Free Indie Game of the Day!! (may not be every day)

So I do this on nearly every forum I frequent at some point. Honestly, I'm surprised it took me this long to do it here. I will try to post a free indie game every day for as long as I can. I try to go for what I think to be some of the higher quality freeware games. The majority of the games will be downloadable, but there will be flash games as well. You guys feel free to comment or even post games of your own if you like.

001. Tale of Maledict

Trailer/teaser:


Developer: Hugo Desmeules
Platform: PC
Release: 2011

Tale of Maledict is a metroidvania style game. It reminds me a little bit of Limbo and a little bit Braid, I'll explain in a bit. You play as a young boy who receives a mysterious gift which you assume is from your father, who has been gone for quite some time. During the night an insect crawls out of this gift and into the mouth of your mother, making her very ill. Now you are on a quest to find your father to help find a cure for your mother.

The game reminds me of Limbo for obvious reasons, the graphical style. Not just that though, the darker story as well. Very early in the game you are given a weapon, a brooch, kind of resembles a stick or a wand. This brooch has the ability to make a shadow of your former self which you can return to. This ability is what reminded me of Braid. You can quick cast a shadow of your former self which remains idle, move forward for a few seconds, then return back to your former self, pretty neat stuff.

The biggest complaint I remember people having was the short range of your weapon. I didn't think it was such a big deal. If you stick around for a couple boss fights, you do later get a throwing weapon with some range. The graphics perhaps could have used more detail, the dev however said it was intentional so he could add more content. There is quite a bit of content in the game: 10 different boss fights, several different areas to explore, and many power-ups to collect.

Download:
http://www.taleofmaledict.com/

[Zorder]

Soli wrote:

The game reminds me of Limbo for obvious reasons, the graphical style.

I agree with you, and I really like how it looks. It looks neat for a freeware game, I'll give it a try eventually.

[PlayerReview]

Looks really nice for a F2P.. i usually keep my eyes on these and rarely see one with such a great concept and music. Graphics are very limbo-esque, but what wasn't at that time?

Good thread - thx Soli!

I`ll check it out as well.
Thx for the effort to post Soli

Because I'm still awake and technically it is the next day...

002. Dead Cyborg

Trailer:


Greenlight: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... d=92960780
Developer: Endre Barath
Platform: PC, Linux, Mac coming soon
Release: 2013

So Dead Cyborg is actually divvied up into episodes, and just the other day episode two was released. There are going to be five different episodes I believe. It's a first person adventure game taking place in a post apocalyptic cyber punk world. What the developer was shooting for I believe was a combination of old school text adventure games with more modern graphics and what not.

The objective or goal of the game is just to figure out what happened. I'm not sure if the character has amnesia or what's going on, I'm pretty sure that's the case though. You just wake up in a bunker from some cryostatis sleeping tube thinga-majig and you're off. It's obvious something terrible happened, so you set off solving all sorts of puzzles and what not to figure out what exactly. That's all I'm saying so I don't spoil much.

Really a fantastic free game, each episode takes 2-3 hours to complete, depending on your puzzle skills. Also it should be mentioned that even though the game is free to download and play, it is a pay if you like model. What that means is the developer would really appreciate a few dollars if you like the game. Plus he set aside goals see, and he won't make the next episode if he doesn't reach his goal, so if you have a few bucks to spare and you enjoy the first two episodes don't hesitate to donate, you'll be helping episode three get made.

One very minor complaint, the developer, well, English is not his first language, and it shows sometimes. I remember a few errors in the first episode, haven't played enough of the second to notice yet. Very minor gripe though.

Download:
http://deadcyborg.com/index.html

(Be sure to play episode one first if you haven't beaten it already!)

[Zorder]

+1 for my backlog, I hope Soli doesn't end up giving me enough good reasons to fill up my hard drive. That said, please continue!

Soli wrote:

Because I'm still awake and technically it is the next day...

002. Dead Cyborg

Great game! Everyone that likes point and click should try it out, its very good.

I started posting free games back in September 2008 and managed to post every day together with several friends every day for over 2 years. It became a bit of a bind especially as the forum we posted on started to allow images, so our posts became a little more elaborate and took up a lot more time. Some days we'd post upwards of 20 games, mainly over special occasions like Christmas, Easter and the anniversary of the start of the project.


