In an industry where every successful indie title requires a powerful story or a unique art style to achieve media attention equal to that of blockbuster studios, Knightmare Tower is a breath of fresh air. This is a game purely focused on having fun by being incredibly addicting. Knightmare Tower by Juicy Beast brings players back to a time where it was common practice to sneak into the high school library and play on the (likely outdated) computers, and it is absolutely perfect.

It is difficult to describe why Knightmare Tower is so great, but you play as a knight and you get to pummel dragons in the face. The player’s primary goal is to save ten princesses who have been kidnapped and locked in a massive tower. Instead of simply taking the stairs, our hero launches himself from a barrel and gains speed by slaying each monster along the way. Failing to hit a monster results in losing friction, and if you miss too many times, the risk of falling into lava becomes greater.

The simple mechanics are reminiscent of the flash games of yore in a sense that Juicy Beast fixates on the “Less Is More” ideology. It works wonderfully, of course. The music is over the top and the art style is aesthetically similar to that of Behemoth’s Castle Crashers. The developers acknowledge that this is a very silly experience, but the bells and whistles are part of what makes Knightmare Tower so much fun. It all blends together seamlessly, and nothing feels out of place in this gravity-defying adventure.

More importantly, Knightmare Tower is addicting. The player earns gold for each turn, and depending on the performance, a better score means more gold. Gold can purchase any number of items including armor that can take more damage, or boots that increase the player’s overall speed. By the end of the journey, your roughshod knight will look like a valiant warrior. This is not to say that the game is without challenges, however. Knightmare Tower is very easy to pick up but it can be difficult to master. Certain levels of skill and timing are required to beat the game’s later levels, but it is a steady stream of progression that anyone can jump into without feeling overburdened. Not only that, but it is quite rewarding to beat your previous score with each turn.

Knightmare Tower succeeds at everything it attempts. While the journey to the top is not without its fair share of challenges, the smooth gameplay and silly artistic landscape make the climb a much more enjoyable experience. Plus, Knightmare Tower is cheap. It is on Steam for $3.99, and it is available on iOS, Android, and OUYA as well. Juicy Beast gives players a great product at an affordable price, and I can not give it enough of the praise it deserves. The bottom line? Knightmare Tower provides hours of fun and is easily one of the best indie games available right now.

To purchase Knightmare Tower and check out more from Juicy Beast, feel free to check them out here.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ 

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Super Obstacle Boy is a retro-style platformer for iPhone & iPad from indie developer, Matthias Falk. You’ll play as (spoiler alert: Super Obstacle Boy) as you run and jump, and then run and jump some more through 125+ levels of pixely, 8-bit glory to save your girlfriend who’s been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Negative. If it sounds like Super Meat Boy, that’s because it does (they’re not related, but they did meet at a party once). SOB will feature Game Center integration, achievements, and online leaderboards so you can compete with friends, family, and random people who totally hacked the game, because we all know there’s no way they scored 999,999,999. I mean, come on. My score is only 11,349. Don’t they have anything better to do?

A release date hasn’t been announced yet, but Falk is hoping to have the game available in the App Store later this month. For now, enjoy the trailer below, complete with chiptune soundtrack!

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

It’s no secret that mobile gaming doesn’t have the best reputation amongst more traditional game enthusiasts. Whether mobile gaming needs to be more like console/pc gaming or those conventional forms should take a hint from the mobile sphere is something that constantly sparks heated arguments. Well, whatever side you’re on, Hardscore Games is attempting to make a statement with Star Admiral, their first game: mobile gaming can be better.

Star Admiral is set to be a massively multiplayer competitive strategy game for the mobile space, set in, well, space! Featuring PVP and tournaments, Star Admiral has players commanding a fleet of spaceships from a variety of races using mechanics reminiscent of trading card games. Players will upgrade their fleets and use all sorts of tactics and strategy to defeat their opponents. Like any good TCG or TCG-esque game, Star Admiral seems to have some really nice visuals and designs, albeit in 3D rather than art on cards. I’m a sucker for sci-fi settings and cool looking ships, so I’m looking forward to seeing the release of this game.

