So, Why Play Indie Games?

This article is in relation to my journey of deduction in my previous post "What are Indie Games? Like Really?". For this article it's important to know the key aspects of an indie game that I go over in my previous post. But who am I to tell you what you can or can't read, especially if you already know what an Indie game is! After diving in to this topic, you'll have a better understanding of the qualities in indie games that make them worth playing. If you like my content, check my work on Twitch.TV and on my YouTube Channel.

The Indie Style

Certainly, some indie games are purely casual games (you'll be seeing enough of them on my stream), but there are also a great number of incredibly complex games with very unusual, contemporary ideas - apposed to developers who present established brands redundantly with a new part of their series. Some prominent representatives of those are The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Uncharted 4: A Thief's End; which (don't get me wrong) are A-MA-ZING. I basically inhaled the Uncharted series. I still have YouTube walk-throughs playing in the background now and then while I do my chores. Aaanyway, I've always been a bit of a weirdo sooooooo out of the ordinary things speak to me.

As we know, Indie Games are not characterized by a high budget, but by the fact that they have a unique graphic style (my artist heart can't resist being drawn in by this). But also their inventive game play elements knock it out of the park. They need unique selling points to succeed in the market, therefore indie games often break with known principles. That is, new ways of thinking about game mechanics, storytelling, and design forms. Funny enough, these are picked up by other indies or larger productions. In this way, indies question the familiar and advance the medium of "games" as a whole. And we as an Audience, get the best part of it. We get to play ourselves silly - through the good and bad.

The Charm of indies and The passion of the developers

I learned first hand, It's damn difficult to develop a game! For my final project in my Games Design Studies, I had to design my own game - I had to create a Game Design Document, plus produce some graphical elements. I basically was an Indie developer for that semester. It was incredibly challenging, tiring and fun - of course I bloomed in creating the Graphics and UI elements the most and surprisingly the storytelling. Of course, in my typical fashion, I chose to make one of the most complex games I could for my first game - cuz why not right? I should mention at that point in time I was still really hyped on the Uncharted series. So naturally some of the specs from that game were set - PS4 game, Genre: Action Adventure, Capturing story with gruelling Bosses.

Preview

Uncharted Waters (too on the nose?) - A captivating Story of Nyssa VasiliKós.

The year is 2232. The human society is living with robotic elements in their body for improvement or after a loss. A young woman, Nyssa, upon receiving a new robotic eye replacement, starts having visions of an ancient lost civilization. She tries to ignore it but it leads her to the coast of Tarifa and into the deep rough waters of the Mediterranean Sea. What secrets will she uncover? The lost city awaits.

Preview

I really love the world I created and I'm sure you guys would too, maybe one day I can share it. If there are any indie developers out there that have an interest in bringing this gem to life with me, contact me!

Preview

Preview

The project really progressed my appreciation for indie developers. The developers often stand alone, they put all their heart and soul into the game. Plus, the game ideas are often their own, which strengthens the developer's bond with their game. For indie developers, it's often more than just a job or a project they're working on. That's why they are able to get the best out of their game and create the games that indie fans (like myself) love so much. This is the reason my streams will focus on Indie games, and they will be defined mainly by the developers being indie and not focusing on their publishers all that much... Not gonna be nit-picky there.

So why play indie games? Well I think the better question is why not indie games?