The folks over at Bundle In A Box have struck again with another of their thematic indie gaming bundles. This time the bundle’s aimed at the critical thinking gamers out there. The Indie Strategy Bundle includes up to 11 games spread across two donation tiers.

Those willing to chip in $1.99 or more will gain access to:

• AI War
• Us and Them – Cold War
• Creeper World
• Storms Over the Pacific
• Strategic War in Europe
• The Trouble With Robots
• Age of Conquest III

Contributors willing to go above and beyond the average price will also net copies of:

• Mayhem Intergalactic
• Project Aftermath
• Fall Weiss
• Creeper World 2

The games are available on a mix of platforms (PC, Mac, Linux), so be sure to check out the Bundle In A Box website to find out more about each game and what format each is available in.

As with their previous bundles, Bundle In A Box is offering bonus unlockable extras when certain sales numbers have been hit. Those bonuses include artwork, soundtracks, and even a twelfth game: AI War Prototype.

It also wouldn’t be a BIAB bundle without some charitable work. Some of the proceeds will be going to the Indie Dev Grant (the winning developer will be selected via voting) and The Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family.

If you’re feeling lucky, try your hand at our giveaway below. The folks at BIAB have been kind enough to give us a few bundles to raffle off. There are plenty of ways to enter, so be sure to try them all to increase your odds of walking away a winner. And if you don’t win, please consider picking up the bundle anyway.

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© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

We’ve brought you news about previous Bundle In A Box bundles here at The Indie Mine, but this latest one is near and dear to my heart because of the genre it features. The Indie RPG Bundle has launched and it includes up to 13 indie roleplaying games for just around $1.99. Lest you fear oversaturation of the genre, the bundle contains a wildly different array of titles. The list of eight games that consumers will get at the pay-what-you-want rate includes:

• Unemployment Quest (Windows/Desura): fight the monster of unemployment in a modern-day RPG.
• The Siege of the Necromancer (Windows/Mac/Desura ): horror choose-your-own-adventure RPG.
• Hack, Slash, Loot (Windows/Mac/Linux/Steam/Desura): a contemporary roguelike indie classic!
• Styrateg (Windows/Mac/Desura): a strategy based RPG with a strong narrative.
• Inaria (Windows): today’s Ultima, complete with retro pixel-art and wild ideas.
• Dungeon Fray (Windows/Linux/Desura): you have never seen a roguelike play this fast.
• Empires and Dungeons 2 (Windows): Tactics and dungeon-crawling.
• Frayed Knights: The Skull of S’makh-Daon (Windows/Desura): huge, humorous 3D RPG.

Bundle fans who pay more than the average will get access to five additional titles:

• Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land (Windows): Lovecraftian, turn-based horrors that have already been accepted on Steam. Codes coming soon!
• The Wizard from Tarnath Tor (Windows/Mac/Desura): a gloriously illustrated and highly polished gamebook.
• Northmark: Hour of the Wolf (Windows/Mac): stunning RPG card game.
• The Wizard’s Lair (Windows/Mac/Linux/Desura): RPG with roots in classic Roguelikes and the Mystery Dungeon series.
• Telepath RPG: Servants of God (Windows/Mac/Linux): a unique hybrid western RPG/strategy RPG.

As usual, the bundle will help raise funds for the Indie Dev Grant and for the Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Children. If enough people get in on the deal, extras like game soundtracks and artwork will be unlocked. For more information about these individual games including screenshots and video trailers, be sure to check out the official Bundle In A Box website. You can also enter to win a bundle in our giveaway below.

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© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Droidscape has a heavy science fiction theme, though the story is brief. I won’t divulge too much of that backstory, but the ultimate goal is to free the protagonist from his holding cell using a robotic avatar. Along the way, players will be introduced to factoids about the game’s universe and the occasional story advancement shown in a kind of animated comic book style. I actually would’ve loved to learn more about the history and motivations of the different groups involved in the plot. A few more cutscenes would have also helped it feel like the story was advancing at a steady pace.

Plot your course through robotic enemies.

