JUEGOS RANCHEROS’ FISTFUL OF INDIES: NOVEMBER 2013

Every month, as part of the regular monthly meetings of the Austin, TX independent game community JUEGOS RANCHEROS, we do a very casual & chatty rundown of the ten or so games from the previous month for the audience, to give people — especially those curious onlookers from outside the indie community itself — a look at what they may have missed. The featured games are both local and global, and both indie and, on occasion, a bit-bigger-budget — what binds them together is simply that they’re all amazing.

In keeping with the tongue-in-tobacco-packed-cheek tone, we call these run-downs A Fistful of Indies, which are presented here on Venus Patrol for your reference, each fully-annotated, -linked, and off-the-cuff blurbed, in addition to their home on the JUEGOS RANCHEROS site.

Luxuria Superbia

Developer: Tale of Tales | Platform: iOS/Android/Windows/Mac/Linux | Get it: Here

“…a game that’s hard to play without blushing — an abstract but inarguably sexualized experience that sees you bringing color back to flowers and, as they say, a celebration simply of ‘touch, pleasure and joy.'”

Kami

Developer: State of Play | Platform: iOS | Get it: App Store

“… a game in which you touch these little squares of paper here in order to change their color until the entire field is unified, in as few moves as possible. Beautifully tactile & super smartly done & one of the best little iPhone puzzlers I’ve played in quite a while.”

The Stanley Parable

Developer: Galactic Cafe | Platform: Windows | Get it: Steam

“… one of those games where you have to be a bit annoying & say that the joy’s in the discovery and that you should go in fresh -— I’ll just say that it’s smart and self-aware and bears repeat play and deep discovery.”

140

Developer: Carlsen Games | Platform: Windows/Mac | Get it: Here

“… at its core, it’s a super stripped down and simple platforming game, but it’s also entirely synced to its soundtrack, so that every action happens on a beat or along with a melody. As you can see here, it’s just as much about beautiful abstract shape and color and form — this is one of the most interesting games I’ve played this year.”

Nuclear Throne

Developer: Vlambeer | Platform: Windows | Get it: Steam

“…a procedurally generated action game where each of these characters has different strengths and weaknesses that they use as they fight their way through a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It’s definitely quite challenging but is every bit as rewarding…”

Desktop Dungeons

Developer: QCF Design | Platform: Windows/Mac | Get it: Steam

“…a game I first recommended all the way back in August 2011 when they’d just begun the process of fleshing out a small idea into a big full production, it’s just been officially released for PC & Mac. An incredibly smart design that sits somewhere between Minesweeper and a dungeon crawler — more puzzle game than RPG, it’s incredibly fun to play in short little bursts, if you can tear yourself away after you start.”

Device 6

Developer: Simogo | Platform: iPhone/iPad | Get it: App Store

“… without a doubt the best game Simogo has ever produced, it’s an adventure game inspired by cult-hit TV show The Prisoner which sees you moving through text as if it were an actual location, reading through and manipulating the description of your surroundings. It’s got so much style & atmosphere — absolutely one of my highest recommendations.”

Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective

Developer: Arcane Kids | Platform: Web | Play it: Here

“… an unofficial re-imagining of the original PlayStation game Bubsy, which is renowned for being one of the worst games of that entire era, only here instead of platforming through alien worlds, you’re going to visit an art museum to see the work of contemporary light artist James Turrell. There’s so much going on in this game that I again super don’t want to spoil, so I’ll just say that this is one of the funniest games I’ve played in ages & it made me laugh out loud a lot…”

Drei

Developer: Etter | Platform: iPad | Get it: App Store

“… in somewhat the same vein as a Vectorpark game like Windosill or Feed the Head, this is a game about simple, beautiful colorful shapes in an incredible tactile space, where your only goal is to stack these primitives until they reach halfway up the screen. In some cases you’re doing this on your own, but eventually you’re also collaborating with other people online as well — this is a fantastically beautiful & engaging little experience.”

Fjords

Developer: Kyle Reimergartin | Platform: Windows/Mac | Get it: Here

“…an amazingly alluring & mysterious little game. It’s reminiscent of an old Commodore 64 game, but one that gives you an array of tools which allow you to you tear the whole world to ribbons, to fall through the seams of its levels & glitch through the code itself — everything is permitted & supported. I love this game to pieces & think you’ll dig exploring in it as much as I do.”