Game - Factorio. Literally broke my 5 year gaming fast. I’ve spent over 1000 hours in it.
Film - Boondock Saints. Not a fan of the gore in it, but damn is the rest of it amazing. Willem Dafoe, excellent as usual.
Book - I honestly don’t know if I’ve read any indy books. I don’t know the production status of books.
Disco Elysium
This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren’t put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.
M137 to Ask Lemmy • Which “small” indie game/film/book hit you harder than most blockbusters? 4· 1 day ago This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren’t put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.
I think you misread me 🙂 I wasn’t implying blockbusters have more soul by default. I’m genuinely curious which indie projects hit people as strongly (or even harder) than blockbusters. Just a straightforward question.
Before Your Eyes. I was going through some major stuff at the time and I’ll associate the game with that summer forever. It has a very unique mechanic and it ties into the game really well without feeling like a gimmick. Takes about 3 hours to complete, so not a huge investment either.
uses webcam to see when you’re blinking
Nice try, deep state.
Most indie games will end up better than pretty much every AAA title. The best games I’ve played in the last decade were either indie or AA.
Roboquest, Pathfinder WotR, Dyson Sphere Program, Outer Wilds, Balatro, Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Rogue Trader, Darktide, Abiotic Factor, Rimworld, Stellaris, DV Rings of Saturn, Hardspace Shipbreaker, Voices of the Void, Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Tiny Glade, Witchfire, Instruments of Destruction, Heart of the Machine, Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon, A Webbing Journey, Planet Crafter, Kenshi, X4, Ultrakill, Schedule 1, the list goes on.
All amazing games, none of them AAA.
I disliked the second one specifically because they gave it a decent budget. The original is genius for how it does so much with so little.
The third is an oddball. Made-for-TV budget and quality. It’s interesting for fans of the series, but nothing special.
Cube > Saw. First time I watched Saw the only thing I could think of is “This is Cube with a different aesthetic and a creepy puppet.”
Love the Cube series, knew it was low budget, but not ‘that’ low!
I’m sure the others had a bigger budget, but yeah, the first one was hardly anything.
Of course they only needed to build one room, part of another, and then just change the lighting over and over.
Applying the term “Indie” to a book feels interesting to me, because almost all books, even ones that are part of intensely popular franchises, are written by a single author - so in a sense, all books are Indy.
Of course team size is only one aspect. There’s also budget and commercial involvement. But budget doesn’t have to be a constraining factor for books the way it is for movies. And if you’re the only person pushing the keyboard keys then you are the one with ultimate creative control.
If you are a penniless author and publish a hit and get rich, does your next book then stop being indie, even though it’s still just you? Or maybe it’s no longer indie because your circumstances have changed.
Many books are managed by a publisher, however. To varying degrees of control. The publisher can have significant sway in the process of writing and editorial control, depending on the contract.
I think the indie part is mostly to do with size and influence of the publishing house. As well as if the art comes first or market appeal. I think A24 in film are a good example of that question.
On further thought, I think one possible criteria may be: Was this work completed independently and then subsequently published, or did this work have a publisher prior to completion?
To your question, if the author gets big off of an indie work, then writes another, independently, which gets published again, then it’s still indie. But if that author agrees a contract to write said book with the publisher before it is written, then it is no longer indie.
Basically, has the creator taken it on their own risk to make this thing and then tried to publish it later? Or did a publisher take the risk by funding it and then therefore may have some degree of control?
Primer. Like $12k budget, mostly cost of film.
SIGNALIS (indie horror game). Very good, scary, I cried. Strongly recommend.
Some of the radio puzzles are unforgettable
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
It’s an amazing punk rock musical and a kickass indie film.
Some movies… There are just too many!!!
For great cinema, Brazil is an amazing parody of modern society by Terry Gillian. Stalker is simply a masterpiece but you need to be in that mood to watch it. The Lobster is just… weird and lovely. White Cat, Black Cat is pure chaotic fun.
For a good laugh Swiss Army Man was an unexpected little gem.
If you are into horrors Braindead is absolutely disgusting and hilarious, while The Devil’s Rejects is a more disturbing one.
For sci-fi Cube is a nice and original one, and Dark City is a classic that inspired The Matrix.
About thriller, for sure The Machinist or Memento.
I’ll second Swiss Army Man. Very weird, very enjoyable.
We watched The lobster for a family movie night, they never let me pick the movie again 😅. I enjoyed it, watched it twice.
TUNIC
It’s a good game in general, butspoiler
If you, as a kid, had to decipher an older sibling’s notes in game manual, it hits that nostalgia right on the nose. And then turns it on its head.
Games:
- To the Moon
- Gris
- Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
- This War of Mine
- Inked: A Tale of Love
- Papers, Please
Movies (this list I had to think about for a while…):
- 50/50 (2011)
- Amour (2012)
- The Station Agent (2003)
- Columbus (2017)
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Books:
- The Bookshop
- The Lives of Others
Edit: spelling
gris froze for me at the bird fight, uninstalled because the game was unplayable
I’ve been a pretty big fan of both Elex games from Piranha Bites.
In terms of world design, scale, etc… It’s rare that I come across a game that actually sucks me into exploring every part of the open world map like Elex and Elex 2 did.
They’re also games that don’t hold your hand. Enemies don’t level with you. Meaning that if you wander into an area with strong enemies, that’s on you. A lot of people complained about that aspect of it, saying that it leads to having to spend a lot of early game running and dodging fights. But to me, that’s the entire point, finding creative ways to deal with the enemies that you’re too weak to deal with.
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I’ve lured stronger enemies into towns for the NPCs to deal with; adding just enough hits of my own to get the experience points. (added bonus of looting the corposes of the townsfolk that were killed dealing with it)
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I’ve skipped entire minor fetch quests (like paying off a gate guard to get access to a town) by again luring an enemy to him and having it kill him because the games have very few non-killable characters.
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I’ve spent an hour skirting along the edge of a crater riding the line between freezing by going any higher and getting one hit killed by enemies if I go any lower just to get to a hut that I spotted in the distance.
Honestly, for AA games that certainly have their flaws, there are parts of both that blow the modern Bethesda games out of the water.
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I just finished ViewFinder. It’s peaceful, surreal, beautiful, and poignant. Highly recommended if you like puzzle games. The end hits you in the feels.
