There’s an archetype that Tower Defense games adhere to, and Defense Grid is no exception. Waves of enemy units travel unimpeded along a path until players build towers to suppress them. Strategy is called for by the stipulation that, while towers can be built to redirect the enemy’s path (“mazing,” colloquially), towers can’t outright block the enemy’s path. Both units and towers have their respective strengths and weaknesses, so tower selection matters as much as tower placement.

But aside from fulfilling this archetype, Defense Grid distinguishes itself through its campaign and narrative; uncharacteristic of Tower Defense games, it has them. An amnesiac A.I. with a penchant for raspberries rediscovers its purpose and the world it’s forgotten as it accompanies us over a twenty level campaign. It also introduces us to each of Defense Grid’s ten towers, to the Orbital Laser, and to the invading alien enemy that is trying to steal its power cores. The A.I. is also a source of commentary, whether it be encouragement, remarks about the enemies, or just a humorous interjection.

Defese Grid pleases on all fronts: it looks great (I was surprised to learn that it’s built on the Gamebryo engine), it’s well balanced (which was no wonder once I learned its creator was the lead designer of Age of Empires II), and it has [artificial] personality. If you’re skeptical toward or curious about Tower Defense games, I recommend you play Defense Grid: The Awakening; it’s the genre’s greatest step toward legitimacy.

Defense Grid: The Awakening can be purchased from Steam for $9.99.

Thanks to Pyroman[FO]‘s post at GamersWithJobs.com for pointing this game out.

Following its release in February of 2007, Peggle Deluxe for the PC was not a game that a self-respecting hardcore gamer wanted to be caught playing. The game is colorful, it’s made by PopCap (the guys who make those jewel games that your sister plays), and it has cute anthropomorphic animals that you don’t even get to kill. Although Peggle rose in popularity throughout the year, it wouldn’t pique the interest of the hardcore crowd until just before the release of Valve’s Orange Box in October of 2007. At this time, someone with the business acumen of, at the very least, Warren Buffett’s tie, decided that taking a special version of Peggle — a game where you shoot a ball at pegs and then watch stars and rainbows happen — should have Valve game characters tacked on to it and be released on Steam for free under the name Peggle Extreme. This move paid off for PopCap in spades: sales of Peggle Deluxe skyrocketed, and PopCap went on to port it to the iPod classic, iPhone, World of Warcraft, and Xbox Live Arcade. In 2008, a full sequel titled Peggle Nights was released for the PC; this sequel would later be bundled with Peggle Deluxe and ported to the Nintendo DS. The version I prefer to play, and will recommend here, is Peggle Nights for the PC.

Peggle’s key to success and mass appeal (once PopCap had everyone’s attention) lies in its simplicity and the constant stream of feedback and rewards given to players. Each level is a board with blue and orange pegs on it. Shooting a ball at any peg results in points, flashing lights, and positively reinforcing sounds, but the victory condition in Adventure mode is to clear, at the very least, all of the orange pegs. Green gems exist on the board as well; these are power-ups whose effect depends on which of the eleven characters is being played. The real action begins once Adventure mode is completed and Challenge mode unlocks. Any character can be chosen in this mode as the victory conditions vary from stage to stage. No matter the game mode, Ode To Joy plays over top a fireworks display upon every victory.

It was difficult for me to reconcile writing about Peggle; it’s such a successful and popular game that covering it felt redundant. I make an effort to cover uncelebrated games foremost, but I decided that Peggle is too important to PC gaming (and video game culture in general) to ignore it. Although each games’ levels are unique to them and Peggle Deluxe is still worth playing, I recommend Nights over it because it has smoother graphics, an extra character, and PopCap releases free seasonal level packs for it. Nights and Deluxe are available on Steam separately for $9.99 each, or as a bundle for $14.99. Peggle Extreme is, as always, free on Steam.

The British stars of Ben There, Dan That! are its own creators, Ben Ward and Dan Marshall. In the real world, Dan handles the coding, the art, and co-writes along with Ben. Within the game, Ben does almost all the heavy lifting while Dan keeps him company, offers funny asides, and stands by for when such erudite tasks as flipping light switches need managing. The latter of which, admittedly, is infrequent; in this particular adventure, Ben and Dan visit a number of parallel realities, most of which are well-lit. What these realities lack in their demand for light fixture manipulation, they make up for in such anomalies as an ever-displaced London skyline, soccer hooligans, zombies, and tolerance for wanton murder.

