From Indies with Love

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey lovely cutie,

There is a game I played at an event maybe two years ago & instantly fell IN LOVE with it. It’s Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.

This game is everything I love about a local multiplayer game: it’s challenging, extremely fun and you have to communicate very well with your partner to get through the levels & survive - because yeah, it can be pretty hard. The story is ADORABLE: some super awesome scientists built a machine which spreads the most awesome force in the whole universe - Love. The Ardor Reactor was protected by the League Of Very Empathetic Rescue Spacenauts - the Lovers (UGH SEE? SO CUTE!) but OH NOES!! The dark force of Anti-Love found a breach in the reactor and SHATTERED IT INTO PIECES. The Anti-Love is now taking over the galaxy and IT’S CHAOS. It’s in this chaos that you & your partner (or AI pet) come in - you have to find the missing pieces by defeating bosses (they are based on constellations <3) but before that you have to find and rescue your Lovers friends.

For doing that you have to pilot & control a spaceship - you have eight stations with different things including weapons, the engine, a shield, a canon and a map. Each player can control only one station at a time - if you play alone you also have to command your AI pet (and this is why it can be really difficult to play alone - too many things to do at the same time). You constantly have to move around the station to keep a good balance between protecting your ship, flying it and attacking enemies. You can also find cute gift boxes which contain different types of gems to add some more powers to your stations.

The soundtrack by Ryan Henwood is absolutely amazing. It gets you pretty psyched. It can get as intense as the gameplay and it fits super, super, super well with the game. You can listen to it on his bandcamp. The art is also really delightful - it’s just pure candy for the eye.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is an adorable yet challenging & amusing cooperative game. You can find it on Steam, Xbox One, PS4 & Switch!

(Awesome cover art by the amazing @justinchan!)

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey friend!

Sorry I haven’t written you in a while, I’ve been pretty busy, but that’s no good excuse.

One thing you may be happy about as a result is that I’ve been playing a LOT of new games, the best of which just may be Superhot, which is at the very least the most innovative first-person shooter I’ve played in years.

There are many amazing mechanics and minor features in Superhot that help it stand out from every other first-person shooter I’ve played, but the biggest is of course their main mechanic: time only moves when you move. If you stand still, time will move incredibly slow (I mean, bullets will *crawl* because they’re so slow) but it will never completely pause, forcing you to move if a bullet has your name on it. 

The real brilliance of Superhot is actually what this main mechanic enables for the user, like any brilliant gaming experience (Minecraft with deconstructing/constructing, Stanley Parable with narrative direction, The Witness with stacking puzzle logic, etc.)

You can use guns and melee weapons as intended; you can punch enemies or throw items at enemies to stagger them; staggered enemies toss anything they’re holding upwards into the air; you can swap bodies with enemies; bullets can ricochet off of each other; you can watch levels you complete in real-time after completing them;

All of this equals a gameplay experience that is as relatable to puzzle games as first-person shooters; the more you try and do the more danger you put yourself in and the more variable you need to deal with. It’s pure brilliance. This is the standard level experience:

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1) Player spawns, you punch an enemy directly in front of you, catch the pistol that they throw into the air; 2) turn around, there’s a bullet flying towards your face, briskly dodge to a side and shoot the enemy that fired it; 3) go around a corner and see two enemies running towards you; shoot one of the enemies and realize you’re out of ammo; 4) throw your gun at the second enemy who tosses their shotgun into the air, you catch the shotgun; 5) you turn around as another enemy comes through a door and prepares to fire from a distance, you fire your shotgun at them; 6) they’re standing behind a small window and your shots don’t hit them, they fire their rifle at you with precision; 7) you swap bodies with the enemy through the window and the bullets they fired shoot their new body.

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There are of course faults in Superhot as there are in anything, but for an independent game that’s relying a lot on a unique twist of a long-stagnant genre and a retro-leaning front end style it’s VERY good. Besides the main story mode there is an endless mode and multiple challenge modes, including Katana-only mode which is totally wild (you can cut bullets in half). This really is a unique and experimental experience that lands; you really have to check it out.

