Take a look at the Indian music scene. For every big banner Bollywood movie soundtrack, there are dozens of indie artists too. There is someone who is twisting to Va Va Voom from The Archies, and then there is someone gazing at the drizzle and listening to Prateek Kuhad. The gaming industry gets a similar colour of diversity from independent game developers.
A few industry majors typically dominate gaming, from pioneers like Gameskraft in India to the Xbox Game Studios globally and the rummy app. But that doesn’t mean an aspiring game developer cannot find space in the industry. Individuals or small teams have often been the driving force behind some of the most disruptive innovations in the gaming industry.
The Indie Game Development Scene
As technologies developed, smartphones increased their penetration, the internet reduced
latency, and the gaming industry bloomed energetically. Major game studios began offering
Experienced gamers don’t need to remember the 2008 cult game Braid. This game,
developed by the then-indie developer Jonathan Blow, paved the way for indie developers. A year later, Rovio released Angry Birds as a mobile game. The small-time Finland gaming studio hit the jackpots with this introduction. Other examples of such indie developments include games like Limbo, World of Goo, Super Meat Boy, etc. And by the time Microsoft purchased it, Markus Persson’s indie creation Minecraft had become the largest-selling indie game ever!
How Indie Game Developers are Breaking Through
Game development has been a studio-centric initiative in its formative years. By studio-centric, we mean large entities like the SEGAs and Ataris of the world. By the turn of the millennium, the industry was comparatively more conducive to indie developers.
Indie developers got the tools that they needed to develop unique gaming ideas. This was when integrated development environments like Godot and Unity emerged. Visual editors, graphics tools, and programming languages were in place to equip indie developers with the tools they needed to develop games.
Development is the first step, but a developer depends on the big studio supply chain to reach out to the masses. But not with digital platforms and online stores. From Xbox Live to Nintendo eShop, Google Play to App Store, indie developers now have a direct hotline with the gaming community.
The Recipe for Indie Success in Gaming
From viral sensations like Angry Birds to the cult popularity of Minecraft, there are some
distinct commonalities in all of the successful indie games that made their mark. For aspiring indie game developers, these commonalities are the ingredients that will help them cook up the winning recipe in game development.
● The uniqueness of successful indie games can titillate gamers’ interest. They may
present original ideas and/or playing mechanics that stand out from the mainstream.
● Engaging gameplay that presents entertainment and challenge to the player- indie
games have something that resonates with the masses. The gameplay experience offers
an X factor that gets easily recommended within the gaming community.
● Player-centric designing comes easy to indie developers as they often come out of the
gaming community themselves. They are in sync with player expectations and can use
very relevant feedback and user testing processes.
● Distinctive artistic statements of indie games come from their uniqueness. This helps
them incorporate very unique visual aesthetics into the game.
● Simplicity is an intrinsic feature in indie games, be it in gameplay complexity, visual
graphics or even marketing and promotion.
Bringing More to the Table
Popular rummy apps like RummyTime have unique attractions. The global standard
certifications, the investment in fair play and security, and the large infrastructure means that rummy game enthusiasts can enjoy large-scale tournaments and challenges for big-ticket prizes. Indie games, on the other hand, have a different importance in the gaming scene.
Developed on a narrower landscape, indie game development has always been an agile and
flexible process. It allows the developer to express oneself artistically, with creative freedom. Also, indie games offer developers unlimited potential.
If it weren’t for indie game developers, the diverse business models in the gaming industry
wouldn’t have developed. Many indie games became successful through self-publication. There are developers who came up with successful indie games solely on the back of crowdfunded projects. Indie games and digital distribution platforms fed off each other to gain mass acceptance. Thus, the creativity was not limited to development alone but extended to the last mile.
A Lasting Influence
While adding diversity to the industry, the indie game culture continues to inspire the
participants within the industry to innovate and take unconventional paths. Indie game
development has been the breeding ground for gameplay experimentation, be it in visuals or mechanics. We can expect indie games to continue to strongly influence the gaming industry in the years to come.