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B-side gaming zine #10 (news, rom-hacking, horror, humor)
Welcome
Hello, everyone. I decided to create another one of these magazine posts. I will most likely continue doing these, though not monthly. Instead I will work on them whenever I have time and I am in the mood to work on them. So the next issue might come out sometime between 2 and 4 months.
In this issue, like always, there is gaming news. I have been gathering news since mid-November, so some news is a bit old. Then there is an article about ROM hacking and some ROM hack recommendations. A look at some older games. A free Python game, a walkthrough for an older Python game that I had posted in a previous issue. Finally, the usual humor at the end.
Also, last issue I accidentally linked the wrong comic page that was already posted in an older issue, but it seems nobody noticed… hmm…
Enjoy reading.
News
Open Source game news
DDNet 19.5 AND 19.6 (2025-10-13, 2025-12-14)
A platform puzzle game similar to Teeworlds. DDNet tries to keep compatibility with Teeworlds.
There is an active community where participants arrange tournaments or create and publish maps that can be downloaded by other players.
Chaneges:
- [Client] Interactive scoreboard [KebsCS & AssassinTee]
- [Client] Improved controls settings [Robyt3]
- [Client] WebLate for translations [heinrich5991]
More Changes
Mineclonia 0.118 (2025-11-30)
Survival sandbox game inspired by Minecraft.
Changes:
- Improve rightclick interactions with flower pots [JoseDouglas]
- Eliminate legacy mob spawning system [halon]
- Fix mobs spawning on glass [halon]
- Fix shulker box inventory image rendering bug in 5.15-dev
Shamogu 1.2.0 (2025-12-03)
Shamogu is a coffee-break roguelike game with a focus on tactical movement and careful timing of totemic spirit invocation and comestible consumption. Visibility and noise stealth mechanics also play an important role. See the Features section below for a more comprehensive description, or jump into Play section to install the game.
Chaneges:
- Short runs (around half an hour).
- 9 levels deep dungeon, 3 distinct map generators, 27 monsters including various wandering uniques and guardians, 5 primary spirits and 7 secondary ones, 4 magic menhirs, 5 runic traps, and 7 comestibles.
- Optional advanced content through expansion and challenge mods, including 2 new primary spirits and 7 secondary ones.
- Both graphical tiles (web or SDL) and terminal ASCII versions. Animations. Simple controls. Mouse-friendly compact 80x24 layout.
- Automatic recording for later replay!
Hades Revisited 0.19.1 (2025-10-30)
Hades Revisited is a game in development. The goal of this project is to create a deep and complex survival and terraforming game set on a far-away volcanic planet.
Changes:
It’s a nature update!
I’ve reworked all the trees.
Olive, banana, cocoa tree and coconut palm got new looks.
Every tree has its own trunk and leaves now. Previously, many trees had to share their trunk, which caused problems.
There is a new pear tree. Currently, it is very similar to the apple tree but it will gain some differences in future updates (I hope). The jungle tree will become the kaki tree bearing the kaki fruit.
All trees bear fruit or catkin, but not everything is edible.
The coconut now comes with an outer green shell, you must remove it first to get the large seed.
You can make chocolate from cocoa and coconut milk from coconuts.
Every tree species now has a “small” version that grows when a sapling does not have enough space to grow.
Flower and plant pots got an upgrade. Put seed in flower pot, and they grow, but not much further. Great to farm saplings. The flower pot now supports many extra plants.
Glitch 1.3.4 (2025-11-03)
Glitch is a singleplayer platformer game for Luanti, created for the 2022 Minetest Game Jam by Wuzzy, featuring music by Visager.
You’re One, a bit who’s lost in cyberspace after a mysterious distortion interrupts a typical data transmission. Can you figure out what caused this and get back on track?
Explore the System, collect electrons to unlock new sectors, learn new abilities to become more powerful and maybe you’ll find the path to your true destination.
Changes:
- Fix game not working if the Luanti setting mapgen_limit is a low value
LibreQuake 0.09-beta (2025-11-04)
The LibreQuake project aims to create a complete, free content first-person shooter game, but LibreQuake by itself is just the raw material for a game. It must be paired with a compatible engine to be played.
Changes:
- AUDIO: Update build_components.json for Wizard sound fix by @Ospaggi in #238
- MAPS: Randombrushes/e0m7 updates by @RandomBrushes in #237
- BUILD: Fixed qwprogs.dat not being put into GitHub built releases. by @Zungrysoft in #240
- CONFIG: Disabled hacky zfighting fix in FTEQW by @Zungrysoft in #244
[BUILD] - Add launcher for additional engines in Flatpak by @fpiesche in #247
- MAPS: Even more misc. map changes. by @Zungrysoft in #250
- MAPS, WADS: E2M3 deathmatch support and other changes by @Nolcoz in #248
- MAPS, WADS: E1M7 fix and deathmatch support by @Nolcoz in #241
Hurry Curry! 3.0.1 (2025-11-06)
Hurry Curry! is a cooperative multiplayer game about cooking. You work at a restaurant accepting orders, cooking various dishes and serving meals to customers. But don’t take too long, as customers might get impatient.
Changes:
- Added Tag minigame (/start tag)
- New map "Scattered"
- Added swedish translations
- Fixed bugs when helping another player with an active recipe
- AFK players will now be removed automatically
- Connections to the game server now require sending keepalive packets
- Added tile model for conveyors passing through walls
- Nigiri can now be assembled on plates
- Localization support for HTML book
- Fixed double-inserting scoreboard entries
AAAAXY 1.6.321 (2025-11-27)
A nonlinear 2D puzzle platformer taking place in impossible spaces.
Changes:
- Engine: module updates, including fixes for the Steam overlay.
- Languages: updated texts for Ukrainian.
Tensy 1.0 (2025-11-22)
A simple but addictive puzzle game. Your mission is to match numbers such that they add up to 10. Simply click and drag with your mouse or tap and drag on mobile to make a selection and make sure the numbers add up to 10!
Indie game news
Music Adventure Game Unbeatable Set For Early November Launch
- Set in a world where music is outlawed, players join Beat, a rebellious musician dodging authorities.
- Unique two-button rhythm mechanics combine with exploration, story choices, and massive concert setpieces.
- Arcade mode offers tons of songs, modifiers, online features, and an evolving challenge board to conquer.
Announcing Indie Party-Based Tactics RPG Of Grit & Graves
Grit & Graves
Gameplay
Gameplay
A party-based tactics RPG from indie Melted Monster Game Studio that wears its tabletop DNA on its sleeve. It builds every action around dice pools, then asks you to manage position, sightlines, traps, and scarce resources as you push a four-hero squad through procedural dungeons.
Check Out This Eastern Mythology-Inspired Indie Game with a Living World
Of Peaks and Tides is an upcoming open-world crafting game with an intuitive physics system and amazing visuals.
‘Amimi’ Solves Puzzles by Interacting With Curious Creatures
Amimi
Gameplay
Magic Cave?
Amimi sees you and a glowing creature using sound to interact with animals and environments in adream-like world.
This is a curious puzzle platformer, created with very captivating visual art, which I very much enjoyed seeing! Early on in this game you find a little orb creature who wants to sit on your head, helping you get rid of plants that are too spiky and solve various puzzles around the world.
Streetdog BMX Finally Receives a January 2026 Release Date
- Extreme sports fans can enjoy six huge maps packed with hidden spots, tricks, and unique challenges.
- Players can customize their bike and rider with dozens of options, from outfits to bike parts.
- Complete 180 BMX challenges, master combos, and chase high scores or just flow at your own pace.
Tailside Confirmed For PC Launch In January 2026
- Play as a charming fox owner, run your own customizable cafe, and unlock animal visitors and heartwarming stories.
- Relax in stress-free gameplay without timers, offering both progression levels and an open-ended Sandbox mode.
- Design your dream cafe with hundreds of decor options, create latte art, and brew a variety of unique coffees.
New Creature Collector RPG KinForge Announced
- KinForge is a newly announced creature collector RPG coming to PC from indie studio Seeker Games.
- Players bond with Elementals, living spirits that grant powerful abilities and combat options.
- Combine Ancient Elementals and Sprites for billions of unique ability fusions in battle.
Timing is everything in the fast-paced arcade racer Wild Horse Racing - try the demo now
Wild Horse Racing
If you love arcade-styled retro racing games, Wild Horse Racing looks like it could be good fun and there’s a demo available with Linux support.
