Please only post comments about today's game giveaway; other comments either not appropriate, or not about today's game will be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. All comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed not appropriate, will be deleted with no explanation. Please see the end of this review for further details about posting comments and links to the teams contact, moderation policy and the FAQ's thread, thank you

Grottyscape

In Brief

A retro styled side scrolling platformer made with game maker by BUG0Studio, who have already previously given us a few other games

Suggestions:

If you get one of the 20000 keys please leave some feedback about your opinion of the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about it, or how it could be improved from your point of view . If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What, improvements, if any, would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality?

If you don't win a key, don't mind playing games via Steam or miss the offer totally you can get the game 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £0.79/$0.99 though you can get a free android (akp) version HERE

Introduction:

Run, jump, shoot, collect various bonuses to become more severe and kill more enemies. In GrottyScape you have to fend off the monsters that will climb from all the cracks, as well as collecting "Coins of Life." If you do not have time to collect "Coin" in the allotted period of time, the game will be over and you will see how to score points.

Edited reference accessed HERE 22nd February 2017

Installation:

Once you've found your key (should be sent to the email you used to enter the giveaway - it must be the email you first used to sign into the game giveaway site. If you’ve used a throwaway email there may be problems getting a key, because the key may be sent to that email. If you have any problems use the contact form HERE. You have to activate the game via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at any time, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc.). If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help - see image below). From the drop down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish.

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting Grottyscape to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

Indie developer Bug Studio is back with a followup to their space fairing roguelike CosmoLands called GrottyScape that keeps the oldschool graphics and sci-fi premise of its predecessor but takes its gameplay into a different direction entirely. That’s because although you are still exploring an alien world circumstances are a little bit different this time around considering players control a brave cave diving adventurer fighting for his life against a never ending horde of pixelated monsters while frantically searching for errant oxygen canisters in order to extend their play time. GrottyScape is a strictly old school affair but what it does it does well as its simple but challenging arcade formula offers a healthy amount of re-playability.

While GrottyScape’s gameplay falls squarely in the arcade shooter category players won’t be mowing down hundreds of baddies at once as ammo is scarce under any planets surface so they’ll have to quickly adapt to making quick fight or flight decisions with the pixelated hordes in a bid to pew-pew another day. Like Super Crate Box with a dash of Mega Man, GrottyScape features several arenas where players will duke it out with the monsters that range in difficulty and present their own specific environmental challenges.

Edited reference accessed HERE 22nd February 2017

There are no volume controls or video adjusting controls and you can only play the game in full screen mode. You can choose from Easy, medium, hard or random difficuly modes or a training mode, that is one level long and can be completed in less than a minute. Movement controls included AD or left and right arrow keys for moving left or right, W and the up arrow for jumping and space bar for shooting. To pause the game you double click on the large pause button located on the top right hand corner of the game and to take you gack to the main menu click on the pause button and hold. I couldn't find any keyboard command that closed the game down so had to Cntl-Alt-Del then close via the task manager, or Alt Tab then right click on the games icon in the task bar and close it that way.

Game play was very easy, but surviving for long wasn't I died about 20 times and could not get to a new level and that was playing on all three levels of hardness. The only difference between the easy and hard levels are the number of monsters you have to kill. Power ups include health and ammo power ups as well as three others that I didn't figure out. There doesn't seem to be much of an aim to the game apart from kill all the alien monsters, score as many points as possible and survive each level.

I would suggests adding an aiming mode so that you can shoot at the alien monsters when they are on the next level up or down; as it is, you can only shoot parallel to the ground, which is very limiting. Also, in tight spots, the aliens often pushed me over into the lava pits from which there is no escape. It should be made possible to be able to escape from these pits, I'd also include a double tap jump to enable your character to jump higher. and also to be able to kill aliens by jumping on them, especially as ammo is very limited in this game. Finally i would include a way of saving power ups that you've picked up, for example, if your ammo bar is full, the ammo power up that is picked up does not add anything extra, so is basically wasted. Okay you can try and jump over the ammo, until you require a refill, but it's not always possible to remember to do this..

Other Reviews, Videos and a Slideshow of images:

You can see a few Steam community reviews (most of which are negative) of GrottyScape HERE, and if you can see some game play videos HERE, HERE (Russian), HERE (Russian), HERE (Portugese), and HERE (Steam).

Conclusion:

If you liked the retro styled Grottyscape, the game play and visuals are very similar to another side scrolling platformer that was released shortly after GrottyScape called Catacomb Explorers. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy playing this game. Even on easy I wasn't able to progress very farm and ended up with a head ache. Two positives I did like were the price, which is only £0.79/$0.99 and I did like that when you died, you didn't have to start at the beginning, you re-spawned at the place you died, other than that I cannot really find anything else to recommend this game at this time. That said, apart from platformers like Gish, Super Meat Boy and Wik and the Fable of Souls, which I loved; most other platformers do not endear themselves to me so I wont give this a score because I'm a little biased and would unfairly score it lower than it's probably worth. I recommend you try the game out for yourself and post your opinion of the game here. Hopefully, the developer will consider the suggestions made.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the developer BUG-Studio for giving away yet another of their stable of games in this case 20 000 keys for this side scrolling 2D platformer and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case a Steam key.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

The problems section that used to be posted here in the Game review is now included in the Game Discussion FAQ's thread; which you can find HERE.

