Hello Dtoid.
A lot of people I know seem to think 'Indie' is a bad word. Many cringe, and even more vomit when a suggested game falls under the 'Independant' category of gaming. I asked a friend of mine who's not entirely up to date with modern gaming what he thought these kinds of games were like, and the description I got was parallel to a 3 and a half hour, black and white, foreign art haus movie, in which each second you aren't reading subtitles you're fumbling to comprehend just what the crap the movie is really trying to tell you. I happen to love those kinds of movies just as much as I love the so-called "pretentious" indie games, but I digress: this is not one of those games.



At it's very core, Das Uber Leben is essentially Helicopter, a game I'm sure all of you have played before, whether it was ages ago or whether it is perpetually minimized on your screen to this day. Helicopter has the basic objective of: "Don't Get Fucked Up", and Das Uber Leben takes this simple idea to new heights...literally.
Das Uberleben is a sky diving game, only the dive has gone terribly awry and you are falling through risky territory, shifting your weight to avoid total destruction. The game can be played with 1-7 (yes, seven) players, and there is an option to turn on FIGHT MODE where you fall to death with not your friend but rather the very evil which haunts your dreams, apparently, as you gain the ability to push and shove each other into the rocks, walls and barriers through which you fall, watching in delight as your foe's entirety is reduced to a pixellated cloud of blood and guts. Unlike Helicopter's lame, uninspired and generic 'Macromedia Flash 2004 Web Banner' graphics, Das Uber Leben has some satisfying sprites with kind of this weird 3D 8-bit thing going on that's as to the point as it is stylish.

This game is completely entrancing, and borderline psychedelic at times, but most of all I think you want to play this due to it's fine tuned balance of sheer simplicity and total awesomeness. Whether you're looking for 5 minutes to an hour of game time, Das Uberleben has definitely earned regular play on my PC.

If you're a fan of addictive, simple, but over-the-top pick-up-and-play goodness, then do yourself a favour and download it here:
Das Uberleben

I might also add that this game is devoid of anything other than sound effects and ambient noise, making it very easy to completely change the mood of the game with different accompanying music. My personal favourite was putting on absurd 80s hair metal to rock rock on as I fell to my utter oblivion.
Feel free to share any sweet music combinations you may find while playing below.