5 Great Indie Games Available on Valve's Steam
Steampowered: Braid, Blueberry Garden, Gish, Audiosurf, World of Goo
Indie Games, or Indy Games as they are sometimes misspelled, are games designed and created by Independent Developers. Independent developers typically lack the big budgets to make a full-fledged title on a new system, meaning they usually end up as smaller, but also more creative and unique, titles which appear on download services such as Xbox Live Arcade and Valve's Steam.
Below are 5 great "Steampowered" Indie Games available online for purchase and download on Valve's Steam: Braid, Blueberry Garden, Gish, Audiosurf, and World of Goo.
Braid - Unique Puzzle / Platformer Indie Game
Braid creates some of the most mind-bending puzzles in gaming history, with a visual style like a living oil painting and an absorbing, mood-generating soundtrack.
The ability to rewind time is by no means a new concept in video games, but the numerous ways in which Braid uses time-altering to turn the world upside-down and create unique puzzles is simple staggering.
Several of Braid's "worlds" offer some unique twist on time. One such world creates a "shadow" every time the player rewinds time, which will form and repeat the player's previous actions, allowing the player to be two places at once occupying the same moment of time. And in another world time and space are intertwined (every time the player moves right time moves forward, left it moves backward). These unique twists keep the Braid engrossing for as long as it lasts.
And even though Braid is a short experience, it's a puzzle game unlike any other, and shines as a true indie gem.
Blueberry Garden - Creative, Obscure Indie Platformer
Blueberry Garden is the ideal indie title for gamers sick and tired of excessive instruction, long tutorials, and extremely linear "hand-holding" gameplay. In Blueberry Garden, the player is placed inside a strange new world with little to no explanation or instruction to the point of the game.
Since much of Blueberry Garden's charm comes from exploring the world and discovering things for oneself, describing this surreal experience is difficult. However, without ruining any of the charm, it's safe to say that the player is placed inside a world that is slowly drowning in water. The player must learn how to use berries, all of which offer unique properties when devoured, to find necessary items to prevent this vast overflow from drowning the player and the world.
Blueberry Garden creates a unique world; an ever-changing garden with floating spores and seeds, flowers and trees, and terrain that can morph and bend. Any gamer looking for "something different" will certainly find it in Blueberry Garden.
Gish - Physics-based Old-school Indie Platformer
Gish is divided into chapters and sub-chapters, very similar to old-school 2D platformers such as Super Mario Bros or Sonic the Hedgehog. Gish even has a new song for every new world, just like Sonic, and the levels, with numerous twists and turns and secret passageways, feels heavily influenced by the Sonic and Mario games of many years ago.
While Gish manages to invoke nostalgic feelings with old-school 2D platforming gameplay, it also manages to create smiles of surprise and delight with unique twists and gameplay elements. After all, the main character is a ball of tar of all things.
Players can stick to walls and ceilings, squeeze through tight spaces, and break through barriers by harnessing the unique tar-like abilities of Gish. The physics engine gives players a true-to-life feeling that they really are, in fact, controlling a ball of tar, and also offers the player unique challenges and puzzles based around the game's physics engine.
This whimsical 2D platformer offers both nostalgia and originality, and comes with a level editor for added longevity.
Audiosurf - Addictive Music and Rhythm Indie Game
Audiosurf can analyze MP3s and create a rhythm-based racing level out of it. Players collect multi-colored blocks to create combos for large point bonuses.
Audiosurf can be played one of two ways: high score competition with online leaderboards, or, as a relaxing companion to one's favorite music.
The music placed into Audiosurf is analyzed for beat, tempo, instrumentals, vocals, and more to create levels that truly feel unique to the song itself. Rap plays like Rap; Rock plays like Rock; Opera plays like Opera, etc. Players can choose their favorite songs, choose from three different difficulty levels and numerous ships on each difficulty, and thrive for a high-score on online leaderboards.
With endless gameplay ranging from the relaxing to the crazy difficult, Audiosurf offers incredible value for such an experimental indie game.
World of Goo - Physics-based Building Indie Game
World of Goo creates a seemingly simple premise: get as many balls of goo from the starting point to the ending point as possible. Similar to Lemmings, the player must guide these balls of goo across environmental hazards to reach the safe point at the end of each level.
In World of Goo's case, reaching the end point involves using various Goo-Balls to construct elaborate, giggly structures ranging from bridges to skyscrapers and more, fighting the realistic physics engine to allow for safe passage to the end of the level.
World of Goo features a variety of goo-drops, all with unique properties, and the incredible level design, mixed with a unique visual and audio style that is somehow simultaneously cutesy and eerie, makes World of Goo feel like a game unlike any other.
Traditionally, World of Goo might be called a "puzzle" game, but even gamers without an affinity for the puzzle genre will find a lot to like about this indie title. Perhaps best of all, World of Goo manages to make gamers smile; a challenging feat indeed.
5 Great Indie Games on Steam Conclusion
Indie Games are great for gamers looking for something different. Purchasing and downloading great indie games such as the ones above will support a future of gaming where creativity and innovation win out over formulaic genres.
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