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Every action has a reaction and consequence. The latest game from Owlchemy (clever) Labs seems to have taken this saying literally when they developed Dyscourse, and I am excited! Most games are like mathematical equations; they may have a few ways of completing the problem, but ultimately there is only one conclusion. Dycourse, on the other hand, is different. While one player could be the reason for why he and the other survivors have all died, another player could end up surviving long enough to be rescued. Everything depends on you, your memory, your survival skills, your choices, and more. If ten different people play this game, there’s a good chance they won’t all get the same ending. That is the beauty of this idea, and it’s not just your ordinary choice game either, it goes much further than that.

Upon landing—well, crashing—in your plane with the other passengers, you are on a large island with no map and surrounded by many dangers! Just like in real life, your only map is your memory. You can leave “memory markers” that make it possible for you to retrace your footsteps back to a particular place. You also have to be able to recall past events, form relationships with the other survivors, hunt for food (fight or flight has been built in, too)—just so many goodies to name! You are going to need to take advantage of all of these and more if you’re going to make it off the island alive.

However, Owlchemy Labs needs help with the finishing touches and they have turned to Kickstarter to do it. They are half-way to their goal amount, and as of today, there are 11 days left to donate. The first gameplay video has been released and it has already gotten the OK to be released on Steam with every donator getting a Steam key once its live. The beta is expected to come out in May 2014. If you want to get the full details on this new kind of virtual survival game, then check it out here because I am pretty much sold.

More awesome games using Kickstarter! Lords of Xulima is a game being developed by Numantian Games, and they have so far raised double their asking amount. Lords of Xulima looks to be a 2D single-player, turn-based RPG with a classic look to it. Going old school is turning out to be the new theme these days, and it seems like a lot of developers want to go back to what got them into gaming in the first place. Lords of Xulima has everything that I remember loving as a young gamer (even though I’m not that old) when playing my old RPGs. It has a detailed and thought out back story, and I also like the fact that it requires a form of actual strategy and intelligence instead of testing how well you can follow a pre-determined set of events after barely completing a mission where you are given step-by-step directions. Finally, it also claims to have a challenging environment. All of your actions have consequences, whether they are positive or negative ones are completely up to you and what decisions you make.

The official trailer was released back in March on YouTube but recently they also released the first gameplay video as well. This video shows the beginning of the game in tutorial mode. It also shows you how to navigate through the game and how the turn-based battles look as you go through the first village on Xulima. It all looks very promising, and the finished project is expected to be released early 2014. The game has already gotten the Steam Greenlight and will be released on Steam as well. So if you want to help fund this game or just find out more about it, their Kickstarter page can be found here. As of today, there are only nine days left to donate.

Contrast’s launch trailer rocks my world! The latest game developed by Compulsion Games was released on Steam yesterday under their Indie games section, and it’s a whirlwind mess of oh-my-goodness! With a very appropriate name, Contrast is filled with just that—contrasts. You play as Dawn, the imaginary friend of a little girl name Didi who has a less than ideal home life. With an absentee father and a mother who spends her nights performing at the local night club to make money, Contrast has the kind of plot one typically expects from a page-turning novel. Add to the fact that daddy’s back in town and trying to do right by the family he abandoned adds even more complexity to the story.

With a 1920s film noir setting, you (Dawn) go through the game with the power to shift between both 2D and 3D worlds. Get it? Contrasts! The gameplay consists of you using the different sources of light in the 3D world to cast shadows in the 2D world to solve puzzles (Editor’s Note: Sounds similar to Ghost Trick). You basically become your shadow and race through the game while jumping in and out of worlds. More contrasts! That’s all I have for now folks; everything else about this game is a bit of a mystery since I haven’t played it yet. But I’m excited to solve the many puzzles that fill this amazing world. Look out for a review in the near future since I will be downloading this game within moments.

Now if this is not the point of KickStarter then I don’t know what is. TinkerHouse Games is in need of a few good gamers to help them fund their unique creative venture. Dwarven Delve is an action-play, dungeon crawl, and rotating puzzle game RPG all rolled into one that they have claimed to be Diablo meets Pipe Mania. A heavy comparison considering Diablo’s successful game history and the fact that I think they may have a slightly unhealthy cult following.

Anyway, the name basically explains it all. In this genre crossover you’re navigating a party of six dwarves and you are literally delving into an underground cavern of tunnels (see what I mean). Throughout the levels you are battling goblin looking creatures, collecting resources, ancestral relics, and changing the very structure of the cavern itself, all for the purpose of learning about your past and attempting to break a curse that has been cast over your fading race. Each level is filled with tunnels within rotating hexagon shaped pieces that you have to connect in order to get safely through to the exit. Sound simple enough?

After playing the demo, I do have to say that I am rather impressed with what they’ve done so far. The graphics are well done and shows that they took their time with detail, which I enjoy. The sound is clear, game play fully functional, and it ran well over my browser with no lagging that I could notice. Then, as if anticipating their success in this game’s completion, there is also a vote on Steam Greenlight to get it on Steam. Please do keep in mind (because so many do not), that this is an alpha demo and not all features that will be in the game are available for the test play. So, if you do like the game after playing the demo and want to help along the gaming development process, then head over to KickStarter and help these developers with a $10 donation.