CLT Scene & Beyond, 2021 is upon us, and with it, we’re kicking down the dusty doors that held off some of the fun things we previously wrote about alongside music. In association with Charlotte’s Premier Runner of Game Nights Potions & Pixels, we at RF20XX are set to mix it up with them in a hand-off of video & review collaborations, celebrating another side of what indie creators can make! Straight from the Queen City and at your fingertips, The Indie Buzz takes flight with *Two* Games this week; Tower Guy & Anger Foot!
~~~~~~~~ Tower Guy ~~~~~~~~
For a game with the title of “Tower Guy”, I had two expectations coming into it; I’d be playing as some variation of a half-guy, half-tower, and that it was going to be the right kind of strange. Beyond how my mind agonized over how the parents made it work (holy crap), not only was I not disappointed, but for the 10 min or less playtime over the entire experience, I managed to be hit with some of my favorite pop-culture memories, right up to the punchline.
The premise; Abandoned at birth, you as the awkward teenage rook must go out into the world of humanity and discover what friendship is all about. It’s a magical tale that happens in 1991, and like the children’s book of Fairly Stupid Tales I read growing up, it all goes hilariously wrong in all the best ways. Eventually, the game goes from Point & Click to fighting people off in ways only the Leaning Tower of Pisa knows while simultaneously entering a Katamari-like scenario where I crashed the town to stack my bricks higher & higher. Eventually, Tower Guy finds out he had what he needed all along, right before being prepositioned by the moon in what was a flashback to what was under Sid’s bed in Toy Story, so I’ll let you find out how the story truly ends.
It’s the 4th game made by Bonte Avond, a Netherlands trio comprised of Birthday Worm (Kyon Edelenbosch), Sad Alien (Matteo Karkazis), and Moon Moon Moon Studios. The soundtrack was composed by the two former collaborators, painting the game in a fun & relaxed atmosphere. You can find Tower Guy’s EP on Bandcamp, and if you’re looking for more fun adventures from the group, keep an eye out for the upcoming title Everybody Wham Wham. Meanwhile, the first 3 games are at their itch.io site, and are also well worth your curiosity.
~~~~~~~~ Anger Foot ~~~~~~~~
Literally kicking it into high gear, Anger Foot is about dealing pain and avoiding goons as you race towards the exit of each level. The most weaponry you’re given is a gun in the 2nd level (once they start having guns as well), but as Gaming Icon Duke Nukem coined it, the Almighty Foot is your greatest ally and the invaders worst nightmare.
The difficulty tends to ramp up quickly with each stage, which may seem like obvious, but this is also where the strategy tends to show up as well. I found myself having to conserve the ammo I had on hand while instead throwing the gun to achieve kills. It’s effective in that for some of the zones, there may be two doors and more foes on one end defending while the other might have one bat-wielding enemy.
There is no hiding (as evidenced by countless deaths on the stairs in Level 5), so it’s fight or flight as player’s have to make the best out of a perilous situation. The gameplay is fast-paced and barely lets up, with most of my times topping at around 3 minutes per completed stage. While it isn’t a necessity, the end of each stage also counts how many of the goons you took out on that particular romp, so go for gold and break down the doors to each room (many foes will be right in front of the door, poor decision on their part).
Anger Foot plays like an ode to the Doom-era of FPS’s with the simplistic runs toward the finish, while also paired with a rock soundtrack and paired with neon lights for 80’s esthetic. Put together by the team comprised of Robbie Fraser, Luc Wolthers and Jason Sutherland, kicking down the door has never been so rewarding (or powerful). Check out the game on their itch.io site, as well as other Game Jam collaborations.
That’s all this week for the P&P/RF20XX Indie Buzz! Tune in on Wednesdays each week for a new title hand-picked by us and developed by the next great indie collaborative!! You can see each of these games discussed on The Potions & Pixel’s Indie Game Club, happening Thursday Nights at 7pm on their Twitch & Facebook Channels!
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