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?
Help the blocky-headed hero escape in this fun physics puzzle platformer hybrid from bart99. Labscape skews more towards the platform than the puzzle end of the spectrum when it comes to its challenge. While the level designs are clever and frequently charming, with my personal favorite being what I might call "razor blade surfing," it doesn't take more than a little thought to figure out where the missing pieces are that you have to draw. Completing this game won't necessarily turn you into a lithe athlete, but it will provide a fun little break for your day.
Go, Speed Runner, go! A superhero whose only super power is running really, really fast runs afoul of an evil genius whose extracurricular activities include building giant death machines and planting bombs all over the city. (... and... his... hideout?) Spring to the rescue in this bouncy, stylish arcade platformer that demands quick reflexes. Note: not for players with allergies to repeated spiky death.
14 Locks, the latest game from Bart Bonte, is not strictly an escape game but it is still fun to navigate your way through the imaginatively decorated spaces, each one becoming more elaborate than the last. Bart has created something that is pretty exciting and amusing to play with this Unity platform, although it can be a little nausea inducing, so please be warned.
This is Jack. This is Jack's spring. This is Jack's amusing hat. This is Jack's box. Jack wishes he were in his box. Jack needs you to guide him to the box. This is Jack's friend. Jack's friend also has an amusing hat. Jack's friend will follow Jack wherever he goes. This is the additional element of strategy added to Jack's puzzle-platforming game. In short, this is Jack in the Box, made by Jack's creator, Ali Bati. And if you think it won't be a good time, brother... you don't know Jack.
EA2D and Evan Miller of Pixelante Game Studios combine forces to create this fun, frantic side-scrolling hack-and-slasher set in the Dragon Age universe from Bioware and EA's popular RPG series. As one man against a seemingly unending tide of demons, beasts, madmen, and more, do you have a chance to make your way across hostile terrain to victory? Master four different combat styles, topple massive bosses, and indulge in a little wholesome face-stabbing in this straight-forward but very fun action title from both Industry and Indie talents.
I have to admit, if I was ever sucked into a Tron-like computer world, I don't know if I would be able to handle the games they would force me to play. Since getting my motorcycle, I think I could manage a draw in light-cycles, but Deadly Discs? Solar Sailor? Brawls at the End of Line club? I think I'd be derezzed pretty quickly. On the other hand, should the Master Computer challenge me to a game of hangman, I think I could take him. Such is the scenario presented by Langman, the new unity platforming word game from Von Lehe Creative.
Wasps stink. That's not a typo; they may sting, but they stink too, and you'll think so too after you fire up this cute, quirky little puzzle platformer. When the Wasp King steals all the honey before Bearboy can steal it himself, it's up to you and your cursor to help Bearboy get the goods across worlds filled with all manner of strange and challenging obstacles.
With its cute, cartoony visuals, throbbing music track, fast-paced action, and Super Mario-like platforming City Siege 2: Resort Siege is a wild ride through the world of special ops and hostage rescue. So you can't be a member of Seal Team 6 (which doesn't actually exist, anyway), try City Siege 2: Resort Siege and live out your wildest commando team fantasies of saving the day, killing the bad guys, and reducing some random unnamed resort to complete rubble.
Zounds! A movie-tie-in advergame that is a 16-bit platformer and doth not suck? And one that doth has been made by retro king Big Pixel Studios! Yea, verily! I personally may be a bigger fan of the Distinguished Competition, but any game that lets you control a Norse God that flings lightning and hammers around is certainly worth a look. Yes, it's Thor: Bring the Thunder, just released on the main Marvel site. Indeed, I've heard that the company has just released a 150 million dollar movie for the sole purpose of promoting this game. Was it a waste of money? By Odin's beard, I say thee nay!
Checkpoint is a quick-fire arcade platform game that's as much about avoiding things that make you die as it is getting killed. Created by Hero Interactive (Bubble Tanks, Storm Winds), Checkpoint goes the extra mile and taunts you with running commentary on each level, reminding you why you're a terrible gamer, questioning your every move, and laughing at you when you fail. On top of that, you're being timed and your deaths are tallied, so if your ego isn't crushed by Hero Interactive throughout the course of the game, just wait for your pitiful final score at the end!