Hardscore Games promises a strong community focus and is standing against the standard “pay to win” model plaguing mobile games. The developer is also offering some incentives to get people paying attention to Star Admiral sooner: be one of the first 5,000 to sign up to  their newsletter and you’ll get an exclusive ship to use in the game. Be one of the first 1,000 to register for the forum, and get a Founding Member forum title. Finally, like their page on Facebook and you’ll have a chance at beta access.

Star Admiral currently has a ‘late 2013’ release date and will be free to own on iOS and Android. For more information, check out the game’s website.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

It’s a big world and only you can save it.

Kingdoms Fall tells the classic hero’s story of a young man as the lone warrior who can save his kingdom from an advancing evil. In a twist, our hero isn’t a nameless farmer or peasant, but the son of the king and destined to save the land. As in Zelda, the player guides the hero through on overworld map littered with monsters with the occasional village or encampment interspersed. NPCs give the towns a little more character by providing more information about whatever calamity they’re suffering, whether it be a personal or more global plight. The world itself is largely forgettable, but the suffering of the people is oftentimes portrayed quite well. I would like to have seen even more of that to instill a greater connection to the people and places in need of saving.

To solve those villagers’ problems or avenge their losses, our hero heads into dungeons, each of which is lorded over by an evil general of the invading Necromancer King of the North. Defeating these generals weakens the evil conqueror, but players will unsurprisingly have to earn their way to each boss battle. As with the overworld map, each dungeon room is infested with monsters, and often they’ll all have to be defeated in order to exit the room or gain a key to a locked door located elsewhere. The occasional puzzle is mixed in usually involving switches or pressure plates, but they’re rather simplistic in nature, at least early on. In true Zelda fashion, a special item is acquired in each dungeon that will help our hero either defeat the boss, or at least open up the path to get there. Kingdoms Fall actually does a pretty good job of ensuring that each item remains useful over the course of the game, including in the overworld. In fact, the latter dungeons require many of those special abilities, sometimes used in quick succession.

Deadly traps and monsters are made tougher by the game’s controls.

Unfortunately, the controls are without a doubt the most frustrating part of the game. Movement of the player is performed by dragging a finger in the desired direction. The same is true for changing the character’s orientation. It’s not as simple as it sounds though. One problematic requirement is that attacks must be lined up in the exact direction of the enemy. Despite an on-screen indicator, in the heat of the action it’s not always readily apparent when a player is facing diagonally. Trying to change the direction can be slow and prone to moving the character. The player must constantly move and shift when attacking or defending against a moving enemy. The controls are simply not built for such frenetic and minute adjustments. Even trying to enter doorways, line up to talk to NPCs, and move from screen to screen can prove troublesome. At times it felt more like I was battling the controls than the enemies themselves, and the game screams for a directional pad.

I often found myself missing the correct button when tapping the action abilities on the right side of the screen. A recent update made those buttons larger which somewhat helped with the problem, but it’s simply no replacement for a controller’s standard button layout for ease of use and tactile feedback. Long story short, an adventure game of this design requires precision and timing with the controls and unfortunately, that’s not present here. There are simply some technological limitations with today’s touchscreen gaming devices that are difficult, if not impossible to overcome.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

What does this score mean?

A copy of this game was provided by the developer for that purpose. This game was reviewed on the iPad using version 1.0.4. Kingdoms Fall is available through the App Store.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The game plays like an endless runner, but that’s just a presumption because the game is also pretty difficult. Even with a week or so of playing, it’s a genuine challenge to advance. Ball of Woe takes place in the skies. The only means of progression is by ascending squares of land, and each square passed amasses woe, which acts as the game’s currency. Woe can also be collected through treasure chests and knocking into certain non-playable characters along the way. Of course, there is also the option to pay real money as well.

