Does anybody else keep up with this scene? There are a lot of quality low budget games that are either free or cost a small amount of money so I thought I'd name a few.

I'll start off big and point out Cave Story for those who haven't heard of it. I suppose it's being published and placed in the Wii store but it's still free and independent at heart.

Cave Story is a 2d side scroller in the vein of the classic Metroid games and the newer Castlevania games. The game was made entirely by one guy who goes by Pixel (Daisuke Amaya) over the course five years. The game has great characters, bosses, weapons, and powerups, and soundtrack which in my book places it up alongside most SNES classics. It's completely free to download for the PC and it and the translation patch are available at http://www.cavestory.org/downloads_1.php.

The second game I'm going to mention is appropriate because you can currently get it pretty cheap and it's called World of Goo. The game is a puzzle game that revolves around a sticky substance called goo. These goo balls have their own physical properties such as weight and strength which creates the challenge this game provides. At first when you start up the game you'll be given the task of simply building towers and bridges to a pipe using the gooey substance but as you progress through the game you are given more challenging tasks such as blowing explosives up or knocking down red carpets.
Maybe my explanation doesn't do the game justice so if you're interested, watch this trailer of the game.


As a method of fundraising for the Child's Play charity and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for the next six and a half days you're able to pick up World of Goo, Aquarius, Gish, Penumbra Overture, and Lagaru for whatever price you want to pay. You can choose yourself if you want your money to go to the fundraiser or the developers themselves. I gave them $10 as I already have three out of the five games but if you wanted to you could get away with donating a penny and you'd still receive the games. So whether you want to give to a good cause or you want some cheap fun games either way it's a pretty damn good deal.
The site you can buy these games is: http://www.wolfire.com/humble

Anyways I'll post more games tomorrow as it's really late/early. If you know of any indie games or flash games that you want to recommend then please feel free to share to others.

I just saw this on Tigsource.com (a good site for independent gaming news) and I tried this little game called Jed and can say it's pretty fun. The controls are simple which consists of the directional keys to move and jump. It's a simple puzzle platformer starring a robot who goes through levels to find robot babies. The puzzle aspect comes from finding the babies and switching switching between the background and foreground. The game rewards completionists who challenge themselves to find all the babies with various unlockables.
Here's a video playthrough of the fifth level to get an idea of how it plays. (Fraps cut the framerate in half and I believe youtube removes a bit too so it's not as smooth as the actual game)

As you can see the game has that retro style in graphics and music (which is always a plus) and it provides a challenge.
You can grab this game for free at http://jwhiting.nfshost.com/blog/?p=13
I recommend this to anybody who wants a short time waster when they're bored.

I don't really keep up with the scene, but there's a lot of good stuff out there.

http://www.distractionware.com/

My personal favorite group of games.

Wow I didn't know he had so many games. I've played the VVVVVV (the full game is kind of expensive for what it is in my opinion) and enjoyed that and Judith was really interesting. I'll have to check the rest out as he's already proven his abilities from what I've played.

My half-brother and I want to have a go at making a few, either IF or puzzle games. He's a software engineer and he's actually written a few simple games just to test out new programming languages. I'd be in charge of writing plot/dialogue or 3-D modeling, should it come to that. We want to make really difficult/obscure games that have no market and only a few freaks like us will play :P

The interactive fiction archive has a heap of text-based games, some of which are really well done. I recommend "Lost Pig."

That Cave Story game looks awesome. I'm going to download it and the patch tonight.
I need to get more involved with indie gaming. I've only played them here and there.

I've always wanted to do that. I want to be able to create games specifically for people with my tastes but sadly I don't have the knowledge to pull through. But since you have the right skills I think that would be a fun project! I'll check out Lost Pig but text adventures made me remember a little immature (but funny) game called "Don't Shit Your Pants." It can be played online here: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Rete/dont-shit-your-pants



Awesome! I'm pretty sure you'll like it since you're a metroid and SNES fan and it sort of fits with the missed games everyone was talking about in the "Gaming Rant" thread. The indy game scene is great as it contains some really creative and obscure ideas and it has little risk for experimentation. For some reason I feel better supporting the small developers that make small time wasters than I do supporting large name developers and their corresponding publishers.

I just started Penumbra Overture and I think this series will reach the top of my favourite survival horror games. I don't exactly feel good about this but I bought another license in case I'm successfully able to share these games.
http://www.wolfire.com/humble?key=s4se4yYxzk
Could somebody confirm if they can download one of the games (especially if they're outside of Canada). If anyone wants any of the five games then feel free to download them.
Penumbra Overture pits you in a deep and dark mine where you must find an exit. There are various creatures and the game gives you that "defenceless feeling as you have no guns rather then a flashlight and tools such as hammers. The sound is spot on for a survival horror game as it contains ominous music and jump inducing sound effects (I was confident I wouldn't jump but I was wrong). The game also includes many puzzles in the style of old school Lucas Art adventure games. Also worth noting is the physics system because 80 percent of the actions you make have to do with the physics in the game. To open a door you have to drag it open with the mouse and to pick things up and throw them you have to drag objects and flick them with the mouse. So give it a try as it’s a great start to the series (I haven't tried the other two yet but I've got them on Steam) and it's basically free as I paid for the licences. I have no idea how legal it is to share them with others though.

fuck yes, osmos
http://www.hemispheregames.com/osmos/

i played them, didn't rank up to the silent hill series, nothing has.

introversion software is also another good independent developer

I'm a hardcore Yume Nikki fan, although I'm not sure if that counts. I hate games in general.
I'm also a hardcore fan of some visual novels, although I'm not sure if that counts either.

