Indie games
Indie games are for players in the search of something fresh, something that exists only on the outskirt borders set by the gaming industry giants. ”Indie” is shorthand for Independent, so indie games are developed and published by a small group of people or single individuals, with a low budget that is often crowdfunded and without any financial aid from publishers.
These games don’t have to follow any pre-set limitations, so indie genre developers are free to experiment however they wish. That is why these games can often be controversial and take on niche topics and markets. Indie genre popularity is rising each year, with thought-provoking narratives and unique gameplay elements constantly surprising players from all over.
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It is safe to say that Indie genre is as old as they get. Some of the giants responsible for mainstream gaming as we now know it, in a sense started as indie developers back in the day. Most Indie titles began in the 90s, but the genre and the community still laid low. It all changed with the 21st century, where the demand for creativity and uniqueness became more desirable and apparent than ever before. More and more developers are starting to work on Indie genre projects as these games are like Yang to mainstream gaming Yin.
The main two differences that separate Indie games from what is considered as mainstream are their creative freedom and low production costs. Creative freedom in Indie games in a sense has no boundaries as the developers are only limited by their imagination. The most known titles in the market cost a fortune to make and in order to satisfy large player bases have various restrictions to keep in mind. Indie games, however, are restriction-free, so players can really expect absolutely anything. Due to low production costs, Indie games are a lot cheaper as well.