The 27 Best Indie "Art" Games
Mentisworks has an article listing his take on the best "art" games:

Art Games: Best Indy Titles

He makes a comment in the first paragraph of his introduction which I really like, though I don't agree with it 100%:

"When I think of art that has influenced me most, it is generally work done by individuals. I can't recall the last time a corporation created a brilliant painting. I find that this also tends to be true in the emerging area of art games. Individuals are not generally driven to create purely for profit, and have more leeway to experiment and create according to their own artistic vision."

There's a quote on several pages at Rampant Games that state, "Games With Personality." - a motto I'm slowly phasing in to replace "Kicking Tail And Making Games" (though that latter one might not be retired entirely, just 'cuz I like it). This was the thing that keeps striking me about indie games.

They may be rough. Very rough, in some cases. The creators might not be all that skilled - yet. You can compare them to a "garage band" very easily - even in the rawness, there's some vigor and emotion and personality that escapes the more processed fare most gamers are used to. I don't think it's limited to individual creators, any more than collaborations amongst individuals can't be great art in music or performing art. But the smaller the team sizes, the more the individual personalities and messages of the creators shine through.

Tip o' the derby to GameSetWatch for the link!

(Vaguely) related artsy-fartsy talk
* Game Tunnels Top 100 Indie Games
* Games As Art: Media's Double Standard
* Affordable Innovation

Labels: Indie Evangelism

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