The Free Webgame Round-Up

It's Friday, which means it's time for your weekly dose of webgames, this time's batch consisting of an interdimensional platformer, a game about depression, a game about depressing the Spacebar and watching as the seasons change around you, a 2.5D take on classic Metal Gear Solid, and of course a very messy alien gore game.

It's Friday, which means it's time for your weekly dose of webgames, this time's batch consisting of an interdimensional platformer, a game about depression, a game about depressing the Spacebar and watching as the seasons change around you, a 2.5D take on classic Metal Gear Solid, and of course a very messy alien gore game. Combined, these amount to just one of your five-a-day, so you may also want to drink some OJ or something. Enjoy!

Prism Panic by Noel Berry, Connor Ullmann

Well this is clever. Flash wizards Noel Berry (Broken Robot Love) and Connor Ullmann (Seedling) have teamed up to make a 2D platformer with an extra dimension – and by that I don't mean it's in 3D. Prism Panic is essentially the best parts of Fringe, its levels boasting roving pockets of interdimensionality that (for example) replace a peaceful critter with a horrible monster, or make spikes appear out of thin air. Wonderful, challenging stuff, with a great soundtrack too.

Depression Quest by Zoe Quinn, Patrick Lindsey, Isaac Schankler

A wonderfully written game, and one of the most helpful and powerful pieces of Interactive Fiction I've played. Depression Quest puts you in the shoes of someone suffering from, well, depression; it's not an easy ride, but there is hope here. On a slightly unrelated note, the game's social interaction choices remind me of my favourite parts of the last two Shin Megami Tensei: Persona games, which sandwiched visual novel elements in-between all the demon-slaying.

If you've never entirely understood the illness, or you suspect you may be suffering from it, I'm certain Depression Quest will help. It's been released on a Pay What You Wantmodel, so while there is a free version, you may want to consider thanking the developers with a sum of your choosing, a portion of which will go to the charity iFred.

CJR by nitram_cero

In CJR, you are a guy with biceps bigger than all the other biceps, and with a gun that fires in all sorts of crazy directions – up, diagonally, sideways... the lot. When your bullets connect with the weird purple alien things, the weird purple alien things explode in a shower of goop, which then stays on any surface it splatters upon, Super Meat Boy-Style. (The game also features “mucho checkpoints”, which is just bueno.) Sometimes biceps, a big gun, and alien gore are all you need – and CJR definitely has you covered on that front.

(Via Free Indie Games)

400 Years by scriptwelder

400 years should be enough time to stop an unspecified calamity and save the world, but in this enchanting time-travelling sidescroller, those years go by in the blink of an eye. The game's masterstroke is your ability to pass time by holding the Spacebar, which causes seasons to change (Winter, for example, turning water into ice, allowing you walk over a frozen stream), and trees to grow. Beautiful stuff, in no small part due to the vaguely Thomas Was Alone-esque narration, and the lovely soundtrack.

(Via IndieGames)

Linear Gear by Sophie Houlden

Developer Sophie Houldenmade her arcade-puzzle game Swift ☆ Stitch available for free earlier in the week and, on Twitter shortly afterwards, shelved her Metal Gear Solid-inspired Linear Gear, which takes the super-spy and robs him of (half of) the third dimension. Both games are available to play online(Swift ☆ Stitch is also downloadable), but I wanted to draw particular attention to the sadly unfinished Linear Gear, which does a fantastic job of recreating the feel of the original and best MGS, while shifting it to 2.5D. The music's great, and the pixels are delicious – it's just a shame the full game will never be.