IndieCade: International Festival Finalists #1-5
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 22nd 2008 at 10:40AM }
All week, Joystiq will be revealing the 26 finalists for the IndieCade: International Festival of Independent Games, set to take place October 10 through 17 in Bellevue, Washington. The winners will be announced on October 11.
And Yet it Moves
This Austrian-born title has a unique, papercraft-inspired art style and a simple trick (rotate the camera) that serves as the focus of a maddening, yet rewarding, puzzle platformer. A demo is available at the game's website for both Windows and Mac.
Miss Management
From Gamelab studios, the game is about managing a small office, only without any "that's what she said" quips. According to the description, the title "lightheartedly explores topics of stress management, the role of work in our lives, stereotypes, sexual harassment, race, and more." It is available as a free download for PC.
Dark Room Sex Game
A student project from the IT University of Copenhagen, Dark Room Sex Game has no visuals whatsoever. Instead, players try to cooperatively "reach climax" by finding a mutual rhythm and speeding up until climax. If anything, their promotion video shows they have a good sense of humor. The game is available as a free download (for use with Wii remotes or keyboard input) for both Windows and Mac.
Dark Game
A game of hunter-vs-hunted with a twist. Whenever you are the hunter, your screen goes black and you have to rely on GLaDOS a female narrator and an eight-pronged headset that vibrates to tell you which direction the prey is in (note: contrary to its appearance, it does not sap your brainpower).
Gravitation
From Jason Rohrer, creator of the pixel-infused, art-house title Passage, Gravitation is -- you guessed it -- a pixel-infused art-house title, considered to be an autobiographical look at trying to balance personal life with work. Available as a free download (for Windows and Mac).
And Yet it Moves
This Austrian-born title has a unique, papercraft-inspired art style and a simple trick (rotate the camera) that serves as the focus of a maddening, yet rewarding, puzzle platformer. A demo is available at the game's website for both Windows and Mac.
Gallery: And Yet It Moves
Miss Management
From Gamelab studios, the game is about managing a small office, only without any "that's what she said" quips. According to the description, the title "lightheartedly explores topics of stress management, the role of work in our lives, stereotypes, sexual harassment, race, and more." It is available as a free download for PC.
Gallery: Miss Management
Dark Room Sex Game
A student project from the IT University of Copenhagen, Dark Room Sex Game has no visuals whatsoever. Instead, players try to cooperatively "reach climax" by finding a mutual rhythm and speeding up until climax. If anything, their promotion video shows they have a good sense of humor. The game is available as a free download (for use with Wii remotes or keyboard input) for both Windows and Mac.
Gallery: Dark Room Sex Game
Dark Game
A game of hunter-vs-hunted with a twist. Whenever you are the hunter, your screen goes black and you have to rely on GLaDOS a female narrator and an eight-pronged headset that vibrates to tell you which direction the prey is in (note: contrary to its appearance, it does not sap your brainpower).
Gallery: Dark Game
Gravitation
From Jason Rohrer, creator of the pixel-infused, art-house title Passage, Gravitation is -- you guessed it -- a pixel-infused art-house title, considered to be an autobiographical look at trying to balance personal life with work. Available as a free download (for Windows and Mac).
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Noshino @ Sep 22nd 2008 10:49AM
those were very feminine sounds for a guy...
Anyway, Jason Rohrer is awesome, the concept behind Passage was just..great, anyone that is onto gaming should really try it at least once, it doesn't even take that long
Immortal Technique PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Sep 22nd 2008 12:40PM
I think these types of games that are low on budget but big on heart are a breath of fresh air. I can certainly appreciate a commercial success as much as th enext guy - loved GTA IV & MGS 4. But, these type of games that require creativity and ingenuity to be successful as opposed to a big budget are a terrific change of pace.
Games like this return video games to the essence of what they started as. Something that was was fun but not so much of a grind that it felt like a second job.
When everything I said is taken into consideration there are certainly things on the horizon that make me excited. For one Little Big Planet will allow players to create these sort of unique experiences although bound by the limitations of the source material. This is why the new MS XBLA "indie" game scene is going to be great for us gamers. We will see new talent that are implementing new ideas.
I thought Spore might deliver some of the same experiences but it turned out to be 5 games in one but 0 games out of 5 that were actually fleshed out.
j.howlett @ Sep 22nd 2008 2:40PM
i want and yet it moves for psn pdq
DeoWulf @ Sep 22nd 2008 7:39PM
And Yet it Moves gives me an error when I try to run it, bummer. I tried RAR and ZIP versions, both give me a "send error report" message upon running.
Mic2000 @ Sep 23rd 2008 6:09AM
Go Felix, Go!
Madjock @ Sep 23rd 2008 9:26AM
Gravitation was intresting, I love games that just throw you in and let you figure it out. A nice 8bit feel to it.