What does it all mean? That is the question the faithful ask of this week's news that GarageGames has been basically acquired by Barry Diller's InstantAction network. InstantAction is being built right now and is a web-based action gaming portal multiplayer games with little or no installation or downloads required. Josh Williams , CEO of GarageGames, said that the love affair between the two companies began after they showed off some new web game development technology. Many moons later and Diller's crew owns a sizeable chunk of the company best known as the maker of the Torque game engine technology. But after it is all said and done, what does this mean for Torque, the GarageGames store front and all of its indie partners? That is a question that really hasn't been answered but needs to be addressed...

I'm hoping that GarageGames continues in the community, continues to work on Torque and delivers new tools for those wanting to create games for Wii Ware. But, at least for me, it feels like that's all up in the air..

With that melancholy news out of the way, let's move on to this week's picks. Before I do that let me give props to the sites where I found this week's gems - they include Gamer's Gate , the wonderful Independent Gaming , The reliable GameTrove , GarageGames and the Indie Gamer Forums .

Over at GameTrove is a new search adventure game worth taking a look at called Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor . In the game the protagonist receives a strange letter from his uncle that talks of a strange device, an unknown enemy and a missing start unit. What's a curious nephew to do but set off to help out as best he can? In this seek and search adventure you comb through the halls of Spooky Manor for broken objects, misplaced items and tackle a series of brainy puzzles to get to the bottom of the mystery. A keen eye for detail and some amount of brain power is all that's required to enjoy this game.

From the pages of Independent Gaming comes two free gems from the team known simply as Perfect Run. The first is a newer game from the team that pays homage to GoldenEye for the Nintendo 64. What's neat about this game is that it's kind of cute, 2D and features a visual style that could be found on the original Game Boy. There's only one level for the game right now but it does feature an interesting boss fight at the end. Controls are as simple as tapping the Z key to jump and pressing the X to shoot. Give it a try by downloading it directly from here .

The second game from Perfect Run is an older 2D scroller called Run N Gun . As the name implies, this shooter has you running and gunning against a cast of baddies including a big giant robot. The game is simply charming and perfect for some mindless fun. Give it a try - it's free.

While some may not consider this an indie title I think that this is such a good deal that it deserves a plug anyways. Gamer's Gate is offering Majesty Gold Edition for the low price of 9.95 USD. This compilation pack offers the original game along with the Northern Expansion. Majesty is an odd man out for strategy games where you take a hands-off approach to the fantasy themed strategy game because you don't control any of your units directly. If you have never played the game, now is good a time as any. Find out more at Gamer's Gate .