Don’t let the name put you off at all, this is not some cutesy horse game. Here it’s quite a challenge where timing is everything. You have to master control patterns from easy to godlike difficulty, leap over big jumps, and race through vibrant tracks while managing your horse. Some fun game mechanics included with each track having its own control pattern, and nailing the timing gives you a speed boost.
Cozyrama Confirmed For Mid-December Steam Launch
Cozyrama
- Create and customize magical worlds filled with flowers, lanterns, and adorable roaming animals.
- Enjoy stress-free, timer-free gameplay perfect for relaxing and creative expression.
- Build dioramas in numerous seasonal backdrops, with endless decorating options and high replay value.
M.O.L.E. (2026): The Claustrophobic Cold War Horror Game Right Under Your Feet
Monster
Just when you thought indie horror was tapped out, along comes a game that wants you to drill to the center of the Earth in a Soviet-era rust bucket. Meet M.O.L.E., a PSX-style simulator-horror game that looks like it was ripped straight from a dusty VHS tape found in your grandpa’s paranoid Cold War-era trunk.
News Link
Chaotic climbing game ChimpUP! looks hilarious
ChimpUP! is an upcoming chaotic multiplayer climbing game about monkeys trying to collect bananas, where each player has independent grapple hooks for arms. Looks like it could be another funny multiplayer game to add to your list.
It’s a fast-paced game with each round only being about 30 seconds. Every map has its own unique weird gimmick you need to master, and it’s all about being first to launch immediately into the next map. You each have wobbly arms you can use however you like - whatever gets you there first. That includes sabotaging friends, as you’re able to grab them too.
Cooking Simulator 2: Better Together Arrives This January
- Optional multiplayer lets you team up with friends to cook, create recipes, and tackle challenges.
- Design unique dishes, experiment with ingredients, and grow from burger joint starter to top chef.
- Manage ingredients, keep your kitchen tidy, and complete hundreds of recipes inspired by world cuisine.
DuneCrawl Confirmed For Steam Launch in Early January
- Team up with friends online or locally to explore the Dust Seas and hunt for hidden treasures.
- Pilot a gigantic Dune Crawler, fend off enemies, and complete quests for desert privateer glory.
- Enjoy lush, hand-drawn environments, NPC interactions, and customizable cooperative gameplay.
Escape From Ever After Confirmed For Late January Launch
- This genre-bending RPG is inspired by Paper Mario and twists classic fairytales with a modern touch.
- Players join Flynt Buckler on a quest to infiltrate Ever After Inc. and liberate magical storybooks.
- Experience witty writing, turn-based combat, unique worlds, and ever-changing gameplay mechanics.
Surreal Cycling Horror Game ‘Quite A Ride’ Looks Utterly Terrifying
Gameplay
I’ve never played a game from Kazakhstan, but after finally finding one from the country — Quite a Ride, from Almaty-based studio Goodwin Games — I don’t think this’ll change any time soon. That’s not because it looks bad — it just seems absolutely terrifying.
Quite a Ride is a surreal “biking survival horror game” and has been signed by Northern English publisher Silver Lining Interactive, whose members have worked on titles as diverse as Dave the Diver, The Alters, and Caravan SandWitch.
‘Petal Runner’ Is A Cozy Indie Game Boy-Like Coming In 2026
Gameplay
Set in the sun-washed, neon-tinged city of Sapphire Valley, Petal Runner puts players in the seat of Cali, a young courier training to become a “Petal Runner,” a motorcycle delivery rider tasked with transporting “Leap Cells” that power artificial pets (called HanaPets). With them is first-generation HanaPet Kira, a friendly companion housed in a handheld “Leash.” Together, they traverse streets and districts, make deliveries, and uncover a deeper story about friendship, growth, and the cost of progress.
Brutal ‘reverse farming’ game turns cosy art into unhinged carnage
Bonk on the head!
It has clear objectives and progression, and a cute 3D art style perfect that looks perfect for a spot of relaxing escapism. But Chiklet’s Human Products has a brutal twist. The animals farm the humans.
Creative indie dev finally finds a way to lure kids from Fortnite to maths practice
Gameplay
The player must defeat robots displaying maths problems by shooting the correct answer on their body parts. It’s reminding some parents of the retro game Math Blaster, but with gameplay that has much more chance of appealing to today’s players.
Night Shift: 1999 Launches New Free Demo On Steam
- Play as Isra Bayassee, a centuries-old vampire balancing everyday life and supernatural urges.
- Shape the story through choices with five narrative routes and eleven unique endings to discover.
- Explore Kings Cross in a 1-bit visual novel full of secrets, heartbreak, and branching rewards.
Garden slug-girl action, masochistic platforming and summer vacation nostalgia: 5 outdoorsy Japanese indie games
Welcome to our weekend segment, where we showcase recent or upcoming Japanese indie games that share a specific theme. This week, we take a look at some promising “outdoorsy” titles. Be it climbing a mountain of random knick-knacks or chilling atop your very own Japanese-style rooftop, there’s something about an open-air setting that just makes you want to wake up, get up, and get out there.
Jonathan Blow’s Ambitious New Puzzle Game Is 500 Hours Long, And it Looks Fantastic (Order of the sinking star Preview)
Gameplay
Nice View!
Dark Castle
Jonathan Blow is one of the most notable names in the indie game scene, with some even labeling him as one of gaming’s auteurs. If you’re relatively new to gaming, you may not be familiar with the name because Blow hasn’t released a brand new game since 2016. In fact, he’s only made two games as the lead creative, Braid and The Witness, but has worked on numerous other titles in various other capacities. Blow is a pretty intelligent guy, even going as far as trying to make his own programming language, known as Jai. It has been in the works for over a decade, and Blow intends for it to be used for game development.
Coven of the Chicken Foot is the debut game from Naughty Dog alum Bruce Straley’s indie studio
Gameplay
Coven of the Chicken Foot has a lot of things going for it already, in my book. It stars a hero rarely seen in video games, an elderly woman, and it has gorgeous storybook-style art in a lush fantasy setting. It’s a single-player puzzle platformer, it relies on wordless storytelling and the woman, a witch named Gertie, travels with a creepy-cute companion. Plus, Gertie has chicken feet. I love her little chicken feet.
‘Just in Crime’ Travels Time to Solve Adorable Crimes (Preview)
Gameplay
Gameplay
So this really caught my interest when I played a demo at BCN Game Fest. The cute animals protagonists are more than just adoarble, though. The detective dog is able to take thoughts and string them together to make conclusions that can be presented to various characters in the game, progressing the story. The wizard cat, on the other hand, can go back in time by a few seconds to investigate what’s happened in the past, which can come in handy when solving any mystery.
Cult Indie Hit ‘SpeedRunners’ Gets Spiritual Successor, ‘Sprint City’, In 2026
Gameplay
After ten long years, SpeedRunners, one of the finest cult indie multiplayer games of its generation, is finally getting a spiritual successor. And no, it’s not SpeedRunners 2, which is also on the way — rather, Sprint City hopes to remind players what made the 2016 racing sidescroller so brilliant.
Homebrew News
Alentejo: The Tinto & The Ugly [Gameboy Color]
Go horse or go
A wild gunman
Welcome back to the nostalgic Old Alentejo. In this historical 19th-century European western, help Gildo, Dolores, and Pepe in their quest to fight Baron Tinto and his oppressive laws. To do so, you’ll need to cross the historic border, explore new locations, discover more items, allies, and… new enemies! The Tinto has never meant so much to so many people in so many ways!
Alentejo: Tinto’s Law [Gameboy Color]
Here comes the train
A saloon
A Gundown Satiric Western, set in the 19th Century Iberian Penisula!
Trains, outlaws, kegs, contraband. Welcome to 19th-century Alentejo, a land where the scorching sun and mysteries are ever-present. Meet Gildo and help him assemble his gang to stand against Baron Tinto’s tyrannical rule. Travel across various locations, explore caves and mines, cross the border into Spain, and challenge Tinto and his oppressive lawmaking.
Skate Cat [Nes]
Gameplay
The city of Nekocity is no longer peaceful… Monsters from another dimension have been released and threaten to destroy the world.
Only one cat can save it: YOU!
Grab your skateboard and embark on this colorful journey of a thousand dangers.
Gumball in Trick-or-Treat Land Receives a February Launch Date [Gameboy and Steam]
- Embark on a quirky adventure to restore the joy of trick-or-treating in a candy-filled overworld.
