One of the purposes of SwankWorld is to dedicate some focus to the independent developers out there. The music industry has its share of what insiders call "indie bands". These bands are acclaimed for bringing new styles and genres to the scene while having small, but totally devout cult followings. Most of these bands are in it just for the joy of making music; but before this turns into a music article I'll get back to the point. The same kind of idea goes for the game industry. Little do some people know that there are some great games out there outside of paying $50 for a new release at the local game store. You'll also be introduced to some fresh, new ideas as well as new spins on old types of gameplay and some of the most addictive games this side of Animal Crossing. You'll also notice that the price of these games range from nothing at all to $20 at most. So sit back and bask in some of SwankWorld's recommendations on indie games that everyone should try.

8. Dungeon Scroll

Genre: RPG / Typing
Developer: Robinson Technologies
Demo Available
Price: $7.99

From the mind that brought the old school BBS gamers Legend of the Red Dragon comes Dungeon Scroll, a dungeon crawling RPG where creating words from random letters is your weapon. The bigger the word, the more damage you inflict. The only catch is that you can only use words once. So your small words are best used on small monsters like rats and save the larger words for dragons and the like. Though it sounds tough, the game is strangely addicting. If you thought Typing of the Dead was great, give Dungeon Scroll a go.

 

7. Priston Tale

Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online RPG
Developer: Priston, inc
Full Version Available
Price: Free
Official Website

Priston Tale is a MMORPG set in the land of Priston. It's a hack n' slash RPG in the same vein as Diablo II or Baulder's Gate. You can choose to have your character belong to one of two tribes, the ‘Morion' being highly dependent on magic and the ‘Tempskron' which is highly dependent on power and technology. To put it simply, one race focuses on weapons and melee combat and the other depends on magic. Priston Tale has over 100,000 subscribers in Korea and is free for us here in the states. Servers are always full, so you can feel free to hook up with a group and kill to your heart's content or go about the killing alone. The graphics are great and have a cell shaded anime style appearance to them. You'll go through a number of environments like deserts, ruins, fields, forests and towns of course. The gameplay does get a little repetative as there is no other goal than to level up and buy new weapons. The game world is also smaller than what people have come to expect from other MMORPGs. If hacking, slashing, and excessive leveling are your thing, you'd dig Priston Tale.

6. Teenage Lawn Mower

Genre: Action
Developer: Robinson Technologies
Demo Available
Price: $16.95
Official Website

Another game from Seth Robinson. A lawn mowing simulation…with a plot! You're seventeen years old and you're tired of dealing with your drunk mom and her boyfriend. You decide to decide your own destiny (and financial future) by mowing lawns. You'll be mowing everything from playrounds to neighbors' back yards all the while dodging flower beds, moles, and other obstacles the entire time. The game features the same, somewhat twisted sense of humor that made Seth's LORD famous. Teenage Lawnmower is great for those craving some twitch gaming action as it's easy to pick up and play. Download the demo to give it a try.

 

5. Space Tripper

Genre: Shooter
Developer: PomPom
Demo Available
Price: $14.95
Official Website

Space Tripper is a stylish shooting game from the guys at PomPom. Your ship is put onto a small, well, let's call it a floating island. Your job is to travel back and forth along the floating island blowing up everything in your path. Your ship has two colors which designate what kind of gun your ship has which is wither a straight or spread shot. The game features some neat looking, albeit small environments. The game is full of color and particle effects and the boss battles are thouroughly entertaining. Once you get past the learning curve of getting used to the controls and switching your ships color and direction, fun is the order of the day.

 

4. Mutant Storm

Genre: Shooter
Developer: PomPom
Demo Available
Price: $19.95
Official Website

Do you wish for the days of classic gaming and mindless shooting to come back? Do you wish Robotron X on the Playstation was what you had hoped it would be? You could find solace in Mutant Storm, an updated and very flashy (dare I say) clone from PomPom. Mutant Storm is able to successfully recreate the claustrophobic and desperate feelings you got by playing Robotron and Smash TV while remaining stylish at the same time.Your senses will be barraged by the colorful environments, overuse of particle effects, and the sound - this game is noisy. The hopeless addiction is worth the price of admission alone.

