We are living in a golden age for interactive entertainment, and it’s not down to the big name studios pumping out endless Halo and Call of Duty sequels. Whilst it’s true that console gaming is more than a little spectacular what is making our time as gamers worthwhile is the output of the indie market. There’s an endless stream of experimental and up and coming developers releasing cheap (sometimes free) titles that are proving that a multi-million dollar budget is not required for having fun.
With the Steam Summer Sale emptying our wallets once again we present a couple of recommendations that you can (and should) pick up. Some indie games like Journey and Braid have already been recommended time and time again so we’ll focus of the new(ish).
Don’t Starve
There’s a distinct influence from both Burton and Poe in this gothic survival RPG. You don’t have a quest, a love interest to rescue or a destiny to fulfil…you have to survive. Picking one of several characters (starting with the scientist) you have to forage for food and resources. Collect some sticks and flint and build and axe, use the axe to chop down trees and use the wood to build a fire, a shelter, a farm, and so on. Not only do you have to feed yourself but maintain your sanity and defend yourself from the growing number of giant spiders. Although you feel as though you spend a lot of time looking for tufts of grass you will quickly find the hours disappearing as you fall into a routine of hunting, scavenging and learning alchemy. Just make sure you don’t leave your campfire at night.
Hotline Miami
It’s not the first game to cast the player in the role of a psychopath but it’s the one that most effectively captures the feeling of being a deranged maniac. Heavily influenced by the movie Drive the player tackles a variety of levels in which they don a mask, sneak through a house of brutally murder criminals in shockingly visceral ways. You’ll fail many, many times but the quick reset rate encourages you to learn from your mistakes. Quick thinking and quick reactions are the order of the day. And taking orders from some rotting corpses who visit you in your dreams.
Prison Architect
Back in the day we had an endless number of fantastic and imaginative management sims like Theme Hospital, but today’s market only steers these titles towards the patient gamers. This title is a welcome change of place with the cartoon style graphics betraying the level of complexity of building and managing your prison population. Your attention will get pulled between trying to fit the right number of beds into a holding cell, ensuring that there is enough food in the cafeteria and quelling the riot that has just started in the yard. It’s still in Alpha but very playable, so it’s well worth getting on board while the price is low.
Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine
Nothing in GTA V piqued my interest quite like the heist dynamic. The world needs more games where teams of specialist criminals work together to pull off a major robbery. This 8-bit slice of style is just that. You and up to three other players chose from a small group of characters, each with their own skill (lock-picking, disguise, charm) and attempt to clean out a range of different levels. Bypassing electronic surveillance, dodging guards and cracking safes in the quickest time possible makes for a unique and fun multiplayer experience.
Surgeon Simulator 2013
This is a game that can lead to the awkward situation of your loved ones (or pet, whichever is applicable) finding you laughing to yourself while having a virtual arm elbow deep in someone’s chest cavity. You control the arm of a surgeon using the left mouse button to lower the arm, the right button to swivel the hand and the keyboard to individually close each finger. It’s this difficult control scheme you have to use to conduct major surgery, which is the great challenge of this game. It’s got a deliberately dark streak through it, leaving you giggling after you accidentally drop a power drill into the patients brainpan. I was sold on the game the moment I won a TARDIS shaped trophy for giving the patient two hearts.
Thomas Was Alone
For fans of puzzle platformers, this minimalist game will supply some fun challenges and a surprisingly good story. Each of the blocks has their own personality and motivations that are expressed through the narrator (an excellent Danny Wallace) and their relationships shift and change as the story progresses. Each block as a different set of skills and they have to work together to get through each level and reveal more of the mystery of their existence.
Papers, Please
You’ll find this game in the Greenlight section of Steam, where it deserves your attention. You play as a customs agent on the border of an Eastern Bloc country and your task is to check the passports and paperwork of each person trying to come in. It’s an observational puzzle game where you have to spot mismatched information, contraband and make decisions as to who is worth turning a blind eye to. You’re under the clock so you can’t linger on one person, making it an intense race against time.
