I think some people might have issue with Icycle and Tiny Thief being part of the nominees. Tiny Thief more so than Icycle, due to Rovio as the publisher. The rest seem good to me
My nominations, in order of personal ranking: Ravenmark:Mercenaries Kingturn Underworld Warhammer Quest Spiral Episode 1 Epoch 2
I think that goes to the whole publisher debate like Chillingo, etc. At least IMO, the devs themselves are still "indie". I think Rovio Stars is kind of supposed to help indie devs get into the spotlight. But it's open for discussion.
I would think with publishers for indie games it's an all or none kind of deal. If we want to discuss the merits of certain publishers for inclusion I would think Chillingo with way more games under their belt and being owned by EA would be more likely to be targeted for exclusion. Then again, I think any argument on the subject of which publishers should be allowed would be ludicrous. Either we're basing it on the developer or the publisher. If it's on the publisher, I say exclude them all. It seems we're passed that and consensus was allow them.
Could a mod also change the title of this thread to mirror the main GoTY thread with "FINAL CALL" for nominations?
I agree with this. Since someone opened up this can of worms again, and I feel like ranting anyway... It's ironic how an indie game emphasizing thread has sort of flopped into something that normalizes selling out to publishers in the spirit of commercial interests (greater exposure, if nothing else). Maybe this is a sign that iOS gaming is becoming so much less "indie" than ever before. I'm really confused about the "indie" label despite signing with a huge IAP pushing publisher (like Chillingo/EA) to get support or being able to retain the game as "indie" ignoring obvious art design by one of the biggest mobile publishers ever (ever notice how Rovio published Tiny Thief and Icebreaker look similar?); those are contrary to independent studio actions. If you look at the music industry, musicians often write or record their own music, retaining credit for it... but Metallica is not indie no matter how much of their own work goes into the music. It's not that Carrie Underwood's music is less genuine, but by affiliation with popular/trendy industry producers or even autonomously setting the standard for the genre they become the norm, not any sort creative revolution typically associated with "indie" alternatives to status quo. Even powerhouse producers can design and sponsor fun well, creative fan favorite games... but that doesn't make them indie and this makes me curious about the community's impression of what indie gaming is.
I agree too. Indie means Independent. And I urge everyone not to vote for a game from a major publisher.
I have to agree with the post above about indie, even though my head tells me it doesn't matter. The Stone Roses were indie on Silvertone but not indie on Geffen. It's just how it is/should be. Mikey Hooks Attack of the Spooklings Squ4re Air Supply - Infinite Basical Ronin (dec.12) All socking it to the man in a very nice way in 2013 on my phone/tablet.
While I agree with this argument in principle, I still don't think it's a totally fair argument. If an indie dev wants to make a living, they have to get some exposure. How many devs have we heard complain with relatively big games that make no money, they go bankrupt and we never see another game from them again? Even Fishlabs, which IMO is in the larger side of gaming devs, laid off people, went bankrupt (I think) and even after turning to a freemium model, I fear they won't be back. That's a big example. But the thousands of even smaller devs just go unnoticed and, unfortunately, most never return. I personally think Icycle "feels" more weird and indie than something like Badland or Oceanhorn. And from what I understand was originally a one-man effort. I have no idea if Icycle ended up doing really well even with Chillingo publishing it. I can say with almost 100% certainty that it didn't do as well as Badland or Oceanhorn. Those games are fantastic but have more of a mass appeal to them. So should a wild and strange game like Icycle just be left to die if they didn't hook up with a publisher? I don't know. I just think the AppStore is so incredibly competitive that 99% of indie devs will not make a cent. And I'd rather have a game like Icycle do well enough that we see another game by that dev. The thousands of "indie" devs that copy formulas like Angry Birds to make a quick buck are far more "sell outs" than an indie dev who gets a publisher to get exposure. I guess I just feel passionate on the issue of indie success. Just as you are passionate against indies giving into large publishers.
Figured I'd go ahead and nominate my 10 games after realizing that other poll organizers did participate in their polls. Penumbear Boson X Badland Oceanhorn Icycle Starborn Anarkist Savant-Ascent Orborun Plasma Sky Indigo Lake And, yes, Orborun is another game published by a big publisher (Bulkypix) but the dev is a small indie team from Lithuania, so another one that may not have made it (and I don't know for sure if they did).
Once i finished a game to death, i usually delete them to make room. Leftovers are: Boson X Plasma Sky Syder Arcade Knightmare Tower ExZeus 2 They never get boring...
I would like to modify my nominations to this: Indies Blastrax Space Qube Plasma Sky Groove Vortex Duet Game Don't Shoot Yourself
9th Dawn King Cashing 2 Starborn Anarkist Plasma Sky Savant-Ascent Badland Kingturn Underworld Solar 2 Gurk III Dungeon Plunder
My list for best indie iOS games of 2013 Oceanhorn Starborn Anarkist Knightmare Tower Mikey Hooks Heroes And Castles Kingdom Rush Frontiers Kidd Tripp#
868-HACK Ridiculous Fishing Badland Rymdkapsel Bobbing Kidd Tripp Little Inferno Paint it Back Plasma Sky Air Supply - Infinite Thank you to Awp69 and Undeadcow for their efforts in both polls. So many great indie/original games this year; I look forward to going through the thread and checking out any I may have missed. My overall GOTY is probably 868-HACK. My first Michael Brough game and it blew me away.
Glad to see some last minute nominations. I can see that it definitely may give a boost to some games to possibly make it into the final poll, particularly Plasma Sky's recent surge in noms. Also, to set a firm cut off, nominations must be in by midnight EST tomorrow night (the 8th). Anything after that time will be disregarded. Thanks to everyone who's participated!