Platform fans are bound to enjoy Test Subject Green while puzzle lovers won't be punished for a lack of twitch reflexes. It's an excellent hybrid of the two genres made possible through the power of science, much like astronaut ice cream is a delicious fusion of strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. Aren't you glad we live in this modern world?
Since the dawn of time, man has collected. This arcade platformer plays right to this compulsion by encouraging players to load up on diamonds like it's going out of style as they try to climb to the top of an endless cavern. This isn't a pretentious art game or a brain-wracking escape, this is down-and-dirty arcade action through and through and it succeeds spectacularly on that level.
Do K and S resent C for horning in on their territory? Is it agoraphobia or contempt for the other letters that compels Q to stay at home unless U is close behind? What sort of twisted inter-literal love triangle makes I go before E, except after C? And what happens when a formally happy literal couple decides to call it splits? This last is the premise behind The I of It, a unique puzzle platformer, in which the "t" of the word "It" runs off, prompting "I" to set forth on a quest find him.
Buried in the dirt or sitting in the open pathways are letters or bones, simply run across them (or dig across them) to pick them up. Spell words to earn bones to buy bonuses and to move further in the game. Simple to learn with a lot of vocabulary complexity to be found, Word Up Dog! is casual gameplay that can suck you in and give you hours and hours of enjoyment. This fun, amusing, challenging game of spelling is entertainment for a wide range of ages, from those youngsters who want to improve their mad spellin' skillz to the older folks who enjoy a vocabulary challenge.
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.
A space ship. An explosion. An escape pod. A crash. It's just you and an alien planet replete with jungle creatures who aggressively attack you, lone guy in a well-equipped spacesuit. Capsized drops you in an unfamiliar world and gives you just a few tools to survive. Fortunately, a grappling hook and a number of guns happens to be amongst these tools, the former of which is handy not only for swinging around and pulling yourself up ledges, but for grabbing and moving obstacles. Other than that, you really have to rely on your wits in this gorgeously-illustrated but challenging physics/action game.
The only thing standing between you and victory is a painful death! Actually a lot of painful deaths. But don't worry, they're not yours... technically. Jasper Byrne's retro platformer is a quirky, challenging psychedelic journey through another very dangerous and very weird world.
Crazy Over Goo is a physics-based projectile platformer that puts you in the gooey guise of a spheroid on a quest to find his pink-bowed friend. Use the mouse to aim your trajectory and try to reach each level's flag in as few jumps as possible. Contend with mid-air leaps, variable environments, gravity, spikes, and many other platform game elements.
The riddle of the sphinx is invoked at the beginning of Convergence, the flixel-based platformer/life simulator/interactive art piece that serves as the first release from Streetlight Studios: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"... No, the answer isn't "William the Performing Dog". It's that miserable pile of secrets itself: man. And you'll be be spending an interesting three days in a life herein. Wake up, fall out of bed, drag a comb across your head and check it out.
A lovely little game that will twist your perception of reality into a hundred lovely different shapes. Psychosomnium was originally a downloadable game by cactus. Now, with its Flixel-based Flash port from Miroslav Malesevic, anyone with a browser and a keyboard can experience the body-switching weirdo-world that is the inside of cactus' mind!
I think it's about time that I admit that I just don't understand marketing. I wouldn't know why a jump and run platformer based around racing through a myriad selection of websites would be considered an apropos format for an ice cream bar ad . But hey, I do know a good time when I see it, and Lowe Brindfors and B-Reel have certainly given Unilever their money's worth in Magnum: Pleasure Hunt
If to be 'stalwart' is to be filled with resolve, courage and physical endurance, then it's fair to say that Jonathan Whiting's game may bring out the little stalwart knight in all of us. This is a game that presents simply with pixel art and easy to master controls, but a closer look reveals its true side-scrolling, platform and challenging avoidance essence. And all with rhythm!
Bored with running games such as Canabalt and Robot Unicorn Attack? You should be, because they don't have giant squids, lava, lightning, oil slicks, and main characters who are on fire. Flood Runner 3: Armageddon, however, does. We mentioned Clockwork Monster's Flood Runner 2 in a previous Link Dump Friday, and this one's got even more over-the-top action to help you feel like a demi-god dashing through the mortal realms.
Pigs take to this sky in this very creative and original platform puzzle game, where physics and time meet in a why you've not seen before. And it is so captivating that you will probably end up finishing it in one city. So go on, get those pigs in the air.
