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presents

250 Indie Games You Must Play

presents

250 Indie Games You Must Play Mike Rose

A K Peters/CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC A K Peters/CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4398-7574-2 (pbk.) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright. com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. IndieGames.com is a property of UBM TechWeb’s Game Network—all rights reserved. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rose, Mike. 250 indie games you must play / Mike Rose. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4398-7574-2 (pbk.) 1. Computer games. I. Title. GV1469.15.R67 2011 794.8--dc22

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Table of Contents

Introduction

vii

What Are “Indie"Games?

viii

What Does It Mean to Be an Indie Developer?

x

Why Have Indie Games Become so Popular in Recent Years?

xii

Indie Gaming Resources

xiv

Indie Game Festivals

xv

What You'll Need to Play

xvi

Acknowledgments

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Part 1: Download Games

21

Part 2: Browser-Based Games

143

Part 3: Commercial Games

225

Index of Games

277

v

Introduction

Welcome to 250 Indie Games You Must Play—your guide to the everexpanding and always exciting world of indie gaming. Whether you’re in the know about the indie game scene or you’ve never played an indie game in your life, this book will help further your understanding of why indie games are so important to so many people in the entertainment industry. Whether your usual gaming exploits involve a round of Wii Sports tennis with your family, or “fragging” terrorists in Call of Duty: Black Ops, the games highlighted in this book may well feel like a breath of fresh air, with concepts and ideas that will change your perspective of what video games can be. Aside from being great fun, indie games can also be experimental, emotional, nostalgic, and occasionally just plain bizarre. Some will make you sit back in awe, while others will have you thinking “Why have I never played a game like this before?” The games in this book represent a side of gaming that you should dabble in, and every single one is an essential experience. Better still, you can play the majority of these games for free, and even the commercial releases are incredibly cheap. Just be warned—once you start playing indie games, you may not be able to look at your big-budget blockbusters the same way ever again. Mike Rose IndieGames.com Editor

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

What Are “Indie" Games? The exact definition of an indie game is sketchy at best, and both indie developers and gamers argue periodically over what they believe the word “indie” signifies. While independent games are those that have been created without the backing of a publisher, the term “indie” has evolved further and now generally refers to an independent game that has been developed with a certain “indie spirit” by a small team or an individual. Without the pressure from a publishing deal, indie developers are able to create the exact experience they desire, leading to a massively varied selection of games. Ranging from experimental platformers that you’d never see from a big-budget developer, to the oft-discussed “art games,” indie games provide unique and sometimes unusual diversions.

Introduction

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Indie developers come from all sorts of backgrounds and every corner of the globe. Some are enthusiastic hobbyists who relax after a hard day at work with a spot of game development, while others create indie games for a living. Numerous online indie gaming communities provide these developers with a place to talk shop, share their latest projects, and take part in competitions and game jams.

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

What Does It Mean to Be an Indie Developer? Being indie has a variety of benefits and advantages to different developers. Here, a number of well-known developers explain what being indie means to them. “Being indie for me means I’m not a faceless cog in a giant production line that operates for the profit of somebody else. I get to work on what I want, when I want, how I want.” —Bennett Foddy (Evacuation, Qwop) “Making games and publishing them as a young indie designer meant that thousands of people knew my name and my work before I even began applying to universities to earn a degree.” —Greg “Banov” Lobanov (Assassin Blue, Dubloon) “If you believe in a concept, you don’t have to pitch to publishers or shareholders; you just plonk your arse in a chair and start building it. A ‘real’ definition of indie might describe work practice or organizational structure, but the spirit of indie is making stuff because you want to.” —Jarrad “Farbs” Woods (Rom Check Fail, Playpen) “I think it’s telling that, instead of referring to just one particular financial model for game development, the term ‘indie’ is more used to denote things that are weird, inventive, or personal—games that probably wouldn’t be developed by bigger or more commercial groups.” —Stephen “The Catamites” Murphy (Space Funeral, Paul Moose In Space World)

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“Indie games allow me to channel all my ideas and creativity, but still make enough money to get by and do some of the travelling and self-educating that I would have otherwise put off.” —Chevy Ray Johnston (Beacon, Skullpogo) “You can change the direction or scope of a project at any point or drop it altogether. There’s a community of other indies out there ready to help you with any aspect of the project.” —Mark Essen (Punishment, Flywrench) “Indie game development really does cut the corporate puppet strings and lets you roam the wild west of game development. It also means rolling out of bed and hitting your head on your desk, but man, doesn’t it feel good!” —John Cooney (Achievement Unlocked, Maverick) “I’ve worked on a publisher-funded project before, and the publisher had the final say on whether the game saw the light of day. That was not a good feeling.” —Jason Rohrer (Passage, Sleep is Death) “People squabble over definitions like ‘indie’ and ‘independent;’ they’re the new fanboys. There’s now even indie sub-classes, because indie has become too mainstream. Some of these games are so indie, they don’t even exist.” —Dan Marshall (Privates, Time Gentlemen, Please!) “The best thing about being independent is being able to do something I love.” —Charlie Knight (Irukandji, Space Phallus)

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Why Have Indie Games Become so Popular in Recent Years? The end of the first decade of the twenty-first century saw a boom both in the number of developers getting into indie game development and the amount of attention the scene was receiving. We asked some notable developers what they thought was the cause of all this interest. “The quality of games being produced has really shot up. Small teams are making the sort of clever, exciting things you just couldn’t get from big publishers, coupled with various factors like ease of accessibility and more coverage.” —Dan Marshall (Privates, Time Gentlemen, Please!) “The larger companies started to focus on big budget games, but the demand for smaller titles didn’t decrease. A hole was left in the market for indie developers.” —Nicklas “Nifflas” Nygren (Knytt Stories, Within A Deep Forest) “Indie games bring fresh ideas back to a video game scene that has become entirely focused on sales.” —Locomalito (L’abbaye Des Morts, Hydorah) “The web created an amazing DIY publishing mentality, where anyone with a keyboard can be a columnist or an author, anyone with a mobile phone can be a film director, and anyone with a free hour or two can make and publish a video game.” —Jarrad “Farbs” Woods (Rom Check Fail, Playpen) “The number of tools and available platforms has grown; additionally, the tools have gotten better and easier to use, allowing more people to make

Introduction

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games. I think there’s a growing demand among players for simple but good games focusing on gameplay.” —Jesse Venbrux (Karoshi, They Need To Be Fed) “Kids who grew up with video games have now hit the 25–30 year mark, and have the opportunity to make those dream games they always talked about on the school yard a reality.” —Edmund Mcmillen (Super Meat Boy, Time Fcuk) “Indie games embody the same restless drive for strangeness and excitement and constant mutation that also creates the best pop music, the best pulp fiction, the best b-movies and the best comic books.” —Stephen “The Catamites” Murphy (Space Funeral, Paul Moose In Space World) “It is maybe because indie games are so personal to the author. Playing a game made by one or two people is much more intimate and human than playing a game made by a hundred people.” —Matt Thorson (Give Up Robot, An Untitled Story) “Indie games feel weird, have some taste from back in the days when everybody was indie, and are made by small-time guys somewhere. All the ingredients to be trendy!” —Daniel Benmergui (Today I Die, I Wish I Were The Moon) “Like punk, indie and electronic music are tearing down the walls that separate producers and consumers. They are contributing to the de-geekification of the gaming phenomenon, reaching people and groups who wouldn’t otherwise play games.” —Molleindustria (Every Day the Same Dream, Run Jesus Run) “We are out there in the Wild West leading the charge. Who doesn’t love a cowboy?” —Greg Wohlwend (Solipskier)

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Indie Gaming Resources If you’re looking to get more acquainted with the thriving indie gaming scene, look no further than the following places. These news sites and festivals play a huge part in helping bring unique, delightful, and entertaining games to the masses. WEBSITES IndieGames. Started by veteran indie gamer Tim W., IndieGames.com is now the most popular indie gaming news site; it covers all the latest news, reviews, and releases and is updated daily. The IndieGames podcast features a prominent indie developer each week. TIGSource. The largest online community for indie developers, TIGSource holds themed competitions that are always very popular, and the forums are the perfect place for anyone interested in creating their own games. Bytejacker. Bytejacker is an online review show that focuses mainly on indie games, with plenty of humour thrown in for good measure. A daily news blog also accompanies the videos.

