The spin off thread of the Upcoming Indie Games to Keep an Eye On thread.
Discuss any and all indie games that don't have their own threads in here.
If the indie game has a separate thread, I'll also try to link it here.
Specific Threads:
ABZÛ
AI War: Fleet Command
Antichamber
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator
Astroneer
Aurora
Banished
Cave Story
Crashlands
Crypt of the Necrodancer
Darkest Dungeon
Duskers
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
Dwarf Fortress
Factorio
Firewatch
Frog Fractions
FTL
Glittermitten Grove
Gone Home
Gratuitous Space Battles
Gunpoint
Her Story
House of the Dying Sun
Hyper Light Drifter
Inside
Invisible, Inc.
Kentucky Route Zero
Kerbal Space Program
Kingdom
La-Mulana
Legend of Grimrock II
Little Inferno
The Long Dark
Moon Hunters
Nuclear Throne
Oxenfree
Papers, Please
Pillars of Eternity
Plants Vs. Zombies
Rebel Galaxy
RimWorld
Risk of Rain
Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages II: Bigger & Boulder
Rogue Legacy
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Shenzen I/O, from Zachtronics
Sky Rogue
Space Pirates and Zombies
Spelunky
Stardew Valley
Starward Rogue
Stephen's Sausage Roll
Sunless Sea
Superhot
Talos Principle
Tharsis
That Dragon, Cancer
TIS-100 from Zachtronics
Torchlight 2
Tyranny
Undertale
Quadrilateral Cowboy
Wasteland 2
Go play Owlboy! 
Go play Owlboy! :)
It's on my wishlist. Just waiting for the Steam winter sale before I buy it and play it ... and a few other games to buy and play before compiling my GOTY list.
Great thread idea.
Here's a few more links.
Duskers
Invisible, Inc.
Rebel Galaxy
RimWorld
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
To follow tuffalo's firm suggestion, go play Pony Island!
Sadly, it does not have its own thread, but it will definitely be high on my GOTY list for 2016.
Gremlin, I would suggest removing PvZ from the list in the OP, considering EA bought PopCap more than 5 years ago.
Also, if we're going back that many years, I would suggest adding FTL, one of my favorite games of the last 5 years, and Torchlight 2 to the list. (I couldn't find a catch-all thread for Torchlight 1, but I'm sure it exists.)
More recent games would be:
Gremlin, I would suggest removing PvZ from the list in the OP, considering EA bought PopCap more than 5 years ago.
4 posts in and someone's already picking a fight about the definition of "indie". I think that's a new record 
Edit: Kingdom of Loathing thread should probably get linked. That was certainly ahead of the indie boom.
MeatMan wrote:Gremlin, I would suggest removing PvZ from the list in the OP, considering EA bought PopCap more than 5 years ago.
4 posts in and someone's already picking a fight about the definition of "indie". I think that's a new record ;)
Who's picking a fight?
And are you trying to say that PopCap is an independent developer, despite being owned by EA?
Who's picking a fight?
I heard him say your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. You gonna let that stand?
MeatMan wrote:Who's picking a fight?
I heard him say your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries. You gonna let that stand?
Also, please add Crashlands!
Flame Over got a front page TL:DP article where I was the only one to respond to it. I was also the gifter to DT...
I obviously had some good fun with the game.
My GotY:
shoptroll wrote:MeatMan wrote:Gremlin, I would suggest removing PvZ from the list in the OP, considering EA bought PopCap more than 5 years ago.
4 posts in and someone's already picking a fight about the definition of "indie". I think that's a new record ;)
Who's picking a fight?
And are you trying to say that PopCap is an independent developer, despite being owned by EA?
Plants vs Zombies was published in 2008; PopCap was acquired by EA in 2011. Is it the game that's indie or the developer, and can that change over time? Would Gone Home stop being an indie game if 2K acquired FullBright? Is Braid now an indie game despite being published by Microsoft Studios?
Plants vs Zombies was published in 2008; PopCap was acquired by EA in 2011.
