How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

protox13 · 2014-02-23 09:48:59

I think I first read about Castle Doctrine's "Steal Real Money" promo, but didn't decide to buy it until I read about Jason's reasons for making it. Because of the permadeath my first few times dying provoked some of the strongest emotions I've felt playing in a game. Plus the pleasure of building up a fortress (and frankly, watching people die in it) have been pretty good hooks too.

The Yawhg (a sort of choose-your-own adventure text story RPG), Zafehouse Diaries (mostly text group dynamic survivor simulator), and FTL (permadeath adventure/combat rougelike in space) are different but pretty enjoyable indie games I'd recommend checking out. Possibly Defcon and Frozen Synapse, though I didn't enjoy those as much. The Ship would be more enjoyable if the servers had more people. Darkest Dungeon (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14 … ok-studios) on Kickstarter looks pretty promising. Anyone have other recommendations?

Last edited by protox13 (2014-02-23 09:52:04)

jere · 2014-02-23 10:25:26

I could go on forever on this one. Since TCD is a roguelike, let me just give a shout out to 7DRL 2014. It's coming up in a couple weeks and there will probably be hundreds free roguelikes coming out of that; I'm sure some will be really interesting and innovative. So keep an eye on that. Maybe you could even write one yourself! I did it last year and am planning on participating again this year.

MMaster · 2014-02-23 10:40:05

I play games for around 20 years now. I really like indie scene last years.
Looking at last few years FTL and Kerbal Space Program are the ones that hooked me really hard (from indie scene). Also Minecraft, Terrarria and Starbound.
I own almost every game that comes out (currently around 350 games on steam + many many others) as I am really hardcore gamer. I was also working as game developer for 3 years (I really like that this game is open-source and I'm really impressed that Jason put no copyright on it). There are lot of good indie games coming out these years and I'm really really happy about that as people working on indie games usually try things that nobody has tried before and they are not afraid to experiment. Large companies working on AAA games can't afford to experiment when they put millions of dollars into development so that's why those games are using old concepts that are known to work, but are not that interesting to players like me anymore.

I heard about TCD on Steam and I was really impressed by the theme. Unfortunately I didn't hear about it before. But better late than never.

MMaster · 2014-02-23 10:46:48

jere wrote:

I could go on forever on this one. Since TCD is a roguelike, let me just give a shout out to 7DRL 2014. It's coming up in a couple weeks and there will probably be hundreds free roguelikes coming out of that; I'm sure some will be really interesting and innovative. So keep an eye on that. Maybe you could even write one yourself! I did it last year and am planning on participating again this year.

You sir just made me really interested! Oh it's starting 8th March that's when I come home from IETF London. Hm.. I will have to think about it, but I would really like to attend this :-)

jere · 2014-02-23 10:51:18

IETF, eh? This game attracts some interesting people. And a note: it's a 9 day period (includes both weekends) and you are expected to complete your game within any 7 day period within that, wherever you happen to be obviously.

JoyOfTrapping · 2014-02-23 10:52:55

^^^

I heard about the game through Steam. I watched the trailer and said hell yeah. Then I did some reading and looked into the game some more, and then I said "Oh yeah, this is definitely just the game for me." We all know the joys of this game. They are many.

MMaster is right, there is a sort of indie heyday occurring right now. It's exciting to see devs experiment with unique concepts. I too have played games for a long time and am way beyond burnt out on the AAA styles out there today.

Here are some of my recent favorites. Many share some similarities to themes and experiences in Castle Doctrine.

Dead Pixels - Progressive permadeath
Don't Starve - Survive the hostile elements through foraging and crafting. Permadeath.
Electronic Super Joy - Hard platform. Great music, you die a lot.
Faster Than Light - Progressive permadeath space game. Why would I not be surprised if a lot of TCD players like FTL? It's a very left-brained, procedural sort of game with a captivating aesthetic.
Gnormoria - Sort of a dwarf fortress takeoff. Build your gnome kingdom. Your gnomes will grow powerful, and sometimes they will die. But you will always remember the greatest ones.
Gunpoint - You're a spy with gadgets getting stuff and avoiding death. Unique system for manipulating mechanisms using electronics.
Monaco - Best co-op I've ever had. Up to 4 thieves heist various levels using unique skills and gadgets. Stealth game.
Sang-Froid - Tales of Werewolves - Two Canadian brothers in the 1800s have to survive a werewolf infestation in their town. Set traps. Logical, planning oriented game. Use your brain.
Sir, You Are Being Hunted - Still in alpha and it's already so, so sweet, gets better with every update. Survive in a procedurally generated world while robots hunt you. They are a lot stronger than you. Hard stealth game. Requires guile.

