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SB Recommends Xbox Live Indie Games
Recommended
After Dusk
Kitten ClanClan: Blends survival horror with Metroidvania elements. Its mechanics revolve around your primary weapon and “light” being tied to the same meter, decreasing your field of vision the more you shoot. It's not particularly well designed, but the concept is quite interesting and the price is only equivalent to a dollar.
Alawishus Pixel
Kitten ClanClan: Made to look and sound like an NES game, Alawishus Pixel is a relatively short, but well-made puzzle platformer where you push a block into a hole. There are lots of enemies and obstacles, keeping the game exciting enough to attract fans of more actiony puzzle games.
Cold War Commander
Kitten ClanClan: A very bizarre, silly little platformer where you play as Ronald Reagan recollecting his stolen jelly beans from Gorbachev. The game's premise and humor are both strangely interesting, and I can't help but recommend it despite the platforming only being above-average for indie games, at best.
Crosstown
Kitten ClanClan: Crosstown strongly resembles a Commodore 64 game and plays quite similarly to Wizard of Wor. The game is very mechanical and difficult, and each of the 40 stages begin with a creepy narrator telling you more and more about “Crosstown.” Definitely one of the more interesting games available on the service.
Cursed Loot
Kitten ClanClan: A decent, realtime roguelike with a surprising amount of content and variety in how it can be played. Has groan-worthy humor and a lot of silly elements, but is functionally quite well made. Note that this game is an enhanced version of a previously released game, “Epic Dungeon”.
Decay (Parts 1-4)
Kitten ClanClan: Decay is a very interesting point and click adventure series with a strong, suspenseful tone to it. The puzzles are all fairly easily solvable without a guide and never too obtuse, the music is chilling and the plot is intriguing enough to keep you coming back for each episode. They're somewhat thematically similar to the “Crimson Room” series of games that were quite popular some years back as browser-based games, but with much higher production values and an actual plot to them.
Dungeon Adventure
Kitten ClanClan: A competent, tile-based roguelike that also lets you use
ASCII graphics. It's nothing especially remarkable, but it scratches an itch.
Groov
Kitten ClanClan: A “shmup-in-a-box” where enemy deaths and shots fired help to create a song. There's very little content to the game, but it's only one dollar and provides a unique, memorable experience with how the single “level” plays out. Imagine Rez meeting Geometry Wars.
Infinity Danger
Kitten ClanClan: This game is basically high definition Warning Forever on your Xbox 360. It's a twinstick shooter with nonstop bossfights. Each time you defeat one boss, another will appear on the screen, more difficult and evolved based on your playstyle. It's highly addictive.
LaserCat
Kitten ClanClan: Very similar to the old European exclusive Jetset Willy in both theme and function, LaserCat is a platforming game with a giant map of interconnected, single screens that each have unique games. Another comparison would be to Anna Anthropy's “Redder,” where the player explores a series of single screens, making use of basic platforming to collect a series of items.
Miner Dig Deep
Kitten ClanClan: Miner Dig Deep is a mining game similar to both Dig Dug and the popular flash game MotherLoad. The player digs beneath the Earth's crust, collecting minerals before returning to the surface to sell what little they can carry at a store before their lantern runs out. Progressing deeper and deeper, the player will discover more expensive gems and minerals, which will allow them to purchase better equipment. Getting to the bottom is an experience you'll feel you can't quite put down.
NYAN TECH
Kitten ClanClan: An excellently designed, if short, puzzle platformer with an interesting twist - holding down or pressing buttons on the controller will make corresponding blocks appear and disappear on the screen. The mechanics sound simple, but the situations they put you in, especially on the hidden difficulty, stretches this concept to its limits, especially when they introduce the jump button as one of the block buttons. This game also sports some great pixel art and melancholy chiptunes.
Prismatic Solid
Kitten ClanClan: Incredibly well-designed, vertically scrolling shooter with a variety of weapons and delightfully colorful visuals. The mechanics revolve around 4 “options” that float around the ship with X-Multiply-esque tentacles that block bullets. Collecting power-ups increases the length of the arms and may be expended to be used as bombs. Each weapon places the options in a different orientation, with the most powerful weapons leaving your craft the most vulnerable.
Techno Kitten Adventure!
Kitten ClanClan: Hilarious game about flying a kitten through an increasingly small tunnel with a series of obstacles. While the premise of the game is incredibly simple, the charm comes from the game's absurd presentation and loud techno music. This recommendation is in no way ironic - the game is genuinely entertaining and funny, and a blast to play with friends.
Ultratron
Kitten ClanClan: A Robotron 2084 inspired game that features a lot of power-ups. Has level progression, bosses, and an end point that is reachable. Highly recommended to fans of Robotron and twinstick shooters, in general.
Wizorb
Loki Laufeyson: An arkanoid-like with some slight RPG elements and some very very nice 2D graphics.
Kitten ClanClan: “Arkanoid-like” works well in describing the game. The music and visual design is very reminiscent of the NES era, and is decadently animated. One of the highest production value XBLIG's and definitely not something you want to look over.