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build-comfy-marble-runs-in-this-free-indie-prototype Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Build comfy marble runs in this free indie prototype

May 24, 2023RockPaperShotgun

I’ve lost countless seconds, minutes, maybe even hours to those TikTok videos showing off ludicrous marble runs. Strangers decorate their houses with mini slopes and sliding paths, they record their marbles rolling down these elaborate courses, and then they’re posted online for strangers like me to mindlessly enjoy. I’ve now spent the last few nights building my own marble runs – not in real life, because I’m too lazy for the cleanup after – in Zen Marbles, a free playable prototype, out now. Read more

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hawken-reborn-is-a-bland-singleplayer-mech-fps-built-on-a-hostile-free-to-play-model Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Hawken Reborn is a bland singleplayer mech FPS built on a hostile free-to-play model

May 18, 2023RockPaperShotgun

A sequel to Hawken was certainly not on my 2023 bingo card. Five years after the multiplayer mech FPS shut down on PC, now requiring a fan-made fix even just to play offline against bots, I didn’t expect to ever again dash around its cool sci-fi cityscapes as a charmingly scrappy little stomper. So I was excited when publishers 505 Games announced singleplayer follow-up Hawken Reborn on Monday then launched it into early access two days later. Having now played it, oh dear. You know, it’s okay for the dead to stay dead. Read more

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rotate-rainy-islands-and-deliver-mail-in-this-free,-chill-puzzler Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Rotate rainy islands and deliver mail in this free, chill puzzler

May 11, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Fans of Monument Valley’s Escher-like staircases and Carto’s level rearrangement, allow me to introduce you to an indie that unites both of those pleasures under one small roof. Solo developer Atlas Imaginal released Little Postman last week as a “personal exercise” to test their game-making knowledge and communicate with players in non-verbal ways. The results are a series of nine down-tempo headscratchers that are out now, for free. Read more

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dying-light:-enhanced-edition-is-currently-free-to-keep-from-epic Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Dying Light: Enhanced Edition is currently free to keep from Epic

April 6, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Dying Light 2 came out last year, but the polished zombie-parkour sequel didn’t make its predecessor obsolete. If what you’re after is a more freeform, organic open world in which to survive, then the first Dying Light is arguably the better choice. Good news: its currently free-to-keep from the Epic Games Store alongside its excellent expansion. Read more

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word-solitaire-remixes-the-rules-but-stays-just-as-compulsive Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Word Solitaire remixes the rules but stays just as compulsive

April 3, 2023RockPaperShotgun

Solitaire has been a constant fixture for professional procrastinators since time immemorial. Many households, including mine, used the casual card game to kill time – dragging cards, dropping them, and planning sets ahead of time, all in an effort to catch the final fireworks. I was never much good at Solitaire, but as an adult I do understand Word Solitaire, a remixed version of the classic from indie dev Petri Purho. Read more

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grab-a-free-copy-of-splendid-sci-fi-horror-game-duskers-from-epic Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Grab a free copy of splendid sci-fi horror game Duskers from Epic

February 24, 2023RockPaperShotgun

“A better Alien game than any official Alien game” is how our Brendy described 2016’s Duskers, the latest game that’s going free for keepsies on the Epic Games Store. Duskers is a roguelikelike sci-fi horror survival game about salvaging supplies from derelict spaceships using drones, seeing through their sensor readouts and issuing commands by typing into a console. Oh, by the way, there’s a reason why all these spaceships are now empty. Well, mostly empty. Read more

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gamedec,-first-class-trouble-and-divine-knockout-are-free-on-the-epic-games-store Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Gamedec, First Class Trouble and Divine Knockout are free on the Epic Games Store

January 12, 2023RockPaperShotgun

A futuristic RPG, space-based party game, and godly 3D brawler are the latest free offerings from the Epic Games Store. Gamedec – Definitive Edition, First Class Trouble, and Divine Knockout are all free for the next week, so you can pick them up for precisely zero outlay right now wherever you are in the world. The three games are a canny mix of genres, so there could well be something of interest there even if you’re not bothered about jacking into things or whacking chibi deities with a comically large mallet. Read more

