C. Kane

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Super Walrus Games

C. Kane, for me, was one of those games that you turn on, not expecting much, and by the end you’ve decided that if the game had a ring finger, you’d be headed to the local jeweler to find a wedding ring to put on it. For those that haven’t played it, C. Kane is a simplistic RPG that is crammed with weirdness and humor that is loosely inspired by Citizen Kane. Very loosely. The game takes maybe 2-3 hours to beat, depending on if you participate in any side activities…like the bonus dungeon right before the end of the game or if you grind fights for money and/or experience. The grinding itself is unique in this game, too – there are no random battles. Instead, there’s a shark that you can fight repeatedly, with 7 variations of the battle. Beat each variation and you get a prize. The monochromatic color scheme gives the game some character, as does the bizarre-but-catchy soundtrack. The village song is a personal favorite. Anyway, I played this on the Ouya, but if all of this sounds interesting to you, check it out on Steam. It’s free to play on that platform, and just as wonderful.

Review added: 07/04/2021

Caos Trigger: Golem

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: DustyCat Media

Caos Trigger: Golem, by all accounts, should have been one of my absolute favorite games on the Ouya. Seemingly inspired by the fantastic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Caos Trigger initially appears to be a solid tribute to that game. The game looks beautiful and the levels seem to be designed well, it even looks like it’s got some of its own ideas so it’s not just a Symphony of the Night clone. Then the gameplay begins, and poor controls bog the entire game down. The character you control doesn’t move very smoothly and there’s a bit of a delay from when you press the attack button to when she actually attacks. When facing weaker enemies, that’s annoying, but not a major issue. Once you begin to face tougher enemies, it becomes a big problem. I wanted to like Caos Trigger, I really did. Unfortunately, sub-par controls bog down a game that otherwise seemed to be well made. If you stick with it and get used to the delays and such, this is a passible game…but I get the sense that after a few minutes with these controls, most folks will give up before figuring that out.

Review added: 07/04/2021

Concussion Boxing

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Pompi Pompi Entertainment

Concussion Boxing is either the worst-named game or the best-named game on the Ouya, depending on what it’s named after. If it’s called Concussion Boxing because in a boxing contest, competitors typically punch each other in the head repeatedly, then this is a very poorly named game. For whatever reason, the boxers kick each other in this game, too…and I don’t mean kickboxing-style kicks. When I say kick, I’m talking about the sole of one boxer’s foot hitting the thigh of the other boxer. And, of course, kicking has better reach, so nine times out of ten, if a blow lands it’s not a punch, but a lame kick. Making matters worse, with even better reach, is the low, sweeping kicks. Kicks of any type are illegal in a standard boxing match, by the way…I guess the developer didn’t know that. Good luck getting the controls to register the input, too. The hit detection is awful, and the commands all feel very delayed when pressing buttons. Even if the rules and gameplay followed traditional boxing logic, it’s still an absolute mess to play. All of that said, if this game got its name because the developers all had severe concussions when making this pile of trash, then the name fits really well. Only people with severe head trauma would release a game like this and think that they did a good job.

Review added: 07/04/2021

Cube and Creature

Also known as:  N/A

Developer: Evgiz

Cube and Creature is basically just a slower-paced, less weird, and less difficult Super Meat Boy. The concept of the game is mostly the same – traverse through each level as quickly as possible while avoiding spikes and other obstacles/enemies, while also bouncing off of and sliding down walls. The big difference here is that unlike in Super Meat Boy, in Cube and Creature, you actually have little hearts at the top of the screen. So, if you fell into some spikes, you’ll lose a heart. You have to lose all three hearts to start the level over again. While it does largely feel like a Super Meat Boy clone, this game is designed well enough, and the story that plays out is interesting enough, where the end result is still a very solid game. It’s a shame that this seems to have been only released on the Ouya because it’s quite good and I wish more people could have had the opportunity to play it.

Review added: 07/04/2021