Guess what happens in this game?   Hint: the title is pretty descriptive.

From the creators of the trippy Pong update Revenge of the Ball comes a 2D-shooter where every level is a boss level.  And you will die.  A lot.  By lasers.

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No, it’s not about crossing the Rio Grande while avoiding patrols.  Border Wars is basically a hand-drawn R-type with a highly customizable ship.  By highly, I mean completely.  As in, the whole game is hand-drawn, and you can completely erase the default ship and drawn your own.  You don’t even have to draw a ship.  You can draw a panda, or a shoe, or a leper.  I didn’t fly around in a doodled penis and shoot green sperm shots at aliens, honest!  That would be immature.

But does my penis ship make this a unique and worthy update of a classic side-scrolling shooter?  Or is it bound to be ignored, just like in real life?

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The puzzle game market is a tough egg to crack.  The recent flood of casual software included a few standout gems, but with so many knock-offs and carbon copies, it’s often hard to discern the good from the bad.

Some games try to set themselves apart by having a unique aesthetic (QuantZ), while some mesh other genres together in an attempt to be unique (Puzzle Quest).  Ziro is a brain-taxing dice-math game with a “Stop global warming!” message delivered by a battle-hardened snowman mascot.  True story.

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[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

When Pong was released back in 1972, I don’t think anyone expected people would still be making modifications to the classic formula more then 35 years later.  While the game got a much needed reboot on the Playstation in 1999, with enhanced 3-D visuals and power-ups, it’s unfortunately considered by many to be too simple for today’s high end consoles.

With the advent of the iPhone, and a new desire for bite sized gaming experiences on the go, the world has seen a new reemergence of simple games like Pong.  Independent developer DC Software Arts is not ready to sit idly by and let people play the same old boring version that was released almost four decades ago.  They have spiced things up with their own interpretation on the classic title named The Art of Pong. Read more… »

[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

“Atmosphere” is one of those intangible qualities that every game strives to achieve, yet few manage to convey successfully.  Sometimes, the problem is just that the game attempts too much.

This is where many of the Xbox Live Indie Games derive their strength – simplicity.  Do one thing, and do it well.

Today, we look at Dark, a pure puzzle platformer with atmosphere in spades.

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[Every week, Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene. Check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

The Xbox Live Indie Games service is full of clones of more popular titles.  “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” so they say.  Sadly, the imitator is rarely as good as the original.

Beat Hazard is, in essence, a Geometry Wars clone.  However, it is one of those rare titles that not only meets the expectations set by its predecessor, but exceeds them.  It is perhaps the single finest Indie Game on the entire service.

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[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene, check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

Indie games don’t have multi-million dollar budgets.  They don’t have bleeding-edge technology and cutscenes rivaling the processed beauty of Pixar movies.  They don’t try to mash five different genres together in a tired attempt to be innovative just for the sake of innovation.

The best indie games, however, have focus.  They do one thing, and they do it well.  Machiavelli’s Ascent on Xbox Live Indie Games is one such example.

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[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene, check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

The most successful apps on the iTunes store are the ones which revolve around simple, easy to manage mechanics without any intrusive on screen joysticks or broken tilt controls. Appy Entertainment’s Zombie Pizza doesn’t possess any of these problems, but it is let down by its lack of genuine gameplay.

In years prior, I’ve become way too familiar with the rush and stress of working in a pizza shop on a busy Friday night or first Monday of the school holidays.  Zombie Pizza’s clever little back story is the world has been taken over by zombies, and it’s your job to stay alive and work at ‘Zombonies Pizza’ to feed an army of the living dead their favorite food… pizzas? Read more… »

[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit scours the underbelly of the internet to bring you the finest releases from the indie scene, check back each week to see what we recommend. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

Stepping out from the indie realms of Xbox Live and the iPhone, we instead take a trip onto the PC today with Big Fish Games’ artistic title Drawn: The Painted Tower. I will admit, I was smitten with this game after seeing the trailer. I genuinely had no idea what the game was about and how it’s played. I couldn’t have even told you what genre the game fit into, but I knew I wanted to play it because it was so darn pretty. I mean, seriously pretty. I’m talking Hayley Williams pretty right now.

Does The Painted Tower offer more than just a casual romp through some nice drawings?

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[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit will highlight an indie title: from the iPhone to the Xbox Live Arcade. Feel free to check out our full schedule right here!]

Every now and then, the App Store graces us with a sleeper hit. These hidden gems are something that should be praised verdantly; allowing for them to get the attention they so rightly deserve. Alley Labs’ Meteor Blitz is undoubtedly one of these hits.

Following the same game mechanics as that of Super Stardust HD for the PS3, Meteor Blitz is a high quality, dual stick space shooter for the iPhone and iPod Touch. And at a reasonable price of $1.99 you can’t overlook this as your next App Store purchase. Read more… »

[Every Wednesday Gamer Limit will highlight an indie title: from the iPhone to the Xbox Live Arcade!]

Ever play Pong?

Imagine Pong on crack – with lasers – and an unrelenting barrage of enemies ready to smash their balls into your face.

Intrigued?  Read on.

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[Indie Spotlight is a series that takes you right into the heart of the indie gaming scene, and lets you know if a particular title is worth trying out]

A dual-stick shooter on XBLA?  No way!  Oh, this one has zombies in it?  And it’s an Indie Game, so it’s only $3?  How could I say no?

Well, first you could download the free trial.  Then I can tell you, once you’re done with that, you’ve seen everything there is to see.  Oh, joy.

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