I thought I would write an article on a few of the indie games I have played recently. So here it is.
Gravity Bone
A fantastic, despite ridiculously short first person game. You play as a detective doing missions for an unknown agency. Play it.
Radiator
A Half Life 2 mod, covering adult themes. Game play is interesting to say the least. This is a series of short games, 2 of which have been released, with 4 more planned before the end of the year. Play it if you are interested in playing an arty game.
Research and Development
Another Half Life 2 mod, This time it takes a stab at combining both the adventure games puzzles with Half life’s action game play, there is no gunplay. Most puzzles are physics based, similarly to those in Half Life 2, yet ramped up considerably. There are a couple of flaws in the design and UI (particularly the final level: which can be solved by using the console). Again I would recommend this to most gamers.
The Maw
A nice platformer (how I have missed you), ideally played on a 360 controller. Some pretty interesting game mechanics with the titular Character. Unfortunately this one isn’t free; it costs the equivalent of $10 or £6-7. If you like 3D platformers such as Mario titles, Banjo titles, as well as any other similar platformers.
Splosion Man
Another game from the guys who made The Maw, this time a 2.5D platformer. The puzzles in this are absolutely fantastic, the gameplay frantic. The game itself can be frustrating, but if you cannot do a section (and die enough) you can skip it. There is also a co-op campaign which is pretty good of what I played of it. The game itself is pretty quirky with the protagonist using famous quotes from actors and others, including: Arnie and Christian Bale. Again it isn’t free and has the same Price of The Maw ($10/£6-7). Buy it (if you have a 360).
Ben There Dan That
An adventure game in a similar vein to classic lucasarts games. Some pretty decent puzzle design, which is accompanied by some excellent pixel art for the visuals. Play it if you are a fan of adventure games.
Out of Order
One of the first ‘indie’ games which I played. Another adventure here, very well done. Fantastic artwork, I can’t remember so much about this, but I remember it is well worth playing.
Recently I have been playing far too many of these, despite having a large back log of games to play through, so I shouldn’t really, however these games are often the ones that I enjoy the most, despite being the shortest. Maybe it is because they are so streamlined into the small package that they do not drag as much as many retail or downloadable games. I would urge you to play some of these and look for others, while recommending them to others. They may not be as polished as some other games; although this is not always true as retail games can often be quite shoddy. Remember mods were a strong influence on games in times gone by (capture the flag was originally a Mod, and now is a standard game type in most shooters), so would likely do the same for now and in the future.
