presents 250 Indie Games You Must Play presents 250 Indie Games You Must Play Mike Rose CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2011 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20130822 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4665-0317-5 (eBook - PDF) 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. 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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press Web site at http://www.crcpress.com 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 xix 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 ever- expanding 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, emo- tional, 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 dab- ble 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 vii viii 250 Indie Games You Must Play What Are “Indie" Games? The exact definition of an indie game is sketchy at best, and both indie devel- opers 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 gener- ally 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 ix Indie developers come from all sorts of backgrounds and ev- ery corner of the globe. Some are enthusiastic hobbyists who relax after a hard day at work with a spot of game develop- ment, while others create indie games for a living. Numerous online indie gaming communi- ties provide these developers with a place to talk shop, share their latest projects, and take part in competitions and game jams.