Indie Games

pigeon_small

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So recently I've become interested in independently made games. Especially lovely lovely free games. It started after watching a bunch of "scary" indie games being played on YouTube. Some are impressive, some interesting, others not so much of either.

I learned about one last month called 1916 Der Unbekannte Krieg. You need something called the Unity Engine to play it as a browser game but it has its own downloadable version. http://www.kongregate.com/games/magnussen81/1916-der-unbekannte-krieg It is a simple game with a nice atmosphere with a surprising twist.

I don't actually care much for Slender. I see the appeal though but it feels repetitive and it isn't really scary to me, heh.
 
Slender is a lot like amnesia in my opinion (which is also an indie game). Amnesia I downloaded because it was supposed to be so scary, but it really wasn't. I ended up getting bored of it.
 
Hah Amnesia is at least 5 times more interesting than Slender. But I'll say Slender is better because it is brief and you can get a little scared in the short play time and then call it a day. Amnesia is slow and I guess you could get bored if the three monsters in it don't scare you.

But what about non scary games like those minecraft-like survival/adventure titles? I like those more than horror games. Of course we have Terraria. But a couple more have popped up since then like Towns and Don't Starve.

And of course Minecraft had predecessors such as Dwarf Fortress and Infiniminer. Look them up.
 
Has anyone played Braid? It's sort of like a super-sophisticated Mario, or a game made for Mario fans from back in the day, with newer graphics and mechanics.
 
I played amnesia at night, in the dark, alone, with high quality headphones, hoping it would scare me as much as my friends claimed it would...but it never did. I got annoyed that I had to run away from the monsters instead of fighting them, too. In real life if I saw those creatures I'd run away and hide...in a video game I want to beat them up. :D

I never really got into minecraft, though I do have it on my computer. Just reminds me of legos really.

My favorite indie game of all time is Psychonauts. In fact, that's my favorite game of all time. I really hope they make a sequel, that game is amazing and I haven't found any that have even compared to it.
 
Amnesia freaks me out to the point where I play it in chunks of maybe 5 minutes. I have yet to try Slender, but MarbleHornets has gotten me in to Slenderman so much that I will soon.
@pigeon: Unity is a flash plugin/extension that makes it easier for developers to develop three-dimensional flash games.
Minecraft and Terraria are staples of the indie game community. I gave Dwarf Fortress a try for a week a long time ago... It was too complicated and the controls were too cumbersome to me, but I loved the idea.
Braid is pretty, but for some reason I'm not very skilled in the game mechanics they use for that specific platformer. Normally I'm very good at platformers, too.
Everybody always raves about how good psychonauts is, but I haven't been interested enough to try it yet. I have it, so I'll get to it eventually...

My favourite indie games would probably have to be Portal (surprisingly, this game started as an indie mod), LIMBO (easily the most gorgeous game I have ever played), VVVVVV (incredibly fun retro platformer), and The Binding of Isaac (imagine playing a Zelda gameboy game, except it's just one long dungeon with a thousand more items in it... Also, the pots are piles of poop). I would highly suggest all of you try those games, and to keep your eye on the humble bundle, which is probably the greatest idea since sliced bread.

Are any of you interested in making art for an indie game? If so, let me know, I have several projects in the works...
 
How about Bastion? That's a fun indie game. I know some people don't like it due to repetitive gameplay. But I would like to ask what game isn't repetitive? In mario you jump a lot. In shooting games you shoot alot. The only variety is that you may be jumping on or shooting at different objects and targets. Plus the narrator was awesome.
 
Bastion didn't hold my attention long enough to finish, even though I did enjoy playing it. Amnesia scares the shit out of me and I haven't even encountered anything yet. Braid is often harder than it is fun, but if you're really good at big-picture puzzles you'll enjoy it. Minecraft and Terraria are much more fun than Don't Starve, but all are worth their price. Some other indi games I would recommend include FTL, The Binding of Isaac, and BIT.TRIP RUNNER. Oh, and VVVVVV and LIMBO. Definitely LIMBO.

On a related note, is there anybody interested in making an indi game? Especially any graphic artists...
 
