ship and a solar system to explore led only by your inquiring mind. Maybe you'll mount an expedition to that strange looking watery planet you just passed? Maybe you'll land on an uninhabited chunk of rock and discover ruins beneath the surface? Or what's inside that comet, you wonder? Whatever you do, there's plenty to capture your imagination in this game, and you'll play it for hours just to see what you can uncover next.

Show a video virus who's king of the button-mashers in Totally Tiny Arcade, by Joe Lesko's Flea Circus Games. A fun rapid-fire remix of retro gaming re-creations, parodies, facsimiles and new concepts, Totally Tiny Arcade may be too fast-paced for some, but it's a smart work that makes the most of its premise.

Created by four students over seven months, this action horror adventure game thrusts you into the shoes of a disgruntled academic hot on the heels of his competitor and determined to prove the legends are a lie. Despite winding up as more of an action/arcade horror experience as you flee while searching for treasure, Curse of the Aztecs randomises its scares and uses high production values for a fun and freaky expedition of your own.

Faraday Ram has lost her pet rabbit, and she's headed to the woods to go look for him. But nobody's allowed in without permission from the mayor, and to get permission from the mayor, she has to wake her up, and to wake her up, she has to... well, it's already easy to take a guess at what sort of day our heroine is going to have. Very Retrouvaille, a free adventure game made by PR1NCE, is a cute little journey through a cute little town full of cute little characters... but with some surprises up its sleeve.

Flowerville is a simple, charming sort of platform game where you play as Goffredo the famous gardener. He has the ability to make flowers come to life just by walking in front of them, which normally isn't that handy of a skill. When all of the flowers in Flowerville start dying, though, the queen summons Goffredo immediately. It's time to put on your gardening gloves and get to work.

In the recently-opened beta of Chris Hecker's SpyParty, one player takes on the role of an unassuming spy, tasked with completing several objectives in a soiree setting. The other player is the sniper, tasked with identifying the spy and taking them out. It's a simple premise, but the action is nail-bitingly tense as both players engage in a sort of inverted Turing test, trying to fool each other until the final pull of the trigger. If you're looking for a gripping but quick challenge, grab a cocktail glass and join the party.

It's tough to be a little element. You're at the mercy of every current of wind and lava flow on the block. Fortunately for the four elements in Element4l, they're bound together as a single entity and can switch as easily as you or I eat a whole bar of chocolate (i.e. instantly). This soothing but challenging arcade game from I-Illusions puts you in charge of those transformations, utilizing them as efficiently as you can in order to move through each stage safely.