Dogs, cats, fish, bunnies and birds. It seems like everybody wants one, and it's your job to provide! In Pet Shop Hop you play Cassie, a zoology major working to preserve her family's pet store against the might of the Megapet Superstore. It's a resource management game along the lines of Airport Mania and Magic Farm, but tasks are separated into distinct categories and the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed and, well, cuddlier.

The creators of the entertaining and CPU-intensive Off-Road Velociraptor Safari have just released an alpha version of their next game that also uses the Unity browser plug-in: Jetpack Brontosaurus. So far, the game sports various time and skill related missions to complete.

Two new mini-games released by cactus recently! The first is Kryzta, an “anti-shooter” where you defeat your enemies with their own bullets. Collect the power-ups they drop to shield yourself (or press “Z” to unleash a devastating attack with them). Its fun and fast, and features another great track from John Marwin (the musician behind Clean Asia). The second game, Precision, is all about precision platform jumping. The way jumping works in this game is interesting, though – you have no control over the jump while in mid-air. The length of your jump is determined entirely by your velocity when you leave the ground. It definitely makes it challenging to get through the game’s seven levels, but fortunately, your character leaves a trail which can be reviewed with each successive attempt. Obviously I’m already a big fan of cactus (some have argued unfairly so!), but I feel like these two games, aside from being imbued with cactus’s inimitable style, do a great job of exploring the nuances of the game mechanics they employ with such needlepoint focus. And the fact that he can make these games so quickly (6 hours for Kryzta) reminds me that we’re at the point where game development can really be as spontaneous as doodling with pen on paper. Sweeeeeet. (Source: Tim, via the IndieGames.com blog)

There’s definitely some kind of dinosaur revival going on here! Thanks to MisterX for letting us know that the full version of Raptor 2 is out, except it’s now called Sixty Five Million and One BC. The original Raptor was well-regarded in the Game Maker community for its nice graphics, humorous storyline, and technical achievements. In the game you played a sassy velociraptor sent out to rescue some raptor eggs that were stolen by pterodactyls. Sixty Five Million and One BC is very similar, but looks and plays even better. Your raptor has more moves now, but retains the same great dino feel that he had in the first game… kind of dexterous and ungainly at the same. This time you’re trying to build a machine to save the planet from an incoming meteor, and the narrative provides plenty of opportunities for tongue-in-cheek jokes, breaking of the fourth wall, and occasional pop culture references. The game’s not without its flaws, however – there are spots where trying to finesse a big dinosaur can be a pain, especially when there are all manner of little beasties trying to hurt you and knock you off of trees. And the graphics, while better than Raptor’s, are still much too brown/bland-looking for my taste. I would have much preferred a more colorful prehistoric world to romp around in. Ah, well! The full version of the game is roughly 4 times the size of the demo, and is going for twenty dinosaur eggs ($20).

Mateusz Skutnik, the sultan of Submachine, the curator of Covert Front, has recently polished up a few of his older skill games and re-released them with better visuals, a high score system, and numerous tweaks here and there. Each one is a single idea carved into a deliciously challenging arcade experience.

A simple jump-and-run platformer with style, Space Walker shows that a very simple concept paired with simple graphics can be made into an enjoyable and very pretty casual game experience. Variety in enemy type, enemy movement, and gravity for each level provides an increase in challenge, while a randomized color scheme provides something new to look forward to. Nothing earth-shattering or all that innovative here, just a well-designed package from tip to tail.

DrPetter, the brilliant mind behind sfxr, was inspired by the awesome Unfinished Game Demo/Dump thread on TIGForums and decided to contribute a mosaic of 116 of his own unfinished creations. The games listed span from 1995 to 2008, which I guess corresponds to half my life (born 1982). You can see the full image here (3 mb) – wow, is that ever fun to look at! DrPetter has also written short descriptions for each of the games (some of which can be played at his website)! Definitely check out the rest of the dumps, too. You might not think it, but it’s quite inspiring (and entertaining) to see people’s unfinished work. I’m considering contributing some games to it myself!

Two fighters stand side-by-side. You play Tori, the red fighter, and your opponent is Uke, the blue fighter. By manipulating eight different joints (shoulders, elbows, hips and knees) target attacks toward your opponent to score as many points as possible. Just as in Toribash, the characters are subject to rag doll physics; the goal being to contract or extend various joints in order to spring your warrior into action.

