What Are Indie Games?
Indie games stand for “independent video games.” At the highest level, they are games created by individuals or small teams who operate independently from major studios, both financially and creatively. This independence allows creators to experiment with unconventional narratives, aesthetics, and game mechanics, which often result in truly distinctive and memorable gaming experiences. That being said, limiting the definition of indie games solely to those that are self-funded overlooks the full spectrum of the genre.
A game’s classification as “indie” is complex and typically made up of a combination of factors, including its source of financing but also the game’s concept, graphics, and style.
The History -
80s-90s Indie
The early 80s was a turbulent time for video games. While Mario was saving princesses in the hands of millions, and arcade floors were at their stickiest, a market crash and the emerging disrepute of video games were threatening to end the party outright. Beneath the bright lights of Nintendo and Sega and the implosion of Atari, however, the PC was rising. Consoles were hit hardest by the 1983 video game crash, as cartridges flooded retailers and values fell through the floor.
In response, a nerd army began to rise up – grabbing their ZX81s, VIC-20s, and Acorn Atoms and promising a better future for the entertainment medium they’d come to inhabit. These nerd armies were prepared, too. During this era, playing new games on your machine was as simple as coding it yourself from a magazine. If there was a bug, you’d have a month’s wait ahead of you before an update was written out for you to copy. Often, you solved it yourself.
The games industry itself was breeding its next generation of grafters, equipping them with an understanding of programming, a hunger to create new experiences, and a passion for tinkering with the code they’d been handed. If big-name developers couldn’t make the games players wanted, the players would. After all, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself.
If you were considering creating an indie game in 1984, your prospects would be bleak. Chris Crawford famously lamented: “I will point out the sad truth. We have pretty much passed the period where hobbyists could put together a game that would have commercial prospects… If you want to do a game, do it for fun, but don’t try to do game designs to make any money.”
By the mid-90s, indie games were reduced to a select few crusaders keeping the march moving with a dollar note on a stick. Between 1983 and 1995, major changes scarred the landscape of the independent games industry. When distributors caught wind that people were paying real money for these basement games, bedroom coders were introduced to the world of publishers. When that world outgrew them, they were left on the outside.
However, commercial giants completely outran the indies. Technology was developing at such an unprecedented rate, even smaller triple-A companies were left at the starting line. In the race for the video game upper hand, indies were in danger of forfeiting completely.
To stop the total destruction of the homegrown industry, indies went even further underground. Renowned RPG developer Jeff Vogel maintained his small slice of gaming with Spiderweb Software, releasing notable titles such as Exile and Geneforge during this period. And Newgrounds was soon founded by Tom Fulp, quickly developing into the first site that allowed users to upload their own games for general consumption. These practices would become the lifeline of the indie community… until Gabe Newell took the stand at GDC in 2002 and changed the history of indie games forever.
2000s Indie
In the 2000s, we witnessed the rise of digital distribution platforms, such as Steam and GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games), which revolutionized the gaming industry by providing independent developers with a new method for reaching bigger, non-niche audiences.
These platforms allowed creators to bypass mainstream publishing methods and distribute their games directly to consumers. This increase in accessibility, combined with the widespread availability of affordable game development tools like Unreal Engine and Unity, fueled an unforgettable boom in indie game production. It was during this time that classic indie titles such as Braid, RuneScape, Counter-Strike, and Cave Story were launched and a vibrant, supportive indie gaming community was fostered.
Between the years 2006 and 2010 indie games started to become more frequent, and even saw some releases on the previously indie free console market. Games like flOw and Everyday Shooter both saw a release on the PlayStation family of consoles, and the Xbox 360 got their hands on games like Apple Jack and I Made a Game With Zombies In It!
In many ways the beginning of console indie games marks the start of mainstream acceptance of the industry. While the home systems were just receiving their first drips of indie content, the PC gaming market was blowing up with a huge amount of indie releases. There were two games which came to personify two different sides of the indie market of the day.
One side of the indie market as we know it today is the side that seeks to explore the human condition, games that use the medium to help us understand either the world around us or elements of the industry itself.
Indie Today
In recent years, indie gaming has experienced extraordinary growth and diversification. Nowadays, it is not uncommon for an indie game to compete with those offered by major studios, both in critical acclaim and financial success. Games such as Minecraft, Undertale, Hollow Knight, and Celeste were all released within the last decade and have gone on to generate millions of dollars in revenue while garnering massive fanbases.
Some Popular Games!
Stardew Valley
Stardew Valley is an open-ended country-life RPG, which was released on PC on February 26th, 2016.
Description:
You’ve inherited your grandfather’s old farm plot in Stardew Valley. Armed with hand-me-down tools and a few coins, you set out to begin your new life. Can you learn to live off the land and turn these overgrown fields into a thriving home? It won’t be easy. Ever since Joja Corporation came to town, the old ways of life have all but disappeared. The community center, once the town’s most vibrant hub of activity, now lies in shambles. But the valley seems full of opportunity. With a little dedication, you might just be the one to restore Stardew Valley to greatness!
