Descend to the Beat by Baygull Studios is a puzzle game that comes across as the love child of Columns and Trip-a-Tron... it's a puzzle game that contains 3 game modes, Arcade, Challenge and Puzzle.  The arcade mode is a constantly changing trip through the challenges; the challenges are individual levels where you have to complete a specific goal, while the puzzles are set scenarios in which you have to find the correct combination of moves to complete.  The basic idea is that blocks fall from the sky onto the game area, and you have to fill the whole area to demolish a level.   Let any one stack build up too high and you lose.

Not an earth-shatteringly original concept admittedly, but it's done very well here, and in full 3D - thankfully there's a 2D representation of the floor level as otherwise it can be quite difficult to keep track of what's going on down there.  Personally I find pretty much all puzzle games get boring after a while, but this one had me playing for quite a bit, and the 3 game modes offer very different challenges.  To me the best mode was Arcade, which gives you not only puzzling to do, but hands it to you at very high speed.  The action comes thick and fast, and the tile sets used for the game constantly change in this mode, so it's a visual smorgasbord as well as offering hectic game play.

With a title like "Descent to the Beat" you would expect a stomping soundtrack to go along with all this, and the game delivers with aplomb.  It feels a bit too repetitive in the Challenge and Puzzle modes, which isn't too much of a problem as they offer shorter individual playing sessions, but in Arcade mode the soundtrack, like the visuals and game itself, is constantly changing.

All in all Descend to the Beat is an extremely polished puzzle game, and if you like Columns-esque puzzlers that end up at frenetic speeds, you're definitely going to enjoy this.  Descend to the Beat is available for PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone and Android devices (PC version reviewed here).  The desktop computer versions are more expensive (and have more features).  See the official website for more details or to buy the game:

Moscow, Russian Federation - DISSEMBILL software today is pleased to introduce Planet Madness 1.0.1 for iOS, their new space arcade Game with Qix/Xonix-style gameplay. A universal app with hi-res graphics, players explore space dragging their spaceship horizontally and vertically. As they move, their ship makes a thick cut in the black rectangle filling the screen. On cutting out any rectangular area, it is considered "explored" and the background behind it is revealed. The goal is to explore 75% or more of the screen without accidentally hitting any of the planets that are in constant motion.

Gameplay becomes very challenging very quickly. At level 1, there is a single Earth-like planet slowly moving inside the black rectangle that fills the screen. It bounces off walls sometimes, but its movement is generally predictable. At level 1, the spaceship is very fast and dragging it horizontally or vertically through the black rectangle quickly cuts off a smaller rectangle. This new rectangle is the area explored, and disappearing, the celestial object behind it becomes visible. Now, the planet's movement is confined to what remains of the black rectangle (unexplored space). The player may cut off many small rectangles or a single large one to reach the goal of having explored 75% or more of the screen.

Off course, the larger the area the player tries to enclose, the greater are the chances that he will hit a moving planet. Level 2 has 2 different planets and level 3 has 3 planets that must be avoided. At higher levels, planets increase in number and move faster, making exploration more difficult. If a planet hits an edge while it is being cut the planet explodes, though after it is cut the planet bounces off. As gameplay progresses winning screens contain many small rectangles, each enclosing one or more planets, small unexplored islands.

Feature Highlights:
* Score points exploring 75% or more of each level
* 100 different levels to explore
* Get one Shield for every 4,000 points or when covering more than 3 cells 10 times in a row without penalty
* Earn Shields when switching to the next level
* Shields protect the ship in case it hits a planet
* Every Planet explosion gives 100 points

"Planet Madness has many surprises built-in to challenge any gamer as they move from level to level," stated Nick Korn of DISSEMBILL software.

Device Requirements:
* iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
* Requires iOS 4.2 or later (iOS 5 tested)
* Universal app optimized for display on all iOS devices
* 53.4 MB

Pricing and Availability:
Planet Madness 1.0.1 is free and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. iADs may be removed with an in-app purchase of $0.99 (USD).



