IndieSpot UK #1

Hello GameSpotters and welcome to the first IndieSpot UK! This is the first in our monthly look at the weird and wonderful creations from world of independent video games.

While this isn’t something we have covered in great detail in the past, the fact is that some of the most creative games have come from smaller studios, outside of the control of major publishers. Classics such as Darwinia, Cave Story, and Machinarium have all been made by small teams or folks in their bedrooms and have generated ideas that inspired larger studios. Though indie games have traditionally been PC-based affairs, the advent of Internet-connected consoles has given rise to the likes of WiiWare, the PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live, all of which contain titles from indie studios. Some of the most highly rated games of the past few years have come from these platforms, with the likes of Braid, Flower, and, most recently, Limbo garnering high praise.

The UK itself has a long tradition of indie games, starting back in the late '70s and early '80s, with bedroom programmers laboriously learning to program on their ZX Spectrums. Those that owned a Spectrum will probably recall the tedious process of loading programs from cassette tape into its meagre 16k of memory, a process that more often than not would require several painstaking attempts to work. Fortunately, things have moved on significantly since then, and what started as a few teenagers programming in their bedrooms has turned into an industry worth billions of pounds. Some of the world’s most renowned studios, such as Rockstar, Rocksteady, and Rare, are based right here in Blightly, creating games that are loved the world over. With that in mind, we want to give a shout-out to all the up-and-coming developers who still programme in their bedrooms and highlight some of their best creations.

To help you decide what to devote your precious time to, we’ve sifted our way through the mountain of indie releases to bring you our top picks for the month. We’ve picked four recent games, including Indiana Jones-style adventuring in Spelunky, giant robotic breasts in Shoot 1UP, and a girl with a passion for zombie killing in GunGirl 2. So sit back, relax, and take a look at some of the best the world of indie has to offer.

Continue to Spelunky…