Indie gaming has had a sharp rise in prominence over the last decade. In fact, some of the most commercially successful releases today come from indie developers, such asMinecraft,Rocket League,andAmong Us. Indie games are particularly great for those who don’t like the open-world orstory-heavy 30-hour adventure gamesthat are flooding the AAA market today, as indie gaming is often the best place to findshorter, more condensed experiencesthat focus on a handful of strong gameplay mechanics.
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Although it sounds ridiculous today, there was once a time when many gamers wouldn’t give indie games a chance - believing them to simply be inferior products that weren’t worth their time. Thankfully, in the late-2000s and early 2010s, there were a handful of excellent indie releases that were too good for mainstream audiences to ignore and helped cement indie gaming’s comfy place in the industry.
5Braid
Braidwas released in August 2008, originally as an Xbox 360 exclusive, before coming to PC and PlayStation 3 the following year. The game was launched on the Xbox Live Arcade platform, which was a great place for indie games to shine during the seventh generation of home consoles.Braid’s main strength was itsinnovative gameplay mechanicsthat centered around time manipulation.
Along with the innovative gameplay,Braidalso stood out for its story, which challenged traditional gaming clichés. Although this trope has been repeated numerous times at this point, it still felt fresh in 2008 and sparked conversations about the game, which helped its sales figures tremendously.
Anyone who missed out onBraidand now wants to give it a try may want to hold off for the time being, asan Anniversary Edition of the game has been announcedand is expected to release this year.
4Limbo
Limbowas originally released in July 2010 and, likeBraid, launched on the Xbox Live Arcade. Playdead’s game immediately stood out with its dark and eerie visuals that tantalized players and made them want to delve into the game’s world to find out what was happening within.
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Limboexemplified how creative indie developers are willing to be, unlike most AAA development teams at the time, who were predominantly playing it safe and flooding the market with first andthird-person shootersafter the success ofCall of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Most players beatLimboinaround 3 hours, and its puzzles were fairly basic, though the game has lived long in the memory for daring to do something different at a time when most AAA studios were doing the opposite.
3Super Meat Boy
Just prior toSuper Meat Boy’s release in October 2010, the platform genre was at one of its lowest points. The genre’s height of success during the fifth generation of home consoles felt like a distant memory, withMarioessentially being the only mascot platformer left standing. This was largely due to the rise in open-world and lengthyaction-adventure games, which were far larger in scope than most platform games at the time, making them feel inadequate in comparison.
Super Meat Boymakes this list as it sparked a resurgence in the platform genre. Instead of trying and failing to make a platform game that was big enough to compete with games likeFallout: New Vegasfrom the same year, Team Meat simply lowered the price of their game - giving them the freedom to take the platform genre back to its roots - without having to worry about bloating the game with unnecessary content to make it worth a high price.
The side-scrolling platformer reminded players of how fun the genre could be and proved that it had a place in modern gaming.
2The Stanley Parable
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However, the game’s creativity isn’t the only reason that it makes this list, asThe Stanely Parablewas also hugely influential in the sharp rise ofgaming YouTubers and streamers, who now play a significant part in the gaming industry.The Stanley Parable’s numerous paths and shocking twists made it perfect content for YouTubers at the time and for many, it was the first time that they would sit down and watch a stranger play a video game.
1Spelunky
Spelunkywas first released in December 2008 on PC. The game influenced a spike in popularity forthe roguelike genre, as for many people, it was their introduction to that style of game.
The roguelike genre is ideal for indie developers working on a budget as instead of having to create numerous hand-made levels to keep things interesting, they can create procedurally generated levels of a handful of different styles and - if their gameplay is enjoyable enough - players will be happy to keep starting from the beginning again and again in hopes of one day reaching the end goal.
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