This is the second part of my article regarding Indie games for Linux.
In the first part i’ve listed 5 Indie game freely downloadable for Linux, and on this one i’ll present you 5 games that must be bought before you can download them.
Today games are: Towns, Eschalon, Survivors of Ragnarök, Atom Zombie Smasher and Steel Storm: Burning Retribution.
But in the past I’ve already talked of some great Indie game so you can check also my articles about: Amnesia: The Dark Descent (probably the best horror game around in these days) and Dungeons Of Dredmor (a rogue-like game with a comic background)
Towns
Last release: 0.38 – 16 december 2011
Cost: 11.99 € or 9.59 € on Desura.
Demo : Available a free demo for 20 days (you can use Desura to install it).
Towns brings a fresh new take on the citybuilding/management genre by introducing many RPG features.
Drawing inspiration from games such as Diablo, Dungeon Keeper and Dwarf Fortress, the game has you managing a settlement on top of an active dungeon. Instead of playing the hero who delves deep into the dungeon, how about playing the town that houses and caters to the hero’s needs?
Both the RPG and strategic aspects will be fleshed out over a series of sprawling dungeons.
Craft unique weapons, obtain randomized loot and build a settlement capable of holding back the forces that come up from the depths!
Basic gameplay
You start off with a small group of settlers and you must set up camp, acquiring resources by chopping down wood and building buildings, much like other real time strategy games.
The twist is that you don’t have control over what the citizens do, you give basic build orders and they will try to accommodate their time to your needs, or, you know, slack off….
Once you get a basic hang of the game-play, you can start digging deeper into the earth, mining ore and uncovering treasures and dungeons. If you aren’t careful you might dig too far down too quickly and open yourself up to some very nasty creatures.
About the RPG
This game is more of a reverse RPG than a traditional one. To put it in terms of context, picture almost any normal RPG. Normally you would have an adventurer go down into the dungeon, grab loot, come back up, complete quests, and hopefully kill the boss at the end. In Towns you basically run the town that houses the hero. You build buildings that he will like, cater to his needs and hope that you have enough good equipment crafted to be able to offer him as a reward for a quest you give him. Entice hero units to form groups and take down larger bosses together, have hot food and a bard playing for them in the tavern and pray that they are entertained enough to stick around and defend your little village when a stray dire-wolf comes up from the depths… but keep an eye on those adventurers, as some of them might even prefer to steal things rather than buy them.
Eschalon
The game it’s available in two parts Book I and Book II
Last Release: 1.06 – Ottobre 2011
Cost: 10,99 € or 5,49 € on Desura .
Demo: available a free demo with a limited area on the official site
Eschalon: Book I is a classic role-playing game experience that will take you across massive outdoor environments and deep into sprawling dungeons as you seek to uncover the mystery of who – or what – you are.
Some of the main features of the game:
- A tile-built, turn-based game world where the result of absolutely every action is rolled, calculated or statistically determined. Strategy is paramount to success; careful skill management, equipment selection and magic usage will win your fights, not rapid button clicking.
- Hundreds of items and dozens of creatures await your discovery.
- Unlimited character development style: Choose from 24 unique skills to make the character you want and 8 base attributes that affect your character’s every action throughout the game.
- Combat plays out at your pace. Eschalon: Book I features a turn-based system that allows you to roll through combat as fast or slow you want.
- A non-linear storyline means that the game world is open to explore as you desire.
Survivors of Ragnarök
Last Release: 21 Aug 2011 Alpha 0.92, The game it’s still in Alpha, but playable
Cost: pre-order at 10,99 € or 3,74 € on Desura .
Demo: available a free demo that you can download from Desura or IndieDB
Survivors of Ragnarök is a city-building-management-survival game inspired by Dwarf Fortress. Manage, create, and survive through dynamic and deadly worlds. Losing is a fundamental core aspect of design.
This game could fill the gap between those who want to get into playing Dwarf Fortress but are extremely off-put by the graphics or the control scheme. While correcting Dwarf Fortress with a tileset is certainly an option, the control scheme for the game has so many options that it is almost inaccessible except for the most dedicated of players. The alpha for Survivors of Ragnarök contains a much more friendly interface with awesome pixel art that should combine to make an interesting game indeed.
Raiders of Ragnarok
It’s adventure mode with a cooler name. Reclaim your fortress, venture into the wilderness, explore other settlements, and delve into depe dungeons in search of rare and valuable artifacts.
Atom zombie smasher
Last Release: September 12, 2011 Version 1.89
Cost: 6.99 € on Desura .
Demo: available a free demo that you can download from Desura or the official site
In this game, in the classic style Zombie survival invasion you see a map of the city from the above and its population (indicated by a yellow dots), you have a first strategic phase where you can put on the map your “troops”. And then start the actual invasion, that is played in real time, where from some points (indicated on the map) begin to enter the Zombies (indicated by purple dots) which begin to “attack” the people turning them into zombies.
The goal of each level: to save a determined number of people, to do this you have a helicopter from the first level, you must decide its landing point and change it during the attack to rescue the more people you can while avoiding the zombies.
As the game progresses you gain more “mercenaries” you can strategically position them on the map, for example from the second level there is the artillery, which during the invasion can shoot to the zombies, going on in the game there are many other units, each with its special ability, up to the atomic bomb.
During the game your units will earn experience points that you can use to improve them so making them faster or more accurate when they shoot at zombies.
I found the game very well done, the graphic is not particularly elaborate, but does its job while it’s particularly well done the music and the setting in the 60’s style. I liked all the propaganda images between one level and another,they are really in 60′ style.
Another great option regards the mods, there are many available mods that can cchange slightly (or a lot) the rules of the game, what about fighting the Zombie with only your infantry ? or perhaps you want double experience ? All it’s possible with the Mods.
Features:
- Mercenaries for hire: Hire and upgrade your ragtag group of snipers, demolition teams, orbital bombardment crews, and more.
- No two cities are the same: Cities are procedurally-generated, giving a unique experience with each playthrough.
- Destructible environments: Yes, you can absolutely blow up everything.
- Play with friends: Up to three people can cooperatively play together.
- Mod support: Modify the game rules however you like, and share your mods through the Online File Share.
- Available for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux
Steel Storm: Burning Retribution
Last Release: May 11, 2011 Version 2.00.x
Cost: 3.99 € on Desura .
Demo: available a free demo that you can download from Desura
Steel Storm is a top down arcade shooter with old school spirit. The game has score oriented competitive gameplay, and is designed for people who like fast paced action, hordes of smart enemies, destructible worlds and ground shaking explosions.
The events take place in an alternative universe where you control an advanced hovertank, packed with the most advanced and sophisticated weapons. Your task is simple, but nevertheless not trivial. In the fight against extraterrestrial invaders, you must prevail!
Conclusions
Like i wrote in some comments i think that the best platform for gaming are (in general) the console. But to relax a bit or for some type of games (strategic, RPG, or turn based) a computer can do perfectly the work, and so you really think that there is no possibility of playing with Linux ?
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