[ENG] A Brief Word About Independent Games

(Polska Wersja Dostępna Tu! - [PL] Krótko o Grach Niezależnych)

Independent Games. Or as we are used to call them nowadays – indie games. In the recent years, a lot of indie games started being recognized and quite often pushed into mainstream. Of course, it's quite challenging to find a good or even decent indie game in a lot of games that are constantly flowing to Steam for example. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. Why do so many people love them? Well – there are few general reasons, but each game that was a success had it's own distinctive features that drawn players to it.

It's no doubt that indie market gives us one of the most unusual; most innovative games we can see in the industry. Example given – Slay The Spire. This game connects both roguelike and deckbuilding mechanics to create a really interesting mix that is both fun to play and easy to understand. As in many indie games – a lot of them are easy to learn but hard to master, and Slay The Spire is a good embodiment of that idea.

More unusual/innovative titles? SUPERHOT – time only moves when you do, really fun and I wish to one day experience this game in VR; Untitled Goose Game – this is... Just I don't know what to call, you play as a goose and wreck chaos upon people, it's certainly one of, if not the most unusual indie game I have seen in a long while; Katana ZERO – fast, beautiful, stylish, deadly and mysterious – this game surprised me the most in terms of story and fast-paced gameplay and... I don't mind, it was amazing + the game has incredible speedrunning potential.

(One mistake can be fatal...)

Then there's Darkest Dungeon – a game that took the mainstream media by storm at some point. So much so that the sequel was announced a while back ago and now fans of original DD are eagerly waiting. Darkest Dungeon has mixed permadeath with high difficulty level and turn-based combat system. The game received two brilliant big DLCs (from which The Crimson Court makes the game even harder). After playing for more than hundred hours, I think there are more than a few reasons why this particular game was such a success.

Namely – difficulty, yes I know it's a cliche reason, but it's the fact – DD is hard and often doesn't forgive you when you mess up (The game autosaves after every single possible move so when you mess up... Tough luck). In a game where you can lose your party members during every mission if you aren't careful – difficulty just spices everything up. The combat system, the stress mechanic, town development, challenging bosses, risk-reward gameplay, Lovecraftian style... There are a lot of things that caused DD to blow up. And even after I get mad or bored and leave the game for weeks or months on end, I end up coming back to it eventually.

(There are a lot of variety in possible builds)

Another reason for indie success is... Let's be honest, much lower price compared to AAA titles. Thanks to that, even people that have a hard time getting a fresh AAA title can get themselves a really good indie game. Plus – the repetitive value of many indie games. A lot of AAA titles have a nicely polished campaign that wraps up in 8-10 hours; but indie games? Sure, there is some story background, but due to the roguelike nature of many and repetitive value – it's easy to spend a 100 hours and still want more.

Look – I could get myself Enter The Gungeon, Slay The Spire and The Binding of Isaac all for a price of one, decently new AAA title. Of course, there is a possibility that I would take a triple A game over few indie games, but at the same time I can research both options and maybe change my mind.

(Without sound, wailing winds and ambients... This scene suddenly isn't as scary)

A lot of the  indie games are roguelikes, roguelites and so on, but there are also several games that took the world by storm and received praise by both players and critics alike. Let's look at the game that I considered a AAA title for a really long time – Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Yes, it's officially an indie game. And it's widely considered to be one of the best horrors ever created – atmosphere, mystery, sound design, puzzles, sanity mechanic – I have played through the TDD twice by now and both times I felt unnerved, anxious and sometimes really scared. The game knows how to build up pressure, that's for sure.

Other example of an indie game that can easily stand toe-to-toe with AAA titles is Ori and the Blind Forest. I have talked a lot about it not so long ago, so I'll be brief here. Ori is a game that shines in every matter – storytelling, graphics, design, gameplay. At first I was surprised that this game is reviewed and acclaimed so positively – but now I have no doubt, it's fully deserved (Fun Fact: Slay The Spire also has over 95% positive ratings on Steam).

(Rules of Baba Is You are very simple, but the puzzles... Not so much)

Sometimes indie games are so recognizable, so loved and praised that they can even change how we perceive entire genres. I'll leave a video about How Five Nights at Freddy's Changed Horror, I highly recommend you watch it. Scott Cawthon, the creator of the franchise has managed to do something incredible.

One could argue that long ago Slenderman has also changed the horror how we perceive it, it's true but... the character of Slenderman was known long ago the first game with him even arrived, plus nowadays, thanks to the 2018 movie – Slenderman is long dead.

There are also games that are designed to play with your brain and thinking outside the box – Baba Is You for example! At some point, single level can take to hours on end without a guide; the game and solutions are often so unusual, you wouldn't think of them in the first place. It's really tough to complete the game in it's entirety and sometimes you feel more of a relief rather than satisfaction after completing a level, but... One way or another, Baba Is You is a really creative way to get your brain to work.

(Indie games offer a ton of repetitive value)

I probably missed or didn't mention quite a lot of indie games, but there are really too much to point them all out, and I don't have so much time to check them all out. But I admit, some of the mentioned indie games have took me more hours than I have expected – Dead Cells = 133h; Darkest Dungeon = 122h; The Binding of Isaac = 113h; Enter The Gungeon = 107h; The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth = 85h; Slay The Spire = 62h – For some of you it may look like a lot, for others like a really low numbers – but one thing's for sure – good indie game really knows how to catch your attention and take your time.

I wholeheartedly hope that the indie industry will keep flourishing and delivering more unusual, innovative, interesting and amazing games in the years to come. I am eager to see what Darkest Dungeon 2 will look like; I'm interested in more games like Slay The Spire or Dead Cells. I am really happy that such amazing games can be bought for almost nothing compared to high-budget AAA titles. I'm going back to getting rekt and getting mad at the Darkest Dungeon!

Expand your horizons and don't be fooled by a 'suspiciously' low price of many of these games, they are worth it!

Kind Regards,

Wing.