The PvZ thread linked in the OP is not just for the game released in 2008, though. If you look at it, you'll see that it's being used for what seems like every PvZ game other than Garden Warfare (which has its own thread).
Would Gone Home stop being an indie game if 2K acquired FullBright?
Would there be a post-2K-aquisition Gone Home 2 (or 3, or 4 ...) that is also discussed in the original Gone Home thread?
Is Braid now an indie game despite being published by Microsoft Studios?
No. Microsoft didn't buy Number None; Microsoft simply entered a contract with the developer to publish the game on Xbox Live Arcade.
So the objection isn't anymore that PvZ isn't really an indie game but that the conversation in the thread isn't?
Microsoft didn't buy Number None; Microsoft simply entered a contract with the developer to publish the game on Xbox Live Arcade.
Destiny for indie game of the year!
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor
The one mention of it I can find on GWJ is on a podcast episode I haven't listened to. This Rock Paper Shotgun will give you an overview of what it's about, while Vice digs into some of the thematic aspects. (Though they give away a bit of what happens in the opening scenes.)
You play a janitor, stuck in the daily grind of keeping the spaceport clean. And I do mean grind: each day is on a timer, and you need to eat and sleep. It's not punishing, exactly: there's no die-reload cycle. Just something you have to learn to deal with.
Don't go in expecting a videogamey adventure, that's about the inverse of what you'll get.
Danielle Reindeu (now of House Vice) talked a fair bit about that in an Idle Weekend episode. She also wrote about it on ZAM while she was there.
So the objection isn't anymore that PvZ isn't really an indie game but that the conversation in the thread isn't?
Are you trying to categorize a conversation as independent?
These days, the game(s) being discussed in the linked thread is(are) not made by an independent developer. As for the reason I mentioned it in my first post, it's as simple as that.
Destiny for indie game of the year!
Too late. That was released 2 years ago.
Well, I guess you could put it on your personal 2016 GOTY list, but I doubt it'll make the cut.
Elegy is a storytelling game. Or a poetry writing game. You visit dead worlds, write about what you see there (with prompts or freeform) and then share the results with the community.
Danielle Reindeu (now of House Vice) talked a fair bit about that in an Idle Weekend episode. She also wrote about it on ZAM while she was there.
Good point. The review on ZAM also points out some of the interesting bits.
Also, luck seems to be significant.
Good call. I forgot about Shelter.
I've been liking Subnautica. I don't usually go in for survival/crafting/consult the wiki games, but this one is very pretty, and does a good job of giving you the info you need to do stuff so far. I've only needed to hit the wiki a time or two, and both times, it just confirmed a thing I already suspected.
I've been liking Subnautica. I don't usually go in for survival/crafting/consult the wiki games, but this one is very pretty, and does a good job of giving you the info you need to do stuff so far. I've only needed to hit the wiki a time or two, and both times, it just confirmed a thing I already suspected.
I'll have to check that out, I had thought it was just an exploration toy with little gameplay. A "swimming simulator," if you will.
No, it's definitely a craft-em-up. You have thirst and hunger meters and everything. I haven't gotten to the base building portion yet, but I'm headed there soon, I think. It does a really good job of giving you a pretty alien seascape to swim around in.
Well, reminding me why I usually avoid early access games, Subnautica just corrupted my save file, so I get to start over. Or maybe just delete and wait until it's fully baked.
I added some more links to game threads above, like Cave Story, Glittermitten Grove, and Little Inferno.
Meanwhile, here's another indie game that doesn't have a thread that I could find: Antichamber
It's a puzzle game that uses first-person space as the puzzle. It plays with perspective, perception, impossible shapes, and other mind-bending tricks. The introductory area sets the stage: one of the first puzzles that you'll find can only be solved by walking backwards.
Antichamber is so good. Is that dev working on anything else?
Antichamber is so good. Is that dev working on anything else?
Not that he's announced.
If you want something similar-ish, Manifold Garden is scheduled for release next year.
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