- Master a turn-based Trick-or-Treating battle system and recruit unique allies for your party.
- Take on a massive quest with dozens of side missions, spells, items, and challenging combat.
SHERWOOD [Commodore 64]
Robin Hood just won the archery tournament at Nottingham Castle. But as the last of Robin’s three enchanted arrows struck the bullseye, the magic concealing his identity was lost. Robin now stands revealed before the triumphant gaze of Prince John and his Norman guards: A wolfshead with a price on his head, caught in a deadly trap!
Featured article: ROM Hacks
ROM hacking is a method of editing and modifying games. The early console games were stored on cartridges in ROM memory chips. These games can be extracted (dumped) from these chips and saved into files called ROM images or simply ROMs. Emulators (see previous issue) can play these games saved in ROMs.
A ROM dumping device for the Game Boy Advance
Besides just playing these ROM images, they can also be edited with software tools like hex editors, tile editors (tool to create and edit tile map graphics.), or more advanced tools such as assemblers and debuggers. Some popular games, like the Pokémon series, have tools specifically designed for these games, like item, story, and level editors.
There are many kinds of ROM hacks—some hacks fix small bugs or typing errors in games, while other hacks translate the game into other languages, usually into languages that the game was not initially released in. For example, many early Japanese games never saw an English release for various reasons (like publishers believing certain types of games would not sell well in the West). But there are also occasions where a game gets retranslated into a language that already exists. This happens when the original translation was done poorly or when the official translation has taken many liberties, changing the original plot of the game, and there is a desire for a better translation. These kinds of ROM hacks are called Fun Translations.
RPGe’s translation of Final Fantasy V was one of the early major fan-translated works.
One of the earliest examples of a fan translation is the translation of Final Fantasy V into English. Originally, Final Fantasy V was only released in Japan. When the ROM image of the game was made available on the internet unofficially, it was translated into English so western Final Fantasy fans could play the game. Years later the game was officially released in English on the Playstation. Other notable fan translations include the translation of Mother (Earthbound) 3 into English and Bahamut Lagoon into English as well.
Another type of ROM hack is randomizers. These types of hacks randomly shuffle around items that can be found in a game, making a game already finished multiple times interesting and challenging again.
Then we have difficulty rebalancing hacks. A lot of early video games were unfairly difficult, or they had an imbalance. So people created hacks to make these games easier and better balanced. Examples of these hacks are for Double Dragon 3 on the NES, which is extremely difficult, especially the English release of the game, there is an easy mode hack for the game. Another example is Dragon Ball: Legacy of Goku, which is ridiculously unbalanced. There is a ROM hack that rebalances this game. (Though I could not use this hack correctly and would glitch the game)
But there are also ROM hacks that do the opposite, making an easy game harder or making a hard game even harder for players who desire extreme challenges in their games. (Definitely not me.)
ROM hacking can also be used for cheating purposes, for example, modifying the game so the game has infinite lives and/or energy. Making it for player impossible to loose.
Finally, the last category of ROM hacks we are going to look at is multiplayer hacks. These hacks increase the number of players who can play the game. For example, the official release of TETRIS for the NES has only one single-player mode, while the unofficial release of TETRIS for NES by Tengen comes with a two-player mode. There are several hacks that make the official version of Tetris able to be played in a two-player mode. Another example is a ROM hack that changes the NES version of Battletoads into a 4-player game.
Tetris 2 players hack
While several websites exist that provide ROM hacks, two popular sites with tons of ROM hacks are Romhacking.net and Romhackplaza. These sites do not distribute ROMs pre-hacked but rather patches that can be applied to ROM files to modify them. Romhacking.net provides downloadable tools that can be used to patch ROMs. But online patching tools also exists.
Online Rom patcher 1
Online Rom patcher 2
Online Rom patcher 3
They work simply enough: first you upload the ROM file you want to patch and then the patch you want to use. After that, you click on the button Apply Patch. Then the patch ROM will download.
ROM hacks recommendations
1. Double Dragon | 2 players (NES)
Added 2nd player functionality.
2. Doom 64: Complete Edition (N64)
This hack adds extra levels and many quality of life features to Doom 64.
3. Mario Kart Amped Up (N64)
This hack adds 16 brand new courses, as well as additional game modes, music, modern visuals, gameplay techniques, and much more!
4. International SuperStar Soccer Deluxe (SNES)
12 new teams that are added to the original roster.
5. Streets of Rage 3 (Roo, Ash, Shiva Unlocked)(Genesis/Mega drive)
The hack made the available characters reach 7 and did not change any content of the game.
6. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial fixed (atari 2600)
Fixes a lot of problems with the game.
7. Super Pitfall 30th Anniversary Edition (NES)
This hack was created in celebration to 30 years of Super Pitfall. It vastly improves the original game while keeping the base game and level layout intact. The idea was to modernize, fix and beautify the original game because the author felt like the game’s problems kept it from getting justice.
8. Super Ghouls N Ghosts - Super Arthur (SNES)
This is a hack that changes various gameplay mechanics for Arthur including:
- Power decrementation on hit (return to previous armor)
- Weapon collecting and switching between them with the L/R buttons
- Shields that will not break by blocking with them
- A slightly slower timer
9. Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest Redaction (NES)
Better translation, fixes bugs
10. Pokemon Yellow - 151 (gb)
Pokémon Yellow - 151 is intended for emulator players who simply want to play through the original Pokémon Yellow, complete their Pokédex 100%, and have access to the surfing beach-house. The problems with playing on emulators these days is that there are no promotional Pokémon events to go to, there is no connectivity to Pokémon Stadium, and trading across games, while possible, is not only tricky to do, but also feels totally un-natural. Many players have solved the problem by using cheat-codes to temporarily activate the ability to capture the “missing Pokémon”, but to many players it still feels unnatural and, well, like cheating.
Free Python Game
Walkthrough
Escape the attic (From Issue #6)
- Enter the number 1 into the prompt to start the game.
- Enter the number 3 into the prompt to examine the portrait, behind it you will find a key.
- Enter the number 4 into the prompt to open the drawers with the key and find a knife.
- Enter the number 5 into the prompt to cut open the pillow on the arm chair. Inside it you will find a key.
- Enter the number 1 into the prompt to unloack the door and escape.
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Blast from the past
Invasion of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom [DOS GAME]
Mutant Bats oh no!
This game, despite its cheesy name, is one of the cutest shoot-’em-up style games ever made for the PC. You take the role of a lone starship pilot, who happens to encounter the “Dreaded Space Bats of Doom” on a routine assignment in outer space, and are all that stands between them and the invasion of Earth.
The game consists of 66 stages, arranged in some sort of pattern (for example, every type of bats you encounter takes 3 stages to pass, each of three introducing new challenges). Once every several bats you kill you get one of four bonuses - purple gems, 6 of which grant you another life, a green gem which makes your missiles faster, a red one which gives you additional missiles per round, or a white gem which grants you a time-limited “hyper” mode.
The game is very challenging, and the cliche’ name/plot makes it a refreshing change from all the typical Space Invaders clones…
Return of the Mutant Space Bats of Doom [DOS GAME]
In this sequel, the mutant space bats of doom return yet again to invade earth. Only you stand in their way of achieving their nefarious goals. As usual collect the different colored gems that can increase your ship’s firepower, slow down the enemies, or add to the number of lives. In the bonus stage you turn into a bat and fly around collecting the maximum amount of gems to increase the chances of success in battle.
Game Talk
This is the first game talk where I share my thoughts on games. In this first game talk, I will write about mini indie games that I enjoyed playing.
Loco Motive
A very good point-and-click adventure game that reminds me of old Sierra and LucasArts adventure games, you play as a lawyer who has to solve a murder case on a train. The game has beautiful pixel art graphics and good music. The puzzles in the game are, in my opinion, very good. Not too difficult but also not too easy.
The game has some pixel art gore in it and some wicked humor that I enjoyed. I would recommend this game to anyone who has not played it.
This game is free on Itch.io, but there is also a reimagined version of the game on Steam and Switch to buy. I have not played the reimagined version yet, only the original.
