A dashing spaceship captain bounds through his derelict vessel, retrieving the chromatic components needed to get all his systems back online in this free online platformer filled with special abilities to discover.

Celebrating a job well-done is usually a good thing to do. Drinking enough to keep you from hearing the company taking off and leaving you on a lone planet, not so good of a thing. Thankfully one of the partiers was able to write up plans for your own rocket and another one can build it, but they need the special ore you were there to mine in the first place. So back into the dark mines with you to collect enough to make it back home in this platformer made for Ludum Dare.

Made in just 72 hours, as this little Metroidvania style puzzle platformer opens, you're a newly formed mutant who can't do much more than roll around. Explore the facility, unlock new body parts, and experiment with your surroundings!

Down, down, down into the depths of the earth you have fallen. The landing was hard but your bones were able to withstand the impact and put themselves back together again. And seeing that is all you're made of, your only worry now is to find your way back up. You'll have to go deeper in this Metroidvania puzzle platform game to find the special powers that will help you flip, dive, and jump your way back to the top.

Dust awakens, completely amnesiac, only to find himself being hailed by a talking sword that claims to have been summoned by him. And the sword's diminutive, sassy guardian who is none too happy about being dragged into Dust's quest for identity. But in Humble Hearts' stunning indie action RPG adventure, Metroidvania gameplay combine with memorable characters and fast-paced combat to deliver a gripping story of love, hate, friendship, and forgiveness.

What do cats dream of when they sleep? According to this adorable game originally made in just five days for a competition, it's all about strange and unexpectedly challenging platforming through a surreal Metroidvania-style world.

Tiny vampire, meet tiny vampire hunter! In this creepy Metroidvania adventure, explore a dark and spooky castle for new skills, secret passages, and power-up hearts, in order to take down its dangerous overlord. The twist? Although it make be huge to our hero, this entire castle fits on a single screen! But just because you can see everywhere you need to go doesn't mean this adventure will be easy, and the local monsters would still love to make a meal out of you. Maybe size really DOESN'T matter...

In Elliot Quest, the retro adventure platform game by Ansimuz Games, you can't die. Well, you can, but you always wake up at the last glowing rock thing you passed. Which is kind of weird when you think about it, and you need some answers. It's an enjoyable 8-bit throwback that doesn't pause the action to engage in any handholding. Elliot Quest will probably make you feel lost, but offers enough cool things to find to make it all worth while.

Nitrome goes underwater in this exploration-based action game as you control an alien looking for parts to fix its satellite. The twist? You're piloting a submersible with a very unique control scheme, and with upgrades scattered about the ocean to discover, the end result is a fiddly but creative game that needs patient and a delicate touch to appreciate.

Hours of action RPG goodness can be found in this deceptively simple browser game that's bursting with gorgeous visuals and a soundtrack to match. Your village is abducted by a mysterious spaceship, leaving you to fight your way through dozens of fascinating locations across a deep and detailed world.

An ancient temple has been ransacked, and the relics within stolen! Luckily, you're on the task, and in this cute and engaging action platformer with a metroidvania flair for your iOS or Android, you'll have to deal with mummies, traps, pharaohs, and, yes, snakes across a massive map of rooms.

A licensed game that isn't terrible?! Way to go Powerpuff Girls: Defenders of Townsville! The free-flying platform exploration game from Radiangames brings Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup back to save the citizens of Townsville from the evil Mojo Jojo. There's just one tiny little hitch: they can't remember how to use their powers. It's so bad, they don't even know how to punch or fly! Crummy situation for them, but a perfect set-up for a power-up collecting ability-unlocking robot-smashing metroidvania game!

North Wind: Trill of Consciousness by Henry Gosuen is a creative take on the platform exploration genre. You control the tiny hero named Dir who moves through a blocky world of spikes and obstacles and maze-like puzzles. Instead of scrolling levels that keep pace with the protagonist, though, you do all the swiping yourself from a stationary point of view. It's a bit like Office Rush, Rooms or Continuity, only with a decidedly sweeter metroidvania feel.

A expansion of both the gameplay and quirky game-world of the Ludum Dare original, Leaf Me Alone (Expanded) by Mark Foster and David Fenn, has players explore all corners and all seasons of a pixelated forest. Though like most Metroidvanias, a little more direction would be helpful, all in all, this is the refined half-sequel, half-remake those charmed by the original have been waiting for.

