Hey all,

With November coming up, I'm starting to gear up for the end of year awards. My hope this year is to spotlight a lot more games than I did last year. (when we were just starting up) My concern is that with so many indie games, that it is impossible not to miss one.

I've already got lists I've been working on all year long as to what I think the best titles this year have been. I'd appreciate your suggestions as to what some of the best indie titles this year are. (also, don't want to get into the old debate of what is an indie here...:) )

So anyone who is willing, if you could give a list in no particular order of the best indie games you've seen this year it would be appreciated in helping me make sure I'm not missing something.

Thanks!

Man People are going to hate me,

Games I've enjoyed

Think Tanks
Alien Shooter
Crimson Land
Overball
Best Friends (was that released last year?)

Though I haven't played it yet Lazer squad nemisis looks very good, and i've herd good reviews of it.

Hands down, the best Indie developed game I've played was Orbz 2.0. It rocked, completely. So much so that I took time out of TrajectoryZone's development schedule to be one of the beta testers :-)

Other than that... I can't think of any offhand that really did 'it' for me (same goes for a lot of retail space products too).

I think Crimsonland is good. And I'm sure this is too old to qualify, but there's ALWAYS room for Mutant Storm! Also Dungeon Scroll, I suppose you could say it's just a word game, but word games are fun. Especially if typing Hamumu into them does something special. I could also consider a stylish nod towards Zen Puzzle Garden for truly original and highly thematic puzzle gameplay. I also really like Airstrike 3D, that and Mutant Storm were the only ones that came close to my wallet in the past year! I'd also nominate Icy Tower, which again is probably too old, but has the advantage of not needing any wallets involved.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. Keep them coming!

I'd love to agree with a bunch of them...but I don't want to sway anyone's thoughts.

Mutant Storm was our GOTY for last year! I agree there is always room for that game! (last year was a bit more low-key, the site started in January officially, but was live as of the end of December, and I put up the GOTY for MS the last week of the year)

I don't mind plugs for yourself either, I appreciate the honesty, there is at least one game given so far I haven't even played...so it is good to catch those things!

Well then, since Supreme With Cheese is going to win the IGF, I nominate it also for game of the year!

Digby's Donuts is currently the #1 seller on RealArcade, so I nominate it. :)
-Scorpio

Of the few titles I've tried since I'm reading the Dexterity forums, Zen Puzzle Garden is the one that really impressed me. It seems to be a little bit too hard for my brain though, since I haven't even finished level 5 :-).

I don't remember if Solid Spheres was released this year, but it certainly has my vote.

zen puzzle garden rocks, I'm just jealous of it because it totally makes Katsu's Journey art look cheesy when compared to it. ;)

Hey lexaloffel, what do you charge to do art for a project? :)

Another nomination for Zen Puzzle Garden here. It's pure class.

In no particular order:

Crimsonland
Demonstar Secret Mission 2
RatMaster

And a special mention for Puzzle Monkey for having the best music I've heard in an indie game.

Originally posted by Hamumu
Well then, since Supreme With Cheese is going to win the IGF, I nominate it also for game of the year!


Jeez man.. you can't nominate your own game. That's bad style.

I'll nominate it for you though. It is really really great in so many ways. Too bad 99% of the people who play this bohemoth will never notice if only for the sheer size of it.

Hey, in true bad form I will nominate my own title, simply because I don't think it gets any credit as an indy game: Ergo, I nominate

FaitH, the massive multiplayer online (commercial) browser based game. (www.dragonclawstudio.com/faith)

Sure, its bad form, but the indy market isn't just standalone games.

PS: Our big product launch is coming in November

Terin

I was avoiding self-nomination, but he DEMANDED it! Almost at gunpoint. I don't really play enough indie games to be good at this nominating business. I've been so tied up developing the monstrosity!

