ttc-crowd-control 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 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.

There was no big features this week, unfortunately. Most of our staff was gone at E3, after all! Just Freeware Friday was this week. However, the TOJam 2008 competition recently wrapped up, so there's a ton of games that were released this week! Dwarf Fortress also finally got the first update in the Army Arc, adding battles and wars to the historical records of the game.

Features

Freeware Friday: Off-Road Velociraptor Safari James Murff takes Freeware Friday to a new place: browser games.

A casual puzzle game is always great for a little relaxation when stress is starting to get to you. There's quite a few of them out there, many being of rather dubious quality. TTC Crowd Control is not one of those. It is a casual puzzle game that you will relish every moment you play it. A TOJam 2008 competitor, its heavily stylized artwork and compelling puzzle gameplay make it an instant classic.

You must click and drag people to put them into their seats, get them out of the subway car, and rearrange them as needed. Some people don't like being next to others, so remember that when placing them. Also, a passenger with a ! above their head wants to get off at the next stop. There's no horrible penalty for messing up, and any points lost for an incorrect decision can be regained merely by correcting the mistake. It's an excellent way to relax and work out your mind at the same time!