For the most part, the controls work well. You have a general idea of where you want the ball to go. Tapping behind the ball will shift it forward, and tapping several times will increase the height and velocity the ball will travel. It takes a little time to master, and certain objects, which act as barriers, tend to get the ball stuck; but it works and the game never plays unfairly.

There is a lot to like about Ball of Woe; the story is interestingly executed, the game is fun and has a fair challenge, the visual design has a charming appeal yet has slight, subtle dark undertones, and overall the game feels like a solid product. At the same time, Ball of Woe has a few major issues that make it unappealing – and it’s mainly things outside the core gameplay. The game is all too happy to remind you every five minutes how much items cost and how far you are from having enough currency to purchase them. It notifies you constantly that extra woe can be sold for real money. It’s another case of developers completely missing the point of the in-app purchasing (IAP) system. Regardless of it being EA or a small development team like Doppler Interactive, the fact still remains: I don’t want to have your IAP’s shoved in my face.

Several practices that Ball of Woe uses can cause the player to grow weary. For instance, every time you fall off the side and start over, you are taken back to the inventory selection screen. It is annoying to not have the ability to restart instantly for two reasons: a) it breaks the flow of the game and b) it’s another constant reminder of how much that ball/puff ability is and how you can’t afford it yet. I feel the first point is rather important. It’s a game inherently designed to be challenging, but it’s hard to get any sense of flow or momentum going because of the time it takes to get between ending a run and starting back up again.

Ball of Woe is an enjoyable iOS game – just one that is marred by poor choices on how to implement in-app purchases correctly. Through gritted teeth, and only on the basis that the game is solid and has a such a lovely, unique IP, I’ll give the game 3/5. I hope the developers will tone down some of the IAP systems next time.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

This game was reviewed using the iOS version.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The overworld environments are varied, but don’t have any real impact on the game.

Dungeon Plunder melds some common traits of roguelikes with the universally-understood gameplay mechanics of a slot machine. The game is framed by an overworld consisting of typical RPG environments like grasslands, deserts, and ice fields. Stationary enemies are scattered across the landscape and when contacted will initiate a battle with the player (more on that later). Although there’s not much in the way of direction for the player, it’s easily understood to keep fighting and following the main path. Stores are strategically placed for the player to purchase combat equipment and to sell off any loot picked up. There are also stations set up that challenge the player to kill x number of a certain enemy type. Successfully completing that quest and returning to the station will earn the player a large experience and money boost. Dungeons can also be found which often contain a larger amount of loot being guarded by tightly-grouped enemies.

I didn’t actually find the overworld very interesting. Even though the game technically has a story, it’s definitely not a driving force. The quests – although beneficial to the player – don’t really do anything to develop the world and the people within it. Even though it’s understood that everything’s gone to ruin, the lack of people and interactions make the world feel like an empty shell. The music, however, does add a bit of atmosphere and the developers have seen fit to offer the soundtrack separately through iTunes.

There’s a lot of depth and fun to be had in this simple-looking system.

What will keep the player coming back is the addictive nature of the game’s combat system. There are the usual staples of an RPG fight like hit points and defense that need to be considered at all times. How the fight is conducted is anything but conventional. There’s a five-reel slot machine, and each round the player can spin the reels twice. The images that appear represent attacks, defensive bonuses, money, and other boosts. In between spins, the player can lock as many of the reels as he or she wishes before spinning the others.  The more of the same image that appear, the higher the benefit received for that attribute. It’s also possible to receive multiple boosts in a single round. At the end of each round, the enemy gets their chance to attack. Most of their moves are simple physical attacks that may or may not be partially blocked depending on the player’s stats. Thankfully, version 1.15 of the game recently added special abilities to the enemies to add some diversity. The idea of repeatedly playing a slot machine might not sound interesting to those who aren’t compulsive gamblers, but the strategic appeal is taken to new heights when the player’s character class is taken into account.