Larva Mortus is a new top-down action game from Rake in Grass, the creators of the well-loved indie shmup Jets n’ Guns. In the game you play an agent in an occult crime-fighting organization of sorts… in other words, you’re going to be slicing, shooting, and blowing up every manner of foul Goosebumps reject in your efforts to protect humanity from the supernatural. The fighting takes place across various missions that you select from a map. Some are “key” to the storyline and and some aren’t. The structure of each type is the same, however – make your way through a series of randomly generated rooms until you achieve your goal, whether its clearing the area of monsters, destroying profane altars, rescuing civilians, or what have you. Larva Mortus is fun, and it looks good, but it doesn’t quite live up to Crimsonland or Smash TV, which are the two games it most reminded me of (and both classics of the genre). The action isn’t quite frantic enough, the RPG elements are a bit too diluted, the maps are too simple… and the game’s never quite sure whether it’s supposed to be scary or campy. Or maybe it’s the simple fact that it’s not as fun as it should be to blow a zombie’s head off with a shotgun! But try it for yourself if it sounds interesting. The demo caps the amount of experience you can get, which bars you from attempting the later story missions. The full game is $19.95. (Source: John Walker, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun)

I know, I know, we’re all mature independent gamers here, and we know The Indie Canon like the back of our collective hand; and yes, Open Liero was mentioned here a scare half year ago. Well I’m sorry, but here’s the thing: is there any one here who is really going to stand up and say that Liero doesn’t deserved to be mentioned at least every few months on any self-respecting indie site? If there is one person out there who reads this post, and has not yet played Liero, and plays Liero as a consequence, then this post was not in vain.So many clones, but there’s only one original; and here’s dos box, for sound.If I had a million dollars for every time I had fun playing this game, well, I would be richer than Bill Gates—and that’s a lot of millions. Edit: despite my [snobbish?] loyalty towards the original, it’s true that OpenLieroX is perhaps the definitive version of this game. Download it here.

A rather unusual escape game that allows the player to temporarily detach from in-the-box thinking; in order to escape you must find and follow a new sort of logic, one that is strange yet intuitive. That quality, along with the game's simple and colorful appearance, made me feel like a little kid. When I finally finished I had a huge, silly grin on my face.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness is hitting online stores on May 21st, and to juice you up for the release the PA guys are doing a countdown, and releasing a page of a comic each day. If you’re interested, take a look at this very positive hands-on preview by Chris Kohler at Game|Life. The game’s also gotten some very mixed reviews by the mainstream press, according to Gabe. Precipice will be the first game released via Penny Arcade/Hothead Studios’ new indie game website, Greenhouse. It will be released for Windows, Mac, and Linux simultaneously.

In Caveman Craig you’re charged with leading a tribe of cavemen as they try to survive the harsh realities of everyday life as a friggin’ prehistoric caveman! Namely, dinosaurs. And evil cavemen dressed in black. The interesting thing about CC is how you train each individual caveman to do his job (which he will then perform automatically). Cavemen come in three flavors (hunter, gatherer, and preparer), which each have two skills. To teach them these skills you simply perform the action a number of times while they are following you. New cavemen arrive when enough food has been prepared. Along the way, you’re blessed with small gifts that make things easier for you (e.g. a fire and spit that prepares carcasses). These are fun rewards, and they alleviate the repetitiveness of training somewhat, but more skills, more dinosaurs, and more variety would have been very welcome. Raids on other tribes, perhaps? Still, it’s a fun little game while it lasts!

If you've been itching for a new, fun side-scrolling shooter, Postal Panic is a game you don't want to pass up. It takes the side-scrolling action of an arcade shooter and throws in some upgrading, a wacky story line and an even wackier set of enemies. Instead of the typical outer space setting, you play the role of a postal worker (in some crazy alternate dimension) who pilots a fully-armed, mail delivery ship.

A game that combines wordplay with Sokoban-style block pushing? Are they mad?!? Arrange blocks with letters to form words by sliding them into place. Luckily, Alphabox recognizes solutions apart from the one intended, so sometimes you can get creative and mix the letters around, saving a few moves. A level editor extends the replay value of this innovative puzzler.

Erik Hermansen at Caravel Games wrote to let me know that they’ve released a trailer for Deadly Rooms of Death: The City Beneath. True, this game is about a year old, but it’s never too late to try out this rather brilliant, and overlooked, series of turn-based puzzle games. And DROD fans consider The City Beneath to be the best of the lot (and suitable for beginners). I love the game’s really odd visual design and sense of humor. Definitely very unique!

Sometimes, when it's raining, I go outside and sit where I'm sure to get wet. Aside from the free shower, sitting in the rain is a great way to de-stress if Yoga just isn't your thing. Unfortunately, unless you live in Seattle, it doesn't rain every day; but rain or shine you can always find something to help you relax in the latest Mercedes-Benz Mixed Tape, available as a free download and updated every 8 weeks.

A fast-paced, single-player mouse avoidance game where your only goal is to survive as long as possible. Dodge angry red buggles and collect mysterious blue boxes to obtain a high score. Catch the little green buggles to become the mighty devourer, destroyer of red buggles! Eat them all! Muhahaha!

Okay, I have to admit that I’m a sucker for typing games of any sort. If you make it online and competitive, then I’m going to be hooked. What I’m trying to say is… that I have the hots for Mavis Beacon. (Source: bruin, via selectbutton.net)

If you've ever longed for a game to bring it on with animal-on-animal warfare, as in the tradition of Red Wall, you've come to the right place. Brute Wars is a turn-based RPG tactical strategy game where you pit your team of six creatures against opposing squads. The placement and order of their attacks adds up to a highly nuanced and rapid game of tactics that you won't want to miss.