You can get Superhot here on Steam and I just have to add that the development team is currently prototyping with virtual reality which is going to be INSANE if they manage to pull it off. If you want to read reviews there’s one here on Rock, Paper, Shotgun and one here on Polygon.

Cheers!

[fromindieswithlove]

Hello old friend,

I appreciate a game that challenges me to perfect my run. I was a big fan of Trials HD back in the day, spent countless hours trying to get all Pro Medals in Joe Danger, but I’ve never poured as much time and effort into shaving off tenths of a second as I’ve done in Action Henk. That feeling of just barely staying ahead of a ghost player when you cross the finish line, it’s exhilarating!

You’re not only running, butt-sliding and jumping to the end of each level to earn a shiny medal, no, that’s the easy part! The real challenge is getting to the top of the leaderboard. Being able to send everyone in your Friends list that little message saying that you’re challenging them to take a swing at your best time (and hopefully fail miserably, muhahaha!).

I got way into it when it released into Early Access in the summer of 2014. There might’ve not been that many players to compete with back then, but the competition was fierce already. Looking at the leaderboard usually showed the same top three players for every level: qwertzoi, Rosie (one of the developers) and me. To better your time and (re)claim the top spot meant a lot of practice, a gazillion restarts for when you made even the tiniest mistake, but also the study of the ghost of the other players, just to see where they’re winning time and where there’s still time to gain on them. It was such an amazing feeling when you discovered a new technique to get through a certain part of a level even faster.

I relate to Henk a lot, but maybe not in a way others might think from looking at the game. People might see Action Henk and think it’s a happy game; the titular character always has a big fat smile on his face, the surroundings are very colorful and the soundtrack is cheerful even when it tries to be spooky. But I see Action Henk as I think he really is. Somebody who tries to make everybody happy and let the outside world think he’s okay, but is actually fighting his inner demons on a daily basis. I just want to get inside the game and tell Henk that it’s okay to not be okay, you can let the smile be a frown sometimes Henk. I’ve learned that the people close to you will still love you.

If you feel like challenging me you can butt-slide to your nearest Steam store or get it through Humble.

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey cutie,

It’s Valentine's Day...are YOU ready for some romance? Well, I’m sorry to tell you that might not be what’s in store here, BUT how do you feel about a Hot Date with some pugs?! Now, I know you are thinking this is a tad unusual - but just roll with it for a minute.

Hot Date is a simple and clean little indie game. It tosses you directly into a night of speed dating with a variety of angst-ridden, sarcastic, or just downright strange potential suitors, who all just happen to be pugs. Do you have what it takes to converse your way through the masses and find that rare, meaningful connection? Perhaps you will meet someone who surprises you, has solid advice to give, or who can agree on some of your most fundamental beliefs. Or maybe you’ll just meet some hysterical weirdos. Who can say.

A fantastic evening awaits you via a download over on itch.io … could also be a disaster though - go find out I guess!

[fromindieswithlove]

Hello old friend,

Last week I had my longtime dream smashed to pieces. I always thought I could be a ninja or a spy, but after playing Master Spy I now know it’s just an illusion. I’m just not as sneaky as I always thought I was.

I can still appreciate Master Spy though, a retro looking precision platformer for people with fast reflexes and quick thinking. A lot even. I can’t recommend it enough! It’s one of those rare gems where you can just feel the huge amount of love and effort poured into every part of the game. It has some great level design where you often need a moment to assess the situation and find the right approach, but after several dozen failed attempts get into a nice flow. I could also literally feel the compassion of the developer in breaking up the very difficult sections of later levels and interjecting them with a short breather. Not at the very end though, no no, then you’re on your own! But that’s okay too Turbogun, I still love you <3.