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Indie Game Festivals The Independent Games Festival. The IGF was established in 1998 by UBM TechWeb, who also owns IndieGames.com, and is held annually at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The festival highlights the best indie releases of the past year, along with the most promising projects still in development. Many IGF award winners go on to have great commercial success. IndieCade. Celebrating indie developers from around the world, the IndieCade festival has been promoting the most diverse, artistic, and culturally significant indie games since 2005. The organisers aim to provide a gaming equivalent to the Sundance film festival, rewarding tremendous passion and innovation. Indie Games Arcade. The Indie Games Arcade is an annual UK-based event that is part of the Eurogamer Expo. Organised by The Mudlark Production Company, the arcade highlights all the best upcoming and recently released indie games, with a particular focus on the British indie gaming scene. Mudlark also runs the indie videogame development conference World of Love.

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What You'll Need to Play So you’ve decided to take a dive into the world of indie games—but what will you need to play? Fortunately, there is very little effort needed on your part, although it’s worth taking note of the following: •

•

•

•

•

The majority of the games featured in this book do not require a computer with more than average specifications, although there are some exceptions. For the commercial games in particular, it’s worth checking out system requirements from the game’s official site before purchasing. Every game in this book is available to download for PC, so almost everyone will have a computer at home that is capable of running these games. Certain games are also available on other platforms, such as the Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii, and this will be stated where appropriate. Many of the games, especially those that are browser-based, require that you install a plug-in to your computer. Two such plug-ins include the Adobe Flash Player and the Unity Web Player. Some of the download games will also need the Microsoft XNA library installed on your machine. Any game that has these requirements will automatically ask you to install the appropriate plug-in as necessary. Some games are compatible with a gamepad or controller, and using this method of control can greatly increase the enjoyment you get from a gaming experience. It’s recommended, but not necessary, that you purchase an Xbox 360 controller for use with your computer. Keep an open mind when you begin playing these games—many will be unlike any gaming experience you’ve had before, and some attempt to portray ideas and emotions that you may never have seen in gaming before.

Introduction

xvii

Feeling prepared? Okay, let’s do this—here come 250 of the most worthwhile indie gaming experiences. Note that there are thousands of enjoyable indie games out there for you to discover, and this selection is meant more as a starting point for anyone looking to explore the scene, rather than an exhaustive list of the very best indie games available. There are three sections to pick your way through—download games, browser-based games, and commercial games. You can choose a game at random to download, or start from the beginning and work your way through the lot. There is no special order to follow, so feel free to try the games out in whatever order best suits you!

Acknowledgments

A huge thank you to all the developers whose work is featured in the book— and of course, that thank you is extended to every indie developer who helps to make the indie gaming scene as fantastic as it is. Many thanks to my fiancÊe Jo and my parents for the much-needed support, and to the proofreading god that is Simon Archer. My gratitude must also go out to Simon Carless who has been hugely supportive every step of the way, and of course to fellow IndieGames.com editor Tim W.—without him, there would be no perfect place for following the indie gaming scene. Special thanks to Anthony Carboni who allowed me to borrow his indiegam.es url, and who is also one seriously cool dude.

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Part 1

Download Games

The games in this section need to be downloaded to your computer for you to play them, and they may need installing as well. Every featured game will work on a Windows PC, but you’ll need to check a game’s official site for requirements if you’re playing on a Mac or using the Linux operating system. Some games may not have an official site, and will instead be available to download from a forum or a file-sharing site. This is usually the case for games that have been developed for competitions or game jams.

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Star Guard Loren “Sparky” Schmidt Inspired by a series of stories about Mars written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Star Guard follows a mysterious green spaceman as he attempts to defeat an evil wizard. Armed with just a laser gun, our hero must battle through the wizard’s minions on Venus, overcoming levels full of nasty aliens and obstacles. The game has a very minimalist feel with simple visuals and sound effects, yet play is incredibly engaging thanks to tight controls and hectic action. Every now and again our hero stumbles upon allies who are fighting for the same cause, and you can choose to keep them safe or rush past and leave them to their fates. The dialogue is kept to a minimum, with the occasional short story printed on the backdrop. Star Guard was nominated for the Excellence in Design award at the 2010 Independent Games Festival. http://indiegam.es/playstarguard

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RunMan: Race Around the World Tom Sennett and Matt Thorson In the words of developer Tom Sennett, RunMan: Race Around the World is “a game about doing your best and running really, really fast.” Our hero RunMan shows up for a race, only to find that the other contestants have dropped out because they fear his speed. Rather than accept the trophy, RunMan decides to challenge himself to a race around the world. RunMan has two main actions—run, and run really fast. As he pounds along platforms knocking bad guys out of the way and popping balloons, he automatically springs off any wall he runs into, allowing for a very smooth gaming experience that many players have compared to the early Sonic the Hedgehog games. This game has a lot of style too, from RunMan shouting ”Rock on!” as he runs to the 1920s blues, country, and jazz music soundtrack. The game was drawn entirely in Microsoft Paint over the course of four years, and features over 30 levels to rush through. http://indiegam.es/playrunman

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation Hibernation Justin Smith “Who is driving the car? A bear is driving the car! How can that be?!� Enviro-Bear 2000: Operation Hibernation was originally developed for (and won) the Cockpit competition on the popular indie gaming site TIGSource, and was later ported to the iPhone and the Android. You play a bear driving a car who wants to fatten himself up before hibernating for the winter. The bear can only use one paw at a time, which makes driving around an absolutely hilarious nightmare. The game is purposely awkward to control, and a variety of obstacles from vicious badgers to showers of pine cones will constantly hinder your progress. There are also other bears driving their cars and looking for fish to eat. This game was nominated for the Nuovo Award at the 2010 Independent Games Festival and is widely regarded as a must-play indie game, especially when played for a laugh with a group of friends. http://indiegam.es/playenvirobear

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The Black Heart Andrés Borghi A bloodstained world exists alongside the human world, although we choose not to see it. The king and creator of this dark void has been brutally murdered, and his powerful heart—the Black Heart—has been stolen by a demon known only as Final. Six twisted characters all want to take the heart as their own, and each is determined to battle through the bloody wasteland, taking out one opponent at a time, until the heart is won. Each character’s story line is told through gorgeously grim cutscenes, which include an assortment of special, super, killer, and fatal attacks with complex button pressing that will please fighting-game veterans. There are also reams of extra game modes, including practice, team fights, and hotseat multiplayer. The Black Heart runs on the MUGEN engine, a tool that allows developers to build masterful fighting games. Andrés Borghi spent over seven years developing the game, creating the character stripes, animations, and backdrops from scratch. http://indiegam.es/playblackheart

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Atomic Blast Qrleon Atomic Blast is a tricky platformer with a plethora of dangers to keep your eye on. The protagonist may have a gun, but that won’t help much if he can’t dodge the enemy soldiers and death lasers that will cut him up with a single shot. On each of the 12 levels, the hero can hang from ceilings, climb through shattered windows, and unlock doors—but the enemy guards are a very real problem since they can fire at any angle and can easily pick you off whether you’re above or below them. You, however, can only shoot horizontally and so are at quite a disadvantage. Once you manage to beat the tough missions there’s an even trickier final boss battle to contend with. Atomic Blast started life as a tribute of sorts to Chris Roper’s Destructivator, and after several months of chopping and changing, eventually found its way on to the Glorious Trainwrecks site. http://indiegam.es/playatomicblast