It usually bothers me when a game breaks the fourth wall, but in Ben There, Dan That! it delights me. Ben and Dan use self-aware self-referential dialogue to carry their game’s plot, to make callbacks to their influences, and to inject some levity into what would otherwise be some truly grim situations. They break the fourth wall with vigor, as a device. They do this all for free; they’re good guys. Good guys deserve compensation, so consider donating some money if you download, play, and enjoy their game.

[Update 8/25/09: Ben There, Dan That! is now available on Steam as a bundle with its sequel Time Gentlemen, Please! for $4.99. This is about what it costs to purchase TGP from Zombie Cow's website (after GBP-to-USD conversion), so BTDT is still free.]

• No more ads!
• We’ve added shadows to the game. You’ll notice a new graphics configuration option to control the quality level of the shadows.
• PvP is now allowed on all worlds. There are no more PvP worlds.
• All Unique and Mythic drops are now Membership Required. Kings Coin purchases are, as always, usable by anyone.

While non-paying customers lose access to some upper tier items, they’ll no longer have an ad eating up screen real estate. I logged in to get a look at the new shadows (they look great) and about half of my items were ineffectual, but I think losing the ad is a fair compromise. Besides, I wouldn’t sweat five dollars per month if I were to play regularly again.

The story begins with Raz sneaking into summer camp. You know, the one where it’s actually a secret government training ground for psychic soldiers, also known as Psychonauts. Consequently, his dad is called to pick him up, so Raz is determined to train as much as possible before that happens. What Raz doesn’t know yet is that he’s more special than the other kids at the camp (and trust me, there’s some “special” kids there). What’s more, it’s the start of an adventure only a madman like Tim Schafer could produce.

As in other platformers, you start out with basic actions: double-jump, attack, etc. Over time you’ll gain useful psychic abilities and purchase a number of handy gadgets, each offering unique ways to attack, solve puzzles, gather collectibles, or reach new areas. Some of the item collection is practical, but for those that love the challenge of finding every little “figment” in all the hard to reach corners, there’s plenty of that and with suitable rewards.

The exploration of minds is the meat of Psychonauts as well as the greatest source of nostalgia for fans. Each brain is unique and eccentric: an abstract projection of their personal psychoses. This constant change of scenery serves to keep Psychonauts exciting and fascinating throughout.

Gameplay excerpts from the first hour

Click here to view the embedded video.

Optionally, you can play along with podcasters from 1up FM’s backlog (now Rebel FM Game Club). It’s like a book club for video games. If you choose to do so, start listening after you finish the first two brain trainings (at least). Each backlog is at the end of the podcast, usually about three fourths of the way in. The podcasts and backlog starting times are as follows:

1. part one @ ~1:09:25
2. part two @ ~1:16:10
3. part three @ ~1:23:00
4. part four @ ~1:15:05
5. a bonus backlog with Tim Schafer @ ~1:13:35.

Psychonauts is available on a number of platforms, but I recommend either buying it on Steam for $9.99 or using Gametap’s subscription service. However, you’re in luck, because for a limited time you can play the game free on Gametap! Now, git!

There is only one direct action to make in Chains: link three or more circles together. Though the means may be simple, the scope of Chains’ gameplay is anything but narrow; this is not a run-of-the-mill “match 3” game. Never mind the smooth, minimalist art style facilitated by vector graphics, or the haunting electro soundtrack; simply consider that each of Chains’ twenty levels presents for players a different objective and a different obstacle. Take, for example, stage 2, “The Gate” (pictured right), wherein the objective is to clear 200 bubbles before their collective weight becomes greater than the counter-weight keeping the gate below them closed. Compare that time-based level with something more relaxed like stage 7, “Gulliver”, where the objective is to clear 100 bubbles by creating 10 chains or less, and it becomes apparent that Chains offers something uniquely challenging from level to level.

This game surprised me. I first heard of Chains when I saw it added to Impulse’s library. Even though it was only $7.99, I wrongly assumed it was just an average “match 3″ game. It wasn’t until Meridian4 put their entire catalogue on sale for 50% off on Steam that I felt compelled to buy the game; I tend to feel like a sucker if there is a game available for $2.49 that I don’t throw money at, just in case it’s good. It’s ironic, then, that Chains was so good that I felt like a sucker for not buying it sooner.

While Chains is available on Impulse for $7.99, it is only $4.99 on Steam.

The Music of Chains

In this special mini-edition of Audiosurfing, I have taken a sampling from L’autre endroit, an electro album by Silence, which was used as the soundtrack for Chains. The song is called Rèalitè.