Introduction without that much relevance
http://www.bohthegame.com/
BOH is one of the most niche titles i've ever had the pleasure to play.
It's a top-down shooter that sometimes resembples Alien Breed, sometimes feels like a 2d DooM and other ones like a sort of action-filled Diablo.
It not only looks like a classic from the Amiga 500 times, it play like a classic from that era.
It's a difficult game that always ask you to come back for more, because every time you play you'll made it a little further, almost to the end of that damned dungeon.
The author started to code this game on Amiga, then he ported it on Windows, Mac and Linux.
At this point, he had a dream. He wanted to see his game boxed, sold in a physical format, with a 25 pages long manual with delicious pixel art printed on almost every page.
So he started to self produce physical copies with the help of a little publisher that never published videogames before.
Basically this dude made a game for Amiga (and PC\Mac of course), out in 2009, and he's selling it in physical copies as long as digital download form.
This is the indiest thing I ever saw, I mean it in the way of doing something without thinking too much about what people wants or they think to want, and basically everything, from the game to the packaging, is a pure act of love.
Let's talk about the game dammit!
Now speaking about the game itself, this game is very very good, but not for everyone. Even if it can be played and enjoyed by everyone with a bit of patience this game is a love letter to retrogamers like me and possibly you.
You move a tiny character inside biggers and biggers space dungeons (or even fantasy ones, but i'll talk about that later) and your mission is to make it to the end.
The game uses a tile based dynamic lighting system, and a very fancy stuff that makes all the world around your little space marine rotate when you navigate the rooms.
You can collect different light sources and gadgets, like a short\long range enemies detectors or automappers that complete for you the minimap of the current floor.
Even with gadgets like that the game feels claustrophobic, and you'll be better to play it running over the corridors instead of blasting everything until you're trapped in a room with dozens of critters and bigger evil creatures.
The fact that the game spawn infinite monsters at you, triggered by certain events, makes the game itself looks like a cursed trial to your sanity, you will feel the anger of the game levels against you. It's like running inside pixelated places in the hands of a supernatural presence: The Evil Master.
Each mission has an Evil Master you need to evocate and then defeat, his ghostly presence will appear and disappear as you try to hunt him down, while all the screen flashes.
Finishing a mission in hard mode after beating one of them and all his minions is very rewarding, and maybe it's only because i have a fetish about dungeon crawlers but I'm in love with this game.
Now Saimo (SImone Bevilacqua, author of the game) lets you buy it in digital download form: unluckly the shipping outside Italy is costly so he needed to try this solution as well, keep in mind that if you'll like the game you'll be able to buy the boxed version only paying the difference later on, and if you take that one from the start you will have immediate access to the download too, so you can order it and wait for the package arrive while already playing the game.
I really suggest you all to play the Demo, that runs on PC, Mac, Linux and even Amiga OS.
I'm sure even the only Tougher and Tougher mission on the demo will keep you busy for a while, I haven't still managed to complete all the floors (each phase is harder than the previous one). The full game offers a lot of different missions ranging from very easy to very hard, and it's really a blast.
Finally, the game also offers to you to make your own levels with a smart system of text files. You really don't need any fancy level editor even to do very complex stuff.
You can also mod all the graphics and sounds, and both the demo and the complete version ships with different themes, i enjoyed a lot the C64 one, that changes the game palette to look like a Commodore 64 game, and the Castle one, that makes the game a fantasy dungeon crawler, changing both graphics and sounds.
This is surely a game i'll play in pills, for a long time.
this is the default "scifi" theme, notice how the rotation is not your fake average GM rotation that rotates also the pixels, the game uses the CPU for everything
[url]http://www.bohthegame.com/data/screenshot-default-7N.png[/url]
underground theme:
[url]http://www.bohthegame.com/data/screenshot-underground-4N.png[/url]
and this is how the game looks like with the Castle theme, i love it
[url]http://www.bohthegame.com/data/screenshot-castle-3N.png[/url]
[url]http://i27.tinypic.com/zjv4wi.jpg[/url]
[url]http://i30.tinypic.com/zjb3ap.jpg[/url]
[url]http://i30.tinypic.com/2uiccno.jpg[/url]
PS even if the game went out in 2009 it's still being supported and another update with even more levels is in the way.
As I speak, there are already 11 updates, a lot of missions (even some secret ones!) and a lot of different themes ( Vectors, C-64, Underground, Castle and so on...)

I'd play it.

It looks pretty cool, but at €10 for the cheapest version (iso download), it's more than I'm willing to pay.

you should at least try the demo, it's very long and it's like a game on his own!
This game totally deserves the price anyway, I was one of the first lucky customers and I took the boxed copy
same for you, give the demo a run, it has the "tutorials" missions and one of the longest and deepest mission of the game, called Tougher and tougher

I own the boxed version too. But I haven't really played it much, it was basically the collector/Amiga-owner in me that just had to have it. Seems pretty fun, though.

I'm playing the shit out of it and it's a great game.
The fact you can get stuck on the levels makes you need to think at every move and every room you visit. There are a kind of doors called "automatic passages" that locks behind you after you step over. If you're reckless and left something important behind you you're basically dead. Looks like a very trial and error mechanic at first but it isn't at all, you just need to evaluate if you have visited or opened every passage you could before stepping over that kind of door or getting on another section of the level

Looks pretty cool, I downloaded the demo. Will try it out tomorrow. Not a huge fan of the retro style though.

I will check this out, it looks right up my alley!

Okay, so I just tried the demo. Love the style, hate the game. Or more specifically, hate the control scheme. Apparently sidestepping (which I assume is the same as strafing) was removed from the game recently. Too bad really. With strafing, the game might actually be fun. As it is, it's like fighting aliens using an R/C car that can only shoot straight ahead.

Yup. I got that feeling too. But I really like the randomized style of the game, very refreshing. It'd have been cooler if the game had adopted a keyboard + mouse control scheme of the game.

My thoughts exactly.

Hi all,
I'm the author of BOH and, having noticed some visits to the website from here, I thought I'd come and have a look.
First of all, let me thank Eclipse for suggesting my beloved BOH; also, thanks to everybody who bothered trying the demo.
Then, I'd like to answer who would prefer a more refined control method. Before doing so, however, let me state clearly that since, obviously, everybody is entitled to his/her own preferences and it's impossible to make a game that can please everyone, I have no trouble accepting the fact that somebody might not like (part of) my game - it's totally natural and OK with me. That said, regarding the issue...
BOH is strongly retro and the control method is designed to fit that style; it's meant to be as simple as possible and, basically, inspired to 1-button joysticks. Design choices aside, a reason why such control method is completely acceptable is that the game is *not* a shooter: the focus is absolutely not on the fighting action. If you don't mind, I'll past here a few Q/As from the FAQ to give you a more complete answer.
Q7: Why is not there mouse aim? Can you add it?
A: No, sorry, I will not implement it, as it would change the gameplay in a way I do not like - I always wanted and still want the controls to be as simple as those of the good ol' games (to be precise, what I have in mind is 1-button joysticks). Moreover, the game is not focused on action (it is not a shooter, as it might seem at first), so I always try to avoid elements that give the action aspect more importance.
Q8: Is there strafing? Is it possible to strafe and turn at the same time?
A: [short answer]
The full version of the game included strafing until update12, although turning simultaneously has never been possible. Strafing has been removed by update13.
[long answer]
Initially, the game did not have strafing, because I wanted basic controls. Not much before the initial release, a friend asked me to add it. I did, albeit reluctantly because that inevitably required more buttons. Therefore, I decided to add just a button that would change the action of the turning buttons to strafing. After a while, another friend told me he would find more comfortable to have a dedicated button to strafe in each direction, instead of having to press the strafing activation button in conjunction with the turning ones. Despite I liked the idea of adding two more buttons even less, I found that request more than reasonable, and so I granted it.
However, I have never been happy with the fact that controls got so much more complicated than I originally wanted. That thought has been haunting me more and more also because strafing:
* is completely unnecessary: all missions can be finished and fighting enemies is absolutely very possible even without it (by the way, I never use it and I have designed and deeply tested all the missions without considering/using strafing);
* makes creating themes more demanding, as additional sprites have to be created (and they are even among the hardest ones) - this is not bad just for me, but for whoever decides to have a go at creating an own theme;
* calls for the possibility of turning at the same time (as the question this is an answer to does), which would require an even more refined control method (exactly the opposite of my original idea).
Now I have come to the conclusion that adding strafing was a mistake in first place and that is why, as said above, at some point it has been fixed for good.
Q9: BOH does not allow me to blast everything that moves, to clear rooms, to easily get rid of baddies... and I want more weapons, more action!
A: BOH is not a shooter. BOH is first and foremost an exploration game. The action is a key component as well, but it serves the purpose of making exploration thrilling. Do not focus on action - that will lead you nowhere.
I hope this helps. If you have any question, feel free to ask :)

Naturally, it's your game, so you are entitled to do with it as you wish. It seems very much to be a "labor of love", rather than a serious attempt to make money, so I'd say you should do with it exactly as you wish. With that kind of project, nothing is more frustrating than having the result be something other than you wanted it to be.
Let me be more specific as to why I don't like it. You say the game is not about the combat at all. I say that a game which has enemies coming at you constantly, from directions you can't see very well in, has got to be about combat. I might be able to survive taking lots of hits from enemies, but I won't like it. And given that, I feel much too restricted in my ability to deal with the hordes of enemies coming at me.
I could live with the controls if the game had been less centered about enemies, and I could live with the enemies if the controls had been less restrictive, but not both.
Still, all that means in the end is that I'm not part of your target demographic. Plenty of other people seem to like it, so don't worry about it :-)

If I buy the physical copy do I get the digital copy as well?