The 10 Best Indie Games of 2014 (So Far)

6. Super Time Force

Platform: Xbox Live
Price: $15

Yes, Super Time Force looks like just another faux retro side-scrolling shooter. Still in all, this game actually offers a brilliant and stunningly utilized new mechanic in the form of its “Time Out” feature, which allows the player to rewind the game clock to an earlier point in the level. This is more than an easy way to undo mistakes, however: whenever you go back in time, you create another copy of yourself, which will assist you in shooting enemies and solving puzzles. In addition to this brilliant mechanical innovation, the game also features a wicked sense of humor. Your mission objectives are appropriately bizarre: prevent the extinction of the dinosaurs, save Atlantis from sinking, steal the Holy Grail to save a restaurant chain, and so on. Even the playable characters demonstrate the same surrealist sense of humor—the best is probably Zackasaurus, the skateboarding dinosaur who can kill enemies by jumping on their heads a la Mario.