Why is everyone so obsessed with Indie games?

[Dumac]

Because gaming over the last 6-7 years has become way more mainstream due to the popularity of the consoles, games are being built to have broad appeal in order to maximize profit, this tends to cause a drop in complexity, gameplay and replayability while increasing the amount of set pieces and hand holding.

Indy games tend to be created by gamers for gamers with less focus on making money and mass appeal, it means they often have more complex gameplay, tighter controls and generally focus on the things that hobbyist gamers appreciate more. The actual art in indy games tends to be bad simply due to lack of budget, often it results in them being deliberately retro themed in order to help mask that.

They've always been around, they're just booming right now because there's good selection of royalty based game engines and distribution platforms which makes development with no money possible.

See, I'm talking about claims like this when really I find the opposite to be true.

 

[modestninja]

It's not greedy to make money... it's life. If you don't like it you're free to move to a non capitalist nation where money doesn't run your life. I'll never understand the mindset of some people. It seems ANYBODY who makes more money than them are automatically "greedy".

Public corporations are by legal definition greedy. The people who run corporations have a legal duty to shareholders, and that duty is to make money. Failing this duty can leave directors and officers open to being sued by shareholders.


Here's the definition of greedy from dictionary.com:

1. excessively or inordinately desirous of wealth, profit, etc.; avaricious

Since there isn't room in corporate law for corporations to care about anything else, I think that description applies. Whether this is a bad thing can be argued, but saying corporations aren't greedy is a pretty indefensible position IMO.

 

[modestninja]

And back to the OP, one thing about indie games is that they can create games for more niche markets that are under-served or not served at all by large publishers since they don't have to make back nearly as much money to be profitable. Genres like turn based strategy for example. I mean there's no way a big dev would make anything like Solium Infernum or any of the other games by Cryptic Comet, but those are some of the best games I've played in the last few years.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Yes, the whole "you can't just do well you have to grow or you're failing" mindset is what kills companies.

There is doing well, and there is pure greed driven business practices, which is sadly where most corporations are now. There is no brand pride, no caring about the customer at all and it's all about being cutthroat and most do not give two shits about the underlings.

Now that being said, the customers are guilty of it too, demanding more for less, expecting this or that for free...but there certainly is no "customer is always right" with companies these days. Take EA's statements as a prime example.

 

[Dannar26]

It's a little bit esoteric to define, but I play whatever I find to be "fun. " Take minecraft. I have logged so many hours into that little game. I love the frontiersman feel of survival mode building.

Diablo 3 on the other hand was more like a cheap one night stand that I didn't provide cab money for.

Duely blundered from my thunderdolt

 

[darkewaffle]

Now that being said, the customers are guilty of it too, demanding more for less, expecting this or that for free...but there certainly is no "customer is always right" with companies these days.

As someone who deals directly with customers on a regular basis, the customer is almost always wrong, all that matters is that the customer walks away thinking that they're right

 

[ImpulsE69]

As someone who deals directly with customers on a regular basis, the customer is almost always wrong, all that matters is that the customer walks away thinking that they're right

LMAO. Yes, point taken. The difference is that even if they are wrong, if they feel their need was met, you've made yourself a somewhat loyal customer in the future. Really feels like many companies don't care about that any more.

 

[diesbudt]

It's a little bit esoteric to define, but I play whatever I find to be "fun. " Take minecraft. I have logged so many hours into that little game. I love the frontiersman feel of survival mode building.

Diablo 3 on the other hand was more like a cheap one night stand that I didn't provide cab money for.

Duely blundered from my thunderdolt

This. I love minecraft. I like survival mode way more, because I feel like I have to go out and earn all the items I am going to build with. And then using my imagination to build castles, cities, lava pools, whatever floats your boat.

Yet some games are just so rehashed or just are short term fun. (CoD series... I cant wait for CoD #178 which will be pretty similar to CoD# 2)

 

[diesbudt]

LMAO. Yes, point taken. The difference is that even if they are wrong, if they feel their need was met, you've made yourself a somewhat loyal customer in the future. Really feels like many companies don't care about that any more.

