The New PA Free Indie Game Thread

Sueve

This is the new and improved indie game thread. Post free, great indie games that you find to share them. If they are critically acclaimed by the thread peeps, ill put them in the OP!

Thats easy!

The last indie game thread I made survived for many months on the verge of extinction, a passive thread punctuated by a few random days of great activity.

I came up with a few truths about indie gaming that need to be acknowledged in any successful thread:

Problem 1:
There are too many good and long games for any gamer to play through all of and truly enjoy.

Solution:
Only list games that fit either of these requirements:

• Absolutely worth your time it is so good
• Is unique and short, worthy of playing through

Any longer games, such as epic RPGs or incredibly deep strategy games that are good enough to be played will be good enough to warrant their own threads, and therefor only need to be mentioned in passing in this thread.

The games must, with no exceptions, be free. Any pay-for, shareware games can be listed elsewhere. Unless otherwise stated, all games are for windows for simplicity, sorry Mac folks!

So, the aim of this thread is simplicity. The OP list of games will be updated every couple of weeks straight from this thread. For a game to be listed it must be acknowledged by multiple people in the thread as worthy of the readers time. Only the very, very best flash games will be added, all the games must be free, and if a PA thread for the game exists, it would help if you post them!

PA's FAVORITE FREE INDIE GAMES

Cave Story

Type: Platformer
Review
Download
Notes: Get English patch from above Site


Iji

Type: Adventure Platformer
Download
Review


N

Type: Platformer
Download
Review


Fantastic Contraption

Type: Puzzle-Builder
Flash Site


Voxelstien

Type: FPS
Download
Review


Flywrench

Type: Action
Download
Review


Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden

Type: RPG
Download
Review


CURSOR*10

Type: Puzzle
Flash Site


Spelunky

Type: Roguetype Platformer
PA Thread
Download


Dwarf Fortress

Type: Roguetype City Planner
Download
Review

Elona

Type: CRPG
Download
Review


I Wanna Be The Guy

Type: Platformer
Download
Review


Knytt & Knytt Stories

Type: Platformer
Download
Review


Warning Forever

Type: Shmup
Scroll Down for Download
Review


Eternal Daughter

Type: Platformer
Scroll Down for Download
Review

La Mulana

Type: Platformer
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=lamulana
Review

Lanrutcon

Spelunky! The hardest game in the world involving prostitute theft and boulder traps.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=78809

Klorgnum

I'm not sure I want to read an indie game thread that didn't put Spelunky in the OP. :P

Zombiemambo

One URL to rule them all, and one URL to end them: db.tigsource.com

Sueve

Alright, I'll add spelunky, it has a pretty loyal PA following.

i use the db.tigsource alot but its not perfect, and not geared to the PA community like this thread will be.

TheLawinator

I need new free 4x strategy games!

Help me...


Also any survival games would be cool.

Sueve

i want to catalouge all the great free indie games that have had their own threads, because otherwise they got lost to time as well!

so if you can find old threads, post em' so we can see if they stand up strong enough for the OP

Lord Yod

Elona and Dwarf Fortress

Burtletoy

Lord Yod know what is up in this mofo.

Sueve

Ah yes, how did i forget elona and df, ill add em asap

Food

I Wanna Be The Guy
Knytt & Knytt Stories
Warning Forever
Eternal Daughter

Those are all pretty obvious. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting about.

edit: Who's the guy that makes all those neat shmups? Taurus Troopers was one of them.

MrDelish

What was the name of that game where you can make your own ships from different parts and weapons? It's a top-down space combat game, and it was here on PA many moons ago

Valkun

I think it was Battleships Forever. I wonder if anything new has been added.

Sueve

Alright OP has been updated with those classics

Henroid

What the hell, no La Mulana mentioned at all?

Sueve

Good call, its hard to remember all of these!

meatflower

This is just the kind of gaming I need for my Eee. Downloading Voxelstein3D right now cause gosh darnit, do I love me some voxels!

