A Guide to Independent Games: Parts 1 and 2

By: Derek Yu

On: August 8th, 2007

I ranted and raved about Game Tunnel’s Top 100 Indie Games, but it was a Top 27 Indie [Art] Games list that put me over the edge and finally convinced me to put together the first parts of this guide right here. Basically, those two lists took the two sides of independent gaming that make me gag – money-lovin’ casual gaming and pseudo- intellectual “arthouse” gaming – and presented them as if they were, in fact, what it’s all about.

Well, you know what – the gaming-for-love-of-gaming “elitists” need their own list, too. ;)

Anyway, Part One is an introduction I penned that’s essentially a love poem to independent gaming and analogies, but I hope gets the point across successfully.

Part Two is a compilation of good independent games (not ranked) that was pared down from a list that TIGForums members put together. The main goal was twofold: to list great games and also to show the diversity and strength of independent developers. It runs the gamut, from text-based IF games to tech-pushing affairs like Penumbra: Overture; from hardcore shoot ‘em ups like Warning Forever to fun, well-made casual games like Outpost Kaloki and Aveyond… and beyond. I think you’d be hard-pressed not to find at least a handful of games you really, really liked in this list.

Parts 3 and 4… well, I have plans for them, but it could go a lot of ways, depending on what people think of the first two parts. One idea was to have Part 3 be an introduction to making your own game, and have Part 4 be a collection of short writings from various people in the community about indie games, with the general theme being the future. Let me know your thoughts!

And I hope you enjoy the article! If you do, spread it around a bit! If you don’t, feel free to let us know why. Open discourse is the only way to go.

Posted in Community, Features

Derek

I should mention that I think Retro Remakes’s Top 100 Games, while not indie exclusive, is a better indie gaming representative than either of the aforementioned lists by a factor which is approaching infinity. And also just a great general, all-around games ranking in my opinion.
Tim

I love this list, lots of favorites of mine in it. ;)
Tim

er.. surely you meant top 27 indy art games? or perhaps it’s another list you’re referring to..
Derek

Thanks, Tim!

And yes, I am referring to the Top 27. :)

It was such a nice, even number that I easily confused it for 10. ;)
Nikica

The list is great, i wish you could make that in a PDF !!!
Nikica

Derek why you want money for your child when she is “out” ???
Nikica

Oh and i ask me what did Pixel and Indepndent Gaming all do together to make the wonderfull Cave Story ?!
http://www.g4g.it FireSword

Rock on dudes, i am in the freeware, not much in the indie stuff, still i hate sam & max back in those days, still don ‘t like it now.. Still don’t get it, but if games like geometry wars will be comercial success on console (x360 marketplace)that will quite impress me..(or they are already commercial indie success?)

Peace.
Mischief Maker

Good list, but what in God’s name is Darwinia doing there? Why is everyone going gaga over Introversion’s games? Darwinia was the dullest and slowest game I ever made the mistake of playing to the end. The worst part is how everyone keeps saying, “It’s difficult to describe the gameplay…” No it’s not! It’s an incredibly watered-down clone of “Sacrifice” with the long-since-abandoned (for good reason) interface of “Syndicate.” Don’t get me started on “Defcon” aka. “I can’t believe it’s not a flash game, but lets forget the shallow gameplay and talk about non-existent connections between this game and “Dr Strangelove; did I mention the sound of a woman crying in the bkg?” Seriously, Darwinia sucks and there are much better, actually fun indies that deserve that slot. Like Deadly Rooms of Death, the “Half Life” of Puzzle games (starting with Journey to Rooted Hold).
fish

OH YEAAAH!!! *cheese guitar*
King-N

Good List.
Derek

@Mischief Maker:

You know what, good call on DROD. I’m not going to take Darwinia out, because I think it’s a good game, and it’s a significant game for many reasons. It’s probably slightly overrated, but it belongs there.

