Month: August 2021

by Jonny’s Games.

I feel like comedy and horror have a lot in common. Is this just me? A lot of it is that both genres have a lot of carefully-timed empty space where you’re waiting for something to happen (or dreading it). But it’s about set-up as well – they’re both genres where someone embarks on a plan that’s obviously a bad idea, that’s clearly going to end badly, where all you can do is put a pillow up to your face and say “I can’t watch this anymore, tell me when it’s over”. I think this is why you get so much horror that ends up being unintentionally funny.

I really enjoyed this game. Though, while it’s all very scary, it always feels like less of a jump scare and more of a punchline.

[Download for Windows (itch.io)]

by Ivan Zonotti’s MyMadnessWorks.

I just came across this really nice platformer from back in May that I missed – it’s a new game from the creator of Imscared and FIREWORK.

Memorial Pillage is a self-described “love letter to CORE’s Tomb Raider”, and focuses on the kind of weighty movement you don’t see in a lot of platformers anymore. Your movement has inertia – how far you jump depends on how fast you’re moving. Cool!

Over the last decade or so, it feels like indie platformers have settled on a kind-of “correct” way to do things, so it’s refreshing to play something that pulls in a different direction, and takes inspiration from places less explored.

Two quick notes for this one:

• There’s an “optional” tutorial accessible from the main menu that really shouldn’t be optional, since it explains a couple of non-standard control things that are important. TLDP; you can drop through platforms by double tapping down, and if you press CTRL it slows down time.
• Let me spare you some rage: you can’t walk into spikes from the side, or climb up onto a platform that has spikes on it. That place where you’re trying to do that? You can just jump right over them!

[Download for Windows (itch.io)]

by Goblin Grotto.

Dread the Rabbit is a cleverly designed and very accessible roguelike. More than that, it’s one of those games that just feels really nice to play, because so much thought has gone into how it looks and sounds and feels to play from moment to moment.

Cohesive, is the word I’d use to describe it.

It’s got more of a casual pace than many games in the genre – runs are long, and they can take a while to ramp up. But once they get going, they get really, really interesting. I had a lot of fun playing this!

[Download for Windows (itch.io)]

(once again, via @itchio‘s twitter account!)

by Kyle Horwood.

You’re the security guard to some sort of horrifying PS1 research facility. Check people’s number plates, Papers Please style, to decide whether or not they’re allowed in.

A playthrough takes about 10 minutes, and I promise nothing is going to jump out and scare you. I definitely said “fuck this!” out loud and tried to leave at about the 8 minute mark, though.

[Download for Windows (itch.io)]

(via itch.io’s twitter account, which has recently gotten really good at highlighting interesting new games on the site!)