In Focus: Kivi’s Underworld

The developers of Kivi’s Underworld don’t lie when they say that this game is a casual hack and slash game. It is so casual, in fact, that it sheds off the trappings of the genre in favor of grinding through a series of challenging dungeons.. with very little. Instead of doling out weapons and armor, players grind for potions and power-ups that serve as limited time specials that help you weather the perils of each and every area you’ll have to explore. Kivi’s Underworld is like the naked, abandoned brother of Depths of Peril; frugal in its approach, but abundant in challenge, and action, and replayability.

You play as Kivi, or one of his companions, as you get toe-to-toe with the growing threat of dark elf forces, stirring from their slumber, ready to bring about the destruction of the lumen people. You can do this as a fighter, a fire mage or 20 other classes available in the full game.

The demo for Kivi’s Underworld offers way more gameplay than it should, but it gives players willing to look past its rough graphics and simplistic gameplay system enough time to form an impression. For me, this game from the makers of Depths of Peril is more interesting for what it isn’t than what it is.

You can learn more about the game and download a playable demo by checking out the Soldak Entertainment web site.

In Focus: Mightier

Mightier does something that not too many games have had the courage to do: use connected devices as central components for gameplay. Mightier does this in a way that is almost seamless, so that it doesn’t feel clunky or stupid. In the game ypou play as the Actionaut, a special character that surveys the environment looking for special objects called Datagons. Unfortunately, the little explorer can only jump one level and the only way to get to them is to use an orbital laser to carve out plates that are locked into the planet’s crust.

Using a connected web cam and printer, players interact with the game in the real world. This is accomplished by using your printer to print out a schematic, which you then draw on, and rescan back into the game using a connected web cam. For those that want to experience the game without all the connected device interaction, the game offers an in-game doodle pad, but to play the game that way cheapens the entire experience. You can also draw on gear and other objects you pick up in the game and you can also design your Actionaut’s look.

It’s an interesting concept, and though the gameplay isn’t all that deep, it’s free, tries to be innovative, and is oodles of fun for a little while.

Download Mightier directly from www.ratloop.com. Appropriately, Mightier has been nominated for the 2009 IGF.

In Focus: Eternal Eden

Blossomsoft’s first game reminds me of the kind of game you would get if it was made in Game Maker; a highly derivative, Eastern themed JRPG with leanings towards Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. It’s not of course, but the Final Fantasy reference is an apt one, because this RPG is all about paying homage to the classics. Of course, it does so almost to a fault; the dialogue reads like a badly localized NES RPG, with silly dialog, a goof protagonist and several rivals dueling for the affection of a princess.

The game’s story is also highly derivative – perhaps unearthed from the musty smelling sarcophagus of some long forgotten JRPG. It opens in a strange land where people live hundreds of years, but never age; where a tower named after that mythological garden in the old testament holds a forbidden fruit, and where partaking of said fruit turns this small island into an empty, decaying husk of its former self.

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In Focus: Minotaur China Shop

Minotaur China Shop, an excellent new game from Flashbang Studios, makers of such odd and exhilarating games as Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and Jetpack Brontosaurus, is a lesson in irony. The game puts the old saying, “A bull in a china shop” into perspective as a bumbling Minotaur attempts to run a shop full of breakables - a feat made nearly impossible by his large stature and brutish nature.

Luckily this former denizen of a dungeon is bull headed and has an insurance policy that will pay out for damages when the proprietor goes bat-shit crazy into a rage and wrecks everything in the joint. This rage is aided further by a number of interesting power-ups that you can buy like the table toss, a mad dashing move and several moves involving giant hooven feet.

The game reminds me of Diner Dash, where the player has only a few minutes to deliver the wants and needs of a customer whose love for the item wanes the longer you make him, her or it wait. The gameplay is not all that compelling without the Minotaur’s obviously handicapped gait or his propensity for violence against the very objects he hopes will change his life forever.

If the old minotaur can manage to keep his cool and serve up customers quickly with minimal damage to the delicate inventory - or send himself into a rage and get paid by the insurance for his destructive behavior, he’ll make enough money to marry a cow and live happily ever after.. or as happily as a minotaur can live out the remaining days being married to a cow..

Minotaur China Shop uses the Unity game engine, which means you can load it right up in your browser and play it free, so there is no real reason not to try this game.  Take the game for a spin and let me know what you think. Personally I enjoyed the delicate balance of comedy and challenge..