But DROD is an excellent, unique puzzle game and it’s a shame how few people know about it. I’m going to include it in place of Gamma Bros., which is fun, but doesn’t do anything particularly extraordinary. Plus we already have enough shoot ’em ups in there, imo – it’s a well-represented genre.

Anyway, that’s going to be the only “take back” for this list, and only because I was already very much on the fence about Gamma Bros. I think DROD rounds out the list better. Thanks!
Akhel

Great list, AWESOME introduction. :D
juice

I always seem to end up defending Darwinia, but…

Introversion have done some good stuff, though their main achievement is probably the fact that they managed to break into the mainstream, to the point where they got physical copies of their games into the shops. Defcon isn’t my cup of tea, and I’ve never really had a stab at Uplink, but Darwinia…

Suffice to say I’ve ranted about it before – I love the game, the vibe and the concept – hey, I’m a child of the 80s and I grew up with Tron and the Amiga. DROD, on the other hand, sounds at best like it’d be vaguely interesting, if I was stuck on a desert island without any other games to play.

Still, that’s the key thing about generating a “best of” list: it’s someone’s opinion, and no two people are alike. Go make your own top 50, fill it with the games you like, sit back and watch the flames erupt. At worst you’ll end up wasting megabytes of bandwidth, at best you’ll help to introduce people to some new games and concepts.
Derek

Well, booyah, Darwinia and DROD are now both on the list! Of course that means that the Gamma Bros. fans will be on my ass, but… ;)

(I think I made a good case for DROD over Gamma Bros, though.)

Anyway, glad the feature is being well-received generally, and even gladder to see that it’s stirring up some discussion!
Lackey

Good decision on linking to other, related titles in a bunch of the descriptions. This lets you outside the restriction of a list a little.
Mazapán

Great list! This is exactly what I will send to my friends that aren’t into indie games (or even don’t know what indie games are) instead of sending one game at a time that I think they might like.
Chris

If this a list of games to play, which ones do YOU actually recommend playing? And why?

If Derek is brave enough to post a list representing the subjective preferences of the TIGSource forums, I’d like to know why each of these games is worth their yen – from the folks who recommend them. Because to be honest, a list that primps every game as the ‘bestest evar!’ doesn’t tell me much about what’s actually worth my time.
juice

@Derek:

Go for it:) I just had a quick blast on GB, and while it’s obviously been well made, it’s a fairly standard Robotron style beastie. Mutant Storm (which is only mentioned in passing – tut tut tut) did a much better job of bringing Robotron into the 21st Century (as did Geometry Wars, but that’s not really an indy game)

I may have been overly harsh on DROD – Wikipedia makes it sound like there’s some potential (I love Advance Wars, and tend to play it like a puzzle game, which is how this one sounds to be). But still, there’s a lot of other games on the list ahead of it…
Derek

Chris, there was no need to pretend that any of the games was good when they weren’t. I’ve played mostly all of them and they’re all good. Not the “bestest evar” but if the description of the game sounds interesting to you, it’ll probably be worth your time.

Not to discourage you from getting more personal reasons for why people like the games, I’m just sayin’…
Adam Atomic

great job derek! i’d be happy to contribute to parts 3 or 4 if you need the help!
Chris

I guess I wasn’t clear enough – the comment/request wasn’t directed at you Derek – it is directed at the folks who recommended those games. Surely a simple “just play it!” isn’t enough – I’ve played about half of these games over the past year, and some are definitely more interesting than others. Those “personal reasons” are exactly what I’m after – why would I recommend any of these games over, say, the next commercial blockbuster?