Cookie’s Bakery
A Game Boy homebrew game that can also be played online. I had posted this game in the community recently during the Advent calendar free game event. It is a simple game, you own a bakery, and you have to cook cookies for your customers. The customers do not name the kind of cookie they want, they just describe it vaguely, and you have to figure out which type of cookie they want based on the cookie’s description in your baking book. Then you have to pick up the right ingredients in the kitchen following the recipe in the baking book and then bake them. If you have done everything correctly, the customer will be satisfied, otherwise, they will be a little disappointed. You can also talk to the town folk at the start of a new day. It does not do anything for the progression of the game, it is just a fun addition. And that is about it for the game. A fun little pastime for a cold winter day. Or you can play it midsummer, who am I to judge?
Six Cats Under
Another short point-and-click adventure game. Yes, I love those games.
In this game you play as an old lady who owns many cats and who has recently died. You are a ghost now and worry that your cats will die from hunger trapped inside your house. You want to free them, but your ghostly powers are not strong enough to open the door. So you can only manipulate small things to spook the cats or attract their curiosity. Like pressing the button on a fan or a remote control, for example. A cute little game I recommend for cat lovers.
Corner of Fun
jokes
I’m not lazy, I’m just in energy-saving mode for gaming.
Why did the computer go on a diet? It had too many chips!
PC gamers don’t take hot showers.
They take Steam-y ones.
Memes
Level 1
Boss Fight
I hate it
INIDIE’D
https://piefed.social/c/Bside/p/1646641/b-side-gaming-zine-10-news-rom-hacking-horror-humor
B-side gaming zine #9 last one for now (news, emulation, horror, humor)
Welcome
This is going to be the last one. The interest in these has dropped a lot, so for now I am putting this project on pause. I might try again sometime next year, but I am not sure.
In this issue we have the usual indie gaming news, an article on emulation (the winner of the poll I did last time, with 2 votes vs. the other options that got 0 votes), horror and Day of the Dead game recommendations, top 10, and humor.
Enjoy.
News
Open Source game news
Phantom Overload 0.5 (2025-09-13)
Gameplay
A single player swarm-based first-person shooter where the player is pursued by phantoms and must take them out with a pistol. The game currently features an urban and forest environment, with placements procedurally generated.
Highlights:
- Game setup menu for picking world type and game mode, plus a quickplay button to skip it
- New world type: Darkness
- 3 game modes (standard, simple, walking sim) instead of 1
- Ammo mechanics for the standard game mode
- Gun model redesign
- Phantom proximity effects now grow exponentially, hopefully giving a bit more time before becoming too strong
Other fixes and adjustments include:
- Project upgraded to Godot 4.4
- Settings are now in proper English
- Staring at your killer now happens quickly rather than instantly
- Player position included in debug info display
- Changed how the exposure (brightness) option is implemented
- Fixed nearest phantom search creating orphan nodes
Anagramarama 0.9 (2025-10-05)
Anagramarama
Anagramarama is a simple wordgame in which one tries to guess all the different permutations of a scrambled word which form another word within the time limit. Guess the original word and you move on to the next level.
AAAAXY 1.6.301 (2025-10-17)
Gameplay
Platforming game with strange geometry. Explore and get lost in a colorful world of puzzles and labyrinths.
Changes since v1.6.288:
Level: fix softlock in Moebius Tape found by SamiSchach.
Engine: update modules.
Indie game news
Outside The Blocks Launches Update Demo With Release Date Info
- Outside The Blocks launches new demo with expanded diorama-building features and cozy gameplay.
- Official release date set for November, offering players full creative control in a medieval sandbox.
- No missions or competition—design anything from simple farms to intricate castles in a relaxing environment.
- Share finished dioramas with advanced photo mode, weather options, and life-like animations for each creation.
Lunchbreak Tactics Confirmed For Early Access This Year
- Lunchbreak Tactics enters Steam Early Access in 2025 with a free demo available now.
- This roguelite auto battler card game is set inside a quirky, competitive supermarket.
- Pick your hero and two decks to create dynamic strategies and challenge fellow employees.
- Asynchronous multiplayer lets you play Lunchbreak Tactics anytime, at your own pace.
Guide Lost Souls As a Raven In The Afterlife In Voron
- Play as a raven guiding lost souls through a Norse-inspired afterlife in Voron, coming November 2025.
- Experience unique flight mechanics with evolving controls and even a dedicated croak button for immersion.
- Uncover a rich story about life, death, and Ragnarok, complete with hidden secrets to discover.
- Learn the mysterious Souls Language by interacting with NPCs and exploring the atmospheric open world.
Farthest Frontier Confirms Version 1.0 Release Date
- Farthest Frontier 1.0 launches October, ending years of Early Access development.
- Guide settlers to build a thriving town with over 190 buildings and a vast tech tree.
- Experience deep farming mechanics, realistic disease, and fully customizable difficulty.
- Enjoy randomly generated maps, advanced simulation, and full mod support via Steam Workshop.
Kaiju Cleanup Announced During Tokyo Game Show 2025
- Kaiju Cleanup announced at Tokyo Game Show 2025, coming to Steam with a targeted 2026 release date.
- Play as a specialist cleaner tasked with removing monstrous kaiju remains after epic city battles.
- Use unique tools to slice, slurp, and sanitize hazardous kaiju corpses while surviving dangerous zones.
- Upgrade your gear, customize your base, and uncover secrets as you turn monster messes into money.
Try a Demo of a New Horror Game About People Disappearing in Sleep
Horror
Nightmare
Creepy
A free demo for a surreal horror game from the director of Spec Ops: The Line is now available on Steam.
A New Turn-Based Game Mixes Warhammer and XCOM – Demo Available
Ready for battle
Spaceship gun thing
This new strategy game called Menace blends the scale of Warhammer with the tactical depth of XCOM.
Master Lemon: The Quest For Iceland Confirmed For November Launch
- Master Lemon: The Quest for Iceland launches Nov 4, 2025 on PC and all major consoles.
- Try the free Steam demo now and watch the new trailer ahead of the official release date.
- Embark on a heartwarming linguistic adventure inspired by true events and real friendships.
- Solve puzzles using over 25 languages and explore a rich pixel-art world of diverse cultures.
Strange Seed is an evolution-themed action-RPG inspired by Spore
Strange Seed is directly inspired by the creature stage from Spore. Though instead of forming you own creature like a ball of clay, you’ll utilize various real-world animal parts. Players can use any DNA they come across, swapping body parts to gain new abilities. A total of seven slots can be swapped around, with over 30 full creatures, which equals over 10 million possible combinations.
Chess Dungeon Crawler
It looks interesting
Below the Crown is an upcoming early access game by Misfits Attic, the folks behind 2016’s Duskers. It’s a combination of a roguelike dungeon crawler and chess: Your characters are chess pieces, who follow the rules of the traditional game, but the board is a dungeon, full of walls and hazards. You have to get your king to a door to the next room of the dungeon, using them and other pieces you play via cards to capture the enemy pieces or put the enemy king in check.
A Storied Life: Tabitha Launches Free Demo On Steam
A Storied Life: Tabitha
- A Storied Life: Tabitha releases a free playable demo on Steam ahead of its 2026 PC launch.
- Experience a narrative puzzle game about sorting memories and telling a loved one’s life story.
- Pack, organize, and make choices about which objects to keep, sell, or discard in a family home.
- Each item unlocks words to complete memoirs, letting you shape the direction of the narrative.
Berserk B.I.T.S Is A New Idle RPG Inspired By The Mega Man Battle Network Series
Yeah, I can see the Megaman network vibes
A new indie game inspired by the Mega Man Battle Network series is set to launch next month on Steam.
BerserkBoy Games’ Berserk B.I.T.S is being described as an “an idle-rpg, auto-battler, chip-collecting game” and is a spin-off to the 2024 title Berserk Boy.
1998: The Toll Keeper Story Announces Late October Release
- 1998: The Toll Keeper Story launches on Steam in late October, blending narrative simulation and survival.
- Play as Dewi, a pregnant toll keeper making tough moral choices in the unstable country of Janapa.
- Game inspired by the 1998 Asian financial crisis, focusing on everyday struggles during chaos and uncertainty.
- Features 90s-inspired visuals and deep decision-based gameplay with significant consequences for every action.
Hell Maiden Demo
Gameplay
Hell indeed
Traverse the depths of Hell and beat its toughest demons on your way to Heaven in this horde survival deck-building game inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
’As Long As You’re Here’ Launches on PC October 28th - A First Person Look at Alzheimer’s
As Long As You’re Here is an emotional family drama seen through the eyes of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. Annie and her family cope with reversed caretaking roles when she moves from her long-time home. As she unpacks her life, memories of her deceased brother and homes from her past bleed into the present.