Reminds me of the Blade Runner adventure game.

OremLK

After playing FlyWrench for about an hour, I have come to the following conclusions:

-It has awesome ideas and level design.
-The controls make me want to kill small animals.

meatflower

After loading up Voxelstein3D I remembered playing it before.

I also remember it's only fun after you modify the text files so the weapons make giant holes in the world.

LewieP

Something by cactus should be in the OP, maybe Mondo Agency?

theclam

Don't forget Dyson, the freeware RTS:
http://www.dyson-game.com/

Burtletoy

So because of this thread I decided I should look at www.crimsonland.com for the first time in, I dunno, 4 months?

I guess they decided to release a new update to the game. The game that is supposed to have a sequel still in development. A game that is five years old.

I might have to purchase it again since I don't think I moved it onto this machine when I got it. It deserved mentioning in this thread since I originally got the link from the PA front page.

Also it is an awesometastic indie game that deserves mention.

Fleck0

No Chzo mythos and the equally excellent spin-off Trilby: The Art of theft in the OP!?

Good day sir! :x

UEAKCrash

http://www.toribash.com/

Crazy little rag-doll fighter game. It has a slightly steep learning curve, but once you learn the basics, you can pick it up pretty quick.

Also, if you decide to sign up, use my sig.

flamebroiledchicken

If you have Knytt and Knytt Stories, might as well throw Within a Deep Forest in there too. I remember 1213 and the 5 Days a Stranger series getting a lot of love on here too.

UEAKCrash

Valkun wrote: »

I think it was Battleships Forever. I wonder if anything new has been added.

Yeah, this game is awesome. I was really into it for awhile.

Sueve

flamebroiledchicken wrote: »

If you have Knytt and Knytt Stories, might as well throw Within a Deep Forest in there too. I remember 1213 and the 5 Days a Stranger series getting a lot of love on here too.

Well, I see Knytt and Knytt Stories as better than WADF, and since its downloadable on the same site anyways...

Alright, time to update the OP again :winky:

Lorahalo

...None of the Trilby games? Me sad.

EDIT: There was another post about them with the link earlier.

TVs_Frank

Can't have this thread without my favorite Roguelike, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

http://crawl-ref.sourceforge.net/

And N is free? I'm glad I didn't waste MS points on that.

LewieP

TVs_Frank wrote: »

And N is free? I'm glad I didn't waste MS points on that.

The XBLA version is practically a sequel.

Much prettier, and has completely different levels.

Frem

You need some stuff from Kenta Cho, the genius behind ABA Games!

Also, Off Road Velociraptor Safari and Minotaur China Shop!

I'm pretty sure Chalk needs to be in there someplace.

SoulFu is a neat 3D arcade roguelike.

The Cleaner and Legend of Shadow! Anything by Cly5m! Jumper Three!

So much great stuff around.

OremLK

LewieP wrote: »

TVs_Frank wrote: »

And N is free? I'm glad I didn't waste MS points on that.

The XBLA version is practically a sequel.

Much prettier, and has completely different levels.

Yep, this. I also felt like the levels in the 360 version were more polished and better-designed. Also, not as tooth-grindingly difficult. Most of the time.

TVs_Frank

OremLK wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

TVs_Frank wrote: »

And N is free? I'm glad I didn't waste MS points on that.

The XBLA version is practically a sequel.

Much prettier, and has completely different levels.

Yep, this. I also felt like the levels in the 360 version were more polished and better-designed. Also, not as tooth-grindingly difficult. Most of the time.

Can anyone recommend the DS version? Is it any good?

BTP

(*sigh*) Here I go again with this post.

....not that it's a problem. I hope you like SHMUPs!

In case you don't notice, the names of the games are links to where you can get them.

