For January I got a few indie titles available on Itch that had the “roleplay” tag. Some are real RPGs, other not so much, but all of them are very enjoyable, short titles.
The NOT RPG crowd
Southern Cross
Southern Cross is an adventure game developed by HomieBoon. It was released in December 30, 2022.
The game starts with a beautiful theme song, whille the start screen gives you some story and the instructions to play the game. It tells the tale of a swordsman that wishes to become the strongest, and so he roams the world, surviving fight after fight, searching for his final opponent.
The soundtrack is great and you can hear on Bandcamp. It also has a charming aesthetic with vibrant colors and pixel art the reminds me of the old Game Boy Color games.
On the gameplay side of things, you roam an overworld, enter villages, talk to a few people and, at random times, the game starts a Quick Time Event in which you must press SLASH ( / ) to draw your sword and kill your enemy. If your successfull you can keep going on your adventure, while failing the task grants you a game over.
Sometimes you must attack in the middle of dialogues, resulting in the death of the NPC you were talking just seconds ago. The brutal and unforgiving nature of your character who never cares for collateral damage justifies why most people you find will scorn warriors.
Overall, a fun little narrative that will take only a few minutes of your day to complete.
There’s Nothing To Do In This Town
There’s Nothing To Do In This Town is an adventure game developed by donotrunwithpixels for the original Gameboy. It was published in May 30, 2020, and can be played on your browser (it uses a fork of JavaScript GameBoy Color Emulator) or downloaded as a ROM file so you can use your favorite emulator or flashcart. I played it through my phones web browser without any issue.
You have three main objectives: help Tia and Bec to have a date, kill the zombies on your father’s appartment and buy three Rage Against the Machine Albums. Like most adventure titles, there is no combat and you interact with other characters through dialogue or by exchanging especific items.
The game is very short and easy (I think you can beat it in less than fifteen minutes on your first try), so your main reason to play the game is to see how the story develops. You also won’t find a reason to come back and do it all again, unless you want to beat the speed run record. I don’t mind this kind of game, and since it runs on a browser is a good way to spend a few spare minutes from your day.
But you can pet the cat, and that’s a good reason to recommend any game.
As a final note, if you use Retro Achievements there are six achievements for There’s Nothing To Do In This Town, added by LordAndrew. They seem really easy to obtain, but that’s a fun addition nonetheless.
Pigeon Ascent
Pigeon Ascent was made by Escada Games, a small Brazilian game studio formed by two developers, Delta-key and Sklaiser. It was released on Apr 21, 2020 and was an entry in Ludum Dare #46.
Your objective is to create a bird strong enough to beat the Pigeon God and take its place. You make your pigeon stronger by battling other pigeons, forging your future god in the heat of battle.
The art is very good, with some odd looking pidgeons. As for the music, it didn’t catch my attention, but it’s competent enough.
The gameplay is broken down into two segments: an status screen and the animal brawl. On the status screen you choose which attributes to increase, if it’s worth to pay money for healing and who’s going to be your next foe. After selecting an opponent, the battle starts the pigeons will automatically fight. You don’t control their actions and must passively wait while they slam against each other. There is only a handful of fights before you’re forced to face the god bird, so choose your build wisely, as losing means a game over.
Overall the gameplay is simplistic but since each session takes only a few minutes and you can keep experimenting with different builds it can be a bit addictive. A fun title, even if it loses replayability after you discover how to beat the final boss.
Into the Deep Web
Into the Deep Web is a game developed by Jon Topielski and Bruncket. It was released in April 26, 2021 and was an entry for Ludum Dare 48th. It’s a short game, but an entertaining one.
You character is a 90s internet user, who wishes to enter the deep web to discover its secrets. Besides this meager outline there is no plot, you just keep fighting new adversaries (who I think are types of databases) until you reach the game’s final boss. It’s similar to Pidgeon Ascent, but more fun to play and more engaging.
The game successfully emulates the aesthetics from games I would play in Windows 95 and Windows 98, not only on the art style, but also with the colour pallete.
Your character will automatically attack whenever they can, inflicting damage according to the dices rolled on the left side of the screen, similar to a board or pen and paper RPG. Initially you only have the bump ability, which increases a dice number by one, but as you progress you will gain different abilities (increase the bump value, flip the dice, reroll a dice, etc.) and new types of dice (healing dice, shield dice, confusiong dice, etc.). This improvements are randomly acquired, so each game session will force you to find new strategies to beat your foes.
Unfortunately the game doesn’t has any type of exploration and revolves only around combat, limiting its replayability. But it’s very entertaining for what it is, so go play it.
The RPG guys
Die Mutter
Die Mutter (the mother for the Germanic non-connoisseur) was developed in RPG Maker by Kanji the Grass and released in Apr 11, 2021. It’s a browser only game, so you need to install itch’s client if you wish to play it offline.
In Die Mutter your character wakes up inside a machine in an unknown facility. Most rooms are locked, as is the entrance door. Since you don’t know where you are or why you’re there, you must find answers to these questions and, if possible, a way to leave.
In most aspects Die Mutter is a traditional JRPG, but it has a unique crafting system. You can craft all types of weapons, defense items and accessories, but you can also create your own creatures to help you battle the horrors you find later on. You can start to build your arsenal and army in a laboratory where you will find two machines, Die Mutter and Die Grosse. The former is used to create your items and monsters, while in the latter you can disassemble them to recycle crafting material.
The enemies you fight are the same you can create to fill your party, and surprisingly there is a good ammount of them. It’s similar to the original Megami Tensei games, released only in Japan for the Famicom. In those games you could recruit some enemies to compose your party, besides fusing them to create stronger allies. But I think Die Mutter has a better system, since your monsters can gain levels and equip items, continuing to be relevant throughout the entire game, while in Megami Tensei every demon you recruit had fixed attributes and would become useless against newer foes as the game progressed.
The game has nice graphics similar to Nes-era games, which an eerie atmosphere similar to the already mentioned Megami Tensei, but also Sweet Home. The facility has a diverse enviroment, with each new area exhibiting a different theme. The music is nice but a bit repetitive since there are so few compositions.
Which two endings, a fair ammount of creatures to use and a minimalistic but interesting plot, Die Mutter is a great indie title to play.
FRANKEN
Franken is an RPG created by splendidland, who is also the creator of Mega Man Sprite Game. It was released in May 11, 2022 and was developed in the strangely named Official Hamster Republic Role Playing Game Construction Engine, or O.H.R.RPG.C.E., a free engine to develop RPGs.
The plot is very simple, your character is a warrior who wishes to save the world from an evil army, commanded by Hell’s Knight. You will find different allies, fight enemies, see a few twists, giggle wich some jokes and have a blast at the game’s final battle, in which the enemy design and chosen song are near perfect.
The game has some beautiful, colorful art, with some strange designs that will make you laugh and doesn’t seem out of place with the humorous plot. The songs are good too, but nothing I would listen on my spare time.
Mechanically the game is simplistic. You level up every battle, and you can only attack during battles, transforming every fight in a contest of endurance. You can’t buy or craft items, but you will find a few of them necessary to progress the story. Progression is linear, but I liked to explore the world and talk to unimportant NPCs.
Franken can be completed in less than one hour, but it’s such a fun little experience that is worth anyone’s time.