Back in 2010 we decided rather than post a game every day (well, mainly weekdays because the site I posted on called the giveawayoftheday posts free commercial arcade games every weekend) we'd only post games when we were in the mood. The project, which we named Good Games to Grab is still live, but maybe only one or two games are posted weekly now.

There's been at least 2000 games posted via the project since its inception, that encompass indie, general arcade, abandonware and even AAA games that have been converted to freeware by their developers.

A synopsis listing many of the games can be accessed via the main page of the forums via the following link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4534

That lists in alphabetical order all the games that have been posted (up to week 100). We are presently on Week 227 (all posts start with the week number then Good Games to Grab then the name of the game plus the genre). I had a helper who used to add games to the synopsis as they were posted, but nothing has been added from week 101 to the present. All games can be found in the game discussion forums via the following link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/forum/17

There's almost 100 pages to sift through, but its easy to spot the threads that contain the free games because of the title. We used to call it Free games for the day, but asked the community for a more suitable name. Games to Grab was chosen. I have been slowly adding the games to the synopsis, but its dreary work.

Some of the earlier posts may need updating as some links no longer work, but new links can easily be found once you know the name of the game.

[mgnade]

This is my new favorite thread

Meant to add this to the end of my last post:

By the way today's free game via the game giveaway site is Alice’s Magical Mahjong an excellent family game with a decent solitaire Mahjong game that comes with a level editor. There's two modes, the main game that's a combination of Mahjong and HOG (very basic) revolving around Lewis Carrolls Alice in wonderland story. The second mode accessible via the extras menu is the same Mahjong game but without the HOG. The level editor iss really easy to use.

You can read my review of the game HERE where you'll also find a link to download the game. It has to be downloaded and installed by 8am (GMT) on Sunday, when a new game will take its place. At the moment we only get free games at weekends. I'm not allowed to tell you what tomorrows game is, but I can say its one of those well made farm related games.

If you miss todays giveaway you can still get it for free from MyPlayCity. Do be aware that during installtion you need to uncheck all the boxes that are presented otherwise you'll find a new toolbar installed to your internet browser as well as your home page changed and even your provider. these can always be reverted, but its an annoyance. MyPlayCity are quite aggressive with this feature at the moment, but they do cycle through different installation formats every several months. Gametop, FreeGamePick and Jenkat games aren't as aggressive, but don't have as many games to choose from. MyPlaycity have over 700 games including some fairly recent releases. Basically they work on the principle of paying the developer for each game downloaded and they get income from advertising etc. Oh yeah, all of these free game sites do open your browser when you close the game down, but it's innocuous. Just click the x and its closed. All the games I've ever downloaded from these sites have been free of malware. I tend to purchase those i really like just to stop the annoyances.

I think Gamehouse still have a game giveaway every day, but their games are stuffed with advertising that pops up every few levels and Alawar also have a free game giveaway (about once a month. though they also contribute to the game giveaway project), but you can only get the free games if you install their free gamebox. Finally you'll find over 120 free games on Desura, again, you need to install the Desura client to be able to install a lot of them, but some are available as free standing downloads; just follow the developer link that's situated to the top right of the games Desura page.

Oh yeah, there's at least 5 indie bundles live at the moment, each of which you can get for a few dollars each. I've linked to each deal and listed the games you'll get. they come with a combination of Steam, Desura and DRM free copies of the games. some have at least two (i.e. steam plus DRM, or Desura plus DRM):=. Some end in a few days, others have got a couple of weeks to run. We always post details of these bundles over in the game discussion forums so you can always check and repost them here.

The Bundle Stars: Fire and Ice bundle includes Tiny Troopers, Adams Venbture 1 & 2, plus one more to come later all Steam keys. Airport Control sim, Darkness Within, Darkness Within 2, Firefighter plus another unnamed title all Desura keys. Also If you missed previous bundles they are still available at a slightly higher price, but still bargains}

The Humble Bundle with android 5 includes Beat Hazard Ultra, Dungeon Defenders + All DLC, Dynamite Jack, NightSky, Solar 2, Super Hexagon all Steam keys plus drm free copies

