Top 10 Indie Games of the Year 2013 From IndieDB

The votes are in and IndieDB has amassed their top 10 voted indie games of the year! What amazed me was the sheer variance in genres, although apparently it's the year of outer space love (maybe because the US canceled it's space program?) so there's something great for everyone here. Here are the winners:

• Starbound is a "2D space exploration sandbox game" that actually has a story and main goals to accomplish (if you want)!
• Contagion is a "cooperative survival horror FPS where players are forced to watch their ammo and aim carefully otherwise be overrun by the zombie hordes." The game is also randomly generated, but your fear won't be!
• I've heard a lot about Kerbal Space Program in the past, and was always curious, but now that it's #3 highest voted I'll definitely have to check it out! KSP is a "multi-genre game where the player can create his own space program, [... and] build a space-worthy craft capable of flying it's crew out into space without killing them
• Space Engineers is "a sandbox game about engineering, construction and maintenance of space works. Players build space ships and space stations of various sizes and utilization (civil and military), pilot ships and perform asteroid mining."
• The Stanley Parable is another game I've heard quite a bit about, and it's probably the one I know the least about after reading the pages! From the IndieDB page: "The Stanley Parable is a simple game about storytelling. You will be told a story and then you will be asked to make a choice, except that the choice will not matter. No, sorry, my mistake, the choice matters a great deal. Or maybe...is it that the story doesn't matter? Wait, let me check my notes..."
• Into the Dark is, succinctly enough, "a playable B-Movie, a trash Experience composed out of 60% humour, 30% horror and 10% technical flaws."
• Path of Exile is the first action/RPG on the list and it's free to play! It involves a slew of character customization as well as PvP.
• Tales of Maj'Eyal is another RPG, but this one is a roguelike that also happened to win Roguelike of the Year 2010-2012!
• Outlast is another horror game, this one takes place in Mount Massive Asylum, which sounds like a combination of two creepy things!
• Rogue Legacy rounds it all up, and it's a "genealogical roguelite." I can't pick just one sentence to copy since it's so well written, but here's from the developers: "You must traverse a procedurally-generated castle to uncover the secrets of your cursed heritage. You have only one chance though, as there is no redemption from death. Fortunately your lineage spawns like bunny rabbits, and there are plenty of successors willing to pick up the sword. Unfortunately genetics aren't a perfect science, resulting in children who suffer from a variety of different traits, such as blindness, dyslexia, and even irritable bowels syndrome. Do you have what it takes to uncover your family's history and redeem its honor?"

There were also Editor's Choice awards, all of which were for games not listed above except for Rogue Legacy, which placed #1 overall and "Best Singleplayer Game". And if you're wanting to know what awesomeness is being made as you read this, there's also a "Best Upcoming Indie Games" section.

Which game are you most excited for? I'd thrown a concept around in my head before similar to Rogue Legacy, but coming up with the basic concept and carrying it out to awesome completion are two totally different things!

SOL Republic Tracks Air (Wireless Headphones) Giveaway!

This blog did not receive product samples for this post and is not responsible for the giveaway.

SOL REPUBLIC was founded back in 2011 by Kevin Lee, Scott Hix, and Setch Combs. They share a vision of getting rid of all of the worlds hollow-sounding headphones. SOL REPUBLIC is a global consumer electronics company that was also dedicated to enhancing the lives of people through better sounding headphones and accessories. They are also striving to create a community where music fans, athletes and all dreamers can voice their opinions, ideas, and share their sound and be heard. The SOL REPUBLIC Tracks Air Wireless Headphone is an amazing pair of headphones for only $199!

The Tracks Air headphones are extremely durable thanks to the FlexTech headband. They can be bent, twisted and nothing will happen. A feature on these headphones which is extremely popular is that the ear cups are removable. This allows you to customize your headphones exactly how you want them. You can switch up the wires, ear cups, and headbands to make them exactly how you want. The ear cups also feature an expanded cushion, making them extremely comfortable. They feature: A2 Sound Engine. A larger amplifier that produces a sound that is equal to or better than wired. This is the best in its class. Listen In Comfort & Isolation. The noise-isolating ear cushions lets you enjoy your music for tons of hours in the comfort of your home or on your couch. Multiple Device Connectivity. With the wireless headphones you are able to watch a movie on your tablet, then take an incoming call with only a touch of a button using the crystal-clear noise reduction available on the headphones. All wired headphones are unable to do this. Super Power Wireless (Air). The wireless headphones can also be used on the road or roaming around your house. They can carry their amazing sound without wires for up to 150 feet. Batter Life. The headphones are a USB re-chargeable headphone that will provide you with up to 15 hours of playtime when it is fully charged. A lot of smartphones can't even provide a charge for that long.

