Best Of Indie Games: The Garden of Sweden

[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.] 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 an IGF Grand Prize winner, a challenging 3D platformer, two point-and-click adventure games, a platformer with creative puzzles, a browser-based defense game set in space, and a typing game created by a group of students from USC's Interactive Media Division. Game Pick: 'Blueberry Garden' (Erik Svedang, commercial indie - demo available) "Erik's Blueberry Garden is a playground of exploration and oddities. It's like every platformer you've ever experienced, yet nothing like anything you've ever played. Most importantly, we think Blueberry Garden is worthy of IGF's Seumas McNally Grand Prize." Game Pick: 'Little Wheel' (One Click Dog, browser) "A point-and-click adventure game which tells the story of a community of robots who had their power shut down due to a minor mishap. By chance a guard robot was brought back to life after getting struck by lightning, and it is up to the player to assist our mechanical friend as it tries to restore power back to the city." Game Pick: 'Takishawa is Dead' (Andrew Brophy, freeware) "A difficult 3D platformer where players are sent on a quest to find a dangerous individual named Takishawa, who is hiding in a world filled with dangerous pitfalls and traps. Be prepared to face some uphill challenges as save points are sparse and each step you take may very well be your last." Game Pick: 'The Pretender, Part One' (Launching Pad Games, browser) "A puzzle platformer where you are in control of a magician named Laurence, who has to embark on a rescue mission after causing his entire audience to disappear in a performance gone awry. Most of the puzzles are centered around stepping on magical tiles that change your form to one of the two elements, stone or air. When shaped out of air, winds can blow you in directions which are unreachable in your normal state. Turning into a stone golem bestows you with the strength to push boulders or smash rocks that are in your path." Game Pick: 'Curse of the Red Ninja' (Allen Henderson, browser) "Curse of the Red Ninja is a browser-based adventure game created by the developer of Get Lost and Which Way, where players are tasked with assassinating their mentor in order to fulfill their destiny of becoming a true ninja. This will require completing a variety of fetch quests, arcade challenges, and even solve the occasional puzzle or two with only your bare hands and a piece of gold in your possession." Game Pick: 'Vector Boom' (Hero Interactive, browser) "A defense game set in space that involves hordes of enemy spaceships and tons of explosions. Players set a radius for each explosion using the mouse, then watch as their space station obliterates the incoming armada. Made up of ten levels, initially holding off the bad guys is fairly easy going but it rapidly gets more hectic. As an overall experience, its a fun little game and one which you should definitely give a go." Game Pick: 'TypeFighter' (Kevin Lee and Kyle Fujita, freeware) "A typing game where scripted action sequences are played out according to how well you do when prompted to type a set of words. The sprite work and animation are competently done, but only two stages are included to play with no indication of whether the project will be worked on any further than the current release."