13 votes

Indie Games and Developers

Posted by Sir_Shakes
Tags: indie, gamedev, gameplay, ask.recommendations

This year I wanted to make a point to support and follow more indie game developers. I thought I'd post this topic to spread some love. Let's share indie game projects and developers that we are currently following to help them get some more exposure. Here are a few from my end:

Pizza Tower:

https://pizzatowerguy.itch.io/

The demo feels so good to play. Controls are really tight and art/animation is really charming albeit eye-straining on higher resolution.

Guinea Pig Parkour:

https://twitter.com/GPigParkour
This game is not as far along as Pizza Tower, but the game-play footage looks superb. Seems like a taxing process considering the level of polish being demonstrated. Looking through GPigParkour's twitter, apparently this is something that they have been working on since 2016.

Headcannon (Stealth):

http://www.headcannon.com/vertebreaker.html

You probably know Headcannon as the development team behind Sonic Mania. Despite the amazing job they did on Sonic Mania they don't receive much of anything for their hard work. The only pay from Sega that they received was the commission to create Sonic Mania and don't receive any revenue from sales. A recent kickstarter for the game Vertebreaker had be be cancelled because they were unable to raise enough funds for it. The founder and head of Headcannon Stealth goes into detail about this in the linked video. I highly recommend you check them out and donate to their Patreon if you can. They certainly have the talent and know how to create some cool ass games.

7 comments

  1. [4]
    sron
    Link
    Teardown - website / YouTube Technically quite interesting too. If I remember rightly it's voxel based and has ray tracing. Made by Dennis Gustafsson, who was also involved in the Mediocre mobile...

    Teardown - website / YouTube

    Plan the perfect heist using creative problem solving, brute force and everything around you. Teardown features a fully destructible and truly interactive environment where player freedom and emergent gameplay are the driving mechanics.

    Tear down walls with explosives or vehicles to create shortcuts no one thought was possible. Stack objects, build structures or use floating objects to your advantage. Take your time to create an efficient path through the level, plan the heist and get ready to run.

    The moment you pick up your first target an alarm goes off and the heat is on. Run, jump, drive, slingshot, do whatever you need to collect all of the targets and escape before security arrives.

    Technically quite interesting too. If I remember rightly it's voxel based and has ray tracing. Made by Dennis Gustafsson, who was also involved in the Mediocre mobile game studio (Smash Hit, PinOut, Does Not Commute). His website

    8 votes
    1. [3]
      Sir_Shakes
      Link Parent
      Game looks very cool. Are the voxel and ray tracing significant elements to the game itself or just apart of the graphics/aesthetics? I'm asking because I've only just now skimmed the wiki...

      Game looks very cool. Are the voxel and ray tracing significant elements to the game itself or just apart of the graphics/aesthetics? I'm asking because I've only just now skimmed the wiki articles for both things.

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        sron
        Link Parent
        I have absolutely no idea. I just know they're there and it looks cool! Here is where I first found it, it might help https://youtu.be/Wc_QC25RM44

        I have absolutely no idea. I just know they're there and it looks cool! Here is where I first found it, it might help https://youtu.be/Wc_QC25RM44

        1 vote
        1. Sir_Shakes
          Link Parent
          Thanks, it was a cool little documentary. I like how this game looks a lot like legos.

          Thanks, it was a cool little documentary. I like how this game looks a lot like legos.

          1 vote
  2. [2]
    panikode
    Link
    Oh boy I have a mountain of these <3. Heaven's Vault, an archaeology game An archaeology and exploration game by Inkle Studios Kentucky Route Zero‚a magical realist adventure game By [Cardboard...

    Oh boy I have a mountain of these <3.

    Heaven's Vault, an archaeology game

    An archaeology and exploration game by Inkle Studios

    Kentucky Route Zero‚a magical realist adventure game By [Cardboard Computer](http://kentuckyroutezero.com/) > Kentucky Route Zero is a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway running through the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it.

    This is a phenomenal game whose fifth—and final—act comes out on Jan 28th. It's told in five acts with intermissions between each that play with the fourth wall.

    The KRZ canon includes:

    • Act 1
    • Limits and Demonstrations
    • Act 2
    • The Entertainment
    • Act 3
    • Here and there along the Echo
    • Act 4
    • Un Pueblo de Nada
    • Act 5 (Released Jan 28th, 2020)
    2001: A Space Felony By [National Insecurities](https://nationalinsecurities.itch.io/2000to1-a-space-felony)

    2000:1: A Space Felony is a murder mystery courtroom drama set aboard the USS Endowment, an interplanetary Spacecraft that has lost communication with Earth.

    A short and hilarious detective game. I recommend everything that NI has built thus far.

    In the Pause Between the Ringing—a rumination about completion, territorial margins and about the haunting of bodies and memories that are translated across borders.

    By Studio Oleomingus.

    In the Pause between the Ringing is a rumination about completion, about territorial margins and about the haunting of bodies and memories that are translated across borders. It is an adaption of an unpublished story written by Mir UmarHassan for the editor of the Malwa Chronicle in the July of 1958. And it records the turbulent history of telephone mining in British India.

    The Norwood Suite

    By CosmoDDD. I also recommend its prequel Off-Peak

    In 1983, Peter Norwood, one of the world's most internationally-celebrated pianists and composers, mysteriously vanished. His private mansion was turned into the Hotel Norwood, which, over the years, accumulated its own share of notoriety. But the mystery of what really went on during Norwood's time never truly got uncovered... until now.

    4 votes
    1. joplin
      Link Parent
      I've been playing KRZ. Have mixed feelings. It started out so strong. It got a little dull towards Acts 3 and 4. It's been something like 2 years since Act 4 was released and just assumed they...

      I've been playing KRZ. Have mixed feelings. It started out so strong. It got a little dull towards Acts 3 and 4. It's been something like 2 years since Act 4 was released and just assumed they folded. I was surprised to hear they were going to release the final chapter. I'm looking forward to it. I hope they can recapture some of what made it interesting at the beginning of the game.

      2 votes
  3. nothis
    Link
    My favorite find last year was Mirror Drop. It actually won the IGF Award for Excellence in Visual Art, that's how I found out about it. It's basically a high end ray-tracer turned into a game....

    My favorite find last year was Mirror Drop. It actually won the IGF Award for Excellence in Visual Art, that's how I found out about it. It's basically a high end ray-tracer turned into a game. All surfaces are reflective, so you get these absurd hall-of-mirrors effects, it kinda breaks your brain, in a good way.

    3 votes