Game Recommendation #4: Undertale

Now here's one you've probably all have heard about by now. Undertale, developed and published by independent creator toby fox, is one of the most popular indie games in recent years. It gained popularity as YouTubers everywhere began to play it. It's not that hard to understand, though, it has a complex story that changes depending on how you play it, interesting characters and settings, a new take on RPG gameplay, and it was all made by only a handful of people. 

Graphics/Design

The beginning of the first town, Snowdin

More of Snowdin

The art in this game isn't next level, but for the few people who made it, it's impressive. Each setting is unique and captivating. All the characters look entirely different, and all are memorable. Even the basic enemies have fun, quirky lines that give them personalities. There are multiple ways to interact with them, making it more fun to run into random encounters. All of the music is memorable and worth listening to even outside of the game.

Story Lines

The story in the game is what really makes it unique and dynamic. You are a human child, but one day you fall into the pit where monsters live. The monsters and humans lived in peace, until one day a monster killed a human, so all the monsters were banished to the underground (hence where the name Undertale comes from). You have to survive to be able to get out. A monster named Toriel finds you and helps you learn the basics of the game until you run away so you can get back home. 

The hole to the underground world of monsters

Gameplay 

The gameplay isn't too difficult to grab on to until you get near the end. The way you fight enemies alters the story. There are random encounters, and you have a choice. You can either fight the monster, interact with it, use an item, or spare them. Some players choose to not hurt the monster since it's discouraged in the game, others hurt it until the monster is almost out of health, or some actually kill the monster. Each option changes the story of the game and how other characters interact with you. It's traditional to start with a Pacifist run, then go through a Genocide run to see how it dramatically changes the story. 

Who would I recommend this to? 

Undertale is a game that takes the RPG genre and turns it on its heel. Most RPG's involve merciless beating of other characters, but this game asks, what if those monsters had lives too? If you want to check out the game because for whatever reason you haven't already, it can be found here for $9.99 on Steam.  Undertale is a great game to check out, for its complex story lines, gameplay, characters, jokes, and its twist on the RPG genre. So if you love RPG's, you are going to adore this game. 

So what are your thoughts on Undertale?  What game should I recommend/review next? Comment down below! 

Game Recommendation #3: Stardew Valley

Stardew Valley (published by Chuckle Fish and developed by Concerned Ape) is one of the most addictingly fun games out there. It uses the elements of Animal Crossing, Facebook games and phone games, adds depth and complex gameplay, and then creates something new.

Story

The main story of Stardew Valley is that you are an office worker for Jojo Market, but one day you get tired of that lifestyle and decide to go to the farm that you inherited from your late grandfather. 

After that, the story differs on the alternate paths that you make through the game. Every day you have a certain amount of energy. You can use that energy to do a variety of things, from growing plants on you farm, to fishing or even going through the depths of mines with monsters to find valuable resources. Your main goal is to make the money you need to survive, to accomplish missions that the NPC's (non-player characters) give you, and to learn more about the people and secrets of the town. You really have to create your own missions for yourself, because just like in real life, there's no real set path.

Gameplay

 

The easiest of the challenges is probably farming, as it doesn't require a ton of skill to accomplish. Fishing takes mental energy, and mining gets harder the farther you go. The hardest part is not running out of energy or money.

As you go on, you learn more about the other characters in the game, and they all have fun personalities. All of the characters have things you can learn about them, and the friendship and romantic story arcs add to the replay-ability of the game.

Customization

At the beginning of the game, you can make your character look like anything because of all the options offered. You get to pick the name of your farm, the color of your eyes, even if you want a cat or a dog. I shouldn't forget to mention that the graphics in this game are beautiful, the pixel style adds to the complexity instead of making it overly simplified.

Who would I recommend this game to?

I would recommend this game to a casual audience who has a lot of time on their hands. This game is insanely addicting, once you start, you don't want to stop for a week of game time. There are constant challenges that you set for yourself that you want to accomplish as soon as possible. So, if you have enough time to dwell into this game, you can check it out here on Steam for $14.99. It is a cheerful, beautiful game where you get to carve your own path in your own world.

So what are your thoughts on Stardew Valley? Do you think it's as addicting as I do? What games would you like me to recommend next?

Game Recommendation #2: Princess Remedy

Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt (by Ludosity developers) is a fun, challenging RPG (role-playing game) , and guess what? It's free! You can find it on Steam for free, and you can get a prequel expansion pack (Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble) for $2.99 (I have yet to finish the game so I haven't seen the expansion pack yet).

Game Play 

The gameplay of Princess Remedy is similar to other RPG's, but there is no turn based gameplay. In the game, you take the role of Princess Remedy and help heal the world of 
Hurtland. 

