A few games I've played recently: Indie Edition

As well as all the blockbusters I've been playing recently, I've also been trying my hand at a large number of indie games. Some of these were pretty rubbish, as is to be expected, but some were very good indeed. The one's I've enjoyed the most seem to be the ones other people have liked as well, which, it seems, is quite often the case.

BIT.TRIP BEAT

I got this in the steam "Indie Pulse pack" which was full of games that are heavily based on music.
I knew BEAT was popular before I played it, but hadn't actually seen any footage of it, and screenshots don't really do it justice. As soon as I started playing I knew it was something special.
It takes the classic pong gameplay, but instead of bouncing one ball between two paddles, you control one paddle, and there are lots, and lots of excitingly acting balls to bounce back instead. The way it took a mechanic I am so familiar with, altered it, and then synchronised the whole thing with fantastic music, struck a chord with something inside me and I fell in love instantly. To illustrate how much I became enamoured with the game, I actually called my mum into the room, just because I had to show it to someone, something I've never done before (and she's never played a game in her life).  It wasn't until my dad pointed out to me the background looked like something out of doom (on one particular section) that I realised there was in fact a background to look at. I had been so concentrated on the little squares flying towards my paddle that I had completely missed it. However sometimes when playing I totally zone out, and just enjoy the music, letting my instincts take over the pinging and ponging. All said and done, this title is simple in gameplay, graphics and concept, but the execution of all 3 is perfect for the game, and I can't imagine it being better.

Chime

I picked up Chime in the Steam '12 days of Christmas' sale, and it was a great addition to my library. It's a puzzle game in the same way Bejewelled or Tetris are puzzle games, and is a cross between the two. You have geometrically shaped blocks to place on the game board, and every time you make a 3x3 block, it begins to 'fill up', this takes about 3 seconds, and if in that time you can place another block or blocks to completely cover 1 edge, it will begin to fill again, but with the new blocks added to the volume. This continues until you miss an extension, at which point the block bakes down onto the grid, raising your multiplier. It's a high score game, and the best way to get points is filling the whole grid with baked blocks. The game is set to music, and each time a block bakes down it plays an eponymous "chime" based on its shape and position, meaning each playthrough has a unique soundtrack.
This game has the same addictive quality that tetris had all those years ago, and it's obvious that parallels will be drawn when you see the shapes of the blocks you play with in Chime. It's not as stressful as a lot of games in this genre, but at times you be be angry at your brain for not seeing a way to make this block fit in that hole quickly enough.
It's a lot of fun, and it's been a while since I enjoyed a pure 'puzzle' game so much, also the music in the soundtrack is excellent (that being said, I'm a big electronic music fan already) and the graphics very tastefully done, and fit with the style perfectly.

Flotilla

This is another game from Steam; the "Indie Air Pack" to be precise. At first I didn't play it as the screenshots seemed quite ugly, and I had to pretty games to be playing. However I later booted it up, and suddenly remembered that graphics aren't everything, and in fact it was quite pretty now that I really looked at it and my god it was fun.
The graphics, while not cutting edge by any means, are designed to be purely functional, and when you add in the classical soundtrack and leisurely pace of the game, it all creates a very pleasant and peaceful playing environment.
It is a space combat game and as the title suggests you control a flotilla of ships and fight against enemy fleets.  Combat is turn based and "There is no up in space" and you should remember that. You can move your ships in any direction, and point anyway you want while doing it, which is a refreshingly honest way of playing space combat. There are only a few different types of ship, each has strengths and weaknesses and it becomes apparent fairly quickly exactly the best way to use each, which is very satisfying.
The whole thing is tied together by a very quirky but often hilarious adventure story. Each playthrough of the story is made up of semi-random encounters and lasts (depending on how long your battles take) between 20 and 45minutes, start to finish. It's worth getting the game for the limited story alone, just to see how much fun playing an entire story-arch in a lunch break can be, and to meet some of the personalities inhabiting the galaxy with you. These range from mercenary-cats and casino owning owls, to deer in charge of the interplanetary police.
There are online leader boards, and while getting a high score will often be dependant on what encounters you  get in the story, it is fun to see how you match up with others playing the game, something which kept me coming back.