Dungeon Plunder includes three character classes for players to choose from. While the overworld isn’t necessarily affected by which class is chosen, the way the slot machine is played can change pretty drastically. Although the goal remains the same, the means to dispatch the enemy and stay alive vary widely. The warrior is the most straightforward of the classes, relying on multiple attack types and a strong defense to out-tough his way to victory. The mage, though fragile, can unleash powerful attacks by building up mana or altering the state of the slot machine. The rogue, in true rogue fashion, relies on trickery. Collecting poison allows the player a random chance at stunning the enemy which skips the enemy’s attack for that round. The rogue also collects a higher monetary payout. As players level up, points can be assigned to their various stats.

As they level up, each character class can earn three or four power-up abilities that can be used on the slot machine during the fight. These abilities have a cool-down period that can be decreased by allotting points earned when the character levels up. At first I was dismayed that all of the character’s abilities are learned so early in the game. I figured it gave the player less to look forward to for the latter part of the game. While this is not entirely untrue, it would unbalance the game to have too many more of these powers at the player’s disposal. There’s a lot of variation in how each class succeeds at the slot machine model both in terms of standard abilities and how the special powers affect the outcome. For me, this is easily the best part of the game and I really enjoyed trying out all three classes.

Combat strategy for each character class is both varied and entertaining.

Even though it’s the element I personally found most intriguing, there’s a potential flaw in the game with its mix of hardcore and casual gaming conventions. Using a slot machine combat system is simple and familiar enough to make it accessible to most audiences. It’s the roguelike characteristics that don’t necessarily jive with that. When a character falls in combat, he or she is dead. As with many roguelikes this is a permadeath situation, meaning the player never gets that character back. The player’s next hero or heroine is created with a small inheritance of whatever the previous character possessed. Dungeon Plunder does allow the next character to be created at a level three below that of the recently-deceased, but it does mean having to replay the same areas again. While I don’t think that hardcore RPG fans will mind the slot machine, I’m not sure that casual fans drawn in by the combat system will care for the harsh penalties when dying. It really boils down to the nature of roguelikes and whether the player understands what’s entailed with that.

Dungeon Plunder is a good game that falls just short of greatness. If a deeper story or more interesting overworld were to be introduced, I think that would skyrocket the game into must-play territory. One of the best qualities about the game is that the developers truly care about making it a deeper, more fun experience. Regular updates have already been released with more on the way that include new features like additional player classes and different types of quests. It’s hard to not be excited about the future for Dungeon Plunder, but this review has to take into account what it includes as of this moment, flaws and all. As it exists right now, the game is still a very easy recommendation. For those not scared off by the idea of losing a character they’ve sunk hours into playing, the addictive nature of the combat system and the variation in character classes should keep most players coming back for more. Anyone that has already tried the game will have an extra reason or two to return thanks to the frequent update schedule. Dungeon Plunder is currently available for iOS devices in the App Store.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This review was conducted using a copy of the game provided by the developer for that purpose. The review was completed using versions 1.14 and 1.15 of the app.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

For those unfamiliar with the subgenre, endless runners (also called auto runners) typically start off with the main character running/flying/racing across a 2D scene. The player has no control over the ability to stop or slow down. Instead, the main objective is stay alive by dodging obstacles and projectiles. In the case of Jones On Fire, our hero Jones is a firefighter outrunning a raging fire. Trip over a fallen tree or land in a burning patch, and an onrushing wall of fire begins its pursuit. Avoid making another mistake for a brief time and the inferno goes away, restoring the chaos to its normal levels. The player is initially capable of jumping over objects on the ground and doing a running slide under obstacles perched just above. There’s a side objective of collecting kittens that are scattered throughout the levels and can be redeemed in the in-game store, but more on that later.

