Best of Indie Games: From Ms. Particle-Man to The Ultimate Celebration

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog co-editor-in-chief Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days on his sister 'state of indie' weblog.] 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 delights in this edition include a new browser pick from Dino Run designers Pixeljam, a clever puzzle game by IGF 2012 Excellence in Design finalist increpare, a 2D platformer with a laid-back approach, plus an iOS release that pays tribute to Cave's excellent lineup of arcade cabinet shooters. Here's some recent highlights from IndieGames.com: Game Pick: 'Captain Commander' (Pixeljam, browser) "Pixeljam's retro side-scroller has you assume the role of the titular Captain Commander who must make his way through an alien planet and rescue captured soldiers from an abundance of uncomfortable probing." Game Pick: 'RE: Get To Schol On Time' (Spiceworx, commercial indie) "RE: Get To Schol On Time includes a handful of wildly disparate levels, each of which features a strange objective. The game's opening level, for instance, asks players to sketch a portrait while being ridiculed by caricatures of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jack Nicholson." Game Pick: 'Promises' (Increpare, browser) "Increpare's Promises is a simple-looking, single-room puzzle game that will ask you to do little except think hard and ponder the value of your word." Game Pick: '1000 Amps' (Brandon Brizzi, commercial indie) "In 1000 Amps, players navigate the open-world Amp-Tree-System in search of power-ups that bestow new abilities. The player's character can teleport to any unoccupied on-screen tile with a mouse click, and can light up darkened areas by touching them." Game Pick: 'The Ultimate Celebration' (Brian Soulliard, freeware) "The Ultimate Celebration takes a laid-back approach to the platformer genre; players cannot die, and obstacles and enemies only temporarily hinder progress. The plot is equally easygoing, as players must seek out 20 friends and invite them to a party." Game Pick: 'Ms. Particle-Man' (Michael Falk, commercial indie) "On her journey to discover the Higgs boson, Ms. Particle-Man faces a retro mash-up of gameplay inspired by such titles as Pong, Breakout, Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Frogger, Donkey Kong, Pitfall!, and Super Mario Bros." Game Pick: 'Shogun: Rise of the Renegade' (int13, commercial indie) "Patterned after Cave's lineup of arcade-ported iOS shooters, Shogun uses a simple touch-and-drag control method that has proven to be a good fit for the genre. In Shogun, players are also able to tap the screen to trigger power-ups, including the ability to reflect enemy fire back at attacking ships." Game Pick: 'Towns' (SMP, commercial indie) "Towns bills it as a fusion of Dwarf Fortress, Dungeon Keeper and Diablo, but we would go so far as to add the Settlers series and Majesty to the list of influences. The idea of Towns is to build a town from scratch in the untamed wildness and on top of a dangerous dungeon."