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[Toma]

1) Maybe it could be that some are in the same situation I am, where we can't be buying tons of games to play so either focus on the freeware, browser, or demos. Which narrows down the games we can play.

2) People may prefer to stick with the genres they enjoy, which also narrows the games one plays

3) Maybe it seems that there are more posters activate in the thread than there really are? Only a dedicated few contribute most of the posts and recommendations?

1. Well there is plenty of free stuff to try that still doesnt pop up on any played lists, so I dont quite understand that. Free stuff I havent read much about this month:

Alltynex Free Demo
Binary Maze Free Demo
Blues for Mittavanda
Glob (Even with a highscore contest)
Hypersuper Cannon
Inverto
Lair of the Madhat
Projekt W
Retroverse
The Last Door
Trap Them

I dont like them all, but its still sad to see that especially the really small games dont even get any sort of attention, even in here. I mean if even a very, very, VERY focussed thematic subcommunity cant give these games a chance, who can? And some of those games are surprisingly good too, but as I said, people dont need to like those games, but I'd really love to read more impressions on them or discuss them with some people. I loved discussing the shortcomings of Survivor Squad or the concept of whatever seizure inducing thing the Hoff throws at us.

2. Yeah, that is probably an issue, but its an issue we should get over, especially in a sector of games where we hardly have anything to go by other than the word of people we trust in here. I mean of course there are games I am attracted to immediately, but I'd have never thought I'd like Zineth (looked boring on screenshots), Trap Them (tired of what I thought it played like), Music of the Spheres (looked boring) and a few dozen other games in these threads, yet ended up loving them. Please dont take this as an attack/criticism directed at you guys but I feel we all are bogging us down too much by falling back only on stuff we think we like instead of giving more off beat stuff a chance (On this note, a huge thanks to Hofmann who is offering the contrast program to stuff I usually post in the thread). Without these threads, I'd never have dug into the Hofmann-style experimental Indies either.

3. That is probably my biggest fear and I have no clue how to go about that, but at least we are making progress, considering the july thread is the biggest thread so far that also saw a few newcomers chiming in regularly (Badass and a few others).

 

[Wok]

For me, personally, I just have a lot on my plate when it comes to gaming. I have titles in mind that I want to play and don't want to deviate away from that. Plus, PC isn't the only platform I keep up with when it comes to indie games. I also try and stay current with iOS stuff because there's a lot of good indie games there so it's sometimes hard to juggle multiple platforms. But, I do read the recommendations and always make a note of games that look interesting.

I agree with this point.

Anyway, as I said, any feedback on the way these threads are currently operating?

To begin with, I would like to thank you for the time you invest in building this community of indie fans.

About the recommended games, I would like to point out that, as I understand it:

• some of these games are already featured in the OP, which means we have already read about them but were not convinced they would suit our tastes,
• other games will be featured in the thread for next month, so that it will still be possible to try them, and maybe to vote for them in the next thread.

About the number of games checked by everyone, the fact is we vote for four games minimum, and therefore, we are more likely to talk about at most six games in our voting post: there are 1) games for which we vote for, and 2) games which we like and bring to the front; it is likely we had tried other games which we do not deem good enough for our votes. However, I agree we could have discussed these games anyway during the month.

I like the voting, and I think the system works fine since the ranking is relevant. If the problem is people do not check enough games, which makes the voting less relevant in your opinion, then the list of candidates could be trimmed. In my opinion, the system works fine as it is: people see visuals which makes them try some of the games, and people vote for some of the games which they have tried and found good or interesting.

 

[Glix]

I have been pimping Teleglitch so hard to everyone I know.

I'm starting to worry I'm becoming like my film buff friends but only with games. I usually scoff at 80% of the big budget stuff these days.

What is happening to me??? I play Binding of Issac and Teleglitch every day!!!

 

[CzarTim]

Voting!

Card Hunter - Enough said? Seriously addicting and fun. And for a browser game, no less!

Fleish & Cherry in "Crazy Hotel" - The demo really impressed me. Love the art style and an adventure game using cartoon physics seems perfect.

Scrolls - I played a lot of this for a few weeks. It's a lot of fun, but a bit unbalanced.

Knights of Pen & Paper - As a $1 iOS game, I've played worse. Was very surprised to see it at $10 on Steam, though. Not a lot of depth.

 

[Toma]

I agree with this point.



To begin with, I would like to thank you for the time you invest in building this community of indie fans.

About the recommended games, I would like to point out that, as I understand it:

• some of these games are already featured in the OP, which means we have already read about them but were not convinced they would suit our tastes,
• other games will be featured in the thread for next month, so that it will still be possible to try them, and maybe to vote for them in the next thread.