In this fast-paced stunning metroidvania indie action adventure, the fight against a demonic army takes you beneath the waves when your ship is sunk and you find yourself in a mysterious underwater world caught between two opposing forces. Though somewhat hard to pick up and not without its flaws, it's still an engaging, gorgeous combat-centric game fans of the genre should check out.

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.

You're trapped in a big, box-like room. You have nothing that can help you escape. The best you can do is explore and hope you find something interesting. But don't worry, for such a minimalistic game, Box Life sure is full of fun secrets.

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!

I Am Level is a one button arcade platform game from Smiling Bag. It does away with most control buttons and gives you a rolling character you influence by tilting your mobile device left and right. Tap the screen to activate all of the screen's mechanisms, shooting springboards up, shifting platforms around, or knocking pinball-style flippers in the air. Through a creative combination of luck and skill, it's your job to explore the delightfully unconventional pathways that wind their way in and out of the game's challenging stages.

Want to feel free? Take a break and play I Feel Free, a Metroidvania-esque platformer where you start out as just a mere blob, but build yourself up to something greater. Similar to a shorter version of K.O.L.M., you can travel around the caverns collecting upgrades that allow you to access new areas, and maybe even experience freedom from restlessness.

A retro metroidvania platformer by MNWS, The Ruins of Machi Itcza will have you feeling like Pitfall Harry. The purely exploration gameplay is tempered a bit by slow character movement, but overall, the game captures the archaeological feel of rediscovering something ancient and mysterious.

Escape from a cursed alien tomb, find your crewmate and — if you're particularly fortunate — come out of it all with the brand new, uh, old fabulous Idol of Tavor as your lovely planetary parting gift. Metroidvania-style action and adventure await you in this sci-fi platformer.

The scores have been tabulated and the results are in: the overall winner of the minimalism-themed Ludum Dare 26 72-hour Game Jam is Leaf Me Alone, a retro Metroidvania-style platformer by Mark Foster and David Fenn. Now, "minimalism" and "Metroidvania" aren't two words that usually go together, but Foster and Fenn has put together a wonderful little world for a pixelated-blob-type-thing to explore, if one that could use a little more direction from time to time.

Inspired by Bit Blot's Aquaria, Duncan Fenn brings you underwater, metroidvania goodness in Aqua Boy. Betrayed by your simian companion, you must explore a dangerous, aquatic city in search of your lost equipment so you can find your monkey traitor and make him pay for his actions. A relatively easy title with a hefty map, Aqua Boy will keep you pleasantly occupied.

The king is dead. Dibs on his crown! Ascent of Kings is a platform adventure game by Nostatic Software that sends you on an epic quest to become the next king. Your brothers are out to do the same, but because nobody thinks you've got the guts to do it, you have something to prove! The road from your home to the Shrine of Kings is a twisted and treacherous path, but there are a few handy items you'll encounter along the way that help you traverse the land.

Surprise! Just a few weeks after Knytt Underground made its appearance, Nifflas has released a brand new game! The Great Work is a platform adventure deeply inspired by the Knytt series that follows the metroidvania outline of interconnected passageways strewn with items that grant new abilities and access to new areas. Featuring an alchemy-infused story, The Great Work was made to help promote Bautafilm's latest film that follows the story of Christer Böke, a man who took a year off from his job to become a full-time alchemist.

This sub mission was a fiasco from the start, but if you could have said no to your Nazi commanders you wouldn't be spending December 1941 in the depths of the Atlantic. And there are... things out there. Subbania is a metroidvania-style action-adventure by ektomarch, where cosmic horrors lurk in the depths. Quite unsettling and atmospheric, if a little stingy on save points.

A lovingly detailed homage to classic platforming adventures, this retro-styled Metroidvania game takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where your only reason for living is suddenly abducted from you by a mysterious stranger. While it could use some more to do, it's a beautifully made title fans of classic gaming will enjoy.

It's adventure time and ape time! Adventure Apes and the Mayan Mystery is a retro-inspired platform adventure from ScaryPotato that shares a few genre points with games like La-Mulana, Cave Story, and many other metroidvania games. As you quest about through the jungle, opening up new areas to explore as you find new tools and power-ups, you'll need to keep an eye out for coins, keys, treasure chests, and relics, all while dispatching common enemies and squaring off against more formidable boss foes. It's all action and adventure, and it's all good fun, from beginning to end!

