Best Of Indie Games: A Balancing Act

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days, as well as any notable features 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 unique gravity-altering puzzle platformer, a new game from famed creator Chris Crawford, a physics-based puzzler, a one-room adventure game, an extreme action game for the Xbox Live Arcade service, and an experimental work based on the idea of drawing your own playable character. Game Pick: 'And Yet It Moves' (Broken Rules, commercial indie - demo available) "The objective in this entertaining gravity-altering platformer is to assist our papery friend traverse numerous exotic locations ranging from underground caverns to swinging treetops. The graphical style is the perfect balance of neat and scruffy - all the surroundings are made to look like they have been taken out of some sort of publication, hence the ripped edges and jagged visuals. Certain levels have textures which aren't 'stuck' and scroll along as our hero dives about. Very bizarre and very cool." Game Pick: 'Balance of Power: 21st Century' (Chris Crawford, browser) "Balance of Power: 21st Century places you in charge of the US and asks you to make numerous decisions about the welfare of the world. It's a storybook style game where all goings-on happen in text form. Every decision you make has a consequence and it's up to you to decide how to play - either be an evil dictator and scare every other leader into submission, or be kind and generous and win their approval." Game Pick: 'Redstar Fall' (Stankevich Konstantin, browser) "A physics-based block removal puzzler in the style of Totem Destroyer and Tumbledrop, where the main objective is to place the red star on a flat platform to complete a level. This is achieved by removing the striped blocks carefully, one after the other, in hopes that the star will land on the sweet spot safely." Game Pick: 'Neptune' (GUMP, browser) "A slight departure from GUMP's usual House series, the story of Neptune is about a child who happens to come across a strange structure while taking a walk in the woods. Without thinking twice, the young'un decides to enter this building and explore the surroundings within, not realizing that it will be easy to enter but unnecessary complicated to exit from this futuristic-looking complex." Game Pick: 'Flickerstrings' (Arvi Teikari, freeware) "A new experimental work created by the developer of FIG and Jump on Mushrooms: The Game. In it, players are required to draw a shape to use as a playable character. Once drawn, the object can used to move around the level or turned into an immobilized platform when the player attempts to draw the next shape." Game Pick: 'The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai' (Ska Studios, commercial indie - demo available) "An XBLA platforming side-scroller with blood splatter everywhere, scary-looking knives, heavy-duty weaponry and comic violence galore. The gloomy surroundings and brilliantly detailed backdrops coupled with a camera which zooms around, focusing on all your gory beheadings are all done so well that Ska Studios should definitely be commended for it."