Jul 15, 2011

250 Indie Games You Must Play - a book review

Even you, oh precious and gentle reader, wouldn't probably be aware of the shocking truth that books are a pretty important part of my life; important enough to have actually turned themselves into a professional (yet far from profitable) endeavor. Why tell you this though? Well, to convince you that I really care both about books and their aesthetics and then go on and let you on in another cosmic truth: 250 Indie Games You Must Play is a truly beautiful book.

The text is excellently spaced, the book is printed in full glorious and -trust me- expensive colour, the cover is brilliant, the attention to detail superb, the font selection wise, the quality of the paper way above average and each page is impressively lovely. What's more, it's a really great book too.

Then again you should have already figured this out from the Mike Rose (he's the book's author and one of the journalists I truly appreciate) interview posted not so long ago, and have already had your very own copy of 250 Indie Games You Must Play delivered. The book is, after all, an amazing compendium of indie games featuring 250 of the most characteristic, successful, artistic and/or brilliant ones. It's a book that could even introduce obsessed mainstream gamers to the amazing and wildly innovative world of indie games, by showcasing their  (the games' not the gamers', mind) variety, the diverse genres they cover, their unique aesthetics and some of their ground-breaking game mechanics. It also happens to be a book that hardcore indie gamers and even developers will both enjoy and find extremely helpful; it's an excellent guide to the brave new world of quality gaming.

Each of the 250 entries included, you see, comes with a screenshot, a short yet informative and very well written review, and a very handy (and simple to type) link to the game. What's more, most of the games included are free to play, and as the book consists of three main parts -namely download games, browser-based games and commercial games- an excellent selection of commercial games is also featured. Among them 250 you'll find everything from 10 second satirical games like Run Jesus Run and Derek Yu's Spelunky to Oddbob's frantic SYNSO collection and the brilliant platformer VVVVVV. I must admit though that I also discovered -and of course played- more than a few games I had never heard of, with Hummingbird Mind and Man Enough being prime examples of the sort. 

Actually, were it not for the amazing selection of titles on offer and my deeply scientific need to play and replay most of them (for research reasons obviously), this review would have appeared two weeks earlier. Oh well, it's too never late I suppose. Here is the link you'll be needing. And if you follow my advice and buy 250 Indie Games You Must Play, you'll even discover what many indie game developers have to say for indie games themselves.

Verdict: An excellent and beautiful book -an essential guide actually- on indie games, that gamers of all persuasions should grab.   


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24 comments:

  1. I am surprised how expensive the ebook is, considering how it is free or almost free to publish. But actuality the book is pretty reasonably priced compared to a lot of new books.

    Unfortunately I do not really ever buy new books, could not afford them in the quantity I need. So even though I am sure this is one of the best books ever it is hard to justify not getting like 10 other books or games just to get this one book.

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  2. Expensive? Far from it dear Jonathon. It *is* a full-colour publication and these things cost quite a lot to print... Anyway, I do believe you should at least try the digital version. You'll definitely appreciate it.

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  3. Oops, you did mean the ebook... Heh :) Well, once again, the VAT is almost double (or triple depending on the country) on ebboks.

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  4. No I meant the Ebook, which is only ~30% less then the printed version.

    The print version looks extremely cheap compared to every new book I have ever seen.

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  5. Yes, I finally got it. Really though most (Kindle at least) ebooks aren't that cheaper either. It must be the VAT thing.

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  6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax

    That is strange that they would up the percent of VAT tax for ebooks (if that is what you mean), but it looks like VAT is based on the profit margin of the item so obviously it would be very high because it costs nothing in materials to make a ebook so it is near 100% profit.

    So they only have themselves to blame for making it only 2/3 the price and them getting a huge VAT tax because the profit margin is through the roof.

    But them I only heard about VAT 5 seconds ago so i am probably miss informed.

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  7. Well, I'm definitely not a tax expert, but VAT usually has to do with whether something is considered a luxury or not. Mostly, that is. And -trust me- there's much more to a book than printing. Just a good proof-reader in Greece would set you back 800-1000 euros for a 200 pages long book; in Greece.

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  8. "Well, I'm definitely not a tax expert, but VAT usually has to do with whether something"

    The wiki page seemed to indicate that they calculate the luxuriousness of an item by taking the selling price and minus-ing the cost to produce said item (and I would imagine that the cost to set up would not factor in very much).

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  9. Yea, Indie Games make me feel all special and tingly inside!

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  10. Couldn't agree more on this one Adam! Lovely blog by the way!

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  11. It's a bummer I don't actually have spare change for this, 'cause it looks definitely interesting. Plus it comes from Miuke Rose from Gamasutra, that is a good recommendation too.

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  12. Also, what are the titles of two games the screenshots of which are on the left of the book cover, below Auditorium?

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  13. They are The Black Heart and Icycle. And, yes, dear Barts, it's a great book indeed.

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  14. Well I just got my birthday and Christmas money from the vacationing grandparents and I absolutely must spend it (or be labelled incredibly rude), so this was the first thing that came to mind.
    And the since it came out it has actually come to amazon.ca, making shipping cheaper.
    And gotten a better price, and by better price I mean slightly more expensive, which is good because being a few cents under the minimum for free shipping is bad.

    And one have any other suggestions? I was thinking of looking for some worthy indie games, but there are just so many.

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  15. Hmmm... Well Project Zomboid, The Dream Machine and A Valley Without Wind are essential... And if you are into board-games do treat yourself to Dreadfleet by Games Workshop.

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  16. I think Zomboid and AVWW might actually be something I will go with. At least I cannot think of anything better at the moment.
    And then I think I want to donate to Dead Cyborg and get Terraria, finally getting to play it in depth.
    Also been thinking of the Enter The Story games, I disliked Les Miserable but I hear that at least the most recent game is less confusing and I simply love the idea of classic books made into games.
    Also been missing out on too many classic PS2 games for far too long (ie I might need to buy the system).

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  17. Can't say I disagree on anything. If though you do buy a PS2 do not forget to grab Ico, Rez, Shadow of the Colossus and, well, Pro Evolution Soccer.

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  18. Never heard of rez and surprised you are suggesting a sports game, but will keep them in mind now that you recommended them.
    As for the other two, they are basically the reason I would be getting the system in the first place.

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  19. A wise move then, Shadow and Ico are (from what I've seen) just brilliant. Rez was a Dreamcast classic that got a good PS2 port and Pro Evo, well, it's the best football game since Sensible Soccer. Used to love football some years ago mind...

    Oh, and don't forget Silent Hill 2!

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  20. And I forgot to include this earlier.
    The Dream Machine looks great, but am not a fan of browser based games.
    And I love Board games but would not no one to play it with.

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  21. Well, it is browser based, but it really doesn't matter. It's quite the brilliant thing. As for the board games problem, well, you could push some friends. Sometimes once is enough.

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  22. Well even thought amazon says that normal shipping takes 4-7 days the book is supposed to take 1-2 months.
    I assume that when I ordered it, it sent a message to a medieval style scribe who is now furiously at work writing my copy (after he goes to you catch a goose and make ink that is). Because that is the only reason that it should take that long.

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  23. That and the fact that it will be transported by carriage of course.

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