Best Of Indie Games: Space, The Unexplored Frontier

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog editor Tim W. rounds 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. ] The goodies in this edition include an arcade shooter set in space, two puzzle platformers with cute graphics, an arena shooter where you play a deadly virus, and a challenging old-school style platform game that would give hardcore gamers a run for their money. Here's the top indie titles of the past week: Game Pick: 'Polynomial' (Dmytry Lavrov, commercial indie - demo available) "Polynomial is a 3D arcade shooter that features mathematically generated fractal scenery, where players can choose to either engage enemies in intense dogfights or explore the vast reaches of space at their own leisurely pace. The demo offers ten arenas to play in, and there is no time restrictions that hamper your gameplay experience in any way. Available for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X." Game Pick: 'Pace Maker' (Amidos, browser) "Created for Gamejolt's 'Shocking' Game contest, Pace Maker is your standard blast-em-up with a few interesting twists. Controlling the Kathomee virus, the aim is to enter each pace maker and shock it into submission while small 'circuit breakers' whiz around trying to stop you in your tracks. The game can be 'quick played' so no download to hard drive is needed." Game Pick: 'Use Boxmen' (Greg Sergeant, browser) "Use Boxmen is a 2D puzzle platformer with cleverly-designed levels, where players are required to collect a cube in each level to progress. The trick is that certain areas can't be completed without the aid of your friends, who will mimic your moves when called upon to help. Half the fun to be had is by experimenting, and getting your master plan to execute perfectly can be extremely satisfying in this game." Game Pick: 'G-e-n-e-r-i-c' (Arvi Teikari, freeware) "G-e-n-e-r-i-c is an experimental project with a novel gameplay element, created by the developer of Flickerstrings and Jump on Mushrooms: The Game. The objective here is to collect gems, coins and money bags so that you'd have enough points to proceed to the next level. Enemies can be stomped on to gain extra jump height, keys can be collected to unlock doors, and you can bash special blocks with your head for a special surprise." Game Pick: 'Raider: Episode 1' (Pseudolone Wolf, freeware) "Raider: Episode 1 is an old-school style platformer which aims to be fun yet challenging. The first episode of a series of five, the story follows a character who looks a little like some alternate version of Sonic on his quest to explore a mysterious ship."