a-game-about-bouncing posts

Since indie competitions are such a large part of the independent community, ignoring them would be very foolish. There's lots of undiscovered talent out there as well as established masters, and indie competitions are the best way to bring them out of the woodwork. They are held everywhere from TIGSource to poppenkast, and always bring together lots of great talent. Indiedaze takes the best entries from a recently finished indie competition and showcases what we think are the best of the best. Sometimes they coincide with what the original competition's top three were, sometimes they are completely different. In any case, they are always the games we liked most, and worth all the attention you can give them.

TOJam, otherwise known as The Toronto Independent Game Development Jam, is a three day annual marathon of game-making, intended to make developers create a reasonably polished and executed game. They must create the concept, graphics, and code entirely during the three day period. Needless to say, it's like an endurance trial for game developers. The third annual TOJam occurred two months ago, and the games were released for general consumption just last month. After savoring all of the delights of the competition (and trust us, there is a lot of great content), we have decided on our favorites!

We've talked about it twice, and now finally we have played it. a game about bouncing is easily one of the best games of the TOJam 2008 competition and well earned its first-place prize. An experimental game where you latch onto bumpers, it combines a "destroy and dodge" shmup sensibility with far simpler gameplay, hypnotic graphics, and soothing sounds. Playing the game isn't so much playing as it is experiencing a sort of zen as you dash and dodge around the arena, avoiding missiles and destroying bumpers. It can be played with both gamepad and mouse, although we would suggest the gamepad.

We talked about only a measly one of the TOJam 2008 games, and that was the strange A Game About Bouncing. Now, however, we can talk about them all! Since TOJam 2008 has wrapped up, all of the excellent entries have been released to the internet at large for free. They range from experimental, to arcade, to strategy. They are all definitely worth a try for those looking for a new game to play, and some of them (such as the aforementioned A Game About Bouncing or Jonathon Mak's Flowers of Error) radiate top-notch quality. Take a look over on the TOJam 2008 site for the games, information, and downloads.

[Via IndieGames]

We here at Big Download love indie games. From telling you about them, playing them, or offering downloads for them, we are all about helping lesser-known developers get their name out into the world. Each week on Saturday, we'll give you the Indie Wrap-up, a collection of all the indie news stories and features during the previous week.

This week was a rather slow one on the indie front, with no major game or news releases. We got our mitts on the new Penny Arcade game, though, and you can see the results of that in this week's features!

Features

	In-Depth - On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One Kyle Horner plays the new Penny Arcade game and gives the low-down on what you can expect in the intensely funny role-playing game.
	Big Versus: Penny Arcade Adventures - Episode One Our very own Xav de Matos takes a look into the differences between the Xbox 360 and PC versions of PAA. His verdict? Either way you're getting a good game.
	Freeware Friday: Clean Asia James Murff showcases another freeware gem. This time, it's a bizarre little freeware shoot-'em-up by cactus called Clean Asia.

A new freeware game is coming our way, thanks to the Toronto independent gaming scene. Shawn McGrath, the sole developer behind the studio ][ (or RSBLSB, depending on your preference) has participated in the latest Toronto indie jam (or ToJam), developing a strange little game called A Game About Bouncing. While the game will not be released until after the ToJam Arcade, Shawn has decided to tease the internet with a trailer showcasing the gameplay. So what exactly is AGAB? You'd think by the name that is is a platformer, but by the trailer, it looks more like a minimalist arena shooter. Either way, check it out on June 7th.

[Via IndieGames]