Indie Games You Ought To Play

[Jarka]

I kind of have a crush on indie games, so here's a thread devoted to 'em. Post any sweet games you've come across recently (with links, if you can).

Note: when I say indie, I mean the catchall term for non-major releases from non-major developers that tend to slip through the cracks. Small devs, student devs, independent designers, whatever. I'm not limiting genre or pretentiousness - Burrito Bison is just as valid a game as Braid.

[Jarka]

Small Worlds

It takes about 15-30 minutes to play through. Wasn't a fan of the ending, but I loved the implied narrative - it's amazing what can be done without any sort of text.

[Vad]

Why did my mind read that as "I have a crush on indian chicks."

Buckets of Blood is a fun game.

[Super Buu]

Small Worlds

It takes about 15-30 minutes to play through. Wasn't a fan of the ending, but I loved the implied narrative - it's amazing what can be done without any sort of text.

Neat.

[Maruset]

Small Worlds

It takes about 15-30 minutes to play through. Wasn't a fan of the ending, but I loved the implied narrative - it's amazing what can be done without any sort of text.

That was entertaining

[Jonathan Meer]

Very entertaining. I wouldn't call it a game, though.

[Jarka]

Very entertaining. I wouldn't call it a game, though.

Why not?

[Jonathan Meer]

It isn't lose-able. I take that as a pre-req.

[Kaden]

Jarka actually beat me to it.

It was an interactive experience that provided entertainment. It intrigues me that you don't view that as a game.

I would argue that Braid, as an example, can't be lost, but I'd be surprised to hear anyone say that that isn't a game.

[Jonathan Meer]

It's certainly not the sharpest delineation there is. But if the word game means anything at all, I expect part of it must include that there is a loss-condition.

A loss-condition doesn't have to include the standard 'reset from checkpoint'. Puzzle games, for example, may be created such that they never need to be 'reset', but they remain a game in that there is a problem for which there is a solution, such that other possibilities that are tried are wrong. That doesn't exist here.

I'm not knocking Small Worlds. It's awesome. I liked it. And, in everyday parlance, without a good alternative word to describe what it is (icky phrases like 'interactive audio-visual experience' come to mind), I'd probably just call it a game. But I don't think it is, in the same way that Tetris is a game.

Though I could be wrong with that, and wouldn't be surprised if my definition could be forced into a contradiction.

[Anzekay]

Bastion.

[Kaden]

You actually ended up touching on the point I was going to segue into. "Video game" is a bad name for video games. I definitely am not a fan, but without going with something that you, appropriately, referred to as "icky" we don't really have an alternative.

I would definitely call Small Worlds a video game, but in the same way I would refer to Shadow of the Colossus. The interaction is there as a vehicle for the narrative and the mechanics are the wheels. The opposite (playing for the mechanics and using the narrative to get from A to B) I would apply to something like Dynasty Warriors or most FPSs or any sports game. They're still video games, but the two examples are using the medium for two wildly different things.

I was going to apologize for getting off-topic, but the more I thought about it the more I think that this applies to indie games. They're often going to involve simpler mechanics that are about relaying a narrative than about creating the kind of competitive experience that most people, I think, would traditionally associate with "video games."

[Super Buu]

Basically, we could adopt the term 'interactive entertainment', but since it's long and sucks, we use 'game' to describe forms of interactive entertainment.

[Jarka]

Basically, we could adopt the term 'interactive entertainment', but since it's long and sucks, we use 'game' to describe forms of interactive entertainment.

Interactive entertainment is, in my opinion, the most apt terminology. But holy shit is it a mouthful.

[Jonathan Meer]

Game as shorthand for 'interactive entertainment' works for me.

Though 'interactive' is nearly as vague as 'game'. But whatev.

[Jonathan Meer]

Nightsky. All of you should play it. It is my favorite game of 2011, hands down. It's one of those rareties (like VVVVVV) that is a single, coherent unit; it knows exactly what it is, and every element of the game is wrapped around that core.

Definitely a must-play.

[Jarka]

Bastion.

All I've heard is heaps of praise for Bastion, but I've yet to actually get my hands on it.

What was your biggest takeaway from it?

[Anzekay]

That games are able to be simple and still tell an incredible story through clever design.

Also that you gotta build that wall up.

[Jarka]

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT LAST BIT MEANS, YOU JERK.

[Anzekay]

Play it and you will!