 

3. Dink Smallwood

Genre: RPG
Developer: Robinson Technologies
Full Version Available
Price: Free
Official Website

Though this game is a little old (it was released in 1997) it's still one of the most entertaining games on this list. It's an action RPG You follow Dink, who tends pigs while living with his mom and has become the joke of the village. After his house burns down, Dink sets out to become a warrior with the help of a wizard. If you can look past the aging engine, you'll find plenty to entertain you here. The game features some of the classic Seth Robinson humor we've all come to know and love. In addition to the single player game, numerous amateur developers have created mods (or the more technical term Dmods) for the game, most of which are pretty high quality. If you're looking for something to pass those rainy days, Dink could be the answer.

 

2. Crimsonland

Genre: Shooter
Developer: 10Tons Entertainment
Demo Available
Price: $20
Official Website

This game can only be described as heroin laced with crack. Once you download the demo (with one hour play time limit) you'll be scrambling for your credit card to get more by the time your hour is up. Crimsonland is another game influenced by Robotron, but with a twist. During the course of the game's survival mode you'll gain experience points toward gaining levels. Once a level is gained, you can choose from a list of “perks”. Perks can range from increased ammo, shorter reload times, random weapons to radioactivity that effects all surrounding monsters. You can also take gambles on perks that will give you a 50% chance of gaining 10,000 experience or instant death and the like. You'll also have a variety of stylish weapons like plasma shotguns, mini-guns, cannons and the deliciously deadly jackhammer. As you're picking up weapons and gain more levels, the monsters come faster and in larger numbers. You're able to survive with the help of powerups that freeze monsters, give you fire bullets, increase your speed, along with shields and bonus experience. Though the survival mode is impossible to beat, you'll frequently find yourself trying again and again to get a higher score and before you know it, you have to be up in 45 minutes to go to work. Combine that with an internet high score system to compare against others along with a single player mission mode, and you have one huge time killer on your hands. True story time: A couple of friends came to my house to try out Crimsonland. We alternated turns playing the survival mode for ten hours. The only thing that stopped us was a power outage on my block. If this isn't a display of the true, unbridled power of Crimsonland, I don't know what is.

 

1. Gunbound

Genre: Massively Multiplayer Strategy
Developer: Gravity
Full version Available
Price: Free
Official Website

If you're dying for a remake of Scorched Earth or you're saddened that the Worms have left your PC, here comes Gunbound. You may have heard of this one due to its surge in popularity and cult following as of late, but I'll give a description for those who aren't keen. Gunbound is a massively multiplayer game similar to the likes of Scorched Earth or the Worms games. Your player rides on one of six vehicles or “mobiles” ranging from bugs, go-kart looking vehicles, to dinosaurs. You're put into a randomly generated level consisting of hills and large gaps. Your goal is to either drain the other team of hit points or knock them off of the map. Good aim, number of kills, and leading your team to victory earn you money which you can use to buy accessories for your player or mobile. Your mobile also has a couple of attacks consisiting of a conventional missile attack and a special attack that consists of lightning, explosives, lasers, and energy balls. You can also purcase items that enable you to teleport, fire dual shots and the like. The gameplay is incredibly deep, different “mobiles” are more powerful against other types. You'll always have people to play against and there are tiers for newbies and pros alike, so you won't find any high level players making your stay less enjoyable. Best of all, the game is free.

 

I hope you enjoyed this look at the Eight Indie Games That Everyone Should Try™. Hopefully, you've found something that might have piqued your interest or at least proves that there's more to games than what's on the shelves at the local Wal-Mart. After all, these games surpass the quality of half of Wal-Mart's budget bin titles, and by the looks of the 2004 IGF finalists, there's a lot more where these came from.

 

- Brad Hicks (aka Dr. Swank), SwankWorld Media