The science fiction genre has always been a source for creativity to flourish. Dangling just beyond our reach, the idea of bizarre space anomalies and strange new life forms hangs within the realms of the great void of space, and it’s through this mysterious veil that we cast our focus. For every story involving verdant new worlds or highly civilized lifeforms, there will in turn be the tales of the infinite emptiness of space and the malignant creatures that want nothing more than to invade your body.

The Swapper sits firmly on the latter of the two options mentioned above, with its emphasis on maintaining an aura of confusion and unease acting as a backdrop for the puzzling elements that drive the gameplay. You play as a stranded survivor on the Theseus, a once functional spacecraft that has since fallen into disrepair. With the crew unexplainably missing, you’re expected to discover just what has happened whilst looking for a way off the ship.

The game is heavily focused on the mechanics of the ‘Swapper’, a peculiar device gained near the start of the game that allows the user to create clones of themselves at both short and long range distances. What’s more, they are then able to swap their own consciousness between the active clones, so long as they have a clear line of sight to them. You can only have a maximum of five instances of yourself active at any given moment, including your original self, and many of the game’s puzzles derive from this restriction, forcing you to think logically about where you place your clones when trying to complete each obstacle.

To complicate matters, the game slowly introduces several other obstacles to restrict progress even further, by way of coloured lights. The blue lights allow you to fire your swapping beam through them but restrict any chance of spawning a clone inside the field of light. The red beam has the opposite effect where clones can be spawned, but no swapping beam can pass this field. While it may seem odd that a superior piece of technology that’s able to produce matter out of nothing can’t penetrate the altered hue of a beam of light, the mechanics behind this are sound. Each puzzle requires you to approach the situation of what you can and can’t do with a logical mindset, and whilst the way at first may seem unclear, stopping and analysing the options that are available to you will eventually yield the right answer.

One such puzzle greeted me with a room full of vibrant colours. A mixture of blues and reds cast liberally against a large portion of the chamber, with a few seemingly meaningless pockets of unlit space to fill in the rest of the area. A large chasm spanned the gap between me and the shiny token I had to acquire, and any attempts made to clear the gap by jumping were met with a swift and undignified death. After a few minutes of repeated dying and head scratching, the way became clear. In order for me to pass the challenge I had to create several clones inside the empty spaces and carefully manoeuvre them in sync as they traversed the areas I could not reach, triggering the necessary pressure plates scattered around and deactivating the lights that blocked me from swapping over the gap. There’s an odd sense of satisfaction that comes with completing a puzzle room, and it comes as a stark contrast against the otherwise bleak atmosphere of the derelict spacecraft.

Along with the puzzle-driven progression, the game features a large portion of the derelict ship for you to explore. Similar to that of a Metroidvania, the world is spread across a flat 2D canvas, and you’re expected to navigate throughout in your search for the various puzzle rooms. Fortunately, backtracking through previous areas of the ship isn’t very difficult as there are plenty of teleportation devices that allow you to fast travel between key points on the ship, helping you go back to any rooms you may have passed on previously.

By just focusing on the puzzles, you’re likely to miss out of the underlying story that surrounds the game, which is a shame as there’s a narrative hiding under the surface that makes for interesting reading. By exploring the expansive halls of the ship, the tone of the game becomes much darker than it first seems. There’s an eerie presence that lingers throughout, and as you clear more of the game’s puzzles, it becomes clear that the story is as morbid as the gloomy visuals of the game lead you to believe, with topics of ethical practises sitting at the forefront of the narrative.

Since The Swapper started life as a PC title, it was always going to be a challenge to see just how a controller could handle the dual input of movement and aiming. Since your cursor is always relevant to your player’s character, it was perfectly suited to that of a keyboard and mouse. Movements that required quick reactions we’re easily achievable with the freedom afforded to the PC control scheme. On the PS4, the controls are tied to the twin thumbsticks, with the clone creation and swap ability tied to the trigger buttons accordingly. I never had any issues playing with the default settings, but for those who do the game features the option to let you adjust the sensitivity of your aiming reticule, which should help those with issues acclimating to the controller layout.

