The Steam Summer Sale has begun. Your wallet is doomed. Gaben is currently feeding off your purchases in much the same way a dementor might absorb your happiness. But if there's one thing better than ridiculously cheap games, it's ridiculously free games, some of which you may actually play one day. Read on for time travel, treasure-hunting and a make-your-own-Adventure-Time – that is, if you can bring yourself to Alt-Tab Steam for just one second.
Sydney Hunter by Studio Pina
I love this. It's an MSX-style treasure-hunting platformer that recalls the similarly MSX-obsessed La Mulana. Sydney Hunter is a linear game however, offering pixel-perfect, challenging platformey action across ten stages, where a single drop of water is enough to put you in your grave. I particularly like the ziplines, which have no business at all being in an ancient temple, but are a joy to use all the same. Find the ancient gems, skulls, idols and pineapples, while watching out for rising lava, bats, oh and man's greatest enemy, the leaky stalactite. (Via Free Indie Games )
Rat Race by Rat King
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage, though as luck would have it being a banged-up rat is actually rather interesting. Rat Race isn't a game, exactly; it's a small, and quite limited, simulation of the life of an incarcerated rodent. Do all the things a pet rat can do, including sipping water, eating food, running around for a bit, and freaking out humans with your hideously ropey tail. (Via Indie Statik )
Adventure Time Game Creator by WayForward
I still haven't seen any Adventure Time (please...stop punching me) but if the internet is anything to go by, it's the best thing to hit TV since the magic slap that fixes all reception problems. Now you – yes, you! No, not you – can make your own Adventure Time platform game out of a bunch of ready-made elements, courtesy of Shantae/Mighty Switch Force/Some Other Stuff That Isn't As Good developers WayForward. Your games will be stored on the website for anyone to play, and if they're anything like the random bunch I just played, well, you needn't have bothered. Still, this is lovely idea – and if you stick to the 'Top Games' column down the left side of the screen, you probably won't even go too far wrong. (Via Joystiq )
Pong Revolution by Rocky Hong
Rocky Hong – developer of the clever Magnetized , and owner of the world's best name – is back with a game that breathes new life into that dated tennis substitute we call Pong. To an energetic chiptune track, you have to keep up with an arcade game that evolves before your paddle-weary eyes. You can play with the mouse, the keyboard or (excitingly) even your mind, in true The Men Who Stare At Goats style. If, for some reason, you can't get the paddle moving, I run a small psychic workshop where you'll learn to harness your latent abilities...*cough* for a nominal fee. (Via IndieGames )
Time Travel Knight by Glitchy Pixel
In this superb Molyjam game, you have just 14 days to prevent the apocalypse, which as it turns out is not a lot of time - especially when you have no idea how the apocalypse happened in the first place. Investigation (and killing monsters for coins) forms the bulk of your adventure, which is accompanied by some lovely pixel art and music, and a particularly witty script. (Via IndieGames )
