5 ID@Xbox Games – 5 Mini Reviews

ArabicGamers had the chance to play a myriad of beautiful and diverse Indie games, that were developed by the hands of a bunch of upcoming indie devs. Here's 5 quick reviews for 5 awesome indie games that we have played recently.

Q.U.B.E Director's Cut:

QUBE is a puzzle game, introduced through the ID@xbox program. It is not just any Indie puzzle game, for it has something that a lot of puzzle games lack these days, taking into consideration the resources that Indie developers are usually presented with which is depth. This game through context, dialogue and manoeuvring offers an amazing backstory that really fills the game, and makes it go that extra mile allowing it to stand out in the Indie gaming market. For the price of $10 USD on the Xbox Live Store on Xbox One it's definitely worth your money. Even after you finish the main story that has smooth visuals and really good and diverse puzzles, you can return to finish multiple challenges which are really challenging, require speed and quick thinking which is a pretty hefty addition to the game.

Getting all the achievements in the game requires about 5-6 hours, which you'll definitely enjoy and wont feel them as they pass by.

80%

Whispering Willows:

Whispering Willows is a 2D horror game. Now not a lot of games have gone and pursued creating a good horror experience and especially if you want to execute it on a 2D game model. So I definitely commend the developer for taking that risk.

The game does have some horror aspects to it but none of them are particularly scary. Additionally, the game also has some puzzles the player is required to complete, to move on with the story, and most of them are really easy none particularly challenging. The 2D drawing and animations are smooth and a nice tribute to games from the good old age of classic gaming.

The game's story is a good one but also misses out on a lot of tweaks that would have made it much better, meaning more monologue in a game that doesn't include more than one character goes a long way to make a story hold up. It still unwraps nicely though.

For 10 dollars on the Xbox Store and a completion time of 2-3 hours I'd wait for a discount to get the game for sure, but if you enjoy a quick completion and a nice quick brain teaser this game would definitely give your brain a slight tickle.

50%

Octodad: The Dadliest Catch:

The Glorious PC and PS4 game finally makes its debut on the Microsoft console. It comes back to us with all its previous glory in addition to two new DLC episodes and a new multiplayer mode that was added later to the PC edition of the game. Octodad is a game that tells the story of a father who is actually an octopus and he has to mask his sea-creature-ness in order to prevent being caught by the outside world. A player would control his sloppy arms and legs which like to go all over the place in chaos as he goes about his DAD business and try not to mess up too much.

This gameplay mechanic makes up for super fun times and really funny moments. The massively successful game dazzles us with the diversity in settings and constant change in gameplay and still keeping the game challenging and humorous at the same time.

Different difficulties, different game modes and two new episodes guarantee at least 10 hours with this game and some replayability. Getting all the achievements requires at least 5 hours that is if you put all the achievements in mind while playing the full playthrough.

And for the content and quality I don’t think that $15 is a huge price tag for this game.

85%

No Time To Explain:

No time to explain is a game that was crowdfunded; meaning the masses all pitched in because they wanted to see this game get made, and boy were they in for a treat. As its name suggests this game doesn’t really explain much about the plot and that’s the beauty of it. You barge into absolute chaos from the first minute that you start this game when a clone of yours from the future tells you that there's  not time to explain and that you must follow him before a huge crab gobbles him up.

This game isn’t  just a funny game that doesn’t take itself entirely seriously, it's also quite challenging in the tone of other games that make you rage like Volgarr the Viking and vvvvvvv. Not only that it actually is really balanced where you keep trying a hard section over and over to get it right but it doesn’t really get you to that tipping point where you rage quit and don't want to continue with the game.

It’s the perfect balance, it also include a changing gameplay mechanic and a game setting where, you first use a laser gun to propel you into the air to manoeuvre platforming sections and then it’s a shotgun, then its frog suit and sometimes a swinging laser beam. It’s a crazy game and we love how chaotic it gets, and how challenging it is.

It also offers a really short and challenging achievement list that you definitely feel rewarded when you complete because of the challenges it poses.

It’s the perfect length for a game as challenging as it is as it would start to get in frustrating territory, if it’s any longer which is 5 hours longer. $15 is a pretty heavy price tag for such a game, just because it doesn’t take long to complete so I'd wait until it’s at least $10, but it’s definitely worth it for the laughs, the randomness and the challenge.

70%

Quiplash:

One of the newest additions by Jack Box Games; who were the devs behind incredibly fun games like The Jackbox party pack and Fibbage. Quiplash introduces the same fun party gameplay mechanic where all players enter a lobby that is created through the game when you launch it onto the specific console and then you can play with your phone/tablet/laptop, anything with a browser that has access to the internet really.

This game was also crowd funded on kickstarter which really shows the power of the new media and crowds.

Also containing the hilarious commentary, quirky art style that all the other games in the series have; this game includes a new gameplay style where up to 8 games enter the lobby and up to 10,000 others can join as audience that can vote on answers  to help with the game, which makes it a more than ideal choice for streamers.

The Game includes a series of random questions with no right answers, as it all depends on the votes that players cast on the answers that are provided by the other players, which allows you to see how the non-player audience influence the flow of the game.

Its also a quirky party game, but I don’t think it offers much variety compared to the other party games in the series, Like Fibbage and The JackBox Party Pack, and It gets old a bit quicker due to the lack of variety.

60%