About the number of games checked by everyone, the fact is we vote for four games minimum, and therefore, we are more likely to talk about at most six games in our voting post: there are 1) games for which we vote for, and 2) games which we like and bring to the front; it is likely we had tried other games which we do not deem good enough for our votes. However, I agree we could have discussed these games anyway during the month.

I like the voting, and I think the system works fine since the ranking is relevant. If the problem is people do not check enough games, which makes the voting less relevant in your opinion, then the list of candidates could be trimmed. In my opinion, the system works fine as it is: people see visuals which makes them try some of the games, and people vote for some of the games which they have tried and found good or interesting.

Yeah, true. Maybe my impressions mostly stems from people not discussing games they didnt like, which makes them fall out of the thread completely.

This however I dont quite understand:

[*]some of these games are already featured in the OP, which means we have already read about them but were not convinced they would suit our tastes,

I mean looks can be deceiving, especially in the Indie sector which usually sees games that are hard to grasp at first glance, so I try to make a point of investigating anything that other people recommend further and wouldnt have noticed a few off beat games without this thread (see post above). And while I do agree that money is a concern, this also affects free games and free demos.

Based on whats mentioned so far the issue seems to be a) people not talking about stuff they didnt like (which they should do tell why they dont need to spend time with it/what was bad about it) and b) a preconceived notion where people dont try stuff because they dont think they might like it.

Hm.

Hmmm. Guess I would have thought there would are more people interested in trying random stuff, even if most arent the best games in the world. I mean that usually doesnt take up much time anyway. Cloudface took me 5 minutes to realize I dont like it outside of the style, same with the problems Evilot makes apparent in its first few gameplay minutes, but maybe other people do feel its not that important to post about their 5 minutes gameplay experiences after all

Not sure that stuff is all that changeable, but thanks for your feedback on the voting system I was trying hard to think about a way how to change that, but not a surprise I guess I couldnt come up with anything if it already works decently the way it does.

 

[More_Badass]

3. That is probably my biggest fear and I have no clue how to go about that, but at least we are making progress, considering the july thread is the biggest thread so far that also saw a few newcomers chiming in regularly (Badass and a few others).

Well to address this third point, I checked the top posters breakdown for July

Of course Toma is #1 with 290 posts.
I'm #2 with 118
Together we contributed to about 39% of the 1054 posts.

Hoffman's #3 with 89 posts
PandaPedinte's #4 with 59
One Foul Note's #5 with 47
woo and indeed hoo's #6 with 33

And the rest posted in the range of 20+ to only 1 post.

The June and May threads are similar. Toma is #1, and the core contributors being Hofmann One Foul Note, and PandaPedinte

So it does seem that these indie threads are mainly supported by a few GAFfers, and while the rest of the community drops in now and then

Of course, indie games are also discussed and anticipated in the main Steam thread, not in the laser focus they are here, but substantially. A lot of the upcoming games on Steam would probably be considered indies

 

[Toma]

Well to address this third point, I checked the top posters breakdown for July

Of course Toma is #1 with 290 posts.
I'm #2 with 118
Together we contributed to about 39% of the 1054 posts.

Hoffman's #3 with 89 posts
PandaPedinte's #4 with 59
One Foul Note's #5 with 47
woo and indeed hoo's #6 with 33

And the rest posted in the range of 20+ to only 1 post.

So it does seem that these indie threads are mainly supported by a few GAFfers, and while the rest of the community drops in now and then

Of course, indie games are also discussed and anticipated in the main Steam thread, not in the laser focus they are here, but substantially. A lot of the upcoming games on Steam would probably be considered indies

1st! Where is my medal?

But as I said, you and woo are relatively new to the thread series so we ARE improving in that regard. And I do like most Indies on Steam, but as the OPs show we rarely feature any of the Steam Indies because they are usually more talked about in their own OT or the Steam thread, or just due to the fact that desura indies are usually more appealing to me lately because they are cheaper Just to be clear, I am not omitting games from the OPs just because they are Steam. If people post about recent games here that they like, I'll add them.

But anyway, most games are non-steam, so the crossposting with other threads isnt really an issue either.

Edit: Just noticed something. If we take an average post writing time of 1-2 minutes, just WRITING the posts in this thread took me 5-10 hours during the course of a month. And that doesnt count the OP write up. Holy crap.

 

[One Foul Note]

And some of those games are surprisingly good too, but as I said, people dont need to like those games, but I'd really love to read more impressions on them or discuss them with some people. I loved discussing the shortcomings of Survivor Squad or the concept of whatever seizure inducing thing the Hoff throws at us.

I think that's my problem. I do try a lot of these games, but if I don't like said game for whatever reason I often don't write up and impressions cos I end up feeling a little guilty badmouthing small developers. Although honestly, as you said, it probably does more damage staying silent with my impressions then it does to criticism them. Next thread I will endeavor to post up more impressions be they good or bad.