Features:
Create the farm of your dreams: Turn your overgrown fields into a lively and bountiful farm!
Learn to live off the land: Raise animals, go fishing, tend to crops, craft items, or do it all! The choice is yours...
Become a part of the local community: Pelican Town is home to over 30 residents you can befriend!
Meet someone special: With 12 townsfolk to date, you may even find someone to start a family with!
Explore vast, mysterious caves: Encounter dangerous monsters & valuable treasures deep underground!
Customize: There are hundreds of character & home decoration options to choose from!
Cuphead
Cuphead is a run and gun indie video game developed and published by StudioMDHR. First announced in 2013, the game was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One in September 29th, 2017, for macOS in October 19th, 2018, for Nintendo Switch in April 18th, 2019, and for PlayStation 4 in July 28th, 2020.
Description:
Cuphead is a classic run and gun action game heavily focused on boss battles. Inspired by cartoons of the 1930s, the visuals and audio are painstakingly created with the same techniques of the era, i.e. traditional hand drawn cel animation, watercolor backgrounds, and original jazz recordings.
Play as Cuphead or Mugman (in single player or local co-op) as you traverse strange worlds, acquire new weapons, learn powerful super moves, and discover hidden secrets while you try to pay your debt back to the devil!
Story:
On the fictional Inkwell Isles, Cuphead and his brother Mugman are two fun-loving kids who live under the watchful eye of Elder Kettle. Against the elder's warnings, the brothers enter the Devil's Casino and begin playing craps. When they go on a winning streak, the Devil himself offers to raise the stakes. If Cuphead and Mugman can win one more roll, they will receive all the money in the casino; if not, the Devil will take their souls. Cuphead loses by rolling snake eyes, and he and Mugman beg for mercy. The Devil makes a deal with them: collect the "soul contracts" that signify his ownership of the souls of his runaway debtors by midnight the next day, and he might let them keep theirs. They visit Elder Kettle, who gives them a potion that allows them to fire blasts from their fingers to aid in their quest, but also warns them the debtors may change themselves to different things in attempt to stop them.
The brothers travel around the Inkwell Isles, fighting the residents who have lost their souls to the Devil in order to obtain their contracts. On entering the second island, the Elder Kettle informs them about "doing the right thing" when they come up against the Devil again. Once they have the contracts, they return to the Devil's Casino, but its manager King Dice blocks their way. He has lost a bet with the Devil, presumably over whether Cuphead and Mugman would be able to complete their task, and forces them to fight his own henchmen before confronting them directly. After the brothers defeat King Dice, the Devil demands that they hand over the contracts in exchange for "joining his team". What happens next depends on the choice of the player. If the player decides to do so, the Devil turns Cuphead and Mugman into his demonic lackeys and the game ends. If the player declines, the Devil becomes furious at the brothers' refusal to honor their deal and fights them himself. Cuphead and Mugman triumph over him, burn the contracts, and race home. Learning that they no longer have anything to fear from the Devil, the former debtors honor the brothers for their heroic actions.
Unpacking
Unpacking is a puzzle video game developed by Witch Beam and published by Humble Bundle for Microsoft Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 from 2021-2023.
Description:
Unpacking is a game about the familiar experience of pulling possessions out of boxes and fitting them into a new home. Part block-fitting puzzle, part home decoration, you are invited to create a satisfying living space while learning clues about the life you’re unpacking. Over the course of eight house moves, you are given a chance to experience a sense of intimacy with a character you never see and a story you’re never told.
Features:
Unpack a home from a single bedroom to an entire house
Meditative gameplay with no timers or scores
Explore domestic environments with all their nooks and crannies while you stack plates, hang towels, and arrange bookshelves
Discover a character’s story through the items that come with her to each new home (and the items that get left behind)
Mouthwashing
Mouthwashing is a first-person horror game following the dying crew of a shipwrecked space freighter released in 2024.
Description:
Who could have known what good ol’ Captain Curly was capable of? Guess he thought his crew dying alongside him was only right. But some men can’t even kill themselves properly. Maimed, limbless and unable to speak, but alive, Curly is now at the mercy of the crew he has doomed to a slow death.
Follow the lives of the crew as they weather starvation, isolation, and each other. People were never your strong suit anyway.
Sources
https://www.torontofilmschool.ca/blog/what-is-an-indie-game/ https://www.indiegamewebsite.com/2018/10/19/the-complete-history-of-indie-games/ https://cliqist.com/2018/10/23/the-history-of-indie-games-part-4-the-gamebrian-explosion/ https://www.stardewvalley.net/about/ https://cuphead.fandom.com/wiki/Cuphead_(video_game) https://mouthwashing.fandom.com/wiki/Mouthwashing_Wiki