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toblix

Indie games suck!

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Just kidding. Read this. I'm also very happy about the recent huge amount of cool indie games appearing too, as well, especially indie games that aren't shit, like, let's face it, most of them are. It's like a lot of developers are realising that they're not EA or whomever, and are playing on their indie strengths (experimenting with cool shit) rather than trying to emulate $20,000,000 projects only with shittier art and sound and everything. The time-travelling games like Cursor*10 and Timebot are short and sweet and kick the ass of the piece of shit that is the game about the time-controlling cat with the vacuum cleaner... Klix? Smax? Or was it a dog?

Anyway, a lot of cool came out of indie games getting proper physics engines. I've always been a physics whore (I came while watching the early HL2 physics tech demo, with the people and barrels floating in the water, wood splintering, etc.), and couldn't believe my eyes when Bridge builder came along: a simple game using physics, how precious. And now there are like a million of them -- awesome.

Right now Braid is the one indie game I'd kill for. I'd take someone's life, really. And that game with the silhouette jumping around with gears and sliding crates, that only has that one flash movie and may not be a game at all, what was it called? Flox? Blyx?

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The crap time travel game was Blinx: the ginger cat thing. But that is irrelevant, I would be inclined to agree with you.

I cannot wait to get my hands on N+ on XLA, which I think is a classic example of an indie game doing well.

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Very excited about Fez myself.

Great write-up, Marek, and I also like the reskinning of your blog too. (Though I do miss that Space Invader mosaic too.)

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I have to agree with you Toblix, Braid is looking really cool. I remember seeing the big Braid finale time puzzle of doom (spoilerfest total) back at last year's GDC and getting my mind blown in every possible way. Fortunately I forgot all the specifics so I look forward to experiencing it myself on XBLA.

Thanks Wrestlevania. I'm still planning on incorporating a photo or an image into the template somehow. I'm afraid I lost the mosaic pic but I could always take a new one.

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Have you seen Armadillo (if that's its name)? It's quite a clever mixture of physics and puzzles.

I'm still keen on getting into those adventure games made by, er, that guy... Hmm. As you can see, I still have some way to go before I actually a) track them down, B) purchase them and c) play them! (Nevermind d) actually complete them). So many hurdles!

Apparently the writing in them is really good and you play a Rabbi in the first one or something...

There should be an Indie Games repository where you can search for and rate games.

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Have you seen Armadillo (if that's its name)? It's quite a clever mixture of physics and puzzles.

I'm still keen on getting into those adventure games made by, er, that guy... Hmm. As you can see, I still have some way to go before I actually a) track them down, B) purchase them and c) play them! (Nevermind d) actually complete them). So many hurdles!

Apparently the writing in them is really good and you play a Rabbi in the first one or something...

There should be an Indie Games repository where you can search for and rate games.

Yahtzee!

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Always wanted to play a game where I was a rabbi... Finally!

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Also known as "Not Yahtzee"!

Aw crap. That would be Dave Gilbert ;( . I have no idea why Yahtzee's name came up. My brain is slightly fried. I was traveling all last week and now I have a cold. Is that excuse enough?

Duuuuuuuhhhhhh.

*pans self*

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Yes! I've actually ended up buying a few indie games over the years. This is one. Gibbage and Another World are two others. They're how I found this forum in the first place.

Although I have to say, some of the best indie gaming experiences are still free:

Knytt, Ikachan, and Cave Story being my three favorites.

Cave Story was pretty big a few years back, but almost no-one knows Ikachan, which is frankly the Portal to Cave Story's Half-Life 2: short, quirky, and extremely memorable. If you search around, you should be able to find an English patch.

Check them out.

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Anyone who still hasn't tried Cave Story really should -- it's a magnificent platform-shooter.

Ikachan I played as soon as the English language version first appeared, but I just couldn't get into it. The plot and characters seemed obscure and the various screens rather barren.

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That would be Dave Gilbert ;(

Yes! Thank you! That's one hurdle overcome!

The game is called The Shivah. The writing is supposed to approach the complexity and maturity of a good novel... not that you'd know that from his review-less page. He also did a free adventure game called Two Of A Kind which won all sorts of awards.

One day... I will progress to hurdle two. That's enough for one day, however.

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A good novel? Maybe a good or decent short story. It's very, very short and so limited in the amount of depth it can have.

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A good novel? Maybe a good or decent short story. It's very, very short and so limited in the amount of depth it can have.

Ah, that's good to know so that I won't get my hopes up too high. Thanks. I take it you've played it then?

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Gibbage and Another World are two others. They're how I found this forum in the first place.

Yayyy! Well done!

Gibbage is the better of the two, obviously. Everyone get the free demo!

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Ah, that's good to know so that I won't get my hopes up too high. Thanks. I take it you've played it then?

Yeah. Don't get me wrong, though! It's definitely worth playing, and it's not like there are droves of games with Rabbi player characters around :) I like Dave Gilbert, I've bought and played his commercially released adventures as well.

Oh, and Gibbage is excellent.

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Shivah: Bought it (only £2.50/$4.99!!!), played it, completed it :tup: :tup: :tup:

Brilliant game that shows just how far you can get with good dialogue, realistic characters and an interesting story. It's the Dogme 95 of video games.

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I started it, but gave up quickly for some reason. Tell me, are there any stupid puzzles where you have to remember something from earlier dialogue to find a password for the guy's computer?

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That's it, I'm playing it again. I loved its old-school graphics so much!

Edited by toblix

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Cool. I've moved on to The Blackwell Legacy... and I'm loving that so far, too! :tup:

If you do get frustratingly stuck in The Shivah (and do I remember the bit you're talking about, I got pretty confused too), just yell and I'll happily give you a hint!

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