Crime does not pay, especially if you're Ziggy Fraud, the most suspicious looking man alive who probably gets arrested just for existing. Help him pull off the greatest heist of his career and then escape his would-be captors in this bizarre puzzle platformer that defies the laws of physics (and even the game engine) to make one silly, clever experience.
Nitrome's latest damsel in distress is actually the one doing the distressing. Jump and run past Princess Nectarine's array of traps and monsters, rescuing villagers and avoiding peril in this cute, tricky arcade platformer. Just ask yourself... is this lady fair's hand in marriage really something you want? After all, it's not like there's going to be room at the loony bin for both of you...
When the Sun and the Sea have a falling out, it's up to you to dive into the ocean and retrieve the Idols hidden beneath the waves, carrying them all to the mountaintops where they rightfully belong... or so you think. Gregory Weir's latest experimental platformer is short, dreamlike, and surreal, and worth a play despite suffering from some tedious avoidance/platforming sequences.
The first time I saw my velociraptor avatar trying desperately to outrun the scary wall of doom, I was completely sold. Three years have passed since the release of that Pixeljam racing platformer, and I find myself returning to its charms again and again. However, with time comes change, modification, upgrading, evolution. So is the potent rationale for the release of Dino Run: SE... And from what I've seen so far, it won't be going extinct from my hard drive any time soon.
When you run into a problem, it's always a good idea to look at things from a different perspective. In Sky Island, your perspective changes throughout the entire game. Tackle fifteen star-hunting levels that introduce a number of twists, such as enemies that need to be bounced upon, tricked to walking over certain blocks, or otherwise manipulated using your world-twisting abilities in this unique and engaging platformer.
Lots of wizards can shoot fireballs. Blasts of ice and electricity aren't so uncommon either. However, creating large stones out of nothingness requires an MC^2 amount of E, so only the most skilled are able to accomplish it. Such is the power of Wizard Hult, star of the new puzzle platformer from Bloblob. Alas, Earthbending skills ia not, in and of itself, a sufficient display of manliness for the witch who has caught his eye. And so she wait atop her challenge-filled tower waiting for the wizard to show his dedication... and to bring her something shiny and expensive. An innovate platformer with slightly finicky physics.
Don't let the man or your burgeoning psychosis keep you down! In this quirky, bouncy 3D platform-puzzler, you play as a hapless worker in a cardboard box assembly plant finally driven to the drink of insanity by his endless, repetitive work and finds himself transported to a weird and puzzling realm where the very world flips and rotates as you move. Will you ever get home? Do you even want to? A fun, silly game with one heck of an intro.
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.
You might think that the combination of Boys' Life, the monthly Boy scouting magazine for ages 6-18, and retro-action-meister Hamumu make for an unexpected pairing. Heck, I was a cub scout and even I find it a little strange. However, I do know that when the creator of the Robot Wants series releases a pixel platformer based around a trio of differently-abilitied characters fighting their way through an alien landscape: I'm there. That game is Mad Planet, and it's got quality worthy of a merit badge.
You'd think it'd be clear by now that you shouldn't pick up a shiny gem when the statue holding it warns you of a curse. Sadly, Cactus McCoy, the titular protagonist of the new platformer from Flipline Studios, does just that, and the result is that he's been transformed into a walking, talking, punching Saguaro. So now, if he ever wants to make balloon animals again, he must return the gem to its proper location across the beautiful landscapes of the old west... all the way pursued by the mercenary gang that hired him to swipe the gem the first place. An excellent game for fans of westerns or beat-em-up adventures in general.
James was waiting. Waiting for someone to need his skills as a private eye. Or rather, he would have been if someone hadn't murdered the head of his five-person detective team. Radical Dog's quirky new noir-themed puzzle platformer offers a healthy dose of ridiculousness to go along with its mystery.
Everybody Edits is a bare-bones platform game played on the backs of the very people who build it! In this charming retro-looking game, you are given basic tools to place blocks, lay gravity-altering objects, and craft mazes and traps of your own design. All of this happens in real-time, meaning you can move and build at the same time, all while people from around the world run around in your world!