Interchangeable Headbands: The headphones had a revolutionary design which allows you to change your headband whenever you want to!! Headbands will be available starting in 2014. SOL REPUBLIC Tracks Air Wireless Headphones are the only wireless headphones that are interchangeable. NFC/ Bluetooth Pairing. This makes it really easy to listen to music or take calls within seconds using the Easy Pair Bluetooth and NFC compatibility. SOL REPUBLIC has many different styles of headphones starting at $39.99 for the JAX In-Ear Headphones.

For The Giveaway

One winner will win the SOL REPUBLIC Tracks Air Wireless Headphones. You have never heard music until you have heard them through these headphones. These headphones retail for $199. US Resident only 18+. Winner will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Ends January 15 Midnight EST. Check back on It's Peachy keen For the winners post

Co-Hosted by Submissive By Design and Sweet Southern Lovin

Sponsored by SOL REPUBLIC

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Treasurebear: Humor, Exploration, Platforming, Treasure and Food!

Treasurebear combines two incredibly awesome things: good platforming action and LOTS of treasure! The game focuses on a duo of unlikely "heroes" - [From the Kickstarter page] "The greedy and unpredictable Chester, a charismatic treasure chest forever condemned by the treasure hunter's guild, and his sleepy sidekick Barry, a hungry bear who prefers sauce battles over boss battles." The story is driven as such: "Barry teams up with Chester following the promise of visiting foreign lands in order to locate and sample exquisite and tasty foods. Determined to locate his blackmailer and exonerate himself, Chester utilizes his uncanny talents for finding shiny and potentially valuable items while upholding his promise to Barry."

While the story is humorous and intriguing, it's the gameplay concepts that really sold me on the game. See, because of the way the two team up, you're able to do some really awesome things together! As you can see from the image below, Bear & Boar (the developers) have had no shortage of creative ideas! And this goes far beyond abilities, the depths of the story, crazy levels and treasure hunting all appear to go just as deep.

Concepts for upgrades. Why hasn't anyone come up with the gold coin machine gun before?

The Offspring Release 8-Bit Versions of "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid"

I'll admit to having been a much bigger fan of The Offspring in my youth than now, but after finding out about Dexter's hot sauce (Gringo Bandito) and now their three 8-bit versions of "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid" (which you can download free!) my interest is piqued once more!

Like I said, there are three versions - Rudolph, Mistletoe and Eggnog. Rudolph and Eggnog are my favorites - Eggnog has a really fun beat going with it, whereas Rudolph feels more it belongs right on a good Game Boy soundtrack. All in all, I loved them though, and it really was a fun surprise to come across randomly in my email! Most bands would have added them to a new, special re-release of the original CD instead of just saying "Hey, here ya go!"

In case you missed the link above, you can download the .zip file right here: http://www.offspring.com/xmas2013/youre-gonna-go-far-[xmas-2013].zip

Party of One - Ludum Dare 28 Game Review

My second Ludum Dare 28 game review is of Party of One, a fun twist on puzzle warfare by Jan Marcano/@AldianSolkai. The premise is simple: your party of heroes has to protect the town from invading monsters! The twist? The evil wizard behind the invasion has cursed your party and turned you all into one person, so now it's just "one" of you against all of them! Good luck!

Definitely fitting of the "easy to learn, difficult to master" phrase.

IndieGameStand's 12 Days of Christmas for Charity!

IndieGameStand has set up a genius - and awesome! - collection of free games that are being sold 100% for charity. Each day from December 18th to the 29th, two new games are revealed for "sale" for you to name your own price on (minimum 25 cents). Just like any of their other game sales, whoever contributes the most on a particular game will get a free t-shirt, and they don't even take the t-shirt price out of the donations - they pay for those out of their own pockets!

All of the money contributed - $1,555.38 as of today, December 20th at 11:45am - goes to Child's Play, one of my favorite charities, which makes it even  more awesome! IndieGameStand has put a good amount of work into this one, and it really is for an awesome cause, so check it out! Worst case, you'll find out about a whole bunch of games that you can get for as little as 25 cents each (or probably Google to find for free, but hey, it's charity!).

