So I bought some indie games today. The Steam summer sale (where games have 50%+ discounts) gave me a final nudge to make the plunge. I've been considering this for a good few months and it's nice to have finally pulled the trigger.
I haven't bought a game in quite a few years now, and I can't imagine buying a block buster AAA title in the future (I don't even have StarCraft 2!), but there was something about indie games that I couldn't resist (the huge price cuts don't hurt either!).
The best graphics today, with all the light effects and fancy textures honestly hurts my eyes. Now I think it's amazing what the developers are now capable of (we've come a long ways since the FF7 style stubby arms), but for an old geezer like me it's just too much. I'm a bigger fan of 2d sprites or same alternative. I never thought that games needed to be realistic, and feel that oftentimes having limited information can do wonders for a storytelling experience (which is why I prefer books over manga over anime. The less sensory information I have, the more I can use my brain to fill in the holes).
I'm also a fan of clever game design over the best graphics or physics firepower. With less cost overhead to deal with, I feel that indie studios can afford to give me such experiences much more than a AAA studio. When your marketing and development budget is $N million dollars, you understandably can't afford to try now tricks as often.
While I'm not a programmer myself, I generally like programmers and want to support independent developers whenever convenient. If given the choice between buying a megacorp product and a 5 man shop's product, given similar value propositions and it's not overly mission critical for me, I like to think that I am doing good by supporting the little guy. It's good to have options in life, and game developers having a choice over who they work for and what they work on is an appealing idea. To that end I'd be doing a little bit of good for them by throwing a few bucks their way.
I've had these beliefs (especially with respect to small time dev shops) for quite some time, yet never really acted on it (like many Android phone users, I tend to be on the cheap skate side of things). But now that the perfect situation had come up, it was just time for me to put my words into action.
Oh by the way, here are the games I bought. Thanks to @bhelyer for the feedback and suggestions!
Super Hexagon Proteus Binding of Isaac McPixel Thomas Was Alone
I also bought McPixel to support Sos. That guy is a Gamejam super machine.
McPixel, while it is a parody, proves by absurdity the difficulty of designing such game. A very small amount of possibility may be almost impossible to solve, yet failing at a problem is equally rewarding. I really love the format.
If you like even a little The binding of Isaac, you should try Don't Starve. It feels like the same universe but the game is much better, borderline heroin-level addicting :D. Have to lock the computer, so my girlfriend doesn't overdose on it.
I wanted to play 1 hour, ended up playing 4 hours and still had the feeling that there was still a little bit I should do.
Thomas was alone, played few first level, very elegant game design. Actually a design lesson. Story telling is actually strange, emotions and relationships could have been told in a much subtler way.
Proteus, I didn't buy because it's not much of a game from what I've read about it.
Superhexagon I skipped from fear of motion sickness :D
Great blog, you hit the subject close to my heart at the moment - I am trying very hard to get my AAA, graphics quality-obsessed friends to give a chance to some of my favorite indies. I'll add a list of a few for people who might be interested:
- Hotline Miami (I'm echoing emanresU here, one of the best games I played, period) - Binding of Isaac (amazing roguelike for the 21st century, haven't stopped playing it since it came out) - Super Meat Boy (super hard platformer designed by the same guy who made Binding) - Braid (old one, the original indie darling, great game with the best ending I ever saw) - Bastion (also an older one, great action RPG with a voice narrating your every move, seriously tugs on ones heartstrings) - Rogue Legacy (a new one, a roguelike castlevania, great fun, I'm approaching Binding-level enthrallment with this one) - Monaco (Oceans Eleven presented as Pacman on speed. Great fun , also multiplayer) - Swapper (a puzzle platformer with a great atmosphere, inspired by classic hard sci-fi, like 2001 etc) - FTL (roguelike RTS-like spaceship simulator. A bit too random at times, but great fun nonetheless)
I disagree with 0x64, Binding of Isaac is not comparable to Don't Starve in any way and Don't Starve is definitely not a better game (though a good one). Don't Starve is like a 2D minecraft, with far less creativity but far more "actual gameplay". Some people will find it very addicting, others will find it to be a boring collect-a-thon.