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Magic Planet Snack Kyle “Lazercatz" Tolbert In Magic Planet Snack, you play as a wizard who has accidentally turned himself into a space worm. You now need to fly through space, chomping on planets and devouring other wizards for points. There are plenty of bad guys and flashing blocks to dodge, and staying aggressive yet cautious is the best way to grab the big scores. As you eat the orbs dotted throughout each planet your HYPER meter fills up. Once the meter is full, the planet turns into cakes, pastries, and ice cream for a few seconds, during which time you’ll want to grab as many as you can for a serious addition to your score. Magic Planet Snack was originally going to be a racing game, but Tolbert says that he eventually opted for a more score-based approach so that players would “make stupid decisions.” http://indiegam.es/playMPS

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

GunFu Deadlands Christiaan Janssen In GunFu Deadlands, you play a gunslinger who is out to prove he has the quickest draw in the West. Enemies are scattered around on each level, and when they spot you they will immediately start firing in your direction. But you have quite an advantage over your enemies in that you can activate “bullet time,� which slows the action down and allows you to focus on aiming your pistol. Clicking the right mouse button as you run into enemy view activates bullet time, but it takes a few seconds to reload, so if there are multiple enemies you may need to take them all out during the slowdown. A level editor is included with the game so that players can create their own shootout environments and share the results with friends. http://indiegam.es/playgunfu

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Jetpack Basketball Mark “messhof" Essen Jetpack Basketball is a combination made in heaven: fast-paced hoop action played with jetpacks. A single player can take on an AI-controlled opponent, or two players can go head-to-head locally for some slam-dunking action. The idea is to grab the ball, zoom up towards the basketball hoop, and let go of the ball at the correct moment, allowing it to arc into the net. When the other player has the ball, you can tap your grab button to take it away and go for the shot. You can even grab the ball just after an opponent makes a shot, and slam-dunk it to steal the point. Manoeuvring your character is intentionally difficult—just as you’d expect playing jetpack basketball in real life would be! The first player to score 11 points is the winner. Jetpack Basketball was originally developed during Bivouac Urbain 2009, a game prototyping jam in Québec City, Canada. http://indiegam.es/playjetpackBball

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Rose and Camellia Nigoro A Japanese fighting game that features “the elegant art of feminine conflict,” Rose and Camellia follows the story of Reiko, a newlywed whose rich husband dies the day after the wedding. To claim his house as her own, she must defeat the evil women who currently run the house. One by one, Reiko must slap, evade, and counter-slap her opponents into submission. Fights are played via timed swipes of the mouse across the face of the enemy, and a scrolling rose at the top of the screen shows whether it’s time to attack or to dodge. After the women of the house are defeated, it comes to light that the evil Madame Camellia has the house in her power, and Reiko must then beat her to claim her inheritance. The action is very tongue-in-cheek with amusing animations, dialogue, and characters. A sequel—Rose and Camellia 2—is also available, although players must complete the original game before the sequel will unlock. http://indiegam.es/playRandC

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Clean Asia! Jonatan “Cactus" Söderström Clean Asia! isn’t your average shoot-’em-up game. With lots of psychedelic visuals and flashing colours, the game sends two American pilots on a quest to clean up Asia after the eyes of mankind have left the bodies of their hosts and taken Thailand, New Korea, and China by force. The two available characters play quite differently and offer distinct shooter styles. One pilot cannot shoot, and uses instead a powerful thrusting technique to break enemy ships into pieces and fire the debris into the remaining machinery. The second character plays more like a normal blaster, firing at enemies and using the broken enemy pieces to launch huge special attacks. Clean Asia! was originally developed in two months for the Autofire 2007 competition at the SHMUP-DEV forums, and ended up winning the contest. The game is considered by many indie gamers to be one of the driving forces that shot developer “Cactus” into the limelight. http://indiegam.es/playcleanasia

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Dwarf Fortress Bay 12 Games In development since 2002, and still a work in progress, the first public build of Dwarf Fortress was released in August 2006. Since then, the game has received numerous updates and has built a huge fan base of players, all keen to delve frequently into this ASCII fantasy world. In Dwarf Fortress mode, players manage a dwarven outpost in a randomly generated world made up of towns, caves, civilizations, and wildlife. Your army of dwarves can be sent out to find treasures scattered about the land, or commanded to craft furniture and weapons for your fortress. As the land changes over time other civilizations may want your fortress for themselves. There is a serious amount of depth to Dwarf Fortress, and although it can take many hours to read enough background material to fully understand how to play, it is a very worthwhile cause. Another mode allows you to explore the land as an adventurer who recruits a band of followers and accepts quests from different towns and leaders. http://indiegam.es/playDF

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Knytt Stories Nicklas “Nifflas" Nygren Knytt Stories is a collection of platforming adventures that revolve around exploration and puzzles. Players can venture into the world of “The Machine,” or download a multitude of excellent user-created stories for free. The story that comes with the game follows Juni, a character originally seen in the Knytt Stories predecessor Knytt, as she attempts to save the world from a nasty machine that is sucking the life out of everything. Power-ups give Juni extra abilities so that she can move further towards her goal. Once you’ve completed this story there are hundreds of user-created levels available for download from KnyttLevels.com and the Knytt Stories forums. You can even have a crack at creating some of your own tales. “Nifflas” himself has created additional stories, including “A Strange Dream” and “Gustav’s Daughter,” both of which can be downloaded from the official site. http://indiegam.es/playKnyttStories

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Igneous Going Down in Flames Developed by a student team from DigiPen, Igneous is a short and frantic rush through an erupting volcano in which you attempt to take control of a small tiki totem as it rolls along through collapsing stone pathways and bridges. The incredible speeds mean that you need to think fast and keep a constant focus on the action; in each of the three levels, face-melting speeds and the threat of a dip in molten lava are always very real. Pathways disappear into the magma without warning; therefore, you’ll most likely need a few playthroughs before you reach the end. Many players have commented that Igneous is exactly how they would like a modern, three-dimensional version of Sonic the Hedgehog to play. The game is rather abrupt, clocking in at around 15 minutes of play. There is also an impossible mode with the same three levels ramped up to maximum difficulty. http://indiegam.es/playigneous

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The Underside Arthur “Mr. Podunkian" Lee The Underside is an exploration platformer that has been in development since 2005. A preview build of the game is available for download and gives a taste of how the final release will play. A king rules the Overside of a flat planet. When his people become corrupt and he wants to start fresh, he simply flips the planet over so that the bottom becomes the top. Unfortunately, this side also becomes corrupt and the king vows to destroy the whole world unless he can find a single innocent person. You take control of that one person, called Ip, who has been thrown into the Underside. He must journey back to the Overside and stop the destruction of the planet. The game features humorous dialogue and plenty of silly power-ups, including life toast and invincible burgers. There’s also a tool for creating your own worlds, and a couple of example mods thrown in that you can play through. http://indiegam.es/playunderside

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Lost in the Static Sean Barrett Lost in the Static is a platformer that may cause headaches if you stare at it for too long. Everything in the game—from the environments to the enemies to the main character—is coated in black and white static. The game messes with your perceptions as you navigate around the various rooms; the background is constantly scrolling while the foreground either stays in one place or moves around to indicate areas or enemies that you shouldn’t touch. The effect is striking; your brain perceives the background and foreground as two different planes, giving the game a three-dimensional feel. Whenever the hero dies, he explodes into static that is then swept away by the scrolling backdrop. The game was developed over the course of four days. Developer Sean Barrett has provided modding tools on the game’s official webpage for anyone who would like to create their own levels. http://indiegam.es/playLitS