On a random note, I found Survivor Squad a little tedious. The zombies (by their nature I guess) were a little predictable and stupid with their endless rushes and the tactics I employed never really felt like they had any depth other then walk slowly around while your team mates covered all the angles. I only played the demo though so perhaps with access to more interesting weapons their might be more options.

 

[Toma]

I think that's my problem. I do try a lot of these games, but if I don't like said game for whatever reason I often don't write up and impressions cos I end up feeling a little guilty badmouthing small developers. Although honestly, as you said, it probably does more damage staying silent with my impressions then it does to criticism them. Next thread I will endeavor to post up more impressions be they good or bad.

On a random note, I found Survivor Squad a little tedious. The zombies (by their nature I guess) were a little predictable and stupid with their endless rushes and the tactics I employed never really felt like they had any depth other then walk slowly around while your team mates covered all the angles. I only played the demo though so perhaps with access to more interesting weapons their might be more options.

I dont think criticism is a bad thing if people dont go around calling everything "SHITSHITSHIT" without elaborating. But constructive criticism is also worthwhile for others that consider these games (especially important for non-free ones) and it also maybe stir up some discussion, so I'd appreciate it a lot of people did that instead of not posting anything about a certain game.

I agree that the endless stream of enemies was a bit simple, but I felt that the stronger enemies at least gave me a sense of dread when I realized that they could easily kill of my squad if I dont position them correctly to secure every entrance to a room. I just liked the way it made me progress cautiously, despite it being obviously still begging for improvements. (Unfortunately, the dev didnt get back to me after my last bug/issue report on the game).

That being said.. despite liking the demo, I am still on the fence as well because someone said the endgame gets tedious (but he has played a alpha/beta/whatever version), so I was hoping someone else might dive in to try.

 

[More_Badass]

And I think we also have to remember that like arthouse films and surrealist/literary novels, the indie scene is probably always going to be kind of niche and maybe even divisive. The fact that your indie threads reach the posts count and page numbers they do is impressive.

I'm always trying to spread the word on cool under the radar games (mainly IOS games over the Toucharcade forums) and I think that the Overlooked thread helped introduce a lot of GAFfers to games and genres they might not have tried or known about before. So that's a step in the right direction

And I think the best part is that while larger mainstream games may remain stale, indie games always seem to be introducing some new idea or taking a genre down a cool innovative path. So these threads will always have tons of content to recommend and discuss

 

[Toma]

And I think we also have to remember that like arthouse films and surrealist/literary novels, the indie scene is probably always going to be kind of niche and maybe even divisive. The fact that your indie threads reach the posts count and page numbers they do is impressive.

I'm always trying to spread the word on cool under the radar games (mainly IOS games over the Toucharcade forums) and I think that the Overlooked thread helped introduce a lot of GAFfers to games and genres they might not have tried or known about before. So that's a step in the right direction

And I think the best part is that while larger mainstream games may remain stale, indie games always seem to be introducing some new idea or taking a genre down a cool innovative path. So these threads will always have tons of content to recommend and discuss

Yeah, and its cool to see that. I also noticed that this thread gets crossposted on some german, spanish and a language-I-have-no-clue-how-to-read-forums. Just a tad bummed out that the bottom of the barrel Indies dont get talked about in here (be it good or bad). There are a few notable exceptions though, there were MANY people trying out 2x0ng in here which also led to the dev hurrying up to push out the stability update, which was totally awesome. In that case, I got the impression that most people were positively surprised and glad they gave the game a chance which they otherwise wouldnt have picked up.

On that note, I regret choosing Glob for the OP highscore because I unexpectedly dont really like the game Surprise works both ways.

 

[Dog Problems]

For what it's worth, I lurk this topic more than any other topic on GAF and really do follow what's being talked about and make notes on games. I just usually don't get around to trying a lot of it until a month or two after. I guess I should contribute more.

 

[Toma]

For what it's worth, I lurk this topic more than any other topic on GAF and really do follow what's being talked about and make notes on games. I just usually don't get around to trying a lot of it until a month or two after. I guess I should contribute more.

I'd love if we had more people posting about their impressions with the OP games, since these games probably wont be talked about at all once the next thread rolls around. We have quite a few now posting interesting new games for upcoming threads (Badass was going all out on that this month, haha), but game discussions on OP games are quite rare.

 

[More_Badass]

I'd love if we had more people posting about their impressions with the OP games, since these games probably wont be talked about at all once the next thread rolls around. We have quite a few now posting interesting new games for upcoming threads (Badass was going all out on that this month, haha), but game discussions on OP games are quite rare.

Yeah I only found your monthly series end of June, so I'm happy to contribute. That's what I used to do anyway: search for cool freeware/browser games to play. Now I can post and discuss them too. But I'm definitely going to try and play more OP games next month.

