Recommendation: Ducksoup Dungeon

Let’s jump right into Ducksoup Dungeon. It’s a free web browser playable rogue-lite on Itch.io by developer Richard Lems, also known as Blastmode Games. You might have heard of Lems’ work on the game Mighty Goose. In the game I’m discussing here, Ducksoup Dungeon, you choose one of four heroes. It is playable in a web browser or can be downloaded. Starting with “Slashchicken,” the first hero is a chicken. Gameplay With amazing firepower at your side, you’ll blast your way through and collect coins. Each play’s collection can be used to unlock the other three heroes. Every level features… Read the rest

Earth Day Game Pick: Tadpole Tales

Today is Earth Day, and that’s why my free game pick for the day is Tadpole Tales. I played this last year with a fair amount of amusement at the concept. The art style is juicy and vibrant like a Miyazaki film or perhaps some other manga animation. It’s an arcade-style game. This doesn’t mean it’s confined to an arcade cabinet somewhere, it’s a Steam title that’s easy to start and has a few basic controls and mechanics. Gameplay in Tadpole Tales Plot your way as a tadpole through a polluted river. When you heal corrupted wildlife with a splash… Read the rest

Hivemind 2: Stargrove Scramble is A Sweet SNES Style Indie

Hivemind 2: Stargrove Scramble is a 2D pixel art platformer part of a 2021 Newgrounds dev jam with an “egg” theme by the dev group Team Bugulon. You play a little cloaked lizard, progressing through various spring-sunset-toned environments, collecting candies that in turn give you eggs that you can use to hurl at enemies and unblock paths. The music is a touch above fun, along with the sound effects, making the game have a polished SNES quality that is so adored in these kinds of games.  Gameplay Stargrove Scramble is a generous product as far as free games on ItchIO go in… Read the rest

Moonstuck is Literally Impossible, Stop Now

When I posted this game, the dev joked to me that I’d done a really great job, which if you watch this video, you’ll realize is hilarious. The game is literally impossible. What? Why am I writing about that? It’s free, otherwise, there’d be an uproar on Steam. Gameplay Moonstuck is a 2D platformer from CozyGames and Black County Games available on Steam just released today. It utilizes a very difficult mechanic involving rocket propulsion and a scenario where touching the majority portions of the platform can result in being kicked back to the start, or checkpoint if you proceed… Read the rest

Octarina, A Game About an Octopus Trapped in a Sushi Factory

Octarina is a physics puzzle game about an octopus escaping a sushi factory (don’t worry, you’re on the side of the octopus!) Using your squiggly limbs and momentum, propel yourself around the interior of the factory with the intention of escaping. You can use suction cups to climb structures and hurl objects at switches to reverse conveyor belts and such. Gameplay There are three modes: speed mode, story mode, and “the floor is lava.” Despite the dire situation, the game is pretty pleasant and amusing. The graphics and art style are spot on, making use of mid-range graphics cards, which I… Read the rest

With You is Still Fun For “Single” Players

With You is from Carol Mertz and Insatiable Cycle, the same publisher of “We should talk.” It’s a simple co-op puzzle platformer that can be played with a keyboard. It can also be played as one player using the respective sides of their keyboard to control the two main characters. How to Play Solve puzzles by figuring out geometric obstacles, flipping around your square and half-circle buddies so that they can fit into the floating sections on the two-dimensional plane behind them, and unlocking the next levels. The game features a cute style, with a pleasant soundtrack, and is described on the… Read the rest

Bunny Bye-Bye is a Cute, Simple Indie Game

Okay, IN MY OPINION, but it’s cute and it’s the free game today. Actually, I really did like Bunny Bye-Bye and it deserves a break from my sardonic quips. This is a 2D pixel-art platformer about a little alien named “bobe” who needs to clean dust bunnies around a space station using a vacuum called a clean0tron. I can’t promise I have a ton to say about this game, but it’s a neat solo jam that contained enough variety in the description that I spent the morning trying it out. I’m not sure what the limits need to be on… Read the rest

Easter Pick: Super Star Duck

There’s a really neat ItchIO developer called “eggnog.” They’re publishing all sorts of harmless, fun games apparently. In Super Star Duck: Escape From Nefarious Castle, you’ve got the option to play as Esdee, Flan, or Bean, a duck, hippo, and dog (respectively.) The game is one of many free games on ItchIO that I cover, not because it’s a great place to lurk, but because indie developers love the attention there! Why wouldn’t they? Don’t take this TOO seriously, it’s just a little duck game, but it’s free so why not try it out? It’s not my all-time favorite game ever,… Read the rest

