I feel bad for the Xbox LIVE Indie Games service. It's sort of like a loathed step-sibling to big brother Xbox LIVE Arcade - it's a similar game download service, only it's generally cheaper and, as pretty much anyone (anyone capable of coding an actual game that doesn't crash every 10 minutes, at least) can put stuff on there, it's full of games. Many of which are terrible, unsurprisingly. I've suffered through so much unmitigated awful to bring you this article.

Even Microsoft doesn't seem to like the Indie Games service much, considering you initially had to track down a copy of the Necronomicon and perform black and twisted rituals to make it appear on your dashboard. Now, thankfully, a work-around has been discovered: you just need to go to Games > Games Marketplace > Downloadable Games > Game Type > Indie Games, which is a bit of a chore but not quite as long-winded as sacrificing locals to Yog-Sothoth.

Anyway: much as the Indie Games channel doesn't reject games for being awful, and thus is full of horror, there's also some really good stuff hidden in there. In no particular order, here are 10 delightful little gems you should have a look at. (And none of them are Minecraft clones.)

Lots of Guns [80 Microsoft Points]

Have you played Super Crate Box? No? Well, if you have a PC, you should probably give the freeware platform-blaster a try. Alternatively, you can grab the rather spiffing homage Lots of Guns from the Indie Games channel.

Lots of Guns expands on the basic premise of multi-weapon side-on monster-killing by having you ascend a shiny, retro-inspired tower, and an enforced weapon change every few floors means that getting good with pretty much every hand-cannon on offer is integral to continued success. It's very much a one-note game – ascend tower, kill enemies - but the random elements make it a fun title to stick on when you've got five minutes to spare.

Dead Pixels [80 MSP]

Imagine that the city from River City Ransom has been attacked by zombies. Does that convince some of you that this is worth a punt for just over 50p?

In case you're one of those annoying hold-outs who likes facts: make your way (in a side-on fashion) through a ruined city, shooting zombies with guns, and wandering into houses to find loot that can then be sold to traders in return for new guns, ammo, and stat upgrades. Occasionally repetitive, but it's enlivened significantly by limited ammo, weight restrictions, and amusing co-op play. It looks lovely, too, with a grindhouse aesthetic and (as is presumably law for Xbox Indie games) a retro-inspired look. So: worth a punt for just over 50p.

Sequence [240 MSP]
Sequence is also available on PC.

If you're half as much of a smart-arse as I am then you doubtless took a guess at which games would be listed here before clicking the link, and you doubtless guessed that one would be Sequence. Well, you're right. Tempting as it was to remove this entry solely to confound you, Sequence is so good I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

You'd think an unholy merging of the rhythm-action and JRPG genres would result in some sort of world-destroying chimera, but Sequence pulls it off with aplomb. The standard RPG feature-set is there – you gain levels, craft and equip items, and learn new spells – but battles rely on your rhythm-action skills. Three fields play simultaneously; one restores your mana, one defends against enemy attacks, and one is for the casting of spells, and swapping between all three as needed – block an attack here, cast a Barrier spell and a quick offensive burst here, then swap back between regaining mana and blocking attacks for a bit – is where the real challenge lies.

It's a fascinating hybrid that actually works a hell of a lot better than you might think, and some sharp (and sarcastic) writing and decent voice acting brings it all to life. This one comes highly recommended, although it's probably breaking the law by not having a retro look.

LaserCat [80 MSP]

It's hard to believe that something crafted with Spectrum-styled graphics (there's that retro look again, despite clearly looking a lot nicer) can actually be cute, but that's exactly what the protagonist of LaserCat is, as he scampers and leaps about the game's maze: cute.

LaserCat is a bit of a love letter to Jet Set Willy, in that you freely bound around a surreal maze – complete with amusingly-titled rooms – dodging enemies and looking for a number of items squirrelled away in the most unlikely places. Thankfully, regular checkpoint positions make it a hell of a lot more forgiving and less frustrating than its inspiration.

There are a few other mechanics, but the majority of the game is exactly that: platforming, exploring, and dodging enemies. I'd probably be championing it far more had I not played VVVVVV, which takes the basic concept of old-school graphics + platforming + exploration and runs with it in a variety of startling directions, but LaserCat should nonetheless bring a few solid hours of joy to any platforming fan.

Cthulhu Saves the World [80 MSP]
Cthulhu Saves the World is also available on PC.

And this, of course, is the other game you were probably expecting to see in this article. Zeboyd Games' superb classic RPG is, indeed, worth both 80 Microsoft Points and a few of paragraphs of text. Cthulhu Saves the World draws inspiration from – but treats with reverence and good-humour - both Dragon Quest-alike JRPGs and the Lovecraft Mythos. It's very much a classic JRPG; you wander the world (as Cthulhu, off to reclaim his lost power) building up a party and battling random monsters.

Where things differ is in the nuts-and-bolts, which aim to remove as much of the irritation as possible. There are only a certain number of random encounters in any given area, for instance; upon fighting the requisite number you'll never fight another battle there again (unless you want to). The combat, meanwhile, varies a bit through the addition of a combo system that adds another layer of strategy onto the game, and a good sense of humour and a lot of cheeky references mask what's otherwise a perfectly solid JRPG.

