Schildmaid MX

Disclaimer: I won this in a contest run by a fan of the game, but would have happily bought it otherwise (I'd already bought it on itch.io). Although this may look like a typical side scrolling shoot-em-up, it's not intended to be played that way. Instead, the game is built around a unique three-states system - Neutral, Shield, Danger. You start in Neutral mode - colliding with an enemy or anything red will kill you, but hit an enemy bullet? You won't just shug it off - this will nudge you into Shield mode, where the real fun starts. From now until a timer ticks down, you'll be charging all over the screen hoovering up bullets, and powering up your ship into the deal. Take out an enemy craft, and the timer will extend...but when it's depleted, you're dropped into Danger mode. While a cooldown timer ticks down, all enemy bullets turn red meaning, yup, they're now deadly - and once the timer's done, you're back in Neutral mode and ready to rock. The game thus boils down to a tremendously addictive rhythmic flow, from aggression to evasion, and back again, with the geography of the screen flipping in an instant as you switch modes. Coming into it as someone always interested in, but never much good at, the shmup genre I've been very impressed by how well the difficulty curve has been set. There's a hell of a high skill ceiling here, but it's surprisingly welcoming to those of us curious about, but intimidated by, the genre. I can easily see this being something I come back to year after year, and will be keeping a close eye on the exciting dev team behind it.

A unique and hugely gratifying shoot 'em up that succeeds both as an example of its genre and as something else entirely. Played for score as it's designed to be played, it turns the traditional STG underdog narrative on its head and instead becomes a game about being untouchable; manipulating enemy formations to feed you more and more gold bullets, selectively picking off threats to keep your shield active and your multiplier growing. The enemies here are as much a resource as they are a hazard, and using them strategically - calculating risk and reward, and figuring out how to bite off the exact amount you can chew - is the real meat of the game. If you play a lot of shmups you might have to reprogram your brain a little - it’s important to resist the urge to hold down the fire button and kill everything that moves, and that can feel a bit unintuitive at first - but once it clicks it’s incredibly rewarding. There’s still a solid survival-focused experience here if that’s what you’re looking for, with some very intense and challenging stuff in the higher difficulty modes, but this is a game that really comes alive through experimentation and a “play to learn” mentality, and there’s nothing else quite like it. It’s probably quite telling that when I try to come up with a good comparison for Schildmaid the first things that come to mind are Pacman CE DX and Space Giraffe - games that use the established language of classic arcade design to create something new, something subversive and greedy and cathartic that could only be built on an affection and understanding for what came before. This IS a shmup, of course, and a very good one. But it’s also something else entirely, and I love it for that. Can’t recommend it enough.

Schildmaid's bullet absorbing mechanic takes a lot of the intimidation of modern bullet-hell style games and turns it into a whole new kind of fun. Instead of dodging, you get to gobble up enemy fire and use it to your advantage. I can't recommend this one enough for anyone who like space action shooters. A really original spin on shmups.

very addictive

Legit Shoot 'em up. Don't let the colorful graphics and "busy" presentation mislead you, as this game can be quite hardcore.

I've been following the progress of this game to steam for a while, and I wasn't disappointed with the final product. An excellent game with a unique absorption mechanic, great presentation and rocking soundtrack.

The scoring mechanics are immensely satisfying here. The soundtrack is also phenomenal (good soundtrack seems to be a recurring pattern with many of the games that I review). Although the gameplay here is quite enjoyable, it can get a bit repetitive after a while. If you like shmups, then you will almost certainly like this. Get this on sale.

Schildmaid MX is yet another indie SHMUP that manages to bridge the gap between newcomers and veterans nicely. Easy to learn core mechanics, a fantastic difficulty curve, ship types that further customize difficulty. An excellent title to get into the genre with. On top of that, the game is an audiovisual treat, especially with its CRT Filter! All in all, it's an addictive gameplay loop wrapped in a feast for the senses. Absolutely recommended!