It Belongs In An Ancient Ruin is a creation of a team of several DigiPen students that is definitely worth checking out. As a fan of both Indiana Jones and platformers, I enjoyed the time I spent with the game. The premise is a pretty simple twist on the oft-uttered phrase, “It belongs in a museum!” by Dr. Jones. Instead of grave robbing and displaying the artifacts for all to see, Pennsylvania Smith must spelunk into several well guarded museums and return the artifacts to their not so rightful place.

I’m pretty sure the Mona Lisa didn’t spawn in a dusty ruin somewhere, but that’s part of the charm! Nevertheless, if you enjoy platformers and Dr. Jones, definitely give this one a go. The gameplay is simple but enjoyable and it works with a 360 controller if you happen to have one of those (you should). Still, I chuckle at the name of the chosen protagonist, as not but a few days earlier I started Dungeons of Dredmor with an Archaeologist character named Arizona Smith. Ahh, small world indeed. Go download it!

Hungry Sumo is a browser game by Ninja Kiwi wherein you hover your cursor over your sumo(s) to make them rapidly consume rice so as to become bigger and stronger than your opponents. Each time you bump into an opponent, both of you reduce in size, and if the size difference is great enough, the smaller will succumb to the larger. It’s important to not be feeding your sumo when they collide with an opponent, however, as this will instantly cause them to burst and become an opponent, or cause you to lose, depending on how many sumos you have remaining.

Because of the growth mechanic, the game feels similar to Osmos in terms of playstyle, but the overall atmosphere is very different, for obvious reasons. And as you progress through the levels, new enemies are incorporated, such as ninjas that hit harder than your standard sumo, and statues which can’t be affected by anything, but will turn your sumos into statues if you bump into them while eating.

Hungry Sumo is simple entertainment at its finest, and the ridiculous factor is a welcome one.

In all seriousness, however, I’m a big fan of time waster games. Desktop Dungeons is a perfect example of this, but this week’s Free Game Friday takes simple coffee break time wasting to a whole new level.

Though Ashley so graciously covered this year’s Ludum Dare competition just a few weeks ago, I simply couldn’t resist talking about Dungeon Runners. It’s true that there’s a rich cornucopia of games that come out of the competition, but the sheer simplicity and near-roguelike quality of Dungeon Runners has kept me playing it all week.

Dungeon Runners gives you five lives in the form of five little adventurers, each taking their turn bounding along through a maze which is covered in the fog of war. The only controls are your arrow keys, which allow you to direct your character at each intersection. Battles are automatic, and as you explore, you find keys to open locked doors, and armor which increases the amount of beatings you can withstand.

Each character that ventures into the dungeon is greeted by an old man, whom utters this year’s Ludum Dare theme, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this!” before handing you a random item which offers that character some sort of advantage during their time in the dungeon. This could be something that gives you the upper hand against a certain type of monster, or it could be something like a torch which increases the distance you can see as you uncover the dungeon.

The game is about as simple as they come, and while it’s nowhere near as involved as Desktop Dungeons, it’s definitely just as entertaining a way to distract yourself from whatever it is you’re actually supposed to be doing.

Since Sarah’s out of commission while she gets a new computer, you’re left with me and my Free Game Friday picks. Do you know what I like to play? Platformers. In case it hasn’t been terribly evident in the last few Free Game Fridays, here’s a brand spankin’ new platformer to feast your eyes upon.

Talbot’s Odyssey is currently being developed by MiniBoss and recently she offered the game’s open beta up for free download on IndieDB. You play as Talbot, a diminutive monster creature who lacks any special ability aside from flight. While the premise for the game sounds pretty bland, the puzzle elements involved in getting Talbot though the levels are actually quite fun. The artwork is also highly enjoyable and reminds me of Kydos Studios’ Soul.

Currently you can guide Talbot through six areas as he collects various ingredients for his Evil Lord, with plenty of humor sprinkled between in the cut scenes. The game controls with the keyboard which is always unfortunate, since I’m attached to my 360 controller. So, what are you waiting for? Check out the trailer below and then go fetch those ingredients for the Evil Lord by clicking here to download the latest demo.

This past Monday marked the end of the 20th Ludum Dare challenge, where indie devs are given 48 hours to create a game around a common theme. The theme for this competition was, “It’s Dangerous to go Alone! Take this!“; which is a phrase that has become a common hallmark for roguelikes and RPGs. I expected to see quite a few games that were reminiscent of these themes, but playing through a few of the games has really surprised me. Overall, there were 352 entries that you can rate until May 23rd, when the winner will be chosen.

Highlights

I haven’t gotten to look through all 352 entries personally, but I did check out a few titles and I was amazed at the creativeness of several of them. Some are platforming adventures as is to be expected, while others are surrealistic experiences that barely qualify as a game. Of the few titles I had a chance to check out, some of them that I can recommend are Appy 1000mg, Clone Wolf, Diamond Hollow, Drum Hammer Dig, Grave Robbers, and Gemini.

Of the six games listed, the two I found most intriguing were Appy 1000mg and Gemini. In Appy 1000mg, you control a small character that wakes up with amnesia in a brightly colored world. As you explore, you soon find that the world isn’t as safe as you thought it was, and not all is as it appears to be.

Gemini is more of your standard platforming affair, but the hook here is that you control two characters. Gem and ini. Clever naming for the human and robot protagonists aside, I would love to see this game developed further. The controls are a little tricky to pick up at first, but using Gem and ini together to get through the levels is amazing fun.

