What does "indie games" mean to you guys?

[Hop-along Nussbaum]

Indie, short for independent. Which means not developed, designed, produced, published or marketed by any mainstream software publisher, like Bethesda, BioWare, or other big name development company.

Simple enough.

I'll pass on the survey, thanks.

 

[hermes]

It means independently developed games (games made with money from the developers pockets). Sometimes a game developer can ask a publisher to help them publish their game (like MS did with Limbo and Braid), but if the game is fully developed at that point and the publisher has no influence in the process, it still counts as indie.

As someone said before, indie doesn't stand for artsy, small or cheap in games or other environments... Star Wars: A New Hope was strictly an indie movie.

 

[burgbrand22]

I like indie games cause I won't have to worry about boring cutscenes, loading times, and shallow mini-games that drive me nuts.

 

[ColeusRattus]

An indie game to me is a game that is not under the control of a publisher, release dates and a sell number, butr a game where the devs can freely explore their creativity.

In short: for indie games, the game is the goal, not the profit.

 

[NeutralDrow]

"Indie games" means nothing to me. I don't keep up with gamer culture enough to know what those are, and I can count the number of new releases I've ever bought on one hand.

 

[Mr. Omega]

It's a term snobs use to classify their games.

If it's a GOOD game that was made by a low-budget, few-manned team, it's "Indie".
If it's a BAD game that was made by a low-budget, few-manned team, it's "Amateur."

 

[TiefBlau]

Indie is a developer that's independent and typically small scale.


The appeal of this kind of developer is simple: No game starts out bad, or kicks off with a shitload of bad ideas. Those things get implemented as deadlines get closer, production costs rise, and people lose sight of their first projected product. Sometimes it's for the better, and oftentimes it's for the worst.

Indie games remove that by keeping production costs low and staying independent. Obviously this means you can't have the triple-A quality control in graphics, coding, and technology. But they serve as strong proofs of concept and can be a cheap alternative to the sea of generic shooters everyone likes complaining about. Furthermore, with less money invested by less people, developers are free to take more risks, which is why there are so many "artsy" indie games in the market.

Of course, there are the bad kind of indie, which Nintendo has affectionately dubbed, "garage developers". Developers like those guys behind Angry Birds or The Wonderful End of the World contribute nothing to the industry because they're essentially just ripping off of already-successful games or game genres and selling it to you at a cheap price. This is a worthless venture that contributes nothing to the industry besides a boring, stable business venture. The ever-popular iPhone game industry is full of these guys.