I have Osmos on steam and I've been meaning to give it a try. Also I've never played the silent hill series so I can't confirm or deny that. I'm the game more than the resident evil series (although that may be because I'm getting tired of those games).

I'd say Yume Nikki would be independant since it was made in RPG Maker (I've never heard of it though). Also a lot of VNs probably classify as indie even if some of them are liscenced for manga/anime (When they Cry).

Speaking of old school Lucas Arts games I also remembered the Chzo Mythos series created by Ben Yahtzee (you may know him as Zero Punctuation). The series consists of four games that all pay homage to games such as Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion (and DoTT), and the Indiana Jones adventure games. The game looks primitive but the games still create a creepy atmosphere and a great mystery. His games can be downloaded for free here http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm.
Here's a brief introduction to the series and a screenshot.

fuck yes, cave story is pretty awesome, played it a while ago. my favorite free-game.

I also would like recommend machinarium, which i absolutely love. great artwork and original stuff.

you can play the demo for free here. but please, buy it after you are done.
http://machinarium.net/demo/

Ah I second that. I haven't finished it but it's a fantastic and humorous game. I preordered that as soon as I saw it just because I loved the artwork.

Also has anyone been able to succesfully download from http://www.wolfire.com/humble?key=s4se4yYxzk? I highly recommend World of Goo, Gish, Penumbra, and Aquarius (I haven't played the other one but it looks interesting). The games are available for download for Windows, Macs, and Linux so most people should be able to run them (assuming your computer is able to).

Try Mount & blade that was done by 2 people eventuly they made a sequal with a bigger team

that game is so epic, especially when you get mods to have more people on the battleground.

I have Mount & Blade downloaded and installed but I've never gotten around to playing it. I start too many games and never finish them so I've been holding it off.

Well, I got to the last boss in Imperishable Night just now. Either next to last or next-to-next-to last spell card. There was too much going on! But I'm proud, regardless. Only used one spell, during the fight with Marisa. I'm hoping I'll finish the game in the next day or two. I can do this! (You're better than me at shmups, Aconcit )

I just started playing this. Click on the Japanese flag at the top left to see the Japanese version of the site. I love how they deliberately(?) localized the game for Westerners like they would have in the 80s.
Here are some more examples of the great localization:






Best translations ever.

I saw that game somewhere and it looks like it would appeal to my tastes (tower defence, 8-bit, and action? Hell yeah!). It's a shame I don't have a 360 to try it out.

And those translations are hilarious and in a way nostalgic.

Edit: I'm playing various Doujin shmups that I'm going to review in this thread. I'm looking for more bizarre, unique, or just plain awesome shmups so if anybody knows of any please share.

i've been playing manufactoria, but I'm stuck on a few levels that branch to everything else.

I enjoy playing free flash games online at kongregate and similar sites.

A few of my favs:

Portal
Factory Balls
Crunchball 3000

Games I remember from awhile ago.
Every Day The Same Dream

http://www.molleindustria.org/everydaythesamedream/everydaythesamedream.html
A cool little art game that provokes thoughts.

Today I Die

This is a game where the atmosphere is determined by the poem displayed. The game's main mechanic is word manipulation and allows the player to switch words in the poem to change the atmosphere or the protagonists actions. You have to figure out puzzles by moving objects with the mouse and changing words. It's a very short game but once again it's thought provoking.
http://www.ludomancy.com/games/today.php

Games that hate you

Loved

I thought this game was funny as you have a being obviously superior to you commenting and ordering you to do things while you complete a platforming level. The gameplay isn't really anything spectacular (mediocre flash platforming that is) but the dialog is amusing enough to be worth a playthrough (or two if you want to see both endings). The theme of the game is obedience and disobedience and it's entirely up to you whether you want to obey or not.
http://www.alexanderocias.com/loved.php

You Find Yourself In A Room

Quoted from the game itself: "This game features some foul language and some heartbreakingly demeaning insults, particularly in the second half. You've been warned.
Once again you're in the presence of a vastly superior being who your pitiful existence can't even comprehend. This game is a short text adventure in which you have to solve puzzles by typing in commands in order to escape. The twist is that while you're solving these puzzles, the "over watcher" will insult you, discourage you, and argue with you.
http://www.kongregate.com/games/2DArray/you-find-yourself-in-a-room

The Humble FrozenByte Bundle is now purchasable. It contains:
Trine
Shadow-grounds: Survivor
Shadow-grounds
Splot
Jack Claw
http://www.humblebundle.com/
You can pay whatever you want which is a pretty damn good deal. The games work on Linux, Windows, and Mac and contain no DRM. The collected money go towards either the Developers, Electronic Frontier Foundation, or the Child's Play Charity, or you can divide it amongst the three. I'm sure these games will be redeemable on Steam if they aren't already.



Also download the Mini-troid tech demo if you're interested.




http://metroid-database.com/fanapps.php