The part that made me look forward to this game ever since I stumbled across it, were the cinematic, and may I add hand-pixeled(!), cut scenes that add up to a short film of about thirty minutes in total! As an admirer of quality pixel art I can only bow to the magic John Coxworth aka Zorgitron put on the screen. That magic also extends to the backgrounds of the levels, which are custom made for each and every one.

I’ll try to sneak up on you next time we meet, but in the meantime check out Master Spy on Steam or the Humble Store, maybe you’ll see me coming after some practice…

[fromindieswithlove]

Hi! I’m back for my 100 favorite games of all time - this one’s a little off though, I’m not even sure you should play it.

99 - Quest for Glory III

This is one of the first true gaming adventures in my life. As a kid this felt like a huge world to explore freely, discovering mysterious places and fighting scary beasts, building up my thief skills and uncovering a cool story.

Now, I’ve played it again and it’s not as smooth as I remembered. It’s a bit clunky, requires some grinding to build up skills, and some of the steps to complete the game are super contrived. But there is something strong here anyway - a point and click adventure game that doesn’t just feel like a series of screens to solve, and it’s very inspiring to me. 

You can get it on GOG for cheap, and you’ll get the whole series in a pack. I recommend starting with this one though, the first two are pretty rough around the edges. Let me know what you think, I’m curious what you’ll think of it without nostalgia glasses.

[fromindieswithlove]

Hello old friend,

I’m sorry it’s been so long since we last spoke. To be honest, I’m not doing so great these past few months. To be completely honest, I haven’t been doing good in many years now. I feel like I’m a bad friend, boyfriend and son, but I really really really want to change that. So here I am, in the new year, trying to reconnect with you. You have been on my mind though, since we last spoke. Almost on a daily basis. The sense of guilt of not writing to you and my deep fear of being a terrible writer has won it on each and every one of those days over the deep desire to share my love for games with you. Today I feel enough strength to battle my fear, if maybe only for one day. I take all the victories I can get.

Throughout my depression videogames have been one of the few things that kept me going. Although it’s been hard to really feel a sense of joy I think they kept me entertained when I needed it most. Rocket League has been the main go-to game for me, but on those days where I just want to stay under the blankets Card Crawl has risen to the occasion of accompanying me through the darkness of my inner world. It’s a card game that plays as a dungeon crawler. I just love how it challenges your decision making and willingness to take risks with its well put together randomized deck. With only a limited amount of slots (your two hands and a backpack) a risky play can come back to bite you in the ass really quick. In the end it’s all about the amount of loot you escape the dungeon with.

Since money has been tight for well over a year - and I can be a giant cheapskate - I downloaded the free version on Android months ago, but I decided to buy the upgrade to the full version not that long ago. I haven’t regretted that decision since. One of the first things I do nowadays when I wake up is play the Daily Dungeon. It’s a challenge that’s the same for all players around the world, but one that changes every day. And you only get one shot at competing for the top spot on the daily leaderboard. Some days you really need to get creative with the cards you’re being dealt, while the next day you might get to play more risky.

A special shout-out goes to Max Fiedler for the amazing art style of the game. He really brings the cards alive with his beautiful craftsmanship. It’s what made me want to check out Card Crawl in the first place. Now I’m just stuck in the dungeon because it’s an amazingly well-crafted game.

You won’t regret checking out this gem! You can get Card Crawl on iOS as a premium game and on Android as a free download with one IAP to unlock more features.

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey hi! 

I haven’t written you in such a long time, hope you remember me. I’ve thought about you a lot, about games I want to share with you. I’ve actually prepared a list for you - Dom2D’s 100 Favorite Games of All Time - and we’re starting today with... 100 - Mount Your Friends

This game is weird. Teams of naked athletes rush to climb on top of a goat and stack up as high as they can, while their dongs spin and flap freely. I told you, it’s weird. The controls are a bit chaotic, as you hold down any of the face buttons and move the joystick to move the arms or legs marked with the buttons you’re holding. At first Mount Your Friends will feel like a clumsy, funny game, until it clicks and you realize it’s actually kind of a cool sport. You will get very competitive after a few rounds, trying to pull off flips and throws and OH GOD HE’S FALLING. There is a level of tension and drama in Mount Your Friends you only see in sports or olympic events and weird games like this.