Players share in Annie’s doubt, social isolation, and vulnerability through a mature first-person experience that centers an often neglected perspective. The game is a subtle reflection on what life with dementia might look like, as well as a story about regret, being in transit, and the complex relationships between siblings.
Hand-drawn art makes this retro video game look like a moving D&D rulebook
Attack!
The Secret of Weepstone is a nostalgic tribute to classic Dungeons & Dragons.
Buddy Platformer Game Windswept Arrives This November
- Windswept is a new ‘90s-inspired buddy platformer starring a duck and a turtle team, released this November.
- Swap between unique duck and turtle abilities, tackling over 40 stages filled with secrets and tough challenges.
- Play Windswept solo or with a friend in co-op, mixing and matching techniques to find creative solutions.
- A free demo is available on Steam now, letting you experience Windswept before its full launch in November.
New 2D Adventure Platformer Sir Noggin Announced
- Sir Noggin is a new 2D retro platformer inspired by classic ‘80s and ‘90s Sega games.
- Players control a knight with a giant sword, battling through seven worlds and diverse stages.
- The game features chiptune music, challenging bosses, and multiple power-ups to discover.
- Created by indie dev Sinclair Strange, Sir Noggin offers nostalgia and Sega Master System style visuals.
Homebrew News
Astro Climber for Sega Master System
Astro Climber is a vertically scrolling arcade action game for the SEGA Master System/Mark III console.
The Frontier Prime space station is failing and malfunctioning drones and hazards threaten you as oxygen runs out. Use your grapple hook to climb, refill oxygen, and escape before it’s too late.
Features
Addictive grapple-platforming
32 challenging stages
Printable manual in different languages
Controls
D-Pad: Move/Aim/Crouch
Button 1 or 2 (configurable): Jump or Shoot Grapple Hook
Galactor for NES
Galactor is a simple NES game that fits the harsh limitations of a Game Genie cartridge: limited scope and very blocky graphics.
This is a simple shoot’em up. Shoot with A (you can hold it down for continued fire) to stop all the enemies before they get you.
Featured article: Enulation
DOSBox emulates the command-line interface of DOS.
An emulator is hardware or software that allows one computer system (e.g., a PC), called the host, to behave similarly to another computer system called the guest (e.g., a gaming console). An emulator typically enables the host system to run software (e.g., a game) or use peripheral devices designed for the guest system. In other words, emulation refers to the ability of a computer program (computer hardware) to emulate (or mimic) another program or device.
Most emulators just emulate a hardware architecture—if operating system firmware or software is required for the desired software, it must be provided as well (and may itself be emulated). Both the OS and the software will then be interpreted by the emulator, rather than being run by native hardware.
Since at least the 90s, many video game enthusiasts have used emulators to play classic (and/or forgotten) video games from the 80s using the games’ original 80s machine code and data, which is emulated by a current-era system.
Nesticle early NES emulator
Besides playing old games, emulation is often used in digital preservation to combat obsolescence. Emulation focuses on recreating an original computer environment (e.g., a 386 computer running DOS), which can be time-consuming and very difficult to achieve but valuable because of its ability to maintain a closer connection to the authenticity of the digital object. Emulation addresses the original hardware and software environment of the digital object and recreates it on a current machine. The emulator allows the user to have access to any kind of application or operating system on a current platform, while the software runs in the same way as its original computer system.
A hardware emulator is an emulator that takes the form of a hardware device. Examples include the DOS-compatible hardware card installed in some 1990s-era Macintosh computers like the Centris 610 or Performa 630 that allowed them to run personal computer (PC) software programs.
Benefits of emulation
Bleem, a commercial PlayStation emulator that improved upon game graphics
- Potentially better graphics quality than the original hardware, especially for games.
- Potentially additional features original hardware didn’t have.
(e.g., save states) - Emulators can maintain the original look, feel, and behavior of the digital object, which is just as important as the digital data itself.
- Despite the original cost of developing an emulator, it may prove to be the more cost-efficient solution over time. Many emulators have already been developed and released under the GNU General Public License through the open-source environment, allowing for wide-scale collaboration.
- Emulators allow software exclusive to one system to be used on another. For example, a PlayStation 2 exclusive video game could be played on a PC using an emulator. This is especially useful when the original system is difficult to obtain or incompatible with modern equipment (e.g., old video game consoles that connect via analog outputs may be unable to connect to modern TVs, which may only have digital inputs).
Obstacles
Primal Rage, efforts to perfectly emulate the arcade original have been unsuccessful due to the use of an unusual copy protection method.
- Intellectual property—Many technology vendors implemented non-standard features during program development in order to establish their niche in the market while simultaneously applying ongoing upgrades to remain competitive. While this may have advanced the technology industry and increased vendors’s market share, it has left users lost in a preservation nightmare with little supporting documentation due to the proprietary nature of the hardware and software.
- Emulators are often used as a copyright infringement tool since they allow users to play video games without having to buy the console and rarely make any attempt to prevent the use of illegal copies. This leads to several legal uncertainties regarding emulation and leads to software being programmed to refuse to work if it can tell the host is an emulator; some video games, in particular, will continue to run but not allow the player to progress beyond some late stage in the game, frequently appearing to be faulty or just extremely difficult. These protections make it more difficult to design emulators since they must be accurate enough to avoid triggering the protections, whose effects may not be obvious.
-Emulators require better hardware than the original system has.
Old computer emulators
VICE emulating Commodore 64
Old computer emulators open the door to experiencing classic systems like the Commodore 64, Amiga, Apple II, and MS-DOS computers on modern hardware.
The most popular is maybe DOSBox, which lets you run old MS-DOS programs on modern computers. Other popular emulators are for old home computers, like VICE for Commodore 64 and WinUAE for Amiga.
Video game console emulator
ZNES an early SNES emulator
A video game console emulator is a type of emulator that allows a computing device, such as a PC or a smartphone, to emulate a video game console’s hardware and play its games on the emulating platform. More often than not, emulators carry additional features that surpass the limitations of the original hardware, such as broader controller compatibility, greater performance, clearer quality, easier access to memory modifications (like GameShark), and one-click cheat codes and unlocking of gameplay features. Emulators are also a useful tool in the development process of homebrew demos and the creation of new games for older, discontinued, or rarer consoles.
By the mid-1990s, personal computers had progressed to the point where it was technically feasible to replicate the behavior of some of the earliest consoles entirely through software, and the first unauthorized, non-commercial console emulators began to appear. These early programs were often incomplete, only partially emulating a given system, resulting in defects. Few manufacturers published technical specifications for their hardware, which left programmers to deduce the exact workings of a console through reverse engineering. Nintendo’s consoles tended to be the most commonly studied, for example, the most advanced early emulators reproduced the workings of the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Game Boy. Programs like Marat Fayzullin’s iNES, VirtualGameBoy, Pasofami (NES), Super Pasofami (SNES), and VSMC (SNES) were the most popular console emulators of this era. Curiosity was also Yuji Naka’s unreleased NES emulator for the Genesis, possibly marking the first instance of a software emulator running on a console.
The rise in popularity opened the door to foreign video games and exposed North American gamers to Nintendo’s censorship policies. This rapid growth in the development of emulators in turn fed the growth of ROM hacking and fan translation. The release of projects such as RPGe’s English-language translation of Final Fantasy V drew even more users into the emulation scene.
Emulation used officially by companies
Due to the high demand for playing old games on modern systems, consoles have begun incorporating emulation technology. The most notable of these is Nintendo’s Virtual Console. Originally released for the Wii but present on the 3DS and Wii U, Virtual Console uses software emulation to allow the purchasing and playing of games for old systems on this modern hardware. Though not all games are available, the Virtual Console had a large collection of games spanning a wide variety of consoles. The Virtual Console’s library of past games consisted of titles originating from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Wii, as well as Sega’s Master System and Genesis/Mega Drive, NEC’s TurboGrafx-16, and SNK’s Neo Geo. The service for the Wii also included games for platforms that were known only in select regions, such as the Commodore 64 (Europe and North America) and MSX (Japan), as well as Virtual Console Arcade, which allows players to download video arcade games. Virtual Console titles have been downloaded over ten million times. Each game is distributed with a dedicated emulator tweaked to run the game as well as possible.