The DLC Quest Duology - Earn that DLC!

DLC has become something nearly every game has available these days. Heck, some companies even have season passes available before the game releases! Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, for example, was boasting extra missions for Adewale, the Jackdaw's first mate, before the game itself came out, and I wanted it! DLC can not only add to the game, it can make the game easier, unlock things quicker, change the graphics around or simply give your avatar something cool to wear. The DLC quest games manage to not only mock all of this in a genius manner, they're a load of fun!

No Way Out - Ludum Dare 28 Game Review

I'm kicking off my Ludum Dare 28 game reviews with No Way Out, a really awesome, amazingly atmospheric little adventure by Emma ("Eniko"/@Enichan) of the one-woman game studio Kitsune Games. Before I even dig in, let me just sum up with this: it's a short little adventure that can be beaten in under a minute if you know what you're doing, and it's an experience that every game player should have. Plus, it's free to play and requires no download since it's a web game!

It already has you intrigued, doesn't it?

Driftmoon Giveaway - Two Winners!

From the developer's webpage:

Driftmoon is an exciting adventure-roleplaying game with a charming personality! The last hope of an enchanted world lies in an unlikely alliance: a hyperactive firefly, a queen panther with a whale-sized ego, and a fellow who's lost all but his bones. They'll take you on a journey like no other, full of amazing adventures, and fearsome foes.

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Two winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.

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Frayed Knights: The Skull of S'makh-Daon - 4 Winners!

From the developer's Desura page:

A 3D indie RPG with old-school flavor and a tongue firmly planted in its cheek. Frayed Knights: The Skull of S'makh-Daon features turn-based combat, over a hundred spells (mostly upgradable), over 80 skills (feats), dozens of monsters, and 30+ hours of gameplay. It also features new innovations like the Drama Star system to provide an incentive to play through setbacks rather than reloading, and a detailed trap-disarming / lockpicking mini-game.

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Five winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.

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Derrick the Deathfin Giveaway - 4 Winners

From the developer's webpage:

It’s a fast-paced arcade action title set in a unique aquatic world made entirely out of paper & card. In the game Derrick rampages around the globe munching on paper creatures and destroying everything he sees under the guise of avenging the death of his parents.

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Five winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.

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Megabyte Punch Giveaway - 5 Winners

From the game's Steam page:

Megabyte Punch is a fighting/beat ‘em up game in which you build your own fighter!

As you travel through different environments, you battle other creatures to get their parts. Parts have their own powers and bonuses, like gun arms for a shoot ability or powerful hips for a devastating pelvic thrust attack. Then, using the abilities of your customized fighter, you can compete in the tournament or battle against other players in a destructible arena.

The game takes place in an computer world where you protect the Heartcore of your village against the likes of the Valk Empire and the dreaded Khoteps in 6 different levels with each 3 stages and a boss fight!

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Five winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.

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Crystals of Time Giveaway - 5 Winners!

From the game's Desura page:

Crystals of Time is an Adventure Hidden Object game with nice hand drawing scenes (over 80) several various minigames and hidden objects scenes and hours of gameplay.

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Five winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.


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Steam Game Collection Giveaway

I realize there are a lot of folks out there who are of the mindset that if a game isn't on Steam, they simply won't play it. This giveaway is for those people (or people who just want more chances to win games!)! The winner will receive Steam keys of the following games:

• 9.03m
• Anodyne
• Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller (Episodes 1-4!)
• Darkout
• Dino D-Day
• Dungeonland (All Access Pass)
• Forge (Starter Pack)
• Gateways
• Hacker Evolution Series
• Ironclad Tactics
• Knights of Pen and Paper (+ 1,000 bonus gold key)
• Megabyte Punch
• NEO Scavenger
• SpaceChem
• Steel Storm
• The Adventures of Shuggy
• The Cat Lady (18+)
• Towns

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: One winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.


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When Asteroids Attack Giveaway - 10 Winners!

When Asteroids Attack is actually the first "big" game I ever made (I told you I was an indie too!). It's a twist on the classic game Asteroids with a simpler control style, a story, lots of levels and crazy enemies to defeat!

Good luck, and don't forget to enter all of the other Christmas giveaways as well!

Note: Ten winners will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open worldwide. The winners will be emailed via their Rafflecopter email address once chosen, and will have three (3) days to reply to it. If you don't reply within the three days, a new winner will be chosen at random.

a Rafflecopter giveaway