Only downside to this zany fun is players need to know the controller well to be competitive. I’ve had friends play it and get frustrated because they didn’t know which button was which.

Get Mount Your Friends on Steam and have some friends over!

[fromindieswithlove]

Dear friend,

While I can’t describe much without spoiling it, I wanted to write you and recommend that you play Orchids to Dusk. It’s a short, lovely, and minimalistic game that offers surprising depth and perspective. One thing I will say is that it’s a shared online experience, though you wouldn’t know it at first.

As an astronaut, you find yourself stranded amidst an alien and barren landscape with the occasional, stunning burst of flora visible on the horizon. If you look you may catch glimpses of others who’ve stumbled upon the same world.

You can find the download for this little beauty over on itch.io.

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey there, friend!

I like a lot of games from the indie company Vlambeer, but the one that means the most to me is a little thing called Super Crate Box.

I downloaded it for the first time in 2010, before I’d even heard of Vlambeer. At the time I was in college and worried my roommate by playing it for a whole week straight. It was the first time I’d connected my love of a game explicitly to its design, and it’s a part of why I make games.

In Super Crate Box you jump around a one-screen arena with a little peashooter of a pistol and kill enemy monsters that hop in one after another from the top of the screen. A crate (box?) spawns randomly in the arena. Picking up a crate replaces your weapon with a random one out of the 13 in the game, spawns in the next crate, and gives you one point.

Since the only way to get points is to pick up crates (which randomizes your weapon,) the entire flow of the game revolves around it. The oblivious enemies become obstacles between you and wherever the crate’s decided to pop up. The game starts to boil down to a strategy: get rid of enough enemies to get to the next crate before the flow of them becomes too much to manage. If an enemy manages to make it to the fire pit at the bottom of the arena it’ll drop back at the top faster and redder, making your job much harder.

But oh no, that crate swapped your awesome 1-shot revolver with the katana! Hopefully you accounted for that and can take out enough of em in melee range to get to the next crate! Now you have the minigun and you completely rip through all the enemies on the screen but the recoil’s pinned you against the wall and the crate just popped up across the arena! Sometimes you’ll get a bazooka that fires slowly but kills enemies in a radius, or a flamethrower that lays down an area of fire where enemies get hurt and you can’t jump.  Or the disc gun whose shots ricochet around and kill everything they touch, including you. But you probably won’t have any of them for more than a few seconds. The variety of weapons and unpredictability of which one you’ll have shape how you have to think about your future strategy. Super Crate Box is a game about managing potential risk, and the balance between player, obstacle, goal, and chaos.

The core is so minimal: get crates, shoot enemies. But Vlambeer married those together in a beautiful way that elevates how you think about and play the game. It’s a gem of self-balancing systems that transform “picking up a weapon crate” into the point around which the entire game revolves.

You can download Super Crate Box for free on Steam, or without DRM on its site! It’s also $2 on iOS.

(@mintchipleaf)

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey hi hello!

I hope this letter does not take long to reach you, because there is this really hype shoot ‘em up/bullet hell game, Jamestown, that I just HAVE to tell you about. It’s ridiculously good, addicting, challenging, and an absolute blast to couch co-op with friends.

I love Jamestown for many reasons... where to even start. The visuals, of course, being a big one; the pixel art is spectacularly well done, beautifully detailed, and deliciously steampunky. The environment also combines so, so well with the amazing soundtrack that the sights and sounds alone in this game will have you swoooooooning.

Then there’s the story, which is an interesting alternate reality of the 17th century wherein British colonies were contending against the Spanish for control in the New World. Only, in this retrofuturistic reality the ”New World” just so happens to be Mars and the Spanish have teamed up with the Martians. I’m not sure if you are much of a history buff, but It’s really neat to see where the devs have pulled significant names and events from history and the parallels that they have included in this adventure.

