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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
Game - Factorio. Literally broke my 5 year gaming fast. I've spent over 1000 hours in it.
Film - Boondock Saints. Not a fan of the gore in it, but damn is the rest of it amazing. Willem Dafoe, excellent as usual.
Book - I honestly don't know if I've read any indy books. I don't know the production status of books.
This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren't put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.
M137 to Ask Lemmy • Which “small” indie game/film/book hit you harder than most blockbusters? 4· 1 day ago This post kinda implies that OP thinks the default is that blockbusters have more soul and hits people harder than indie and passion projects, which is the opposite of the truth. Art made by fewer people generally has more soul and a stronger personality which translates to feelings by the person experiencing the art. They aren’t put through a grinder of corporate bullshit to not be offensive or say anything of actual value.
I think you misread me 🙂 I wasn’t implying blockbusters have more soul by default. I’m genuinely curious which indie projects hit people as strongly (or even harder) than blockbusters. Just a straightforward question.
Before Your Eyes. I was going through some major stuff at the time and I'll associate the game with that summer forever. It has a very unique mechanic and it ties into the game really well without feeling like a gimmick. Takes about 3 hours to complete, so not a huge investment either.
uses webcam to see when you're blinking
Nice try, deep state.
Applying the term "Indie" to a book feels interesting to me, because almost all books, even ones that are part of intensely popular franchises, are written by a single author - so in a sense, all books are Indy.
Of course team size is only one aspect. There's also budget and commercial involvement. But budget doesn't have to be a constraining factor for books the way it is for movies. And if you're the only person pushing the keyboard keys then you are the one with ultimate creative control.
If you are a penniless author and publish a hit and get rich, does your next book then stop being indie, even though it's still just you? Or maybe it's no longer indie because your circumstances have changed.
Many books are managed by a publisher, however. To varying degrees of control. The publisher can have significant sway in the process of writing and editorial control, depending on the contract.
I think the indie part is mostly to do with size and influence of the publishing house. As well as if the art comes first or market appeal. I think A24 in film are a good example of that question.
On further thought, I think one possible criteria may be: Was this work completed independently and then subsequently published, or did this work have a publisher prior to completion?
To your question, if the author gets big off of an indie work, then writes another, independently, which gets published again, then it's still indie. But if that author agrees a contract to write said book with the publisher before it is written, then it is no longer indie.
Basically, has the creator taken it on their own risk to make this thing and then tried to publish it later? Or did a publisher take the risk by funding it and then therefore may have some degree of control?
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
It's an amazing punk rock musical and a kickass indie film.
Disco Elysium
Relevant XKCD https://xkcd.com/657/ and the reason I watched Primer in the first place. After dozens of watches I think that perhaps it's possible the graph is relatively correct (maybe)
Most indie games will end up better than pretty much every AAA title. The best games I've played in the last decade were either indie or AA.
Roboquest, Pathfinder WotR, Dyson Sphere Program, Outer Wilds, Balatro, Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Rogue Trader, Darktide, Abiotic Factor, Rimworld, Stellaris, DV Rings of Saturn, Hardspace Shipbreaker, Voices of the Void, Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Tiny Glade, Witchfire, Instruments of Destruction, Heart of the Machine, Tainted Grail Fall of Avalon, A Webbing Journey, Planet Crafter, Kenshi, X4, Ultrakill, Schedule 1, the list goes on.
All amazing games, none of them AAA.
Disco Elysium
The whole setting is so grim and depressing I couldn’t get myself to finish it. Excellent game though.
SIGNALIS (indie horror game). Very good, scary, I cried. Strongly recommend.
Some of the radio puzzles are unforgettable
I've been a pretty big fan of both Elex games from Piranha Bites.
In terms of world design, scale, etc.. It's rare that I come across a game that actually sucks me into exploring every part of the open world map like Elex and Elex 2 did.
