10 Second Ninja will make your heart race, your palms will be constantly soaked in the sweat of stress, and your sense of time will be reduced to intervals of ten seconds. Why? Because Dan Pearce, a BAFTA award winning developer no less, has deemed it necessary to condense the best parts of break-neck platforming down to the rigid constraints of a stopwatch.

And it’s bloody brilliant.

The game has you take control of a ninja on a quest to destroy Robot Hitler and his army. Being the unpleasant fellow that he is, Robot Hitler has banned all ninjas, and so begins your swift journey of vengeance as you cleave your way through his army of Nazi robots, and eventually even Robot Hitler himself.

Everything that makes 10 Second Ninja great can be traced back to that damned ten second timer. Your time is everything, down to the millisecond. It’s tense, perhaps more than it should be, but there’s something almost inexplicably compelling about trying to shave your best scores by even a fraction of a second. Figuring out the fastest path will have you returning to each level time and time again like a twisted drug addiction, adding buckets of replay value to what could have otherwise been a one-time experience.

In an effort to help you achieve the best scores possible, your arsenal includes a sword with a deceptively large arc of attack, a double jump that can help you change course mid-flight, and three shurikens that can help you skip sections all together with a bit of timely precision. Learning to master these three simple mechanics can help you knock seconds off your time.

And then there’s the leaderboard. If 10 Second Ninja’s timer is the drug, then being able to see everyone else’s score on a worldwide leaderboard is undoubtedly the dealer of this score-obsessed addiction. Never before have I been so compelled to try, time and time again, to beat the scores of other players as obsessively as I did in this game.  To say that achieving a high slot on the leaderboard is fulfilling would be an understatement, but perhaps more importantly your time on there will be fleeting as everyone else attempts to vie for the top spots, turning the rush for domination into a finely tuned arena for only the most dexterous.

10 Second Ninja doesn’t complicate things. The gameplay is simple enough to pick up and play without much guidance, and yet at the same time allows for more experienced and score-hungry players to experiment within the confines of each level in an effort to minimise their completion time. With the added drive of leaderboard dominance and fluid animations all around, this is one addiction I will struggle to shake for a long time.

Oh and I’m currently third place worldwide on Canyon, so if you could just not beat that score, that’d be great.

Overall Rating: ★★★★★ 

What does this score mean?

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

10 Second Ninja was released March 5^TH on PC & Mac.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

3089 is a first-person RPG in which you assume the role of an experimental android, sent down to the strange planet ‘Xax’ to be tested on your performance whilst under the watchful eye of a shady omnipotent figure called the Overlord. You’ll be expected to traverse the sprawling, randomly generated world as you complete quests, gear up your character, and eventually begin building your own base on the planet’s surface.

Explosions on my first day…

You begin your adventure by choosing from either one of the predefined classes – ranging from the typical melee, gunner, and thief choices to more unorthodox options like pilot and leader. Being offered the choice on how you want to play is a nice touch to help accommodate different play styles, but there’s way too little information available on this screen for you to make an informed decision on what some of the classes offer. The Pilot class, for example, offers a large boost to the piloting stat which allows you to drive the various ships found on the planet’s surface. Without picking this option and diving in, there’s no way a new player would know what kind of play style they are committing themselves to.

The planet Xax will be your ultimate test, providing you can survive the hostile inhabitants that roam the surface. While you may attempt to seek refuge inside one of the safe zones scattered throughout the world, your safety isn’t guaranteed as alien ships will frequently wander in and begin to slaughter the friendly inhabitants of your town. Luckily, turrets are commonplace in these safe areas so for the most part you can use the shop and workstation nodes without too much fear.

The nodes found in each town are used to purchase new weapons, armour and special gadgets like grappling hooks and hoverboards – the latter of which is highly recommended as it not only makes you feel badass, but makes travelling the world a whole lot faster. While each node serves a specific function, it can be somewhat frustrating to have to constantly run between the huts that house each node, especially when there’s usually a huge distance to cover between each house. It seems odd that the various shops and functions couldn’t have just been gathered together in one place, effectively cutting out this need to tediously trek between posts just to get your gear sorted.

The crux of activities in 3089 are handled with randomly generated quests that you pick up from the safe zones. Each quest is a mash-up of objectives which usually ask you to perform a number of tasks like diffusing bombs, spying on hostile NPC’s or being a courier for important info discs. While the questing system serves a valid purpose to help generate content for you to earn cash – which you then use to upgrade your character – it’s unfortunate that most of the objectives are repeated after completing several quests. It soon becomes more of a chore to complete these necessary side missions just so your character doesn’t fall behind on its progression for bigger and better equipment.

[Spoiler warning: If you want to avoid any story spoilers, skip past the next paragraph.]

Alongside the side quests is 3089’s main plot, centred on the shady goings on with the Overlord, the omnipotent entity that sent you to the planet in the first place. After jumping through a few hoops, you soon learn that planet Xax was once inhabited by another race of creatures, which were all but killed off. With their planet taken, they hid underground waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike back against their attackers.  By enlisting your help, this hidden faction hopes to use you in their secret war against the Overlord. You’ll have to piece together most of the story via transmissions received whilst completing quests and defeating the various boss monsters at each interval as you progress, but the plot is engaging enough to encourage you to push forward and learn more about this secret war.

The Matrix, only with 100% more robots.