The Groupees Digital Game Factory bundle includes Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror, Commandos 2: Men of Courage, Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines, Commandos: Beyond the Call of Duty, Broken Sword - Director's Cut, Commandos 3: Destination Berlin all Steam keys plus Praetorians and Imperial Glory DRM free (I must have about 5 copies of the Commandos series as they seem to have figured in quite a few bundles plus I still have the original discs)

The The Indie Gala Flash bundle includes Miner Wars Arena, Miner Wars 2081, Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon, Paranormal, All with Steam keys and apart from Miners Wars 2081 a DRM free copy ass well. also DRM free are Pathologic and The Abbey with music from the game Paranormal

The The Indie Royale Debut bundle includes Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, McDROID, Master of Alchemy - Rise of the Mechanologists, CloudPhobia, Wimp: Who Stole My Pants?, 6180 the moon, (this one was free on Desura the other day)

Glad people are liking this. Tomorrows game won't be until after 8pm est, I work up until then. So many good free games to get through, heh.

003. Maldita Castilla

Trailer:


Developer: Locomalito
Platform: PC
Release: 2012

Maldita Castilla, my personally favorite game by Locomalito. A lot of people will argue that a certain shmup he made in the past is the best work he's done (It will remain nameless only because I want to use it in the future). I won't argue that he put a lot more time and effort into said game, I'm just not a big fan of shmups.

Locomalitos games though, they aren't just polished, they are spit shined. All of his games are just so well made, Maldita Castilla being no exception. It's an arcade action platformer that pays homage to old school games like Ghost 'n' Goblins, Rygar, and Shinobi. In it you play as Don Ramiro and you must expel the evil that has overcome the kingdom of Castile.

There is about one to three hours of gameplay here - depending on your skill, six stages, and fourteen different bosses. It's pretty tough, but not overly so. There's also 4 different endings depending on your merits and secrets found, so there's your replay value. I can't say enough good things about this game, can't think of much bad really, except it is short and I kind of wished there was a stage selection after you beat a stage. Really great game though, I highly recommend it to anyone who was a fan of old school platformers.

Download:
http://www.locomalito.com/

This is best thread.

I'd like to chip in with Nitronic Rush

This is a 'survival racing game', which sounds silly but actually makes a lot of sense when you play it. It was produced by a group of students from Digipen and was so successful they decided to kickstart a spiritual sequel, which is coming along nicely.

Nitronic Rush, good stuff. I was going to get to it eventually. And yes I did back Distance, looking forward to it!!

004. The Spirit Engine II

Some Gameplay:


Developer: Mark Pay
Platform: PC
Release: 2008

I guess there isn't a trailer or anything for this game, so gameplay will have to do. So The Spirit Engine II is the spiritual successor to The Spirit Engine released way back in 03. You don't have to play the first one at all, the stories don't connect, and the sequel just improves in every which way upon the fist. I honestly couldn't get into the first one at all after playing the second.

I consider TSEII to be one of my best finds to this day, I didn't know what to expect when I downloaded it, and man, it was just so good, pleasantly surprised I was. It's an RPG that you can play, pretty much the whole game, using the mouse. It's got a deep story involving politics, religion, war, and all that other good stuff. Where it really shines is the combat though. It's just so fun to fight, it can get real hectic too. You have to decide what characters need to use what abilities, how to position your guys, it's just a lot of fun, take my word for it.

You know when this game was originally released, it was commercial. Thing is it didn't sell well at all, so the developer, Mark Pay, decided to just make it freeware. After playing it, this game was well worth the 15 dollar asking price at the time, it's a shame it didn't do well, it really is. The game is divvied up into 9 chapters, and if I recall correctly, my first playthrough took me just over 15 hours, which maybe is a tad short for an RPG, but every minute is engrossing.

A few complaints I had, nothing major really: There is a lot of reading, as does a lot of RPGs, this one just seemed to have more I guess, hah. That and it's really linear, no sidequest that I recall, except maybe one secret bossfight? Also a tiny bit of grinding, you can literally tell where the difficulty ramps up and you know you have to grind a bit. Still an amazing game that I had a lot of fun with, and hey, it's going to be 5 years old soon. If you haven't given it a shot and you enjoy RPGs, I highly recommend that you do.