Binding of Isaac is something very special, it's a roguelike mixed with shoot-em-up mixed with Zelda. It's one of the few roguelikes where it's not just about luck and knowledge/experience, but skill is also a big component, learning boss-patterns etc.
Your blogs are so infuriating to read. Every time. Instead of just telling us what games you bought and if you liked them or not you made in to a not so subtle brag about why you always support the small business man.
I really wonder what you did in the past to get you featured.
On July 15 2013 21:59 Amestir wrote: Your blogs are so infuriating to read. Every time. Instead of just telling us what games you bought and if you liked them or not you made in to a not so subtle brag about why you always support the small business man.
I really wonder what you did in the past to get you featured.
waiting years to buy games at 75% off isnt exactly supporting the small business but I kinda agree all we wanna know is if them games were good!!
I got Bastion and Hotline Miami this week. Both are pretty cool. I love the poor man's morgan freeman from Bastion and the violent puzzle style of Hotline Miami!
On July 15 2013 21:39 Tobberoth wrote: I disagree with 0x64, Binding of Isaac is not comparable to Don't Starve in any way and Don't Starve is definitely not a better game (though a good one). Don't Starve is like a 2D minecraft, with far less creativity but far more "actual gameplay". Some people will find it very addicting, others will find it to be a boring collect-a-thon.
Binding of Isaac is something very special, it's a roguelike mixed with shoot-em-up mixed with Zelda. It's one of the few roguelikes where it's not just about luck and knowledge/experience, but skill is also a big component, learning boss-patterns etc.
You can't disagree, you don't have anything in what I said that could be worth arguing about. I was pointing at the art direction, which is the strong point of Binding of Isaac whereas Binding of Isaac weakness is in its game design and playability. That's why I am confident anyone who loves binding of Isaac will love Don't Starve.
Your description of Don't starve is accurate and I see why my comment could be misleading. Minecraft is actually just as misleading (also because there is so many different minecraft) even if both game have crafting as their core mechanics. Both in Binding and Dont starve, player's game will change very much depending on the generate map, yet in Binding, you can't really do anything about it while in don't starve, you have a reason to explore more the world.
On July 15 2013 21:39 Tobberoth wrote: I disagree with 0x64, Binding of Isaac is not comparable to Don't Starve in any way and Don't Starve is definitely not a better game (though a good one). Don't Starve is like a 2D minecraft, with far less creativity but far more "actual gameplay". Some people will find it very addicting, others will find it to be a boring collect-a-thon.
Binding of Isaac is something very special, it's a roguelike mixed with shoot-em-up mixed with Zelda. It's one of the few roguelikes where it's not just about luck and knowledge/experience, but skill is also a big component, learning boss-patterns etc.
You can't disagree, you don't have anything in what I said that could be worth arguing about. I was pointing at the art direction, which is the strong point of Binding of Isaac whereas Binding of Isaac weakness is in its game design and playability. That's why I am confident anyone who loves binding of Isaac will love Don't Starve.
Your description of Don't starve is accurate and I see why my comment could be misleading. Minecraft is actually just as misleading (also because there is so many different minecraft) even if both game have crafting as their core mechanics. Both in Binding and Dont starve, player's game will change very much depending on the generate map, yet in Binding, you can't really do anything about it while in don't starve, you have a reason to explore more the world.
I disagree 100%. In Binding Of Isaac, it doesn't matter if the map generated is a weak one, i'm confident good players can beat the game without picking up even a single upgrade (at least beat Mom). You can technically dodge anything and there's no time-limit, the upgrades and items really just make the game easier. The art direction is IMO the weakest point of Binding Of Isaac (not so much the art direction itself, which is OK, but rather that it looks like a flash game). I would have easily prefed the same game in pure pixelart.
