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Five Absurd Xbox Live Indie Games Worth Playing
On its official website, Microsoft explains that Xbox Live Indie Games differs from Xbox Live Arcade in that it offers “an outlet for the masses to experiment and create the most innovative and irreverent games imaginable on a console.” If you’re not quite sure what “irreverent” means, you’re about to find out.
Originally launched in 2008 as Xbox Live Community Games, the Xbox Live Indie Games (XBLIG) service allows users, novice programmers, and experienced developers alike to experiment with new games and genres. As a matter of course, countless submissions that can only be described as absurd have found their way into the XBLIG library.
Entertainment is sure to arise amidst absurdity, and the following five titles provide plenty of it. Between shooting sharks in the face with spearguns, avenging your pa who was murdered by giant turkeys, and jet-packing to techno music as an alabaster kitty, these Xbox Live Indie Games will have you wondering why you didn’t explore the service earlier. With all the fun offered by XBLIG, it’s a shame that Xbox One won't give them their own category.
Note: All XBL Indie Games are required to offer a free trial, so you have no excuse not to try these.
Techno Kitten Adventure
Techno Kitten Adventure is more or less the Xbox Live Indie Game equivalent of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. This psychedelic jetpack side-scroller from 21st Street Games was released in 2010, and has since become one of the most popular games in the XBLIG store. While the basic goal of the game is to avoid floating shapes made of stardust, each stage changes in time with the background techno music. Be prepared to have no idea what’s going on when the beat drops.
Shark Attack Deathmatch
This indie game gem was released by Lighthouse Games late last year, bringing with it a fresh component to the underwater FPS formula: sharks. You may have seen it featured on the XBLIG home page. Shark Attack Deathmatch allows players to enter a subaqueous arena wielding a speargun, a knife, and stun grenades. As you try to maintain your oxygen level and get kills, great white sharks meander about, attacking you when you get too close. When this happens, your screen is taken over by the award-winning message “you were murdered by sharks.” It costs $1.
Click to the second page for more Indie Game ridiculousness.
Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness – Episodes 3 & 4
This pastiche RPG series is based on the webcomic Penny Arcade, written by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. The first two episodes were released through XBLA in 2008, but the franchise was soon dropped by developer Hothead Games. Zeboyd Games picked it up in 2011 and released episode three a year later, transforming its graphical style from 3D to 16-bit. Episodes three and four of this series are golden, successfully carrying over the humor and quirk from Penny Arcade and Zeboyd’s previous games like Cthulhu Saves the World.
Death Goat
Death Goat is a twin-stick shooter full of blood, heavy metal, and farm animals. What more could you ask for? Featuring high-octane action, a quality soundtrack, and several playable characters including a grandma in a wheelchair (?), this game is worth checking out. On its official Facebook page, developer Nocturnal Studio states that its mission with Death Goat is “to rip your f---ing face off & replace it with the face of a goat.” Metal.
Bird Assassin
In the opening moments of Bird Assassin, a giant, murderous ostrich approaches your handicapped pa and shoots his head off. Your mission henceforth is to kill as many birds as possible. As a beer-bellied, cap-wearing redneck, players side-scroll through 10 stages in Bird Assassin, all the while using the right joystick to aim and shoot various bird species. Social Loner Studios has done a fantastic job to make this indie game entertaining both narratively and gameplay-wise.
This is only a handful of the absurd games to be found in the XBLIG store. Have any additions to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
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