Gummy Shooter Looks SICK (And You Can Play it On Your Phone)

Mostly created for its novelty probably, Gummy Shooter is an amusing side-scrolling thumb blaster. To be honest, I’ve never tried anything like it before, but I was moved to try the Android category of ItchIO as I was out and it was really quite easy. I don’t always cover games like this, because there is a conflict with how much praise I can gloat over a game versus how simplistic they actually are, but the least I can do is try. So, let’s take a look at Gummy Shooter (for ANDROID!) Gummy Shooter Gameplay Everything here is a purple-orange anime… Read the rest

ItchIO Spotlight: Eats Shoots and Leaves

Here’s an amusing little platformer over on ItchIO called Eats Shoots and Leaves. The name is a parody of the famous writing device expressing how a simple lack of punctuation makes a sentence mean something completely different, especially phonetically. “Eats Chutes and Leaves” and “Eats, Shoots, and Leaves.” This game takes this idea and literally makes it the theme. If you’ve never played an indie game like this, it’s not a broad blanket experience for the whole genre, but many of us who play these types of pixel art platformers love, love, love this genre. And I assure you I did.… Read the rest

More ItchIO Binging: Space Adventure by e9k9

Just a fun little platformer today called Space Adventure. Found this on ItchIO. You play as a small alien crashlanded somewhere, a moon perhaps, wandering around collecting green dots. Works great on a controller, and the music is pleasant. The original language of this game is German, so if you don’t speak German you might not totally understand what’s going on. Everything is pretty intuitive though, including the universal basics of all platformers (left, right, up, down, jump, etc.) Released within the last month. Gameplay in Space Adventure Players of platformers that involve puzzles will love this, but also those… Read the rest

Random Free JAM Games: Daydream (Kowzak)

Daydream is a simple keyboard controller platformer made for an ItchIO Dev jam. The protagonist is a woman on a bus daydreaming out the window, as you control one of three recurring daydreams, jumping over obstacles and creatures and avoiding water. It varies from creative to bizarre. I know it seems like I’m just picking these games randomly, but the purpose is to provide inspiration for whatever I need to work on next and provide a nice gesture toward all those talented solo devs out there. Gameplay of Daydream is Simple and Elegant Nothing too serious here, just a free… Read the rest

This Game is Basically Cyberpunk Pong

Exoblast is basically a very extreme version of pong. Made by the French developer DreamIRL Games, it hit Steam last month and is free as of version 1.0. You control a machine slider in charge of one side of the screen playing against either an AI or another player (there seems to be a function for online mode too.) It’s got some great gameplay and as far as pong goes, might be the most industrial pixel art feast for the eyes in all of the pong kingdom. I have no reason to mention it other than I found it pretty… Read the rest

Super Duper indies: Hip Witch

Hip Witch is a free adventure game released on Steam this week by developer Studio Hip Sword. The environment is handmade, and the storyline involves a lost young witch boarding in a state park, where she begins a quest to investigate odd happenings on the park’s grounds. It is playable with a controller or keyboard and is short but charming and cozy met with positive reviews. Gameplay in Hip Witch: You Got Spells, Man? Hip Witch is a cozy little indie with reminiscence of games like A Short Hike and other outdoor-themed video games. Everything is hand-drawn giving it the… Read the rest

Caves Ablaze Feels like a Super Old School Platformer

Caves Ablaze is a 2D Metroidvania Platformer. Play as a ball of fire that completes puzzles deep underground by using flames and dashing abilities to unlock paths. Avoid water and slowly make your way to the surface. Playable with an X-Box Input Controller or keyboard. This was the inaugural free games post for the FGV blog. Not a lot documented here, but a perfectly enjoyable game. Caves Ablaze Gameplay Ah, okay, another fore into the world of free games on itchio. Although not every gamer out there has an interest in platformers with cozy intentions and charming non-human characters, I… Read the rest

Indie Spotlight: Fayburrow – a Super Cozy Student Project

Today, I plunged headfirst into the free games pile of new releases over on the Steam store. On my arrival, I discovered a cozy little visual novel among the listings called Fayburrow, and I decided to take a look at it. Fayburrow is a free game created by the self-named “Fayburrow Troupe” at VIA University College in Denmark. It just hit the Steam store today. What was first intrigue, turned into a fascination with the conjunction of such delightful graphics with a genre I have not covered in far too long! So, after downloading, I fired it up and took… Read the rest