 

[Mavromatis]

A Dark Room for a few minutes for example

I curse thee Toma, still playing this game. Save me!

 

[Toma]

I curse thee Toma, still playing this game. Save me!

Well the "few minutes" was of course only referring to the case of someone NOT liking a game.

*leaves you to the mercy of the dark room*

 

[Toma]

I wanted to give every one a heads up about a free game that was recently released. It's called Experiment 12 and it's a twelve chapter game with each chapter being done by a different indie developer. Some of the people involved are:

Terry Cavanagh (VVVVVV, Super Hexagon)
Richard Perrin (Kairo)
Michael Brough (Vertex Dispenser, Zaga-33, Corrypt, Glitch Tank, and a bunch of others good games)
Jasper Byrne (Lone Survivor)

http://indiegames.com/2013/07/freeware_terry_cavanagh_jasper_1.html

Haven't played it myself yet but will be getting to it very soon.

Btw, this is fucking awesome. Completely trippy, yet interesting mechanics in gameplay that seems familiar to us as a metaphor to the way of the character is feeling towards the unusual behaviour of (super early spoiler that you realize in the few seconds of the first game)

Spoiler

his own body

, by 12 different Indie devs. Really cool thing.

 

[Cth]

Asking for some feedback here. Any reason why most people didnt check more than 3-5 games and rarely any from the recommended games? That seems to be a trend where most people dont check the games that especially get recommended in the latter parts of the thread. For example I usually try to give these posts a big posts with screenshot and gameplay impressions so that others develop interests in trying them out too (barely anyone replied to these posts who didnt already play it btw). Still just too much? Thread recommendations drowning in a sea of OP indies? Or is 1-2 hours per week to check 4-6 games per week too much to be asked? I thought it would be rather reasonable to check 10-15 games each month since most games can be easily evaluated within 15-30 minutes. I might be a bit with how much time people possibly have for these games

I hope that doesnt sound too self-centered since I am basically focussing on the games that I checked myself and liked (and the same probably goes for the stuff Hofmann is recommending which rarely pops up on other "played it" lists), but if no one actually checks these posts that take a good amount of time to make, then I dont need to write them up. Just asking for the usefulness of these bigger recommendation posts here I guess. Or maybe I need to cut down the OPs to allow for a bigger focus on the "better" games? But then we'd miss small gems like Trap Them, 2x0ng and Music of the Spheres.

Its just a bit sad that even most regulars dont get to check the few big recommendations, despite it being usually not all that time or money intensive. Not saying everyone needs to LIKE the same games, but I was expecting people would try more games from the OP at least, even if some games turn out to be not the best 10 minutes of their lives. It doesnt make much sense how the voting is currently running for example if most people only played 5% of the games in the OP, mostly disregarding recommendations on OP games that pop up during the threads.

Anyway, as I said, any feedback on the way these threads are currently operating?

For me, it was spending a lot during the Summer Sale getting caught up on some indie games I had missed. Some of the games will likely show up in next month's thread I'd imagine.

I saw that the voting was for games listed in Post 2. I've grabbed some of the later recommendations in the thread, but didn't make them a priority over the Post 2 stuff as a result.

As for feedback/suggestions.. I like that the thread is organized in the sense of where to find the suggested games and the last week for voting, screenshot saturdays, etc. I am new to the thread, so I'll have to go back and see earlier threads for any potential suggestions/ideas on how to make things easier.

Maybe a recap post every week for that week's new finds? New Find Fridays perhaps? Wayback Wednesdays where everyone sets aside ten minutes to play an older indie game that might have been missed? Dunno.

 

[Toma]

For me, it was spending a lot during the Summer Sale getting caught up on some indie games I had missed. Some of the games will likely show up in next month's thread I'd imagine.

I saw that the voting was for games listed in Post 2. I've grabbed some of the later recommendations in the thread, but didn't make them a priority over the Post 2 stuff as a result.

As for feedback/suggestions.. I like that the thread is organized in the sense of where to find the suggested games and the last week for voting, screenshot saturdays, etc. I am new to the thread, so I'll have to go back and see earlier threads for any potential suggestions/ideas on how to make things easier.

Maybe a recap post every week for that week's new finds? New Find Fridays perhaps? Wayback Wednesdays where everyone sets aside ten minutes to play an older indie game that might have been missed? Dunno.

That recap post probably wont work too well since its more work than what I already have on my plate atm anyway and it detracts too much from the monthly games. But I do like the "Wayback Wednesday" idea where people play a game from an older thread they didnt try before, also considering that the weekends are usually reserved for some extra spotlight on the Screenshot Saturday posts.

I really, really like that idea. Anyone else interested?

 

[More_Badass]

For me, it was spending a lot during the Summer Sale getting caught up on some indie games I had missed. Some of the games will likely show up in next month's thread I'd imagine.

