Japan’s indie game development scene has always been quite lively in its home market, but has gone mostly unknown overseas. With more opportunities opening up for small developers on console, mobile, and computers, we’re finally starting to see many of these unsung devs putting out their games in Western markets. One of my personal favorites among these rising stars is Q-Cumber Factory. They’ve released a total of four games on iOS, and have ported some of them to various other platforms. For a limited time, their entire library is on sale, with one of them even going free temporarily.
The free game is Ninja Striker! ($0.99), an arcade-like action game with a unique control set-up. In some ways, it feels like a prototype for one of Q-Cumber’s other games, but it’s certainly worth playing on its own. The remaining three games are on sale for $0.99 each. Rogue Ninja ($2.99), which usually sells for $2.99, is a Japanese-style roguelike that I covered in an RPG Reload article. If you like games like Shiren the Wanderer or Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, you’ll probably get a kick out of Rogue Ninja. Its successor, Alchemic Dungeons ($2.99), adds a crafting twist to the genre. It also normally sells for $2.99, and you can read my review of the game if you’d like more details.
Arguably, however, Q-Cumber’s finest game is Ninja Smasher! ($3.99), which normally sells for $3.99. It’s the follow-up to Ninja Striker!, but instead of just being a straight-forward action game, it’s more of an exploratory platformer in the vein of Monster World or Metroid. I liked this game a lot when I reviewed it, and my appreciation of it has only grown. For $0.99, it’s a real steal. If you only grab one of Q-Cumber’s games, this is the one to get.
All of these games will likely be on sale through the holidays, but that’s just my guess. If you want them, you should grab them sooner rather than later, just in case I’m wrong. It happens. If nothing else, it costs you nothing to grab the freebie Ninja Striker!, but throwing down a few bucks for the other three is a pretty good idea, too.