Players take on the role of the protagonist who’s managed to remotely take control of an advanced robot. On each level, the player must navigate the robot to an exit path through a series of isometric rooms. Play on each level consists of two phases, and in the first phase players draw a complete path from start to finish that their robot will follow. Part of that path must include grabbing color-coded keys to unlock doors, stopping at energy recharge stations (movement costs energy taken from a finite reserve), and avoiding robotic sentries that will kill the player on contact. As the game progresses, other types of obstacles are introduced that add an extra bit of a challenge. I felt like these changes came too far apart early in the game, which led to some slight boredom before picking up speed later.

The second phase of play is where things get interesting. Now that the path has been set, players control the robot’s movement speed using a slider control. The robot will only advance along the path if the slider is shifted to the right, and speed is controlled by how far from the center the slider is held. The robot’s course can also be reversed by moving the slider in the opposite direction. The tutorial tries its best to explain the process, but it can really only be fully understood by playing through the early stages and making a few mistakes along the way. Since the robot’s path can’t be adjusted during this phase, the player may find that he/she has to go back to the path-setting phase to adjust the robot’s course for a chance of success.

The game offers a secondary method of controlling the slider using motion-tracking through the mobile device’s camera. A turn of the player’s head in either direction is supposed to shift the slider accordingly. I never could quite get this to work consistently on the iPad despite multiple attempts in different levels of lighting. Even when I could get the robot to move, I never felt like I had the degree of control achieved when playing using the standard touch controls. Because timing is so key, I stuck almost exclusively to the touch controls. I hope the kinks will eventually be ironed out just for the novelty of being able to use it successfully.

Control your robotic avatar once the path is set.

Players are rewarded on their performance in a few areas including how quickly they complete the level, how many gems they are able to pick up along the way, and so on. Perform well, and players can spend their hard-earned currency in the Droidscape store. The one-use wares offer some small advantages like extra shielding, a longer countdown timer, or an energy refill – each of which may be the key to success on the more difficult levels. If nothing else, the gold/silver medal system is there for completionists.

I think what I eventually found most interesting about Droidscape: Basilica is that it’s basically two games in one with each level containing both a strategy puzzle and an action-based challenge. Each of those elements are both tied to the player’s success, but they offer wildly different paces and experiences. I felt like the game had some early pacing issues to overcome, but by the end I found it a very recommendable puzzle experience for iOS users.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using the iPad version 0.2. It’s available for purchase through the App Store.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Kyttaro Games for awhile now, bringing you news about their Bundle in a Box promotions. BIAB is back with the recently-launched Capsule Computers Indie Bundle. Starting at a minimum price of $1.99, interested consumers can net seven games including:

• Super Tower Rush (Windows/Desura) - “Frantic and gloriously pixel-arted arcade platformer.”
• Hacker Evolution Untold (Windows/Linux/Mac) - “Deep, sci-fi, hacking simulation.”
• Pixelry (Windows/Desura) - “Experience the artful cruelty jousting.”
• Blackwell Legacy (Windows/Steam) - This title and the next two are part of the Blackwell Trilogy, a series of ghostly adventure games.
• Blackwell Unbound (Windows/Steam)
• Blackwell Convergence (Windows/Steam)
• Blackwell Deception (Windows/Steam)

All seven of these titles are DRM-free, and the top three contributors will each net a Collector’s Edition mouse and mouse pad from Razer valued at $110. Better yet, some of the money earned from the promotion will go towards two great causes: the Australian Red Cross and the Indie Dev Grant. The latter will receive $15 for every 100 bundles sold. There are other rewards like soundtracks and wallpapers that will be unlocked when certain sales numbers have been met.

For those looking to net a little more from their purchase right away, four additional games will be made available if the average price (currently $4.07) is exceeded. These four titles are:

• Hamlet or the Last Game without MMORPG Features, Shaders and Product Placement (Steam)
• Hacker Evolution (Windows/Steam/Desura) – “…original and highly moddable.”
• Hacker Evolution Duality (Windows/Mac/Linux/Steam/Desura) – “…dystopian, sci-fi, open world hacking.”
• Secret of the Magic Crystals (Windows/Mac/Steam) – “…horse breed and race with the best of them.”

Additionally, we have some exciting news of our own. We’re giving away five of the bundles to our readers, and there are multiple ways to enter the giveaway. Be sure to try them all!

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© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Greetings gamers!

