The second entry in indie developer John Wizard Games’ Lilly & Sasha series has just been released and I’m warning you now to prepare for spoilers if you haven’t played the original Lilly & Sasha: Curse of the Immortals. Lilly & Sasha: Nexus of Souls is a direct sequel and picks up right at the first game’s cliffhanger. Surprisingly enough, you don’t have to have played the original game to pick up and enjoy the sequel. But it does help, since the main characters are more developed in Curse of the Immortals than they are in Nexus of Souls…

After Harvey, Vera, Tyson and Virgil defeated Mordecai, saved the world and such in Dawn’s Light, all three went to settle down. Tyson joined the Lone Wolves ninja/mercenary group, Vera returned home and married David and Harvey married a girl named Edith and returned to the island where he grew up with the intention of making it liveable again and raising a family.

Seven years later, Edith leaves Harvey. He’s a shell of a man, unsuited to a normal life. He spends his days in bed, wearing only his underwear, fantasizing about being a hero…

John Wizard Games is an indie developer that has become known for well written, funny and interesting Windows PC RPGs. The company’s most recent title is the brief Jack of All Worlds, an affordable, short and somewhat simplistic RPG that presents an interesting, world-hopping storyline with an innovative, turn-based puzzle battle system.

Jack of All Worlds begins with Jack and his father exploring some sort of cave. We don’t know why, or what they’re doing there. Just that they’re there. Right when Jack’s father finds something interesting, a boulder falls out of nowhere and crushes him.

As Jack is starting to mourn, a mysterious and shadowy figure called Loki shows up. He offers to help Jack bring his dad back, but for a price. Jack must become Loki’s agent, going from the World Between to seven different worlds to effect events to keep each of those worlds from ending…

Lilly & Sasha: Curse of the Immortals begins with Lilly, Sasha, a guide and a mysterious man named Donovan journeying to the shrine of Zahhak, inside of a old cave. Donovan says that the power to change and revitalize the world lies inside, and he requires Lilly and Sasha’s divine powers to open the door to the shrine and get inside. Sasha’s eager to do so, since they’re being well paid, but Lilly senses something isn’t right.

Once inside the shrine, Donovan traps the three of them in there and says that no one is leaving until either Lilly or Sasha touches the shrine. Apparently, only one pure of heart can do so. Lilly says no, but Sasha goes right ahead and touches it. After doing so, Zahhak ends up inside of Sasha, and directs Donovan to begin carrying out preparations for some unknown, and unpleasant, plan…

This year, indie developer John Wizard Games has presented its fans, and the entire internet, with quite a Christmas gift. Instead of just offering a discount on its first game, Dawn’s Light, or some kind of cute Christmas card or holiday add-on, it has released Dawn’s Light: A Christmas Tale, a full free game.

Christmas is stolen by John Naught! So, game developer John Wizard finds he must face his old foe to save it. But doing it alone would be too troublesome, so he goes into his previous game, Dawn’s Light and gets its stars Harvey, Vera and Tyson to help him. (They’re doing it for the Santa hats.) Once they get to the real world, the three say that just saving Christmas is too easy, and also take on candy cane retrieval and elf rescue sidequests.

Of course, once John Naught realizes John Wizard has brought in Dawn’s Light characters, he asserts that it isn’t fair and recruits the Masked Man and Lord Adolin Swordhand: Cryer of Tears to help him with his Christmas ruining scheme…

I’m going to start by being brutally honest – when I first saw the John Wizard Games site for Dawn’s Light, with the initial screenshots and trailer, I wasn’t all that impressed. Indie RPGs can tend to look the same after a while, and the way everything was presented, I was thinking it was going to be just like the others. I had no idea that it would end up being one of the best PC games I’d play all year. John Wizard Games’ first title guides players along a long and memorable adventure.

Life starts out kinda sweet for Harvey. He and his brother, Victor, live on an island with their beloved Grandad. Then, one day, someone invades their personal paradise. Grandad tells Harvey to hide inside the house while he finds Victor. Unfortunately Mordecai, a masked man with a yet unknown agenda, discovers Victor first. Mordecai claims Victor is the key to something and kidnaps him. Grandad realizes Harvey isn’t safe there, and takes him to another island where he leaves him at an orphanage in the care of a nun named Tracey.

Seven years later, and things are once again going pretty well for Harvey. He’s found a pleasant enough life on the island, with its 11 other inhabitants. He’s come of age, and is looking for something to do…