Oh, and of course, the mechanics and design. Everything is so fine tuned and polished that in turn you feel like a competent player moments after you’ve picked up the controller. You [and your team] start by selecting from several types of ships - each with its own standard and alternate attack and differing learning curves. The variety of ships allows players to choose their own style and explore strategies for solo and co-op play.

While you progress through the game, enemies drop gold that fills up a player’s bar for an ability called Vaunt; a pivotal mechanic in Jamestown - akin to the polarity mechanic in Ikaruga. Vaunt provides a brief bubble of invincibility for not only you, but any of your teammates that are within it’s range, and following that it gives temporary bonuses to the score multiplier, combo, and damage dealt. Vaunt is key in not only surviving the insane, and at times pixel-perfect bullet patterns in this game, but also for challenging the leaderboards if that is your cup of tea.

Jamestown has truly amped my love of the shmup genre. It’s such an exhilarating and exciting experience and often leaves you feeling so accomplished. So if you like a challenge, it won’t be easy, but you’ll feel pretty badass when you get really good at this game. I promise!

Check it out on PS4 or Steam.

p.s. HUMBLE BRAG WARNING... Some friends and I currently hold the world record on the PS4 leaderboards for 2 player Super Gauntlet and 4 player Gauntlet, and are well on our way to conquering the others. So that’s pretty cool. ;)

[fromindieswithlove]

Hello, friend! It’s been a while since I’ve last sent you mail, hasn’t it? I’ve been sleeping in a lot… and I felt that this is a good time to tell you about Crowtel. It’s just been released and I’m in platformer heaven! Imagine everything you love about a crow running a 6-floor hotel, pressured by two health-inspector cats to get things looking somewhat in order, and encapsulate it into a free downloadable experience. Although, I strongly recommend a donation on the part of developer @SinksAdventure! The catchy tunes of Crowtel’s soundtrack were lovingly composed by none other than Captain Beard, which can be downloaded and enjoyed for a name-your-price fee as well. The spritework and dialog in the game are highly memorable and chuckle worthy: two traits I hold on high in a video game. One of the most charming things about Crowtel is the minimalist move set that you’re given right from the start. Aside from the simple left, right, look up, and jump (the oomph that Crow puts into the jump makes me laugh every time!), you can caw out multi-colored notes that act as your humble line of defences against ghosts, bugs, weird skeletons, laundry avalanches and a whole host of cool hotel-dwellers. Soft color lend a blissful touch to the game’s mild and thoughtful pace. All the while, for some reason, I’m reminded of the hotels in Mother 2? In addition to the various hotel floors that each have a cool theme, you have the ability to help the adorable denizens of the different rooms. Got a clogged commode? Send a few music notes flying at the bowl, unleashing a gush of water to help you proceed. Crack through a vent and follow it to a hilarious boss encounter! Playing this game is like planning a vacation, and then having a weird/awesome technicolor dream about it. Perfect for playing if you’re on a staycation. Crowtel can be downloaded for PC from itch.io!

(@ryanishness)

[fromindieswithlove]

Hi hi hi hi hiiii~

SO. There’s a tiny tiny little chance that you already heard me talking about this local multiplayer game called TowerFall. Have you? If not, I’m really surprised & we need to get together & catch up because I’ve been obsessed with this game since it came out on the OUYA back in 2013. (Remember this console? Yes, it existed once.)

I could literally just say *best game* & finish my letter here but I’ll talk to you more about it. (I know, I’m a nice person.)

So TowerFall is, like I said, a local multiplayer game. It involves rapidity, concentration, archery and a lot -a whole lot- of laughs and screams. It’s sincerely my favorite party game because it’s the kind of game that brings people together.

