BY ALEX BARNARD
Each year gamers have come to expect the same: sometimes it’s a new Call of Duty, other times it’s a sports game, perhaps it’s even a new Assassins Creed. Or even worse…maybe its another one of the many shameless clones attempting to break into the mass market that these big budget games appeal to. Any gamer who wants to try something different (and not break their wallet) should give independent games a try.
Independent Video Games (commonly referred to as indie games) are video games developed by one person or a small group of people who create a game without the financial backing of a large video game studio. While indie games may lack the realistic graphics of big budget titles, they more than make up with unique game play mechanics.
Indie game developers typically spend a vast amount of their own personal wealth in order to produce exactly what they want in a video game, some even go into great debt while in production of a their “dream” game. The amount spent on even some of the largest indie games like Minecraft are minuscule compared to the money spent of AAA games like Grand Theft Auto IV, which was estimated to cost 100 million dollars to produce. Being indie allows game developers to create the content they dream of without censorship from a large publisher (who sees games as little more than a source of profit, not their potential as an artistic medium). In order to compensate for criticisms of quality compared to games on a larger development budget, many indie games charge only 1-15 dollars (if bothering to charge at all). This makes indie games a cheap source of entertainment compared to the ridiculous $60 price big publisher games usually charge.
In Minecraft you create your own world.
Minecraft, an indie game released by Markus Persson, was able to break into the mass market despite its small development team and budget. Minecraft tasks players with surviving in a cartoon world full of monsters by themselves or over the internet with up dozens of other gamers. It never gives players an explicit goal, but instead inspires players to make their own fun with the tools in the game. Despite its simple blockish look, millions of players have purchased Minecraft on a variety of systems. Minecraft is indie gaming at its finest and is available on PC, Mac, Andriod, Xbox 360, and iOS.
One great example of a completely free yet magnificent indie game is Slender, a simple survival horror game for the PC that challenges players to find eight lost pages while being hunted by a mythical entity named the Slender Man. What the game lacks in graphical power, it more than makes up in its creepy atmosphere and ability to scare the player relentlessly. The games popularity quickly rose as YouTube videos erupted showing many people being absolutely freaked out by this simple game. Best of all, the game is available completely free for PC on the website of its developer, Parsec Productions.
Overall, indie games provide a vast assortment of innovative game play experiences hard to find in many of today’s “blockbuster” games. Over the last five years indie games have blown up with digital retailers like Apple’s App-store, Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade, and Valve’s Steam service, who sell Indie Games right along with multimillion dollar video games. By selling their games digitally, indie game developers are able to bypass dealing with major brick and mortar stores, and receive more money from each copy sold (putting to shame the petty 15% developers typically make off of multimillion dollar games!).
Gamers should seek out indie games to experience a slew of unique ideas that can only be presented in this unique artistic medium. Any gamer just slightly interested in indie games should look at the PAX 10 or Independent Games Festival for a start on finding some of the most unique indie games being developed each year. Seriously folks, It’s time to stop constantly playing the same franchises each year, and instead embrace the potential of independent game markets.