Transmover: New Generation is the sequel to Polygon Gmen's Transmover, and it features as much great puzzle-platforming and laser-effected teleportation as the original. The original Transmover boasted a clever concept and fun puzzles, and if Transmover: New Generation is more of the same, it's more of the same good casual gaming.
Test Subject Blue is the latest platform puzzle game from Nitrome. Jump platforms to reach the food pill that unlocks the exit capsule for each level. You will have to jump through force fields that transport you to different locations throughout the level. Navigate through each level in the shortest time possible.
Despite its shortcomings, Duplicator provides some challenging puzzles and an hour or more of ambient diversion. The appealing presentation combined with fluid platforming override the difficulties of the game, and the puzzles will get you thinking and may even test your patience.
Shoot and jump your way through this interesting hybrid of action, platform, physics and one-button games. This duality might put some off Cuboy Quest, but it honestly is a nice idea that has been executed well. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but that's because not everyone likes tea.
Survive for 30 seconds. Sounds simple, right? But you're just sitting there in your chair, reading this excerpt. You're not the hapless protagonist of styxtwo's challenging survival platform game, where the goal is to stay afloat as the island slowly shrinks beneath you.
Wooly the Mammoth has stolen your hat, and in order to get it back, you're going to need to get some epic questing going on, exploring a huge, non-linear environment, completing side-quests, collecting keys, and shooting cute but evil monsters in the face with your laser. Whimsical and with wide-appeal, this is certain to be another major hit from jmtb02!
Nice to see you, old sport! In just four levels, this gloriously retro platformer parody of the classic story will capture your heart, make you raise an eyebrow more than once, and have you striking down ghosts with a boomerang hat. Despite its length and ease of play, this is one weird and silly little title you shouldn't miss checking out.
Tealy & Orangey is a retro platformer with a twist. You use the arrow keys to navigate the two colored protagonists from start to finish in each of twenty hazard-filled levels. The thing is, you can't control just one or the other; you always control both characters, whether you like it or not.
In spite of my overwhelming lack of talent for the platform genre, I'm completely smitten with Nyxquest: Kindred Spirits, a side-scrolling platformer by Over the Top Games that proves lovely visuals do not always have to come with over-the-top full-motion videos.
In the futuristic world of Armor Mayhem, Loussi's new action shooter, the world has run out of energy. Thus, major corporations send teams of faceless space marines to discover a new source. And, of course, once they find a planet filled to the brink with Unobtanium, they land and immediately start blasting each other in the face with lasers... what it lacks in plot depth, it more than makes up for with enough frenetic blasting action to make Master Chief jealous.
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.
Balls in Space is a retro-style platformer where you control a white ball determined to get from one door to the next. In your way are various evil-looking squares and other shapes. Can you stop them? Special powerups and secret levels add to the challenge. You need to run, jump, and shoot your way to victory... in... spaaaaacccceeee!
Being born to a destiny of studying at the local Aztec temple isn't the most exciting of fates. But when a sacred artifact is stolen, a grand adventure quickly ensues. Our hero Huitzilo is up for the job in Aztaka, an indie action/RPG platform game from Citeremis.
Run, leap, stab, shuriken, and bomb your way to the bottom of a massive, ancient tower filled with deadly enemies and strange environments as you seek a legendary treasure... and die a whole bunch. Megadev and AdultSwim combine to deliver a fast-pasted and challenging arcade platformer with randomly generated items and layouts that will take a lot of skill (and a lot of lives) to beat.
Available for a number of gaming platforms, Max and the Magic Marker is a creative platform game that utilizes drawing to complement its collectathon-style physics gameplay. You play the role of Max, an orange-haired kid whose drawing has come to life thanks to a magical marker he received in the mail. Now Max is running through three unique worlds trying to put a stop to this eggplant menace. It's a game that's as much creative thinking as it is platforming, and it'll tickle your inner child to watch it in action!
Ready for another game of ambiance and intrigue from Nifflas? NightSky is the latest release from the designer/artist known for creating enchanting atmospheric settings in his games, and this one certainly doesn't disappoint. It's simpler and more streamlined than Knytt Stories, but there's no shortage of challenge or variety to be had!
Sarah finds herself trapped somewhere, and she'll need to make use of platforming, puzzle solving, and one very special ability if she wants to escape. Currently only available as a ten level preview, this beautifully smooth and easy to play game that showcases the capabilities of Unity is definitely worth your time to check out.