I saw that the voting was for games listed in Post 2. I've grabbed some of the later recommendations in the thread, but didn't make them a priority over the Post 2 stuff as a result.

As for feedback/suggestions.. I like that the thread is organized in the sense of where to find the suggested games and the last week for voting, screenshot saturdays, etc. I am new to the thread, so I'll have to go back and see earlier threads for any potential suggestions/ideas on how to make things easier.

Maybe a recap post every week for that week's new finds? New Find Fridays perhaps? Wayback Wednesdays where everyone sets aside ten minutes to play an older indie game that might have been missed? Dunno.

I like those suggestions. Personally I think we should keep using the Overlooked thread recommendation format; I think it adds a more personal touch to the recommendations and it allows the posters to really describe what made the game special or unique to them. We don't have to add them to the OP,

And I especially like the Wayback Wednesday idea, it would allow us newcomers to try older games we may have overlooked or that weren't mentioned in that month's OP

 

[Toma]

Yep, Wayback Wednesday is going to be a thing now from next wednesday on for games from previous threads you didnt try yet. Lovely idea.

 

[More_Badass]

Yep, Wayback Wednesday is going to be a thing now from next wednesday on. Lovely idea.

Only problem I see with this is that it may have to be limited to freeware and browser games and game demos, because posters may not have the $$ to buy a game.

Also how would this work? Are you going to compile recommendations or are we going to suggest games to play?

 

[Toma]

Only problem I see with this is that it may have to be limited to freeware and browser games and game demos, because posters may not have the $$ to buy a game.

Why limit it then? We'll just say

"Check the older threads linked here for any game you havent tried yet (either because it looks horribly bad, or even possibly interesting!), try it and post about it here. Good and bad impressions are equally welcome."

People on a low budget are still free to choose a free game or demo, while others can still check out a paid game. Should be still PLENTY of stuff that people havent played yet, even for free games/demos. Limiting it to the previous Indie threads however would make sure that people will eventually start playing some lesser known stuff, which is why this is such a cool idea.

Also how would this work? Are you going to compile recommendations or are we going to suggest games to play?

As I said above: "Grab yourself a game from the past threads which you havent played yet and post about it!"

 

[More_Badass]

Why limit it then? We'll just say

"Check the older threads linked here for any game you havent tried yet (either because it looks horribly bad, or even possibly interesting!), try it and post about it here. Good and bad impressions are equally welcome."

People on a low budget are still free to choose a free game or demo, while others can still check out a paid game. Should be still PLENTY of stuff that people havent played yet, even for free games/demos. Limiting it to the previous Indie threads however would make sure that people will eventually start playing some lesser known stuff, which is why this is such a cool idea.

True. Ok, can't wait for Wednesday

 

[Toma]

Lots of free games in the next thread apparently. Currently at 17 games in the released part, 13 of them free (or some with a free demo).

 

[Momentary]

Voting!

Valdis Story: I don't see this anywhere, but I've got to say I've been playing this demo more than any of the other indie games. Love the combat system and RPG elements. Can't wait or the full game to be released.

Primordia: I love the artwork and mood for this.

The Incredible Adventure of Van Helsing: Combat is very satisfying for me.

These are the only 3 I've played this month. I'm still trying to finish Rogue Legacy's last achievement for me. I'm missing one more piece of loot.

 

[Dog Problems]

Valdis Story: I don't see this anywhere but I've got to say I've been playing this demo more than any of the other indie games. Love the combat system and RPG elements. Can't wait or the full game to be released.

Yeah, I contributed to the Kickstarter for that game. Haven't played the demo but I will probably just wait for the full game.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Asking for some feedback here. Any reason why most people didnt check more than 3-5 games and rarely any from the recommended games? That seems to be a trend where most people dont check the games that especially get recommended in the latter parts of the thread. For example I usually try to give these posts a big posts with screenshot and gameplay impressions so that others develop interests in trying them out too (barely anyone replied to these posts who didnt already play it btw). Still just too much? Thread recommendations drowning in a sea of OP indies? Or is 1-2 hours per week to check 4-6 games per week too much to be asked? I thought it would be rather reasonable to check 10-15 games each month since most games can be easily evaluated within 15-30 minutes. I might be a bit with how much time people possibly have for these games

I hope that doesnt sound too self-centered since I am basically focussing on the games that I checked myself and liked (and the same probably goes for the stuff Hofmann is recommending which rarely pops up on other "played it" lists), but if no one actually checks these posts that take a good amount of time to make, then I dont need to write them up. Just asking for the usefulness of these bigger recommendation posts here I guess. Or maybe I need to cut down the OPs to allow for a bigger focus on the "better" games? But then we'd miss small gems like Trap Them, 2x0ng and Music of the Spheres.

