Archive for Indie Games
Gaming’s underground: an indie games primer
February 16th, 2009 •
Tags: games, Gaming, independent games, indie games, Xbox 360, Xbox Community Games
Like most commercial artforms, video games have a vibrant community that exists outside the commercial realm. People are making games that are less influenced by the marketability of the graphics, the concept, and the gameplay conventions—and in many cases they are not influenced at all by these factors. This gives developers and artists a blank canvas to create games that you could never find on the shelf at GameStop.
For years, indie gaming has been primarily a PC affair. Console development has had too many barriers for small-time developers to be able to even consider as a viable platform. Of course, there have always been the stories of the game developed by the guy in his mom’s basement that was discovered by someone and turned into a full-fledged console release, but that is the exception not the rule. In the past year, this has started to change slowly. Microsoft has released its development kit and launched Community Games on Xbox Live which is a platform for indie developers to release and sell their creations. The iPhone has also offered a successful and accessible platform for indie developers. Most indie games are still on the PC, but the industry has seen the value in indie games and is making inroads to having them on a multitude of platforms.
GemCraft is a deep tower defense game built in Flash and playable in the browser
Possibly the most popular platform of all for indie gaming is the web thanks to the Flash browser plugin. There are hundreds of sites that focus solely on providing a Flash gaming playground with titles spanning every genre you can imagine. Because of the ubiquity of Flash, these games are accessible to almost anyone with a computer of any kind. They reach levels of sophistication that are very close to that of applications native to a particular hardware platform and offer something for casual and hardcore gamers alike.
Within indie games are represented a number of popular genres of old that no longer receive exposure in the mainstream. There are still die-hard fans of the point-and-click adventure genre and the shoot ‘em up genre, but there aren’t enough of them to justify big-budget boxed releases outside the oddball title once every year or two. The indie scene has stepped in to support fans of these genres, and developers release a steady stream of these titles all the time.
Counterstrike started life as a Half-life mod
Indie games also invent new genres that often make their way into the mainstream. Popular PC shooter Counterstrike began its life as a freely-distributed game mod for the original Half-life. A loose genre that has gained popularity as of late is the “arthouse game.” This genre label doesn’t really describe a particular set of gameplay conventions as many do but instead refers to an underlying philosophy present throughout games in the genre to a greater or lesser extent. This genre bending and stretching often even stretches the definition of a “game” to encompass interactive works of art (drawing the ire of some).
Speaking of game mods, they too are a major part of the indie gaming community. Modern PC games often ship with sets of tools that allow players to more easily modify and extend the experience of the original release. Even before these toolsets were common, users were still known to hack together modifications of popular games. These mods can be as simple as a new map or weapon or as complex as a completely new game with entirely different sounds, weapons, characters, and levels. Modders have even developed completely different genres of games on top of existing ones.
By nature of their being not as commercially viable as big titles on the console, they are also less visible. So, where would you go if you wanted to find some cool indie games? Try these sites:
Bytejacker- Bytejacker is a twice weekly video podcast that focuses on downloadable games in general. Of course, the WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade titles profiled are still big—too big in most cases to be classified as “indie,” but the show also covers indie PC games and iPhone games. It is currently one of my favorite podcasts and is certainly a fantastic source for indie goodness.
Indiegames.com Blog- This blog covers the hottest releases in the PC indie scene. You’ll often get video footage along with the descriptions to further entice you.
The Independent Gaming Source- Indie PC games are also the focus of this long-running blog. Subscribe to this feed and you will surely find a plethora of awesome games you would otherwise have overlooked.
Game Tunnel- Accessibility to developers is a double edged sword. In the indie scene, you will find some gems packed full of originality. You’re also going to find a lot of crap. If reviews of PC indie games are what you’re after, this is your place.
Slide To Play- My current favorite iPhone games review site. Sure, the iPhone is starting to get noticed by major developers, but it is still a largely independent playground.
Kongregate- This is the killer platform for Flash games. Kongregate hosts a ton of games and has site-wide acheivements ala Xbox 360. Completing an achievement in a game that supports them (many do) will add to your site-wide score. You can also complete certain acheivements to earn cards for use in Kongregate’s Flash-based collectible card game. The site also enables you to chat with other players while playing. I’m raddevon on the site so, if you join, look me up!
