Independent Adventure Games for the masses

Independent video game developers are like the artisans of yore. They aren't wage slaves, they don't exploit anyone else's work, they are neither masters nor slaves, but creative people who strive for the quality of their product and don't have to succumb to whatever ridiculous market realities managers can come up with. In short, they are to be supported, fiercely guarded even, as they're (more or less) involuntary combating dominant modes of consumption and production. Oh, and let's not forget the fine games the indy/bedroom developers have historically come up with. Games like Another World, Skool Daze, Darwinia, Simon the Sorcerer and countless others that are all the proof you should ever need...

Then again, I simply refuse (i.e. can't be bothered) to let this post deteriorate into a quasi-political rant with artistic tendencies. We'll hopefully have time for this at a later date. For now, I think I'll stick to the news. The indy adventure gaming related news to be precise.

Well, for starters (not that there's much more on the menu, mind you), xii games of What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed, Anna and Spooks fame are working on a brand new adventure game set in a not-so-distant future when a particle physicist’s mysterious and spectacular death sparks a race to find his hidden vault and claim his terrifying new discovery. An indy dream team has already been assemble, but despair not. xii games is still hiring.

On to some SOCKO! Entertainment news. Remember them? How about the first commercial AGS adventure ever released, the cunningly named Adventures of Fatman? Ah, lovely, I knew you would (pssst, if not, the game has been released as a freeware memory stimulant; get it here). Well, seems that the seemingly defunct SOCKO! team was just that: seemingly defunct. Behind the scenes they've been working on Fatman S.O.S. (Save Our Superheroes) their second game, which they hope to fund by selling a brilliant and particularly deluxe re-release of the original Fatman game. Give 'em a hand.

Related @ Gnome's Lair: Sam & Max Reality 2.0, Beyond the Spirit's Eye, 2006 AGS Awards, on storytelling


Related Tags: Adventure games, Independent gaming, Indy Games, Video games, Adventures, Game, Games, News, Adventure