Check some of those out, I can see a TCD player enjoying more than a few.

Last edited by JoyOfTrapping (2014-02-23 10:55:41)

MMaster · 2014-02-23 11:02:10

jere wrote:

IETF, eh?

Yep. Gonna make internet better for all of you ;-)

jere wrote:

And a note: it's a 9 day period (includes both weekends) and you are expected to complete your game within any 7 day period within that, wherever you happen to be obviously.

In that case - if my family won't miss me for another week I will definitely attend.

Last edited by MMaster (2014-02-23 11:02:41)

colorfusion · 2014-02-23 11:04:21

I found it through the first wave of youtube videos (Aavak, MyGameplaying, etc.) right after the public alpha launch, and bought it as soon as I could.

I really like the idea of having to build a defence to withstand some kind of opposing force, but most previous games I'd tried that at first seemed to have this element didn't really live up to what I wanted. Usually it was against an easily fooled AI or there wasn't a point to building anything other than super thick walls. I did however find Minecraft in infdev during my search for such games.

Last edited by colorfusion (2014-02-23 11:05:47)

ukuko · 2014-02-23 11:05:42

Can't remember how I heard about it. Either a write up of the alpha on RPS or a mailer from Jason.

Some of my favourite indies of the past while... Hotline Miami, Monaco (another vote for best co-op!), Escape Goat, Starseed Pilgrim, Teleglitch.

And lots and lots and lots of Spelunky.

42dustman · 2014-02-23 11:37:07

I saw that article where Jason criticized Steam sales and said Castle Doctrine would never be on sale after the launch week.

EDIT: I had also played Passage some years ago and when I saw that it was from the same guy I became interested in CD.

And here are some Indie games I like:

Dwarf Fortress has a lot to do with Castle Doctrine and it is free.

Iji has a cool story and some points to make. It is also free.

Papers, Please seems to be heavily influenced by George Orwell's 1984, it's not as boring as it sounds.

Dead State is a zombie survival tactical RPG that looks a lot like the Fallout classics and is from the same guy who wrote Vampire Bloodlines. I have a lot of expectations for that one.

Rogue Legacy has a somewhat different approach to the roguelike genre and is up on GOG if you care about the DRM-free thing. It's devs also make some pretty good flash games.

The Swapper is the brainiest video game I have ever played. I have played Planescape Torment.

Amnesia A Machine for Pigs is the most heavily atmospheric horror game out there. It is from the same studio that gave us Dear Esther.

Toren is still a long way from release, but it's already looking freaking beautiful.

Last edited by 42dustman (2014-02-23 11:44:03)

MasterPain · 2014-02-23 11:37:12

I'm always picking up a new roguelike to dabble with, provided there's time to play.
I mostly play:

Dwarf Fortress, both Fort and Adventurer mode
UnReal World - Free survival-oriented roguelike being developed by one guy on donations, just like DF - http://www.unrealworld.fi/

But lately, I've had tons of fun with this little gem:

KeeperRL: A free Dungeon Keeper-based game where you build a fortress/traps and summon minions to protect it. It also doubles as a roguelike, letting you control each creature individually. I bet any TCD fan will like it.
http://keeperrl.com/

Last edited by MasterPain (2014-02-23 11:48:49)

Leveller · 2014-02-23 13:05:33

Read about it on my countrys biggest gamingsite. ( FragZone in Sweden ) They had a article about it.

Sybernetik · 2014-02-23 13:29:02

I got my money's worth from Gnomoria and Project Zomboid for sure.

iceman · 2014-02-23 13:31:09

One indie game that I've been really involved in is SpyParty. It's a 1v1 multiplayer game where one player is a Spy, and the other is a Sniper. The Spy is trying to blend in among the other guests of a cocktail party while completing missions, such as bugging an ambassador or contacting a double agent. The Sniper is outside the party, trying to discover who the Spy is before he's able to complete his missions. (Think of how Assassin's Creed multiplayer should've been =P ) It's an incredibly deep game - there's a player with 400 hours, and all of the top players admit that there's still plenty for them to learn. The community's also really great, unlike many competitive multiplayer games.