Gateways, an exploration-based platform game from Smudget Cat Games, can be quickly summarized by saying it's like Portal, but in 2D. That's leaving a lot out of the equation, though, as Gateways goes to great lengths to provide a different kind of experience, one more akin to a metroidvania-type game than that other portal-making adventure. You'll realize that as soon as you start to explore the chunky pixel laboratory, smashing the glass domes over monkey's heads and wondering how on Earth you're supposed to climb over the next ledge.

A simple errand takes a turn for the surreal when our hero, forced away from the video game console and out of the house, stumbles down a hole into the middle of the earth where he is, of course, tasked with tracking down magical gems. The same thing happened to me the other day. A little bit retro, mixed with a healthy dose of metroidvania and high-difficulty platforming, and Kodachrome is a weird but appealing little challenge.

Combining elements of exploration, puzzle solving, and some good old fashioned robot building, Mobiloid from Montrezina plays like the best parts of Metroid and Q.U.B.E. blended to perfection. It's a game that allows you to use almost two dozen accessories to create functional (or, you know, not so functional) contraptions that help you stick your nose in every corner of the world, uncovering new items, new parts, and new puzzles along the way.

We all love metroidvanias! But would we still love them if, instead of controlling a scifi bounty hunter, or a badass vampire slayer, we played as the alphabet? Answer: Yes! And ASCIIvania, an exploration platformer by Gharding3, is the proof! ASCIIvania is clearer documentation, a map screen and a mute button away from excellence, but its still a fun time.

Peru, 1950. Strange signs have appeared in the misty mountains. You, a famous spelunker, head to the area to investigate them.. Such is the humble premise of Cavenaut, an exploration-based action-adventure game by Bruno Marcos. Don't think that the ruins of Machu Picchu will reveal their secrets so easily, however. Snake, Bat, Spike, and Spear stand in your path, and if you hope for mysteries to be unraveled, you must be quick of both mind and fingers.

Back in 2005, Takumi Naramura released a retro-styled exploration game called La-Mulana. Starring an archaeologist professor named Lemeza, it introduced modern players to an aesthetic not seen since the days of the MSX home computer, bringing with it all the convoluted puzzles, items, and high level of difficulty retro gamers love. Fast forward to 2012 for the worldwide release of a graphically enhanced update to La-Mulana that carefully reworks the look and feel of the old game to spruce it up for a new audience. Nigoro has done a fantastic job with the new La-Mulana, and the translation to the slightly-less-retro modern version is almost flawless!

Deep within the spaceship, a lowly garbage worker tosses clumps of trash into the incinerator. Outside, asteroids begin pelting the hull, eventually causing the ship to crash on an uncharted planet filled with strange creatures. And now you, lone survivor, must explore and fight your way through an intricate maze-like world as you gather power-ups, fight bosses, and collect every little green square you see. In Wade McGillis's downloadable and mobile game Astronot, you get a good strong dose of pure retro metroidvania-style platform adventuring, and you'll love every minute of stranded torture it brings you.

First released in 2008, The Power was a behemoth of a Metroidvania-like shooter for downloaders only. Now, The Power is back and available for your browser pleasure! Search, shoot, and upgrade your way through a massive world to discover the mysteries of The Power, and why it's so important to a strange planet.

Gently wafting down from the world of Wii Ware games, LostWinds2: Winter of the Melodias is an iOS port of the 2009 sequel to LostWinds, a game that also recently made its way from console to mobile marketplace. Frontier Development has created a fantastic sequel to an adorable and easily lovable game, translating the same sense of awe and wonder that made the original such a pleasure while adding new elements (literally) to toy around with. It's a platform adventure ("metroidvania") like few others, and once you get a taste of the richly animated world LostWinds2 has to offer, you'll sit down and absorb the entire game without hesitation.

Recluse is a short, cute, and creative metroidvania-style platform adventure game from chambers that tied for eighth place in the most recent Ludum Dare compo. Centered around the "tiny world" theme, you play a snail who has never left its shell and is now ready to emerge into the world. While much of the gameplay is standard platform fare, there is a unique mechanic that makes Recluse worth experiencing: screen shoving!

Fans of Metroidvania style games, rejoice, and put on your virtual sneakers! SubMu entertainment's latest release, Blockstachio, incorporates quirky, blocky graphics, and a soundtrack that solidly consolidates retro bleeps and bangs over the top of the heroic theme music that will drive you towards your goal, while also packing enough platform action to keep you happily satisfied, while running and jumping your way through each level, in your pursuit to save the world. The world needs saving, and it is up to you and your cubic hero to do it. Are you up to the challenge?

