If you're a fan of classic arcade puzzle games, Wizorb will make you grin like an idiot. It's got the feel of an old-school NES RPG, but with all the elements of a super-addictive puzzle game.
Gameplay revolves around an eternally bouncing ball that clears blocks, but you can use magic to help direct its course.
Wizorb is available for XBLA and PC.
Legend of Grimrock represents the old-school dungeon crawler that requires you to get out your graph paper to play along.
Made by Finnish studio Almost Human, the game combines classic elements of the genre with beautiful, modern graphics and real-time combat. It's available for PC through Steam.
Cave Story is a popular indie title because of its extraordinary origins; it was developed by Daisuke Amaya, better known as Pixel, entirely by himself over the period of five years.
It looks like a traditional Super Nintendo platformer, and has a great story and unique weapon system.
Cave Story+ was released last November, and includes updated art, new dungeons (one of which can be seen in this video) and a new soundtrack.
The first time I saw Kerbal Space Program, the NASA nerd in me did a dance of joy. The game's concept of building space ships to see if they can make it into orbit is simple enough to break into, but repeatable enough that you'll be creating all kinds of zany craft to escape "Kearth's" atmosphere and land on "Mun."
The game, created by Squad, is free to download as a demo, but if you want updates you'll need to pay $15, a price that seems totally worth it. The game is available for Mac and PC.
There's nothing like taking a little history lesson, and heading back to the colonial settlement...on Mars. Jamestown is a vertical-scrolling shooter that supposes the 1619 colony of Jamestown was on the red planet.
The game was created by a team of three that make up Final Form Games, and it's easy for shooter novices and pros to pick up and play. Like many of the games on this list, it also sports some sweet 16-bit graphics.
Twisted Pixel is known for delivering solid indie titles, and we chose to highlight this sequel to the popular Splosion Man in this roundup.
Ms. Splosion Man plays similar to the previous title. In this platformer, you'll need to use your "splosions" to blow up enemies and move yourself around the map, all while wreacking havoc on the laboratory that created you.
The title is available on XBLA, but also PC and iOS devices.
Orcs Must Die eschews many of the basics of a tower defense game. While you must drop traps and sentries to stop your enemies -- in this case, a horde of angry, stupid Orcs -- from reaching their goal, Orcs Must Die forgoes the typical top-down layout and instead opts for a third person action perspective. This makes it a very unique game.
You can also use your character's weapons to shoot or stab incoming Orcs, along with the more traditional posted archers and spells.
It's a fun game, and worth picking up on XBLA or PC.
Fighting games are often a male-dominated sport set in male-dominated worlds, a fact that Skullgirls seeks to change. Skullgirls is a 2D-fighter with a unique cast of all-female characters with varying abilities.
Developed by Revenge, the game made its XBLA and PSN debut this week, but has been in the spotlight since its unique art was first made public.
Fighting game fans will enjoy the depth of play, but it's just as fun for anyone to pick up and beat up their best friend. The game has been given extra praise for tutorials that cover many deep fighting game concepts only understood by advanced players.
Dungeon Defenders is a title you need to pick up and play with your friends. This game smoothly combines action RPG and tower defense elements with a fun, goofy fantasy setting, which makes for some highly addictive play.
There are four different character classes, which vary if you're playing on the Xbox or PC versions. And there have been several expansions to increase the content and character skins, meaning this is a game with a long lifespan.
After more than four years in the making, this game finally debuts on our list of "playable" indie titles.
Fez, released on XBLA and PSN Friday, is a rich platformer with dreamlike levels that take your character on a wild journey. Fez's mechanics are based on perspective; you control Fez, a 2D sprite, as he travels through a 3D series of islands floating through space.
The game won several awards on visual design even before its release, and hopefully receive a level of commercial success equal to the hype.
Over the past few years, indie gaming has exploded from a hobby of few to a viable business for those with great game ideas.
Thanks to distribution services like Steam, the Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, console and PC owners have a wide variety of instant entertainment right at their thumbs. Add to that the exploding mobile markets that are opening games up to previously unreached audiences. Plus, the low barrier to entry — most indie titles range from $5 to $15 — can make for an epic win.
Many indie titles represent new twists along well-trod gaming ground. Independent gaming studios are rarely beholden to publishers' whims, and can take bigger risks with game design or art style. Many of the games on our list also heavily pursued classic gaming styles that are still popular with gamers, despite no longer being produced commercially.
Check out our list of indie games worth spending your cash on, and let us know what you think in the comments.
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