Based in Moscow, Russian Federation, DISSEMBILL software is indie developer Nick Korn, who focuses on development for iOS devices. 

I've not tried this game myself, but I was sent news recently on an "FPSMMORPG" (!) that's recently been updated.

"Star Vault in Sweden just released a very interesting new patch for their FPSMMORPG, Mortal Online.

It basically introduces a new feature called territory control. It's makes it possible for the large guilds to claim whatever land they want in the world and even take control over the NPC-controlled cities to change their city rules. With this they introduced a website that live-updates with the current world, and who controls what.

It's really cool and very different from you current mainstream MMOs and really deserves more press, even thou it's kinda buggy at points.   They have a free trial too if you to try it out."

Company http://www.starvault.se/

Site http://www.mortalonline.com

LiveMap http://www.mortalonline.com/map

There is a reason why arcade-like games work well on phones. They are simple to learn but tricky to master, they are designed to be addictive and inspire the "one more score point" mentality, and possibly most importantly, they can be played in very short amounts of time.

This game "Penny Shoel" is a game in which you must roll or slide or flick a puck or coin into a number of slots which are each worth a number of points.

Along with accuracy strategy comes into play, as there is a bonus each time you get all of the slots. The pucks can be pushed back out from the slots so soft bs hard flicks are always an important factor in what your final score might be. Strategy and accuracy really come into play when there are many missed puck covering the alley-like board. At this point it becomes like a coin-pusher, trying to get coins into the slots by manipulating the overall group.

The games aesthetic is nice and the graphics quality is good enough to express this, with several unlockable skins/pucks.

The controls are simple and feel  very good, mainly because of the drag you can feel on the puck. This takes a bit of getting used to but it makes the game not only more realistic, but also more fun.

The sound is good, in that you could forget it's there. The sounds of pucks colliding are not too loud to be distracting and are realistic enough to not sound out of place.

Graphics: 65%

Sound: 70%

Control : 80%

Longevity: 80%

Fun: 75%

If you like Match-3 games, you'll find several with 70% off at Grey Alien Games, up until 30th November.  Their games are  for PC and Mac (though one or two titles are PC only).

Awesome Games Studio, an independent video game developer, is happy to announce that the second episode of Oozi: Earth Adventure is set to launch on 25th November, 2011 on Xbox Live Indie Games channel. A brand new Launch Trailer is revealed as well:

The video showcases new features including special abilities available to the gamer, new enemy types and various gameplay mechanisms. Oozi: Earth Adventure is an old school platformer with modern gameplay elements, HD visuals and beautiful, hand-drawn art. It focuses on three key special abilities - double jump, stomp and wall jump - that are used by player on his way through four unique worlds. The game includes high variety of enemies and gameplay mechanisms, and is aimed both at casual gamers and hardcore gamers. The second episode is priced at only 80 Microsoft Points. The two remaining episodes are scheduled for release within three months and will be sold at the same price.

Dungeon Overlord, a hardcore strategy MMO for Macs and PCs, has just launched. In the game players begin with a tiny lair and a few goblins; but by raiding camps, pillaging enemy players, training minions and researching spells, overlords can expand their territory into an empire as well as try to crown themselves king.

GAME FEATURES

·         Start Your Kingdom - Build your dungeon and attract an army capable of world domination

·         Expand Your Empire - Construct new dungeons, raid the Overworld and pillage other players

·         Interact with Others - Buy items from the player-driven market, form alliances, enslave your friends, attack and even conquer your enemies

·         Crown Yourself King - Claim the Heart of the Mountain and tax your fellow players

·         Unlock Rewards - Complete epic quests, research new technologies or craft your own equipment to obtain stronger minions, upgrades and rewards

o   21 Unique themes (Pirates, African Plains, Zombies, 8-bit and more!)

o   35+ minutes of original music to listen and enjoy

o   300+ mind-bending puzzles (15 per theme)

o   Arcade Mode - Enables players to cruise through the game with their senses.