Fire! In the Diner! Fire! In the Cake Factory! Another spree of accidental flame outbreaks is afflicting the land of Casual Gaming, and its once again up to the little robot fire-fighter that could to put them out. So is the premise of The Podge's puzzle platformer sequel, Inferno 2: Meltdown.
What makes a friend, anyway? And what do your friends mean to you? In this simple platformer by Undi that explores the theme of "Friends" for the 9th Casual Gameplay Design Competition, your goal is to get to the top of the Professional Life... even if it means dropping everyone who ever mattered to you along the way.
While it doesn't break any new ground, Gravinaytor is a deceptively simple looking game that will have your gravity-grappling skills stretched to their limit. Flip switches to manipulate gravity and steer yourself around deadly obstacles, all in preparation for the last batch of nearly sadistic levels. Compared to the extremely simple beginning stages, the last seven to eight levels will leave you at the end of your wits.
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.
Strange Attraction is a standard shooter-platformer with a slick presentation and interesting gravity elements. Control the blobby-shaped Gus in his super suit as you try to rescue your fellow villagers from the vile clutches of a horrible cage-like machine. Jump, shoot, and invert your way through 24 levels across 3 unique worlds.
Lylian Episode One: Paranoid Friendship is a new horror-themed platform adventure from Pixelpickle Games. You play as the titular Lylian, a girl who may or may not be completely unhinged, as she tries to escape the mental institution she's being held in. Unfortunately for her, it seems like something much more sinister is going on, as nurses, other patients, and even the janitor are working to thwart her moves. Using Lylian's "imagination", you can change the scenery to make your way through the dark and disturbing passageways in and around the twisted hospital.
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?
Teale Fristoe believes that love is expressed through devotion and makes this point quite succinctly in his latest platform adventure game. As I Lay Dying has one of the genre's more bizarre premises, but what really makes it stand out is how well the premise is integrated with the gameplay. Thankfully, the remarkably morbid subject matter is handled with as much dark comedy as Fristoe could muster. All in all, this is a solid platformer with an unusual enough premise that it's worth a look.
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OneMrBean's first place award winning entry into the 9th Casual Gameplay Design Competition is a piece of interactive narrative about remembering the things that really matter in your life, and the people who gave them to you. You play as an initially morose fellow who takes you on a personal journey through his life and his memories, and offers up a simple but touching and surprisingly heartfelt experience that is wrapped up in a beautiful package.
Meat Boy is back in his first commercial release! When the evil Dr Fetus absconds with Meat Boy's beloved Bandage Girl, he leaps to the rescue across more than 300 levels, braving saw blades, syringes, mutant blood clots, toxic waste, and much, much more. As twisted as it is charming and devious, Super Meat Boy is a fantastic and fantastically hard platformer that is tremendous fun.
Ah, the little joys of childhood, rolled up into one fun puzzle platform game from Sandeep Saha, Paper Venture. In a carefree doodle art style, you use a simple block attached to your cursor to guide your lemming-like protagonist around a dangerous or simply tricky area to the goal.
Mark your calendars and set your bookmarks, Mission in Snowdriftland is back to entertain us once again with its joy-inducing classic-style platforming gameplay set against the backdrop of a cheerful holiday advent calendar. Beginning today and continuing right up through Christmas Eve, a new level will be unlocked to play each day as we march closer to that most joyous of holidays filled with presents, friends and family gatherings.
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!
A shoot-em-up game without guns is like a library without books, or an office chair without wheels. Sure they might have some other purpose, but what fun are they without these essential little elements? Fortunately, Super Crate Box is a retro-styled platform shooter that has more guns than you can shake a stick at in the time it takes to play. (Or a katana.)
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.
When there is no more room in hell, demons will walk the earth, stealing soft plushy toys so you can't use them to find your daughter, unless you use a combination of platforming and defense to stop them... that's, uh... how that goes, right? Nerdook delivers another clever genre hybrid, this time putting you into the shoes of one weird dad trying to save his daughter from even weirder enemies.
Adult Swim revisits their incredibly popular arcade game of robotic unicorns and falling stars in this heavy metal re-imagining. While it doesn't reinvent the gameplay, it does provide an alternative for those of you who were always secretly ashamed by how their heart skipped a beat whenever they heard Erasure, and offers up all the addictive play of the original. But how the heck are you supposed to play this and headbang at the same time?! My hair keeps getting in the way!
