Best Of Indie Games: The Genesis of the American Dream

[Every week, IndieGames.com: The Weblog co-editor Tim W. will be summing up some of the top free-to-download and commercial indie games from the last seven days 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 an arcade shooter featuring a pyromaniac, a two-player versus game about tilting an hourglass, a sandbox game made for GameJolt's Invention competition, and a stock trading simulation game created by VVVVVV author Terry Cavanagh and his developer friends. Here's the highlights from the last seven days: Game Pick: 'Fire with a Riot' (Zack Banack, freeware) "Fire with a Riot is an interesting take on the old arena shooter gameplay with a strategic twist, made by Zack Banack as his submission to the Invention contest held by Game Jolt. You play as a pyromaniac who has an insatiable desire to set everything on fire, scoring points along the way and earning enough credits to construct better weapons back at his garage." Game Pick: 'Yourglass' (Scio, freeware) "Yourglass is a two-player game of giving inspired by one Mr Joy Bhattacherjee. An hourglass spins in the middle of the screen, and each player attempts to pour all of the grain into their opponent's half." Game Pick: 'Dromad' (Connor Ullmann, browser) "Dromad is a survival shooter that mixes up the action with some interesting design and balancing ideas. You are a warrior trapped in a dangerous tomb, and must keep the enemy back for as long as possible." Game Pick: 'Genesis' (Nik Games, freeware) "Genesis is a clever little sandbox game made for NAL's GameJolt Invention Competition. You keep watch over a micro-world, providing food and entertainment for the little people. The twist is that every item in the world must first be drawn." Game Pick: 'American Dream' (The Dream Team, browser) "American Dream is a stock trading simulator game made by Stephen Lavelle, Terry Cavanagh, Tom Morgan-Jones and Jasper Byrne during a three-day game development jam meet in Cambridge, UK. You play as an up-and-coming stock trader who deals with share commodities named after celebrities, trying to make his first million and keeping a good company of friends along the way." Game Pick: 'Neon Lights' (Niall Moody, freeware) "Inspired by Rob Fearon's SYNSO2: Squid Harder, Neon Lights is an arena shooter with a multitude of glowing neon lights and explosions of colour. As enemies attack, you need to surge towards them and turn at the last moment, allowing your firepower to wipe them all out."