Yahtzee is back, and this time he's offering his take on Metroidvania in Poacher, an action-adventure platformer. Join wabbit-hunter Derek Badger as he stumbles into an ancient conflict far below the Earth's surface. Expect some killer difficulty in this effective combo of humor and horror.

Arzea is a Metroidvania-style adventure game that demonstrates the kind of danger that magic can lead to. You're a wizard stranded in a strange world with only your wits and a variety of spells and upgrades to help you get home. Your main goal is to find your way home from the strange land of Arzea. There's at least a good half hour of gameplay here, probably closer to an hour if you're out to find all the upgrades and collectible shards.

Originally released in mid-2011 by indie game creator E. Hashimoto (Buster), Hydra Castle Labyrinth is an old school-styled platform adventure that was previously only available in Japanese. A brave soul recently translated the game to English, and now the cute metroidvania title is available for a much wider audience to enjoy. And enjoy it ye shall!

The original freeware platform adventure game Cave Story was released by Daisuke Amaya (Pixel) back in 2004. An English translation from Aeon Genesis followed just two months later, opening the game up to a much wider audience and allowing to vault to the top of the indie gaming world. Featuring amazing music, a well-written story, power-ups, upgrades, and a big world to explore, saying Cave Story was a hit is a gross understatement. Several years later, the game has been ported to half a dozen other systems and re-released with remastered music and updated HD graphics. Now, Cave Story+ is here, upgrading the freeware experience to something your eyes and ears can more fully appreciate!

Think open world platform adventure games like Knytt Stories are falling out of favor? Treasure Adventure Game is happy to prove you wrong. With its massive open world stocked from end to end with treasures, secrets, characters, quests, puzzles, and more, this old school throwback manages to combine adventure, RPG, and platforming genres into the kind of game you'll only have the honor of experiencing a few times in your life. Also: it's free!

Shantae: Risky's Revenge is the sort of game retro-minded players will immediately snatch up. Modern players may look at it and think "another platform game?", but as soon as any human being plays it, it's easy tell that Shantae is anything but ordinary. Risky's Revenge is an action/platform game that's smartly focused on exploration in the style of a good old-fashioned metroidvania. It's a labor of love that's funny, challenging, creative, and absolutely gorgeous down to the last pretty pixel!

It's a popular misconception that cats have nine lives. In reality they've actually got infinite lives and are forced to restart at checkpoints every time they lose one. Katwalk is a short, fairly easy platforming metroidvania game, so aside from one tricky section involving swimming you won't need catlike reflexes to succeed.

Damian Sommer created this short, no-frills little puzzle platformer to throw the player into a series of one-screen, "extremely distilled metroidvanias." He accomplishes this by first teaching the player some rudimentary game mechanics and then builds upon those rules incrementally while increasing the difficulty and complexity of each level's design. And it works quite nicely for a game made in just a day and a half.

Celestial Mechanica is a quietly impressive platform adventure (a.k.a. "metroidvania") game along the lines of Knytt Stories and the Robot Wants series of games. Created by Roger Hicks (author of rComplex) and Paul Veer (animator of Super Crate Box), it's the sort of game that sits quietly off to the side, never begging you to play it, but once you do, you'll be hooked 'til the end.

Pedro and the Pearls of Peril is the kind of game that's likely to have appeal to multiple demographics. First of all, there will be those in the mood for a good action-shooter, with some shades of Metroidvania and a masochistic edge of difficulty. Then there will be those who'll be convinced once they see the name of Robot Wants retro-maven Hamumu on the title screen. There will be those Cub Scouts who just happened to stumble over the game on the Boys Life website, and are intrigued by what wacky new adventures Pedro the Mail Burro has gotten himself into this time. And last, but not least, there is the not insignificant group of gamers who have a thing for alliteration. Never count them out.

The hermit's son has been kidnapped by demons! Are you a good enough king to rescue him? And, while you're at it, could you do something about that advancing purple wall of doom? And, also, could you tell the peasants to knock it off with all the portentous statements concerning the upcoming apocalypse? Sigh... It seems that a monarch's work is never done. Though by the end of KingStory, the new adventure platformer from KintoGames, you'll at least have a pretty sweet crown on your head. That makes it all worthwhile.