The concept is simple: you have arrows & you need to kill the others & survive. (There’s different game modes but the main idea is to kill and not be killed.) Plus, you have a whole bunch of variants; different types of arrows which mostly depend on which world you play in - some chests appear with shields, lava, slow motion & a whole bunch of different things which add more difficulty to the game. You can ALSO activate those variants after choosing the game mode: I personally adore clicking the ‘random’ button to see how the game can totally explode.

The thing I love the most about TowerFall (hint: everything) is how accessible this game is. Even if I have been playing this game for like two years now, someone who plays for their first time ever can kill me & literally win the match. It’s all because the developers focused so much on this important aspect: accessibility. Almost all of the decisions were made because it was important to them that anyone feel welcome to play TowerFall - and it works, so, so well. Even if it’s a hardcore & competitive game, TowerFall is all about having a nice experience every single time you play it. And it’s wonderful.

Half of the characters are female and none of them are sexualized. They also have a non-binary character. <3

TowerFall is a super gorgeous game - Amora & Pedro did an awesome job with the graphics. The music by Alec Holowka is also catchy and suuuuuper good.(You can listen to it on his bandcamp here!) All of the sound effects, made by PowerUp, add so much to the game too!

TowerFall is all about tiny small details you can discover while you play. You can see the breath of your archer when you play in the ice level (& it cost me a game when I thought I was invisible but my opponent saw me because of that, DAMMIT <3), your wings catch on fire if you fly near lava, all of the hats have a different animation when you lose them, brambles will burn if your arrow catches on fire near a torch & touches the bramble after - aaaaaah!

There are a WHOLE bunch of hardcore TowerFall tournaments around the world - you should check if there’s one in your city. It’s pretty fun to play against strangers - & also suuuuuuuuuuuuper challenging. When you play with the same people you start to *know* how the others play & you can trick them, & vice versa - with strangers this ‘comfort zone’ is completely absent & it’s -really- stressful, but super good.

This year they released the Dark World expansion: new characters, new variants but most importantly: a 4-player cooperative mode.

See? Now my favorite local multiplayer game has a LOCAL COOP MODE? I’m in heaven. In this mode you have a certain amount of waves where enemies pop-up & you have to fight a boss at the end of each of those levels. You can choose different degrees of difficulty: Normal, Hardcore, or Legendary - Hardcore is brutal, I’ll let you imagine how Legendary is freaking a nightmare: it took us FOUR DAYS/NIGHTS to beat it AND the creator of the game was playing with us. So yeah, stupidly brutal, but so freaking good.

I could certainly talk so, so, so, SO much more about this game. Over the last year I’ve had the incredible chance to develop a close relationship and became friends with the developers of the game (they are all super lovely, kind and talented people, you should talk to/follow them) - I know this game like the pocket of my favorite dress. But you surely have something else to do with your day (like playing TowerFall.)

I can’t wait to hear back from you about this marvellous game! :D

You can buy the game on Steam & on PS4!

[fromindieswithlove]

Hello again.

I know, it’s been a while since our last correspondence. It’s not that I haven’t been able to make time to...you see, I’ve been cursed. Cursed with a rhythm that will never leave me. I’ve been playing this gem of a game called Crypt of the Necrodancer lately - a rhythm-based dungeon crawler, and now I can’t stop bouncing to the beat!

Dungeon crawlers are known for their punishing difficulty, randomized dungeon layouts, and patterned enemies. So what makes Crypt of the Necrodancer especially difficult, and especially interesting? It’s rhythmic! You can only perform actions to the beat of the music, and the same applies to the enemies. I have pretty good rhythm, so I don’t have much trouble staying in time with the music - for me, the trouble comes from having to make two important decisions every second. It’s a lot to think about! I hope you’re better at making decisions under pressure than I am, because in the Crypt, you’ll need to! As brutal as I find the game’s difficulty, however, it fails to frustrate me. If you fall down, you just get back up and try again! Every run is different, so your luck always changes. And if you struggle with a particular boss or enemy, you can practice on them in a dedicated room in the hub world! Practice makes perfect!

