A multiplatform PC demo is now available for Moon Rift, a 2.5D platform shooter with procedurally generated levels and weapons. What this means, in practical terms, is there are a gazillion guns, each with different characteristics and effects. Guns will come in handy as you scour a ravaged earth for fragments of the shattered moon. You see, the moon was riven by a terrible cataclysm and bits of it have fallen to the earth, causing pockets of chaos to erupt. Naturally, this means you'll have to kill a lot of different things. Told you guns would come in handy!

A new trailer has arrived for the Greenlight-approved shadow-platformer Contrast. Developer Compulsion Games has now found a publisher in Focus Home Interactive, who will release the game on PSN, XBLA and Steam in Q4 2013.

Rodrigo Testa's new game Scavenger feels the most like an actual NES game out of all 8 NES FAN Game Jam entries. Testa has some experience with simulated retro authenticity, being the developer behind the Strider-inspired Cataegis - The White Wind. Both of these games feel like emulated NES ROMs. While Cataegis is still in development, Scavenger is a complete experience, and a remarkably rich one considering its short development cycle.

AI War developer Arcen Games' turn-based, 4X, strategic god game Skyward Collapse is now available for Windows and Mac. Two factions are at war, and players must indirectly keep both sides alive and balanced by influencing their behavior and literally shaping the world they live in. You can also create, but not control, 16 gods, that help maintain the balance. However, be sure to cause as much carnage as possible along the way to increase your score for each godly round.

Anyone looking for an escape from gaming's usual sounds of gunfire and need for violence should take note that Element4l released on Steam today. It's a momentum-based platformer built around nature and the creation of life, so its serene setting is more than just a gimmick, it's baked into the very soul of the game.

Hello Games has announced that stunt racer/platformers Joe Danger and Joe Danger 2: The Movie are finally coming home to the platform they were created on: the PC. The team has outlined several updates to the game to attract newcomers to the series and those who may want to take Joe out for another dangerous spin.

I generally don't play puzzle games of the endless variety; you know, stuff of the match-three genre or Tetris-likes really do not tend to sound appealing enough, though I do allow myself the odd distraction. This was (is, actually) the case with Olympian Legends for the iPhone. Admittedly, the fact that it featured cartoonized versions of mythical Greek deities and my being brought up with Greek comics of similar themes and aesthetics, did help quite a bit. Now, I'm glad I gave the thing a go.

Olympian Legends is a properly fun action-puzzler. It's quite addictive and sports some nice ideas, while generally playing like a touch-interface optimized hybrid of Columns and Tetris in which you have to construct ancient looking faces.

Innovative RPGs aren't unearthed often enough. When they do come along, as in the case of Toby Fox's UnderTale, they are such a joy to share. Sharp writing, engaging puzzles, and fresh battle systems makes UnderTale a triple threat, even in its demo state.

No matter what you've read about the newly-unveiled Xbox One, I'll wager you haven't seen much mention of the role of indie developers on the new console.
The reveal event bigged up plenty of consumer features that may well have whetted appetites, but when it came to talking to the people who can make or break a games platform -- the developers -- there was barely any mention of what devs should be looking forward to.

Dig deeper, and you'll find that the future for indies on Xbox consoles isn't looking any smoother than it has been before. As with the Xbox 360, Microsoft has confirmed that developers cannot self-publish on the Xbox One, and must release their game through a publishing deal either with Microsoft Game Studios or a third-party.

If Xbox does end up walling up its garden even more, it is potentially blocking out the same developers who have been reshaping the landscape of the video game industry. If mobile and PC have taught us anything the last few years, a platform holder needs to acquire a critical mass of content creators by providing them with the means to try new ideas, giving them the venue to distribute, and do its best to curate the best games. And guess what, "triple-A" and "indie" are proven to coexist in harmony on such platforms.

Noticed on Twitter, Quarantine is the first released game by John T. (Crono Maniac). It would have been a great fit for Ludum Dare 26. It's a minimalist, mysterious little puzzle-platformer with a cool twist. There appears to be a sinister narrative suggested by the game and its title, but nothing is explained in the game--not even the gameplay. You awaken trapped in a large room, encased in a chamber of red blocks. Other blocks in the room are blue and transparent. One of the giant lamps that woke you up is pulsing, as if beckoning you.