JUEGOS RANCHEROS’ FISTFUL OF INDIES: JANUARY 2014

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.

No Brakes Valet

Developer: Captain Games | Platform: iPhone/iPad | Get it: App Store

“…the latest from frequent Fantastic Arcade visitor & Enviro-Bear creator, this has been out on Ouya for a bit now, but has just been released as an expanded iOS version that has — amongst other things — a same-device multiplayer mode, which makes this easily the new definitive version….”

Titan Souls

Developer: Mark Foster, David Fenn, Andrew Gleeson | Platform: Web/Windows | Get it: Here

“…next up are a few games from the most recent Ludum Dare competition, starting with this one, a super atmospheric tiny action game that draws a lot of inspiration from games like Shadow of the Colossus. It’s a touch TOO hard, but is a very solid accomplishment for a 3-day game jam.”

Go Long!!

Developer: Andrew Brophy | Platform: Windows | Get it: Here

“… my favorite game from this year’s Ludum Dare, another tiny game that is, in a sense, a sports game, but is more about the Parappa-esque inner monologue of this would-be child sports star, psyching himself up for his big performance. It’s super ridiculous and basically totally pointless, but also kind of one of the funniest games i’ve played in a while.”

Become A Great Artist In Just 10 Seconds

Developer: Andi Mcc & Michael Brough | Platform: Windows/Mac | Get it: Here

“…somewhat a parody of Art Academy-type games where you’re given basically zero time at all to replicate or create a work of 2D art, all of which ends up looking like what you see on the left here & all of which is saved out and sharable. This game has come up again this month because someone’s started a twitter bot that generates and shares pieces of art 4 times a day — the whole thing’s a super interesting little statement.”

TRIHAYWBFRFYH

Developer: Connor Sherlock | Platform: Windows/Mac | Get it: Here

“…’The Rapture Is Here and You Will Be Forcibly Removed from Your Home’ is a ‘just-walking’ type game loosely based on a number of HP Lovecraft stories, which gives you exactly 20 minutes to explore a dead landscape as this unknowable terrifying darkness spreads across the sky — even with nothing much to do in the world, as a little tone-poem type experiment, it’s super interesting and effecting…”

The Room Two

Developer: Fireproof Games | Platform: iPad | Get it: App Store

“…I came sort of late to these games, but totally understand why they became instant hits — the production values & atmosphere are through the roof for what is essentially a series of little puzzle boxes to poke at & snap open. Both of these (including the original) are well worth picking up if you haven’t already.”

Longest Night

Developer: Infinite Ammo & Scott Benson | Platform: Windows/Mac/Linux | Get it: Here

“…the first little postcard type experience of the upcoming adventure Night In The Woods, the gist here is that you’re tracing out constellations in the sky & listening to the campfire conversations of the game’s main characters, and serves as a really beautiful little introduction to the world that they’re building…”

Ernesto

Developer: Daniel Benmergui | Platform: Web | Play it: Here

“…a super tiny but really mechanically interesting take on dungeon crawlers where you’re tracing out your path from entrance-to-exit through this randomized field of tokens, and, crucially, you can backtrack and re-route yourself at any time. This is still being tweaked & reworked even as we speak, but is already super worth your time….”

Cubic Space

Developer: Adam Saltsman & Dose One | Platform: Web | Play it: Here

“…another similarly tiny but insanely replayable sci-fi puzzle game all based on randomized dice that have you fighting through six sectors of alien invaders by smart use of your ship’s lasers and shields. It’s a really beautiful balance of strategy & randomness & was instantly one of my favorite games of last year…”

Samurai Gunn

Developer: Teknopants | Platform: Windows | Get it: Here

“…one of the most exhilarating and stylish multiplayer games in recent memory & a game that literally makes you feel cool to play.”