Gamasutra's Best of 2008: Top 5 Indie Games

Here is a fascinating Gamasutra article that goes through their Top 5 picks for the most innovative and popular Indie Games of 2008:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21369

Previously, we tallied up 2008's top disappointments, downloadable titles, overlooked games, and gameplay mechanics.

Now, we're going we take a look at the top five indie games released in 2008, with information from Gamasutra sister site IndieGames.com - and ten other 'honorable mentions' also included.

The games picked are the editors' choice, and span PC free-to-play titles released during 2008's calendar year to date, with a mixture of Flash and Windows executable games. (Many other fine pay-to-download games for console and PC that might be considered 'indie' were ranked in the Top 5 Downloadable Games earlier this week.)

5. You Have To Burn The Rope (Kian Bashiri) [video]
IndieGames.com's description: "Possibly inspired by Valve's Portal, You Have to Burn the Rope is an extremely short game that features good pixel art and sound production using DrPetter's sfxr tool. There is only one solution to the problem, though the credits will be remembered long after you've managed to beat the final boss."

From the creator of the newer, and equally tart Metro: Rules Of Conduct, You Have To... is a gorgeously cheeky tweak on the nose for games as a medium. It's silly, sure, but if you haven't played it before, it'll make you grin.

4 Rom Check Fail (Farbs) [video]

IndieGames.com's description: "ROM CHECK FAIL is a new action game from the developer of Fishie Fishie and Polychromatic Funk Monkey. Players have to clear the screen of all enemies to complete each level, but the task is made a little more difficult by the random switching of gameplay rules where ideas are recycled and remastered as an odd mix of arcade or console classics from the past."

The mashup has been a popular concept in music for some time, further popularized by tremendously complex, skilled practitioners like Girl Talk. Farbs' Rom Check Fail is a dazzling example of this - in no way could the Pac-Man vs. Space Invaders vs. everything mashup ever exist in a world ruled by copyright... but yet it does anyhow. Delightful.

3. Cursor*10 (Nekogames) [video]

IndieGames.com's description: "Cursor*10 is a puzzler which involves directing the actions of all ten cursors and clicks, one at a time. Events will loop, but it will take at least a couple of tries to figure out a solution for all sixteen floors."

Another example of the kind of experimental freeware wonder that makes us happy that games exist, this Flash wonder has you playing a cursor, acting on top of your previous actions to explore multiple levels of a stark isometric dungeon. It's difficult to explain, but it's wholly worth trying.

2. Everybody Dies (Jim Munroe/Michael Cho)

IndieGames.com's description: "Everybody Dies is an interactive fiction work written by Jim Munroe, with Michael Cho contributing illustrations for the game. The story is centered around three employees who happens to work in the same Cost Cutters grocery store building."

From the creator of the Artsy Game Incubator project, this illustrated text adventure is contemporary, thoughtful, and, as author Emily Short points out in her review: "...one of the best cases I’ve seen for the potential of illustrated IF not as a poor man’s version of a graphical game. but as its own thing."

1. I Wish I Were The Moon (Daniel Benmergui) [video - includes spoilers]

IndieGames.com's description: "I Wish I Were The Moon is a short puzzle game designed by Daniel Benmergui, where players must figure out the correct solution to achieve any of the five possible endings in this story. Use the camera frame to take pictures and relocate objects onscreen, or press the R key to reset the scene for another attempt."

Actually, there's now an updated version with even more endings, but this indie title goes to the core of what is fascinating about independent games today. At its best, they're different, they're evocative, they're poignant, and they make you think differently about yourself and your life. Why do you care? Who do you care about? Make your choice in this micro-game, and sink or swim accordingly.

Finally, honorable mentions for some of our favorite indie games in 2008 that didn't quite reach the top five go to: Knytt Nano, Incredibots, Chronotron, Dyson, Nanobots, Shift 3, Barkley Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden, Gravitation, Mighty Jill Off, Iji.