There are some key design choices where Jones On Fire is able to separate itself from other comparable games. For one, it’s not a true endless runner in the traditional sense. Instead of one long run, the action is broken up into separate runs, giving the player a much-needed respite. Each run ups the difficulty or “hazard level” by mixing in jumps and slides more frequently, but offsets the risk by rewarding higher score multipliers for collected kittens. Another big difference is instead of a sudden-death scenario, the player can actually take more than one hit before dying.

As mentioned before, players rescue kittens in both standard and golden varieties. In between rounds, these can be redeemed for a wide variety of helpful items broken down into a few categories. The “Abilities” open up new actions for the player to perform during their runs. “Pickups” introduce a permanent change to the game like random medkit drops that restore health. “Super Boosters” are one-time-use items like a dose of catnip to automatically attract kittens during the next run. We’ve seen pretty much the same system with Jetpack Joyride where there’s a side goal of collecting coins to buy powerups. Here, however, each item also has multiple, purchasable ranks that increase the potency of the upgrade, but also exponentially increase in price. As with Jetpack, there are also bonus goals that reward the player with extra currency for achieving certain milestones.

Mew’ll love those adorable kittens.

If there’s one thing that Jones On Fire really has going for it, it’s the “cute factor”. The developers really pushed the saving kitties theme, and it’s difficult for even the toughest man-dude to not get drawn in by the mewing kittens as they are collected and create a trail behind Jones. Although the game is played in 2D, most of the characters and objects have a charming, voxel appearance which helps distinguish the game from its more spritely-looking counterparts. The music manages to be both whimsical and intense, but fits the feel of the game perfectly. My biggest complaint with those presentation elements is in the lack of variety. I made it to Level 7, but the music only changed once and the background remained the same the entire time. Not that players will really have time to sit back and enjoy the scenery, but it can make repeated playthroughs a bit of a stagnant experience after awhile.

The gut reaction to seeing a game like Jones On Fire is to outright dismiss it or chastise it for being a clone. That would be shortsighted. It certainly borrows too many design cues from market leaders for it be an original experience, and that factors heavily into the overall review score below. The elements it does take, though, are some of my favorites in those other games. The unique tweaks that Glass Bottom Games has made turn Jones On Fire into even more of a family-friendly title that’s likely to appeal to a wide audience that isn’t yet burnt out on the endless runner subgenre. It’s a clone, to be sure, but in my eyes it’s still an entertaining one. And because it’s free, I’d definitely recommend everyone at least try it out.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

What does this score mean?

Although this review covered the iOS version, the developers are also working on an Android port. This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

I knew I was in for a different experience about 30 seconds into my first session playing Finger Hoola. I waited about that long for the title screen to disappear, only to discover through experimentation that the title screen needed to be swiped away in order to proceed. This lone example here is a microcosm of the experience playing the game. There’s no chat bubble explaining what to tap. In fact, everything about the menu system – including the settings – is left up to the player to discern through educated guesses and through trial and error.

My play-through of the game didn’t actually start with fully exploring the menu system. I wanted to jump right in and see what the game was all about. Once the first level began there wasn’t much in the way of an explanation for how the game’s supposed to be played. There’s a hula hoop drawn to one side (and both sides later on) of a vertical column representing a musical scale.  Spinning the hula hoop results in a colored bar rising up the side of that column. The faster the player can spin the hoop, the higher the bar rises.

Intuitive controls + a pleasant ambience = Win

There’s also an audible response to the player’s actions. As the bar is raised or lowered across different section of the column, it results in a higher or lower musical pitch being played. When combined with the ambient background music it creates an almost meditative experience. For me, the defining moment of playing the game came in the first level once I realized how spinning the hula hoop was tied to the musical scale.  It actually elicited one of those surprised laughs and head nods people involuntarily experience when acknowledging that someone has done a job well. This is one of the most thoroughly enjoyable aspects of the game, though on later difficulties the player won’t be able to sit back and listen because of their focus on the action.

