Valence

3 Electrons.
Valence is at its roots a shmup, but take your average linear shmup and use polar coordinates instead of Cartesian. That circular orientation is where Valence sets off on a different path away from other shmups.

Valence’s circular gameplay style is primarily made possible by introducing gravity mechanics based mechanics. In the middle of the level is a sphere which acts as a base. You orbit around this sphere while enemies approach shooting you and if you’re not careful the sphere. To add importance to the existence of this sphere, as well as increase the depth of the gameplay, you are given a limited amount of projectiles to shoot which can only be replenished by collecting power-ups floating around or by attaching yourself to the sphere. The gameplay breaks down to two basic scenarios: you’re stocked up on ammo so you venture off into space for more direct attacks or you’ve run out of ammo so back up into the center to stock up again while sending out occasional shots at any immediate danger.

The controls in Valence take a bit of getting used to. There are 3 main actions other than movement: shoot, reverse shooting direction, and shields. You toggle your shooting direction between shooting towards the center and shooting out from the center. I wouldn’t say it adds any strategic value, but instead it’s purely a logistical action to smooth out the transition between a defensive and offensive approach.

Artistically the game is abstract and busy. There are a lot of visual cues floating around which make the game both interesting to look at and easy to interpret. An odd and pretty confusing design choice is to not put in a background, so occasionally when you are far away from the center you don’t really know where you are since it’s just your avatar floating on an almost entirely blank screen. The audio also follows suit and is adequate but nothing special.

As an overall package, Valence falls into a pitfall many indie games fall into. Valence tries to take a new direction but doesn’t explore that route enough to really warrant wandering off that way. I feel the game doesn’t really bring enough and I feel there some further exploration of the circular mechanics could have really created something unique. So in the end, Valence works best as a source of inspiration than as a game.