Its just a bit sad that even most regulars dont get to check the few big recommendations, despite it being usually not all that time or money intensive. Not saying everyone needs to LIKE the same games, but I was expecting people would try more games from the OP at least, even if some games turn out to be not the best 10 minutes of their lives. It doesnt make much sense how the voting is currently running for example if most people only played 5% of the games in the OP, mostly disregarding recommendations on OP games that pop up during the threads.

Anyway, as I said, any feedback on the way these threads are currently operating?

Let me start saying I like how the thread is arranged and organized, the new media section added this month was an amazing addtion to the thread. I try to play as many games as possible from the OP particularly games like 2x0ng or Superhyper Cannon. I tend to forgeting to play the games that are recommended, usually I let the game download while I'm doing other stuff on my laptop and I forget about it.

About people not trying even the games in the OP, I think people usually stick to the genres that they are more familiar, so many games with unusual styles end not being playing for the majority of the goers be them lurkers or assiduous frequenters. Sometimes I end acting this way too, if I see a game featuring zombies the probality of me playing it are small since I got tired of it, and at least for me, the genre seems saturated. Next thread I'll try to play games that I have some bias against the genre, it worked for Endless Space (I wasn't a fan of 4X genre) so may work for other games.

 

[PandaPedinte]

One game caugh my attention from the latest Greenlight batch

Starmade

StarMade is a cube Space Shooter. The game is currently in the ALPHA phase, and you can try it out completely free.

The game is COMPLETELY FREE in the alpha: get it at http://www.star-made.org

Explore: Infinite space in all directions. Explore distant planets and ancient space stations. Gather resources, or go on epic adventures.

Design: Design the ship of your dreams, from famous ships featured in movies, book lore and other sci-fi/fantasy cannon. Or design something from your own imagination, connecting modules of ships together and challenging your efficiency and design skills. Do you create a ship that kills and destroys everything or a peaceful trading ship that is really just a smugglers ship in disguise?!

Customize: Create customized weapons, harvesting, repair, shield and other modules by grouping them into geometrical patterns to increase their abilities! With more modules being dreamed up by the StarMade team EVERY DAY, the possibilities are endless!

Economy: Harvest and sell valuable resources you find in distant parts of the universe.

Artificial Intelligence: Build your own ships and equip them with an AI. You can also fight your own creations already.

Multiplayer: StarMade was designed around multiplayer to begin with. Share control of your super massive ship, design a station with friends or conquer the universe INCLUDING your pals, one sector at a time!

Multiplatform: This game is already available for MacOS, Linux and windows. This game runs with Java and is OPTIMIZED to run as efficiently as possible, while we may experience some bugs and bumps in alpha and beta, we are focused to fix all issues as soon as possible and concentrate on gameplay and engine optimization.

Seems like a game for people that like Minecraft. Unfortunatelly I'm not creative with creating things in-game, anyway it may worth check since the Alpha is free.

 

[More_Badass]

Hey, Toma, did you know there is an IOS version of SpaceChem? For 5.99, you can take SpaceChem Mobile with you everywhere you go! (if you have an iPad)

I think it was you, who kept praising the game...

 

[KuroNeeko]

Asking for some feedback here. Any reason why most people didnt check more than 3-5 games and rarely any from the recommended games?

This is just me, but I'm constrained mostly by two factors - time and money (well, probably not "just me" but...)

My gaming time is limited to an hour during lunch, about 40 minutes or so on the train, and then whatever I can squeeze in the last hour or so before bed. Full time job with about 2 1/2 hours of commuting, a 2 1/2 year old that I bath and read to every night, and a wife that I try to squeeze at least an hour of couple time with pretty much takes up the entire day. Weekends are entirely devoted to my wife and son, except for an hour or so before I go to bed.

My last hour or so is usually spent drawing, reading, playing 3DS or on my cell. Those are my time constraints.

Money-wise, I tend to first check out the free titles on the list. Steam releases are out for me because I can't play them at work (my largest chunk of game time.) Anything over $5 or so is usually out as well since I have so many games in my backlog - it's hard to justify another one unless it really resonates with me.

I suppose to some degree, I'm not as open to trying new genres as I used to be. I like brainy or more emotionally charged titles. Card games usually top the list, Tower Defense games with interesting mechanics / rogues / stealth-based games and RPGs probably come next.

I know what I like and am hesitant to risk a chunk of my dwindling game time on something new sometimes. The last game that surprised me was probably Hotline Miami, but I've shelved that game with just 3 hours or so playtime. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't strong enough to keep me going.

I have too much to play and not enough time to play it. Checking out more games either takes away time from the games I want to play or adds more games to my backlog;D

Having said that, I did manage to check out maybe 6 or 7 games from the thread? I also picked up about 10 games or so during the Steam sale thanks to the Indie Steam thread - Reus probably being the enjoyable out of the ones I've played.

