Indie Games

[RitualBlack]

I love indie games, I just can't get enough of them :laugh: . A few I have been playing recently are Overgrowth, Cortex Command, Voxatron, and Tiny and Big. I have several others but these four are my favourites.

 

I was wondering if anyone has played any recently that have some really neat features which set them apart from other games? If so I would be very pleased to hear about them. They don't even have to be indie games I suppose, I am really just looking for something new to play and the games made by small companies have been providing the most entertainment :sweat: . Thanks.

[Vindekarr]

I don't really know many indy games, and probably even less than you already know, but I've been getting immense fun from the smaller releases lately. It's funny, there's been some beautiful, amazing games recently, like Gears 3, Skyrim, and so many more you can't mention them all, but some of the games I'll remember the most out of the last few years would be Magika, Minecraft(original), Bastion, Torchlight and Tren-Sorry, "Iron brigade"(anyone else here think Trenched had more personality?)

 

Now, they weren't neccessarily all indy, but they were however more fifty brazilian dollar rather than fifty bajillion dollar releases, and mostly downloadables. Iron Brigade takes out best DLC EVAR from me for it's collosal update Rise Of The Martian Bear, which combined with the free Iron Brigade update adds a whole new play mode, a few new hours of campaign, about a hundred or more new mech parts including some totaly new types of gear such as laser and plasma guns, AND a tartan paintjob. What else do you need? not a lot.

 

Magicka is just... Magicka. It's got shenanigens like little else, and they're wizard shenanigens too, which are the second best sort(to ninja shenanigens in space) I mean come on, it's buggy to be sure, but sometimes all you need is fun factor, and magicka put a smile on my face a lot more than most. The same goes for torchlight, which runs on max on my work laptop(and really does look purdy) and has so far managed to make me miss two train stations and seventeen busstops by sucking me in while playing portable. Minecraft needs no introduction, and Bastion's just charming.

 

I'd really be interested to know if there's some indy games that you can recomend, after this lot, I've become a lot more receptive to the little games that could.

[Handofbane]

If you like JRPG style games, a rather unique indie game to give a shot is Recettear An Item Shop's Tale. It plays like a combination of classic JRPG titles with a bit of a twist - you as the player are not the adventurer, you are a shop owner trying to pay back your father's debt, hiring/aiding assorted adventurers through dungeons to gather items to put up for sale in your store. An entire half of the game is dedicated to running your store, making sure you have a decently mixed stock on hand, and negotiating with whatever customers come in to check out your goods. You can expand the store in size, as well as purchase various decor to change the theme/feel so you become more likely to attract certain kinds of customers. Once you complete the "main quest" to pay back the debt, you unlock alternate play modes (free play or +mode where you restart with your current store stock and can access other adventurers).

 

Another game that wasn't bad was Grotesque Tactics (and its sequel). It's a turn based RPG, where the party could pass more for bad guys trying to be good guys, while the "good guys" you are up against are very obviously bad guys. The real gem in this is the character dialogue, though. You will either love or want to strangle the first party member your character meets up with, the writers managed to take many RPG stereotypes and run them so over the top it they fall into the "so bad it's good" category."

 

I will also second the previous post - Magicka is great. And no matter what you might think, Vlad is most definitely not a vampire. :ninja:

[ub3rman123]

It hasn't got the same huge world big deal-ness to it, but VVVVVV is well worth the 3-4 hours it gives you.

[RitualBlack]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I will have to check out Magicka, Recettear and Grotesque tactics. Platformers are not my favourite games so I will pass on VVVVVV but I will give you all Kudos :happy: (sorry Vindekarr, it says I already gave you kudos in the past so I cant give you more). I wasn't sure about how good Magicka was so if someone here really likes it I will have to pick it up when its on a steam sale. I forgot all about Recettear, I played the demo a while back and loved it but it just slipped out of my mind. Thanks everyone.

 

Some fun games that are not in alpha which I would recommend are;

 

Capsized (2d action game)

Binding of Issac (2d dungeon crawler)

Amnesia (horror based game, probably everyone knows this one :laugh: )

Killing Floor (best zombie horror survival game out there!)

Any of the odd world games if you count those as indie titles

 

There are a few others in alpha but most people don't like paying for games which may not be out for two+ years if ever. Tiny and big has free a tech demo level which I was amazed by though. You can cut 3D blocks into pieces as small as you want :laugh:

[Povuholo]

Dungeons of Dredmor is so much fun. If you've never played a roguelike RPG before it's an excellent and accessible introduction to the genre. It has a nice sense of humor too, and at least 3 TES references. :P

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKH36J1wQQ

[RitualBlack]

Dreadmor looks interesting. Sort of like a tile based Baulders Gate. I have played some games of the style so it shouldn't be too hard to get into. I will wait until they are on sale and probably pick most of these games up :biggrin: . In the intro pic for the video that guys eyebrows are huge!

[Vindekarr]

Dungeons of Dredmor is so much fun. If you've never played a roguelike RPG before it's an excellent and accessible introduction to the genre. It has a nice sense of humor too, and at least 3 TES references. :P

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIKH36J1wQQ

 

I second that, I've seen it, tried it, love it.

[Vindekarr]

Basicaly Magicka is a four player co-op game where everyone's a wizard, it's got a great magic system that rewards inter-wizard teamwork(spells can be combined with those of another player) but more often than not simply causes shenanigens. This is a game where everybody goofs off-if you're not goofing off you're missing the point. Expect teamkilling, loot stealing, "spelling mistakes"(magick accidents) and a lot of parodies.

 

Another one I really loved was 'Splosion man. The shear joyousness of this tiny platformer game will put a smile on your face. You play as 'splosion man, who's a man made of 'splosions, and your goal is to escape the lab you were created in. The game has only one control besides the movement controls, and that's explode. 'Splosion man can 'splode twice in mid air before requiring time to regenerate his inner 'splode, and the 'splosions serve many roles as you platform through the level. This part of the game is very very standard issue, if nicely executed. Where the fun comes in is the pure silliness of it. 'splosion man's childlike happiness and enthusiasm is highly contagious, and the game's dialogue is quite funny, and packed with refferences to movies and games. Just the way 'splosion man moves-charging along waving his arms around his head, and the shear joy he seems to get out of every moment of life is just.. contagious and I found myself unable not to love this little gem. It's real strength however is the multiplayer, which doubles the amount of 'splosions(and thus shockwaves) you have access to, and gives levels that require you to think careful about how to leverage that. Pure silly, gory blasty joy.

 

Finaly, torchlight's worth a look. With beautiful graphics, surprisingly deep gameplay, and good combat, it's probably the best RPG you can shoehorn into a netbook. It's not got the depth or scale or customisation of ES5 or DAO, but it was $15 new, and the fun-to-$ factor is astonishing. Spectacularly well made.