Great indie game reviews.
Ah, so many new ways of doing things here at Mr. Dave Games. I think probably the most notable change has been the expansion of my YouTube operations. I've covered a whole 18 new indie games this month, including one switch game (Vesper.) If you think this is a lot, wait until next month, when things are going to get very serious. I've also uploaded three new tutorials to my channel, which are doing great. Woo hoo! Okay, yes, YouTubing showcases has allowed me to cover more content, but this blog is just as important and as I pursue new projects, this one is just as important for me. So, as a kind of hybrid concept post, let's go over what was played in May 2022.
Haiyai is a pretty cool game. I played another game like it recently called Pizza Tactics, but only in the sense that the main mechanic is drawing a path with my mouse. Really though, Haiyai is a full-feature game aimed at casual play. Control one of 5 Ronin, and clear hordes of enemies swarming from the sides of the map by dragging a line between the individual enemies in one long swipe. It could double as a mobile game, but I really enjoyed playing it on my computer. Huge cool feature here though,you can actually play this with a drawing tablet if you like! That is a new one for me. I am guilty of saying that I will replay a lot of games that I never do but this one is so easy that I could just open it up and play whenever.
So, first off, a correction to my YouTube video here, Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue actually released in December. With the permission of the publisher, we've been allowed to take another look at this game. According to reviews and members in the Indie Game Collective, patches to this game earlier in 2022 have made the game substantially more playable. I never tried that original version, but concur that the current state of the game is as seamless and responsive as it could be.
Yep, Haiku the Robot is about robots, although you're more likely to catch on fire before most of its poetics! It's a dystopic pixel platformer with a variety of routes to navigate through. The tunnels are left from the aftermath of an apocalyptic turn. It does have somewhat of a narrative for the first minute. Mostly, you'll be in the heat of battle. You are thrown into the general theme of trying to find your way around immediately. Thankfully, maps are available.
Back with another Indie Game Collective showcase for Rotund Zero. It's a precision platformer with a Game Boy monochrome style that uses directional keys only to solve puzzle levels made of bouncing blocks. It's only $1.99 on Steam at the moment and encourages problem-solving in timed runs. You have 5 minutes to complete as many levels as possible, and there are 26 levels, 1 for every letter of the alphabet! You'll be on your toes to speedrun all of those levels, but the pressure is mild. Watch the YouTube video at the top of this article to see me run, a genuine but beginner, 5-minute run. I've been trying to cover more Game Boy-style retro games, so thank you to the developer and publisher Dahku for providing the key!
I love these platformer games that emerge from the woodwork every single day. Today, that game is Jaded by Shellsnore games, up on Steam. It's a standard platformer with directional keys, jump, attack, and a special mechanic which is a time warp. Although the time warp mechanic is more of a cacoon slingshot kinda thing, it works pretty well. I was able to bind my controller to the basic keys with no problem. Let me share a tad more here for you.
Peglin is a great game where you complete levels by dropping a ball into a destructible pattern of mechanic activating orbs. You can activate critical strike boosts, or replenish the board. And, before I gloss over too quickly, the purpose of this strategy is to rack up points which can then be used to attack mob health points, in effect winning the level and moving on. I was lucky enough to find the demo on Steam, although the main game has been covered elsewhere. Anyway, I'll give you a brief rundown of Peglin.
I'm going to try something new here. I have been known to review demos in the past, but they get kind of buried under other projects. I really want to dedicate time to as many as I'd like to. All things relevant, I made a post on Twitter about needing to play for Game Boy style indies. I got a great tip from cshPinecone of Indie Game Collective about the game BIOTA from "small bros." It's a shmup--aka shoot 'em up.
