Indi games that don't suck...

Comixbooks

Fully [H]
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What are some of your favorite indi games? I have a thing for Indi Gala right now since the bundles are so cheap you can't go right or wrong.

My 3 favorite Indi games are
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Five Nights at Freddy's

Dino D Day

Inquisitor
 
How are you actually defining "indie game?"

The term these days is not really strictly defined enough to properly convey what is actually being referred to.
 
I define it as a game made by a small team. Assault Android Cactus is one of the best Indie games that is in Early Access. The game is so damn good. It's a crime more people don't know about it.
 
Well that is somewhat more specific but what is a "small team?"

I've been enjoying Don't Starve, doing some research there's 35 people employed at the studio (not sure how many worked on the game specifically). Does that count? That's smaller than the current big studios I guess but also many times more than the development team for yours.

A related issue to this would be how you factor in outsourcing.
 
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Anything that doesn't follow the mainstream I suppose is indi. I know Destiny is Indi but it's too AAA mainstream to call it a indi.
 
Anything that doesn't follow the mainstream I suppose is indi. I know Destiny is Indi but it's too AAA mainstream to call it a indi.



Not really, they signed a 10 year publishing agreement with Activision Blizzard. If independent were a wagon they're being dragged by a rope a mile behind it. Also Destiny is garbage and if you spent all your time digging through trash cans for Mountain COD unlock code caps you'd be closer to playing an independent game than Destiny.

Tripwire is about as big a company as you can get and still be considered independent. Killing Floor would probably be the Indie Game I've put the most time into.
 
How are you actually defining "indie game?"

The term these days is not really strictly defined enough to properly convey what is actually being referred to.

It means independent from a publisher. The game can be big or small and gameplay type does not matter. I do play various indie games, but by far my favorite at the moment is DCS World.

A video I made a few months back (music is from Aero Elite Combat Academy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBmWJ8R8rt0
 
Brothers : A Tale of Two Sons
Dust : AET
Rogue Legacy
Spelunky!
FTL
Terraria
Bastion
Gone Home
 
Hard Reset
Shadow Warrior
Mark of the Ninja
Deadlight
Torchlight 2
Quantum Conundrum
Limbo
Guacamelee
 
Nidhogg - there is nothing more fun than local multiplayer with friends. Simplistic mechanics but very precise action with a lot of strategy involved. In fact, I played this all weekend with my brother, my kids, a friend who dropped by. If you want to giggle like a little-gell whilst stabbing your friends (digitally of course) you must get this game. I can't really say enough good things about it. My kids and I are honing our skills, and really developing some interesting strategy. Get this game.

FEZ - possibly the best platform puzzle game ever.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - puzzle tool side scrolling spaceship game. The game is flawless. Well it had one flaw previously, and that was GFWL, but they swapped it out for Steamworks.

Monaco - Very cool overhead multiplayer heist game. You pick a character based on their skill set, and hopefully assemble a team that can do a lot of different things. Hacking, breaking through walls, combat, lookout, etc. etc.

I'll say it again, get Nidhogg. Damnit! :D
 
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just played this only because it was free on PSN/PS4. What a piece of shit. Another reason i just dont get the whole indie thing.

Indie games seem to be targeting extremely small groups of people. I still haven't found a single one to my liking, they all seem to be half assed in one or more areas. I guess they are the games for the hipsters who think every AAA game is shit these days.
 
I love Indie games personally. Sure I like the Battlefields of the world. But usually they have cut and paste; tried and true game play mechanics. I like things that are different; where the developer strays away from the cookie cutter mold. Blizzard announced at Blizzcon that they were releasing their first new IP in 17 years. I just can't deal with that mentality at my age. They fit in perfect with Activision and the Call of Duty franchise. How many Mario / Mario clones can one person play before they realize that they are buying the same game over and over?

I'd rather have uniqueness over recycled flash.
 
IndiE, dear God your saying indi is annoying.

My definition of Indie game is without a publisher and a small company (not Valve, for example).

My favorites are FTL, and Rogue Legacy. I havent played many indies but I'm sure there are some great ones.
 
Indie games seem to be targeting extremely small groups of people. I still haven't found a single one to my liking, they all seem to be half assed in one or more areas. I guess they are the games for the hipsters who think every AAA game is shit these days.

my sentiments exactly. I grew up in the atari 2600/NES days witha PC Jr. i have fond memories of these pixelated/monochrome/cga/etc games. I really dont want to waste time playing so called throwbacks that ppl rave about.
 
It means independent from a publisher. The game can be big or small and gameplay type does not matter.

This is the issue I'm referring to though as your definition is already differing from several of the others posted in here.

Like if we go to the issue someone mentioned here -

Indie games seem to be targeting extremely small groups of people. I still haven't found a single one to my liking, they all seem to be half assed in one or more areas. I guess they are the games for the hipsters who think every AAA game is shit these days.

Valve is technically an independent than and it's games would be indie but targeting very large groups of people, as well as qualifying as AAA in terms of production quality.

But yeah you see in this thread that a lot of differing opinions of what qualifies as indie and than further existing impressions based upon those qualifications (eg. indie games = 8 bit graphics).
 
I'd say it includes anything from a developer who is INDependent of a major publisher. However, I know the term has gotten different meanings assigned to it much the same way films and music of the same label have. I think most people can agree that it's TYPICALLY (not always) smaller "garage-devs" and the like, and that they have similar production levels. Many are 2D as it's easier to develop on a small budget. Many are highly polished (see my list on the first page for examples). Many are not on the other hand. Having just sunk my whole weekend into playing Nidhogg with friends and family, I can attest to its quality, and attention to details, perfected mechanics, etc. Check out the reviews for it too. It seems to be more than just a small group of 2D gaming freaks (which I am admittedly one of) but it's getting acclaim from a fairly wide audience. I think the 8-bit term is just as misused.
 
Valve is technically an independent than and it's games would be indie but targeting very large groups of people, as well as qualifying as AAA in terms of production quality.

But yeah you see in this thread that a lot of differing opinions of what qualifies as indie and than further existing impressions based upon those qualifications (eg. indie games = 8 bit graphics).

While Valve is independent for their own games, they do essentially publish/distribute games for hundreds of other companies. Although I don't think Valve/Steamworks handles any of the legal work and whatnot, so I am not sure if Valve can count as a "publisher" for all Steamworks based titles.

But I would count TWI (Red Orchestra, Killing Floor, RO2, KF2) and BI (ArmA series) as independent. TWI sold a lot of copies of KF and are now a 50 man studio. RO was (RO2 to a lesser extent) a niche game, with KF being mainstream. Some other companies come to mind as well.

But an "indie" game doesn't have to be some horrible 2D tablet game in which hipsters have to lie to themselves by saying they are fun. :p Although a few of these games are great, the majority of them aren't.
 
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