Best Of Indie Games: Man's Best Friend

This week on 'Best Of Indie Games', we take a looks at some of the top independent PC Flash/downloadable titles released over this last week. The delights in this edition include a pair of entries from the latest Casual Gameplay Design Competition, an indie game about being stood up by your date, a freeware arena shooter that comes with an online leaderboard, and a browser-based platform game that features portals and jetpacks. Here's the highlights from the last seven days: Game Pick: 'But That Was [Yesterday]' (Michael Molinari, browser) "...But That Was [Yesterday] follows the story of a guy who is trying to push back horrible memories from his past and move forwards. In each scenario, you're told which keys to press, and completing the scene successfully will build the music up and push the action onwards. Over time you'll see things that happened in his life, and shadows of old friends will begin to follow him." Game Pick: 'Best Friends Fighter' (Glitchy Pixel, browser) "Best Friends Fighter is a simple fighting game between robots made up of lots of blocks with faces. Created for the JIG Casual Gameplay Design Competition, the idea is to smash the other robot up so that its main Facecube hits the ground before yours." Game Pick: 'Dinner Date' (Stout Games, commercial indie) "Dinner Date follows the story of Julian, a guy who is waiting for his date to show up. Unfortunately she's rather late, so he decides to crack open the wine and start fingering the bread, all the while revealing his inner-most thoughts. Meanwhile, you take a viewpoint from inside his head, looking out through his eyes and watching proceedings." Game Pick: 'Gil' (Alex Miller, browser) "Gil is a simple platformer that explores a variety of different mechanics, from breaking bridges to jetpacks to levers to portals. There are also a number of levels that involve creating clones of yourself to activate levers at faraway parts of the screen." Game Pick: 'Crystal Wave' (Lazy Brain Games, freeware) "Crystal Wave is a score-based arena shooter plays like a combination of Defem and Jan Willem Nijman's Coptra. The objective here is to collect as many green gems as you can to maximize your score, and at the end of each game your total points haul can be submitted to an online leaderboard for fame and recognition."