To be fair, it seems to me customers and people in general have gotten too accustomed to always having/getting what they want for easy/cheap but yet in a method that makes them feel accomplished.

So more often then not (especially since communication across the internest is so easy and wide spread today) the customer is wrong, and unless they get the fix they believe they desearve along with unique special service AND get a refund, they come out feeling like they were mistreated.

When really, a little research in products/games can save approximately 70-80% of customer headaches.

 

[byteman99]

You know making games today is a lot more expensive today than it was back then. Would be nice if these indie studios had half the budget of some of the aaa studios but they are forced to make games on the cheap. Something has to give. I'm just happy there are some fun games they are making. Oh sure maybe they are not for everybody but someone out there will find it fun.

 

[byteman99]

Also what's so bad about tb rpg's?

 

[BurnItDwn]

It depends on the individual game.

Some indie games are awesome. Some are mediocre, and some suck.

Minecraft for example, brought a lot to the table that wasn't offered anywhere else. It sucks in many ways (graphics are terrible, performance tuning is probably a foreign concept to them, etc)

Kerbal Space Program is awesome. Sure it's buggy and the UI kinda sucks, but the game is fvcking awesome.

Dunno if you count open source remakes of old games as indie games or not, but Openttd and Simultrans are super awesome. Both IMO are better than the original, though in very different ways. Where as OpenTTD is essentially super awesome TTD, Simultrans took a lot of the foundation, but redid so much that it's really it's own standalone game.

Star Ruler has some flaws, such as it's a PITA to send out a million colonizers and to colonize a million little planets .... but, it's ship creation is great, and the scaling of the game is amazing. IMO I'd rather play Star Ruler than any other RTS except for possible Total Annihilation: Core Contingency.

That said, I do tend to like many games by many bigger studios as well as the little guys.

 

[AMDZen]

The list of games below would like to have a very, very strong word with the both of you.

Rochard
Limbo
Super Meat Boy
Trine
Trine 2
Legend of Grimrock
Bastion
World of Goo
Cave Story
Braid
Amnesia
Orcs Must Die
Binding of Isaac
VVVVVV
Terraria
Minecraft

The only games here that I've played, I didn't like. Bastion is one I'm going to play so we'll see on that one. However, Super Meat Boy was the MUST HAVE GAME for one time and I hated the game. Not fun at all. Orcs must die was OK but got old fast. Minecraft, no way I would touch that game just based on how it looks. Not interested in some of them. Might try Trine or Trine 2 but really, my experience with Indie games has not been good

 

[Kalmah]

I just remembered Dwarf Fortress. Man, that game has so much potential, if they'd just fix the damn interface!!

I played it for months a long time ago and when I went to play it again recently I realized that I had to re-learn everything so I backed back out of it.

If anybody is interested, look for the lazy newb pack to get all the addons. And be prepared to watch tutorial videos for the next 3 weeks to learn how to play. heh. Love the game though. This game is free btw.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I just remembered Dwarf Fortress. Man, that game has so much potential, if they'd just fix the damn interface!!

I played it for months a long time ago and when I went to play it again recently I realized that I had to re-learn everything so I backed back out of it.

If anybody is interested, look for the lazy newb pack to get all the addons. And be prepared to watch tutorial videos for the next 3 weeks to learn how to play. heh. Love the game though. This game is free btw.

Yea, I would rate that game so much higher than minecraft if not for the interface : (

 

[njdevilsfan87]

The only games here that I've played, I didn't like. Bastion is one I'm going to play so we'll see on that one. However, Super Meat Boy was the MUST HAVE GAME for one time and I hated the game. Not fun at all. Orcs must die was OK but got old fast. Minecraft, no way I would touch that game just based on how it looks. Not interested in some of them. Might try Trine or Trine 2 but really, my experience with Indie games has not been good

Trine/Trine2 = AAA indie games. (especially Trine 2)

 

[Dumac]

I just remembered Dwarf Fortress. Man, that game has so much potential, if they'd just fix the damn interface!!

