Indie VS AAA
Indie games have something that most AAA titles can’t provide; maybe it’s because of the totally different workflows that these two industries follow. The AAA games’ team has to deliver whatever the higher authority orders them to but in the indie game dev environment, individuals are not restricted by petty rules like this and have the full freedom to explore their creative limits. And this is what I think makes all the difference.
1.This War of Mine
This War of Mine launch trailer.
The winter morning is mercilessly cold, but for the people who have taken shelter in these abandoned ruins, it is made even worse by the fact that there were no proper blankets to keep them warm. Marko hadn’t eaten for the past two days, there were two cans of food, just enough for two people. But there were three people in all, taking shelter in these ruins; one of them had to go hungry.
It was a non-verbal agreement that the one who had eaten the most recent would have to make the sacrifice in these circumstances. But, in this case, Cveta who had eaten the most recent was also sick and wounded shivering pitifully against the bitter cold.
If Cveta was to have any chances of surviving, they had to find both medicines and bandages along with some food. This means that Marko who was good at scavenging, has to risk stealing from a military camp nearby, risking his life against heavily armed thugs. If he fails, he’ll suffer from the guilty conscience of not finding enough supplies to sustain Cveta.
This War of Mine pricks and pokes your heart with every tiny decision you make in the game, until it finally punctures and bleeds.
2.Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Official launch trailer.
This game plays through the remarkable journey that two sons undertake to find a rare medicine capable of saving their dying father before time runs out. It is difficult to appreciate the full glory of this game without revealing some obvious spoilers, but the game sports unique controls defining a new style of gameplay where you control the actions of both the brothers simultaneously.
Though short in its gameplay time, it takes the player on a rollercoaster ride of heart wrenching emotions with cinematic action sequences. The combination might sound strange, but it just works.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons can definitely be classified as a must play simply because of the fact that they have hugely deviated from the path that is so trodden on by most games in the industry.
3.Papers Please…
Papers Please Trailer from Lucas Pope himself…
If the gaming community has taken notice of one thing by now, it’ll be that an emotional story that drives the game forward can easily out trump even the worst gameplay elements to establish the game as one of the best.
And if there are some moral elements capable of kindling the player’s emotions, studded within the gameplay, then even better. Games of this make will stay close to players’ hearts for a long time to come.
In Papers, Please you have a desk job of checking whether the official papers of the people who are crossing over the borders where you’re stationed, are in order. Sounds like a typical boring day job that can bore you out of your mind, but add a tiny drop of empathy along with a topping of morality and it transforms into a soulful heart-warming concoction.
Imagine this, an old man steps in front of your counter and hands you his documents, which are perfectly in order, but when you stamp his papers your approval, he begins speaking in a pitiful tone. He confesses that his wife is next in line and that her documents have expired, but he grieves that if you don’t allow her passage, they’ll be separated and perish on different sides of the armed border.
It’s upto you to decide whether to uphold the law with a merciless iron fist or save the lives of a poor old couple and suffer a fine for not doing your job properly.
4.Nidhogg
Nidhogg is just a pixilated 2D side scrolling game where you sword fight your way towards your destination. It is just an average platformer when you play it by yourself, but when you bring in your friends to play against you, the entire gameplay experience is altered to a whole new level. It would be better if you just bring in your nemesis, because this game is known to notoriously spark up rivalries even between the best of besties.
When played with two players, the game becomes feverishly fast paced, exploding in a blinding display of speed and agility between the two players. The swordsmanship and the pace of the game, is directly proportional to how creative the wielder is. There are innumerable ways to kill, but even more ways to avoid being killed.
This game is the ultimate test of hand-eye coordination, capable of taking the mind games to an entirely different level.
People may jump to conclusions judging by the pace of the game, but this game is no button masher. You’ll have to play it to believe it.
5.No Man’s Sky
No Man’s Sky Gameplay Trailer at E3
This a game that has been making waves in the indie gaming community with its captivating trailers. Apparently, it is a space simulation cum exploration game whose universe is said to have no boundaries, with entirely new planets cropping up wherever you go; each planet unique and different in its topography and the type of life it can host.
This illusion is achieved by procedurally generating planets with completely random content, an appreciably clever idea. But we’ll have to wait for the game to hit the stores before we can see if it can deliver on its promise. Or will it just be another great idea suffering from bad execution?
6.The Floor is Jelly
The Floor is Jelly, did I mention that the walls were too?
One of the most enjoyable games out there that’s capable of providing a wholesome entertainment package right when you need one. This game will easily occupy the top spot of a casual gamers’ to-do list.
Going into further detail, just as the game’s title implies, the floor in every single level is made up of jelly. The wobbling floor’s physics is absolutely adorable and also the main reason why this game is so lovable. But, playing this game for hours on end like any other hardcore game can make it too monotonous killing all the fun.
The developers have foreseen this and added underwater levels to add more variety. But this game is best taken in tiny doses and will keep you entertained whenever you feel the need to kill time.
7.Neverending Nightmares
Crazy Creepiness!
This is a game that takes the queasiness factor up by a gargantuan level. This game’s aim is to unsettle its players with huge overdoses of gruesome and stomach-churning acts of self injury. Even if they are just simply pixels dancing around changing colors on the screen, they manage to do their intended job.
Neverending Nightmares strikingly illustrates developer Matt Gilgen’s battle against his mental illness. It is a game that really should be kept away from kids; if not then it can seriously mess with their minds.
8.Goat Simulator
Wholesome Goatness…
Capitalizing in on the stream of simulator games coming in non-stop, Coffee Stain Studios have tried to make something of a parody out of these simulation games.
Of course we’ve heard enough of this game but it still deserves a small mention for its sheer hilariousness. The goat running around in the game is not just any ordinary goat; it has been gifted with the most extraordinary gymnastic skills.
The physics of the objects tumbling around are remarkably pleasant to watch adding to the fun factor. This game gives you two options, one is to go out there and experiment with all the wacky stuff the goat is capable of. Or the game can hold your hands in the form of missions asking you to explore every nook and cranny of the goat’s animation sequences.
9.Volume
Volume First Announcement
This is the next venture of Mike Bithell after his little advent, Thomas Was Alone. Volume is a full on 3D game purely based on stealth tactics fashioned from the Robin Hood legend, but in a sci-fi themed environment.
Mike Bithell has concentrated a lot on getting this game as widely known as possible, trying for viral ad campaigns and as much coverage as he can get. But he needn’t have worried; expectations would be at a new high after Thomas Was Alone. Now all we have to do is to wait till August to see how the game fares.
10.Inside
Official E3 Trailer
In 2010, Playdead made its name in style with a creepy side scroller game, Limbo. Now, it wants to recreate the old creepiness with its next title, Inside. The game designers at Playdead seem to agree that nothing is more unsettling than mutilating little kids in the most horrible ways possible.
Inside features the same themes of Limbo but with better looks this time with a 2.5 dimensional camera angle and dull grayish tones instead of pure black and white.
As of now, they have only announced an Xbox release but chances are high that they will soon follow up with a PC version.
Encore: Indie Game Studios
Word on the street is that only the indie game industry is upholding game development as a work of art. But there are people with different opinions, saying that the limited budgets of these games restrict their true potential and that they can fare better if they had the same resources most AAA games enjoy.
If these independent game studios have the privileges and resources of AAA titles then who knows what kind of wonders they’ll be able to work. But if the indie games do have that kind of resources, then we won’t be able to really call it an indie game, it’s a very fine line to tread.