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Chalk Joakim “Konjak" Sandberg With some clever line-drawing mechanics involved, Chalk is a rather unique action game with plenty of charm. The player controls a floating monochromatic hero who dodges around numerous obstacles and enemies that fly onto the screen. Fortunately, you’ve got a magic stick of chalk that can be used to eradicate baddies. Enemies can be killed by drawing on them with your mouse, but each one is different and requires special disposal tactics. A helpful tutorial explains how to destroy each type of obstacle. There are enjoyable boss battles at certain intervals during play, which usually require that you figure out how to attack first. If you earn at least an “A” rank on each of the main six levels, you’ll unlock the special endurance challenge. http://indiegam.es/playchalk

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Trilby: The Art of Theft Ben “Yahtzee" Croshaw Trilby: The Art of Theft stars the main protagonist from Ben Croshaw’s adventure game 5 Days A Stranger. British cat burglar Trilby has moved to America in search of posh offices and mansions to plunder. The game plays out as a series of side-scrolling stealth missions, with the goal to find the target and escape undetected. Each level features different amounts of light, and Trilby will be able to sneak around guards and crack open safes without raising the alarm if he’s cautious enough. If he’s spotted, a Taser in the tip of his umbrella will come in handy to prevent witnesses from divulging his location. At the end of each heist, you’re given a rank and reputation points based on how many witnesses were Tasered and how many alarms were raised. Rep points can be spent on buying upgrades to aid Trilby in future heists. http://indiegam.es/playTrilby

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N Metanet Software Everyone wants to be a ninja, and the 2005 indie classic N gives you the opportunity to fulfil this dream, putting you in control of a stick-figure man in black. He has amazing speed and dexterity, but his lifespan is also rather short, clocking in at just 90 seconds. Fortunately, collecting gold allows the ninja to live longer, and there is plenty of gold scattered around, along with nasty hazards and robots ready to impede his progress. Players must jump, dodge, run, and wall-jump to a door switch, then escape through the exit. N is a game that’s easy to get into but difficult to master, with character physics that take some getting used to. The game has more than 500 levels and comes with a level editor called the NEd. N was granted the Audience Award at the Independent Games Festival in 2005, and as a result of its popularity a sequel called N+ was released on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade. http://indiegam.es/playN

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Karoshi Jesse Venbrux The Japanese term “karoshi” refers to situations where people literally work themselves to death—hence, Jesse Venbrux’s tough puzzle platformer challenges you to kill the protagonist in a variety of ways on each level, from landing on sharp spikes to getting crushed by falling crates. What appears to be a relatively simple game quickly shows its true colours, as the rules of play change often. While your goal is always to kill yourself, you will need to experiment with different ways of doing so by pressing buttons and shooting weapons. After completing 25 levels, there’s even a boss battle that you must lose multiple times. Karoshi proved so popular that Jesse decided to make an entire series of games dedicated to the concept, including Karoshi Factory (a co-op edition) and Super Karoshi (in which you help other characters kill themselves). The browser version of the game, Karoshi Suicide Salaryman, has been played over three million times. http://indiegam.es/playKaroshi

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Rock Boshers Dugan Jackson Rock Boshers is a remake of the first-person shooter Red Faction. Developer Dugan Jackson has taken the story and setting from the classic game, twisted them around quite a bit, and presented Rock Boshers as if it were running on an old ZX Spectrum computer. You are a British gentleman who has been tricked into travelling to Mars to do the dirty work of a large corporation. Trapped down in the mines, you seize an opportunity to escape but soon discover that the guards are the least of your worries as hordes of zombies home in on your position. There are plenty of secrets to find, including a bonus space shooter called Rockaroids. The game comes with a multiplayer arena battle mode so that up to four players can take each other on. Rock Boshers was originally developed for the TIGSource Bootleg Demakes competition in 2008, but Dugan wasn’t able to have the full game ready in time for the voting phase. Fortunately, he continued development and released the full version a couple of months later. http://indiegam.es/playRockBoshers

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Iji Daniel Remar Developed over the course of five years, Iji is well known for featuring one of the best indie gaming stories to date. Iji is visiting her father’s workplace when an alien race known as the Tasen invade; Iji is badly injured and her father replaces parts of her body with cyborg parts to save her life. Iji awakens to find all of her family dead except for her brother Dan, who gives her instructions over an intercom. Iji sets out to meet up with her brother and battles the Tasen along the way with the help of her new nanotechnology abilities. She also learns of the lives of the Tasen through journals left around the facility, and must use this knowledge to choose her path. The game is huge, with hours of gameplay, multiple storylines, and plenty of secrets to uncover. Iji is highly regarded and considered one of the best indie games of 2008. http://indiegam.es/PlayIji

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Jumper Three Matt Thorson Ogmo is the result of a failed experiment to create the world’s most perfect life-form, and once he has been abandoned by his creators, Ogmo sets out to find his place in life. Jumper Three follows Ogmo as he travels into space and lands on a mysterious planet full of traps and tricky terrain that he must navigate. The Jumper series is known for its intense difficulty, and Jumper Three is no exception. There are hazards everywhere, and Ogmo must use a combination of wall-jumping and double-jumping, coupled with quick reactions, to stay alive. Later in the game, Ogmo is able to split into different forms and to use new abilities to bypass even tougher obstacles. Ogmo’s previous journeys, chronicled in Jumper and Jumper Two, are also available for download from Matt’s site. Jumper has proved to be a huge inspiration to indie game developers, and has influenced the development of big releases such as Super Meat Boy—in fact, Ogmo can be found as a hidden character in that game. http://indiegam.es/playJumper3

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Seven Minutes Virtanen Games There is an odd, blue ball situated on a pedestal, and a booming voice tells you not to go anywhere near it. Of course, curiosity is a powerful thing, so you’re going to jump up and grab it. As you do so, a huge face appears and states that you have seven minutes left before the world comes to an end—all because you grabbed the ball. With seven minutes on the clock, you’re left to race through an ever-changing maze full of nasty spikes and tough platforming sections. Things won’t be quite as they appear, as seemingly solid walls become hollow and spikes spring out of the floor, ready to catch you by surprise. There are two endings to the game, and the one you get depends on how you act. Finding the “good” ending may prove tricky, but the face will give you a clue about how to find it during the “bad” ending. http://indiegam.es/play7Minutes

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I Wanna Be The Guy Mike “Kayin” O'Reilly I Wanna Be The Guy: The Movie: The Game (to give the full name) is a platformer for masochists featuring The Kid, a boy who wants to be The Guy. From the get-go, IWBTG is insanely and unfairly difficult, yet it’s ultimately addictive. Every single screen looks impossible at first glance, which makes winning all the more rewarding. The game constantly attempts to trick the player, throwing seemingly simple challenges into disarray or providing areas that appear to be completely impassable. Many of the gameplay elements and environments parody old NES games such as Ghosts ‘n Goblins. There is even a selection of characters from boss battles that have been taken straight from Nintendo games, including Bowser from Super Mario and Mother Brain of Metroid. Numerous indie developers list I Wanna Be The Guy as an inspiration to their work, including Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat, the developers behind Super Meat Boy (The Kid was included as an unlockable character in Super Meat Boy). http://indiegam.es/playIWBTG

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Rescue: The Beagles Nenad Jalsovec A cargo plane carrying beagles to an animal testing facility has crashed in the mountains, and the evil lab has sent out its researchers to collect the useable dogs and kill the rest. You take on the role of an animal rights activist who saves the beagles from harm and sets them free. Rescue: The Beagles is a lot more complex than it sounds, as the beagles (and nasty researchers!) are on three different procedurally-generated mountains, and the protagonist needs to use ropes and parachutes to move between them. The game has a very quick-moving arcade feel as you move between levels grabbing everything available, firing owls at the bad guys, and fixing up injured dogs with medical kits. Rescue: The Beagles was originally developed for (and won) the TIGSource Procedural Generation competition. The game features music by chiptune composer and producer Rich “Disasterpeace� Vreeland. http://indiegam.es/playBeagles