I've updated the games section that used to be posted with the review. The thread is now called 'Weekly round up of game deals', formerly the games section of the weekly reviews. You can find the new thread (which I've posted in the sticky section of the game discussion forums to make it easier to find if you are perusing the game discussion forums) HERE.

If today's game giveaway 'GrottyScape' didn't appeal, you may find other games either free or for less than the price of a cup of coffee via the 'Weekly Roundup of Game Deals' thread which I've posted a link to above, or HERE.

The free game over on Origin is still the excellent atmospheric Sci Fi RPG third person Shooter Mass Effect 2, but it will probably be ending soon. If you've still not got a copy, get it now, it's well worth. It usually costs £19.99/$19.99 (though I paid the pre-order price of over £30 prior to it's release back in January 2010) . You can get it HERE. Please note that you do require the Origin game platform to be able to download and install the game.

You will also find lots of deals over on Green Man Gaming and Big Fish Games usually have 70% off the first game you buy from them, plus they also have other deals occasionally. Desura was purchased from Bad Ju Ju games last year by One Play. If you already have a Desura account you can read details of what is happening HERE. As yet you can't access games you previously purchased via Desura (I have around 1400), but One Play are working to recover everyone's accounts and hope to do so by the end of March 2017. Indie Royale will also resume on a weekly basis, though at this time I don't know if previous Inde Royale Greenlight bundles will be honoured? Alawar, Gamehouse and Playrix entertainment have free games available (usually online versions) and other game houses such as the AAA distributors Ubisoft and Origin always have some games on sale. I've updated the Weekly roundup of game deals HERE to include a large list of other sites where you can find games on sale ( eg Origin, uPlay, GreenManGaming etc, as well as links to free online games as well as other game houses such as Alawar, Playrix and Gamehouse plus gaming news sites such as Rock Paper Shotgun and Game Seek, and included a list of free to play Massive Multiplayer games such as World of Tanks, world of warships, Liberators and Allegiance to name a few. For more details please go to the Weekly roundup of game deals over in the game discussion sticky section HERE.

There are 979 games on sale over on Steam at the moment, with up to 91% off. Game prices range from as little as £0.15p (most of these cheap games are actually cheaper in the UK than the US, so if you are a US citizen and have a UK friend, get them to buy the game for you). There are over 250 games and dlc less than $1 and almost 300 for less than £1. You can find all of the deals HERE.

If you spend more than $3 in the Indie Gala store you'll also get a free copy of the old school anime rpg '200% Mixed Juice' worth $6.99/£4.99There's 60% off the enhanced version of Dying Light The Following, plus there are loads more deals with excellent discounts that you'll find HERE.

The Humble Bundle site has two excellent bundles plus their monthly package that is excellent value for money. The game bundle is the Humble Civilization bundle that includes Civilization III, iV, V and 20% off Civilization VI, or 25% off the deluxe version. They even have a software bundle at the moment with apps such as System Mechanic, Air Parrot, EaseUS Partition Master, all three worth over $100 for a dollar, or for just over $6/less than £5 you can get Daemon tools Pro 8 lifetime, Blackblase Online backup, 3D Mark Advanced Edition, worth £110 or for $12 /under £10 PC Mark 8 advanced, VR Mark Advanced and Dashlane Premium (1 year) worth around £110, plus you get 10% off the humble monthly bundle for $12 worth over $100. If you subscribe now (ends in just over a week) you'll get as a bonus Total War: Warhammer. The Humble store features load sof discounted games (usually steam codes). If you subscribe to the Humble Monthly, which costs $12 a month (or less if you choose various monthly plans) you not only get a large collection of decent Steam games you will also get for the first month of the subscription Total War: Warhammer, which was released last Spring and costs $59.99/£39.99. The great thing is, you can cancel at any time, so only need to receive the first bundle of games. I personally haven't bothered, but only becasue I usually have already purchased most of the games included in the monthly bundle. The usual savings on the games you get are around 90%, not counting the introductory offer. There's also lots of games on sale over on the Bundle Stars and Indie Game Stand (IGS).

For those who missed out on the Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription giveaway from last month or Zombie Shooter from last October or Alien Shooter 2 - Conscription from last June or Zombie Shooter 2 from last May you can get six games from the series including Alien Hallway, Zombie Shooter 2, Alien Shooter 2: Reloaded, Alien Shooter: Revisited, Alien Shooter and Zombie Shooter for $1.49. HERE. Pay an extra $0.50 and get a second bundle to give to your friends. All keys are Steam based. This offer ends mid March. I may also have a surprise for you soon. ;) stores. Or you can join the competition to win a copy of Alien Shooter TD HERE.

