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Humble Weekly Sale: IndieCade Edition

dear_esther-screenshot

You Got it Made in the ‘Cade

Humble Weekly’s latest compilation brings some of the greats from IndieCade together. The festival has long been celebrated for its promotion of games that dare to either turn established gaming conventions on their heads, smash a bunch of genres together, or create new categories entirely.

The Power of 3

Name your price on this collection worth more than USD $60. Catch gaming on the flipside with these 3 daring, inventive titles.

And Yet It Moves

by Broken Rules
Read our full review.

In this trippy take on sidescrollers, you can rotate the world to suit your attempts at acrobatics. Plummeting from a precarious cliff? Spin that room, and walk effortlessly down the wall as if nothing happened.

And Yet It Moves screenshot
And Yet It Moves screenshot

As you make your mad dash, allow your eyes and ears breathe in the atmosphere: The world is a oddly-hued place splattered in a frenetic color palate. The soothing soundtrack will calm your nerves, and keep you connected to a world that which is only a little less spinny.

The Dream Machine

by Cockroach Inc.
Here’s our review.

If there’s something you find unsettling about the visuals in The Dream Machine, it isn’t hard to discover why. All of the animations and set pieces have been painstakingly created in true stop-motion claymation. The point and click game equivalent of Tool‘s “Sober” video? I got queasy just typing that…

the_dream_machine-security camera room screenshot
The Dream Machine screenshot

Puzzle your way through the first three chapters of a tale that goes from dreamlike to nightmarish as you delve deeper.

Luxuria Superbia

by Tale of Tales
Gently glide through flowers, causing them to blush and open. Once you’ve filled a bloom with color, another flower will be available to brighten.

Luxuria Superbia
Luxuria Superbia screenshot

The more color you bring to the flowers, the more vibrant the energy that will emanate from the garden. A mesmerizing and seductive experience.

Apps vs Entrees

Pay over USD $6, and you unlock Steam Codes for these avant garde darlings. And seriously…do it. If you want a great taste of why indie gaming is so great, why send half of the meal back?

Dear Esther

by The Chinese Room
Though it’s more a narrated first-person love letter (albeit not so cheery) than a game, this free-flow exploration game tells a story that will leave much to the interpretation of the player and resonate long after its apex.

dear_esther-screenshot
Dear Ester screenshot

With no HUD, and only the voice of the narrator to provide hints, the purpose of the exercise is left entirely to the player. Ponderous peregrination is tantamount, and scouring the environment will reveal further insights into the mysterious existence that is Esther.

The Bridge

by The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild
Strip away the colors and…well, everything else you think you know about the physical world. Each stage in The Bridge will present a new challenge to the player, because there are no established laws of game physics, well not beyond those trompe l’oeils inspired by MC Escher.

We had a chance to speak with Ty Taylor about the game at IndieCade 2011. Watch our interview:

7 Grand Steps

by Mousechief
I wish I could aptly share my excitement at seeing Mousechief’s 7 Grand Steps included in this list. Bear with me through the description, because I can assure you that the execution far exceeds the presentation. If that doesn’t adequately paint the picture, you can always read my full review of the game.

7 Grand Steps screenshot 3
7 Grand Steps screenshot

In short, the action is a turn-based strategy taking place on a giant segmented wheel encased in a late 19th century mechanized arcade attraction. It rotates one space every turn, and you must drop certain tokens into the machine to keep your family moving, lest they shuffle off the wheel (resulting in death).

As you progress, you create more tokens, collect beads, and potentially spawn offspring. Your young will eventually replace you on the board, and will have to raise their own branch of the family. Beneath a simple interface lies a game with a lot of depth, and one that slowly creates a detailed family narrative.

Artsy-Fartsy, Press Start-sy

On occasion, game designers will leap boldly from the beaten path to create a new gaming concept, even if that sometimes means that the defining lines around the term “game” start to merge with those of the term “experience”. These 6 titles are great examples of games that are different, and yet are still worthy of the label “games”. Regardless of their definition, they are all wildly fun to play.


Get the Humble IndieCade Bundle at the Humble Weekly Sale website