Top 10 Indie Games You Would Love To Play

Indie games are games made by ‘independent’ developers, meaning in other words that they’re teams of nerds in their front rooms coding because they enjoy it and not because they expect to make huge bucks. Of course this leads to generally lower production values and less fancy graphics, as these developers simply have fewer resources.

However despite that it also often means often that the games are more creative and unique – because the developers have to find other ways to make their games stand out and because they aren’t forced to submit their games to lots of different boards of directors or have them evaluated for their potential earnings. As such there have been some absolutely brilliant indie games that have come out in recent times, and many of these have actually made their developers very rich. Here we will look at some of the best of those indie games to help you dip your toes in and have a go.

10 Cave Story

Cave story was an early indie game and one of the ones that started it all off. It’s like some kind of a cross between a Metroid style platformer and an older RPG with upgrading and lots of text. It also has a strange plot and a cast of very anime characters, but it’s a lot of fun and quite addictive once you get started. It’s also completely free so that’s always nice.

9 Spelunky

This was another early attempt and has something of a cult following now. The idea is to hunt for treasure and escape mines in 2D as a very Indiana Jones-esque character, but what makes it interesting is the fact that the levels are all randomly generated and that the smart programming means you never know what’s going to happen.

8 World of Goo

This is a more recent indie game and one of my personal favourites. It has a tremendous atmospheric feel to it thanks to the music and the strange blobs of goo that are full of personality, and it’s also great in terms of gameplay offering some great physics based puzzles.

7 Osmos

Osmos is a game where you control what appear to be large blobs of bacteria by tapping on the screen or clicking. This causing them to dispel matter and the simple task is to consume everything smaller than you but avoid anything bigger than you. It’s a clever concept but it’s the amazing music and hypnotic visuals that really sell it.

6 Limbo

This has to be one of the most atmospheric games ever – indie or not. It’s a simple 2D platformer but the unique art style and cast of unusual characters really elevate it to something far more interesting.

5 Karoshi

Karoshi is a puzzle platformer with a difference – you’re trying to kill yourself. From the moment you have the option to skip the loading screen you know this is going to be a different experience and it doesn’t disappoint.

4 Sonic Before the Sequel

This is a bit of Sonic the Hedghog fan service which is actually pretty good. It’s designed to be the game that fits between Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, and while it’s oddly slow on a lot of machines (a problem for a Sonic game) if you have a speedy enough device to run it it’s a nice alternative take on the blue mascot.

3 VVVVVV

VVVVVV sees you controlling the captain of a spaceship who has the odd ability to alter gravity. The game is very hard but a lot of fun and the nostalgic ZX Spectrum styled graphics and the incredibly amazing chiptune music ensures that you keep coming back for more punishment.

2 Super Meat Boy

Super Meat Boy has to be some of the most punishing, hilarious and addictive 2D platform gaming since… well ever. It’s got an absurd plot and a bizarre cast of characters, but also features brilliant level design and awesome music and action. It’s like an adrenaline shot and it’s one of the most popular indie games out there.

1 Minecraft

You can’t have a list of indie games without naming Minecraft number one. Basically this is a game that creates a 3D world for people to roam freely but then gives them the ability to build anything they want to out of blocks of lego. It’s a testament to what a lot of bored people are capable and wandering around the world you will be amazed to come across recreations of the Taj Mahal and other famous landmarks.

Author Bio

Trevor Smith loves to play new indie games and writes for GreatGiftsForMen, a website with a great collection of gifts for men.