GNILLEY

If you thought that the world of gaming is full of crazy things, it's just about to get crazier. GNILLEY is a game which won the prize for the most original game in the Global Game Jam 2010 competition. What it is all about, you might be wondering. Well, not much: you are a small human running around some place... YELLING at enemies, walls and who knows what else in order to advance in the game. Yes, you actually have to yell into the mic, as hard as you can and everyone will just freak out and die.

Umbrella Adventure

Umbrella Adventure is a beautifully animated hand drawn platformer. You play as a cat-like creature whose family and cakes have been stolen mysteriously. All the elements of a good platformer have been used: jumping, grabbing ropes and hooks, wall jumping... The graphics are black and white, but the quality of the drawings helps create a wonderful atmosphere. Everything is very well polished and the game is also quite lengthy. 

+ beautiful graphics
+ nice atmosphere
+ lengthy

- slows down sometimes

Download it from YoYoGames

VVVVVV

I know the title sounds weird, but this is in fact a fun game. It's a unique platformer, with great music and long entertaining levels. You play as a smiling creature that has lost his friends in an accident. The tunnels you are in are very, very spikey. You must make your way to the exit by shifting gravity and avoiding getting hurt. Only a demo is available for free, but the two levels provided are enough to give you a taste of the full experince. There are hidden places, collectable objects placed in almost impossible spots and all sorts of other things. VVVVVV is challenging and very engaging.

+ simple but very good graphics
+ intense and fun gameplay
+ nice music

- it's only the demo

Download it here
Play in online on Kongregate

Sunshine

I'm sure you all know World of Goo, one of the best indie games out there. However, you may not know its story: it began as a short project published on the Experimental Gameplay site. Now, one of the two guys behind World of Goo released another weird, yet beautiful game - Sunshine. You are in control of a continuously growing plant and you have to help it reach the skies. Nothing weird so far... but then you start seeing people falling out of nowhere. You can grow flowers by looping people. Looping air is quite useful too, because it's your only chance of avoiding falling rocks, that destroy all your flowers. Although it's short, this game is charming and addictive. Kyle Gabler did a wonderful work... I hope this will evolve in a longer game, as it happened to Tower of Goo.

+ gloomy and beautiful graphics
+ perfect atmosphere
+ innovative gameplay

- it should have had levels

Download it here

Every Day The Same Dream

Life as an adult can be quite boring. You get up every morning, go to  work in your car and sit in your depressing cubicle. This game is exactly about the monotony of life and how to break it. The hero of the game is tired of the routine and tries do break it. It is up to you to decide if he can do that or not. It can be played either online, as Flash, or you can download the executable for Windows/Linux or Mac.

+ nice concept
+ stylized graphics

- short and a bit repetitive

Play it here

! - the game

! is a short adventure game created by Ben Chandler in AGS. The monument of the city, a big ! sign has been stolen and you, !, Robot,  have to find the thief. Everything happens in 6 small screens and the puzzles are logical. It looks nice and it is funny. You can finish it in about 10 minutes, but it is worth playing.

+ nice graphics
+ easy puzzles

- too short

Download it here

Let's go find El Dorado

This game is short and funny. You control an old carriage pulled by a weird cow (that looks and acts more like a pig). You carry an entire family of Americans who want to find the legendary city of El Dorado. The way to the city of gold is full of steep hills, rivers, Indian towns and civilized cities. Every time your cart turns upside down something bad happens to your passengers. Stopping in villages is also dangerous because the family can catch all sorts of diseases. But, as long as at least one of them is alive when you reach El Dorado, everything is ok. The game has physics, so the carriage can fly past hills if you catch speed, or even fly past your destination...

+ random generated terrain
+ funny... somehow

- some hills are impossible to climb

Download it here

Whir

Whir is a very nice puzzle game. You control a cute robot and your goal is to clear a board of all the removable blocks and then reach the finish block. The first levels are easy and can be solved really fast, but once you get a level with a switch that doubles your pace the game becomes much more complicated. It has a very good part, however: if you can't solve a level you can generate a new one. The newly generated level will keep some of the appearance of the old one, but it can prove to be much easier (or harder).


+ about 3000 possible levels
+ interesting and detailed graphics
+ epic soundtrack

- lack of instructions

Download it here

We Want You

Ever wanted to be a soldier? To defend your country ever with the price of your life? In this game you have exactly this opportunity! You are a worthless soldier and you wonder around the battlefield killing everyone else. If you play long enough you'll notice that time goes by - you get statistics of the "past year". There are 10 guns available and you can get them from supply tents or crates. If you start bleeding the first aid tent should fix you right away. However, some guns kill you instantly, and then you become a well-remembered soldier. Enjoy the war!