Developed for Something Awful's GameDev VI Challenge, the retro metroidvania platformer Psychopomps puts you in the shoes of Anubis, who has overslept. In his absence, his fellow soul ushers have gone missing and evil spirits have grown powerful. Explore your environment and shoot down your enemies as you rescue your friends and right the matter of directing souls.

Twenty years after nuclear confrontation wiped out the planet known as Earth, Cosmonaut Laika receives a distress bark from the ruined surface. Armed with your trusty swap-gun, a rainbow shooting device that lets you switch places with pieces of the world around you, you land upon the planet to locate your companions. Every dog has its day, and today is the day you... Escape from the Puppy Death Factory! Brought to you by Arthur Lee and the fine people at Adult Swim. A fun, if deceptively challenging, puzzle platformer.

An excellent metroidvania style puzzle platformer that's easy enough to jump straight in, but has a ton of hidden secrets for experts to find (especially if you want the best ending)... along with a few locked doors that just beg for further expansion. Legend of Kalevala has that perfect mix of old and new, alien and human, story and action.

About as epic as any game about snails can be, Snailiad will take hours from you, and you'll be glad to see them gone. It's action-packed and adventure-filled, completely unlike the lives of real snails, who mostly sit around hoping they don't become escargot.

Everybody's favourite emotionally tortured little robot is back in this sequel to 2010's K.O.L.M., a Metroidvania style platformer about a lonely little robot with one very dysfunctional family. Picking up right where the original left off, having escaped the claws of his Mother, will our hero finally find out where he belongs, or will he be unable to escape his family ties?

Where do all the bugs go? What happened between early testing of a game and final release? Jonas Kyratzes may make you wonder with this experimental platformer. Recruited to test an early build of Jonas's new game, you wind up falling through the cracks into a strange place you were never meant to see.

You wake up alone and abandoned in a cell, with no clue as to the big W's; Why are you here? What's going on? Who are you? This short little puzzle/platformer is a moody bit of storytelling from KrangGames that shows sometimes you don't have to say a word to tell a compelling story.

Everyone's favourite sad but earnest little robot is back in a set of time trials. While it might lack a story, the spiritual successor to the original K.O.L.M. definitely does not lack a challenge. Can you complete these tricky platforming levels in under a minute flat? Just don't drag your feet, since failure is rather, uh... explosive.

Insidia, the new Metroidvania-styled platformer from Woblyware, revels in its simplicity, not only concerning its graphics, but also is its plot and gameplay. In fact, I think that I can give you the gist in fifteen words: Crashed Spaceship. Alien World. Explore Caverns. Find Repair Kits. Collect Upgrades. Avoid Baddies. Quite Fun.

In Blue Knight, you control a human sent to purge a planet for future human colonization. This retro-looking platform shooter has you jumping and shooting your way through a large world, collecting powerups and facing off against various bad guys on your way to the final boss.

Classic metroidvania makes a comeback in this expansive, multi-ending platformer/adventure game from Zillix. When your father finally dies, leaving you with the knowledge of an ancient family treasure, you set out in search of it unaffected by the taunts and hatred of your fellow dwarves. But an unexpected tumble drops you into a whole new world of possibilities. Will you be the hero, or will you bring the darkness? More importantly, who can you trust if not yourself?

Today we launched a new banner game for the site, created by Mike Hommel of Hamumu Software. Mike is the author of the entire Robot Wants series of games, and this game plays very similarly to those. The objective is to light all the letters of the Casual Gameplay logo, as well as find all the JIGman bits scattered around the game. Sign in with a Casual Gameplay account and collect all the letters and JIGman bits to get your name added to the Hall of Fame!

Help a little robot get his life together in this melancholic Metroidvania platformer from Tony (Antony Lavelle) of Armor Games. Explore an ominous facility under the purview of your disappointed computer mother, gathering upgrades and fighting fellow robots. Worth the initial weirdness for a quiet gem of an experience with a surprising amount of depth in its simple design.

Escape from the Underworld is a short exploration platformer that shares some design elements with some of the most successful indie games in recent history: Knytt, Iji, Seiklus, Cave Story, and, well, we could probably go on. In short, Escape from Underworld is a Metroidvania and it's really, really good.

