Rezzed: Indie gaming shows off its finest

Includes Schrödinger’s Cat, an alien mayoral candidate and more

On the cards

Guild of Dungeoneering

Guild of Dungeoneering reminded me of a card game I have been playing lately called Saboteur, where each player puts down tiles of a mine watching the tunnels turn and curve as the game progresses. Guild of Dungeoneering is a turn-based dungeon crawler with the same gameplay mechanic, as I build the dungeon myself.

Using cards drawn from my Guild decks I lay down rooms, monsters, traps and, of course, loot. By placing cards, I make the decisions on where to go and what to fight. Watch out for the dungeon's overlord, as he can be quite tough even after offing several nasty bats. More info Gambrinous

Armikrog introduces stop-motion animation to gaming

Armikrog comes from the creators of the Earthworm Jim and instantly brought a smile to my face as it features good old stop-motion animation. So how is this transformed into a digital platform game? Pencil Test Studios created Armikrog using classic sculpting, set building and clay and puppet fabrication methods and a whole lot of time and effort, the attention to detail is stunning.

The story follows the adventures of a space explorer named Tommynaut and his blind alien talking dog Beak-Beak, as they crash-land on a weird planet and end up locked in a mysterious fortress called Armikrog. Close-ups on walls and bolts and monsters – made of googly eyes and fake fur leftovers – show how the levels have been hand sculpted. The gameplay was intriguing too, until I got stuck on a particularly hard puzzle and had to move on. More info Pencil Test Studios

Taking it on the chin: Tembo the Badass Elephant

Tembo the Badass Elephant published by Sega is another side-scrolling cartoon platformer that was super silly and loads of fun and action packed. Tembo is part Dumbo, but predominantly Rambo.

This elephant commando is working for the Shell Army (an army of humans who never question the presence of an elephant recruit). Real visual flair made this stand out from the crowd at Rezzed and I can see this pachyderm-favouring platformer being a summer must-have. More info Game Freak

A game of politics? Not A Hero shows its true colours

Not A Hero is all about aiding an election hopeful in their bid for power. OK, so he’s called Bunnylord and he’s an alien. To help my political wannabee, I must violently clean England's streets of crime in a violent side-scrolling cover-based shooter.

You start by selecting which professional assassin to play, which is important as they each have their own perks and talents. Now it’s time for the shoot-out to commence in an orgy of eight-bit violence and developers Devolver Digital have me ducking for cover as bullets fly to shouts of “RELOAD RELOAD”. More info Roll7