Terry Cavanagh, indie developer behind gems such as Judith and Don’t Look Back, has returned with a new, non-free quirky game. VVVVVV is an 8-bit-like platformer, and is hard as nails. In a nutshell, you navigate a strange spaceship to find your companions, and the only controls you have are left, right, and changing gravity. The concept is a little reminiscent of the mechanics in games like Shift and And Yet It Moves, but it’s kept extremely simple here: you’re either falling down or falling up. You have to switch between running along floors and ceilings to get across rooms. There are spiked floors and strange creatures to impede your progress - and impede they will. I wasn’t kidding about how difficult it is. As mentioned, the game is not free like Cavanagh’s previous titles, it is being sold for $15 directly from his site. That’s a hefty price for an indie game, so there’s a demo to give an idea of how it is, playable either on Kongregate or as a direct download for Windows and Mac.

The chiptune soundtrack is also available to buy, for $4 from composer Souleye’s site.