Just like with AAA titles, for my own tastes I find there are lots of pockets of beauty among large amounts of trash.

What I like about indie titles is that they just tend to take a concept and run with it. So it's unlikely you'll play an open world, action-adventure, first person shooter with RPG elements and cars. You're much more likely to have a basic idea - platforming; exploring; creating; and it'll be explored fully.

I don't think indie games are trash and I hope the next generation continues the advances that have been made this generation. The only thing I'd say is I am getting a little tired of seeing stylised 2D indie platformers. They seem to be running pretty low on ideas. I'd much rather things like Journey; Unfinished Swan; Minecraft; Nitronic Rush etc. that may still explore old ideas, but they do them in fresh and enjoyable new ways.

I agree with OP. There are dozens critically claimed indie games released a year it would be very luck for me to enjoy just 2 of these.

I personally never got into the classic XBLA indie thats seemed to have started the new wave of indie game making on home consoles. Games like Braid, Dishwasher, Super meat boy and IMAGWZombiesinit never interest me.

There are some that I do like, like N+, Geometry Wars, Twisted Pixel games, Mark of the Ninja, P.B Winterbottom, Limbo and Journey as these games have more to offer. Recent release like The Cave and Fez don't do it for me. 

I am glad the genre exists, but I am not a big fan.

most are trash but since there are so many there are also many great games. to the moon was one of the best experiences i had in years, same with the walking dead. i love amnesia and a machine for pigs is one of my most anticipated games this year. terraria, super meat boy and mark of the ninja are really fun and hotline miami is an awesome experience (if you don't like hotline miami, you are not really a gamer lol)

not to talk about brilliant games like trials, journey and so on.

i rather pay 60 bucks for some awesome indie games as 60 bucks for one good super mario brothers.

€dit: last week battleblock theater and tois week guacamelee are great examples why 4 or 5 of those games can be better as one full price title and the costs would be the same.

there are just as many trashy big publisher games to good games as there are with indie games, think of how many big budget games release each year compared to how many you actually like.

i fucking hate that we call them indie games. they are just games that dont have a huge budget ok big whoop lol they dont deserve my money just because of that

If someone takes time to develop their project or product, it often turns out well.

The problem is that those who are in it for the quick buck often do not do that. This is true among independent game publishers and among big-name publishers. Remember all the Wii Sports clones -- those were not indies.

Also, sometimes people just want simple. The 99-cent (or free) iPad game has a different function than a $60 console game. But I can enjoy both -- so long as they are well-done. (Personally, I don't care for games on my iPad that replicate experiences I can have on a console or dedicated handheld -- but that is just me and what I want to get out of gaming.)

So to just say that something you don't particularly care for is not good is an uninformed and ill formed opinion.

Mike from Morgantown

Mark of The Ninja, Journey and geometry wars are no Indie games. And neither is The Cave. A downloadable game is not allways and inied game

i called them indie as well because i thought op meant all of these games^^

sure if they get someone publishing their games it's not really independent anymore but they are still independent developers and only search for publisher which doesn't mean they are owned by someone else. even the mark of the ninja guys are indie developers.

I liked OP's argument, until he brought Cave Story. A free game with more than 40 hours of gameplay, a huge sense of exploration and danger, a great story with different endings and, above all else, tough game but fun, and he says that beneath its retro style there's nothing?

What?

More or less the same for me....

honestly i'm kind of sick of AAA games.  In an effort to appeal to the biggest demographic, they're all seem very samey.

A lot of indie games are simple clones or copies of something else recently popular...

but quite a few do things differently.

It's essentially the only place to get a true "Sandbox" type game in the style of Sid Meyers Pirates! anymore... and depending what you consider Kickstarter, the only place to get Isometric RPGs anymore either.   (I'd argue games studios make via Kickstarter in fact count as Indie games, even if they have had games published by big developers... because the funding for the games are indepentdent from big publishers.)