After searching through the hub world, you can go into towns and structures to explore. You can talk to the NPC's (non-player characters) and they'll tell you if their sick, and then you'll go into a battle mode called heal mode. Within heal mode, you constantly shoot pellets and have to defeat all the enemies in order to heal the NPC. If you get hit, you will heal slowly, but if you die, you have to start over. It starts out rather easy but gradually becomes difficult as the enemies begin to vary. 
You get upgrades constantly, but the 
game gets twice as 
hard as you get twice as strong. 

Game Modes 

In this game, there are three game modes of difficulty, but that's not the only reason to replay this game. In the game, you can make conscious decisions that change the story of the game. This makes it incredibly re-playable so that you can see all the different story lines. 

Writing

The writing in this game is wonderful. It may have simple graphics, and its story isn't incredibly complex, but the writing makes it fun and quirky. There are constant jokes that usually use irony and expectation that come from the NPC's dialogue. It only takes a few hours to complete the entire game, since the story is rather short, but again, there is a ton of replay-ability. 

Who would I recommend this to? 

I would recommend this game to generally anyone. It's game modes make it accessible to both hardcore gamers and casual, and it's fun and quirky style makes it a fun way to pass the time. Its challenge can be hard to get past, but it never gets to the point where it's frustrating. The greatest part is, at a price of $0.00, there's no real reason not to check it out. You can find the free version on Steam and the expansion pack here. 

So what do you think of Princess Remedy in a World of Hurt? What about Princess Remedy in a Heap of Trouble? Comment below with your thoughts and what I should recommend/review next.

Game Recommendation #1: Dino Run DX

The Title Screen of Dino Run DX 

Here at Indie 101, I am going to go through some of the best Indie games that you can play on platforms like Steam. 
The difference between recommendations and reviews, will be that reviews will have a chance of being negative, and will go through the details of critique of fundamental things such as design, game play, story, visuals, music and replay-ability. Meanwhile, recommendations will generally be positive, and go through the reasons to buy a game versus objective ideas of the core structure of the game. 
So my first recommendation I have is a simple, cheap game called Dino Run DX, developed by independent developers Pixel Jam. The flash version was one of my favorites, and now it's exciting to see a version with more functionality and options than the original.

Game Play

The overall idea of the game is that you are a dinosaur running for its life from a 'wall of doom'. To escape it, you must run for your life, trying to collect as many collectibles as possible so that you can buy upgrades. If I were to summarize it all, it's a game similar to Temple Run, but with collectibles, no in-game purchases, more functionality, and with cute dinosaurs. 

Customization

Customization Screen with colors, patterns, and hats

This version has many improvements, including customization. There are hundreds of outfits and patterns to choose from for your dinosaur. There are even seasonal outfits, such as Halloween costumes. Overall, there are hundreds of ways to customize your dinosaur, with fun hats that add to the flavor of the game. 

Game Modes

Upgrade Screen after finishing a level

Game Mode Options

There are currently three game mode options, including the Classic Challenge, Planet D, (which includes weird and wonky levels), and the Halloween Hellrun, which is a seasonal game mode that has 'spooky' themes. Within those options, there are even more. There is Easy, Medium, Hard, and Insane. After finishing Insane, the player will get a secret ending. There are also Speed Runs, which are quick levels that you can unlock and are fun ways to play the game if you don't want to have to go through the entirety of a play through. All of these modes vary the game play and make it as easy or hard as you want. If you just want to know where to find collectibles or get stuck in a place, 

there is a Free Run mode, where you can talk to others. There is even multiplayer functionality.

Stats

Trophies and Egg Collectibles

The game itself is rather short, spanning about 5 - 10 levels depending on the game mode, but the modes are what makes it shine in replay-ability. There are a ton of achievements to unlock, along with outfits, and there are even dinosaur eggs to find and collect. You can even buy wallpapers using in-game currency or concept art. All of the prizes, achievements and game modes add to the layers of the game, and bring you back for more each time. 

Who Would I Recommend This To? 

I would recommend this game to a casual audience who enjoy cute dinosaurs, even if they just want to run around or if they want to be challenged. It's got great character design, beautiful backgrounds, customization, challenge and catchy music. You can find the original online, or the DX version on Steam. DX's price may be a bit steep, but a lot of love and care went into this game, and all the functionalities added to it make it even better than the original.  You can also fund PixelJam's update for DX so that it can have even more game modes, backgrounds, trophies, and dinos. This is definitely one of my favorite flash games, and the Steam version just makes it even better. 

So what are your thoughts on this game? Are there other games you would want me to check out and recommend or review?