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You Found the Grappling Hook! Mark “messhof” Essen As far as self-explanatory titles go, You Found the Grappling Hook! is definitely up there with the best of them. You play a horned character who is armed with a grappling hook and must use it to swing through a series of blocky caves. The X button controls both the hook and the protagonist’s jump, so prepare to tap X a fair bit! The hook can be fired either straight up or at a 45-degree angle, allowing the hero to hang and plan the route ahead. Eventually, you’ll find an axe that allows you to dig gold out of the cave walls; unfortunately, the moment you grab it the entire cave will begin to collapse, leaving you to salvage as much of the gold as you can before making your escape. There’s an online leaderboard (”The Goldenest”) that lists the players who were able to grab the most gold before escaping. http://indiegam.es/playYFTGH

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

ROM CHECK FAIL Jarrad “Farbs” Woods Developed over three weeks for the Video Game Name Generator competition at TIGSource, ROM CHECK FAIL splices together the retro worlds of Mario, Zelda, Pacman, and other popular game characters to create a completely insane gaming experience; one moment, Mario is jumping on the heads of Space Invaders, and the next, Pacman is running from Goombas. The backdrops display popular scenes from old console games. Every few seconds, there is a glitchy internal computer noise, and everything in the current level stays in the same position but changes into something else. The idea is that players need to constantly change their strategies, and strategies are dependent on whatever character is currently being controlled. Jarrad developed ROM CHECK FAIL while still working at mainstream game developer 2K Australia. Early in 2009, he once again used Mario—this time in a short game-cum-message for his bosses at 2K—to announce that he was quitting his job and becoming a full-time indie developer. http://indiegam.es/playRCF

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Skullpogo Chevy Ray Johnston Skullpogo is a game about bouncing on pigs and bats; using a pogo stick, Skullboy must launch himself up and down on the animals to build up as large a combo as possible. As Skullboy lands on the animals, his combo meter fills, and if he lands on another animal before the meter empties, the combo increases. The idea is to get a huge combo and earn enough points to go to the next level before time runs out. Plenty of different power-ups appear in the sky for you to grab; these will speed Skullboy up and occasionally mess up the controls. Skullpogo started life in 2002 as Pogopher, Chevy Ray’s first-ever completed game. Six years later, the developer decided to expand on his formula and enlisted the help of friends Brittney Cloud and Marius Schneider to help him develop a more polished and entertaining product. Skullpogo is also available as an iPhone game. http://indiegam.es/playSkullpogo

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Space Phallus Charlie's Games Space Phallus is a crude yet hilarious side-scrolling shooter in which you battle against a horde of genitalia and bodily fluids. The majority of enemy ships are penises that continuously fire shots of semen in your direction. At the beginning of each level, you’ll have to hold back bursts of sperm that shoot towards you at an alarming rate. Once these are out of the way, the phalluses themselves appear, flying through the air or rolling along on the floor. There are plenty of other enemy types to be found as well, although you’re better off finding out about those for yourself (especially if you’re looking for a good giggle). The boss battles feature grotesque beasts that you’ll want to destroy as quickly as possible. When the going gets too tough, you’ll have access to other kinds of weapons that will help to change the tide in battle. For example, your missiles can usually cut enemies down with a single shot, and the fire breath can clear whole screens full of penises. http://indiegam.es/playSP

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The Marionette Team Effigy The Marionette is an adventure game about a sculptor who is subjected to a strange sequence of events. Martin is partway through completing his latest work when a mysterious letter arrives in the post. Upon opening the letter, Martin loses consciousness and eventually wakes up in front of a strange house he has never seen before. With nowhere else to go, he ventures into the house to find some answers, and things get a little bit spooky. There are a lot of twists and turns in this story, and the writing and dialogue are both top notch. The best way to experience The Marionette is to explore every area fully, as there may well be puzzles and items that you’ll miss. There are different endings to the story, which depend on actions chosen throughout play. Auriond, one of the developers from Team Effigy, describes The Marionette as “interactive fiction” in addition to its adventure game tag. http://indiegam.es/playMarionette

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Excavatorrr Arvi “Hempuli" Teikari Excavatorrr is a tricky digging game with Atari 2600-style visuals. You are a lonely miner who burrows deep into the ground, trying to extract as much gold as possible while avoiding death at the hands of nasty creatures in the depths. The world of Excavatorrr is procedurally generated, so every time you play, you’ll find that the pathways and locations of the monsters have changed. The miner can normally only dig crosswise and must find holes in the ground or use bombs and dynamite if he wants to dig downwards; ladders are available that will allow the miner to climb up again. Once you’ve collected enough gold, you can buy supplies in the shop on the surface. If you dig down deep enough, you’ll find an assortment of surprising enemies to contend with. Hempuli originally designed Excavatorrr as a Ludum Dare contest entry, but he wasn’t happy with the original build. He decided to improve on the base concept and eventually released this more complete, content-heavy edition. http://indiegam.es/playExcavatorrr

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Fedora Spade Hardi “Orchard-L" Gosal Fedora Spade is a series of detective adventure games that play in a fashion similar to the popular Nintendo DS Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games. Fedora Spade has been assigned to lead a failing unit in the police force, but the work becomes meaningless and Spade starts to hit the bottle to drown his sorrows. A last chance to save his career comes in the form of a challenging case. Players look through the case file and then interrogate the murder suspect, using available evidence to question inconsistencies in the suspect’s statements. The game features a fantastic story with lots of clever twists and humour throughout. A total of four Fedora Spade games were released over the course of two years, and each presents a new case for Fedora to investigate while revealing more of his mysterious past. All four games can now be downloaded as a package along with the Fedora Spade original soundtrack. http://indiegam.es/FedoraSpade

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

The Legend of Princess Joakim “Konjak” Sandberg In case it wasn’t obvious from the title, The Legend of Princess is a Zelda fangame that was created by renowned indie developer Konjak. Many argue that this side-scrolling homage plays just as well as the two-dimensional Zelda games of old. Elements such as a similar soundtrack, collectable hearts and rupees, flying chickens, and exploding Bombchus have created a love letter to the Nintendo classic. Yet Konjak has added his own personal touches to the genre, in the form of fantastic action-packed swordplay, satisfying explosions, and great level design. Also, there are a number of different weapons and items that can be chosen before the game begins to alter how challenging the gameplay is. No Zelda fangame would be complete without some great boss battles, and in this department The Legend of Princess does not disappoint. It is truly one of the best fangames ever released. http://indiegam.es/playLOP

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Jumpman Run Hello (aka Andrew McClure) What appears to be a rather simple platformer gradually shows its true, wacky colours in Jumpman. You take control of an orange stickman who must traverse multiple “paths,” each with its own set of game rules. The first few levels are simple, which allows you to get used to the overall concept and slippery movement. Yet soon all hell breaks loose. To reach the finish, you’ll be playing around with strange physics-based movement, rotating levels around 360 degrees, and generally becoming utterly confused as infinite repeating patterns appear all over the screen. The next level is always shown in the background of the current maze, as if to taunt you with the difficulty you will soon face. Developed over the course of a year, this game comes with a level editor for creating your own insane masterpieces and a “playground” that acts like a version of Microsoft Paint—but with the orange protagonist jumping all over the place. http://indiegam.es/playJumpman

