Pretend you are an IGF judge: Part 1

03/11/2009 in News

The Independent Games Festival 2010 has just announced the list of 306 games which are going to be in the competition this year. I’ve decided to put together a list of all the games which are currently publicly available, either commercially, freeware, web, beta, or just as a demo, and compile links to how you can play them all in one convenient place. Then you can post your impressions of them in the comments, and we can label things as being award-worthy or not.

I’m going to spread out these over a few weeks to give you guys all time to play them (and myself time to collect all the links), then do one big post with them all collected in one place.

7 Nights
Zombie survival horror-FPS that is played straight from the browser (although you’ll need to install a plug in to do so).
Web

78641
From what I can tell, this is a game about doing things, with some pretty nice spritework.
Freeware

A new zero
Multiplayer vehicular shooty game, procedural cleverness.
Freeware

AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard for Gravity
Game about jumping from high up to low down, and scoring points whilst doing so. I really like this one.
Commercial with a free demo

Afflux
Puzzle game, where you use the wind to solve the puzzles.
Web

AI Wars: Fleet Command
Large scale space based strategy game, with thousands of units, and elements of various genres.
Commercial with a free demo

Air Attack
Web based game where you have to defend yourself against an onslaught of flying enemies.
Web

Algodoo
I have a fiddle with the demo of this a while ago, and it is pretty great technology, but limited by my own lack of imagination. It’s a 2D environment simulator, where you can create things out of a wide range of materials.
Commercial with a free demo

Altitude
Multiplayer 2D flying killing game, with a bit of a worms vibe to it.
Web/Freeware

Another Small Favour
Point and click adventure, with a very odd look.
Web

ASCII Portal
What it says on the tin, a puzzle game based on Valve’s Portal, but displayed in ASCII.
Freeware

ATC-SIM
Web based air traffic control simulator. What will they think of next?
Web

Attack of the 50ft Robot!
Digipen project, that Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu says “I loved it!” about.
Freeware

Auditorium
Brilliant audio puzzle game, simple, but very clever. Looks and sounds great too.
Web

Aztaka
Sidescrolling RPG with brilliant graphics.
Commercial with a free demo

Block Breakers
Another Digipen project (that’ll probably be a running theme here actually), this one is a multiplayer game that looks a little like bomberman.
Freeware

BlueHeart
A facebook game using unity player? Oh my.
Facebook

bodyGUARD
The game of the film Innerspace, it’s sort of like a shmup inside a body.
Web

Broken Brothers Deluxe
Great looking strategy game, with red, black and greyscale graphics.
Free beta

Bubblooba Online
Multiplayer take on Puzzle Bobble.
Web

BumbleTales
A “Match 3” game with a lot of story and voiceover.
Commercial

Capoeira Legends: Chapter 1
3D action game, set in 19th century Rio de Janeiro.
Commercial with a free demo

Cease Fire
Sidescrolling beat ’em up that appears to use digitized sprites based on actors.
Commercial with a free demo

Cephalopods Co-op Cottage Defence
Coop tower defence-esque game, that the dev said “Oh and anyone expecting a tower defence game may be disappointed, it’s closer to a co-op single screen 2D Zelda sort of game with a touch of Left 4 Dead.”
Freeware (IGF submission build)

Chromania
Colour based puzzle game.
Commercial with a free demo

City Rain
Billed as Sim City meets Tetris, it actually reminds me more of Wetrix.
Commercial with a free demo

Closure
Gorgeous monochrome 2D puzzle platformer with an interesting premise. If something isn’t lit up, it isn’t there.
Web demo version

Cogs
Very polished 3D sliding tile puzzle game, with a brilliant style.
Commercial with a free demo

Color Symphony
Sidescrolling platformer with a colour based puzzle element.
Freeware

ColorZ
Game where you have to move around absorbing viruses that are the same colour as you.
Wiiware

Comet Crash
Tower defence game with dynamic AI, and lots of enemies on screen at once.
PS3/PSN

Constellation
Space Strategy board game, designed for the PC.
Freeware

Cube Escape
Colour matching game that appears to use a motion based controller for the PC.
Freeware

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble!
Board game for the PC with High School girls. In trouble.
Commercial with a free demo

Dead Wake
Game where you have to kill zombies.
Early version

Decades
Action puzzle game that also features trivia.
Commercial with a free demo. Also available for Facebook, iPhone and Android.

Desaturation
Horizontal SHMUP based on Chinese traditional painting.
Freeware

Don’t look back
Very eerie 2D platformer that has a complete change of gameplay towards the end. I really like this.
Web

Don’t Shit yourself
An alternative text based survival horror game.
Web

Dreamside Maroon
Another Digipen project, this is an exploration game, where the player can build a vine to the moon
Freeware

Ecolpit
A very odd looking SHMUP with abstract graphics
Demo

Endless Frogs
A platformer where puzzles are solved by frogs mating.
Web

Enviro-Bear 2000
“Who is driving the car? A bear is driving the car! How can that be?!”
Freeware

Eon
A puzzle game on an intergalactic scale
Web

Eversion
Seemingly simple and happy platformer, this game hides a secret.
Freeware

That’s A-E done. Enjoy, and be sure to let me know what you think of any of them.