As far as console ports go, The Swapper is a solid entry to the PS4’s indie catalogue. The game remains true to the PC version, excelling in deliverance of a compelling and atmospheric sci-fi horror story. The puzzles are well paced and engaging yet rarely stray past a high level of difficulty, meaning you’re unlikely to be stuck on the same puzzle for days on end. Top that off with an intuitive set of controls well suited for the console and it’s easy to see why The Swapper got ported to begin with. Those of you who’ve already completed the game might not have much reason to play through again, but for newcomers this is definitely one to pick up.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ 

What does this score mean?

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

This review is based on experiences from the PS4 version of the game.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Platformines is confused. It doesn’t know what direction it wants to take, and the result is a mash-up of RPG and platforming that never really commits to either genre. Instead what we get is a timid approach to its inspirations, and whilst the combination of an RPG/Platforming hybrid may sound like a game we all want to play, the truth is much more disappointing.

The game starts off with you creating your chiselled action hero. A grizzled veteran that conforms to all 80s super-macho aesthetics, and rightfully so considering you’ll be watching him gun down everything in sight. Once you’ve selected the perfect shade of hot pink for your afro, it’s straight into the fray.

And for the first five or ten minutes things seemed to be looking good. There’s a hint of Spelunky oozing through the 2D cartoon aesthetics and, when combined with the smoothness of controlling your avatar, initial hopes for the game were high. It felt as though there might just be a promising platformer waiting to be unearthed. But that was not the case. Instead what you’re left with is the result of procedurally generated obstacles scattered across your path in the hope that it will make a world worth exploring. Whether it’s a randomly placed buzz-saw blocking off the dead air above you or an automated turret aimlessly shooting two blocks into the floor below it, there are obvious flaws in the design. It doesn’t make for a meaningful experience, and by expecting the game to generate something worthwhile, a lot of the magic that goes into making a challenging platformer is lost.

Platformines’ idea of character progression is naught but a gear grind and not a fun one either.  The idea is by progressing further out from the starting zone, you will encounter tougher enemies who are likely to drop bigger and better guns. Whilst this is the case, the enemies rarely differ between difficulty tiers, instead simply becoming more powerful re-skinned versions of their weaker incarnations. What’s worse, the same can be said for the weapons. Half way through my play session, I stopped caring about the minuscule differences between my current bazooka and the one that had just dropped. They weren’t very interesting and any desire to seek out better loot is all but lost.

The objective for the game is pretty simple; gather a number of coloured cannons that have been scattered around the game world and use them to repair your spacecraft. It’s not an overly complicated scenario to wrap your head around. In fact it’s quite the opposite. It’s too simple. So much so that after the third or fourth cannon has been obtained you’re likely to stop caring about the enemies that litter your journey, choosing instead to rush down each cannon in the hope of finding something new to do. Once all of the cannons have been collected, you’re tasked with rebuilding your ship by shooting the right coloured blocks into the correct positions on a template. Your mission is complete and you’re left with a sense of dissatisfaction as things come to an end.

You can probably tell by now that the game didn’t sit too well with me. In fact, I’m somewhat annoyed with the end result. Mechanically, the game is sound. The animations are smooth and feel responsive enough for the demands of a platformer, and through all of its faults, it’s a well built game. What irks me the most is the lack of focus. The idea seemed to be a combination of RPG progression by way of procedural loot – akin to games like Borderlands – whilst simultaneously providing a lashing of platforming that saw you jumping across tight gaps as you fight off the hordes with your big guns. Instead what we get is a lacklustre adventure through a meaningless world, as two genres collide to make something less than the sum of their parts.

Overall Rating: ★★☆☆☆ 

What does this score mean?