Until the 4.0.0 firmware update, the Nintendo Switch system software contained an embedded NES emulator, referred to internally as “"flog"”, running the game Golf (with motion controller support using Joy-Con). The Easter egg was believed to be a tribute to former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, who died in 2015: the game was only accessible on July 11 (the date of his death), Golf was programmed by Iwata, and the game was activated by performing a gesture that Iwata had famously used during Nintendo’s video presentations. It was suggested that the inclusion of Golf was intended as a digital form of omamori—a traditional form of Japanese amulets intended to provide luck or protection. As part of its Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, Nintendo subsequently released an app featuring an on-demand library of NES titles updated regularly. The app features similar features to Virtual Console titles, including save states, as well as a pixel scaler mode and an effect that simulates CRT television displays.
Due to differences in hardware, the Xbox 360 is not natively backwards compatible with original Xbox games. However, Microsoft achieved backward compatibility with popular titles through an emulator. On June 15, 2015, Microsoft announced the Xbox One would be backwards compatible with the Xbox 360 through emulation. In June 2017, they announced Xbox original titles would also be available for backwards compatibility through emulation, but because the Xbox original runs on the x86 architecture, CPU emulation is unnecessary, greatly improving performance.
The PlayStation 3 uses software emulation to play original PlayStation titles, and the PlayStation Store sells games that run through an emulator within the machine. In the original Japanese and North American 60 GB models, original PS2 hardware is present to run titles; however, all PAL models and later models released in Japan and North America removed some PS2 hardware components, replacing them with software emulation working alongside the video hardware to achieve partial hardware/software emulation. In later releases, backwards compatibility with PS2 titles was completely removed along with the PS2 graphics chip, and eventually, Sony released PS2 titles with software emulation on the PlayStation Store.
Commercial developers have also used emulation as a way to repackage and reissue older games on newer consoles in retail releases. For example, Sega has created several collections of Sonic the Hedgehog games. Before the Virtual Console, Nintendo also used this tactic, such as Game Boy Advance re-releases of NES titles in the Classic NES Series.
NES classic edition
Additionally, emulation has been used in official retro gaming consoles like the NES / Snes Classic and Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) Mini consoles.
Sources: Wikipedia, Emulation wiki
Game recommendations
*10 ‘Horror/Halloween/Day of the dead’ Games *
The year is 1990. It’s been two years since the mysterious disappearance of Edward Crow and the abrupt closure of his theme park, Crow Country. But your arrival has broken the silence, Mara Forest. If you want answers, you’ll have to venture deep into the darkness of Crow Country to find them
Amnesia: The Bunker is a first-person horror game set in a WW1 bunker. A relentless, AI-driven monster stalks you. Survival depends on finding tools, crafting items, and keeping the lights on.
3. Inscryption
Inscryption is an inky black card-based odyssey that blends the deckbuilding roguelike, escape-room style puzzles, and psychological horror into a blood-laced smoothie. Darker still are the secrets inscrybed upon the cards.
4. SOMA
From the creators of Amnesia: The Dark Descent comes SOMA, a sci-fi horror game set below the waves of the Atlantic ocean. Struggle to survive a hostile world that will make you question your very existence.
5. Saturnalia
A Single-Player Survival Horror Adventure: play as a cast of characters exploring an isolated village haunted by an ancient ritual—but beware, its labyrinthine roads will change each time you lose all your characters.
6. Mundaun
Mundaun is a lovingly hand-penciled horror tale set in a dark, secluded valley of The Alps. Explore various areas full of secrets to discover, survive hostile encounters, drive vehicles, fill your inventory, and solve a variety of handcrafted puzzles.
Follow The Midnight Walk in a dark adventure from the minds behind Lost in Random. Befriend a lost lantern creature and light your way through a world of wonder and terror. Outsmart monsters and marvel at details in a landscape handcrafted with real clay and animated in a stop motion style.
8. PAGER
PAGER is a 1-bit 3D Kafkaesque experience in a 90s building.
Obey the pager to survive and climb the corporate ladder.
9. Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo
A soulful mystery awaits in Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, the enchanting and heart-warming adventure where death is just the beginning of the journey.
From the colors and the characters, to the puzzles and exploration, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo is a warm and wonderful trip through a vibrant Latin American-flavored world known as Limbo, interwoven with humor, heart and just a little bit of darkness.
10. Day of the Dead: Solitaire Collection
Dive into this chilling Solitaire adventure and experience the vibrant Dia de los Muertos as you decorate a cemetery to welcome souls from the Land of the Dead.
Free Game Python Mythix Part 1
Mythix is another text based adventure like python game where you explore a spooky forest where it is always night.
When you reach the end the game will save the progress that can imported into the second part of the game in the future. This functionality however does not work when use an online python interpreter.
import json
def title(name):
if name == "":
name = input(" Enter your name: ")
print("\n███╗ ███╗██╗ ██╗████████╗██╗ ██╗██╗██╗ ██╗\n"
"████╗ ████║╚██╗ ██╔╝╚══██╔══╝██║ ██║██║╚██╗██╔╝\n"
"██╔████╔██║ ╚████╔╝ ██║ ███████║██║ ╚███╔╝ \n"
"██║╚██╔╝██║ ╚██╔╝ ██║ ██╔══██║██║ ██╔██╗ \n"
"██║ ╚═╝ ██║ ██║ ██║ ██║ ██║██║██╔╝ ██╗\n"
"╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝╚═╝╚═╝ ╚═╝\n")
print(f" Welcome {name}")
print(" You arrive with the bus at the spooky Moonshadow woods.")
print("The forest of eternal night.")
print(" People from all over the world come here seeking adventure.")
print(" Some find love, others fortune, while others never")
print(" come out again.\n")
print(" Now it is your turn to explore it. What will you find?")
print(" Can you find out the secret of the forest?")
print(" Enter 1: To continue, Press 0 to exit")
return name
def ending1(color, reset):
print(color)
print(" The forest seems to spooky for you.")
print(" you decide to give up and return home.\n")
print(" Press Enter")
print(reset)
return False
def ending2(color, reset):
print(color)
print(" The ground shakes and an opening in the ground appears.")
print(" You enter the opening and the ground closes above you.")
print(" End of Part 1. To be continued!")
print(" Score saved. You can use the save,json file to")
print(" import the score into the second part of the game.")
print(" Press enter to exit.")
return False
def forest_one(green, reset):
print(green)
for i in range(16):
if i <= 8:
spaces = 9 - i
stars = i * 2
print(" " * spaces, end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2, end="")
print(" " * (18 - stars), end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print(" " * (18 - stars), end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2)
if i > 8:
print(" " * 6, end="")
print("####", end="")
print(" " * 13, end="")
print("####", end="")
print(" " * 14, end="")
print("####")
print(reset + " You are at the forest entrance. Exits: 'N' and 'S'.")
print(" West and East there is too thick vegetation to pass through.\n")
return True
def forest_two(green, reset):
print(green)
for i in range(16):
if i <= 8:
spaces = 9 - i
stars = i * 2
print(" " * spaces, end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2, end="")
print(" " * (18 - stars), end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2)
if i > 8:
print(" " * 6, end="")
print("####", end="")
print(" " * 13, end="")
print("####")
print(reset + " There is less density among the trees here. Exits: 'N' and 'S'.")
print(" West and East there is too thick vegetation to pass through.\n")
return True
def forest_three(green, reset):
print(green)
for i in range(16):
if i <= 8:
spaces = 9 - i
stars = i * 2
print(" " * spaces, end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2, end="")
print(" " * (18 - stars), end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print(" " * (18 - stars), end="")
print("*" * stars, end="")
print("\b" * 2)
if i > 8:
print(" " * 6, end="")
print("####", end="")
print(" " * 13, end="")
print("####", end="")
print(" " * 14, end="")
print("####")
print("/" * 60)
print(" N")
print("W + E")
print(" S")
print(reset, "You are in deep in the forest. Exits: 'N' and 'S'.")
print(" West and East there is too thick vegetation to pass through. \n")
return True
def forest_four(green, reset):
print(green)
print("/" * 60)
print("/" * 60)
print(reset + " You are at a clearing with green grass. Exits: 'N' and 'S'.")
print(" West and East there is too thick vegetation to pass through.\n")
return True
def forest_five(green, reset):
print("_________________________")
print("| |")
print("| . . . . . . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . . .|")
print("| . . . . .|")
print("| . . . .|")
print("| . . .|")
print("| . .|")
print("| .|")
print("|X | ? [ E - = ? # O ? Ö|")
print("-------------------------")
print(green)
print("/" * 60)
print(reset + "You are at a clearing with green grass. Exits: 'S'.\n In the middle there is a slab stone "
"standing with some\n symbols on it.")