So if you’re a fan of dungeon crawlers, or want a challenging and unique game, or just want something spooky to play for the Halloween season, I would strongly recommend Crypt of the Necrodancer. Just be careful - once the rhythm takes you, you might never be the same again!

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey friend, Happy Halloween! You probably already knew this about me, but Halloween is my favourite holiday. I have lots of annual traditions surrounding it, but my favourite by far is playing Costume Quest. In Costume Quest you play as a kid who’s trick-or-treating when a monster comes and kidnaps your twin. In order to save your twin from the candy-stealing monsters that have invaded your world, you must explore the halloween-themed neighbourhoods, collecting candy, costume parts, and gathering up fellow kids to help you. When you encounter monsters, your child costume transforms into a super badass version of it, and the game suddenly becomes a turn-based match where you fight monsters using your costume-specific powers. There are a ton of costumes, my favourite of which is the French Fry suit.  I love this game a lot and play it every year because it gives me so much nostalgic joy for Halloween — I vividly recall trick-or-treating as a child, making terrible cardboard costumes, and imagining how awesome it would be if my costume were real. If you’re looking for a game to play tonight before trick-or-treating, partying, etc... I absolutely recommend checking out Costume Quest. You can download it for PC/Mac/Linux via Steam, Humble, and GOG, or for your iOS device. Happy Halloween!

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey you!

I hope this reaches you in time so that you might have an interesting, unique, and downright SPOOKY experience on some of the most apt days of the year for it. With Halloween and Dia de los Muertos coming up, I thought there would be no better time than now to tell you about Papa Sangre.

This game is purely audio - almost no visuals at all! It is highly recommended (if not required) that you use headphones to get the full experience, and believe me, you WANT to get this experience right.

You as the player need to traverse the palace of Papa Sangre to rescue the soul of someone you love. On your journey you will have only sound to guide you in avoiding all manners of death, monsters, and for finding various keys & checkpoints.

So go grab your headphones, get comfy, and then head on over to the App Store on iOS to settle in for this nightmare fuel.

[fromindieswithlove]

Hey there!

Fez is a lot of things and unique is truly one of them. Believe me when i say you HAVE to play this game. Not only for its visual aesthetic, but also for its take on platforming and changes to the form.

The story surrounding the world of fez is pretty direct. The hexahedron which can be perceived as the core of the universe is corrupt and blows up. Pieces of the core are now spread across the Fez world/universe and its up to you, Gomez, to gather them all and bring balance back to the world. To be honest, its a simple story but the story isn’t what makes this game the most valuable platformer you should play. It’s the way the game plays with perspective and dimension that makes you get sucked in.

You’ll get lost in the way you can rotate the game space. The first time you rotate the scene you’ll pretty be doing a double take. Things no longer look or feel the same. The world now has mass, it truly feels solid. The platforms you now walk on, the varying surfaces in which you traverse now feels like actual ground. This simple use of perspective in the game space changed my view on games as art. Fez shaped me as an artist and i can only thank it for doing something so beautiful. I hope that the game will do the same for you when you play it.

Now that the beauty of its aesthetic is out of the way, let me tell you how the game makes for the most complete puzzles that I’ve experienced. Part of what makes this feel so good is the fact that Fez goes out of its way to have its own - very cleverly designed - language and numbering system. Without these custom made systems it wouldn’t feel the same. the puzzles might’ve been too easy but that’s what makes it so good. they aren’t complicated puzzles, but they do require some thought thanks to these systems. As the game progresses and you adventure further you’re given more clues and tools to make your journey all the more clearer. it’s the kind of game that becomes easier over time. With its occasional hurdles you’ll be breaking your head over them but once figured out you’ll feel so good.

The game provides you with a multitude of ways to feel wonder and beauty. I strongly urge you to play it if you haven’t. It’s changed my world and i hope it has a similar impact to yours. Thanks for ever lasting joy, Fez. You can buy the game on Steam!