Indies for the weekend

Shiny wheels

In this article series, apart from just trying to highlight some of the indie games that are out there we also try to do it within the various genres of games as well.

With that said I came to realize that it was a long time ago that any type of racing games got covered. While the indie game scene is pretty vast I feel that two genres are quite overrepresented when looking at how many indie games are made for these genres. The genres I'm talking about are the FPS and horror genres of games.

However, being someone that also enjoys playing racing games from time to time I think it's kind of sad that there aren't more indie racing games being made. While the selection of racing games isn't as big as it might be for the previously two mentioned genres it still offers some interesting titles that can hold your attention for a couple of hours.

Photon Highway

While most racing games can be somewhat stress-inducing, and for good reason. This one is almost somewhat relaxing. While not racing against any opponents you will be racing on a procedurally generated "track" to reach the end of the universe. The "track" is not a racing track in the traditional sense but rather something that is a mix between a track and tube which you drive on.

On your way to the finish line, you must avoid several obstacles on this track. The further on you get the faster the vehicle you are maneuvering starts to move. You can increase the speed yourself as well, which will help with life generation. You might ask yourself why life regeneration exists in a racing game. Considering though that you need to complete the entire track in one go you will most probably hit an obstacle or two on your way. In doing so you will lose one of these lives. However, by driving fast you can replenish them and regain lost lives.

On the flip side of this mechanic, there is another feature that makes it so that if you start driving too slow your vehicle will start splitting into two. Making it easier for you to hit an obstacle in your way. This is a nice way of adding another challenging layer to the player by having them make the choice to either drive fast and try to regain some life or slow it down a bit and try to get a bit further.

This also has to be one of the most visually unique games I've played in a pretty good while. I can't describe it in any other way than that it's almost like being on a mushroom trip.

The game's soundtrack carries a lot of the weight of the game's appeal which brings me back to why I think this game feels somewhat relaxing. I will say that it's not the easiest game and will require a lot of patience but it's one of those games that touches that part of our lizard brain where we go "Just one more try"
Game Link

Hyperfast

I quite like the fact that there are game titles that tell you what the game is. This is true for this title as well. It's a racing game where you race with a vehicle that just might have been taken out of one of the F-Zero games.

Like in the previous title, you don't race against any opponents but rather race against time. The game has 8 different stages in which you need to beat the time set for each stage. Like the title says the vehicle steers hyperfast and that's both a good and a bad thing. Good because you need to get through the stages as fast as possible, and bad because speed in this game isn't always a good thing.

The stages are quite varied and interesting however this title could have used quite a bit more testing before being released. There a quite a few sharp turns one needs to make together with barely getting through some of the game's narrower passages.

There were several instances where I would just barely avoid hitting a wall or an obstacle but the game would still think I hit it and thus destroy my vehicle. Also once I would get back to the driving after hitting something, I would sometimes either continue at the same speed I had before crashing. Leading me to crash again straight away or it would let me start from the beginning and let me build my speed up again. Apart from the game's regular time mode, it also has an endless mode where you can just drive around the different tracks, well endlessly. While the survival mode is just you driving around the different tracks trying not to hit anything for as long as possible. The visuals are quite nice and colorful and manage to bring home the presentation together with the game's soundtrack. But with the game playing as it does, it sure made me want to leave it Hyperfast.
Game Link