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Beacon Chevy Ray Johnston Winner of the Ludum Dare 15 competition, Beacon was developed in less than two days and follows the story of a child who is lost in the darkness. A beacon of light appears out of nowhere, and the child must follow the light closely or else be sucked into the blackness. As the beacon floats along, you’ll need to jump over chasms, swim through underground pools, and dodge deadly spikes. Now and then the light will take a course that you can’t follow, and you’ll have to use the light from nearby crystals to work your way back to the beacon. On later levels, the beacon will begin to glide more rapidly, so you’ll need quick reactions if you want to keep up. Beacon is a great achievement in that players will likely feel genuine terror during the action, which features scary background noise and dark creatures moving around. You will really feel a bond with the beacon by the end of play. http://indiegam.es/playBeacon

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Glum Buster Justin “CosMind” Leingang Developed over a period of four years, Glum Buster is an abstract adventure game with minimal storytelling and many areas to explore. The explanation of what players are supposed to be doing is limited, and the game leaves you to experiment with the protagonist’s powers. Once sucked into his gloomy sphere, the hero can fire shots of lights via the mouse buttons. He roams the huge, surreal world opening up paths and interacting with the surrounding creatures. Puzzles are usually solved by testing out each of the different powers with world elements until positive results are found. In parts of the game, the hero is floating around, while other parts play out as platformers. The environment’s lack of definition and negligible amount of dialogue allows players to create their own stories and logic, although the introductory scene suggests that the boy has been pulled into this Glum world for moping about while his friends have fun in the rain. http://indiegam.es/playGB

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Focus Jesse Venbrux Focus is a platformer with a teleporting twist. The main character escapes from a cage and soon finds a glowing gem that gives him the power to move quickly through space and even pass through solid objects. When the focus button is held down, a blue circle appears around the hero and time slows down. During this period, he can choose a destination point and then appear at that point with appropriate momentum behind him. Focus mode is great for reaching areas that are high up, since the hero can enter it multiple times before he must touch the floor. However, the blue circle shrinks the longer you stay in this mode and will only be restored when you touch the floor again. Note that you may want to set your focus key to Ctrl rather than to the space bar, as Windows may not allow you to press the space bar and two directional keys at the same time. http://indiegam.es/playFocus

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Assassin Blue Greg “Banov" Lobanov You are Blue, a highly skilled assassin working for an unknown organisation. Armed with your trusty blade and capable of some great swordplay, you are given targets you must locate and kill—although you’re never told why these people deserve to die. Assassin Blue can lunge and guard to beat his opponents, and can also perform a special attack on enemies who shield themselves. At each level, Blue must leap over rooftops and wall-jump up shafts to reach his goal. There are a number of different targets that can be destroyed for special bonuses, although some are hidden away and must be sought out. As the game progresses, Blue learns that he has a rival assassin called Red, and the story then starts to take an unexpected turn. Whenever Blue reaches his specified target, a boss battle ensues; these battles require that you watch how the enemy moves and attack whenever there is an opening. http://indiegam.es/playAB

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The Manipulator Virtanen Games There are a group of people who call themselves Manipulators, and one of them has managed to infiltrate a mysterious weapons base. The Manipulator cannot fight, and must take over the mind of another person and use it to forge a safe path. You control your enemies once their minds have been taken over, and you can make them shoot other enemies, making it safe for you to progress. You can then either leave the bodies unharmed and continue on your way, or be an evil soul and make the bodies explode. There are multiple endings, each of which depend on how you handle yourself during gameplay. The game also gives you the power to read the minds of your hosts and to see details from their lives, such as whether they are married or have children—a power that might have been included to influence whether you decide to be a good or evil Manipulator. http://indiegam.es/playManipulator

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Saut Mabi Games If you enjoy tough platformers, Saut may well surprise you with its simplicity. It’s a gorgeous one-button experience in which any button on your keyboard will make the little hero hop along (and most likely fall down into pits many times over). How long you press your preferred button determines whether the little man makes a short bound or a lengthy leap. However, Saut is more about momentum than anything else. The protagonist slides after each jump, and the idea is to position him so that his slide takes him right up to the edge of a drop. You then use his momentum to leap across wide gaps. There are numerous opportunities for precise jumping, since Saut includes lots of short platforms and dangerous manoeuvres. Saut was developed in under a week for the Gamejolt Minimal Contest. If you’re able to collect every special coin in the game, your final score will be entered into a secret VIP leaderboard. http://indiegam.es/playSaut

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We Want YOU Quicksand Games We Want YOU puts a satirical spin on the subject of war by asking you to fight for your country and your people, while at the same time providing statistics and news flashes that demonstrate why “war is hell.” You take control of a soldier descending through time and killing enemy troops along the way. The world is procedurally-generated, so each time you play, the path is completely different. As you progress, news bulletins provide up-to-date titbits about what is going on around you and the game’s textures change to fit the current climate and era. There are frequent twists and turns along the way, and the enemy gets tougher as the technologies become more modern. Make sure you give this one a few good tries—it really gets interesting once you reach the second part. There is an extra mode to unlock if you can get far enough. http://indiegam.es/playWWY

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Being Struck by Lightning... Mabi Games The game’s full name is Being Struck by Lightning Is Probably the Best Way That You Could Die on Account of All of Its Awesomeness. The game is as tricky as the title is long-winded, with tough jumps to make and numerous dangerous spike pits. Initially, the platforming isn’t too much of a problem as you leap and bound over danger and dodge the ambling bad guys. However, the action quickly gets really tough and you’ll need to make precision jumps with expert timing and tight movements. On each level, your goal is to reach the storm cloud and get yourself electrocuted by the lightning bolt. The level design is really quite harsh towards the end of the game, and only the most masochistic players will survive the challenge. Being Struck by Lightning was developed for a Gamejolt contest with the theme “Shocking,” and won The Probably Best Way That You Could Die on Account of All of Its Awesomeness Award for its efforts. http://indiegam.es/playLightning

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Devil's Tuning Fork DGE Team All around the world children are falling into comas and scientists don’t know the cause. Devil’s Tuning Fork takes place inside the mind of a coma victim who is trapped in a strange reality that must be escaped. You are armed with a special tuning fork, and you click to sound the fork and reveal the surrounding area through visual sound waves. Along the way you must collect oversized stuffed animals that represent other children trapped in comas and sound bells to open doors and continue along the path. There are also rooms that require you to right click to emit a low frequency wave that can detect broken floorboards. There’s a very dark tone to the game, with eerie and sometimes frightening noises emanating out of the darkness. Devil’s Tuning Fork was developed by a student team at DePaul University and inspired by M.C. Escher’s optical illusions. The game was a finalist in the 2010 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase. http://indiegam.es/playDTF

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Takishawa is Dead Andrew Brophy A dangerous criminal called Takishawa is on the loose, and a reward has been offered for his capture. In an odd world full of characters who have televisions for heads, you set out to find Takishawa, dodging traps and navigating difficult platforming sections along the way. Takishawa is Dead features numerous areas made up entirely of black-andwhite blocky surroundings, where you talk to various individuals. Many of the areas will require you to hop across platforms and jump over spikes, but fortunately there are frequent save points so that you’re never thrown back too far when you die. If you manage to reach the end of the game, there is a rather big twist to the story waiting for you. The game was featured on many popular mainstream gaming sites at the time of release. As a result, developer Andrew Brophy began work on a sequel called Takishawatwo (not yet released at the time of writing). http://indiegam.es/playTakishawa

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Rara Racer Stephen “Increpare” Lavelle Rara Racer features a rather unique concept: someone is watching a playthrough of a game called Rara Racer on YouTube, and you are controlling the game in the YouTube video while an announcer (voiced by developer Lavelle himself) provides audio commentary on your playing. The game in the YouTube window is an intentionally dull top-down racing game that’s about driving around cones—but it’s what goes on around the video that makes Rara Racer so unique. Browser pop-ups block your view of the game until the “viewer” clicks to close them, and instant-messaging chat windows display short conversations in an attempt to distract you. The entire game is made to look like someone’s computer screen (including a Windows toolbar at the bottom), and the game even ends with the user “shutting down” the computer. Developed in less than 48 hours for the Ludum Dare 13 contest, Rara Racer took home first place and was highly praised for its innovative concept. http://indiegam.es/playRaraRacer

