Weekend Download №179
Even in the small-ish indie world, there are superstar game creators whose releases always turn a head or two. Two of our games this weekend are from some designers who have released heavy-hitting titles before. Check out the goods below!
Iconoclasts (Windows, 15MB, free) - Another tragically abandoned game from sidescrolling action platform virtuoso Joakim Sandberg (a.k.a. Konjak, creator of Noitu Love and Legend of Princess), this one follows a similar set-up as the similarly abandoned Ivory Springs. Climb across some seriously good-looking terrain as you dispatch enemies with your smart-targeting cannon. Charge a blast and fire to deal extra damage or clear rocks out of the way, and be on the lookout for materials contained in treasure chests. It's the same Mega Man-ish/Metroidvania sort of game we love to devour, and this project shows just how alive and kicking the genre is.
Viriax (Windows, 2.7MB, free) - From Locomalito, creator of Hydorah, L'Abbaye des Morts, and 8-bit Killer, comes a great little shooter with loads of retro charm. Take part of the viriax infection as you try to take over a human's body one organ system at a time. Work your way upwards, collecting cells to keep your health full and dispatching enemies with a downward thrust move. Your health is decreased each time you move, encouraging you to actually take it slow and strike when strategically sound. Reach the organ to infect it and gain access to the next level! A fantastically built game that keeps a healthy balance between action and planning, and the retro look/sound is to die for!
PathFind Mania (Windows, 4.8MB, free) - A stark-looking casual strategy game with a simple premise and a surprising amount of fun. Each level in PathFind Mania features a number of houses, apartments, and shops scattered throughout the landscape. Your job is to connect buildings to paths so that people can come out. Each section of path costs money to build, so in order to get more cash, you must connect paths to shops. Drain water in your way and construct your roads to pick up cash and time bonuses, then try to beat each level before the timer hits zero! If your favorite part of Sim City was laying roads, this game is so your thing.
Note: All games have been confirmed to run under Windows 7 and are virus-free. Mac users should try Boot Camp, Parallels, or CrossOver Games to play Windows titles, Linux users can use Wine. If you know of a great game we should feature, use the Submit link above to send it in!
Wow, Iconoclasts looks really solid. Interesting background story, great execution and a pretty fun gameplay. The only annoying part is the wrench jumping, but that's minor. I'd really like to play this game when it's done.
I'm enjoying Iconoclasts, but I'm stuck at
the doors to the right of the house. How do you open the fourth door, after the one with two bolts? I've even tried
using the charged shot to boost my jump into the little gap up above but I just can't make it.
I'm running Windows 7. I've tried downloading PathFind Mania twice and something is wrong. It might be something on my end but I can't right click the water. Also, when I tried closing the game, it won't close and I have to shut it down from Windows task Mgr.
Anyone able to play this one?
@Colin72
I was able to play it, but it is a bit too simplistic for me.
PathFind Mania was an enjoyable experience, but it was rather short. The last level gave a glimpse of the sweet spot in the difficulty curve, where frustration and solutions to that frustration are in equal amounts. But I was disappointed to find that the experience ended there.
Colin72: Ran fine for me, Win7 64-bit. To demolish the water, you have to click on the demolish icon first, then right click water squares.
I'm running Win7 64 bit, and when I try to run the PathFind Mania .exe, I get an error that it is not a valid 64 bit executable.
I'm stuck on Iconoclasts. I'm at an elevator with a sign that says O+^=:(. When I use the button the elevator goes up and gets stuck. Am I doing something wrong or is this the end?
You aren't; the game ends there. Remember that it's an abandoned project, not a finished game.
As for the doors right of the house, they should be really straightforward. Remember that you can go through thin floors by ducking and pressing jump. Also there's a section where you have to climb onto a door, even though the passage leading there is quite narrow.
@Briguy:
I'm stuck there too, but I think it has something to do with the screen above your house.
From your house, go left, then up and right.
Jump and use your wrench to tarzan across the gap above your house.
That's the only thing that I see that I should be able to get to. Tell me if you get past that though!
@Briguy:
Previous comment isn't the way you're looking for. Sorry!
@Briguy:
Got it!
You can climb on top of the door itself.
Im stuck in the desert with the ▲ + ■ = ? sign.
what should i do there? every time when i try to chose an answer , the elevator goes straight to X and is stuck.
@JohnB - Thanks. I wasn't clicking Demolish and then rt clicking.
It's a shame Iconoclasts was abandoned. Of course it's fun to play but what I really want is more dialog.
LIAR!
Maybe I'm used to standard, emotionless dialog from other games, if you catch my drift. It was so surprising to see even the copy/paste soldiers have interesting things to say, if you sink my lure. I'd even be okay with just a movie showing the rest of the story, if you park my car.
HARLOT!
@ Crankyanker
Thank you! I had thought that I tried that though
I also had a bit of trouble with
the round rock boss. I beat him by
crushing him with the door
And for anyone having trouble with the wrench jumps,
you can just keep A held and you'll jump at the right time.
Iconoclasts:
I'm stuck on the 3rd stage where it tells me its beneficial to jump when I am hanging on a cliff instead of just climbing it.
I manage to get the first jump point a good part of the time, but I can't get to the second that's above it, nor can I grab what looks to be a grab hold on the right side of the screen.
Is there something that i just don't know, or am I just not trying to grab in the correct spot.
Pathfind Mania is bugging for me; I can't complete the tutorial level. I have all of the buildings connected, and it isn't recognizing my win condition.
I got caught in (what I think is) a bug in Iconclasts:
At the boss after the village...
After the initial set of attacks, I died when he raised the floor. When I restarted from my save point (multiple times), the eye on his tail doesn't open any more. Has anyone seen this? I don't have any other saves, and I don't want to start a whole new game.
@ JIGuest: You can jump a bit higher by
charging up your gun, then releasing it downwards at the peak of your jump.
@CrankYanker
I don't think I had a bug, but that fight is tricky with controls. You do keep pressing A to use the wrench, right? You should aim at the weak point with the reticle regardless of whether or not it's open, and just keep hitting A. You don't need to press anything to shoot; your partner will do it automatically. Good luck!
Viriax is pretty awesome! It's like Galaga or something with a pretty weird twist...but that was probably the idea! I really love the music too! This shoulda been an S/NES game!
Viriax is fun, but it's flippin' hard. How long is level 1? I've gone keep dying but I don't even know if I'm getting to the end. And I wholeheartedly disagree with your description JohnB: any time that you would need planning in Viriax, you don't have the luxury of doing it. This game is all about reflexes and snap decisions.
@CrankYanker
You need to duck when he raises the floor because the thorns on the ceiling can kill you.
It gets really laggy in viriax when there are exploding bombs, I know it's not a problem with comp being old so really this game sucks.
@Briguy -- yeah, it's pretty hard. I just (literally, just now) finished it. What can I say, it sucked me in and it's the only game I've played for the past week!
At first I kept playing the heart and got a little farther each time. After that I think there is more of a strategy you really have to use. Things like planning your jumping from one "cell" to another in one jump whenever possible (uses no energy), make wise use of the bonuses in just the right way (my favorite was the super jump), kill the enemies often for blood...
...assuming you come back and don't already know, each zone is 80 "levels" to the end with a "guardian" every 20. One "level" seems to be about a screen height. And on the stomach, don't worry too much about the rising acid...but of course you also (obviously) don't have same amount of plan time as the other levels
And sorry (@Fanjita)...your computer probably doesn't suck, but there's no lag on my computer so it isn't just the game.
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