BrianDouglas said:
Has anyone played Braid? It's sort of like a super-sophisticated Mario, or a game made for Mario fans from back in the day, with newer graphics and mechanics.
I loved Braid, it was less like Mario for me then it was a sort of playable commentary. I liked the little prologues before the gameplay as well as the time aspects. I also liked the little secrets.
 
Braid is a very well developed game, I remember enjoying it very much when I played it. Not sure I liked the character designs and esthetics of it, but the artistic content doesn't necessairly make a game good. The gameplay is as addictive and enjoyable as playing Mario, Kirby or any game of that same style.
 
I found Braid to be a beautiful game with a great soundtrack, but I did not find it addictive. It was a nice game, but it draw me in like say Mario would have otherwise.
 
My favorite indie game series is Hotline Miami by Dennaton Games. Hotline Miami 1 & 2 are both top-down shooters with a cool neo-retro style that sort of feels like an acid trip. The art style, use of color and soundtrack give these games an almost authentic 80's look and feel. Although that trippy effect would be hard to do on older hardware. Worth playing for anyone that wants a challenge and a trip down memory lane.
 
There's a bunch of really cool indie games.
Some of my favorites on Steam that I've been playing: Terraria, Prison Architect, Game Dev Tycoon, Adventure Manager, The Binding of Isaac...
Occasionally Greenlight comes out with some good games (amidst an avalanche of trash, to be sure); currently my friends' game is on Greenlight. Check it out, vote if you can. I've played it and besides coming from my friends, it's actually rather good! Nostalgic to those of us who played the genre way back in the day.
 
@CemeteryGates23 I just checked out your friend's indie game. It looks quite fun and it's nice to see it has received mostly positive feedback. I know that there are some nasty individuals on Steam who don't appreciate these types of games. They think they shouldn't be Greenlit on Steam because they are more simple games. They don't seem to realize the hard work and dedication it takes to develop even a retro-style title. I'll be sure to support your friend's endeavor.
 
@Damien Lee Thanks, man! These guys are lifelong friends of mine and I've been watching them struggle, learn, take a step back and re-learn for three years making that game, and even though I'm not the biggest fan of the genre (I blame Contra for murdering my taste), I've been having a blast with their game these past couple of weeks. I really believe in it and I've been trying to drop their name in a few places in hopes to get more people who may enjoy it interested. It means a lot to me and undoubtedly to them, and hopefully once it's fully released, you and many other people can find good times and everything that makes us passionate about playing and discussing games in theirs. :D
 
I love indie games, they're the future in my opinion. Lots of originality and creativity are emerging in the indie genre... Indie games are amazing because the developers don't create them thinking about how much money they're gonna make. Of course they do think about it, of course, but it seems that they always put art in front of everything. My favorite indie company is probably Chucklefish, I love everything they do.
 
Indie games for me only appeal to a certain type of gamer but I do think they showcase the amount of creativity and talent that's out there. While they can be fun to play, and the game play is often better than the big budget games, gamers these days can be fickle and unless a game as got the best graphics and is number one in the console charts, a lot of them aren't interested and that's something that the makers of the indie games are finding hard to compete against.
 
My favorite type of indie games are japanese horror. I've played Ib, Madfather, The Witch's House, Misao, the "Man" series by Uri and some more I can't really seem to remember their correct names lol
Lately there are a lot of amazing indie games that I love to play and they have really amazing plots!
 
@yeppeo Yessss- someone else who's played those games!

I'm really into the indie J-horror games, Ao Oni being one of the first I every played in that genre. Then I got hooked to Yume Nikki and it all sort of exploded from there. I still keep myself updated from time to time, but with work and university eating all my time up, it's become harder to do so. :/

Another indie game I really enjoyed was Strawberry Cubes - it's not so much a 'game' in the traditional sense that there's an end goal and a plot, but it's interesting from a developer's PoV how much you can break a game and affect it and make it "appear" to have a plot. I spent a lot of hours just glitching the game out and seeing if I could access any of the hidden areas and what else there was to find.
 
Amazing you also play those! There are a lot of amazing games of the genre and while their visual quality isn't exactly the best, the plots are surely intricate enough to make it interesting!
I've played Yume Nikki and Ao Oni before but I'll check your suggestion about Strawberry Cubes ;) (always trying to find new games to play! :giggle: )
 

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