Indie Intermission Day 31 – ‘Flowstorm’

Yesterday I was tasked with writing up some news on Flowstorm, today I tasked myself with actually playing the web alpha and after playing the levels a fair bit I can concur that i did die, and die and die….. Flowstorm is an ultrahard, highly unforgiving, nightmarish game, sadly, it is a whole load of fun as well. I don’t know what it is about this sadistic approach to gaming lately but I find myself getting too engrossed in it, I am sure it is not good for my blood pressure.

Flowstorm is a very smooth playing and fantastic looking 2.5D flight arcade game, with the goal being to beat each checkpoint in an ever faster time than the rivals and with less fuel expended also. Sounds easy right? Well… no, as your rocket breaks with the slightest tap against things and you are forced to restart the level.

The controls are very basic, yet the game itself is brutally unforgiving and does indeed remind me of games such as Super Meat Boy. I have never really been good at arcade style games, I rarely achieve a notable score, however I do find a lot of them a very fun distractions for the world and Flowstorm is no exception. It is the type of game you can pick up and play for 10 minutes in between things, however if you are a hardcore sadist and love a challenge you can spend hours of fun in this title.

Flowstorm to me is the Hannibal Lector of video games: smart, clever, well dressed and containing much depth however it is also insane! It is the latter that really gets you as the animation is very nice and the levels have been lovingly crafted but the gameplay is actually insane and what some people have managed to do on this game is a whole other matter entirely (just look at the scoreboards in wonder).

Average play time – 2 minutes

FlowStorm is currently in web alpha stage and the developers have added the increased incentive that the top 10 players in all scoreboards will get into the stand alone alpha. So if you are a big arcade player and love games that just relentlessly beat you down, get in on the action on the official site here. The standalone alpha will be released next week on the 12th of October.

If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at [email protected] with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!