G-Type

If I may borrow ArugulaZ's post in the PC Shmups thread, "G-Type is a shooter fan's dream, a brilliant blend of Gradius and R-Type. It uses a lot of recycled graphics from Super NES games but still feels fresh and unique, almost as if Irem and Konami really teamed up to make it. Finish the game and you'll unlock tons of cool omake features, ranging from a ball-crushingly difficult Boss Rush mode to a retro version of G-Type that takes you back to the good old days of 8-bit gaming. Very cool!"

Torus Trooper

What do you get when you cross Geometry Wars with F-Zero X? I would guess this. Shoot in pipes and half-pipes at blinding speeds (8800 km/h, anyone?) while taking down everything in sight. You've got a normal machine gun and a power building gun which slows you down some, but shoots through enemy bullets as well, and chains your score with each thing hit by it. And it's all about getting a high score. There's no end until you run out of time. But of course, you can increase your time by killing the boss of each level, reaching certain scores, etc.

Cho Ren Sha

Now I wouldn't call myself a great SHMUP player. Maybe not even a good one. But this is HARD AS BALLS! A vertical shmup with no story to speak of (I think). Just you and your ship, a machine gun, some bombs, and off you go! Every now and then you'll kill something that leaves you with your choice of power up, depending on which one you run into. Bomb, shield, or weapon power up. You will die, and die hard, in this game, because god help you when you lose your first ship and all the powerups you had with it. Thank goodness for the continue option so that I may one day beat it.

Blue Wish Resurrection

I LOVE THIS GAME! I never thought I would really like the shmups where the enemies spam you with non-stop bullets, but I really like this one. Three difficulty levels (Heaven, Original, Hell) with a hidden fourth, two ships to choose from, two different types of guns (the slightly more powerful one slows you down a little), and an option called Auto-Guard where if you're hit, it automatically sacrifices one of your bombs. It makes sense since bombs protect you anyways, but actually using them gives your guns an impressive look. And that enemy in the pic is a mini-boss. The actuall bosses are screen wide massive giants of mechanical death. But if screen wide enemies still aren't big enough for you.....

Warning Forever

Nothing but non-stop boss fights. You start off with just a core called The Pure Heart, but after that, depending on your style of play, the core builds itself into an enemy designed to take advantage of your weaknesses. For example, here's what mine eventually looked like when I tried to shoot nothing but the front of the core. You can shoot from any direction with the help of a "zone triangle" which you can focus as wide or as narrow as you need it to be. (You'll understand when you play if that doesn't make sense.) Play for as long as you can, for as many lives as you have, or even create your own rules.

But if you still need even bigger enemies.......

Fraxy

Seriously, check out the link for all the info about it. There's just so much to it. You can create your own bosses! You can make them as large as you want! The game is very customizible. VERY. Need an example besides all the bosses we posted in that thread? Well........

You can thank UncleSporky for this.

Fraxy thread at Platformers if you go there

LewieP

Yeah, the DS version is pretty rad too.

Not as pretty, but portable is a big plus.

Frem

LewieP wrote: »

Yeah, the DS version is pretty rad too.

Not as pretty, but portable is a big plus.

Just note that the Metanet guys had much, much less involvement with that version than they did with the Xbox one. They didn't even program the engine.

Uselesswarrior

Frem wrote: »

LewieP wrote: »

Yeah, the DS version is pretty rad too.

Not as pretty, but portable is a big plus.

Just note that the Metanet guys had much, much less involvement with that version than they did with the Xbox one. They didn't even program the engine.

Well I hope it's good, I bought it for my little cousin for Christmas.

Tim James

TheLawinator wrote: »

Also any survival games would be cool.

Notrium is about all I can think of off the top of my head.

Impersonator

By the way, I have a free copy of Lugaru (awesome video), so if anyone wants it just say it

Lord_Mordja

...

*Raises hand.*

TA Spring still counts as Indie, right?

Klorgnum

Frem wrote: »

Also, Off Road Velociraptor Safari and Minotaur China Shop!
Anything by Cly5m!

Limed for hells yeah.
EDIT: You can't lime links? Weaksauce.