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What Makes an Indie Game an Indie Game?

We hear the term "indie" within the gaming community a lot lately but, do you even know exactly what that means? Let's find out in this short article What Makes an Indie Game an Indie Game? large

Video game developers express themselves through their creations; they come up with fantastic worlds, characters, and stories for us to experience. Although we all know that Sonic the Hedgehog, God of War, and The Legend of Zelda are among the most famous video games in history, there is a huge number of games out there that are not that popular but definitely should be.

The budget to make an indie video game tends to be relatively small and teams working on such games are commonly reduced, as many independent game developers don’t receive the support of a big company. However, don't be too fast to judge; the fact that this kind of games are made by fewer people and little money doesn’t mean that they are poorly produced.

What is exactly an indie game?


The term “indie” comes from "independent", as the people that create these games are working independently of a publisher.

It is not easy to have the support of a prominent company in a field as competitive as this at the beginning of your career. That’s why many big game developers started with indie games.

A lot of gamers prefer indie games over more commercial ones, as they’re not about being “market-friendly” or easy-to-sell. These games tend to be unique and different from the concept that people have of video games; indie developers just do what they feel like and create games based on their definition of what’s fun.

Indie games today


Currently, indie game developers are not in the shadows, as there are indie companies that support many projects like these. Nowadays some indie games are created with massive budgets and plenty of developers;, the old definition for these titles doesn’t seem to fit them anymore. While this may sound inconsistent, indie developers have given a new definition to indie games.

Unlike the more popular titles, indie games are not about satisfying the expectations of the market.

It’s hard to see indie developers producing empty sequels of their games or using predatory practices to milk every penny out of each piece of content they produce because the main goal behind indie games is to have fun in new and innovative ways.

Pros of indie games


If you’re one of those gamers that are constantly looking for simple but also challenging games, this category may be what you’ve been searching for. Indie games may not be too complex or extended, but a lot of them are really tough and it takes practice and patience to excel at them. They also offer a refreshing experience, as these developers may spend many years polishing every aspect of their games before taking them out to the public.

Literally speaking, an indie game is one that is independent. Although nowadays this definition of being a game that doesn’t count with the support of a big publisher is a little messed up, the concept of an indie game being unique, creative, challenging, and out of the comfort zone still prevails. it’s time to search for an enticing title and start playing without judgment.