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

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

As a retired UT2K4/Counter Strike enthusiast, there’s nothing more attractive to me than a game that requires precision, quick reflexes and nerves of steel. Enter Deadlock, a combination of puzzle and platforming presented in a first person perspective with a beat-the-clock attitude slapped on top to keep things moving as fast as possible.

Your goal is simple – scale the numerous obstacles each level throws at you in an attempt to finish it in the fastest time possible. Alongside the obvious hazard of falling into the cataclysmic void below you, there’s also giant red force fields, angry mechanised turrets, and giant floating cubes of death to contend with. Did I mention there’s going to be tons of death?

Because of its current alpha state I was given access to three of the game levels, each one featuring more complex and challenging obstacles than the last. What starts out as a simple hop, skip and a jump across a few platforms in the first level soon turns into a spectacular weave of double jumps and lightning-fast dashes as multiple laser grids fly at you from every direction. Of course, we won’t mention the 20 ungraceful deaths and rage-induced shouting that came beforehand, but when you finally manage to pull off that perfect medley of agility the feeling of satisfaction is worth the pain.

I can recall one tense situation near the end of level three forcing me to run down a long narrow beam as laser grid panels flew by. With each panel sporting a slender horizontal gap too small to jump through, you need to try and aim your switch gun at a small pad off the side of these fast moving panels to flip the laser grid and squeeze through the gap. To top off that display of dexterous hell, half way down the beam of Beelzebub is a set of giant fans, with the express mission to knock you and your delusions of skill into the pit of death below.

Freaking lazers man….LAZERS

The scope of Deadlock isn’t entirely certain at this point, but the developers are planning on adding more content over the next few months including two extra levels, extra enemies, power-ups, collectable items, cutscenes for story mode and achievements. From what I was shown in the alpha levels, Deadlock is well on its way to becoming a solid entry in the indie market, where nail biting tension collides with split second precision in a beautifully presented world. Oh and one last thing, F*** these moving blocks!

Deadlock is being developed by 5 Bits Games, and is currently available on Desura in its alpha state. For more information on the game, head on over to their official page. 

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Imagine turning something so simple, so obscure and unassuming into a core gameplay element. What would you pick? A banana? A fridge magnet? One slightly worn-in boot? Well, TRI has done just this with, yup you guessed it, triangles. Portraying itself as a puzzle game, TRI will have you navigate a series of levels using the power of everyone’s favourite three-pointed shape to overcome a variety of well designed obstacles.

Triangles also make good bridges

TRI is currently in development by Rat King Entertainment, a small indie team of three (That’s two developers and one musician). Originally, the concept behind TRI was submitted as a Ludum Dare entry, but the idea has since taken on a life of its own to become a fully developed game.

In TRI, the player must learn to create triangles, varying in angle and size, to scale vertical obstacles and access seemingly impossible areas. The triangle mechanic is operated by anchoring each of the three points onto a solid structure, and when all three are in place a solid yellow beam will project onto the dimensions of the shape, creating your own platform to jump on. The creation mechanic seems simple enough for anyone to get to grips with, yet there’s enough freedom here to allow for a bit of creative thought when you’re presented with an obstacle.

Cel-shading is the best kind of shading

The game is cast in the first person perspective, giving you the best possible view of your surroundings. As visuals go, this is one of the more unique and over-exaggerated worlds that I’ve come across in the indie game scene to date, with vibrant tones of orange and red painted against the towering structures found in each level. The cel-shaded aesthetic compliments the game’s East Asian themes, giving the world a somewhat mysterious aura that makes you want to explore.

TRI is currently available on the official site and Desura, with a demo available for you to try out. The game currently has 12 of the planned 16 levels released, and it is still considered to be in an alpha state. TRI is also looking for Greenlight approval, so if you want to see this pointed painterly platforming puzzler on Steam, you may want to lend them your vote.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Castles in the Sky took me by surprise, not because of stunning graphics, hardcore gameplay or amazing physics. No, what took me by surprise was innocence, a sense of whimsy I’d long since forgotten after becoming a ‘proper grown-up’.

