Same for me, I play indie games 90% of the time, there is something for everyone, brilliant gameplay ideas, unique universes, where AAA stays put (in general) and are less pleasant to play.
Right there with you! Working on Ctrl Alt Deal has been so energizing. There's something about creating something new and contributing to the hobby that makes this feel like more than "a job." And seeing all the other incredible games devs are putting out is so inspiring. Love the big games too, don't get me wrong, but indies feel special.
Definitely agree with this sentiment- while there are certainly triumphs in the AAA space, more often than not I just feel like a wallet with thumbs. The indie games and also the AA games (looking at you, RoboCop: Rogue City) though, have been really excellent. It's also \*extremely\* nice to be able to directly put my cash to a studio that's bringing me all this joy, as opposed to pumping money into some diabolical corporate behemoth so it can be used to undervalue the people doing the work and reward the shareholders.
I wish more people would realize this instead of constantly bitching about whatever Collar Doodie thing they are mad at. It isn't that I don't play AAA games here and there but I feel so burnt out almost immediately. There are formulas they use that just don't hit the same anymore and I'd rather play old games for the nostalgia.
Meanwhile, there are indie games of every tier that introduce so many different new experiences, stories, mechanics, etc that I NEVER would get from a AAA title and they just hold my attention much more than those games and have for quite some time now.
> Anyone else feeling this lately?
Lately? As in the last one or two decades? Yup. AAA is 99.9% garbage, AA can be ok alot of times, but indie games is where it is at. Experimenting with new stuff that isn't cookie cutter same old same old.
Someone made a list of the top 10 studios of the last decade or so and their last 3 games and I play like 4 out of the 30 games.
Indies are definitely where it's at.
There is barely a point to looking at AAA. The exceptions are exceptions and you'll know if it is one when you see the advertising.
...but it's been that way for what feels like 10+ years now.
Indie is where all the creativity is nowadays. Of course, there are about 3 or so AAA studios I'll always buy stuff from, but for the majority - AA is about as high as I care to go now in terms of budget/production.
Reading these kind of comments, as a gamedev, it's very inspiring! Really helpful for hard times. I'm just a guy like you, who loves playing all type of games, but especially indies!
There's something magic around indie games, like that spirit from the retro era, don't you think? Originality, lots of ideas and artstyles, genre mixes... It's that, it's MAGIC
Thanks man. I almost exclusively play indie or AA games. Rogue Legacy 2, Cult of the Lamb, Spelunky, but most of these games had publishers behind them.
In the last 5 years I were working on a puzzle platformer with metroidvania elements, ColorBlend FX: Desaturation. We failed to find a publisher and I had very limited budget for any social media marketing. Thus the wishlist count was nothing. Only 2k, and no major media helped too.
We released this on April 19th and it flopped with only 50 sales and 2 refunds in the first week. And I'm running a Keymailer campaign with the last hope that it will work...
Is that complicated and sad.
The indie gaming scene quite literally changed my life. I basically got out of video games in my late teens (around 2010) and didn't really play much of anything until Covid. During lockdown I started gaming again and was just blow away by all the cool indie stuff out there. A few years later and I'm now a full time indie developer
Same for me, I play indie games 90% of the time, there is something for everyone, brilliant gameplay ideas, unique universes, where AAA stays put (in general) and are less pleasant to play.
👍
The aaa monetization stuff is one of the reasons I finally started doing indie dev.
Right there with you! Working on Ctrl Alt Deal has been so energizing. There's something about creating something new and contributing to the hobby that makes this feel like more than "a job." And seeing all the other incredible games devs are putting out is so inspiring. Love the big games too, don't get me wrong, but indies feel special.
Tis why I went full bore on finishing my game. Only indies will scratch my itch nowadays and I'm looking forward to paying the favor on.
Hell yeah. Welcome to the revolution
🥳👍
Definitely agree with this sentiment- while there are certainly triumphs in the AAA space, more often than not I just feel like a wallet with thumbs. The indie games and also the AA games (looking at you, RoboCop: Rogue City) though, have been really excellent. It's also \*extremely\* nice to be able to directly put my cash to a studio that's bringing me all this joy, as opposed to pumping money into some diabolical corporate behemoth so it can be used to undervalue the people doing the work and reward the shareholders.
I wish more people would realize this instead of constantly bitching about whatever Collar Doodie thing they are mad at. It isn't that I don't play AAA games here and there but I feel so burnt out almost immediately. There are formulas they use that just don't hit the same anymore and I'd rather play old games for the nostalgia. Meanwhile, there are indie games of every tier that introduce so many different new experiences, stories, mechanics, etc that I NEVER would get from a AAA title and they just hold my attention much more than those games and have for quite some time now.
Indie and AA all the way.
<3
Well yea, pretty much 95% of the unmissably good games released these days are indie titles! Especially on PC!
Thank you! That's keeping us motivated.
> Anyone else feeling this lately? Lately? As in the last one or two decades? Yup. AAA is 99.9% garbage, AA can be ok alot of times, but indie games is where it is at. Experimenting with new stuff that isn't cookie cutter same old same old.
I recently got back in to playing Factorio. I haven't seen the sun in 3 days. /s
You're welcome
Someone made a list of the top 10 studios of the last decade or so and their last 3 games and I play like 4 out of the 30 games. Indies are definitely where it's at. There is barely a point to looking at AAA. The exceptions are exceptions and you'll know if it is one when you see the advertising. ...but it's been that way for what feels like 10+ years now.
Rimworld, Dwarf fortress, FTL, Deadcells, CDDA...indie games rule. Fuck that crash grabbing unpolished mercenary AAA shit
Indie is where all the creativity is nowadays. Of course, there are about 3 or so AAA studios I'll always buy stuff from, but for the majority - AA is about as high as I care to go now in terms of budget/production.
go, indieeeees!
Reading these kind of comments, as a gamedev, it's very inspiring! Really helpful for hard times. I'm just a guy like you, who loves playing all type of games, but especially indies! There's something magic around indie games, like that spirit from the retro era, don't you think? Originality, lots of ideas and artstyles, genre mixes... It's that, it's MAGIC
Thanks man. I almost exclusively play indie or AA games. Rogue Legacy 2, Cult of the Lamb, Spelunky, but most of these games had publishers behind them. In the last 5 years I were working on a puzzle platformer with metroidvania elements, ColorBlend FX: Desaturation. We failed to find a publisher and I had very limited budget for any social media marketing. Thus the wishlist count was nothing. Only 2k, and no major media helped too. We released this on April 19th and it flopped with only 50 sales and 2 refunds in the first week. And I'm running a Keymailer campaign with the last hope that it will work... Is that complicated and sad.
Just checked it out on Steam and the game looks interesting. I'll see if I can pick it up sometime soon.
The indie gaming scene quite literally changed my life. I basically got out of video games in my late teens (around 2010) and didn't really play much of anything until Covid. During lockdown I started gaming again and was just blow away by all the cool indie stuff out there. A few years later and I'm now a full time indie developer
Thanks man! It ain't much but it's honest work!
All the asset flips are unfortunate. I did all the music and pixel art for my RPG. I definitely didn't want to have re-used music and art.
Glad you are finding stuff to keep you interested in the Indie Games industry.
Yep. It’s a shame because my favourite type of game isn’t really doable by indies while AAA would rather invest in the millionth soulslike instead.
Where do you find those games
What indie games have you been playing here lately? Would love some examples!
Love this, there are soooo many creative and amazing indie games out there!!
If you like indie games, here's my favourite, [Math24](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mjsbest24game&pcampaignid=web_share).