This past Sunday we bashed Microsoft pretty hard on their handling of their Indie Game service. While we gave some suggestions on how they could improve it we didn’t really complement them on their excellent support of downloadable titles overall. This has bugged the crap out of me because I truly do love these bite size games. So in response to my own criticisms I decided to give you five games that everyone who owns an XBox or PS3 should own (if they are on your system of choice that is).


5) A Kingdom of Keflings
I pretty much hate time management type games. I rather do the dishes than play games like Diner Dash. However Keflings is different. It skews the time management genre with a bit of the Populus God genre. The game takes place in a mythical kingdom and you are a giant super being. I played this game with my XBox Avatar so it really was ME being an even more super, super being. I could go on and on about the gameplay but I’ll break it down into a one sentence description that sounds way worse then it really is. The game is essentially an RTS where you have to build different buildings for different skills and mine different resources to achieve each development tree without the attacking forces. That’s right you have no enemy. The game is resource gathering and building buildings without an opponent. The game doesn’t end but when you have built everything in the game you don’t really feel compelled to continue. It’s a fun game that chicks dig.


4)Splosion Man
I’ve made my love of this game clear on numerous occasions. It’s a fantastic throw-back to the NES days of game design with modern twists. The artwork is fun. The level design simplistic yet varied. The sound design inspired (especially the music). The controls frustrating as all hell but never to point of throwing your controller at the wall. The best part of the game is how difficult it gets. The game gets so challenging that you have to be 8 years old or an adult virgin to beat it fully. Sounds like a drawback but in my mind that’s a feature. It’s a fun game that chicks dig.


3)Braid
Braid is a gamers game. You need to have a long time understanding of games to get all of the references in the game as well as the puzzles themselves. The game is Prince of Persia: Sands of Time PLUS Super Mario Bros PLUS the movie Memento. Story plays out like a children’s book but with surprising depth. The puzzles are difficult as all hell but not so bad if you play with a partner. That’s the real fun of the game. Even though it’s a single player game it’s hell of a lot of fun to play with a partner in the same room as you. Almost just as rewarding. (Side note here, I always felt this way and was happy to hear that Jane McGonigal said essentially the same thing in her book). If you haven’t played this game yet you should go and check it out. It’s a fun game that chicks dig.


2)Pac-Man C.E.
The original Pac-Man took the world by storm. The first video game superstar took the world by storm yet was sadly neglected for nearly a quarter a century. Oh sure his wife had a very successful spin-off semi-sequel but the original was left to have rehashes as his legacy. However that all changed with Pac-Man C.E. This is the first true sequel to Pac-Man and it’s addictive as all hell. The game takes the classic gameplay of Pac-Man and adds 25 years of game design philosophy. With dynamic changing levels and time limits that are difficult to achieve but close enough that you always believe you can hit it you keep coming back. The game was one of the first downloadable games I ever got and after 5 years I still go back to it. It’s a fun game that chicks dig.


1)Shadow Complex
I got a confession to make. It’s a big one too. I never played Super Metroid back in the day. I never owned it for my SNES and never played it at length. I would try it out every once and a while but it wasn’t a game I liked. Wasn’t my cup of tea. So when Shadow Complex came out and people kept saying that it is Super Metroid for this generation I didn’t even look at it. It wasn’t until Paul badgered me on the show to try it out that I did. Maybe because I am older and wiser now I got this style of game. The gameplay didn’t annoy me anymore. It grabbed me and I couldn’t put the game down. The games 2.5D environment and near future artwork was fantastic. The storyline is fun and not too complicated but still engaging. Backtracking is kept to a minimun but never feels forced when you do it. I love this game and find myself revisiting it almost once a year. It’s a fun game that chicks dig.

Previously on Lance’s Musings….
Homogeneous Gaming
Oh What The Hell Is This Crap?
Intervention Con Panel
Bored.
Bazingas
They Came At Us From Behind!
We Need A Jaws
The Kim Bauer Annoyance
N4G Sucks. Accept it.