I'm a huge fan of indie games, and played a good number on that list. although it's a bit newer, I definitely recommend Bleed. it offers easy to insanely difficulties, but I never really feel the game is cheap. if you screw up, you know it's your fault. sadly, I doubt it'll be on sale in the summer sale, but nevertheless anyone reading should check it out!
also, binding and isaac and don't starve are both great games. it's hard to really compare them. I definitely recommend/love both. in the end though, it's just personal opinion which you think is better, they can each surely make a case why they're amazing!
also, if you're a fan of binding of isaac, you should check out their esports league at http://www.boilr.org/
it's obviously nothing compared to sc2, but it's fun to watch, and any esports is good esports!
On July 15 2013 21:09 RaiKhan wrote: Great blog, you hit the subject close to my heart at the moment - I am trying very hard to get my AAA, graphics quality-obsessed friends to give a chance to some of my favorite indies. I'll add a list of a few for people who might be interested:
- Hotline Miami (I'm echoing emanresU here, one of the best games I played, period) - Binding of Isaac (amazing roguelike for the 21st century, haven't stopped playing it since it came out) - Super Meat Boy (super hard platformer designed by the same guy who made Binding) - Braid (old one, the original indie darling, great game with the best ending I ever saw) - Bastion (also an older one, great action RPG with a voice narrating your every move, seriously tugs on ones heartstrings) - Rogue Legacy (a new one, a roguelike castlevania, great fun, I'm approaching Binding-level enthrallment with this one) - Monaco (Oceans Eleven presented as Pacman on speed. Great fun , also multiplayer) - Swapper (a puzzle platformer with a great atmosphere, inspired by classic hard sci-fi, like 2001 etc) - FTL (roguelike RTS-like spaceship simulator. A bit too random at times, but great fun nonetheless)
I fully agree. Haven't made a AAA purchase since sc2 (and can't remember a AAA before that). Also I have to emphasize my love of FTL!! edit: the randomness really makes it unforgiving - like all the old games before they got "casual" :D
On July 15 2013 21:39 Tobberoth wrote: I disagree with 0x64, Binding of Isaac is not comparable to Don't Starve in any way and Don't Starve is definitely not a better game (though a good one). Don't Starve is like a 2D minecraft, with far less creativity but far more "actual gameplay". Some people will find it very addicting, others will find it to be a boring collect-a-thon.
Binding of Isaac is something very special, it's a roguelike mixed with shoot-em-up mixed with Zelda. It's one of the few roguelikes where it's not just about luck and knowledge/experience, but skill is also a big component, learning boss-patterns etc.
You can't disagree, you don't have anything in what I said that could be worth arguing about. I was pointing at the art direction, which is the strong point of Binding of Isaac whereas Binding of Isaac weakness is in its game design and playability. That's why I am confident anyone who loves binding of Isaac will love Don't Starve.
Your description of Don't starve is accurate and I see why my comment could be misleading. Minecraft is actually just as misleading (also because there is so many different minecraft) even if both game have crafting as their core mechanics. Both in Binding and Dont starve, player's game will change very much depending on the generate map, yet in Binding, you can't really do anything about it while in don't starve, you have a reason to explore more the world.
I disagree 100%. In Binding Of Isaac, it doesn't matter if the map generated is a weak one, i'm confident good players can beat the game without picking up even a single upgrade (at least beat Mom). You can technically dodge anything and there's no time-limit, the upgrades and items really just make the game easier. The art direction is IMO the weakest point of Binding Of Isaac (not so much the art direction itself, which is OK, but rather that it looks like a flash game). I would have easily prefed the same game in pure pixelart.
Of course, it does matter, it's a question of game balance. If the map doesn't matter, you, as a player will end up making less interesting choices. You have no tension structure. It does matter for many, it may even stop someone from buying it because those are design flaws that end up in reviews.
"there are also more than a few things—broad fluctuations in difficulty and enemies that shoot/jump through barriers when you can't, for instance—that undermine the fun. " -IGN
While this aspect is not brought in every review, it will still stop many players from playing long enough to discover the game. The controls are not spotless + useless stuff in levels + a randomly generated too hard map the first few time with repeating main monsters. The frustration will alienate many player but if you give the game 10 hours or so, you also will start enjoying it. Before that, it is very random in a bit bad way.
Still, the lack of controller support was a huge disappointment, but anyway, for the price, it's sure a great game.
EPT