Newgrounds- You might call Newgrounds the birthplace of Castle Crashers since the game’s creators not only got their start posting games on the site; Tom Fulp himself actually started the site! The site is the original home of Alien Hominid which eventually became a modestly successful console game on multiple platforms including the latest version on XBLA. The success of that game paved the way for the insanely fun XBLA title Castle Crashers. The site hosts all types of Flash content, but a major chunk of its content is in the games section.
Mod DB- If you own any of the popular PC games released in the past 10 years, there are probably at least one or two mods you could download and install for free to give you a fresh gaming experience. Mod DB currently indexes almost 5,000 PC game mods which can be searched and sorted by the game they modify, the release status, the genre, the theme, and whether they are single or multi-player.
If you find yourself bored with a seemingly endless cavalcade of cookie-cutter AAA titles, dig a little deeper into the indie games scene. You’ll find greater variety and incredible innovation in almost every aspect of the games from story to visuals to gameplay. There are also indie developers working hard to refine more mainstream gaming tropes to levels not pursued in the mainstream. The indie scene can truly provide something for every gamer.
Three great gaming blogs (two new to me)
February 15th, 2009 •
Tags: blogs, casual games, coop, cooperative games, flash, games, Gaming, gaming blogs, Indie Games, News
Awesome gaming blogs are coming out of the woodwork. I have found two excellent blogs in the past week that were not at all on my radar before.
The first is Play This Thing! That’s their exclamation, not mine, but it is well-deserved nonetheless. The blog covers games that are otherwise starving for coverage. They cover indie games of all kinds including downloadable games, Flash games, and even board games (which makes me very happy). If you’re interested in trying games that are small and virtually unheard of, this is the site for you. I strongly suggest you try it. There are really quite a few gems out there.
Next up is Co-Optimus. Thanks to one of the podcasts that rose from the ashes of 1Up (I can’t recall if it was Geekbox or Rebel FM.) for pointing this one out to me. This blog is perfect for fans of cooperative play in games. Cooperative play has been gaining more traction in recent years. Gone are the days of multiplayer being almost exclusively competitive… and good riddance! I’m as much a fan of competing as anyone, but I don’t want that exclusively as the only multiplayer experience. This covers news and information for games that can be played cooperatively.
Lastly comes a blog I have read for some time and just realized I had not yet subscribed to in Google Reader: Jay Is Games. The blog covers casual games of all flavors (albeit mostly Flash games). Don’t let this turn off any hardcore gamers as there is plenty of fun to be had here. I’m sure you have all played Tetris and know that a hardcore gamer doesn’t have to interface with a steroid-hyped space marine with a gun the size of the typical geek’s entire body to get satisfaction from a gaming experience. The games here are fun, easy to get into, and great for a few minutes of play. Please note: if you view this site at work, your productivity may suffer greatly!
Do you know any awesome blogs that me or my readers may be missing? It can be related to anything covered on this site. Just post them in the comments. I love finding new blogs to read!
City Rain: Awesome twist on city building
February 6th, 2009 •
Tags: city building, City Rain, falling blocks, Game, games, Indie Games, indie games, SimCity, Tetris
IndieGames.com spills the beans on City Rain—a cross between a city-building sim and a falling block game. It sounds to me like just the twist to bring new life into this sub-genre that has remained virtually unchanged since the release of the original SimCity. A Flash demo is available now, and the full game is set for release soon on Direct2Drive. I must say the music is wonderfully relaxing.
The Legend of Princess
January 25th, 2009 •
Tags: free, games, Indie Games, zelda
The IndieGames.com blog highlights a new indie release entitled The Legend of Princess. Unfortunately, I can’t fire it up right now because the Windows partition on my Macbook Pro died a horrible death and will no longer boot or mount. The video looks really cool. It looks little like a 2D Castlevania with more colorful sprites. The developer describes it as a “one-level arcade interpretation of Zelda.” Having only a single level, it’s pretty short, but it’s free!