Viking Burger and Blocks That Matter highlight this week's Best of Indie Games

This week on "Best Of Indie Games," we take a look at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week. The goodies in this edition include an RTS inspired by Bullfrog's legendary Populous, a finalist from the Experimental Gameplay's 5 Buttons Competition, a Dream.Build.Play grand prize winner, plus a couple more picks from the recently-concluded Ludum Dare 23 competition. Here's some recent highlights from IndieGames.com: Game Pick: 'Ballin' (Dreamsake Studios, commercial indie) "Ballin is a 2D physics-based puzzle game in which players must guide a ball to each level's exit while navigating mazes and avoiding obstacles along the way. The catch: players have no direct control over the ball itself, and puzzles must be solved by shifting each level's gravity." Game Pick: 'Gravity' (Remi Boutin, browser) "Gravity is a game in which you have to find the right balance between protecting your little floating island by shooting down enemies and not letting their dead bodies weigh it down into the hot lava by pushing them off." Game Pick: 'Viking Burger' (Genius Interaction, commercial indie) "Viking Burger tells the tale of an unfrozen viking warrior who joins modern society as a burger chef. The gameplay involves Cooking Mama-styled food preparation, only with more violence and carnage." Game Pick: 'Reprisal' (Jon Caplin, browser) "An excellent RTS that was inspired by Bullfrog's legendary Populous, Reprisal hits all the right notes. Here, you'll play as this mysterious dude who had been cast aside for reasons unknown and must now lead your tribe to pixelated supremacy yet again." Game Pick: 'bbbbb: Beep Brrp Bing Bang Bosh' (Gradual Games, commercial indie) "A finalist in Experimental Gameplay's 5 Buttons Competition, bbbbb describes itself as 'the ungodly child of running games, rhythm games and gravity flipping.' Players control up to five vertically scrolling lanes simultaneously, helping creatures in each lane avoid incoming spikes along to the beat of a chiptune soundtrack." Game Pick: 'Liftman' (Ludosity, browser) "Ludosity's time-management title Liftman feels a bit like Diner Dash mixed with a dash of Elevator Action. Players race against the clock to assist as many occupants as possible to their destinations and to provide drinks sometimes." Game Pick: 'Flea Circus' (Robbie Hunt, browser) "Think Tony Hawk's Pro Skater minus the skateboards and one dimension with a flea performing trick-combos for a circus and you get Flea Circus. Just like Tony Hawk's, you can mash keys while jumping to perform some pretty impressive combos." Game Pick: 'Spheris' (Lodehed Labs, commercial indie) "In Spheris, players rotate the playfield to match incoming blocks with like-colored segments. The app boasts multiple gameplay modes, and includes Game Center leaderboards and achievements." Game Pick: 'Robot Pinball Escape' (kcoppersmith, freeware) "Blending elements from pinball and 3D platformers, Robot Pinball Escape puts players in the role of a robot trapped inside a gigantic pinball table. The robot is able to transform into a ball, but to walk upright, jump, and attack, it first needs to gather energy by colliding with targets while in ball form." Game Pick: 'Blocks That Matter' (Swing Swing Submarine, commercial indie) "Inspired by Minecraft, Blocks That Matter is a puzzle-platformer in which players must build, use, and destroy different types of blocks in order to defeat enemies and progress through dozens of included levels." Game Pick: 'Gauge' (The Game Atelier, commercial indie) "In Gauge, players must touch the screen to keep a bar charged as close to its limits as possible to earn points. During gameplay, Gauge attempts to break the player's concentration with strobing, pulsing background imagery, interspersed with the occasional non sequitur image."