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twang-your-lute-as-you-explore-a-musical-land-in-this-cute-indie-game Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Twang your lute as you explore a musical land in this cute indie game

December 5, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Grab your lute and set off for adventure in Stomp Plonk, a lovely new indie game about exploring a musical fantasy land. Delightfully, its soundtrack is built from loops tied to the animations of people doing things around the world: xylophone plings from little guys tossing coins into a fountain; drum beats from jesters dancing or goblins smashing dead gnomes; barbershop mutterings from pipe-smoking fishermen; long horns from passing ships; organ notes from giant seabirds stretching their necks; and so many more. A bit like Proteus meets Bernband and Alien Caseno with the added ability to make annoying noises by…

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enjoy-biomechanical-biker-body-horror-in-free-interactive-fiction-greaser Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Enjoy biomechanical biker body horror in free interactive fiction Greaser

October 25, 2022RockPaperShotgun

What are you doing for the next ten minutes? Nothing much? Alright, here’s what you’re doing: playing Greaser, a wee free visual novel about riding a Cronenbergian biomechanical motorbike along an endless unreal desert highway. It’s playable in your browser so kick-start on over to Itch.io right now. I don’t know what else you’re doing this morning that’ll get your engine running more than adventure, self-discovery, and erotic motorbike maintenance. Read more

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contemplated-the-value-of-(condensed)-historical-research-in-blackhaven Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Contemplated the value of (condensed) historical research in Blackhaven

October 21, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Although I try to recommend things that you can’t simply try for yourself, I’m making an exception here because the spirit of this column is to report back on good things, and free or not, Blackhaven is a very good thing. It’s about starting a job in a museum and archive based around a former tobacco plantation, and run by the extremely wealthy descendants of its owners. It’s not about what great people they were. It didn’t feel like trauma porn, but obviously I can only speak as a ludicrously white person from another country. What it is definitely good…

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clean-a-haunted-house-in-this-fun-little-indie-game Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Clean a haunted house in this fun little indie game

October 17, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Reading the words “haunted house cleaning simulator,” I knew exactly what diddy indie game Late Night Mop would be. And it is what I had thought. And it is what you will have guessed upon reading that too. And yet, I enjoyed my ten minutes binning rubbish and mopping up stains (just stains, don’t worry about it). Then I played it again to see another ending, even knowing I am a big scaredy baby. Ugh. I will regret having played this next time I clean my flat at night. Read more

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the-sims-4-base-game-is-going-free-to-play-in-october Rock,Paper,Shotgun

The Sims 4 base game is going free to play in October

September 14, 2022RockPaperShotgun

EA and developers Maxis have revealed today that The Sims 4 will be going free to play from October 18th. You’ll be able to grab it on Steam, Origin or the EA app. There had been rumours circulating online earlier today that an announcement was incoming from EA on this, and those were evidently legit. More information on the future of The Sims will be coming on October 18th too, EA said, at an event dubbed the Behind The Sims Summit. Read more

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pippin-barr’s-hidden-game-objects-exhibition-returns-in-v-r-^2 Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Pippin Barr’s hidden game objects exhibition returns in v r ^2

August 24, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Over the past decade, indie developer Pippin Barr has regularly shared free game experiments that you can play in your browser, such as Epic Sax, Chesses and its sequel, and the fantastically named Jostle Bastards. Now, Barr has taken another pass at his 2016 game v r 2, which was an exhibition of stuff you could find in the Unity engine’s GameObject menu. Except everything was inside cubes. In v r ^2, or v r squared, everything is out in the open on display. Take a gander at the trailer below. Read more

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tour-de-jeux:-a-weird-ride-with-a-walking-simulator-on-wheels Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Tour De Jeux: A weird ride with a walking simulator on wheels

July 13, 2022RockPaperShotgun

While the Tour De France is currently zooming about the Alps, the next stage of my own cycling journey through video games leads somewhere far flatter—and weirder. Bird Snapper is a nice little free game that’s just you, an endless grey desert, a bicycle, a howling night, and innumerable antennae and electricity pylons. A walking simulator on two wheels, with a bell. Read more

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