print(" Vegetation blocks West, East, and North exits.")
print(" Enter 'E' to examine the slab.\n")
return True
def main():
print()
# variables
loop = True
room = 'title'
info = ""
game_score = 0
name = ""
direction = "n"
# Colors
color = ''
green = '\033[32m'
yellow = '\033[33m'
blue = '\033[34m'
red = '\033[31m'
reset = '\033[m'
inventory = []
items_by_searching = {
'f2': "",
'f4': "coin-'Ø'",
'f3': "coin-'L'",
}
colors = {
"f1": green,
"f2": green,
"f3": green,
"f4": green,
"f5": green,
"exit": blue,
"end": blue,
}
rooms = {
"f1": forest_one,
"f2": forest_two,
"f3": forest_three,
"f4": forest_four,
"f5": forest_five,
"exit": ending1,
"end": ending2,
}
move_south = {
"f1": "exit",
"f2": "f1",
"f3": "f2",
"f4": "f3",
"f5": "f4",
}
move_north = {
"f1": "f2",
"f2": "f3",
"f3": "f4",
"f4": "f5"
}
no_action_rooms = [
'exit',
'title',
'end',
]
search = {
"f2": " You saw something shiny in a nest 'Up' on a tree.",
"f3": " You found a metal object that looks like a coin.\n With 'L' symbol on it.",
"f4": " You found a metal object that looks like a coin.\n With 'Ø' symbol on it.",
}
# Main game loop
while loop:
if room == 'title':
name = title(name)
print("*" * 60)
print(f" Name: {name}", end="")
space = 45 - len(name)
print(" " * space, end="")
print(f"Score: {game_score}")
if room in rooms:
loop = rooms[room](color, reset)
if room not in no_action_rooms:
print(green)
if direction == "n":
print(" ⣿⣿⣿N⣿⣿⣿")
print(" ⣿W + E⣿")
print(" ⣿⣿⣿S⣿⣿⣿")
if direction == "s":
print(" ⣿⣿⣿S⣿⣿⣿")
print(" ⣿E + W⣿")
print(" ⣿⣿⣿N⣿⣿⣿")
print(reset)
print(" Enter the letters corresponding exits to go there.")
print(" Enter 'F' to search, Enter 'I' for Inventory")
print(yellow + info + reset)
info = ""
print("*" * 60)
command = input(" Command: ")
command = command.lower()
if command == "0":
loop = False
if command == "1" and room == "title":
room = "f1"
if command == "f":
info = " You searched the area but found nothing."
if room in search:
if items_by_searching[room] not in inventory:
info = search[room]
if room == 'f2' and "coin-'‡'" in inventory:
info = " You searched the area but found nothing."
if room in items_by_searching and room != 'f2':
inventory.append(items_by_searching[room])
game_score += 1
if command == "u" or command == "up":
if room == "f2":
if "coin-'‡'" not in inventory:
info = " You climbed up a tree found a coin.\n With an '‡ symbol on it',\n you climbed down again"
inventory.append("coin-'‡'")
game_score += 1
if command == "e" and room == "f5":
if "coin-'Ø'" in inventory and "coin-'L'" in inventory and "coin-'‡'" in inventory:
print(" A stone slab with dots and symbols. The are some kind of coin shaped slots.")
print(" Insert the coins in the right order comma separated.")
print(" For example 1,2,3")
print(" 1-coin-Ø, 2-coin-L, 3-coin-‡")
puzzle = input("Enter coin order: ")
if puzzle == "2,3,1" or puzzle == "2,3,1,":
game_score += 5
data_to_save = {
"name": name,
"game_score": game_score,
}
with open('ms1.json', 'w') as sv:
json.dump(data_to_save, sv)
room = "end"
else:
info = " The stone shakes for a moment and then the coins fall out of the slots."
else:
info = " A stone slab with dots and symbols. It seems some symbols are missing."
if command == 's':
if room in move_south:
direction = 's'
room = move_south[room]
if command == 'n':
if room in move_north:
direction = 'n'
room = move_north[room]
if command == "xyzzy":
info = " You hear a loud noise and strange symbols appear in the air\n █ ██ ██\n ██ ▓▓ ██ ██ ▓▓\n" \
"\n you have been teleported to forest entrance."
game_score += 10
room = "f1"
if command == 'i':
print("*" * 60)
print(" Inventory: ")
print(red, inventory, reset)
if room in colors:
color = colors[room]
main()
TOP 10
Top 10 indie games of all time based on votes Bside gaming community.
Note: Downvotes are ignored and only games that are directly linked to the community, links to game reviews or news on another site are not counted.
1. Noita
Noita is a magical action rogue-lite set in a world where every pixel is physically simulated.
Tiny Glade is a small diorama builder where you doodle whimsical castles, cozy cottages & romantic ruins. Explore gridless building chemistry as the game adorns your glades with procedural detail. No management, combat or goals: just kick back and turn forgotten meadows into lovable dioramas.
3. Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG inspired by the classics. It tells the story of two Children of the Solstice who will combine the powers of the sun and moon to perform Eclipse Magic, the only force capable of fending off the monstrous creations of the evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer.
4. ANIMAL WELL
Explore a dense, interconnected labyrinth, and unravel its many secrets. Collect items to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways. Encounter beautiful and unsettling creatures, as you attempt to survive what lurks in the dark. There is more than what you see.
A game made entirely in HTML and CSS about building a website you can actually customize in-game
Brace yourself for a wild ride where music meets mayhem! Look Mum No Computertakes you to the quirky, pixel-art universe of Soldersworth in this twin-stick shooter action-RPG. Join Sam and his synthesizer sidekick, Kosmo, as you battle rogue machines and fix them from the inside — one electrifying beat at a time!
Fight, Farm, Build and Explore Together in the standalone multiplayer expansion to the uncompromising wilderness survival game, Don’t Starve.
9. The Messenger(https://store.steampowered.com/app/764790/The_Messenger/)
As a demon army besieges his village, a young ninja ventures through a cursed world, to deliver a scroll paramount to his clan’s survival. What begins as a classic action platformer soon unravels into an expansive time-traveling adventure full of thrills, surprises, and humor.
10. Tuxemon
completely open source monster fighting RPG. Capture and battle monsters against others!
Corner of Fun
Jokes
- How does a computer get drunk? It takes screenshots!
- Playing a horror game with headphones on is a great way to ensure your neighbors think you’re being murdered.
- Why don’t spiders play video games? Because they prefer web design!
- What’s a game developer’s favorite fruit pie? The Raspberry Pi!