I’m here today to inform you of some fantastic news. Kyttaro Games will be launching The Bundle in a Box: Cerebral Bundle  soon and will (as always) be supporting an awesome charity and the Indie Dev Grant. Kyttaro Games has said that they have done their very best to make this their “richest and, hopefully, best BIAB offering to date.”

Don’t know what the Indie Dev Grant is? Basically, for every 100 Bundle-in-a-Box bundles that are sold, $15 will be added to a pool of money. After the bundle is over, the pot of money will be given to one of the developers who have submitted their game to the Indie Dev Grant with no strings attached, so that the developer will be able to “actually create the games they’ve always wanted to”. The winner is chosen by the votes which can be cast by those who purchase the bundle.

The best part about this sweet setup by Kyttaro Games is how easy it is to contribute. All you have to do to help out is purchase the bundle (which gives you a ton of awesome indie games), cast a vote if you pick up the bundle and spread the word so others can do the same.

Other details about the bundle such as the date of release, the games that are being included and pricing are yet to be announced, but rest assured, we’ll update this article when they are.

If you wish, you can even donate money directly to the grant by emailing them at info@bundle-in-a-box.com (you’ll receive details if you email them). Details on donations and the names of donors will be available on the forthcoming Indie Dev Grant site.

You can view the full announcement here: http://blog.bundle-in-a-box.com/?p=368

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© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Kyttaro Games is at it again. Their latest bundle is the Eclectic Delights bundle, and like their previous Bundle In A Box promotions, this is a pay-what-you-want affair.

Five different games are being included:

• RTS War of the Human Tanks
• Platformer Eversion
• Horror-heavy Fibrillation
• Point-and-click adventure Shadows of the Vatican
• Strategy/adventure hybrid Delve Deeper along with all of its DLC

And for those gamers who pay more than the average, there are four more titles being thrown in:

• Platformer Adventures of Shuggy  which we reviewed here at The Indie Mine
• “Hilarious maze-’em-up” Fibble
• FMV fighting game Stay Dead
• and The 4th Wall, another game sure to please horror fans

Every one of these games is DRM-free for those fed up with the major game publishers. And perhaps best of all is the fact that some of the proceeds will go towards two worthy causes: The Indie Dev Grant (aimed at helping new studios get off on the right foot) and the Hellenic Centre for Mental Health and Treatment of Child and Family.

The minimum price right now is only $0.99, and as more people buy the bundle, more extras will be unlocked. For more info and trailers for the games included, check out the official Bundle In A Box site.

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© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Here at The Indie Mine, we’re all about helping out independent developers in whatever way we can. So when we heard about a new fundraiser to help out new industry pioneers, we were excited to share the news with you. The 3rd Bundle in a  Box promotion will help bring in money to aid one lucky studio in funding their future projects. As indicated in the press release below, any developer wishing to participate in the promotion has until tomorrow to get their submissions in. Stay tuned to The Indie Mine for future announcements including when the bundle will officially launch.

The Indie Dev Grant, the feature of Bundle In A Box we are most proud of, is, as you may already know, a grant designed to help indie game developers actually create the games they’ve always wanted to. For every 100 bundles sold, $10 will be added to the grant. One indie developer (be it a group or an individual), voted by the esteemed fans of Bundle in a Box will get the whole amount after the bundle ends.

No strings will be attached by either Bundle in a Box or Kyttaro Games.

The grant can be used in any way the developer that earns it sees fit and will in no way be obliged to co-operate with Kyttaro Games or Bundle in a Box. Developers that have already taken part in one of our bundles or are willing to do so in the future are also eligible for the grant. Actually, absolutely anyone is free to enter; yes, even people trying to buy some time in order to create their next freeware gem.

As gamers will start voting on the developer that will earn the grant from the moment the bundle launches, we do ask those interested in participating to contact us with their entries up to November 26.

 

To enter, applicants will have to e-mail us at info@bundle-in-a-box.com and provide us with the following:

 

-A title for the project they are going to be using the IDG for.

-One screenshot or piece of concept from their project.

-One link to their project’s or their personal site (if available).

-A description of the project (up to 200 words)

-Something about them or their team (up to 100 words)

 

All Indie Dev Grant entries will be presented on tumblr and on the Bundle In A Box blog.

-Konstantinos Dimopoulos, Kyttaro Games

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.