+ pixelart!
+ procedurally generated platforming fun
+ fun gameplay (you can even get a fat kid to follow you)

- you can't win (except if you count death as winning)
- it gets repetitive after a while

Download the game here

Focus

Focus is a really hard game. You are a white blob who is trapped in a weird cave. The game starts as a normal platformer, with jumping and avoiding obstacles but pretty soon you learn the focus skill and everything changes. With focus you can teleport anywhere inside a blue bubble that forms around you. Inside the bubble time goes very slow, which is a big advantage. As you advance you'll encounter all sorts of robotic enemies, each faster and more powerful than the other. The game gets really addicting really fast.

+ great concept
+ nice graphics and effects

- it can be a bit frustrating, but that's the cost of for being a challenging game

Download it here

Featherweight

The featherweights are scouts in a world ruled by powerful robots. They have no hope of ever being able to fight for their freedom. This is where you come in. You are Thadd, a young and rather foolish featherweight who goes to rescue a captured girl. You point and click your way to her, while also keeping out of the robots' sight. The puzzles are nice, some objects can be hard to spot, but if you search hard enough you'll find them. There is no walkthrough available at the moment, but it's not really needed either.

+ logical puzzles
+ a bit of stealth is good in a point-and-click

- not all the objects are visible

Download it here

ButaVX: Justice Fighter

ButaVX is a short but cute role playing game. You are a baby pig in a black-and-white pig world and you have just lost your favourite ball. There is a sidequest and some easy fighting. You can actually get money and use it to buy health potions. The game is very nicely drawn and its cuteness is overwhelming. However, I can not point out that it is way too short. All the elements of a good game are there - just the quantity is not right...

+ cute characters and story
+ nice graphics
+ works perfectly on Wine

- too short!
- outside the town you encounter enemies every two steps

Download it here

Addicsjon

Addicsjon is a game about junkies. To put it clearer: your character is a drug addict who wants to get every pill he sets eyes on. You might think that you're not responsible for the heath and welfare of games' characters, but when they stop obeying, you've got a problem. Your junky is so desperate that you will hardly be able to control him. When he is close to a pill (or to humans) he will simply try to get it. The more pills he ingests the harder it becomes for you to control him. The screen gets dizzy and people turn into weird purple creatures...The game has only 5 levels, but I think they're enough.

+ original (and annoying) idea
+ simple graphics
+ somehow nice effect after you finish the game and return to your stable desktop

- a bit too hard

Download it here

Machinarium

Machinarium is a point and click adventure game about robots. The most impressive thing about it is that everything is hand drawn, every background, creature or animation. The game feels a little post-apocalyptic, with all the rusty machineries and old robots. The abundance of details combined with the beautiful backgrounds make Machinarium a charming game. The puzzles aren't very hard, although to find usable objects you have to get close to them, which can be frustrating sometimes. There is also a hint book, with one hint available each level. However, to see the hint you must first win a mini-game (quite fun). Now, the least beautiful part about the game: it's not free. The game costs 15 euros, which is quite a lot, considering it only has 30 screens... The demo is available for download, but it is just a teaser - only 3 screens.

+ eye-popping graphics
+ the cute-yet-strange feeling
+ logical puzzles

- the demo is too short
- the whole game is too short

Download the demo here

Awakener

Awakener is a short adventure game, created by Ben Chadler in AGS. You play as Fadi, a young boy in search of adventure and everything takes place along a single street. The game is funny and visually appealing. It's a rather short experience that leaves you asking for more.

+ nice graphics
+ logical puzzles
+ works on Wine

- too short

Download it from Bigbluecup.com

ASCII Portal

I guess everyone remembers the Portal game, released by Valve a few years ago. It had a new concept, impeccable graphics and a probably the most mischievous villain. Now, indie games creator Joe Larson has created a remake of Poral - ASCII Portal. Yes, you read well, the gamegraphics are... ASCII characters. No models, textures or anything you might expect from a game, just plain coloured characters. As in the original, you can open portals (using The Spacebar), push objects, use momentum... What you can't do is jump, but that's only to make the game more interesting, don't worry. The game is interesting, unique and quite lenghty. A very welcomed remake.

+ weird, but nice choice in graphics
+ many levels
+ mindbending puzzles
+ available for all platforms (Linux too)

- the character movement is a bit laggy
- no skip available

Download it on Cymon's Games

Crazy over goo

First of all, you're a spongy-butter-goo controlled with the mouse - you can hop toward it. Your goal is to reach the flag in every level, but doing that is not as easy as it sounds. This puzzle-platformer requires fine control and sometimes timing, because it has many gameplay elements that'll make the job harder. Sticky areas, spikes, bouncy platforms and switches are only a few surprises that you'll encounter. After playing only a few levels  you are sure to become "crazy over goo". If you get stuck on one level, you can skip it - you get a decent number of skips. In addition to official leves you can play user created ones, or even create a level yourself.

+ 50 levels of goo-throwing-fun, enough even for hardcore goo throwers
+ throwing a goo ball here and there is awesome!
+ it has puzzle elements for your brain muscles

- the resolution is inadequate (hit F4 to see for yourself)
- there are a few annoying levels

Download it from here
Check it on YoyoGames to play it online via their plugin (thoug I don't recommend it due to its slowness)