Best of Indie Games: From Pocket League Story to Abobo's Big Adventure

[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 handful of Ludum Dare 22 submissions, a football management sim for iOS devices, a pair of Indie Royale selections, plus a brand new App Store release from Cave Story creator Daisuke Amaya. Here's some recent highlights from IndieGames.com: Game Pick: 'Never Alone Hotline' (Pierrec, freeware) "Like so many games in Ludum Dare, the story behind this one is simple. You play as a girl named Severine and you are responsible for manning the Never Alone Hotline." Game Pick: 'Zpulse' (Ludiz, commercial indie) "In Zpulse, players tap specific colors to the beat of the background music track. Synced and chained hits score bonus points, while tapping the wrong color will cause the screen to fill up with new pieces." Game Pick: 'ZERO2' (kato9, browser) "Described as a 'Myst style point-and-click adventure', ZERO2 is kato9's second Ludum Dare entry and a slightly creepy jaunt through a desolate and largely monochromatic world. It features a lot of first-person exploration, a decent delivery of the narrative and a rather obvious deficiency in the audio department." Game Pick: 'Last Breath' (DeepNight, browser) "Created for Ludum Dare 22, DeepNight's Last Breath is a sleek, polished take on the theme and one that might extract a tear or two from the more sentimental members of audience." Game Pick: 'Midas' (Wanderlands, browser) "Wanderlands' contribution to Ludum Dare 22 is a formidable little puzzle platformer centered around the myth of King Midas, the man with the golden touch. In spite of the simplistic visuals, Midas is actually rather tough. Your talent for turning things into gold will be both a boon and a constant thorn in your side." Game Pick: 'Abobo's Big Adventure' (Team Bobo, browser) "The NES-infused goodness that is Abobo's Big Adventure begins at the loading screen and doesn't let you down until the credits finish rolling. Amidst the cameos and parodies, Abobo's seven stages and final boss round encompass a great deal of gameplay diversity." Game Pick: 'Cro-Mag Rally' (Pangea, commercial indie) "Cro-Mag Rally features a variety of tracks that take place throughout the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages. In addition to traditional Mario Kart-styled road racing, the game also includes underwater track sequences, along with a number of unique power-ups." Game Pick: 'Pocket League Story' (Kairosoft, commercial indie) "Prolific App Store developer Kairosoft (Game Dev Story, Mega Mall Story) has released yet another sim title for iOS devices. This time, it's soccer fans who find themselves at risk of succumbing to the developer's oft-repeated but addictive gameplay formula." Game Pick: 'Fractal' (Cipher's Prime, commercial indie) "Cipher's Prime's lovely block puzzler is Bejeweled for Rubik's' Cube enthusiasts, a casual masocore game for intellectuals. Fractal, in spite of how the randomly generated hexagons will make you curse, is a lot of good, clean fun." Game Pick: 'Azarashi' (Studio Pixel, commercial indie) "Azarashi challenges players to catch keychains bearing cute seal characters by throwing darts at the precise moment that they fall. Quick catches are awarded with higher scores, but if players attempt to spear the keychains too soon, bad things will happen." Game Pick: 'Q.U.B.E.' (Toxic Games, commercial indie) "Q.U.B.E. (Or Quick Understanding of Block Extrusion) is the first game to be released with backing from The Indie Fund, an all star collective of successful indie developers who largely funded the development of Q.U.B.E. when they were impressed by an early prototype." Game Pick: 'Super Crossfire' (Radiangames, commercial indie) "If you enjoyed Space Invaders or any of the hundreds of variants that it has spawned over the years, you'll probably enjoy Super Crossfire. Here, you shoot or be shot. It's as simple as that."