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2005 Independent Game of the Year Awards
cyrus_zuo writes "For anyone looking for something different Game Tunnel presents the 2005 Independent Game of the Year awards. Game Tunnel's list of
the Top 10 Independent
Games of the Year covers gaming from a different angle, looking at the
Independent and the Innovative. The awards also include the best of each genre
as well as technical categories. Last year's results are still available."
I've started playing Trash, an indie RTS game that came out a few months ago. I think its targetted at Starcraft fans, but has some nice, elegant game mechanics I haven't seen elsewhere that are very cool.
Check it out here: http://www.inhumangames.com/
Here's some stuff off the site:
Dec 27. Trash earns Game Tunnel's 2005 Multiplayer Game of the Year Award!
Dec 6. Indie gaming news site Game Tunnel gives Trash a 9 out of 10!
Nov 12. German language site rebell.net gives Trash's multiplayer 80/100.
Oct 29. Trash gets 4 out of 5 in review at upallnightgaming.com. "Trash puts the fun in RTS"
Your signatures belong to me.
Note that little item in #4's list of requirements: Java
:-)
That's right people, Tribal Trouble was created by a long-time Java programmer. Don't be surprised if more and more Indies are done in Java. Cross-Platform support comes free, and development tends to be easier and faster. Tribal Trouble wasn't the first Indie game done in Java (*cough*heresafew*cough*), and it won't be the last.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Darwinia really is a fun game, if a bit short. The Tron-esque retro look is cool (and nostalgic, for those of us old enough to remember when Wolfenstein 3D was bleeding edge), plus it meant that they didn't have to hire legions of 3d artists to make a good game. In addition, the plot is really captivating. It introduces the player to artificial intelligence concepts like genetic algorithms (GAs) without being boring and pedagogical. And this is coming from someone whose life's work really does focus on GAs - their take on the topic was quite honestly fascinating.
But us Yanks didn't actually have to go through Steam to play it until it was released on Steam. I ordered the game the old fashioned way before its Steam release, and was able to download it from Introversion's servers as well as receive a hard copy on CD shipped from the UK.
Why they changed their distribution method, I don't know, unless it was somehow actually cheaper to use Valve as their US vendor rather than doing it the other way. Or maybe Valve is giving them promotional opportunities (i.e., advertising) that they couldn't get before.