Indie Links Round-Up: Psychedelia

“Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals.

The games in today’s Indie Linksinvolve sharks in space, squids in the Wild West, and pirates in… well, in the sea, which I guess is pretty much where they belong.

The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Edge of Space(Joystiq)
“Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, lead game designer at Handyman Studios, Jacob Crane, talks Edge of Space , his space shark exploration game in beta and on Greenlightnow.”

Top Indie Games of 2012: Dev Redux Part 2(IndieGames)
“More developers from our Top 10 Indie Games of 2012 (+2!)list have agreed to share their must-play games of 2012. Today’s list features the picks of Andy Hull, Derek Yu, Dean Dodrill, Robin Hunicke, Jamie Cheng, Nels Anderson, and Jonatan Söderström.”

Awesome Pirates(Indie Gamer Chick)
“Awesome Pirates seems to be designed primarily with multiplayer in mind.  I had intended to use our holiday office party as an excuse to try it.  Forgot that people go to that party to like, drink and open presents and shit, so the game got passed over.   Well, a couple of days ago I had a chance to play it with three other people.  Those people were ages 5 to 8 too, which is fine.  It’s not the most complex title in the world.  You’re a pirate ship.  You shoot other pirate ships.”

The Top Five Mobile Indie Games of 2012 (iOS and Android)(Indie Game Reviewer)
“Unlike our epic(excluding mobile devices) we are going to keep this one short and sweet. There are simply hundreds of thousands of indie games available on the iOS and Android platforms so it is impossible to attempt to be comprehensive let alone definitive. Instead, we are going to point out five that we spent a lot of time with and thought were as solid as could be.”

It Took A Complete Stranger To Make Me Fall In Love With Journey (Kotaku)
“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I’d heard about Journey ‘s innovative multiplayer feature, of course; it was impossible to follow video game news in 2012 without reading about how your Journey journey can be peppered with silent, anonymous companions who are pursuing the same quest as you. You can’t talk to them, but you can see them, jump with them, and share an adventure together.”

Hundreds’ Metamorphosis From Late Night Dream To Addictive iOS Puzzle Game(Polygon)
“, released today for iOS, began life as a simple creation, the product of an artist flirting with game programming. The puzzle game, its creator says, was originally conceived while staring at a ceiling.”

Recommended Game: Krunch(Independent Gaming)
“It didn’t take me long playing KRUNCH to figure out that the title is a reference to the sound a floating robot orb makes when it is smashed to bits–a sound with which I have become quite familiar. KRUNCH doesn’t play nice. It plays fair (mostly), but it does not play nice. Things will beat the crap out of you and laugh about it.”

Wot I Think: Slave of God(Rock, Paper, Shotgun)
“ Slave of Godis a new, free game from Stephen Lavelle, aka Increpare, he of English Country Tune. It is a game about visiting a nightlcub, with all the attendant music, magic and horror. Young Cara paid it a visit.”