If you’re interested in more Ludum Dare goodness, head on over to the main competition page and check out all the games that have been entered. If you feel so inclined, rate the games you play and maybe one of your favorites will be the winner of Ludum Dare 20!

At the beginning of last month, I wrote a preview for an upcoming indie game called Hack, Slash, Loot. It’s a neat little roguelike that sits comfortably between not quite as short as Desktop Dungeons and not quite as involved as Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup. The build that I played was an early demo build the creator Dave Williamson released to a select few individuals to garner their feedback. He had a nice form that I graciously filled out once my romp with the game was completed, and now you can do the same.

Dave has released an open beta of the game for anyone who is interested in trying it out. There are many noted improvements in this build over the previous build that I played, including the ability to select the character you want to play, a whole new class to check out, and an improved item detection system that makes the game a little easier to understand.

After having spent just a few minutes with the game, I can tell Dave has been hard at work over the past month and given a few more months, there’s no telling what we’ll find within the bowels of Hack, Slash, Loot. There’s currently no option to pre-order, as one of the feedback points Dave is seeking from people who play the demo is the price they are willing to pay for the game. If you’re interested in trying out the demo and giving Dave your honest feedback about the game, you can download it here. The questions he asks are pretty standard and shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes of your time to email your answers after you’ve played.

I recommend reading the How-To guide before you get started, as it will help you understand the interface and some of the item enchantments you’ll come across while you’re playing.

Sarah and I realized trying to keep up with the news side of things on the indie scene is pretty much impossible with two people who aren’t going at it as a full-time job. We both love the scene, but sometimes its stressful trying to sort through what’s newsworthy and what’s not. That’s why we’re starting the WeekInd Review, where we post several short snippets to links across the web so you get the low down on what happened this week and a bit of a teaser for possible podcast topics.

Project Zomboid Hit By Google Checkout Woes – The poor fellows from Indie Stone Studio have been dealt a major blow by Google when they received an email that informed them of their account freezing due to the dubious use of the word “donations”. PayPal had the same reaction but the issue was resolved. Check out Project Zomboid, the zombie survival RPG and pre-order using PayPal for now.

Goblin Camp 0.15 Released – The Dwarf Fortress inspired clone has received an update that adds fortifications, re-tunes how wind spreads fire to make it a little less deadly, and autosaves are now featured to help you keep from losing too much progress in your games should anything go awry. Go check it out now!

Box Knight iOS Game Now Available – This cute little puzzle platformer makes me wish the developers would support something outside of iOS devices, so here’s to hoping. The game looks as though Minecraft and ilomilo got together and had a puzzle baby, and there’s a demo for you to try before you buy.

Grief is a puzzle platformer by Magnesium Ninja Studios that puts you in control of a small girl with a wide range of emotions that you must use to get through the levels. The developers call it optimism and pessimism and I suppose this is an accurate description, but there are also other emotions at play that can alter the world, such as confusion.

The game plays similar to a 2D Portal in that you walk into an orange glowing area to enter the optimistic side of the level, where the main character can jump higher and step on golden platforms, but is unable to crawl. Likewise, entering the pessimistic bluish purple portal will wisk you away to the land of dreary blues and shorter jumps, but with the ability to crawl.

The whole game is 20 levels long and features an ingrained tutorial that will teach you how to play as you start. Controls are typical WASD plus K to activate portals and doors. To turn off the music and sound effects, you can use M and N respectively. The entire game is a Game Maker project and is thoroughly polished. It should take even a seasoned puzzle solver at least an hour to trek through the levels, and you’ll want to finish it in one sitting, since there’s currently no save function. You can download Grief here.

If you’re an avid Minecraft fan, you’ve probably seen the Terraria preview that notch posted about on Twitter a few days ago. It’s an amazing 2D survival RPG that feels like it draws a lot of inspiration from Minecraft, but with significant differences that warrant a look at how the game plays. Thankfully, the game’s creators have supplied just that with this extensive Let’s Play.

This is an eight part video, so be ready to sit here for a while. In the video you’ll see the standard gathering of resources and crafting items, but some of the unique features that the developers talk about really intrigue me. Highlights include:

• A mana system using fallen stars
• New monsters such as worms and eyeballs
• Blood Moon phase where zombies can break down doors
• Grappling hooks
• New layers based on depth with different biomes

To see everything the developers talk about, be sure to watch the full Let’s Play. If you have any questions for the developers, or suggestions that you’d like to see in Terraria, let us know and we’ll get into contact with the devs and get them answered for you!

You’re probably looking at the main 2G1G site right now and thinking, “Puzzle Bots? Bob Came In Pieces? These aren’t real games.” While the indie developers of those games probably have a few things to say to you, a student team in Iran has heard your pleas for more violence, more blood, more gore.. and they give you Garshasp.

The story behind the game is something you would expect from the God of War team, and indeed the visuals seem to be heavily drawn from the hack and slash Greek fighter, but the team is adamant that the game will provide more than just an indie take on a successful franchise. In fact, Garshasp will start with a few signature moves, but as players progress he’ll receive new weaponry and unlock powerful combos that will devastate foes. The story is based heavily on Persian mythology and given the main character’s appearance, it almost looks as though the team took The Prince from the Prince of Persia games and gave him a dose of Kratos’ rage.

The game has been in development for about three years now and is gearing up for a release on Steam next month. As for fans who are drooling and hoping to see Garshasp on consoles, that won’t likely happen. In a recent interview, the team explained that because of certain sanctions placed against Iran, they are unable to apply for dev kits that would allow them to develop the game for consoles. It looks as though the game will be download only for now, but if you’re interested in checking out more shots from the game, you can do so here.