Wizorb [240 MSP]

I don't like Breakout clones. Knocking a ball back and forth into bricks was fun for awhile, I admit, but barring a couple of stand-out titles I normally get very, very bored, very, very fast – so imagine my surprise when Wizorb turned out to be good enough to immediately earn a place on this list.

Augmenting your bat-to-ball skills are a number of spells, like a fireball or an ability to redirect the ball (anywhere) towards your bat, and other than blocks you're also smashing monsters and bosses. Making it slightly more compelling for me, at least, is the game's framework – as you complete levels you earn money, which you can use to rebuild a little town. Or you can keep all the cash for item buying and so on, which is slightly more useful.

It's wonderfully animated, looks lovely, and provides a particularly interesting take on what is so regularly a very bland type of game.

Downtown Smash Dodgeball [800 MSP]

You didn't read the price wrong. Downtown Smash Dodgeball does indeed cost 800 Microsoft Points – ten times as much as some of the things on this list, and more expensive than the lower tier of Xbox LIVE Arcade games – but it's worth every Microsoft Penny.

It's a faithful remake/update of NES classic Super Dodge Ball (perhaps unsurprising, as this was apparently developed by much of the same team) and is a faintly ridiculous take on the noble art of lobbing a ball at someone else's head. Two teams face off against each other, and the one who still has people on the pitch at the end wins. Expect big-headed characters, absurd special moves, ludicrous dialogue, and a general sense of fun in addition to a fair old bit of strategy and a rather steep learning curve while you get used to the controls.

It's absurdly high-quality, truly excellent, and it's a bit of a shame that it didn't appear on Xbox LIVE Arcade proper, so you should at the very least try the trial. Actually finding the trial might prove difficult, however, because the game's title isn't actually in English. Or our alphabet. However! Doing a search on your 360 for “downtown smash” will mysteriously bring it up. (Fear not – the game's description is in English so you'll know if you've found it, and the game itself should default into English language.)

T.E.C. 3001 [240 MSP]

Canabalt has a lot to answer for. For every Robot Unicorn Attack and BIT.TRIP RUNNER we get, there are 10 dreadful wannabes vomited onto the internet – some of which invariably wind up on the Xbox Indie Games channel, some of which invariably feature avatars, and all of which lack the speed, pace, or atmosphere that made Canabalt great.

T.E.C. 3001, fortunately, decided to forge its own path. You're still running at a constant rate through a variety of obstacles that need to be jumped over, slid under, or smashed through, but you're doing it from a more traditional third-person angle which affords a degree of lateral movement, which in turn means that there are often several paths through any given level. It's all given a wonderfully shiny veneer (this is probably the best-looking title I've seen on the Indie Games service yet) and offers a genuine sense of speed and a vague bit of terror as you careen, barely in control, between huge constructs and under massive towers.

Defy Gravity Extended [240 MSP]
Defy Gravity Extended is also available on PC.

Defy Gravity Extended contrasts nicely with T.E.C. 3001. One is a game based around narrowly avoiding obstacles and sighing with relief at making it through unscathed, while the other is a rather more sedate platform-puzzler.

This side-on title gives you a gun capable of creating gravity wells that can either repel or attract both your character and nearby susceptible objects, and then sets you loose across a series of devilishly designed levels. Comparisons to Portal are inevitable - but deserved - in that both games give you one clever mechanic and then test your brain and your reflexes as they exploit every possible use of that very mechanic.

The level design is key, really: with dull levels that didn't make use of the potential-filled mechanics, this game would be a non-starter. Fortunately, they're many, varied, and smart, and with good mechanics and good levels, the rest pretty much falls into place.

Dark Reign Redux [400 MSP]
The original Dark Reign is also available on PC.

Wait what. Dark Reign? As in, the 1997 PC RTS? That Dark Reign? It's on the Xbox LIVE Indie Games channel? The answer to all of the above is a resounding “yes." Dark Reign Redux is an incredibly faithful fan-remake, created with Activision's blessing. I admit this may be a bit of a tenuous choice for being among the "best" titles on there, but it edged in front of a few other choices by virtue of causing me to double-take. After the slew of poorly-written dating games I saw on XBLIG, that's quite an achievement.

Dark Reign is a somewhat-typical top-down PC RTS, but – back in 1997 – it did quite a lot of special things. There was proper line-of-sight and fog-of-war as dictated by terrain height; there was proper waypointing; there were various unit behaviours; there were a number of different terrain types which helped or hindered individual units in different ways; there were two asymmetrical sides. It was a blast back then and it's still a blast now.

The big question here is whether or not the 360 controls hold up. Remarkably, they're not too shabby for a console RTS – possibly because of the fixed camera and enhanced resolution. While not a patch on mouse and keyboard, they're not quite as terrifying and ridiculous as they first appear.

With full online multiplayer thrown in to boot, it's hard not to suggest at least giving Dark Reign's trial a look. It's an RTS that stole my heart back in 1997, and while this might not be the most orthodox way of playing it, it's certainly an interesting attempt that deserves some attention.

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