o   Challenge Mode - Players that have mastered Arcade mode can try their hand at Challenge Mode that throws at them more blocks and hard clear scenarios.

o   Blocks fall and appear in-tune with the music

o   Puzzles and block designs are all hand-designed to provide the players with an organic design feel instead of a mathematical algorithmic world.

o   7 Original Themes including Pirates, 8-bit, Tron-esque, and more!

o   8 Original new songs!

o   100+ mind-bending puzzles!

o   Arcade Mode, Challenge Mode, and Puzzle Mode!

 www.descendthebeat.com

Steel Storm 2 is a new game from Kot-in-Action Creative Artel, who brought you the legendary Steel Storm: Burning Retribution arcade shooter.

Unlike the original game, Steel Storm 2 is an old-school FPS in the spirit of Doom® and Quake®. It's a spinoff in the original Steel Storm universe, with a rich story, yet not story driven gameplay. The game is being developed primarily by the founder of Kot-in-Action, Alexander "motorsep" Zubov. Steel Storm 2 will have a much simpler game logic code than the original game. The source code will be distributed with the game as a part of the modding SDK and will allow better modding capabilities.

In the game, you take on the role of Abigail Setareh, a former hovertank pilot who became a natural resource scout in pursuit of adventure. You will begin your journey in a remote corner of the Warbird galaxy, on an uninhabited planet (or so it seemed for a long time). In your journey you will discover many wonderful places, cool weapons, General Nabbatt and his robotic army of the separatist Union, and ancient aliens. Ferocious gun fights and key hunts are guaranteed.

The game will utilize the mighty Darkplaces engine once again and will be available for Linux, Windows and Mac. The game will be following the alpha funding model and everyone who pre-orders the game will get access to the game's very first builds and will ultimately receive the final version without any extra charge. As the development progresses, the price will go up. The starting price is $5 and the final game will cost $20. Steel Storm 2 is a must have game for the fans of the original Steel Storm. Please support the game and help it rise to it's full potential.

Dragon Island borrows elements from old favorites like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Pokemon, blends them with brand new gameplay ideas to create a unique iPhone/iPad/iPod touch gaming experience. 

Dragon Island essentially builds on the theme Pokemon introduced - catching cool monsters is awesome.  In Dragon Island, the player's mission is to collect and build an army of monsters to fight with. Like Pokemon, most of the 200 monsters in Dragon Island belong to an evolve chain.  In addition, some monsters in Dragon Island can be combined to create new monsters. 

 

So What Makes This Game Different?

* No Healing: Yes, there are no healing spells in the game. Unlike most RPGs where party members are precious "friends", party members in Dragon Island are expendable units in the player's army.  In fact, party members will die all the time, same way individual units in a war strategy game are expendable.

* Batting Order: To use a baseball analogy, a player must plan a batting order of monsters before leaving for adventure. Only 3 monsters can fight at one time, but once a monster dies it is replaced by the next monster in the batting order as planned by the player. Planning an effective batting order that matches the enemies you expect to meet is extremely important in Dragon Island.

* Strength In Numbers: The measure of an army's strength is its lasting power. Better monster armies will make it farther into a dungeon before having to run back to town. Towns completely heal monsters but also reset all battles. There are many way-points so you can pick up where you last found one.

* 200 Awesome Looking Monsters: Monster Collection games in the past aimed for cute looking monsters, as in Pokemon or Dragon Quest Monsters.  Monsters in Dragon Island, hand drawn by a young Japanese Artist, are not cute by any means - vicious might be the word.  As a monster collection RPG, we made sure the monsters in Dragon Island are awesome.  

Dragon Island is currently about 80% complete, and heavily over budget. In order to raise enough funds to give this game some finishing touches, a KickStarter project with the same name has been launched. 

KickStarter is a social funding platform where anybody can decide to fund a creative project of choice in return for a "reward" - right to name monsters, access to KickStarter exclusive monsters, etc.  For more details and a video demo, please visit the following link.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/greyhoundgames/dragon-island-classic-rpg-meets-monster-collection