Well I downloaed the Supreme w/Cheese demo to give it a run. It is very different. Now you have me worried with how big it really is in the full version. I hate games not getting full props b/c they took way too long for a review to play, but it certainly happens...(but not as often on Game Tunnel as some sites)

I am happy to see people thinking their own games are great! If you don't play your own game, why do you expect other people will play it?

Originally posted by cyrus_zuo
Well I downloaed the Supreme w/Cheese demo to give it a run. It is very different. Now you have me worried with how big it really is in the full version. I hate games not getting full props b/c they took way too long for a review to play, but it certainly happens...(but not as often on Game Tunnel as some sites)

I am happy to see people thinking their own games are great! If you don't play your own game, why do you expect other people will play it?

I don't think there's any way to give supreme a fair run through without at least 20 hrs of play and probably more. At 40 hrs of play so far I'm still only 15% of the way through and many features remain unlocked. But that is one of the very things that makes the game unique and great.

Originally posted by Hamumu
I don't really play enough indie games to be good at this nominating business.

Well whenever you're stuck in that kind of predicament the best thing is to just go to my web page and nominate some of the stuff I made. You don't even need to play them. Just read through the titles and nominate away!

40 hours! for 15%!!!

Wow, that is amazing. At the same time it is beyond daunting.

As a reviewer, typically I have 3 games a week to go through and maybe 20 hours to dedicate to playing, writing and posting the review of all 3. 20 hours on any one game is a most unlikely event, though I've done it for our few paid reviews, and on occasion when we've have multiple copies donated for review. Typically I try to hit 10 hours on any full review. (those are the 'big' pictures in the middile of the website under 'full reviews')

However there are times where I don't get that. I can think of only 2 or 3 times where I played a game longer than that, and each of those cases was b/c I played the game EXTENSIVELY after having reviewed it. (which is difficult to find time to do when you have more games to review every week, the time is never there to stop and slow down on what I currently have, let alone go back to something I already played...the flipside is that I've likely played more independent titles than most people would ever dream of playing...so I've gotten decent perspective...but it's only one what I like and don't like)

You make me what to check out Supreme Cheese...but wow, I don't see anyway it could be appreciated fully in a review :(

Yep. The game is huge. The problem with doing a quick review of it is you're certain to miss many aspects of the game. I can't think off hand of a game, retail or indie that has more content. It's certainly unique in that respect.

The other interesting thing about Supreme is that much of the content is not directly related to the game itself but rather it's side content, like trivia about the game, or a place to rewatch the in game movies, or a fully playable arcade game in the game's mall, or or some statistics, or a game show etc... There's tons of easter eggs, and hidden stuff and I've only named a few. I've done a review of it (or tried to - to much to talk about) for the october issue of indie gamer.. due out shortly.

Originally posted by cyrus_zuo
40 hours! for 15%!!!

Wow, that is amazing. At the same time it is beyond daunting.


And on top of that I'm an experienced player replaying many levels. For a first time player I doubt they'd be moving through the game as quickly. Maybe you'd get 9-10% in 40hrs.

I can't wait for the review! Sorry for indirectly hijacking the thread - but you're welcome to a review copy despite your fears, cyrus. I think you can get an idea of it in a few hours, I find it very surprising to hear that a reviewer puts 10 hours into a game! That's way beyond what the big sites do, I'm sure. It was certainly a challenge coming up with a demo to represent the game. I don't know if the demo I made really does, but it's a big demo (smallish filesize though)!

I actually have a post on my forum from an angry fan, saying "I've been playing for 50 hours now and there's still lots to do! I'm frustrated! I should've beaten this game by now!"... I'm not sure that's much of a complaint, really, but I guess if your goal is to 'finish' a game as opposed to getting the actual enjoyment of playing it, maybe an endless ocean of content isn't such a good thing (speaking of which, a nasty trick in Supreme: every time you download an add-on world, it counts in the total worlds needed to reach 100% complete! I am still wondering if anyone will ever reach 100%, hasn't happened yet).

