What Are Indie Games?

Overview of Indie Games

For those individuals who love to play various games in their free time and are also avid computer users, the two concepts can easily be combined to produce a wonderful result. Playing games via a computer is a common occurrence these days. Although there are a number of popular games one can play on the computer, one genre of game that is gaining in popularity is that of Indie games.

Defining Indie Games

Indie games can be defined as those games that are created independently of any large financially backed company. Indie games are ones which often come from a relatively low budget base and many of these games are ones that are only available online. These types of games can be video games, strategy games or puzzles, for example. The wide range of categories which various Indie games fall into is quite impressive.

How Indie Games Were First Developed

Indie games developed in reaction to an already established type of gaming industry. Those who create Indie games develop games which fall into a certain category yet do not have a large financially sound company which develops them. In order for Indie games to exist, there must already be a similar genre of game in existence. For example, Indie games which fall into the category of video games were developed in the 1970s shortly after the larger companies developed the mainstream video games. The Indie games which resulted from that category came into existence after games such as Pong and Asteroids hit the market.

Reasons for Online Popularity

Indie games are mainly available via online means. There are a few different reasons for this. First, those who develop various Indie games do so at minimal costs. Since it is much less expensive to provide online accessibility to these games as opposed to marketing them and selling these games in stores, one who develops Indie games makes them largely available online. Secondly, individuals who create various Indie games make them available online since it is an easy way to get the games out to the general public and enable individuals to start playing them as quickly as possible.

Size of the Indie Game Industry

The Indie game industry is one which is growing in size. As more and more individuals begin using the Internet, there are more people who gain access to Indie games. Online accessibility to games of this type is a primary reason for the growing popularity of Indie games. Indie games are developed all over the world and it is hard to pinpoint exactly how many Indie games are currently in existence at this time.

Future of the Indie Game Industry

The Indie game industry is one which will continue to grow in the future. Due to the fact that the number of Internet users continues to grow, so will the number of people who like to play Indie games online. Therefore, the future of the Indie game industry looks quite bright.

Summary

Indie games are the result of creative and innovative minds. For those who may not have the financial backing to get their games on the consumer market, developing Indie games and making them accessible via the World Wide Web is a great way for the developer to let others see and utilize their vision.

Steve is a writer for the GrandMatrix website. GrandMatrix provides hundreds of free game downloads and online games. Play and rate the latest PC games and play thousands of puzzles, word games and online arcade games with other members.

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Play PC Games? Indie Game Developers Can Be Spotted In 60 Seconds Or Less

A real indie game developer is not that hard to spot even though

they are often overlooked for various reasons. Don't start

your clock just yet because I am about to quickly define

what and who you will be looking for first.

An independent(indie) game developer is an individual

or small group of individuals that conceives, creates, and

releases to the public. . . really cool pc games for you to

play and enjoy. Some of these computer games

are made for the Mac computer. You can play the majority of these computer game demos for free

The idea is that you play the pc game demo version to your heart's content

and then spend a few bucks to get the full version of it.

A demo has been the standard of distribution since the days of Dos. This

is an unwritten rule that few people understand or accept.

An indie game developer is part of the independent game

industry. This industry is the original base of what has now

become a trifecta. This particular industry has also become viewed

as difficult to deal with based on their demands as previously

described. More on that later. Ok so that was the basic description. How do you know

if you are about to play an indie game? Here goes...

:60sec

You've just landed on a trendy-spiff-riffic looking website after surfing the internet

aimlessly in the hopes of finding a killer pc game to play.

You are more than likely tired of playing cookie cutters

that are blindly recommended by uninformed casual game

evangelists and other band-wagoners.

Note: I just gave you a hint on 1/3 of the trifecta. Let's continue...

Q: So what's the first clue?

A: The website/company

name, the first paragraph and usually the

indie game developer's About Us page generally gives you an adequate

idea.

Let me explain very quickly. You see, an independent-(ie: indie) game

developer will generally tell you he/she is just that, something to

the affect of... "We're an independent game development company specializing in creating,

publishing, marketing our games ourselves" Did you make note of the operative

word independent? You'll also want to look for word like "old school gameplay"

or something like that.

Q: Now what kinds of games do they make?

A: To be perfectly blunt, Any kind that we (ahem..they) want. Here's the deal...

:30sec

So you're on the first page of an indie game developer's site and

you have appropriately determined that..."Yes! This is an indie game

developer website! Cool. I am so tired of those boring bubble popping thingies.

I want action every now and again. I want to exercise my brain!"

But hold on...You DO need further proof. Don't you? Here it is...

You see, after an indie game developer has gladly but unapologetically

informed you that they make the kinds of games that THEY WOULD

want to play. . . You still need to know what game types

those consist of right? Because let's face it, they want you to

enjoy the fruits of their labor.

:15sec

On any given indie game site you'll find arcade shooters, space shooters,

some brick busters, some card games, a few sport hybrids, tons of

war military skirmish shooters, poker games, mahjong, arcade racing

games, and yes I dare say it...bubble poppers.

Some indie games are controversial and would never be sold in the retail space at all.

But you are considered cool if you are in the know and buy these indie games.

The best part is that these quirky and interesting little gems are easy to install

and uninstall. You don't have to worry about bogging your PC down with

flash or the like. And you can play free games all day long just by getting the pc demo version.

:5sec

Hold on, because it doesn't stop there. You see 9 times out of 10, an indie game developer

is working on a sequel to a current game release that's on their

website. So the best thing to do is join their newsletter and become

their friend. Because you could get discounts of their regular pricing

which is generally in the $9.95-$60.00 range. Don't let the pricing

fool you because you will always get tons of value in addition to

plenty of addictive gameplay.

Indie game developers don't like to give out their

intellectual property/creations to just anybody. Just their friends.

There's a reason for that...but that's a whole different story that

would take a whole year to explain.

That's because there are various little intricacies and twists and turns that played out

over the span of a few years. But you shouldn't care about that because

it's all about helping you manage your leisure time with some killer entertainment.

Don't let that fool you because independent game production is serious business.

Note: I just gave you another hint on another 1/3 of the trifecta.

:00sec

Want to get in on the fun?

To find out more...you need to visit an actual indie game developer and publisher

before you miss out. You could even get some gaming freebies in the form

of a cheap boredom buster, free demos, and game demo downloads in the process.

Think about how these developers will make you and your computer

very happy in the process. It won't be long before you'll be enjoying yourself.

To learn more, get in on the action and download my "Indie Game Madness" pc game guide and game demos here: Indie Game Madness

Gregory L. Lipscomb aka "The Super Indie" is an actual indie computer game developer, independent publisher and distributor of pc games.

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