When evil robots strike and steal all your lighthouse bulbs, it's GIL to the rescue!... easily killed Gil, with no defenses and a soft, pink body, but GIL nonetheless! This simple looking but tricky platformer from Animals Play Games is guaranteed to test your skills as you run, leap, and flying-machine your way through increasingly difficult worlds filled with spikes, robots, switches, lava, missiles, mines, and much more.
There's a new science hero in town! Ray Ardent: Science Ninja is a solid platformer with a nice coat of polish that sets it apart from the rest, and it uses its hilarious concept to full effect which helps makes it a memorable game. Platform fans should certainly give it a shot.
When the hero's gone, what happens to the ones who get left behind? We're talking about the bad guys, of course, the little enemies you usually never think twice about. Nitrome's latest arcade platformer stars Enemy 585, who's not smart enough to figure out how to escape his tiny patrol area even seven years after the hero has beaten the game. As a friendly platform, figure out how to guide Enemy 585 through the levels, avoiding obstacles, and hopefully towards a better life.
Red and Giant Panda's master has been kidnapped by ninjas! Are you a bad enough panda to rescue him? So is the challenge of Neutronized's new teamwork platformer. Guide them through twenty levels of puzzles, alternating control between the differently-abled Giant and Red all the while. This is a slow-paced, almost zen, walk through a pixelated garden.
In this platform fighting game, evil has no chance as you take the Blackmist form of a young hero named Leo and his Eagle, to puzzle and fight your way through various worlds, eliminating henchmen and completing boss battles to overcome the evil that threatens to annihilate your village.
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.
Running Ink, by Spelgrim, is a new paper parkour platformer with an artistic style that is uniquely inky, with drips and smears aplenty. It makes for a visual style that is stark yet fluid, and for a lively protagonist that is a joy to control. As the work draws inspiration from free-running, momentum control and quick reactions are vital to gameplay. It doesn't have a huge amount of depth and it's a bit short, but Running Ink's visuals and gameplay make for a fun well to dip a pen in for a half-hour.
As a slightly dimwitted hero, you'll proceed down from the top floor of the eponymous tower in an attempt to escape... but chances are you'll meet your death a fair number of times along the way. Make sure you bring your sword and shield. Or fez and rapier. Or skull and mace. Or... you know what, we'll let you decide.
In this physics puzzle platformer from WoblyWare, the Maoi Duck God has demanded tribute, and has luckily granted you, his humble servant, power over gravity to fulfill his godly demands. Waddle through forty colorful and increasingly challenging levels, bounding from surface to surface, avoiding enemies and collecting golden eggs.
Boondog is an action/puzzle platformer similar to classic titles such as Another World and the original Prince of Persia. The main character is quite the acrobat, able to jump, climb, and leap all over the place at will. The action is parceled out in simple moves, though, forcing you to perform your physical feats one step at a time, and only after careful thought and execution. Add to that a bit of Sokoban-style barrel pushing and you've got an excellent diversion that tests both mental and physical reflexes.
FireBoy and WaterGirl 2: The Light Temple is the sequel to Oslo Albet's last Forest Temple offering. In it, you control two cute elemental characters as they attempt to grab various gems and reach their exits. Each character can be controlled independently or at the same time, leading to some interesting teamwork-based platform puzzles. The Light Temple includes extra light and darkness-based stages in a robust 40 level pack.
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, kid! The corporate world takes no prisoners and even you won't escape in a new platformer from Adult Swim Games. You begin as a lowly poop-shoveler and eventually work your way up to becoming CEO of your company...meaning you're shoveling an entirely different kind of poop but making more money while doing it.
And Yet It Moves, the simple but marvelous indie release from Broken Rules, will reignite your love for video games. That, or it will cause you to shake with anger as you replay the same part of the game for the tenth time. It might even do both! The physics-centric platform adventure employs the familiar "world tilting" mechanic that allows you to rotate the entire game environment in 90 degree increments. And Yet It Moves then proceeds to do crazy and wonderful things with this, allowing you to explore a universe as strange as it is satisfying.