Giveaway Team Contact and Moderation policy:

Continued from the first paragraph above........... I am posting this in light of the massive increase in negative comments not related to the game being given away, inappropriate comments and spam (Almost 700 spam comments were posted over a 24 hour period last month ) that have occurred over the past several months since the site was updated and in particular since the site started using Facebook, Twitter and Steam. This is a site that gives free games away, so it's quite shocking to see the number of negative and sometimes inappropriate comments being posted here, especially when they are not even related to the actual game that we receive. I always though getting something for free was a privilege/perk/treat/ and deserves at least some thanks or gratitude and cannot understand why we get so many negative comments that possibly turn away potential developers who would otherwise have given the project their games. Of course we have freedom of speech, but as mentioned in my review above, there are rules to posting in this comments section; even a free society requires rules and regulations to run properly

I believe if we get lots of decent feedback about the games we get here, more developers would be happy to give away their games. Seeing lots of complaints (and spam) instead of feedback about the giveaways will not persuade other developers to give their creations away for free, especially when they may have spent thousands of hours working on the creation. So please bear this in mind when posting your comments. Any comment not about the game for example complaints, or if deemed unfriendly or inappropriate, will be deleted (usually with no explanation) or added to the spam folder, which automatically black lists the IP address you used. Although I have enjoyed responding to many of those comments in the past, I will no longer waste my time answering comments from community members who should have read the moderation policy.

Negative feedback about the games given away will always be welcomed because they can also be very constructive for developers, however, complaining about the way the site is operating or problems about downloading or installing the games or about Steam keys not received should be directed to the giveawayoftheday team via the contact form (with evidence of completed tasks, the name and email you used to enter the competition, or giveaway). I've linked to the contact form HERE; alternatively, if the problem is game related and it is late in the day (I can't moderate 24 hours a day), please also post your issue in the forums where you may get a response from the community. All games given away here have been thoroughly checked using several anti malware suites to ensure a safe download and in the 10 plus years this site has been operating, there has never been a game infected with malware. If your security software flags an issue, it's probably the Themida code that is used to protect the game from hackers or sometimes the non invasive adware that MPC games use. Themida code can also be used to hide malware, so some security software's will automatically block anything with Themida code, even if it's absolutely safe to install. also other computer configurations (i.e. the way you have your computer set up) may have blocked the install. Often, such problems are related to your computers set up. i.e. your security may block the installation (for example quite a few game giveaways I've installed have been blocked by my copy of Zemana Anti-malware suite) Also please read the moderation policy which can be found HERE and if you do have a problem please check the FAQ's thread HERE. Thank you for reading.

FREE game offer from the moderator in exchange for quality feedback:

There were some winners from last weeks game giveaways, which I mentioned in reply to their comments. Given a couple away so far, but still waiting to hear from others.

I've posted a list of over 200 Steam games in the forums HERE and will be adding more as time permits over the coming weeks. It is quite an extensive list of games taken from the 10 000+ Steam keys I've collected over the last several years; all were either purchased by me, with some )only a few) received free for pre-ordering games on Steam, plus a few from entering competitions and other offers). There will be a limited number of other keys available, such as Origin, uPlay and Desura keys (Desura has recently been purchased following the original owners demise and should be up and running by the end of March). I will announce the winner's from the giveaway the following week. If no announcement is made, it means no one posted feedback that qualified for a free game that week. There were no winners from the previous two weeks, though I am still considering a couple of comments from last week. I will inform those community members if I decide they are worth a game by email. If you have won a game, I will also post details in the thread I've created specifically for that purpose HERE. Once I've given a key away, the game and any comments by the winner will be removed from the list the following week. I will assume if you don't reply within a few weeks you aren't bothered about a key. Please post your preferences (list at least 3 games in order of preference over in the forums HERE. Thank you. Happy gaming.)

Depending on the quality of the feedback, I may choose to award games to more community members for each game given away, 'at my discretion'. The feedback must be about the game, and it must include a couple of paragraphs of feedback following the guidelines I've posted in the suggestions section of my review. i.e. your opinion of the game, what you liked and/or disliked plus suggestions for improvement. If you choose a game that is very cheap I may give you a second game; so, when choosing from the list I provide, please list more than one choice. If a game is chosen by more than one community member and only one key is available the key will go to the one I deem the most useful. I do have multiple keys for quite a lot of the games I've listed, so, don't be put off if you see someone else has chosen the game you want. I haven't indicated any of the games I have multiple keys for (though for example I do have several keys for the excellent Western themed AAA game Call of Juarez, which i picked up for free for purchasing several games via the Indie Gala store several months ago. spending a few dollars got me a copy of the game, so I made several separate purchases over a couple of days while the offer was still live.

I do own at least three community members a game from the previous giveaways that I posted several months ago. I'd totally forgotten about those. I do have a document with their names on, so they will get a game from the original list when I find the document (I'm extremely disorganized); or they can peruse the new list and choose something different. Just post a comment over in the forums in the appropriate thread. If you do post feedback with a view to getting one of the games and think you have covered the requirements, you don't have to do anything until I announce the winners the following week.

Please remember, this comments section is mainly for feedback about today's game giveaway. If you're not sure, read the moderation policy, which you can see HERE