#indie game demo

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 764

Video games as a storytelling medium are fascinating because a game does not necessarily have to be fun to be compelling, or to tell a good story apparently. Mindhack is technically a text adventure game, something that is easy to forget under the veneer of wonderfully animated graphics, fitting musical score and a typing mechanic that makes you feel like a hacker.

But let me be honest, after playing the demo, I can’t say I had ‘fun’ in the typical sense. This isn’t a game I would play because I found the mechanics ‘fun’ but rather I would play this because I find the storyline fascinating. 

In Mindhack you play the character only known as Doctor, who lives in a world where a person’s soul is a source code that can be hacked and changed. Their job is to seek out BUGS, errors in people’s source code that causes them to be aggressive, violent and all sorts of evil in society. The Doctor is one of the best Mindhackers seen in their generation… a genius, whose job is to get rid of these BUGS and turn these individuals into happy, functioning members of society.

And if this sounds kind of dystopian, it is.

The game does not hide the fact that there is something very uncomfortable to the audience about the premise of this society. A discomfort that grows when you realize the Doctor lives and works at this facility, they do not leave. The AI that oversees their well being, often comments on their genius and in the extra section even refers to them in a possessive sort of language. This opens up the possibility that the Doctor is as much of a victim as the people they reformat.

A victim who is not okay and might even be developing a BUG themselves, if such a thing actually exists, and isn’t just propaganda to justify what amounts to brainwashing.

It is a fascinating game that certainly deserves a playthrough once it leaves early access. Not because I enjoy the game mechanics (though I will always say yes to a good typing game), but because I want to experience the growing psychological horror that is Mindhack.

At least that’s where I assume that storyline is going.

[littlemxhoney]

I love it when indie demos break the third wall like this

This game was too cute with Mr. Flurfels and Catarina, a magical apprentice cat!

Add Just In Crime to your Steam Wishlist!

Watch the first 15 minutes of the cute detective game demo!

[amadeusgame]

Amadeus demo live testimonials: "I FUCKING love the music." :^)

(Cozypocket, a friend of mine and a Tetris Attack speedrunner, played through the Amadeus demo on stream. The full VOD is here!)

Play it yourself, listen to the soundtrack, and more: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

[mr-acrona]

"When was the last time your room was clean? When was the last time you actually went out? When was the last time you had a proper conversation with a real person? You have no clue… your mind only gets more confused whenever you swallow those pills. You try to seek deep inside your damaged memories for a reason… But it’s not time to think about that, sweetie: You have a new message."

After a mysterious incident, you found yourself incapable of talking with people. Leaving your room was a hard task and because of that, you became a hikikomori. Now, with the help of your dear virtual friend, you are on a mission of learning how to properly interact in society once again… and maybe even understand some of the reasons why you are like this.

Daily Dose of Datura is a dating simulator with a focus on mental health topics. With chat elements, you will interact with five handsome people who will not hesitate trying their best to win your heart. Will you surrender to their flirts as you learn little by little about all the problems they carry as well?

Link for download (Windows and Linux)

[pro-philosopher]

Because sharing is caring, we couldn't miss the opportunity to bless your feeds.

And tell you the first chapter of Pro Philosopher 2 is now available FOR FREE on Steam. Go have a good time, kids!

[dolls-house-devlog]

Doll's House Demo out! V.0.0.1

Trapped in a house of doll's Detective Minami Wooler must find her way through puzzles and mysteries, maybe then if she's lucky she'll find a way out. . . Or otherwise be trapped in the Doll's House as nothing but a puppet

[atthebell]

Enigma do Medo/Enigma of Fear

Hello Tumblr users! Do you love horror? Love puzzles? How about female protagonists? Cute dog companions? Enjoy supporting indie games?

I have the game for you!!!

Enigma do Medo, or Enigma of Fear in English, is a puzzle/horror/investigation game about a girl named Mia and her dog Lupi searching for her lost father in a mysterious house, previously inhabited by a family afflicted by the paranormal. Mia has to solve puzzles and find clues in order to discover what really happened in the house and to hopefully save her dad.

The game is very heavy on investigation, with a focus on finding documents that will give you clues both to the story of what happened at the Perimeter, a place that doesn't exist, and to the people who investigated it before Mia arrived, including her father. There are complicated puzzles and incredibly in-depth mysteries to do with horror and the paranormal.

The game is out NOW on Steam and has a super unique style, a combination of pixel art character designs, detailed environments, and gorgeous lighting.

I will warn folks that the difficulty does scale a bit, especially towards the end, and you may need some hints for the later puzzles. However, the game uses a lot of interesting mechanics to teach you how the puzzles operate and how to look for the information you need. The story is SUPER interesting, the horror is really cool, and there's so many puzzles and so much to investigate. AND you can pet your dog to regain sanity :D

Originally in Portuguese, the game is fully translated and dubbed into English and Spanish and has some incredible voice acting in all three languages.