Quantum warping might seem like a simple mechanic after you've done some experimenting with it, but My First Quantum Translocator pulls out all the stops and sets up some brain-bending puzzles. You'll have to make seemingly impossible leaps, dodge murderous moving walls and avoid being smashed in any number of ways. Thankfully, you've got unlimited lives, but it almost makes you think that there's some sort of sinister undercurrent to these lab tests...
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!
Ebul is an unusual "sandbox" platform game involving a crocodile pilot, his birdpal sidekick, and a blocky-looking landscape where the blocks themselves are at your command. Run, jump, and move various blocks across two-dozen levels of retro-feeling goodness in an attempt to recover items to fix your broken airplane.
Heart of Ice, an action adventure platformer from Eddy Larkin, is one of those games that really nails the fundamentals of what makes a game enjoyable. It's visually and aurally appealing, the boss fights keep the experience varied enough that it remains enjoyable throughout and there's enough secrets to keep you searching. Larkin has said that he's spent a year and a half on this game, and it shows.
The first thing I noticed when playing Bits and Pieces, David Lorentz's new platform game, was what a crazy good jumper its pixelated protagonist is. I mean, yeah, most platform heroes wouldn't make it through screen one if they couldn't jump five times their own height, but this dude easily launches himself off like a bottle rocket at the slightest provocation. Good thing though, as making it to the artistically confusing finish will require quite a bit of hopping and/or bopping. And it's a load of fun.
Initially created to showcase the upcoming Impact Game Engine, Dominic Szablewski's Biolab Disaster morphed into a short platform adventure all its own. As the game begins, a short quake rocks the underground lab, sending debris falling all over the place. Monsters have spread themselves around the lab, and pools of acid threaten to end your day all too quickly. What's a guy in a biohazard suit with a gun to do? Run through the lab and take out the computer core, that's what!
Give Up Robot 2 is a solid platformer with enough neat tricks and visual appeal to set itself apart from the crowd (and its predecessor). You'll guide Robot through 60 stages spread throughout three worlds, each of which is filled with a variety of deadly traps. Your only saving grace is Robot's built-in grappling hook, and you'll need to master its use quickly. It's worth a look for anyone who won't throw their computer through the nearest window after hammering away at a tough level.
Apples in the Tree is primarily an exploration game with a little bit of point-and-click thrown in. What might seem at first like something that will only appeal to people who wear 'Nightmare Before Christmas' hoodies soon turns into a game that looks great and has a lot of depth.
What you can see will absolutely kill you. Whether it burns you up, makes you explode, or goes for the good ol' fashioned spike through the gut depends on what the trap is. In this challenging platformer, keep track of two screens at once, where the conflicting reflections are always dangerous.
Gunbot is a platformer/shooter from Berzerk Studio where you'll do the usual robot stuff, like collecting stars and shooting dinosaurs. As you take down enemies you'll get experience to level up with, and you'll gain skills like double jump or firebomb. Your foes also drop money which you'll use to buy guns. Gunbot has pretty much everything you could ask for. It's funny, the difficulty increases smoothly and the gameplay is fun.
Help save your brother from a labyrinthine rubber duck factory in this quirky physics puzzle platformer from Garbuz Games. Oh, and beware the pools of deadly acid. Those can really put a damper on your day.
What's in a doooor? A puzzle by any name would not be as cute... or brainwracking. Developer Hempuli's first foray into the world of flash gaming is a deceptively adorable and simple looking platform puzzler where your only goal is to figure out how to get the glowing blue crystal on each level. There's only eighteen stages, but trust us; that's more than enough to give your brain a workout, thanks to some clever design.
5xMan is an action/puzzle game that plays on the now-familiar concept of controlling multiple characters one at a time. You play a team of five guys, each in a stunning single-color one-piece jumpsuit (is that a Louis Vuitton?!), and work your way through each stage. Make it as far as you can with one guy, then switch to the next to see what more you can do, opening new paths for subsequent team members as you go.
So going uphill is hard, but what about going downhill?... only, y'know, without the "hill" part. Descend through levels of tricky terrain in a game that combines classic platforming with good ol' fashioned "save the princess" swashbucklery. And while you're at it, save the heroes too! By rescuing different heroes, you can assume their abilities, and unlock new ones, in your quest for treasure and glory in this clever new hybrid from Nerdook.
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.
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