How you fight in 3089 depends entirely on your play style. There’s a full stealth/sneaking system in place to allow those who like to flaunt their melee and backstabbing prowess, whilst still accommodating the big guns and awesome firepower gun nuts will no doubt crave. What’s more, weapons are modular, meaning you can swap and change the individual parts of each weapon with newer pieces, allowing you to freely customize the stats of each weapon, or even add attachments like silencers for extra functionality.

Being the experimental robot killing machine that you are, you also come full equipped with a special device that lets you pause time briefly. This allows you to set up elaborate precision strikes on enemies, or perhaps just escape a tricky situation unscathed. This super power is balanced by making you seek out collectible clocks, scattered throughout the game world which replenish the charge that fuels this ability.

Perhaps I can build a bridge outta here?

Once you’ve progressed far enough into the main plotline of 3089, you’ll gain access to the building tools. This equipment adds a whole new layer to the gameplay, shifting away from the character progression and more towards building structures, turrets and useful utilities. This feature is quite robust, and easy to use for the most part with on screen cues helping you to place and shape your structures any way you wish. It’s a strange concept, as for the most part this feature didn’t feel like it was in any way attached to the main concept of the game. It didn’t seem in any way necessary for me to dive into this aspect, and yet I was drawn to it simply because of the new level of control over the world that it gave me.

3089 is a strange mash-up of genres, and one that is quite common place in gaming today with so many titles opting to meld genres in an attempt to mix up the formula and make something interesting. While this is an impressive feat pulled off by such a small development team (a single fellow by the name of Phr00t), it doesn’t quite hit all of the buttons to make it anything more than a fun sandbox adventure to sink a few hours into. The extra gadgets and the handy building tool help liven up the standard ‘run & gun’ aspects somewhat, but with the tedious quests and unnecessary ferrying between shop nodes it is easy to become annoyed at the feeling of repetition.

Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

What does this score mean?

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

For more information on 3089, check out the developer’s website or Steam page.

© 2014, 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.

When imagining traveling through time, it’s not just about ending up in a different era, it’s often about experiencing a different place and way of life. Untimed takes the reader from modern day Philadelphia to early 18th-century London, 19th-century France, and 20th-century China. The bulk of the story takes place in that London setting and presents the city from the view of young street thieves. Although the characters Charlie meets veer a bit on the outlandish side, the setting itself is vividly painted as dirty and seedy. War-torn Europe in the early 1800′s is brought to life through Gavin’s depiction of the anticipation of battle and the carnage inflicted upon its participants. Without giving too much away, our hero even gets a look at a skewed version of the present when a few historical choices go awry. Gavin certainly paints a picture of the past that makes the reader share Charlie’s desire to get back home.

As a science fiction fan, one of the best parts about time travel is seeing how each storyteller presents his or her incarnation. In other words, finding out what the rules are and what the consequences are of bending or breaking those rules. Untimed immediately draws readers in with how the protagonist details his bizarre non-existence in the eyes of everyone around him. Going unnoticed is something a lot of teenagers can probably identify with, but it goes a step further in that not even his own mother can remember his name. In fact, everyone who possesses the time travel ability experiences this with the “normals”, and the characters often either suffer because of it or use it to their advantage. Another unique twist is that males can only travel backward in time and females forward, though a pair can travel together in the direction of choice. This presents some interesting dilemmas for the characters in terms of how they’re going to travel in the direction they want or need to be going. Charlie is determined not to lose his time-traveling love interest Yvaine by jumping without her. A necessary “cooldown” period between jumps infuses plenty of tension in the more dramatic, frenzied moments of the story. Untimed deals with the consequences of characters running into other versions of themselves, and it also covers cause-effect relationships in terms of the historical timeline. While some of these concepts draw from Untimed‘s sci-fi predecessors, there’s definitely enough of a unique spin to keep this story feeling new.

Author Gavin doesn’t ignore that sci-fi history. Untimed does pay homage to time traveling adventures that have become iconic in the entertainment industry. The story includes numerous references, both direct and indirect, to pop culture series like Back to the Future and Sliders. I also got a strong Dr. Who feel thanks to the existence of seasoned time travelers and the steampunk, robotic villains that repeatedly show up to thwart them. I think Time Lord fans will enjoy Untimed, though Charlie plays more the role of the companion rather than possessing the charm and wisdom of the good Doctor.

Because the story is surprisingly adult in its content for a young adult novel, I think it broadens the range of readers the story will appeal to. The recent success of the Twilight and Hunger Games series have proven that the true audience for a young adult adventure can extend much wider than perhaps it was originally intended. While I did grow tired of Charlie’s lusting after Yvaine in the midst of the far more important time traveling and near-death experiences, it’s hard to argue that it doesn’t capture some of the essence of a 16-year-old boy’s mind.

Untimed is a quick read with action consistently moving the story forward, and the separation of scenes within each chapter keeps the story from ever getting bogged down. While our hero is regrettably the least interesting character in the story, he serves his purpose as the vehicle for the events that play out and the other characters involved. Untimed is a fun read for all of the young science fiction fans out there, and may even appeal to older readers. As the start of a new series, it’ll be interesting to see how young Charlie grows and the fantastical people and places he’ll encounter in his future (and past) travels.

A sample of Untimed can be found on Andy Gavin’s official website, and the complete book can be purchased through any of the links below:

Amazon E-Book ASIN: B006PIMYLY
Amazon Paperback ASIN: 1937945014
Amazon Hardcover ASIN: 1937945006
Barnes & Noble: 1108093415  (on hold for Kindle Select)
Google: 7o8wLIfFUcwC  (on hold for Kindle Select)
Apple iBooks: 494719226 (on hold for Kindle Select)
CreateSpace: 3751712

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