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IndieGames.com Best-Of Features

Here at IndieGames.com, we like highlighting some of the more notable freeware and indie games of this and previous years - hence this special 'best-of' section. Check out the individual charts, and also make sure to read Indie Games: The Weblog for all the latest independent game news, interviews and features. (FAQ, permalink)


2008

Best Freeware Arcade Games 2008
Whether you fancy rescuing the princess, assassinating the president or saving the world, we've got everyone's wishes covered. We humbly present to you IndieGames.com's special feature on some of the best action and arcade games released in the past twelve months.


Best Browser Arcade Games 2008
Ten of the best browser arcade games released this year, right here. We've got everything from running a 100-metre sprint event, hitting balls out of the park, racing dinosaurs, gigantic swords and even a time-management game in this edition.


Best Freeware Adventure Games 2008
Twenty more adventure games as proof that the genre is still very much alive, with picks such as a western-themed IF, an educational game for both adults and children, a chatroom simulator, a couple of sequels, and even a remake of a past Sierra classic in full VGA glory to satiate anyone's desire for more questing.


Best Freeware Platformers 2008
From the critically-acclaimed Braid to the fan-favorite Cave Story, the indie game development scene is never short on quality platformers to play. Knytt Stories took the title for the best platformer last year, and with Nifflas' Night Game to be released only in 2009, it is time to crown a new heir for the throne.


Best Freeware Remakes 2008
From upgraded remakes with painstakingly redrawn and recolored graphics, to the most retro of demakes with blocky pixel art and noisy chiptunes, IndieGames.com has rounded up ten remakes of classic games that you should not miss the second time around.


Best Freeware Shoot 'em ups 2008
Fans of Galaga, Space Invaders, Warning Forever, and Everyday Shooter, step right up. Only a courageous pilot stands any chance of saving Earth from being enslaved by an invading alien race, once again. Leave your Zero Wing quotes behind, because you will need every ounce of your arcade skills to make it through our picks for the best twenty freeware shoot 'em ups of 2008 alive.


Freeware Games by cactus 2008
Known for his broad variety of freeware games, Swedish designer Jonatan 'cactus' Söderström says that much of his work are small experiments dressed up as games. Nonetheless he has made more than twenty of them over the last twelve months, so we're presenting you with a selection of his best works released this year for your gaming pleasure.


Freeware Games by Jesse Venbrux 2008
What we know about Jesse Venbrux: aged 22, originated from Netherlands, studied at the Utrecht School of the Arts, did his internship with Q-games, uses the versatile Game Maker for development purposes, and has an unhealthy obsession with the subject of death. He also makes decent games, lots of it actually.


Most Addictive Browser Games
We pay tribute to the developers who are responsible for the most addictive Flash and Java-based browser games of all time, or simply prolific enough to create a library of games which most of us have spent numerous afternoons on.


2007

Best Freeware Adventure Games 2007
The adventure game genre certainly isn't dead, and IndieGames.com proves this by picking the top freeware adventure independent titles released during 2007, from Rorschach through the awesomely named Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy.


Best Freeware Arcade Games 2007
IndieGames.com has picked some of the neatest, quirkiest, and smartest freeware arcade titles released during 2007, from Chalk through Gesundheit to a host of other playable, fun and free titles.


Best Freeware Platformers 2007
IndieGames.com continues to crank out the goodness, and this time it's 2007's top freeware platformers - a list of goodies which includes The Underside, Knytt Stories, and the hilariously cool but infringing GoldenEye 2D.


Best Freeware Remakes 2007
Gems of the yesteryear rebooted, reimagined or simply touched up for a new generation of gamers to enjoy. Indiegames.com steps into the time machine to bring these classics back to live, as we recap some of the best freeware remakes released in 2007.


Best Freeware RPGs, Roguelikes 2007
RPGs and roguelikes - what's not to like about them? Let's explore some dungeons in The Crypts of Despair and Last Scenario, or even micromanage a fortified outpost in Dwarf Fortress as IndieGames.com examines the best role-playing games and RLs from 2007.


Best Freeware Shoot 'em ups 2007
Horizontal, vertical or hybrid 2D and 3D shooters. Whatever your fancy, you'll find everything here as we unveil another twenty noteworthy shoot 'em ups released during 2007.


Best Freeware Games by cactus 2007
A recent Gamelab interview describes cactus' prodigious indie freeware game output as having "a visual aesthetic that combines mathematical precision and unruly chaos, with tight, balanced and challenging gameplay" - here's his best of 2007.


Best Freeware Games (Others) 2007
What does Nigoro, Pixeljam and Kloonigames all have in common? They're all featured in our special 2007 Best of Features article, in which we round up some of the oddest freeware Flash games, beat 'em ups, and physics games from last year.


2006

Best Freeware Adventure Games 2006

Best Freeware Arena Shooters 2006

Best Freeware Platformers 2006

Best Freeware Puzzlers 2006

Best Freeware Shmups 2006

Best Freeware Shooter Remakes 2006

Geometry Wars Clones



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About The IGF


Think Services (producer of Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, and the Game Developers Conference) established the Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers.

The competition, now in its 10th year, awarded a total of nearly $50,000 in prizes to deserving indie creators in Main Competition and Student Competition categories at the IGF Awards Ceremony, held in February 2008 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, as one of the highlights of the Game Developers Conference.

The Independent Games Festival will return in March 2009 at GDC in San Francisco - look for more information soon. [More information...]

About The IGS


Featuring lectures, postmortems and roundtables from some of the most notable independent game creators around, the Independent Games Summit is a yearly event, with iterations thus far taking place in March 2007 and February 2008 at Game Developers Conference.

Think Services (which curates the IGF and runs GDC) plans to continue and grow the Independent Games Summit in subsequent years. [More information...]