The only real feedback I guess I have is that I thought that the 4-game-requisite for voting was a bit high. I personally think that 3 is probably just about right, but I also realize that I'm likely to be more strapped for time than the average poster.

I do want to thank you (mostly Toma, but a few other doods as well) for all of the Indies-focused threads. I've followed, and tried, most of your recommendations and tend to enjoy what I find (I think Frozen Synapse is probably the only big miss so far.) I'll try to contribute when I can, but even this post was made at work. lol

edit: Looking back at some of the ideas given above, I think weekly features and everything sound nice and all - but I'm not a fan of anything that adds more work to the OP. It's his choice and all, but I'm not convinced that the views or Indie impressions would be enough to warrant the time / commitment needed to make it possible.

With Vancha's post the thread became too indie, even for my tastes, so lets sail on a bit more mainstream waters.

Nekro - Nekro is a dark, twisted action game about summoning minions in the vein of Dungeon Keeper and Myth.

Cowboys Vs Monsters - Wild Wild West strategy game by the Reprisal guys.

Nekro looks pretty cool. That UI wouldn't look out of place in a Blizzard title...

Cowboys vs, Monsters! looks pretty awesome as well;D

 

[One Foul Note]

Using these last few days to go over some of the stuff I haven't tried yet:

Futuridium EP
I love the concept and graphics, but the controls are a little fiddly and I wish it had proper controller support. I could only get it reading the analog stick.

Inverto
Cool idea in theory but I kept getting super disorientated and not really knowing where I had to go. The levels are fairly crowded and combined that with their being no real distinction between the floor and ceiling mean that every time you flip gravity you end up taking 1-2 minutes just working out where the hell you are compared to before. A game for people with super good special awareness I think. Still fun to bop around for a while but I didn't really feel like I was solving anything, just kinda stumbling into the solutions.

Odallus
In theory, I should love this game but something about it just keeps bumming me out. I think it might have been something between the main dude having a rubbish short attack and that fact that everything was hitting just a little too close in the 'knock-off-Castlevania' genre. I probably will still end up buying the final game just cos I love Oniken and what these guys are doing in general. One thing was really good though, the shopkeepers digitized voice, AMAZING.

 

[Toma]

Using these last few days to go over some of the stuff I haven't tried yet:

Futuridium EP
I love the concept and graphics, but the controls are a little fiddly and I wish it had proper controller support. I could only get it reading the analog stick.

Inverto
Cool idea in theory but I kept getting super disorientated and not really knowing where I had to go. The levels are fairly crowded and combined that with their being no real distinction between the floor and ceiling mean that every time you flip gravity you end up taking 1-2 minutes just working out where the hell you are compared to before. A game for people with super good special awareness I think. Still fun to bop around for a while but I didn't really feel like I was solving anything, just kinda stumbling into the solutions.

Odallus
In theory, I should love this game but something about it just keeps bumming me out. I think it might have been something between the main dude having a rubbish short attack and that fact that everything was hitting just a little too close in the 'knock-off-Castlevania' genre. I probably will still end up buying the final game just cos I love Oniken and what these guys are doing in general. One thing was really good though, the shopkeepers digitized voice, AMAZING.

Yeah, I was quite surprised I didnt like Odallus either. It just didnt come together that well. But who knows, maybe they'll polish the demo levels for a game release eventually.

Anyway, thanks for everyones feedback Aside from getting some general feedback, we also got the Wayback Wednesday idea out of the thread, which is a pretty cool idea.

 

[One Foul Note]

Yeah, I was quite surprised I didnt like Odallus either. It just didnt come together that well. But who knows, maybe they'll polish the demo levels for a game release eventually.

Hopefully. It's weird I still can't put my finger on what I don't quite like about the game. I am almost reading over my impressions from earlier and not agreeing with myself (you'll be surprised how often that happens). I guess I can only hope they polish up the thing I don't really like about the game. Somehow.

 

[Toma]

Hopefully. It's weird I still can't put my finger on what I don't quite like about the game. I am almost reading over my impressions from earlier and not agreeing with myself (you'll be surprised how often that happens). I guess I can only hope they polish up the thing I don't really like about the game. Somehow.

Yeah, I mean I like the Castlevania style gameplay. Maybe the viewing area of the game didnt sit well with me, or the level layout. Its just... off.

 

[Mavromatis]

Well the "few minutes" was of course only referring to the case of someone NOT liking a game.

*leaves you to the mercy of the dark room*

Don't start this game unless you have eons to spend on it. Don't miss this game either.

 

[Hofmann]

God damn you, you mentally unstable bastards. On my second playthrough I stayed alive for twenty days. Definitely one of the best games I played this month. With the right direction it has the potential to become next indie sweetheart, in a way Papers, Please did before. It's even more amazing when you consider the game was originally made for Ludum Dare jam, remake can't come soon enough.

