It's near the end of the month, so it's time to see which games stand out as the best and the worst of the Xbox LIVE Indie Games collection. For this month, I went through games that only cost $1. We like to save money here at TheGo, so passing along a good recommendation for the price is something we look out for our readers. But really, check out some of the hundreds of titles and applications available. You just may get something that you and your buddies will enjoy for hours, and you'll get to support the little guy. Everybody wins!

VectorForce
Developer: California State University, San Bernardino

Didn't you just love it when you're in class and you can just goof off playing games all day instead of listening to an important lecture? Well, the professors at CSU, San Bernardino decided to turn the tables and make their Computer Science students make games instead of play them. And the result? Pretty satisfying.

VectorForce is a top-down 2D Shooter akin to such classics as R-Type and Galaga, with a unique twist; you can stack and throw away power-ups into two slots, creating 21 possible weapon set-ups. And you'll need them against the endless swarm of enemies, bullets, and giant boss fights. Veteran 2D Shooter fans will complain about the fact that you can survive multiple hits, and losing a life only stops you in your tracks a few seconds and strips your power-ups (which can be picked up very easily), so the game is easy to a fault. But with decent visuals and sound, it's tough to go wrong here.

OVERALL: BUY

Cassie's Corner
Developer: North Squard

If you ever wanted to figure out what it was like to take a test by an intoxicated, semi-attractive girl, you'd be better off playing Trivial Pursuit with a bunch of sorority girls than to spend your $1 on Cassie's Corner. The quiz show, which features the aforementioned blonde and bubbly Cassie, is a random assortment of topics all annoyingly narrated and acted out by the girl in order to provide some sort of party for hopeless losers who couldn't even talk to girls on the Internet.

Maybe I'm just a pig, but since the game's ratings show Sex and Mature Content as 0/0, you can probably be assured that no matter how well you do on the quiz, you're not going to get a reward from Miss Cassie. Oh well.

OVERALL: SKIP

Picture Slider
Developer: Angry Baby Games

Not a whole lot to talk about here, because you've probably seen this before at one point in your life, especially those who own Apple computers. A picture is scrambled, and you have to put it back together by sliding tiles into their correct positions. Nothing too drastic or serious, but it can be mind-numbingly difficult when you start to deal with 6x6 puzzles.

There are, however, a large assortment of pictures, over 50 all together, some a lot easier than others (Seriously, what's with the black-and-white static picture? Are you trying to frustrate people?). All of these are laced together with a smooth selection of piano music to give the game a more relaxed feeling. So for those who like puzzles, it's tough to go wrong here.

OVERALL: BUY

Junkyard Battle
Developer: Daevid

A test of patience and physics, Junkayd Battle is a stacking game where you have to build to a predetermined height in set time limit, or against another player. Pick up the pieces at a specific area to swing them into the angle you want to stack it, and place it carefully onto your pile. There are power-ups you can pick up as well, such as the ever-useful Concrete Tool, which solidifies your current pile, making it easier to stack new piece.

While it certainly looks and plays nice, there's hardly any sound at all, other than the screeching sounds the crane makes and the occassional thud from the stacking and falling. There's also not a whole lot of content to go with here, only 5 single-player levels and a few multiplayer settings. But what else is there can be a fine addition to your library.

OVERALL: TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

Criminals Under Arrest
Developer: InterfaceKO

What happens when you combine 4-bit Game Philosphy, 4-bit Graphics, and 2-bit writing? This game. It's an old school beat-em-up that doesn't accomplish anything that made the genre so great in the first place. Your character has a whopping 3 frames of animation, a few attacks, and tries his best to kill every minority on the street "to clean the streets up." Barf.

I know the point of these articles is to point you in the right direction while keeping your costs down, but you're better off spending $5 on Streets of Rage 2, a much better game that's a lot of fun. And you got to beat up thugs as a kid wearing roller blades! Way better than punching black people for no reason.

OVERALL: SKIP

MOLEGAME
Developer: ruckkuma games

Take Whack-a-Mole, only remove the thrill of winning tickets to exchange for prizes and replace the action of swinging your mallets around frantically with flicking the two 360 joysticks frantically, and you'll get MoleGame. And it's actually not too bad. Testing your reflexes and rhythm in this kind of style can actually be pretty fun, even if it does get frantic on the later levels.

It's a tough call here, since there's not a whole lot but it's fun and does give the incentive to come back with that "just one more try" mentality.

OVERALL: TRY BEFORE YOU BUY

And now, for the monthly award:

Alien Pyramid Challenge
Developed by: Swampopus

Now here's how to take 8-bit graphics and gaming philosophy and turn it into a fun package. As an alien, you're trying to escape a pyramid by picking up and dropping blocks to jump on, climbing ladders, jumping onto moving platforms and trampolines, each level harder than the last. Along the way, a sarcastic mummy companion gives you grief and advice (though it's not always smart to trust him, the bastard...), which gives the game some fun charm that is otherwise lacking from some of the other titles.

The music is good, and the graphics are very reminding of older generation platforms, which fits the overall static gameplay. But Alien Pyramid Challenge is more than enough fun to last you well worth your $1, so give this game a download.

When told that Swampopus won the award, he let us know: "Wow, that's really great!  Thank you, I feel honored.  It's always nice to have someone not only play your game, but enjoy it too." You heard the man, go play the game and enjoy it.

OVERALL: INDIE GAME OF THE MONTH, BUY IT!