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Descent Ted Lauterbach Descent tells the story of an unnamed hero’s journey into the bowels of a dark and mysterious cave. As he drops deeper and deeper into the darkness, a disgusting brown blob follows closely behind, advising him to turn around and return to the surface. The protagonist can fall from any height without getting hurt and can also cling to ledges to assist in climbing. The game’s mystery revolves around what you’ll discover at the bottom—is the strange, ugly creature telling the truth, or trying to keep you from finding something amazing in the depths of the cave? Without giving too much away, you should note that you’ll need to prepare yourself once you’ve reached the bottom. After you’ve played through the game, it’s worth trying again, but this time follow the monster’s advice and see what happens. By the way, the monster’s taunts were inspired by the passive-aggressive nature of GLaDOS from the popular platform-puzzler Portal. http://indiegam.es/playDescent

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Chaser Connor Carpenter Developed over a couple of days, Chaser is not what it first appears to be. Players are presented with a simple black environment and take control of a green man chasing a turquoise figure. Over time, you’ll pick up speed, grab coins that the turquoise man throws out, and eventually trip and come to a standstill. The main question throughout play is whether or not it is possible to catch up with the fleeing guy, and by exploring this concept you may well find the ending to the game. The underlying message could be interpreted as follows: sometimes it’s best to violate life’s edicts instead of mindlessly following the rules. With a unique visual style and a wonderful soundtrack that builds up as your character moves faster, Chaser is a quick and simple “art game” that is well worth checking out. http://indiegam.es/playChaser

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Queens Nathan “noonat” Ostgard Queens is a very short but difficult platformer about a ruthless king who throws his many wives into a dangerous gauntlet whenever he tires of them. You lead each queen through the obstacles in the run and try to stay alive. Each section relies on trial and error; you’ll constantly find yourself dying in unfair circumstances. However, as each new queen is thrown into the pit, you can use your prior knowledge of traps to push on and reach further areas. The king watches as you make your way through the hazardous caverns, giving the action a very eerie feel. Through perseverance and some serious skills, you’ll eventually be able to lead one of the queens to victory and make sure that the king never harms anyone again. The game was developed over the course of three days for the tenth Mini Ludum Dare competition. The theme of the contest was domestic violence. http://indiegam.es/playQueens

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Din Team Bill If you’ve ever tried to have multiple conversations at the same time, you know that focusing on what is being said can be tricky. Din puts you in the shoes of Billy, a popular guy who everybody wants to talk to. Unfortunately, everyone wants to talk to him at the same time and will get upset if he doesn’t respond appropriately. As people crowd around you making small talk, occasionally one will ask you to press a key on your keyboard. Pressing the correct key in time will earn you points, while pressing the wrong one—or ignoring the person completely—will deduct from your score. The game is simple enough at the beginning, but once you’ve got a crowd of six different people talking over each other, it’s very difficult to understand what they’re saying! Din was created for the Global Game Jam, a 48-hour development jam that takes place all over the world. The team consisted of Teddy Diefenbach, Mansa Gory, and Brian Lee. http://indiegam.es/playDin

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FallOver Arvi “Hempuli" Teikari FallOver puts a humorous spin on the side-scrolling Mario games. The British gentleman protagonist is on a mission to collect coins and reach the white flag, but he has quite a problem with keeping his balance. If he lands on the edge of a platform, ambles into a rock on the ground, or walks off the side of a mound, he’ll topple over, cursing in all sorts of British slang. The key to surviving is to land centrally on each platform and avoid any spinning blocks or bad guys. If you do happen to topple over, you can simply press the A key to stand up again, although you can only do this three times before you’re forced to restart the level. There are coins to collect throughout each stage, and while these are not essential, you’ll earn a perfect score if every single one is grabbed before the end. http://indiegam.es/playFallover

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Dungeon Jonatan “Cactus" Söderström and Arthur “Mr. Podunkian" Lee When Dungeon was first released, there was a fair amount of confusion amongst indie gamers. Some reported completing the game easily with a low number of deaths, while others were experiencing a variety of problems ranging from issues with jumping to slippery character movement. Was the game broken for certain people? It turned out that the game was indeed riddled with bugs that were deliberately added by the developers. Random impediments that depended on the Windows username of the player were layered on the gameplay, making the game difficult to play for some and completely impossible for others. The day after the game’s release, an explanatory file called “Clarity” was released, which revealed the bugs and showed players the issues that would affect their playthrough. Dungeon was developed in two days for a Mini Ludum Dare contest as “an amusing experiment,” according to Jonatan. A bug-free version of the game is available for download. http://indiegam.es/playDungeon

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Cave Story Daisuke “Pixel" Amaya Cave Story—or Doukutsu Monogatari, to give its original Japanese title—is a huge side-scrolling platform game that was in development for more than five years. The hero wakes up in a cave with no memory of how he came to be there. Upon finding a small village, he learns that he’s on a floating island populated by creatures called Mimigas and by an evil doctor who is hunting the Mimigas down. As the protagonist begins to explore the surrounding areas, he stumbles across a whole cast of characters: from Sue Sakamoto, a girl who has been turned into a Mimiga, to Curly Brace, a female robot. The story is nice and long and features a satisfying number of experience levels and lots of new weapons for players to find. Make sure you pick up the English translation patch by Aeon Genesis, as the original download features Japanese dialogue and interfaces. In addition to the free PC version, there are commercial updated editions for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DSi available for purchase. The commercial editions feature new visuals and some exclusive gameplay modes. http://indiegam.es/playcavestory

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Gravity Bone Brendon “Blendogames” Chung Citizen Abel: Gravity Bone (the full name) puts you in the role of a secret agent as you attempt to complete a couple of undercover missions from a first-person perspective. Nuevo Aires, Gravity Bone’s world, is incredibly striking and stylish, with cube-headed characters and unusual level design. The gameplay is simple yet clever. Missions are provided by your organisation via cards, and range from dressing as a waiter to serve your target a special drink to taking photos of birds and jumping across flagpoles. While the game is rather short, progression is very enjoyable and there’s a great twist at the end. At the time of release, many gamers commented that it felt as though Gravity Bone ended a little abruptly, and there is still hope that Brendon will release a sequel one day. The game runs on the Quake 2 engine—although Quake 2 is not required to run it—and features music from the 1985 Terry Gilliam film Brazil. http://indiegam.es/playGravityBone

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Awakener Ben Chandler Awakener is a short but entertaining point-and-click adventure set entirely in one area. You control Fadi as he tries to help his Aunt Sylvia wake up and remove a mysterious stranger from outside her inn. The puzzles are quite straightforward, which allows you to enjoy the humorous and bizarre dialogue. Among the strange and wonderful characters who inhabit the level you’ll meet a man selling pennies for a dollar, an assassin who is waiting for a message, and a cleric who will only talk in scripture. Since the game is rather brief (clocking in at around 20 minutes of play), it’s worth going through each dialogue tree and checking out each reaction, as there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments to be found. Now and then, Fadi references the fact that he is in a video game, and at one point he mentions Shifter’s Box, another one of developer Ben Chandler’s releases. http://indiegam.es/playAwakener