I’m just trying to stimulate some critical discussion, not crap on your list (which is fairly complete!). That was done on the previous lists, and it didn’t provide any insight into why the games themselves are valuable.
http://www.tscreative.net BMcC

Smashing idea for a feature, Derek! ;P
http://www.rey-o.com rey-o

a powerful list!

it was cool seeing this develop on the forums
Guert

Good job Derek! A very nice feature indeed!
hey-o

this list is bullshit… where is eternal daughter?
Shih Tzu

Yay, IF represented! I should put together my own totally subjective “list of IF I played and liked and why they are worth your time” for TIGSource or something.
Ryan A

Derek, that intro moved me in a way that only you can.
Zarquon The Mighty

Derek, how could you forget Ocular Ink?!

http://pistachioproductions.com/dart/
fartron

I reddited it to help spread the word.
Patrick

The first game I worked on that got “published” (in the online, indie sense) was Play With Fire which was massively overlooked on all of these recent lists. Give it a try, its tight, you play a FIREBALL.
Gr.Viper

*a bit off-topic.. don’t know where else to post :(
Have you seen Fate By Numbers? That’s a fresh awesome indy adventure. FMV, hi-tech noir – Blade Runner style. Nice interface. And it’s free.
About a gig of adventure goodness
http://www.fatebynumbers.com/
It sure deserves to get into some Top!
me

speaking of adventures. i feel the shivah got more hype for the fact that the main character is a rabbi than it actually being a good adventure game. which it wasn’t really, imo of course. not to sound too harsh. very dullish locations with a cliche plot. and the clue system didn’t really work, the game lacked really good puzzles, i thought. it’s a good game, but not really the top indy adventure. though, of course, this is purely subjective. :)
Pyabo

Derek… everything you do and say is correct. I never doubted you. Those other posts with my name? Someone else.

DROD is about 1000% better than Gamma Bros.
crukid

awesome!
Watcher

YOU WILL NEVER WIN DEREK, I WILL MAKE A MATCH-3 GAME JUST TO SPITE YOU.
http://leakypig.neverlietofascists.com/ Raincoatduck

Don’t even pretend Eternal Daughter doesn’t belong on there, sir.

The introduction is fucking brilliant and definitely captures how I feel about games now.
nizzate

start the petition to get eternal daughter on there!
PoV

Haha. Great opening article Derek. I love the pregnancy part. :)
nestor

truly inspired writings Derek. I hate having to fork out a $500 graphics card just to go out to dinner.
Mischief Maker

I changed the list! I win!

And while you’ve made the only changes that will me made to the list, dammit!, it’s worth mentioning, in case you’re iffy about truck dismount or death worm, that Starships Unlimited (http://www.apezone.com/starshipsunlimited.php) takes a little Master of Orion, a little Heroes of Might and Magic, and a lot of Star Trek and creates a 4X game that so expertly eliminates the niggling micromanagement that you really feel like the Emperor of Space sending your fleets to explore the unknown and crush your enemies instead of the Auditor of Space nitpicking over the happiness levels of the farmers on planet Yawn-5.
Patrick

Hey, messed the tag up on the PwF link, here check it out:

http://www.manifestogames.com/node/614
makeshifter

being fairly new to tig source this list helped a lot. and the story wasn’t that bad either. so yea great thanks. ummmm i don’t know what to say any more so bye.
rinkuhero

Great writing/analogy.
Twisted Rabbit

Every time Derek does something this great I wonder if he is a God. From now on i shall refer to him as Derek the Deity. (the name kinda flows..)
makeshifter

i like it we should all start calling him that(i speaks like he knows what the fuck deity means)
http://jayisgames.com/ Jay

Not my results, but thanks JIG and game designers!
Ryan A

ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
ETERNAL DAUGHTER
Twisted Rabbit

for yall that dont know… deity =
“1 : the rank or essential nature of a god : DIVINITY
2 : a god or goddess 3 : one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful(such a reputable source, but im lazy)”
~ Merriam Webster

Anyhow, i am really looking forward to part 3. I have always been interested in making a game (even if highly inferior and unplayable). Also, part 4 seems like it could be an interesting read at very least.

*counting the days till part three and Knytt Stories*
Sergio

Derek, why didn’t you mention any of your previous children with Independent Gaming? Have you denounced them…? :(