INIDIE’D
(Linux news in previous posts of thread)
FOSS NEWS
Mozilla rolls out improved Firefox profile management to keep browsing activities separate:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/mozilla-rolls-out-improved-firefox-profile-management-to-keep-browsing-activities-separate/
Shotcut 25.10 Video Editor Rolling Out More AI-Powered Functionality:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Shotcut-25.10-Beta
Blender 5.0 Beta Builds Available Ahead Of Next Month's Official Release:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Blender-5.0-Beta
Organic Maps adds Android Auto speed limits, GeoJSON import, recording track stats, & more:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/organic-maps-adds-android-auto-speed-limits-geojson-import-recording-track-stats-and-more/
FreeTube video playback has been broken in the past 2 weeks
[no article about it]
(Seems like they are struggling to find a new workaround for YouTube blockages. Would be sad to lose one of the most feature-rich YouTube clients, but at least it can still be used as a "sub manager" or search engine, links can be copied to yt-dlp, inv.nadeko.net, an external video player, etc. (although inv.nadeko.net also breaks sometimes, or is extremely slow))
Notesnook 3.3 has been released with search filters, editor stats, and new pricing plans:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/notesnook-3-3-has-been-released-with-search-filters-editor-stats-and-new-pricing-plans/
Ente Photos now lets users embed public albums on external websites, with auto updates:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/ente-photos-now-lets-users-embed-public-albums-on-external-websites-with-auto-updates/
GIMP 3.0.6 Update is a Bug-Fix Backport Bonanza:
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/10/gimp-3-0-6-update-fixes-bugs
Luanti (formerly Minetest) v5.14 brings an improved minimap, particle improvements and UI tweaks:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/10/luanti-formerly-minetest-v5-14-brings-an-improved-minimap-particle-improvements-and-ui-tweaks/
At 40 Years, Free Software Foundation Now Wants to 'Free Your Phone':
https://news.itsfoss.com/fsf-librephone-initiative/
Ladybird passes the Apple 90% thresholf on web-platform-tests, marking a major milestone:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/ladybird-passes-the-apple-90-thresholf-on-web-platform-tests-marking-a-major-milestone/
(more FOSS news in comment)
#WeeklyNews #OpenSource #FOSSNews #OpenSourceNews #FOSS #Firefox #Shotcut #FreeSoftwareFoundation #FSF #LibrePhone #OrganicMaps #Blender #FreeTube #YouTubeFrontend #YouTubeSucks #Notesnook #Ente #EntePhotos #GIMP #Luanti #Minetest #Ladybird #WebBrowser #FOSSGaming #FOSSGame #FOSSGames #Multimedia #Productivity #ContentCreation #VideoEditor #VideoEditing #Maps #ImageManipulation #NoteTaking #Gaming #Animation #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FosseryTech
(Linux news in previous posts of thread)
FOSS NEWS
LBRY project is alive, now managed by LBRY Foundation, working on a new LBRY CLI:
https://gothub.lunar.icu/LBRYFoundation/lbry-cli
F-Droid warns Google’s sideloading rules will kill the project & several open-source apps:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/9/f-droid-warns-google-s-sideloading-rules-will-kill-the-project-and-several-open-source-apps/
Brave launches Ask Brave AI chat search with privacy and multimedia answers:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/9/brave-launches-ask-brave-ai-chat-search-with-privacy-and-multimedia-answers/
Brave Wallet integrates Cardano for ADA and native assets:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/brave-wallet-integrates-cardano-for-ada-and-native-assets/
Signal announces advancements in post-quantum security for the encrypted Signal protocol:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/signal-announces-advancements-in-post-quantum-security-for-the-encrypted-signal-protocol/
Free Software Foundation Names New President:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/FSF-New-President-2025
Media player Haruna 1.4 improves playlist management, mouse settings and playback controls:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/media-player-haruna-1-4-improves-playlist-management-mouse-settings-and-playback-controls/
(Really nice improvements, I have quite a lot of YouTube videos downloaded to watch later, more videos than time lol, so it's pretty neat that I can reorder videos now in the playlist.)
(Yes, I use Haruna despite having a VLC logo on my pfp lol)
Joplin 3.4 brings mobile rich text editor, enhanced publishing, and smaller desktop app:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/9/joplin-3-4-brings-mobile-rich-text-editor-enhanced-publishing-and-smaller-desktop-app/
Calibre 8.12 introduces Tolino firmware support and Ollama AI updates:
https://alternativeto.net/news/2025/10/calibre-8-12-introduces-tolino-firmware-support-and-ollama-ai-updates/
Blender 5.0 Vulkan Render Tests Passing On AMD & NVIDIA But Failing For Intel:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Blender-5.0-Vulkan-Intel-Fail
OpenMW 0.50.0 for Morrowind has a first Release Candidate with gamepad support and a gamepad UI:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/09/openmw-0-50-0-for-morrowind-has-a-first-release-candidate-with-gamepad-support-and-a-gamepad-ui/
Open source strategy shooter Unvanquished gets a big new release with SDL3:
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/09/open-source-strategy-shooter-unvanquished-gets-a-big-new-release-with-sdl3/
(more FOSS news in comment)
#WeeklyNews #OpenSource #FOSSNews #OpenSourceNews #FOSS #LBRY #FDroid #Android #Brave #AskBrave #BraveWallet #Signal #FreeSoftwareFoundation #FSF #Haruna #Joplin #Calibre #Blender #OpenMW #Unvanquished #FOSSGaming #FOSSGame #FOSSGames #Multimedia #Productivity #ContentCreation #Chat #VideoSharing #NoteTaking #Ebook #EbookReader #Gaming #VideoPlayer #Animation #Crypto #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #FosseryTech
I am really enjoying the game Extra Ordinance on Luanti, https://content.luanti.org/packages/Sumianvoice/extra_ordinance/
You are essentially a mech warrior with powerful guns trying to survive against swarms of digging bugs.
I can see why it won they 2024 game jam. I played multiplayer on LAN with my 7 year old son and we both had fun.
#luanti
#extraOrdinance
#fossGames
#freeSoftware
B-side gaming zine #7 (news, history of BASIC, free mini BASIC game, humor)
So, I went on a little hunt on F-Droid for local LAN or one-device multiplayer games, lo and behold, my list:
- Luanti (formerly Minetest) (github, website)
- Werewolf PFA (sadly unmaintained currently) (github, website)
- Dame PFA (github, website)
- Battleships PFA (github, website)
- Ludo PFA (github, website)
- Naijaludo (github, website)
- Halma (github, website)
- Apple Flinger (gitlab, website)
- Cascada (github)
- SuperRetroMegaWars (github)
- AlexGames (github, website)
- there is probably more…
#foss #multiplayer #multiplayer-games #lan-multiplayer #local-multiplayer #foss-games #foss-videogames
Bueno, hoy probamos The Mana World en Undernet, no se lo pierdan https://www.themanaworld.org/ #games #juegos #rpg #mmorpg #gaming #gamers #undernet #opensource #freesoftware #fossgames
B-side gaming zine #6 (news, game recommendations, free mini python game, humor)
B-side gaming zine #6 (news, game recommendations, free mini... #news #games #gaming-news #humor #walktrough #top10 #recommendations #indie #indie-games #foss #fossgaming #fossgames #open-source #opensource #foss-news #indie-news #python #free #game #free-game #freegame #code #programming #casual #rpg #demo #top-10 #weird #unusual #gameplay #sc #screenshots #mames #jokes #comic #homebrew #gameboy #game-boy #zx-spectrum #indie-gaming #Bside
Playing Football in #SuperTuxKart - a little bit of footage
https://diode.zone/w/oE6XoKrXCpjUvQWy5feCSb
This mode might be the hardest thing to do in the whole game, but it surely could be the most fun out of it!
¡Ah! las partidas de #Luanti en familia los domingos por la tarde antes de que llegue el mierdi-lunes son lo mejorcito.
¡Mirad que atardecer más naranja! ¡Y mirad qué preciosidad el monte en llamas!
B-Side gaming
B-Side gaming #foss #fossgames #games #gaming #opensource #opensourcegames #indie #indiegames #homebrew #demoB-side gaming
B-side gaming ##games ##gaming #foss #fossgames #indiegames #indie #homebrew #demakes
Reposting this awsome lemmy thread by @MITM0 with hashtags for the benefit of people following me on Mastodon:
Here we’ll simply share the names of some cool Libre/OpenSource Android games that are available (Or should be made available) on Fdroid
#gaming #LinuxGaming #FLOSS #FOSS #FossGames #FDroid #Linux #Android
Taisei Project, a FOSS Touhou Project fangame, has released v1.4.2!
there are many bugfixes included within, including some performance upgrades for macOS that I helped facilitate. (I also rewrote the all the dialogue and cutscenes from scratch for v1.4!)
Linux, Mac, and Windows are all supported, as well as an experimental WebGL version you can play in most major browsers
check it out: https://github.com/taisei-project/taisei/releases/tag/v1.4.2
#touhou #touhouproject #taiseiproject #fossgames #indiedev #東方project
I just started playing and enjoying Feudal Tactics, https://github.com/Sesu8642/FeudalTactics. It is very minimal turn based strategy game, where you try to conquer an island with competing kingdoms. It is tricky because you want to build up more warriors to take more land but you have to pay them, so there is a balance. You can build castles too 🏰. I could see it being a fun party game. Cheers to the developer for making it!
#openSourceGames
#foss
#fossGames
#turnbasedStrategy
#hexmap
@yujiri @wyatt8740 In my opinion, #esports are a waste because most of them rely on proprietary video games. This means a game's publisher has power to shut down a tournament by asserting its exclusive right under #copyright to perform the game publicly. Nintendo has done this, as have other companies. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/why-nintendo-can-legally-shut-down-any-smash-bros-tournament-it-wants/
To make esports not a waste, get players more interested in #FOSSGames.
@abcxyz I was thinking just a couple of days ago about developing a 2D boardgame in flutter as well in the upcoming months!
So if there is something #opensource to take inspiration from it would be really useful.
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst