An indie platforming icon, an anime robot legend, and a sad naked child walk into a bar. And probably out again, because none of them can legally drink. But they CAN puzzle-battle. Released back in 2019, Crystal Crisis was a bit of a weird one - a tribute to Capcom's classic Puzzle Fighter starring an oddball cast of indie gaming icons (most from developer Nicalis' roster), Osamu Tezuka anime legends, and a few really deep cuts. It was good fun, but never really reached as big an audience as it might. That could change today, as it's entirely free for the next week, so grab it here.

If you've never played Puzzle Fighter before, it's a competitive (versus humans or bots) puzzler in the vein of Puyo Puyo or some versions of Tetris. Stack up matching chains of color-coded blocks, then when you get a crystal of the matching color, connect it to clear them and send time-locked extra blocks to the opponent's side of the screen.

Crystal Crisis follows that pattern very closely, with the additional twist of each of the 20 characters having unique special attacks, letting you either protect your side of the playfield or mess with the opponents if you've built up enough gauge from playing big combos. This one's a beefy package too, with a full story mode, arcade modes, solo challenges, and a tag-team mode. Plus a bundle of online and local multiplayer options.

What really makes this game stand out is the wild, weird character roster. You've got Quote, Curly Brace, and secret true final boss Ballos from the recently updated Cave Story, Kawase from the Umihara Kawase series, Isaac from The Binding of Isaac (also seeing a resurgence), plus a couple of 50s and 70s anime icons. Don't quite know why Astro Boy (the inspiration for so many robot boy heroes) and Black Jack (a surgical Robin Hood figure) are here, but they're certainly not unwelcome additions!

There's also a few REAL deep cuts, like Akuji from 2003 freeware gem Akuji the Demon, and Johnny Turbo, mascot of the obscure TurboDuo '90s console - not to be confused with the other Johnny Turbo from Turbo Overkill. At launch, Crystal Crisis was met with generally positive reviews but never really caught on much, joining the growing pile of ill-fated indie mascot showcase games. But for free? Absolutely worth picking up, and it's not a shabby puzzle fighter at all.

Crystal Crisis is free until September 21st, down from £15.49/$20. Grab it now and keep it forever.