If you really enjoy puzzle and investigation games, I HIGHLY recommend giving Enigma do Medo a shot!!!! Once again, here's the Steam link to go check it out!

[blighted-elf]

Tiny Glade demo

[inkyrains]

TINY BOOKSHOP demo (2024) dev. Neoludic Games

[redspringstudio]

The brilliant crew at Knights of the Light Table knocked it out of the park with this animation 🔥 Especially paired with the "Every Time We Touch" cover ft. Dan Avidan!

Hear the whole song by backing our Kickstarter! Animation: Director ✦ Patrick Stannard Supervising Animator ✦ Abroo Khan Animation and Clean Up ✦ Kaya Horiya, Imogen Osborne-Sobers Background Illustration ✦ Sean Randolph

Trailer by ✦ val.

TOUCHSTARVED by @redspringstudio

[twinkle-art]

steam page finally acquired! maybe consider wishlisting! free demo out DECEMBER 2ND

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 763

I maybe shouldn’t have started Noiramore Academy so late at night, but to be fair, knowing it was a puzzle adventure game, I didn’t think it would have taken me over an hour and a half to finish the demo, but that’s what I did last week.

This particular demo game actually ended up on my list due to the visual style first and the storyline second. Puzzle adventure games are a game genre I like, but I’m generally pretty bad at them, so my interest in buying a game depends on some sort of concept or visual design to catch my interest first. The visual style of this game is a combination of Monster High, old storybooks and noir detective films, which just made it really fascinating from the outset.

But the reason why I really enjoyed playing this game was the writing. The writing was very well done, so well done in fact that I realized after the fact that adventure games with a lot of voice acting isn’t an issue for me. I had thought, back when I played 3 Minutes to Midnight, my issue with the voice acting was my attention span. After all, it was much faster for me to read it, than to listen to people talk.

However, Noiramore Academy probably had the same amount of voice acting, but instead of a lot of short lines for everything that I clicked (and there were plenty to inspect), there was longer dialogue for only a few things to inspect. And while there were sassy quips (because Judith, the main character has opinions), it was there to temper any tense moments or provide the player with more information. 

It was also just far more delightful to watch these characters move and emote as they spoke their lines. The animation in this game was top notch, and gave each of the characters so much personality. This game is definitely on the list of games I want to experience more of, because the mystery was solid and the world was just fun to experience.

[littlemxhoney]

I love making YouTube thumbnails

because you get to take silly little dramatic photos like this ⬇️

and turn them into this 📸

I’ve been trying to experiment more with my gaming channel thumbnails and I am so proud of this one 🥹

Not to mention you should absolutely look into playing CLeM by Mango Protocol when it comes out later this year 🔍

Think creepy haunted doll meets cozy puzzle adventure

You can see me in all my haunted Sherlock glory playing the first 15 minutes of the demo on my channel ⬇️

And help the developers by wishlisting the game on steam!

Planned release is later this year! And I'm ready for my haunted doll era 👻

[amadeusgame]

It's finally time... the playable demo for Amadeus, a melancholy point-and-click puzzle game/visual novel, releases tomorrow (July 29, 2023).

Relevant links here: https://linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Are you prepared to make a deal with a witch...?

[notoh-dev]

Flowers for Kasumi on Itch.io!

Flowers for Kasumi was a demo that @eredoh and I (previously Nedras) released in 2017. It was developed in RPG Maker VX Ace. While Flowers for Kasumi is on an indefinite hiatus, (at least until my other project, The Doctrine of Perseverance is completed) I wanted to share this old demo as it is dear to me, and there is at least one confirmed character who is also in TDOP. Also, the RPGMaker.net download is inaccessible due to their website being down.

I have also merged the setting for both projects (This will be more noticeable once the full game for TDOP is completed): Flowers for Kasumi will take place in Noxton, some other characters in FFK will see name changes as well in the future. Other story elements from this project are subject to change in the future.

Synopsis

Flowers for Kasumi tells the story of titular girl, Kasumi, and how her life ended so abruptly. The game takes place in the fictional town of Kumashina, a small town that holds a grave secret. In the midst of fall, protagonists Isa and Omoka will unearth the secrets behind Kasumi, and the truth behind her death.

Solve puzzles and piece together the dark mystery of what happened to Kasumi Erizawa.

Disclaimer

This is a demo from 2017. The project's development halted around late 2018/early 2019. Eredoh and I were teenagers when we began, but as life got busy, it was ultimately discontinued.​ I have just returned to game development last year (2023). Flowers for Kasumi is on an indefinite hiatus until my other project, The Doctrine of Perseverance is completed.

>> Download on Itch.io <<

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[pro-philosopher]

See if you can out-shine this very shiny boy in Pro Philosopher 2! Maybe you can even give him reality check.

Play our new FREE demo on Steam! It's the whole first chapter!