Best Of Indie Games: Machines Doing the Robot Dance

[IndieGames.com: The Weblog editor Tim W. rounds up the week's top free and commercial indie games, plus notable features from 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 goodies in this edition include the long-awaited release of Amanita Design's award-winning adventure game, a new puzzler from prolific Flash game developer Skipmore, an 'asynchronously multiplayer' game (as the creator of the program calls it), a low-res remake of a seizure-rific arena shooter, and the freeware remake of an old platformer from the early '80s. Game Pick: 'Machinarium' (Amanita Design, commercial indie - demo available) "The setting: a world full of robots - some wise, some musical, some addicted to oil. Our hero: The underdog, kicked out of his home town by bullies, his girlfriend kidnapped. The plan: Save the town, rescue the girlfriend, have fun doing so. Machinarium is an adventure puzzle outing which is insanely beautiful. There's also plenty of humour abound, clever puzzles to decipher and situations to solve. This is a world you're going to want to visit." Game Pick: 'Mamono Slayer' (Skipmore, browser) "Though the hero in Skipmore's latest effort may wield a sword, the game is essentially a collection of lock and key puzzles designed to prevent the player from finding the legendary blade that will save the kingdom. The act of attacking an enemy only involves pointing your weapon at them as they walk towards the knight. Mamono Slayer is a short game that shouldn't take longer than ten or fifteen minutes to play from start to end." Game Pick: 'Hell Is Other People' (George Buckenham, browser) "It has an awesome name. It is an awesome concept. Hell Is Other People is an 'asynchronously multiplayer' according to creator George Buckenham. The path that each player takes is recorded and future players are then pitted against their recordings. This means that no two games are the same. It means you are technically playing against humans - albeit humans who aren't actually aiming at you. It's a beautiful idea which starts off pretty easy and soon develops into a full-on war." Game Pick: 'Mouse No. Probably A Rat' (David Scatliffe, freeware) "Mouse No. Probably a Rat is a remake of Oddbob's Squid Yes! Not So Octopus!, featuring similar squid controls and the same spread shot used to destroy the alien robots mushrooming out of everywhere. There are less epilepsy-inducing effects in David's creation, but it is just as difficult to survive for an extended period of time as some enemies will pursuit you relentlessly around the screen while others will continously spam the arena with bullets until they are obliterated by your patented electro beam." Game Pick: 'Miner 2049er Again' (Danny Boyd, freeware) "Miner 2049er Again is a remake of an old classic, where you play as a miner who has to clean up all the spilled chemicals on the floors of a mining area by simply walking over them. The game was never designed to be easy to play - even falls from moderate heights can hurt, but you must persist or the cave will never be safe for other miners to work in again.."