Indie Links Round-Up: Block Party

“The game is called Papers, Please and it follows the daily grind of an immigration inspector working in a fictional communist country in the early 1980s.

Indie Linkshas several pleasant surprises today, including 7 Grand Steps and Energy Hook.

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Papers, Please(Joystiq)
“The game is called Papers, Please and it follows the daily grind of an immigration inspector working in a fictional communist country in the early 1980s. The gameplay is based around detecting discrepancies in the documents provided by entrants. Using the limited resources provided by the Ministry of Admission, you have to sort spies, terrorists, smugglers and criminals from the flow of hopeful immigrants.”

Untitled(Kotaku)
“Luke Schneider of RadianGames makes great mobile games but they haven’t been available on Android. Until now. Schneider’s bringing his excellent Tetris-alike Slydristo Google Play, with other games like the very good Bombcats and Inferno+ to follow. He’ll be bringing some of the RadianGames catalog to Ouya, too.”

Preview: Energy Hook by swing-master Jamie Fristrom(IndieGames.com)
“Energy Hook, by Jamie Fristrom of Happion Laboratories, who worked on such AAA games as Die By The Sword, Spider-Man 2, and Schizoid, loves to swing. From ropes, that is. Each of these games featured a swinging player movement mechanic, and the one in Spider-Man 2 is generally considered the best of any game in the series.”

Gunpoint(Indie Gamer Chick)
“Gunpoint is a game that I’ve had a keen eye on for a few years now. Longtime PC Gamer scribe Tom Francis and his small team of five others, have been hard at work on this labor of video gaming love for three years. The videos and screenshots that have trickled out to the internet over those long years were tantalizing to say the least. The game footage itself reminded me of a mishmash of two old-school games that I was rather fond of: Epyx’s Impossible Mission and Mindscape’s Deja-Vu and, most of all, that footage left me in a frenzied state, as if I was a tubby knuckle-dragger with an empty sack of Cheetos…the scant footage left me wanting more, more, MORE!”

The Swapper(TIGSource)
“I have to admit, I’m not the biggest fan of puzzle platformers (or even puzzle games, to be honest), but when they’re good, they’re good. With The Swapper, Finnish studio Facepalm Games has not only uncovered a fun new mechanic but also crafted an extremely intriguing science fiction tale around it. Though the central themes may not be completely original to sci-fi, the way they come into focus as you solve puzzles and explore the beautiful claymation world is deftly executed. This is a great example of how to tell a story with a challenging game.”

Acttil will help indie devs break into new markets, focus on Japanese localization(Polygon)
“Last month a group of former employees from Nippon Ichi Software’s North American branch founded publishing company Acttil, which will focus on guiding indie studios through the publication process and help foreign developers break into the U.S. market.”

Review: 7 Grand Steps(Indie Game Reviewer)
“Despite the simple mechanics, the game features a staggering amount of depth. Strategy (and the odd dose of good luck) will determine if your lineage fades into obscurity, or becomes instrumental in shaping an emerging culture. This less-than-apparent complexity is endearing and greatly compelling.”

Reprisal Universe Review: Just One More Game(Indie Game Insider)
“Reprisal Universe is a real-time strategy game from creator John Kaplan of Electrolyte Studios. Reprisal Universe puts you in the position of a god that has to help a tribe ‘”reprise” the land that was taken from them. You do this by helping these people expand their settlement, increase their population, and enter a surprisingly intense battle.”