Independence

The current generation of home consoles has opened up the Pandora’s box of fresh ideas and inventive gameplay.  XBLA, PSN, and WiiWare are, of recent, the quintessential ingredients in the ever evolving face of the gaming industry.  These pipelines of downloadable yumminess have brought the beauty of independent gaming into the limelight.  While these avenues may not be a cornucopia of indie games they have brought independent developers to a more mainstream audience.  The introduction to a mainstream audience also means coverage in the mainstream media which in turn snowballs the popularity of what these games offer.

Those of us at LevelSelect want to pay homage to Indie Games Developers. Without their willingness to venture into undiscovered territory we would not see some of the mechanics and style in the games that we play today. Over the next few weeks we hope to share with you some of our favorite games and maybe even an opinion or two of how indie games will change the face of things to come.

This week we are starting off small with two entries that prove there is elegence in simplicity.

Blush by Flashbang Studios

Simply navigate your jellyfish-like creature through the bio luminescent world to pick up eggs and then deposit them in a nearby collection area.  You will have other creatures of different shapes and sizes out to get you.  This is survival of the fittest.  You move around clicking and dragging your mouse collecting as well as attacking by whipping your tentacles around.  I think using my Wii Remote would be a very satisfying alternative to my mouse.

Blush is currently available on PC only.  You can play this completely free browser game over at http://blurst.com/blush/

Ferry Halim

This gentleman is the essence of indie games. He works out of his home producing flash games; most of which are absolutely beautiful in presentation. Mixed with a crisp art style that inserts a field of focus, to certain objects, in order to capture the realism of each game’s atmosphere, these games are very aesthetically pleasing. Each idea is carefully represented in a single stage with a basic scoring system. Generally, the games only require the use of your mouse to control. Not all of the games are as effectively represented as the next, but each one does indeed capture a unique idea in a fresh way.

Visit Ferry Hamlin and his set of self-made games by visiting http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

That’s all for our first look at Independence.  In the next installment of the series we will be talking about a company that Playstation 3 owners may be familiar with.