They're also games that don't hold your hand. Enemies don't level with you. Meaning that if you wander into an area with strong enemies, that's on you. A lot of people complained about that aspect of it, saying that it leads to having to spend a lot of early game running and dodging fights. But to me, that's the entire point, finding creative ways to deal with the enemies that you're too weak to deal with.
I've lured stronger enemies into towns for the NPCs to deal with; adding just enough hits of my own to get the experience points. (added bonus of looting the corposes of the townsfolk that were killed dealing with it)
I've skipped entire minor fetch quests (like paying off a gate guard to get access to a town) by again luring an enemy to him and having it kill him because the games have very few non-killable characters.
I've spent an hour skirting along the edge of a crater riding the line between freezing by going any higher and getting one hit killed by enemies if I go any lower just to get to a hut that I spotted in the distance.
Honestly, for AA games that certainly have their flaws, there are parts of both that blow the modern Bethesda games out of the water.
I just finished ViewFinder. It's peaceful, surreal, beautiful, and poignant. Highly recommended if you like puzzle games. The end hits you in the feels.
What Remains of Edith Finch. Is that a 'small' enough game? Affected me deeply, tho.
A couple of games from recent years: Chants of Sennaar (linguistic puzzles and incredible vibes) and 1000xResist (this game had something many big game devs seemingly have completely forgotten about, specifically, writing).
Man from Earth.
Coherence.
Unpacking (game)
I disliked the second one specifically because they gave it a decent budget. The original is genius for how it does so much with so little.
The third is an oddball. Made-for-TV budget and quality. It's interesting for fans of the series, but nothing special.
Cube > Saw. First time I watched Saw the only thing I could think of is "This is Cube with a different aesthetic and a creepy puppet."
Hollow Knight! Got me into indie games.
Hollow Knight was just so much well-curated content for the price. I got it on sale for $7.50, and after I played through it, I had to go buy it again at the full $15 because I felt like I'd ripped Team Cherry off.
John Langan's "The Fisherman". Its a cosmic/folk horror novel but also a powerful meditation on loss and grief.
Harveys neue Augen, Edna bricht aus
Some movies... There are just too many!!!
For great cinema, Brazil is an amazing parody of modern society by Terry Gillian. Stalker is simply a masterpiece but you need to be in that mood to watch it. The Lobster is just... weird and lovely. White Cat, Black Cat is pure chaotic fun.
For a good laugh Swiss Army Man was an unexpected little gem.
If you are into horrors Braindead is absolutely disgusting and hilarious, while The Devil's Rejects is a more disturbing one.
For sci-fi Cube is a nice and original one, and Dark City is a classic that inspired The Matrix.
About thriller, for sure The Machinist or Memento.
I'll second Swiss Army Man. Very weird, very enjoyable.
TUNIC
It's a good game in general, but
spoiler
If you, as a kid, had to decipher an older sibling's notes in game manual, it hits that nostalgia right on the nose. And then turns it on its head.
Games:
Movies (this list I had to think about for a while...):
Books:
Edit: spelling
Thomas was alone. Never have I had such strong feelings for a bunch squares and rectangles
DELTARUNE. toby's been changing my brain chemistry for 10+ years now
I remember feeling the feels when I first saw Garden State. I don’t know what it is about that film, but this quote:
Andrew: “You know that point in your life when you realize the house you grew up in isn't really your home anymore? All of a sudden even though you have some place where you put your shit, that idea of home is gone.
Sam: “I still feel at home in my house.”
Andrew: You'll see one day when you move out it just sort of happens one day and it's gone. You feel like you can never get it back. It's like you feel homesick for a place that doesn't even exist. Maybe it's like this rite of passage, you know. You won't ever have this feeling again until you create a new idea of home for yourself, you know, for your kids, for the family you start, it's like a cycle or something. I don't know, but I miss the idea of it, you know. Maybe that's all family really is. A group of people that miss the same imaginary place.”
This hits hard.
Small indie film? Dear Zachary is a documentary produced on a shoestring budget, and it is an absolutely devastating piece of art. Just thinking about the film puts a lump in my throat.
