Great Games Youve Never Played

Do you know what you're missing?

Some of the best computer games ever made are likely games you've never heard of. Created by individuals and small companies working in relative obscurity. They don't have million dollar budgets, some don't even have hundred dollar budgets. They don't have dedicated marketing departments, research analysts, sales teams, fancy offices, and cutting edge tools. They scrape together whatever tools they can, often discarded by the ultra rich game designers of big shiny game studios.

Making Miracles.

In spite of these deplorable working conditions, they create some of the most amazing games around. How do these game gems get created, and who are the miracle workers creating them. They're independent game designers. Sometimes called Indies for short. Working out of their bedrooms, garages, spare offices, and basements. They have a passion for what they do. They love games, they love the act of creation, and are relentlessly committed to their vision of what a game should be. They often build games they themselves would love to play. Simply because no one else will. These kind of games you won't find at the big box electronics store casting it's shadow over your end of town. These passionate Indies could care less what the marketing boys up on the 26th floor have to say about the latest game trends. Probably because their garages don't have 26 floors. They just know their love of games, and how much they enjoy playing.

Where do Indies come from?

Indie game developers come from all different areas. They're often former artists, programmers, or designers of some big name software companies. Maybe that quiet little programmer in that tiny corner cubicle dreams of being an Indie one day. Tired of the corporate rat race, and looking to express themselves creatively they become Indies. Some of been lucky enough to avoid the corporate avenue altogether and make a living doing what they love from the beginning. Regardless of their origins, they all have the passion and desire to create. To be able to put their name on something really great. They want to be recognized for their abilities and worth. But more than that, they want you to play their games, and have fun doing so.

Why are Indie games so good?

Indie games are good first and foremost, because they're fun. It's a game after all, and if it's not fun from the get go, then what's the point. They're also highly original, sometimes mainstream funny, sometimes just weird funny, sometimes morbid, sometimes creepy, and sometimes just downright gross. But, thats OK. Games should be a departure from the everyday. They should make you think in different, fantastic ways. So many big name games are just rehashed ideas done a thousand times before. Another sequel of the same old games from last year. Indie games are adventurous and risky. Indies take chances and devote their time to making something unique. So, take a look around, and try a few, till you discover the one that matches your own bizarre and fantastic interests.

About the author
Chris Campbell, is that quiet little programmer in the tiny corner cubicle harbouring dreams of an Indie life. He likes to surround himself with his gaming masterpiece and those of other Indies at his website http://www.SunAndGames.com

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President-elect Barack Obama and his adviser Valerie Jarrett decide on lunch during a stop at Manny's Coffee Shop and Deli in Chicago, Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday outlined his plan to create 2.5 million jobs in coming years to rebuild roads and bridges and modernize schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars.



AP - The family of a college student who killed himself live on the Internet say they're horrified his life ended before a virtual audience, and infuriated that viewers of the live webcam or operators of the Web site that hosted it didn't act sooner to save him.

Barack Obama (R) and Hillary Clinton address supporters during a rally in Orlando, Florida in October 2008. Intense speculation flared Friday over reports that president-elect Barack Obama is weighing whether to name former Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton as a heavy-hitting secretary of state.(AFP/File/Emmanuel Dunand)AP - President-elect Barack Obama has moved with unusual speed to select officials for his administration, and senior Democratic officials say he intends to name Timothy Geithner as his treasury secretary as soon as Monday.



Former US President Jimmy Carter, former UN head Kofi Annan, and Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, seen from left, during a news conference in Johannesburg, Staurday, Nov. 22, 2008. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he and others have been refused entry to Zimbabwe for a humanitarian mission. Carter says he and other members of The Elders group were informed Friday night by former South African President Thabo Mbeki that efforts to secure travel visas had failed. The Elders group was formed by Nelson Mandela and includes former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Mandela's wife Graca Machel, an international advocate for women's and children's rights. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)AP - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Saturday that he and others planning a humanitarian mission in Zimbabwe had been refused entry to the impoverished African country.



In this Nov. 4, 2008 file photo, Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, acknowledges the crowd during an election night rally in Phoenix.  Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate astonishing for any first-term governor, let alone a Hollywood star.    (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)AP - Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate that would be astonishing for most Hollywood stars, let alone a first-term governor.



