Weltall Zero
Member
VOTING IS CLOSED. HEAD HERE FOR THE RESULTS!
This is my very first thread, and I admit it may be an ambitious one. I frankly don't think I'm the most appropriate person to make it, but I have the feeling this is something that kind of needs to be done, and so far I've been unsuccessful to fool worthier GAFers to do it for me.
Anyway.
A recent thread which had the noble goal of increasing indie game visibility made me realize the great divide there is between indie-crazy gamers and ones who won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. More than anything, and as someone who is perhaps somewhat in between, I've realized that by far the biggest barrier of entry for people skipping all indie games wholesale, is the fact that there are simply so many of them; and, let's be frank, the low barrier of entry means that there is quite a lot of chaff obscuring the truly great wheat. There are threads on GAF listing the best recent indie games, plus encouraging everyone to post their recommendations; these threads are an amazing resource for indie veterans, but they're not nearly as useful to the average GAFer, and will overwhelm them even more; who has time to install, let alone play, 50 games a month? There's also the issue that, even if we were to concede that each of these games are "worth playing" for a particular reason or another, it is highly unlikely that a couple of them picked at random will the ones to sway someone to the indie camp; many indie games are just too niche and scratch specific itches of the one that recommended it, itches that might not be exactly universal. Even SalsaShark's amazing thread for overlooked indie games is tailored to (and a boon for) the indie connoisseur, rather than the average Joe who doesn't even know of Super Meat Boy or Cave Story.
I believe we may need the exact opposite; a relatively short list of the most widely acclaimed, best GAF-regarded indie games of all times; games with such an universal appeal that if you pick the top five, it's nearly impossible to love at least a couple of them. Let's use the very top spots to pique people's interest in the indie scene, and let them traverse down the list at their pace and leisure.
My other inspiration for making this thread is the awesome "Essential RPGs" thread on GAF. Everyone has their tastes and favorites, but looking at this list I can't help thinking every single one of the top ten, at least, is a shining masterpiece that every RPG fan should experience. If we could get something even remotely similar to that, well, I feel this would be an awesome first-stop for anyone wanting to dip their toes in the indie waters.
Again, since the "Essential RPGs" thread worked so well, I'm going to follow its exact same format. That is, each poster gets to vote for ten games, and each game gets one point; there are no weights assigned to single games you vote for, so you don't need to sort them by quality or anything (I personally sorted mine alphabetically, because I'm compulsive like that). Assuming the thread doesn't fall into eternal obscurity in a matter of minutes (which I frankly half-fear), I'll tally the points to see what are the most beloved indie games on GAF, and if I have a bit of time, put logos/screenshots/videos/music for the top ones (of course, if anyone else wants to take on that, I'll be more than glad!).
By the way, you don't need to limit yourselves to PC games; the current generation of consoles has opened the doors for lots of indie developers to publish on WiiWare, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Independent Games, etc. If they're indie, they're fair game! Of course, it goes without saying that not all games published on these services are indie, either.
I will tally the votes in a month's time, or if the thread goes through a handful of days without new valid votes (whichever happens first).
As an addendum, I was not expecting it, but the hardest part of this entire post was narrowing my own list to ten. Realizing I would have to leave A+ stuff (see below) out of my top ten felt ridiculous and painful at the same time :/ I've included a list with the ones I left out... which does absolutely nothing except ease my conscience slightly.
My "Top Ten" list:
Braid
Cave Story
Dustforce
FTL
Machinarium
Maldita Castilla
SpaceChem
Spelunky
Super Meat Boy
To The Moon
My "sadly cut from the Top Ten" list:
Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Aquaria
Atom Zombie Smasher
Bastion
Desktop Dungeons
Hydorah
Jamestown
La-Mulana
Limbo
Legend of Grimrock
Mark of the Ninja
Sine Mora
Trine
Please vote! Only YOU can help spread the word about the very games you love!
This is my very first thread, and I admit it may be an ambitious one. I frankly don't think I'm the most appropriate person to make it, but I have the feeling this is something that kind of needs to be done, and so far I've been unsuccessful to fool worthier GAFers to do it for me.
Anyway.A recent thread which had the noble goal of increasing indie game visibility made me realize the great divide there is between indie-crazy gamers and ones who won't touch the stuff with a ten foot pole. More than anything, and as someone who is perhaps somewhat in between, I've realized that by far the biggest barrier of entry for people skipping all indie games wholesale, is the fact that there are simply so many of them; and, let's be frank, the low barrier of entry means that there is quite a lot of chaff obscuring the truly great wheat. There are threads on GAF listing the best recent indie games, plus encouraging everyone to post their recommendations; these threads are an amazing resource for indie veterans, but they're not nearly as useful to the average GAFer, and will overwhelm them even more; who has time to install, let alone play, 50 games a month? There's also the issue that, even if we were to concede that each of these games are "worth playing" for a particular reason or another, it is highly unlikely that a couple of them picked at random will the ones to sway someone to the indie camp; many indie games are just too niche and scratch specific itches of the one that recommended it, itches that might not be exactly universal. Even SalsaShark's amazing thread for overlooked indie games is tailored to (and a boon for) the indie connoisseur, rather than the average Joe who doesn't even know of Super Meat Boy or Cave Story.
I believe we may need the exact opposite; a relatively short list of the most widely acclaimed, best GAF-regarded indie games of all times; games with such an universal appeal that if you pick the top five, it's nearly impossible to love at least a couple of them. Let's use the very top spots to pique people's interest in the indie scene, and let them traverse down the list at their pace and leisure.
My other inspiration for making this thread is the awesome "Essential RPGs" thread on GAF. Everyone has their tastes and favorites, but looking at this list I can't help thinking every single one of the top ten, at least, is a shining masterpiece that every RPG fan should experience. If we could get something even remotely similar to that, well, I feel this would be an awesome first-stop for anyone wanting to dip their toes in the indie waters.
Again, since the "Essential RPGs" thread worked so well, I'm going to follow its exact same format. That is, each poster gets to vote for ten games, and each game gets one point; there are no weights assigned to single games you vote for, so you don't need to sort them by quality or anything (I personally sorted mine alphabetically, because I'm compulsive like that). Assuming the thread doesn't fall into eternal obscurity in a matter of minutes (which I frankly half-fear), I'll tally the points to see what are the most beloved indie games on GAF, and if I have a bit of time, put logos/screenshots/videos/music for the top ones (of course, if anyone else wants to take on that, I'll be more than glad!
).By the way, you don't need to limit yourselves to PC games; the current generation of consoles has opened the doors for lots of indie developers to publish on WiiWare, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox Live Independent Games, etc. If they're indie, they're fair game! Of course, it goes without saying that not all games published on these services are indie, either.
I will tally the votes in a month's time, or if the thread goes through a handful of days without new valid votes (whichever happens first).
As an addendum, I was not expecting it, but the hardest part of this entire post was narrowing my own list to ten. Realizing I would have to leave A+ stuff (see below) out of my top ten felt ridiculous and painful at the same time :/ I've included a list with the ones I left out... which does absolutely nothing except ease my conscience slightly.
My "Top Ten" list:
Braid
Cave Story
Dustforce
FTL
Machinarium
Maldita Castilla
SpaceChem
Spelunky
Super Meat Boy
To The Moon
My "sadly cut from the Top Ten" list:
Anomaly: Warzone Earth
Aquaria
Atom Zombie Smasher
Bastion
Desktop Dungeons
Hydorah
Jamestown
La-Mulana
Limbo
Legend of Grimrock
Mark of the Ninja
Sine Mora
Trine
Please vote! Only YOU can help spread the word about the very games you love!