I'll definitely second Gunpoint as well - really, really fun game!

ukuko · 2014-02-23 13:37:55

Oh yeah, SpyParty is great fun!

nathan · 2014-02-23 13:49:00

*Looks at Steam library*
Agreeing with the posts above, SpyParty really is a good game. It also has the best community of any game I've ever seen- indie or otherwise.
If Garry's Mod still counts as indie, that game's pretty good- it has tons of game modes, and most of them are pretty fun- I like flood and Deathrun the best.
Gnomoria is also good- it's like Dwarf Fortress without the insane learning curve, and it's well worth the money.
Kerbal Space Program is awesome. If you are at all interested in space travel, this game is worth the $15 and is hilarious to boot.
BeamNG drive is also good, if you have a decent (Made since 2008) computer. It's a racing simulation game with a good community.
I'm surprised that nobody mentioned NetHack, but it's pretty good, and free. You'll want the tiles version, not the text version, however.
Finally, Cave Story. I got the paid version from a Humble Indie Bundle, back before the bundles were "Humble" and "Indie".

joshwithguitar · 2014-02-23 18:16:03

I've been interested in Jason's games for a while now ever since my brother introduced me to Passage and Gravitation. I found out about the game when I was checking his site to see what new things he had come up with (months after the game was released).

One other game of Jason's that might interest people here is Primrose, a game I got into after most players had left. It is a free coloured tile based puzzle game that allows you to watch the games of other players including the top scoring games. It should appeal to those who enjoy the emergent trap building in this game as you can come up with strategies and designs beyond anything that Jason envisioned. If you do play, don't look straight at the top scoring games, instead try to figure things out for yourself first.

Otherwise, I think anyone who enjoys the electronics building in this game would really like SpaceChem if you haven't played it already.

protox13 · 2014-02-23 18:53:11

Agree with a lot of games mentioned by others (Dead Pixels, Monaco, Papers Please), and have a few others on my wish list (Project Zomboid and Sir, You Are Being Hunted). Forgot to add King of Dragon Pass, too!

I'd like to rattle a few more off my wish list on Steam and ask if anyone's had any experience playing these: The Banner Saga, Prison Architect, UnderRail, NEO Scavenger, Legends of Eisenwald, Blackguards, and Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator.

redxaxder · 2014-02-23 18:56:43

joshwithguitar wrote:

Otherwise, I think anyone who enjoys the electronics building in this game would really like SpaceChem if you haven't played it already.

And possibly everything else zachtronics has done.

iceman · 2014-02-23 19:06:13

For Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator - I haven't played it, but I have watched it been played, and it seems like a lot of fun. I have a feeling that it will *really* depend on the people you're playing with, though.

Sybernetik · 2014-02-23 20:36:11

Prison Architect has been on my watch-list for awhile now. I was a huge fan of Darwinia. Also, mentioned earlier was Defcon. All made by Introversion Software.
I haven't checked up on PA lately, but last time i looked into it, they were slowly working out game breaking bugs.

protox13 · 2014-02-23 20:48:23

iceman wrote:

For Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator - I haven't played it, but I have watched it been played, and it seems like a lot of fun. I have a feeling that it will *really* depend on the people you're playing with, though.

Yes. Yes, it will: http://kotaku.com/5939008/five-networke … -simulator

vahn · 2014-02-24 05:58:46

If you have another person to play it with: sleep is death by Jason is an amazing game.

Jabloko · 2014-02-24 06:23:40

The game is mentioned in a video blog called "Extra Credits" under "Games you REALLY might not have tried". Got me intrigued straight away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_K6D8yY4xI

Last edited by Jabloko (2014-02-24 06:24:43)

protox13 · 2014-03-21 21:02:01

Just wanted to pop in and recommend Out There, a game I discovered today- it's like FTL but more about exploration than combat. It's coming to PC but is on mobile devices now. And it's only $4!

The Castle Doctrine Forums

#1 2014-02-23 09:48:59

How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#2 2014-02-23 10:25:26

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#3 2014-02-23 10:40:05

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#4 2014-02-23 10:46:48

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#5 2014-02-23 10:51:18

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#6 2014-02-23 10:52:55

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#7 2014-02-23 11:02:10

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#8 2014-02-23 11:04:21

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#9 2014-02-23 11:05:42

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#10 2014-02-23 11:37:07

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#11 2014-02-23 11:37:12

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#12 2014-02-23 13:05:33

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#13 2014-02-23 13:29:02

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#14 2014-02-23 13:31:09

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#15 2014-02-23 13:37:55

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#16 2014-02-23 13:49:00

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#17 2014-02-23 18:16:03

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#18 2014-02-23 18:53:11

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#19 2014-02-23 18:56:43

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#20 2014-02-23 19:06:13

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#21 2014-02-23 20:36:11

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#22 2014-02-23 20:48:23

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#23 2014-02-24 05:58:46

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#24 2014-02-24 06:23:40

Re: How'd you hear about this game/what other indie games do you like?

#25 2014-03-21 21:02:01

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