I played it for months a long time ago and when I went to play it again recently I realized that I had to re-learn everything so I backed back out of it.

If anybody is interested, look for the lazy newb pack to get all the addons. And be prepared to watch tutorial videos for the next 3 weeks to learn how to play. heh. Love the game though. This game is free btw.

Best indie game ever.

 

[jacktesterson]

I love them cause they usually work on my laptop.

Allows me to play some games while still remaining portable. (on the road)

 

[thespyder]

I am sure it has been said a couple of times, but the Big games publishers are more focused on the widest distribution rather than the best game. They make games for wide appeal and that means including more casual (and therefore less discerning) players. it is a fact and nothing more.

We are seeing a fair number of Indie developers who have finally got it that if they want a good game, they have to make their own. And they are doing it.

Problem is with games like xenonauts (just to pick one at random), development for an Indie takes more time than the Big boys. And generally the big companies have more start up capital and can end up with a better starting engine, etc... The net upshot is that they don't have the latest and greatest technology to start off with, and by the time they publish, it is even further out of date. Not that xenonauts is not going to be fun, but just that particular developer had to start up on a non 3D engine and so it doesn't look modern or sleek.

Hopefully, as we see more of these games, the big guys will start seeing that people are willing to pay for quality games, even at the expense of graphics. And that will create a change in the industry. or am I just dreaming?

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i don't care for indie games at all. i bought one, gish, and played it for all of 1/2 hour. once in a while something like world of goo will spark my interest but thats it.

 

[shortylickens]

Also what's so bad about tb rpg's?

The average american doesnt have the attention span required to make them enjoyable. They'd rather play shooters and shooter derivatives.

Thats why we have Fallout 3, which is a darn fine game in its own right but sure as hell aint like the others.

 

[OCNewbie]

Can anybody tell me what there is to like about "The Binding of Isaac"? I bought that during the current Steam sale, and have played it a little bit, and there's just nothing redeeming about it that I can find. You just advance from square room to square (rectangle?) room trying to shoot various things that spit various things at you. You find items that don't have any details on what they do, and even when you use them, it's not always obvious what they did/do.

I definitely like a number of indie games, but for those that received high praise from many places, this one I've been the least impressed with.

 

[thespyder]

The average american doesnt have the attention span required to make them enjoyable. They'd rather play shooters and shooter derivatives.

Thats why we have Fallout 3, which is a darn fine game in its own right but sure as hell aint like the others.

To be fair, I think that the average "Casual" gamer doesn't have the attention span to play tb games. I do not consider causal gamers as "Real" gamers. The introduction of the wider audience has really hurt those of us who enjoy gaming AND have a brain.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Can anybody tell me what there is to like about "The Binding of Isaac"? I bought that during the current Steam sale, and have played it a little bit, and there's just nothing redeeming about it that I can find. You just advance from square room to square (rectangle?) room trying to shoot various things that spit various things at you. You find items that don't have any details on what they do, and even when you use them, it's not always obvious what they did/do.

I definitely like a number of indie games, but for those that received high praise from many places, this one I've been the least impressed with.

The exploration/discovery aspect of figuring things out in a loosely constructed world is part of it's appeal. It's a fun little game; I guess if you never liked the gameplay of something like Zelda (control wise) it's just not going to be fun to you though. I'm pretty sure I got it in a humble bundle and considered it worth it.

 

[fabiencolombo]

]not sure if those qualifie as "indies" but here are some little game I thouroughly enjoyed playing.

abobos big adventure: my favourite (nes nostalgia talking but still awesome)
ARES - Extinction Agenda: quite good graphics wise actually.
Luor
Ninja senki
Noitu Love 2 - Devolution
Really Big Sky
Scoregasm
voxatron
wizorb

and a lot of japanese manic shooters like those on this screen: