Indie-a-Day (001/365): I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Our first featured title is number one on both the all time top sellers and top rated lists and has had over 300,000 paid downloads. Ska Studio's I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, which was released in Augugst of 2009, is the most successful indie game on the marketplace.

If you've never played the title, you might wonder why Z0MBIES has had so much success. I mean, on paper, it's just another twin stick shooter with zombies. However, because of its simplicity, ease of play, low price and hopelessly addictive theme song, Z0MBIES has earned a place in my indie library as it should yours. Check out the below video for a taste of this great 80 Microsoft Point title. You can purchase or demo I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 here. 



Like the game? Have suggestions for other games to be featured? Leave a comment!

xIndies' Year Long "Indie-a-Day" Begins

With 2010 ending, I began thinking of ways that I could contribute to the Xbox Indie Game community through my blog. Other sites do a great job of reviewing games and covering news, which led me to question my intentions of doing the same things with this blog. Long-winded explanations aside, my main goal was, and still is, to show people the quality games on the service and why the Indie Channel should be noticed. And, after reviewing several ideas that would help me to achieve that goal, I decided to highlight one indie game a day this year. In this "Indie-a-Day" feature I will purchase a game and post my impressions, screenshots, and videos. I hope I can shed some light on some quality games that should be played. Stick around for this daily feature and more in the year to come.

Winter Uprising: "Asteroids Do Concern Me" Released

Development studio Evil Robot Logic, newcomers to the Indie Marketplace,  have just released Asteroids Do Concern Me as part of the Winter Uprising movement. The trailer above illustrates the one button gameplay and nice looking graphics. What it does not show off is the fantastically snarky messages you earn upon reaching your death. These include "Now that you're gone, can I have your car?" and "Hah! I spiked your pre-flight drink! Best prank ever!" Priced at 80 MSP, Asteroids Do Concern Me seems like a great buy for a game that includes four modes, a wide variety of difficulties, simplistic controls yet fun gameplay, and a driving "I can beat that last score" mentality.

Download Asteroids Do Concern Me at the Xbox Marketplace.

Winter Uprising: Decimation X3 Released

Available for purchase just a few hours after the debut trailer (above) was released, Xona Games' Decimation X3 invades the Indie Marketplace for a mere 80 MSP. Through watching the trailer and playing the demo it is clear that there are several improvements made over the original. These include starting out without shields, a more impressive soundtrack, better arcade-y retro graphics, and, my favorite, the addition of boss enemies. If you decide to test this title out before you buy, you'll encounter Xona's devilsh construction of the demo that only allows a small amount of time to play, smaller than the eight minute limit imposed by Microsoft. And though you are almost certain to be cut off during the demo gameplay, the effect is successful. I immediately pressed the "buy now" button. If that wasn't enough, Xona has included a "share" option that allows you to pass along this drug of a game to all your buddies on Xbox Live. Infectious indeed.

Download Decimation X3's demo or full game on the Xbox Marketplace.

Winter Uprising Hands-On: Break Limit

I'm not going to lie, of all the quality games on the Xbox Indie service many of them are shoot-em-ups or shmups. With really good ones released by developers such as Radiangames and Mommy's Best Games, I really did not expect Zombie Monkey's Break Limit to do anything different or even compete with what was already on the service. What can I say, I'm a pessimist. Happily enough, I was wrong and this new indie can hold its own with the big boys. Hit the break to read my impressions.