Success is achieved by keeping the bar playing a specific note for a set amount of time, after which the desired note changes and the player must slow down or speed up the hula hoop to readjust the bar’s position. The player must continue to hit each note until a sequence is completed and the stage ends. The game ramps up the difficulty first by narrowing the area associated with each note in order to make it harder to stay within the boundaries. Later on, the player must alternate between two hula hoops with two scales. Finally, the gauntlet is thrown by forcing the player to spin both hoops at the same time. That last difficulty leap is not insurmountable, and thankfully the game requires players to unlock access to higher difficulty levels by performing well on the earlier ones.

The player’s performance is indicated by a score meter that fills up after the level ends, though for the life of me I still haven’t figured out how it’s calculated. Subsequent runs on the same level don’t replace the existing score; it actually adds to it. This was one of those times where a lack of clarity actually became frustrating. I was able to succeed in getting through each level, but was lacking any knowledge of how to get better at it.

In concept, I think it’s an amazing idea to force players to learn how to play a game on their own. It’s an instinctive behavior to start spinning one’s finger within the hula hoop, and Plant Pot relies heavily on that natural response. However, I honestly didn’t know whether to feel put off or to applaud the developers, and after playing through the game I still don’t. In some cases the “no instructions” design goes a bit too far in defying convention, and it may be a little off-putting or confusing. Ultimately, though, a game also needs to be judged by how entertaining it is, and Finger Hoola captures the senses in a fun and pleasing way. So despite the issues I had with how far the developers took their design philosophy, I’d easily recommend the game to most players. Finger Hoola is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

This game was reviewed using an iOS copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Lines of sight.

The trajectory of your projectiles is the key to your victory as coconuts ricochet from your target to form robot-busting combos. It is thus possible to clear each screen with one neatly aimed shot giving a score of three out of three bananas, and a selection of bonus levels are only unlocked by completing all stages in this fashion. A line of sight helps with your shot targeting by revealing the path your coconut will take even after it rebounds from multiple targets.  It soon proves to be an essential concession to the player, especially when you are up against moving targets and yet others which blink in and out of visibility.  It can prove to be a frustrating exercise to score maximum points here, as not only do you have to find the essential trajectory, but you also have to time it precisely.  The variables of trajectory and timing when combined with moving targets and briefly invisible enemies are soon vastly multiplied.  Fortunately, there is an icon on the top left of the screen which enables you to restart the level quickly, but you’ll soon be pulling your hair or virtual fur out in frustration.  Ultimately, whilst the game mechanic is similar to a Bubble-Puzzle style shooter, if you set your heart on unlocking the extra levels you will have to focus more on skill shots. Whilst it can be played more casually, for fun, you won’t be unlocking those bonus levels.

Never underestimate a coconut.

The sound and music in the game are incredibly lively, setting a fun and atmospheric tone for the proceedings, and I found the graphics reminiscent of my Amiga gaming days playing Toki. The animations are also full of nuanced detail and character. The game is ideally suited towards casual play with each stage only taking a short amount of time to play. The later stages  pack a real challenge for players that wish to unlock the bonus levels.

Currently, gamers can only play this as a lite version, available now for free on the app store. If the developers hear positive feedback, they have agreed to develop the game further.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Described as a “run-and-jumper”, Jones on Fire tasks players with doing what every good firefighter should do: save kitties. Doing so unlocks new abilities for lead hero Emma Jones as she tries to outrun the pursuing pixel-art wall of fire. And if saving furry friends along the way isn’t enough incentive to be a hero, leaderboards are included for bragging rights. The retro art style and “cute factor” certainly make this game look like it’ll be appealing to a wide audience. The price tag of $0 can’t hurt either.

Although no official release date has been announced, Glass Bottom Games is hoping to have it out within a few weeks. For meow, erm now, you can check out the latest trailer below.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.