Farbs posts

This year has been a tremendous year for the growth of the indie scene. Many freeware and commercial indie games have seen the light of day, and thanks to the efforts of publishers such as Meridian4 and platforms such as Impulse or Steam, these indie games are getting more and more exposure to a broad audience. We think it's only appropriate that, after last year, we continue the tradition of naming our favorite indie games of the past year. We had to cut the list down to ten, and while this doesn't necessarily represent all of our favorites (that's practically every indie game!), it serves as a good cross-section. If you're looking for some excellent indie games to get yourself started on the treasure trove that was 2009, look no further than these games right here.

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

Most of the browser games that have been talked about on Freeware Friday have been by the esteemed Flashbang Studios. However, it's time to break that trend with a game that is just as good as anything Flashbang can or has come up with. Farbs' Captain Forever was released a while ago to those who have donated, with the promise of it being released for free at a later date. That later date has arrived, and Captain Forever is now available to the general public. It's an excellent game, and one that you can easily lose a lot of time to, which makes it both a great freeware game and an amazing browser game.

We talked about it a while ago, but unfortunately, Captain Forever was not intended for release to the public. While it has yet to enter its freeware stage, Captain Forever is now in pre-release for those that support the developer Farbs. What does this mean? Shill out $15 now and you will be labeled as a supporter, which will give you access to the full game the minute you donate as well as a supporter-only version later this year. Considering that we loved the game when we originally reported on it, this is a great deal.

For those unwilling to pay right now, the current version of Captain Forever will be released as freeware around the time that the new supporter version is released. The price to become a supporter will also hike up to $20, meaning that pre-purchase will give you a nice $5 discount. All this money goes towards the release of the next edition of Captain Forever as well as the next, unannounced, game from Farbs.

There are some browser games that allow you to put together various things, such as a party of adventurers, or maybe a bridge, but this is the first we've played that lets you put together a spaceship module by module. Farb's new game, which is apparently untitled at the moment (or titled, but we just don't know it!), is a fantastic romp through a hectic region of space where ships are rapidly building themselves up after a catastrophic explosion. Time to survive.

You start off as a single, no-parts-attached ship with a small booster and laser on the front. Soon enough, small ships with other bits and pieces begin to attack in a bid to make themselves bigger. By rapidly turning it around on them, you can grow bigger and bigger, increasing the difficulty of the game, until you fight the end boss. The whole "build your ship out of individual parts" is a great concept, and the smooth vector graphics make it a delight to watch in action.

Edit: It appears that there was some miscommunication, and the game was intended to be in CLOSED beta. Whups! Keep an eye on the site for more updates.