Loading Story Killed An Afternoon For Free

Today’s game, Loading Story, listed as developed by “potatodog” on Steam is a tad quirky but genuinely satisfying. It’s a very short game about a character troubleshooting a game loading error in an imaginary video game town, where the loading tube passes through. Just wander around and solve the mystery. It’s good that it’s free because it only takes about 20-30 minutes to play, which is fine. I’ll tell you enough about it but won’t go too crazy on detailing this one, since you really should just play it. Loading Story: Free and Fine Just a heads up, this game… Read the rest

I Played Chair Simulator, that Hilarious Freebie Indie On Steam

I must have a sick sense of humor if I decided to go on this journey so eagerly in the gaming universe. I have a sense of humor, sorry for the orneriness. C’mon though: Chair Simulator!? I love it. What’s weird is it actually wasn’t that bad. And it’s free. If you literally have nothing else to do, just try it. Obviously, the creator was tongue in cheek when they created this, but I was surprised by the attention to gameplay that was put into this for being what I guess is an ironic game, or maybe it’s a personal… Read the rest

Nyaa-Kuza!! is a Freebie Indie Student Game

Nyaa-Kuza is an illustrated half-action interactive fiction title from the self-dubbed Catzooka Studios out of the University of Utah’s EAE program. Play as Mochi, an ex-Nyaa-Kuza brawler cat, whose cat wife, Hime, has been “catnapped” by the syndicate. You’ll traverse the outskirts of a Japanese city interacting with leads and allies in a conventional visual novel style to find Hime. At other times, the game is highly interactive with button-mashing fight scenes with cat gangsters. The game is free on Steam, and I sincerely suspect you’ve never seen a game like this. I Love University Games and Interactive Fiction I… Read the rest

Til Nord is a Free Student Made Snowmobile Game

Til Nord is a free open-world snowmobile game released by students at Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. The gameplay is straightforward with its mobile open-world gameplay and pulls off a finished level of design from the beginning. Ride your snowmobile around the Loften Islands of Norway. Day and night, bright snowy roads and northern light skies at night, solving delivery missions for enterprises around the village like lumber mills and fisheries. Or test your skill at time-lapse contests with your learned speeding abilities. Til Nord: Student Games Are Cool This is, I think, around the third time… Read the rest

Lab Rags is a Freebie Hidden Gem By Students With a Unique Feature

Lab Rags is an upcoming title from the student project studio Salt Mine Studios. It is an art-deco-era puzzle-level game that shares mechanics with games like Portal and its descendants. Start solving puzzles right away as a mechanical android with a neat gun similar to the classic gravity gun. You can advance within the game by respawning and then grabbing your previous housing to fling at door-opening buttons, traverse over spike pits, and even build structures like stairs out of crushed cubes made from your metal leftovers. The environments and music are very charming, and it is an appropriate level… Read the rest

Double Cheeseburger, Medium Fries – Why Do I Love This?

Double Cheeseburger, Medium Fries is surprisingly delightful. When I was looking at the ItchIO page for this game, I wondered if it would throw me into flashbacks as a teen, where I worked a few jobs here and there in kitchens and at counters. It managed to perfectly capture that experience–without all the real-life boredom–and add some entertaining gameplay, for what is actually a pretty simple but good game concept. If you’ve ever worked in fast food, food service, or really any customer service, you’ll probably find this game highly relatable, especially if you’ve had the kind of shifts where… Read the rest

5 More Great Itch.IO Games in 2021 TOP LIST

Here are 5 Itch.IO games that are either demos, choose your own price, or free–depending on how much you want to contribute or can afford. You may have noticed I am very enthusiastic about this platform because it is where indie games are happening every moment! I’ve got some great titles for you, so let’s get started. 1. Doggo Quest https://meebob.itch.io/doggo-quest The dog is pretty cute and funny and the interactions with the other creatures and features are all really good. When I looked at the environments and creatures I noticed that this game seems to be entirely hand painted,… Read the rest

Alpaca Ball: All Stars is Free on Nintendo Switch

Alpaca Ball is about having fun. It’s exactly what you need it to be. A game about alpacas playing soccer, I mean football, I mean ball, or maybe Europe is starting to call it soccer, or maybe they only call it that because of Americas–wait, where is this game from? There’s Spanish music and the first level is Machu Picchu, which is in Peru, but the developers are in Austria, and the game is English. No worries. The Llamas I MEAN ALPACAS ? What a cuddly buddy I was really interested in the game since the beginning. First of all,… Read the rest