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Back Door Man Edmundo Ruiz and Francisco Gonzalez Back Door Man follows the exploits of a male prostitute on a not-so-typical work night. While drinking at a bar after hours, the protagonist gets talking to the bartender and begins to describe each of the night’s affairs. There are three “jobs” in total, and you can play through each in any order you fancy. Each job has a strange storyline with multiple endings that depend on how you act during gameplay. Once the escort has told all of his sordid tales, he leaves the bar and will encounter one of a variety of different final game endings—the one you receive is determined by how you completed each of the three jobs. Back Door Man is a short game that’s worth playing through multiple times to find all the different conclusions. The game was created for the TIGSource Adult/Education Compo, hence the adult theme. As you’d expect, the game features profanity and nudity in abundance. http://indiegam.es/playBDM

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Paul Moose in Space World

Stephen “the catamites” Murphy Paul Moose in Space World is rather special in that every character, item, and backdrop you see in the game has been created by hand—mostly with paper and pens—then photographed. Paul himself is drawn on a piece of paper, and glides along as you tell him where to go. Paul Moose in Space World is an adventure game with a very Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy vibe throughout; it’s quite short, but the witty dialogue more than makes up for the brevity. Eventually, Paul meets an alien who happens to be made of plasticine—a substance that is very alien indeed in Paul’s papery world. Paul Moose in Space World was developed for a Gamejolt Contest with the theme “Axioms” and took the second-place prize. The game used the adage “A picture is worth a thousand words,” referring to Paul’s comical conversations with the alien. http://indiegam.es/playPaulMoose

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Dreamside Maroon Terraced Voyages to the moon would be so much easier if we simply followed the guidance of the scarf-wearing hero Aster from Dreamside Maroon—this little guy rides there on a sprawling vine. Holding up his mysterious lantern, Aster can cause the vine on which he sits to grow outwards, twisting and winding all over the gorgeous night sky. There are other lanterns along the way that light up when Aster gets close; these attract swarms of fireflies, which can be collected for a temporary speed boost. Eventually, the fireflies light up the entire area, allowing you to progress. Dreamside Maroon is a beautiful sight to behold, and once you’ve created a huge spiral of vines, it’s great to turn around and see your creation. The story is told via snippets of poetry that set the scene perfectly. Developed by a student team from the DigiPen Institute of Technology, Dreamside Maroon was chosen as a finalist for the 2010 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase. http://indiegam.es/playDreamside

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Super Crate Box Vlambeer Super Crate Box flips your concept of scoring on its head, as collecting takes precedence over killing. Crates appear on each level, and you score points by grabbing them while dodging the bad guys who descend from the top of the arena. With such a simple premise and setting, you’d expect Super Crate Box to be a walk in the park, but it’s quite the opposite. Each time you grab a crate, you’re granted a random weapon—however, while some of the weapons are powerful, others are incredibly weak and fiddly. Killing baddies does not earn you points, but if you allow their numbers to build up, they’ll turn red and storm around the level at twice the speed. Therefore, it’s worth shooting these ugly beasts along the way. The game is very content-light, yet only the most quick-witted players will be able to unlock every mode available. Super Crate Box was the first release by Vlambeer, a Dutch games company set up by developers Jan Willem Nijman and Rami Ismail. http://indiegam.es/playSCB

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Pathways Terry Cavanagh Pathways explores the idea of interactive storytelling through abstract decisions and literal pathways. The hero walks through the same town each day, taking different routes and encountering separate stories that, when all brought together, make up his life story. With each new beginning, the protagonist’s wife tells him that she worries whenever he goes out on one of his walks. You’re then given a choice of multiple paths to walk down, and after you’ve reached the end of the day, you’re thrown back to the title screen where your tally is increased. Once all eight endings have been found, the game draws to a close. Whether you take each story literally or as a metaphor for one of life’s many twists and turns, there’s no denying that Pathways emanates an incredibly heartfelt atmosphere. Pathways started life as a 48-hour Ludum Dare contest entry, but developer Terry Cavanagh decided to take the concept further and ended up spending more than two months developing the game fully. http://indiegam.es/playPathways

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Octodad DePaul University Student Team Developed by a student team in Chicago, Octodad is one of the funniest games you’ll ever play. It’s an adventure game about an octopus pretending to be human, who even lives with his seemingly oblivious human wife and kids. The control scheme is even more mental than the storyline. The octopus’s two squid-like legs are controlled separately by clicking and dragging the corresponding mouse buttons. Pressing your space bar allows you to enter Arms mode and grab items (most likely causing lots of accidental destruction). Given the deliberately awkward controls, your octopus will roam around his house in a very comical manner, trying to live his life as normally as possible so that his family doesn’t uncover the truth. Due to its hilarious concept, the game was covered by the majority of mainstream gaming sites when it was released. It was also selected as a finalist in the 2011 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase. http://indiegam.es/playOctodad

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

The Journey Down Theodor Waern The Journey Down is an episodic adventure game with a graphical style inspired by the classic LucasArts adventure games of the ‘90s. Bwana and his friend Kito run a gas station and find themselves in a predicament when the electricity company threatens to cut off their power supply. Coincidentally, a young woman happens to walk into their workplace that day looking for a book and she offers Bwana and Kito good money if they can find the book for her. The game plays out exactly like classics such as the Monkey Island series, with left-clicks that allow Bwana to move and interact with things or people, and all inventory items stored away at the bottom of the screen. At the time of writing, only the first episode in the series, “Over the Edge,” has been released. Four chapters in total are expected, with “Episode Two: Into the Mist” coming in the summer of 2011. http://indiegam.es/playJourneyDown

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Space Funeral Stephen “the catamites” Murphy Space Funeral is a surreal and very silly role-playing game that follows Phillip, a man who cannot stop crying (although we never discover exactly why this is the case). Banished from his home, he eventually meets up with Leg Horse and sets out to the city of Forms. The gameplay is distilled down to the most manic form, with short, simple dungeons to overcome and easy enemy battles that you can even skip by using an “auto” option. From your attacks to your character statistics, almost nothing is explained, but it doesn’t really matter as the focus is entirely on your journey and the people you meet. The dialogue is hilarious but somewhat terrifying, especially since the game has an unhealthy obsession with blood; the title screen presents you with BLOOD, BLOOD, and BLOOD as your three options, and you’ll constantly be picking up bags of blood that have been dropped by enemies. At one point, you’ll even take a raft trip down Blood River. http://indiegam.es/playFuneral

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250 Indie Games You Must Play

Jables's Adventure Jason “JaJitsu” Boyer It’s not often that you wake up to find a squid on your head, especially one who pronounces you a hero. This is the story of Jables’s Adventure, which features cephalopod Squidric leading Jables through a series of heroic deeds. Jables’s Adventure revels in observing that it’s all just a game, and characters frequently make references to this fact. At the beginning, Jables can only run and jump, but eventually he finds a weapon and is able to venture farther into more dangerous regions. Along the way, there are boss battles to overcome and an abundance of fruit to eat, and the dialogue between Squidric and Jables gives the whole experience a rather charming vibe. Developer Jason Boyer created the game, which has a full soundtrack from Kevin Carville, over the course of a year. Boyer’s other well-known indie title is called Cat Poke. http://indiegam.es/playJables

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L'Abbaye des Morts Locomalito Set in the 13th century, L’Abbaye des Morts (translated as The Abbey of the Dead) follows a Cathar called Jean Raymond as he attempts to escape from the Crusaders. He finds refuge in an old abandoned church that soon is revealed to have a dark secret. The visual style and level design take inspiration from classic Spectrum ZX games of old such as Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy. Jean must dodge enemies as he ventures into the bowels of the church catacombs to collect crosses. Since he has no way to attack, he must solve puzzles to navigate around hazards. Parchments scattered around provide clues as to how to obtain each particular cross. Once all 12 crosses have been collected, Jean must battle a rather surprising final boss. Locomalito created the game during a vacation in southern France and styled it after the regions and sights he saw during day trips. http://indiegam.es/playdesMorts

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250 Indie Games You Must Play