After kitties, puppies, and fishies, Robot has finally figured out what he truly wants... ICE CREAM. But when he and his trusty Puppy arrive on a planet in search of some, he finds the situation a bit more explosive than he anticipated. Battle bosses, collect power ups, and explore in this wonderful finale to the hit platforming series from Hamumu Software!

What's not to love about this fantastic sequel? The kicking retro graphics, the astonishingly nostalgic music and sound effects, everything adds up to tons of fabulous casual gameplay. Enjoy the new challenge, the new enemies, and the same fantastic warm feeling as you help your lonely robot find yet another friend. And not to spoil the ending, but it turns out that Kitty really wants Fishy too. Maybe the honeymoon isn't over after all.

When an earthquake leaves Jack the only survivor of an expedition in Mexico and strands him underground, he'll have to find his way out alone. Unfortunately, in addition to having some bad luck, Jack also doesn't have any legs, forcing him to find different ways to circumvent things that would barely slow you down in a typical platformer. Made in a month for Something Awful's Game Development Competition and inspired by Super Metroid, You Have No Legs is by turns frustrating and challenging, but undeniably creative and worth a look.

Robot's at it again; armed with a kitty perched atop his boxlike head, he's off to get himself a new friend in this follow up to the surprise smash-hit original retro platformer. Gather keys and unlock the mighty (mighty weird) abilities of your feline companion to eventually win the day and the puppy.

Where oh where has my kitty cat gone? Only robot can find out, and it's up to you to help him get there by guiding him past hazards and to power ups, keys, and ultimately kitty-cat-havin'-glory in this retro-themed, pixel platform adventure.

YAWWN! It's a brand new day, time to go out exploring! Level Up! is an RPG-like platformer by Nifty Hat all about exploring the world and discovering your past. In an odd world where the Squarians and Roundians are in a constant and bitter battle, your goal is to collect gems and exchange them for tools to help you restore your memory.

Lyle in Cube Sector is a relatively old Metroidesque platformer in traditional NES style. You play as Lyle, who adventures through Cube Sector, using cubes for everything from attacking enemies to playing basketball to feeding a dog, with the ultimate goal of retrieving his cat Keddums.

Proo, a mischievous but good-hearted little girl who accidentally crash-lands her father's spaceship on a bizarre planet, must relearn basic skills like walking and jumping in order to navigate an enormous and beautiful world. With rising plumes of energy that can lift you to new heights, streams of red-hot lava that cascade into underground pools, and adorable pixel art, Pieces fulfills in ways most unexpected.

An Untitled Story is a perfect blend of tough platforming challenges, intimidating boss fights, and cunning secrets, all wrapped up in a layer of childlike mysticism and rough-shorn beauty. It is a chilled-out hardcore wonderland of action discovery, plus an unidentifiable je ne sais quoi that just makes you want to drink it down in one gulp and then spit out a rainbow.

Imagine the wandering ball of Within A Deep Forest encased in metal and set loose in your browser, and tell me you don't want to get into that Sky Tower. Bug Bug is the latest game to be released from Aqui Griffin's studio, a re-release of a game entered into our "ball physics" game competition in October with crucial improvements.

Aquaria is a beautifully detailed game of exploration from independent developer Bit Blot. You control the restless young Naija, a curious underwater dweller who sets out to discover her world. The ocean is teeming with mysterious caverns to explore, strange sea creatures (some friendly, some otherwise), and troves of ancient secrets buried by time. Aquaria is as much about interacting with and exploring the environment as it is telling a story. And it does both with a level of beauty rarely seen in independent games.

The main focus of Knytt Stories is atmosphere, environment and exploration, not complex gameplay and a barrage of media. With Knytt Stories you'll spend most of your time wandering around sparsely populated worlds looking for a few rare items, enjoying the beautiful visuals and ambient music the whole time. It's a unique experience in gaming and will pull you in from the moment you start playing.

Why are so many of the most difficult video games also the cutest? Maybe my brain just automatically forgets games that are both ugly and frustrating. Added to the "cute but evil" list comes Within a Deep Forest, a completely free downloadable game for Windows that casts you as a little blue ball, bouncing around a delightfully whimsical little world filled with the most frustrating jumping puzzles known to man.

Cave Story, or Doukutsu Monogatari, is a superb 2D platformer reminiscent of early platform games for the NES. Created by Pixel, it is a well-made and highly polished game with a superb storyline and brilliant gameplay that is altogether very enjoyable to play. The game requires a download, for Mac or PC, and is most highly recommended!