I'm really happy with the game, and the ridiculousness of it all. And eventually when I have a spare few minutes, I'll start promoting with a big smile on my face because I've never believed in a product so much before! I don't know that it's really game of the year material, but it makes a lot of people happy (and some disgruntled), so it's done the job it set out to do. Especially the disgruntling.

My types are Zen Puzzle Garden and Superstar Chefs. Both for amazing level of polish and addictiveness.

I just tried out SWC, and it's great! So big! So silly! I don't know if it's GOTY material either, but it's charming and I dig it. And I love the tagline, "You'll never need another game"

I'm voting for myself too! hahah!
Except it's not really GOTY material really - the controls are too difficult :P

Cas :)

Save the Meeklits!!

Simple, but very addictive. (not sure if it came out this year or not)

-Bruno

Wasn't Battlecruiser Millenium Gold released this year?

Originally posted by Siebharinn
Wasn't Battlecruiser Millenium Gold released this year?

It was published, and partially funded by Dreamcatcher..

Originally posted by BrewKnowC
Save the Meeklits!!

Simple, but very addictive. (not sure if it came out this year or not)

-Bruno


Thanks for your interest Bruno. "Save the Meeklits!" is published this year :) . However, the name is changed to "Meeklits" after an exclusive contract to a publisher.

The game is an action/puzzle hybrid. The latest addition includes a fairly active online high score chart.

More details can be found here if interested: http://www.meeklits.com

Oh yes, and I fired up this one again recently. Probably one of the best kept secrets on the web.


http://www.sigma-team.net/

"Alien Shooter"

I'm not surprised it's a well kept secret, with a name like "Alien Shooter"... downloading it now though! This thread is great, there's been a few games mentioned that I've never heard of before...

I've just ordered Supreme with Cheese. It's the first game I've ever ordered online where I've not bothered downloading a demo.

Cas :)

Really? So what is it about SWC that makes you so sure you'll like it?

About 6 months ago I played the Doctor Lunatic demo, and it was on my list of things to get one day. The DLSWC comes out, I thought, well, it's probably going to be like the original one, just bigger and better. So instead of buying the original, I've sort of sidegraded.

Another author I'd buy any game off straight away is Jeff Minter.

Cas :)

It's funny, I've been reading this thread with great interest and yet when I sat down to do a nifty chat/interview with TC from Daily Dementia (http://www.meccaworld.com/) I drew a coomplete blank when he asked me what the best game of 2003 has been so far.

Ack! There are a ton of great games out there, but I often find that a great game I just learned about has actually been out for years. Damn me for constantly missing the boat!

And yer still haven't played AF (http://www.puppygames.net/downloads/SetupAlienFlux.exe) yet :) In another 2 months' it'll be last year's game...

Cas :)

Never underestimate the power of spyware ;) *nudge nudge wink wink*

A big thanks for all the suggestions.

I've been playing a ton of games of late trying to determine which games we would consider for our awards, so that we could then play those games and determine which ones would win awards. In all my playing I'm seeing a few categories that seem to have a very low number of considerable games.

Are there good games in the following categories that anyone can think of? I'm afraid I've only found a couple of titles in these categories that were even released...

RPG
Sports
FPS
Strategy

Please let me know of any games you know in these categories.

Thanks!

Originally posted by cyrus_zuo
Are there good games in the following categories that anyone can think of? I'm afraid I've only found a couple of titles in these categories that were even released...

It's extremely difficult to find games sometimes. Especially since many devs don't feel any need to promote themselves or their game to any degree. Once you do find a game it's very possible it was released years ago, and not in 2003.. argh!

One thing you could do is go through Avault's (http://www.avault.com) demo archive, it's chock full of indie games. I also find that going through the PC and Rip Games categories on iSONEWS (http://www.izonews.com) is a great way to find out about previously unknown games since just about everything gets cracked eventually. However, the iSONEWS thing will take a long time since they don't often link to the game's official website and it can be tough to determine independence.