Subterrarium

Subterrarium is a short but sweet puzzle game, with a harder (but endless) procedural mode. I've only played the hand-made puzzles so far, but enjoyed them thoroughly. Movement is what I would describe as a turn-based platformer, where gravity still affects you, but timing is unimportant. Levels are brief but challenging, and starting over never feels too frusterating. Don't expect too much content, I believe there were 8 hand-made levels. However if you are into the procedural portion as well, that's endless;) on top of that I wouldn't be surprized if several more levels get added with time, we'll see. As it is, an hours worth of puzzling is definitely worth the cup of coffee you're buying the dev, so definitely give it a try if you like casual puzzlers.

This little indie game caught my eye. It seemed a thinking man's game. And it made me think a little bit about the classic Digdug. The game has two modes (not counting the succint tutorial), Challenge which are preset levels with an intended solution and Adventure, which is an endless mode, which tracks your progression like an arcade game. The gameplay is identical in both. You can move around and dig dirt in an direction, though unless you manage to get rocket fuel you are only able to travel upwards one square before gravity pulls you back down. Each dirtblock you smash gives you one coin, which can be used to unlock fuel, which in turn can be used to power up your jetpack for one extra jump or to water plants, mushrooms or trigger bombs. All in all, it does make for an interesting time. Though it is a game that requires patience and sharp thinking over quick reflexes as all moves are turn-based. (Bombs keep ticking down, but ground overhead will hover indefinately if you do not move before triggering a dirtalanche.) While I like the game, I feel like there's a bit of a missed oppurtunity here. I found that the challenges were definately more fun, where the game shines. The adventure mode, which strangely unlocked even though I had one challenge level left, left me feeling unprepared. The Challenge maps have order to them, the adventure levels are pure chaos. If there was a level editor or some such, then users could make more challenge levels for eachother. Something that wouldn't require the dev to keep making content, but would keep interest alive in a more natural exponential way. All in all, it's a decent game. With some untapped potential that could make it a indie gem.