The Golden Age of the Indie Game is Now, and I Love it
- Ben Stembridge
- Sep 23, 2016
- 3 min read
Independent video games have long been one of my favorite medias. Small, underexposed releases have just as much potential to be fun and beautiful as any other game. However, their humble homes and often down-to-Earth quirks can charm my socks clean off with very little effort. For a long time, especially the mid to late 2000s, indie games were small and often overlooked. They were usually simple, inexpensive and fun projects, designed to entertain rather than dazzle with visuals or enthrall with compelling stories. That age is now over. Now, indie games rule entire corners of the market, and mesmerize much wider audiences with some of the most impressive narrative and visual styles.
When would I say the age of these monumental indie game began? It's difficult to say. They've been around for so long, and I'd be doing a disservice if I tried to pick a year to label as the moment they began expanding and gaining more strength. But, I can tell you when it began for me and many others. Less of an official designation, and a more of a simple opinion. Remember, we're focusing on this current Indie Golden Age, roughly the past five years. With that in mind, I submit to you that the year was 2010, and the game was Limbo.
The first project of developer Playdead, Limbo became a hit across all platforms. It's a linear game that follows a young boy's perilous search for his sister in a dark and tormented forest. The game itself is very simple, in keeping with the indie standard. I was serious when I said it was linear - you progress left or right on a two dimensional scroll. The boy must traverse macabre environments, avoid wretched monsters and solve puzzles. Some pretty standard and straight forward goals. Yet, it's haunting imagery and engrossing terror put the gaming community in a frenzy. In my opinion, Limbo opened the gates for a plethora of excellent indie games to come, thus beginning the current Golden Age in 2010. Puts a nice little bow on the new decade, wrought with amazing stories and experiences.
Following Playdead's queue to kick the indie game industry into high gear, thatgamecompany released Journey in 2012. One of my favorite indies hands down, this game exceeds all expectations and boasts an incredible yet refreshingly minimalistic plot and an orchestral score that was nominated for an Emmy. These two games brought on a plentiful and diverse collection of indie releases that still rings true today.
With Limbo's ability to strike fear and mystery into player's hearts, and Journey's ability to joyfully and triumphantly blast the indie industry out of the shadows, how have the years responded? Well... they've given us some of the most diverse and critically acclaimed releases of the decade. I doubt it will slow down any time soon. Titles such as Abzû, Firewatch, Oxenfree, Adrift, Virginia and Inside have all been released within a year of this post. Holy cow, that's a lot of incredible games accomplishes great stuff without the help of major publishing houses.
I've also noticed something very interesting - Abzû is courtesy of Journey's creative director, and Inside comes from our aforementioned friends at Playdead. Are indie's starting to make a foothold in blockbuster games' dominance of the industry? With certain developers and figures coming back with multiple hits, could we be seeing an even bigger Golden Age than we're seeing now? Indie games are already beginning to take attention from larger games at trade shows such as E3, so I see no reason why that attention can't extend further to entire presentations or even entire shows.
This year has given me such amazing faith and hope in the independent video game sub-industry. They're here to please, and that's alright with me. I'd love to see them take their potential to the stars and keep cranking out hit after hit after hit. The trend is still going. It won't be stopping soon.
Ben Stembridge, Editor-in-chief
Ben leads the reviews and news coverage for Game Chop. He also offers opinions on games and the industry, covering a wide range of genres and platforms. Ben especially enjoys discussions on game narratives, design styles, and independent titles.
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