 

[Toma]

God damn you, you mentally unstable bastards. On my second playthrough I stayed alive for twenty days. Definitely one of the best games I played this month. With the right direction it has the potential to become next indie sweetheart, in a way Papers, Please did before. It's even more amazing when you consider the game was originally made for Ludum Dare jam, remake can't come soon enough.

What...is ...this...

Is that Gods will be watching? Why did I never see that scene?

 

[Hofmann]

What...is ...this...

Gods Will Be Watching, well, actually the sequel/remake.

 

[Toma]

Gods Will Be Watching, well, actually the sequel/remake.

Ah, your text made it seem like you were playing the game in the screenshot.

 

[Hofmann]

Ah, your text made it seem like you were playing the game in the screenshot.

Nah, it just shows my frustration after dying half way through. Have you reached the end, or anyone else for that matter?

 

[One Foul Note]

God damn you, you mentally unstable bastards. On my second playthrough I stayed alive for twenty days. Definitely one of the best games I played this month. With the right direction it has the potential to become next indie sweetheart, in a way Papers, Please did before. It's even more amazing when you consider the game was originally made for Ludum Dare jam, remake can't come soon enough.

Sweet Jesus, that's perhaps the most disturbing scene I ever seen rendered and animated in pixel art. Have to keep an eye out for that remake.

 

[PandaPedinte]

God damn you, you mentally unstable bastards. On my second playthrough I stayed alive for twenty days. Definitely one of the best games I played this month. With the right direction it has the potential to become next indie sweetheart, in a way Papers, Please did before. It's even more amazing when you consider the game was originally made for Ludum Dare jam, remake can't come soon enough.

O_O at the GIF.

 

[More_Badass]

Found an awesome indie Kickstarter thanks to RPS

Collateral - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1688937166/collateral
13 days to go, already gained $8,387 of their $15,000 goal

'Collateral' is an open world, vehicular combat game for PC set in a dystopian future. Take control of an armed flying taxi and explore a visually loaded futuristic environment, undertake crooked missions, and align with nefarious factions to open up new districts and earn money to upgrade and customise your taxi. Blending inspirations including Blade Runner, The Fifth Element, Crazy Taxi, Carmageddon and Quarantine, Collateral is a fast paced and brutal ride you won't forget in a hurry.

 

[More_Badass]

God damn you, you mentally unstable bastards. On my second playthrough I stayed alive for twenty days. Definitely one of the best games I played this month. With the right direction it has the potential to become next indie sweetheart, in a way Papers, Please did before. It's even more amazing when you consider the game was originally made for Ludum Dare jam, remake can't come soon enough.

Ah, your text made it seem like you were playing the game in the screenshot.

Nah, it just shows my frustration after dying half way through. Have you reached the end, or anyone else for that matter?

I think GWBW was my favorite discovery I found thanks to this thread. It is so good and deep and the choices are so much more complicated than the simple black-and-white moral choices seen in Mass Effect and Infamous. And the remake/expansion is coming to IOS, so I'll be able to take it everywhere I go

 

[Toma]

I think GWBW was my favorite discovery I found thanks to this thread. It is so good and deep and the choices are so much more complicated than the simple black-and-white moral choices seen in Mass Effect and Infamous. And the remake/expansion is coming to IOS, so I'll be able to take it everywhere I go

My best discovery via this thread so far was Factorio and Papers, Please. Lots of other cool stuff too, but those two top my ranking (If I havent forgotten anything important). I am very curious about the end of year voting.

 

[Hofmann]

Sweet Jesus, that's perhaps the most disturbing scene I ever seen rendered and animated in pixel art. Have to keep an eye out for that remake.

O_O at the GIF.

The terrorist aren't the nicest people out there.

I think GWBW was my favorite discovery I found thanks to this thread. It is so good and deep and the choices are so much more complicated than the simple black-and-white moral choices seen in Mass Effect and Infamous. And the remake/expansion is coming to IOS, so I'll be able to take it everywhere I go

Yes, there will be some morally tough decisions to be made in the final game to achieve your goals and those choices will probably be even more pronounced.

 

[Hofmann]

My best discovery via this thread so far was Factorio and Papers, Please. Lots of other cool stuff too, but those two top my ranking (If I havent forgotten anything important). I am very curious about the end of year voting.

I think you liked Gorogoa as well.

 

[More_Badass]

Overgrowth is coming along nicely
Only on Alpha 200...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1G1swqs0DU

I'd love to preorder and play the beta, but 29.95 is way too steep. I guess they're going the Prison Architect route

And how do I embed Youtube videos into a post?

 

[Toma]

I think you liked Gorogoa as well.

Oh god yes, Gorogoa <3

Sweet, sweet Gorogoa.