Download:
http://www.thespiritengine.com/

005. The Button Affair

Trailer:


Developer: Special Effect
Platform: PC, Mac
Release: 2013

So The Button Affair was released probably not even a month ago. It's completely free to download, but like Dead Cyborg above, the developers would like you to donate if you enjoy it, so again, if you have a few bucks to spare, do it up. The game itself is an autorunner, like Canabalt for those that have played that one. The screen is constantly scrolling and you're just hitting the arrow keys trying to dodge the obstacles as they come at you, pretty simple gameplay.

In The Button Affair you play as the womanizer Enzo Gabriel. Your quest is to steal The Button, a priceless jewel, from your arch nemesis Victor Meirelles, infinitely wealthy business tycoon. Pretty much a Robin Hood story, only I'm not sure if you plan on giving to the poor here. You'll be dodging countless lasers, bullets, pits, and other obstacles as you make your way through the stages. There are checkpoints in the game which is nice because you will die a lot, however in order to activate the checkpoint you must punch in an arrow combination, just to make it difficult.

Both the graphics and OST are stellar. It has a 1960s kind of vibe to it which is really cool. I for one was never all that good at the autorunner games, and this one especially. There seems to be a lot going on in the back and foreground that can easily distract you from whatever it is you are trying to avoid. I'm sure all of this is intentional, but man, I hit like every single trap in the first level, which you would think is suppose to be a tutorial or easier level anyways. The game is very well made though, the one complaint people are having is that it's too short, I wouldn't know, I haven't beaten it, or even played through the first stage... I'm going to make it a point to though eventually, if only to get a bit better at these types of games.

Download:
http://www.thebuttonaffair.com/

Soli wrote:

005. The Button Affair

I downloaded this a couple of days ago but haven't gotten around to trying it yet. Looked really nice!

The autorunner games can still be great if they're done well, but there have been so many iterations lately that a lot of them are pretty generic and boring. Like the style of this one though, and that alone sets it apart in my book.

EDIT:
I just finished it. It was entertaining, and the style is great, but it's very, very short. There are only three stages. Still, for what I paid (nothing), totally worth the play. I felt like James Bond's spanish cousin.

I'd like to pitch in again with Raptor Safari

Travel back in time to the age of dinosaurs, and collect fresh raptor meat for export to the present by any means!

Great physic, and an insane premise make this a hoot to play. You can also buy a bundle pack that has the HD edition of this game along with three other games. Unfortunately, 'Raptor HD' was never completed, but it does feature a time limitless explore mode, and controller support. It's a shame really, because the concept art was gorgeous.

006. Sutef

Trailer:


Developer: Ted Lauterbach
Platform: PC
Release: 2010

Oh man, Sutef, nearly forgot about this gem, which is why I decided to post it today. It's an amazing little puzzle platformer made a few years back by Ted Lautherbach. It's the sequel to the original Fetus, which was made for Compo 3, I believe it was one of those 7 day project things, so it's fairly short. Sutef expands greatly upon it, takes probably about 2 or so hours to beat depending on your puzzling skills.

In Sutef you play as a little blue guy who must escape the Abyss by pushing boxes around, avoiding lasers, pushing some switches and grappling stuff in order to reach the exits of each stage. The game contains five chapters, A, B, C, D, and F if I'm not mistaken, completely bypassing Chapter E. Curious why he did that? I think it's because he may be working on another sequel perhaps, entitled Chapter E. I could be wrong here, but I think I recall hearing something on twitter about it awhile back so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The story and lure behind this game is pretty crazy and in depth, nothing which I would even attempt to explain here. There are certain blogs and pages devoted to it. The atmosphere is gritty and dark, almost horror like, only it's not really all the scary. The gameplay itself it pretty simple and works well, the game saves itself after every level you complete. Some of the stages are pretty challenging and not always obvious. I've always enjoyed the puzzle platform genre, something about completing tougher stages without a guide or anything just makes you feel smarter, accomplished even. If you're into the puzzle platform genre than I can't recommend this game enough.

Download:
http://rottentater.com/sutef/

Soli wrote:

Oh man, Sutef, nearly forgot about this gem, which is why I decided to post it today.

I remember playing this. Really strange game. I also don't remember it being stupendously interesting or exciting, but I wasn't wasn't trying very hard.

[PlayerReview]

has anyone ever played roguelike Tales of Maj'Eyal? I saw a mention of it recently and with my huge backlog I was curious if anyone would recommend it?