Produced by a small indie team of two, Castles in the Sky comes across as a delightful blend of simplistic platforming and heartfelt narrative, presented as a spread of colourful pixel-based art. The game is equal parts story book and platforming, where the goal is to scale upwards towards the sky, bouncing from cloud to cloud as a rhyming narrative unfolds.

Because of the nature of the game, it would be difficult to reveal much else about its features without spoiling the overall experience, so I caught up with Dan Pearce (@gamedesigndan) and Jack de Quidt (@notquitereal) to ask them a few questions regarding Castles in the Sky, and what the future holds for The Tall Trees.

The Indie Mine: What made you choose to do this ‘interactive picture-book’ gameplay?

Dan: I started the project on my own one night. We’d started a few projects (which are still going) that were going to be in production for a while longer, and I felt like playing something like Castles. I was struggling to find anything, so I decided to toy around with a small prototype. This resulted in me staying up until 6AM making this little thing with a kid jumping in clouds, the art for which is what you see in the game. I became pretty attached to it and pitched it to Jack the following day as an introductory piece to showcase what The Tall Trees is.

Jack: Dan pitched it to me as similar in terms of gameplay to Doodle Jump, and while those games are great, I always felt they were lacking something normatively. Ha! I mean, story isn’t really what they’re for, but that sort of gameplay where you’re inexorably moving upwards could lend itself really nicely to discovery and narrative.

I’m not entirely sure where the decision to make it rhyme came from, but as soon as that appeared, it was pretty much set as a picture-book. There was something so playfully naive about writing in that style, and I don’t think another story would have worked. From then on, I tried as best I could to emulate the style and feel of the picture books I had read to me as a kid. I didn’t want to push the story anywhere too radical – just keep it gentle and playful. And as is the way of all these stories, they end with the kid going to bed. So that’s where we had to go.

The Indie Mine: So the style is very innocent and childlike, like you said to emulate those old memories of a children’s bedtime story. Would you say this was aimed at a younger audience? I can see this being very popular as a shared activity between young kids and their parents.

Jack: I think from my perspective I’m always taken with the stance that Pixar take, which is “we just make films. Hopefully, both adults and kids will like it”. It’s true that there aren’t really enough games for parents and children to play together, but I wouldn’t say it was designed in mind for a single demographic. That said, introducing younger generations to indie games in a way in which their parents are an active part of the game is a really admirable goal, and if we can do that even a bit, I’ll be happy.

Dan: Yeah, I had someone ask me this earlier actually and I think the answer I gave was something like “it’s not for kids, so much as adults who wish they were kids”.

The Indie Mine: Since you chose to publish this as your first game under The Tall Trees brand, do you see yourself making more of this style of interactive story book gameplay in the future? Is there a particular style of game you’d really like to explore?

Dan: I think it’s definitely something we’re thinking about when looking at future projects. As I said, we started a couple of our projects before Castles, and those are definitely in a similar vein. I’m not amazing with words (which is why Jack’s so good to work with), so I’d have trouble defining what The Tall Trees is all about. Jack and I have agreed that Castles is a very “Tall Treesy” game, though, so hopefully the game says what that means better than I can.

Jack: We’d like to make games about discovering beautiful things frequently and surprisingly. I don’t know if we’re likely to make more rhyming, jumping games, but the sensibility at the heart of Castles (“you’re going on a journey, here are some lovely things”) is one that I think is central to our designs.

Dan: I think that’s our core really. The main thing that will change around that will be the control schemes and tones of each game.

It’s important to note that Castles in the Sky isn’t your typical game experience. The game will take approximately 10-15 minutes to finish, and in many ways it is more story than platformer, which is reflected in the games very affordable $1.50 price tag. Those wanting to pre-order the game can do so at the official site here. Pre-ordering will net you the game (on PC & Mac), soundtrack and wallpapers when the game launches on the 18th of this month.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.