Not your average game: A look at indie titles

 Intro

The world of videogame culture is incredibly expansive, and yet somewhat shallow. Every year, the multibillion dollar gaming industry, comprised of thousands of game developers from every corner of the globe, work alongside artists, writers, musicians and programmers to produce hundreds of interactive experiences that span the deepest recesses of man’s imagination. 

With so many titles on the market at any given time, it comes as no surprise that many games are simply overshadowed by the slew of blockbuster titles produced by major companies that spread their marketing practices like the plague. Franchises such as “Call of Duty” and ”Halo” are consistently pushed as being the biggest thing since Mario, but are renowned for being unbearably casual.  These games are popular, everybody wants them, but their beauty is only skin deep. Sure, these titles tend to look pretty, but they are also victims of their own hubris. They almost seem to consistently lack innovation, and as a result, have grown stale in the eyes of many well rounded gamers. 

Luckily for gamers like me, and possibly yourself, there exists a flourishing genre of game made with us in mind. Indie games, or games created by small, close knit development teams, have recently proven to be a haven of creativity and powerful story telling. Indie games have seen a huge increase in popularity over the past several years due to their emphasis on originality, general quirkiness and exploratory game mechanics. Some have even gone so far as to capture the attention of the fine art community, and continue to impress not only veteran gamers, but newcomers alike. 

Not Your Average Game is a series that will peek in to five indie games — some old, some new — each worth checking out.

OwlBoy

Out on PC

Console release date:  Feb 13

Found On: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Originally released in 2016 on Steam, D-pad Studio’s “OwlBoy” is a milestone standard for pixel art. One might only look to the games incredibly polished backdrops to find a practically unrivaled level of dedication by Artist Simon Andersen, who spent nine years developing the game. Thought to be a spiritual successor of Nintendo’s “Kid Icarus,” OwlBoy is a 2D puzzle platforming adventure game with a heavy emphasis on flight. The gameplay throughout is reminiscent of feel good 90s Nintendo titles “The legend of Zelda” and “Metroid Prime,” with exploration, puzzle solving and projectile-based combat comprised throughout.  Playing as Otus, a young member of a human-owl hybrid race called the Owls, players must set out on an adventure to save his village following an attack by a crew of sky pirates. Otus isn’t much of a fighter, nor does he speak, and instead acquires various allies to assist him in combat and push the story’s dialogue.

Dead Static Drive

Release Date: TBA

Found On: Steam

Much is still unknown about “Dead Static Drive,” but the little we have seen from early development is shaping up to be a fairly interesting take on the survival horror genre of games. Mike Blackney, the lone developer of “Dead Static Drive” describes his project as a top down, vehicle-based, cosmic horror, open world survival game with Lovecraftian-style creatures and characters abound. Players are tasked with driving across the United States via long, dusty stretches of road, dotted with small, Americana-themed towns, each harboring a horror story all their own. Players must search these abandoned towns for supplies, interact with survivors, and defend themselves from monsters capable of disguising themselves as human beings. Blackney is noted for pulling inspiration for this title from popular retro horror TV series, particularly “Twin Peaks” and “Stranger things.” 

Donut County

Release Date: TBA

Found On: Steam

“Donut County” by developer Ben Esposito is the equivalent of an inverse “Katamari Damacy,” a niche, third-person puzzle game that involved the gathering of various items in to a constantly expanding ball. Donut County found itself in the spotlight when it was announced as a finalist during the 2015 Independent Games Festival, given its very peculiar main character. Rather than play as a valiant knight or futuristic space marine, Donut County puts the player in control of a hole in the ground. The hole belongs to BK, a raccoon who has been hired as part of a startup company that uses remote-controlled holes to assist in trash removal. The hole starts off small, capable of doing away with nothing more than mere pebbles at first, but as more and more items fall in to the whole, it begins to grow, swallowing anything and everything that it passes under, even the residents of Donut County.  

Fe

Release Date: Feb. 16

Found On: Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

“Fe,” By Zoink! Is one the latest indie titles to be picked up by the Electronic Arts Originals program. Ill feelings towards EA aside, Fe’s striking blend of black, polygonal characters and landscapes and single colored light effects create a world all it’s own.  In Fe, players awaken as a young, squirrel-like creature amidst a sprawling forest landscape filled with a variety of wildlife, each with their own behaviors, sounds, likes and dislikes. By exploring the world and learning about the strange, whimsical ecosystem that surrounds them, players will gain new abilities through their interactions with various animals, to aid them in both exploration and combat against a strange enemy known only as The Silent Ones. The gameplay has been mentioned as feeling Zelda-esque with a fair amount of platforming, while the narrative aims to delve in to mankind’s innate desire to grow closer to nature and remind us that all life is connected.

Forgotten Anne

Release Date: early 2018

Found On: Steam, Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Throughline Games are surely fans of Studio Ghibli, as there latest project, “Forgotten Anne” looks to pay homage to the iconic, highly-detailed backgrounds of which the popular animation studio is known for. The world of Forgotten Anne resides between the lost and the forgotten; the place where old toys, lost articles of clothing and letters that never reached their intended destination reside. Here, they take on new life as Forgotlings, inanimate objects given life who long to be remembered again. As Anne, an enforcer tasked with maintaining order, players must set out to prevent a rebellious uprising which may prevent her from returning to the natural world. The game is being marketed as a seamless, cinematic adventure that at times may feel more akin to an interactive movie than a game, though light platforming and puzzle solving are included.

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