Indie games are worth your time

chriskirknielsen

I don’t know if you play video games, but it’s likely you enjoy games in one form or another. Maybe you play a cozy game on your phone, a card game on your work computer (definitely only during breaks), or a cute adventure game on your gaming console. And table top games count, too, of course!

Note

There is no such thing as a real gamer or not, only gamers and gatekeepers.

I mostly play on PlayStation, and a bit on PC, but also play a lot of sudoku on my phone (yes I am 400 years old), and the occasional word puzzle on my work computer. I’d like to focus on indie video games, though, for this post in particular. Or at least, indie in how they feel, since the term has lost a bit of its meaning, much like indie music, in my mind’s ear.

I’ve played through a handful of few smaller games recently. Stray, where I wandered a post-human world as a cat. Cocoon, where I jumped in and out of worlds to solve puzzles. Or Herdling, where I found, named, and led gentle creatures through a dangerous land and over a mountain. And I’ve got Mixtape installed for next time I sit down to play. These are not the biggest, most successful games in the world. But what they are is deeply authentic. They are poetic. They are stirring. They are beautiful.

Sometimes, games with a big-to-absurdly-large budget can be those things, don’t get me wrong, but in my experience, those impactful games are most likely indie games. It’s a team of anything from one person to a few dozen people who poured their souls into making the best game they could, and you can tell. As you move through the world they’ve built, their world might just move you, too. (yes that’s cheesy, but this is my blog and I can say what I want) Every major studio is trying to one-up one another with the most realistic-looking games, and that’s impressive! But sometimes the indie game made with a "here in my garage” look, with a few rough edges visible, has so much charm, a unique personality, that makes it a delight to play through.

This isn’t to say big games aren’t made with love (I mean have you seen how well-made games like Control, or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are?), but they tend to have a sense of cinematography, spectacle, and scale that you don’t usually experience in indie games. Sure, I sometimes I want to load up an action-adventure blockbuster game, but indie games? They have vastly different vibes… the vibes are way cozier.

All of this is to say that indie games are important for the ecosystem of video games, as they bring a much-needed touch of humanity to the otherwise giant, sanded-down products of the entertainment industry. While I know it’s easier to only look out for the big names out there (trust me I play those, too), next time you’re looking for a new game, try to seek out the smaller titles out there. It might just make your heart feel a little fuller. (something something, commentary about the indie web)

In need of a few recommendations?

PS: Indy games are also good, from what I hear, but I have not played The Great Circle or The Fate of Atlantis. Forgive me, Doctor Jones!