Indies for the Weekend

Violet and the Lost Colors

Violet and the Lost Colors is one of the sweetest games I have ever played. It is a project crafted with an incredible abundance of passion and hard work that produces an experience that overflows with charm and personality. In the game, you take the role of Violet, a shapeshifting witch that lives in the forest with her magical and wise crow Corvi, just outside the bounds of a glorious castle. Following a series of strange and unexplained events, Violet falls in love with the kingdom’s princess and has to embark on an unexpected adventure to save her. In her quest, she will have to explore the deepest parts of the forest, meet eccentric characters, fight off dangerous monsters, craft helpful items, learn spellcasting songs for her lyre, and figure out the mystery of the monotone curse. In terms of game design and mechanics, Violet and the Lost Colors draws inspiration from Pokemon and old-school JRPGs while managing to give the game its own distinct flair. Regarding visual presentation, the game combines a wonderful hand-drawn artstyle as its primary element while also using pixel art for most of its overworld. The art of the game is simply brilliant with great environments and unique creature designs that perfectly fit the tone and setting of the adventure. The writing is also very well done. The world-building is engaging and extensive, the characters are interesting and likable, and the story is wholesome and thematically captivating. From start to end, the entire experience feels like a warm and cozy fairy-tale brought to life. What is remarkable is not just how much love and passion has been dedicated to this game but also how competently its creation has been executed. What is even more surprising is that almost all of the project’s components were designed and developed not by a team but by a young solo developer. I feel very grateful for stumbling on Violet and the Lost Colors while browsing and I am looking forward to the author’s future projects with great anticipation.
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Metamorphos

Metamorphos is a souls-like with a unique setting and set of inspirations that offers a short but difficult journey that will challenge not just new players but also veterans of the genre. As you enter the game’s cryptic world you will observe the corruption that has been taking over and you will have to slash and bash your way through an army of shadowy enemies to reach the source of the decay. The game’s combat loop is familiar as it follows the classic formula that you would expect from a souls-like, including the obligatory dodge mechanic that is iconic to the genre. However, instead of a roll, dash, or sprint function that is commonplace in similar titles, the dodge in this game takes the form of a magical teleportation blink as the character flashes forward while performing a really cool disintegration animation. This may seem like a minor element to focus on but it was actually one of the core reasons why I enjoyed the game’s combat as it enhanced the overall experience by making it feel more fun, dynamic, and responsive. As mentioned previously, Metamorphos provides a tough challenge but for me, the level of difficulty was one of the main factors that kept me hooked to the game and motivated me to get better. The gameplay loop of most souls-likes is inherently built on repetition as players are encouraged to understand mechanics and advance their skill-set, and I think Metamorphos does a great job at successfully generating this motivational loop of progress and failure. The aesthetic Metamorphos utilizes is one that is strongly inspired by Medieval Arabian architecture, clothes, and objects, mixed together with plenty of fantasy elements and fictional structures. The game’s setting and historic inspiration were the aspects that initially drew my attention as most souls-likes seem to usually aim for a more fantasy European aesthetic; something that makes Metamorphos stand out more compared to similar projects. Overall, considering the limitations of being such a short project, Metamorphos manages to entertain through its combat and fresh ideas, and introduces a cryptic world that I would absolutely love to explore more if the developers chose to expand it.
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Karambola

Karambola is a short point-and-click adventure and truly one of the most bizarre games I have got to experience all year and for all the good reasons. In the game, you are tasked with helping nine of your unusual fruity-looking friends that have been plagued by dark thoughts by solving puzzles that are unique to the themes and environment of each character. One of the major highlights of the game is Karambola’s wonderful hand-drawn artstyle which is full of creativity and one-of-a-kind ideas. The game mixes highly surreal character and object designs with more traditional backdrops such as cityscapes, forests, or meadows to produce an incredibly charming final result. The other feature that Karambola should be praised for is its great music and experimental sound design. The melodies and noises of Karambola are not there to just serve as background ambiance but are perfectly synchronized with the game’s stop motion animations and each level’s thematic content. The sound design not only enhances both the visual presentation and the overall surreal atmosphere but also helps the puzzle mechanics feel livelier and more responsive. In regards to puzzle design, the game’s riddles are functionally minimalistic but smart, and solving them is primarily based on observation, pattern recognition, attention to detail, and out-of-the-box thinking. Figuring them out was very enjoyable and I never felt stressed or overwhelmed as the game somehow manages to be both relaxing and stimulating. Karambola also does a great job at avoiding design issues such as pixelhunting or badly communicated puzzle logic which are things that many other titles of the genre suffer from. However, there were a couple of levels that I thought could have been more cleverly designed and structured. Overall, Karambola is a smart, distinct, and very peculiar audio-visual experience that would certainly pique the curiosity of any player who enjoys puzzle games as well as more experimental titles.
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