Actor and president of the Screen Actors Guild, Alan Rosenberg, poses for a portrait in this March 17, 2003, file photo taken in Los Angeles. The Screen Actors Guild said Saturday Nov. 22, 2008 that contract talks with Hollywood studios has failed despite the help of a federal mediator and it will now ask its members to authorize a strike. (AP Photo/Ric Francis, File)AP - The Screen Actors Guild said Saturday it will ask its members to authorize a strike after its first contract talks in four months with Hollywood studios failed despite the help of a federal mediator.



In this image provided by NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough (anchored to a Canadarm2 mobile foot restraint) participates in the mission's second scheduled session of extravehicular activity Thursday Nov. 20, 2008 as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA)AP - Astronauts up on the international space station faced the longest and hardest spacewalk of their mission Saturday, a seven-hour-plus excursion to wrap up repair work on a gummed-up joint.



U.S. President George W. Bush, left, with President Hu Jintao of China before their meeting at the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - President George W. Bush, faced with a dwindling number of days in office, was using his final world summit to try to keep a virulent economic crisis from triggering a retreat into protectionism.



Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, left, speaks to the media during a news conference on  Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, at the Annapolis Basin Conference Center in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Gates was in Canada to participate in meetings of NATO's International Security Assistance Force to discuss the Regional Command South in Afghanistan. Canadian Minister of National Defense Peter MacKay is at right. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Mike DembeckAP - Even in a global financial crisis, the world cannot afford to skimp on its obligations to Afghanistan, which wants to double the size of its army but will never be able to pay for it, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.



New York Knicks' Stephon Marbury sits on the bench as the Knicks take on the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)AP - With two moves, the New York Knicks created salary space for a premier free agent and playing time for Stephon Marbury.



(From left) Senator Hillary Clinton, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, and Timothy F. Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, are seen in a combination file photo. (From left Craig Mitchelldyer, Andrea Comas, Keith Bedford/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Saturday that he was crafting an aggressive, two-year stimulus plan to revive the troubled economy, warning that swift action was needed to prevent a deep slump and a spiral of falling prices.



Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan addresses a news conference in Nairobi, in this file photo from October 17, 2008, after receiving the report on Kenya's post election violence in 2007 from the Commission of Inquiry. (Antony Njuguna/Reuters)Reuters - Zimbabwe has barred former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and other prominent figures from visiting the country to assess the humanitarian crisis, the group said on Saturday.



Pedestrians walk past a Citibank branch in Singapore November 18, 2008. (Vivek Prakash/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc has begun talks with the U.S. government as its plummeting share price raises doubts about the bank's ability to survive, a person familiar with the matter said.



A video grab from undated television footage shows pirates walking on the beach in the town of Eyl, in the north of Somalia. (Reuters TV/Reuters)Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) Islamist militants in Somalia took steps on Saturday to attack pirates behind the world's biggest hijack and rescue the captured Saudi Arabian supertanker, an Islamist spokesman said.



Leaders of the U.S. automotive industry testify at a hearing held by the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington November 19, 2008. From left are General Motors CEO Richard Wagoner, Chrysler Chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and Ford president and CEO Alan Mulally. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)Reuters - Detroit automakers began work on turnaround plans demanded by Congress in return for $25 billion in aid as General Motors Corp said it would cut production more and give up two of its controversial corporate jets.



General Motors World Headquarters is seen along the Detroit River in Detroit, Michigan, September 17, 2008. (Rebecca Cook/Reuters)Reuters - The board of directors of embattled U.S. automaker General Motors Corp is considering "all options" including bankruptcy, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal's website late on Friday.



Traders work in close quarters on the main trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange early in the trading session in New York City, November 21, 2008. (Mike Segar/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. stocks stormed higher in a late rally on Friday to cap another volatile week as investors welcomed reports that President-elect Barack Obama has chosen his point person to combat the U.S. economic crisis, instilling confidence about the administration's ability to take action.



Reuters - The U.S. economy needs additional support measures of between $300 billion and $600 billion to help it withstand the financial crisis, U.S. billionaire investor George Soros was quoted as saying by a German weekly.

Al-Qaeda militant Rashid Rauf, seen here in 2006, was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan.(AFP/File/Farooq Naeem)AFP - The alleged Al-Qaeda mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.



Former US president Jimmy Carter (left), ex-United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan (centre) and Graca Machel answer questions after they were refused visas and cancelled their trip to Zimbabwe. Carter has accused Zimbabwe's government of being AFP - Former US president Jimmy Carter accused Zimbabwe's government Saturday of being "immune" to the hardships of its people as he and ex-UN chief Kofi Annan were denied entry on a humanitarian mission.




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