Indie Game Book Club '23: Year In Review
Looking back on another successful year of IGBC
08 Dec 2023This year marked the second complete year of Indie Game Book Club, a nifty little group started by good friend Julian which talks about an indie game roughly once a month. It’s been a lot of fun - if you’ve heard me talk about the games I play through the year, there’s no doubt you’ve heard me mention Indie Game Book Club. I wanted to talk about the experience, why I love it and then also share my reviews for all the games we’ve played!
So what is Indie Game Book Club?
We played Cruelty Squad last year but I think about it all the time.
Indie Game Book Club, henceforth known as IGBC because man who wants to write that out the entire time, is all about playing one new indie game roughly once a month and then getting together to talk about it.
Everyone nominates their own game, and we all vote on which game we want to play next. There’s no real restrictions on what you can nominate, but we generally try to go for something on the shorter side time wise (~15 hours to complete max) and also on the cheaper side. Sometimes we have a theme, like RPG Month or Short Game Month, which is a fun way to mix it up.
After that, it’s as simple as playing the game and then getting together to talk about it! We’ve got some basic questions we use as general prompts like “What did you expect/know of this game before playing?” and “Would you seek out other games in this style after finishing it?” but these days we’re practiced enough that it’s a pretty free-flowing discussion where we cover things from notes we’ve taken and stuff like that.
What do we mean when we say indie?
Indie is a deceptively hard thing to define. The term itself obviously means independent, and in the video game space you’d probably expect that to mean doing it without any publisher. While there are games like that, especially in places like itch.io which is all self published stuff, I think a lot of the example people might think of do have a publisher. Does that make it less independent? I don’t know, it depends. Sometimes these publishers are just there for distribution and PR stuff. A independent movie can get picked up and distributed by something like Netflix after it’s done, but it doesn’t mean that it was funded and produced for Netlfix.
In recent years, I think it’s fair to say indie has become more of an aesthetic than a way to define a game. Look at The Game Awards this year, Dave The Diver was nominated for Best Indie Game and that was made and published by Nexon, a company with over 7000 employees which made 1.2 BILLION AUD in revenue 2021. The game wasn’t made by 7000 people, and it probably didn’t have a multimillion dollar budget but there’s still no way you can call it indie.
IGBC’s done a pretty good job of avoiding faux-indie games like Dave The Diver. There are some usual suspects for indie publishers that we come across like Devolver Digital or Raw Fury, but we have also played a fair amount of self-published games as well which is really cool to see. Later on when we get into the review section, I’ll include who published the game for transparency on this.
Why do I like IGBC so much?
I like video games and hanging out with my friends. Next question.
But for real, why do I like it so much?
I think the biggest reasons I enjoy IGBC are that it helps expand my video game palette and it forces me to put some more critical thought into how I feel about games.
I think the former is relatively easy to explain? Thanks to IGBC, I’m playing games I either wouldn’t play because I wasn’t interested/didn’t know about them, or it’s a good excuse to check out games that I’ve had on my wishlist for months and never pull the trigger on. It’s great to have that variety, and through IGBC I’ve come to find some new favourite games like NORCO or A Short Hike. That’s cool as hell dude.
As for the “forced critical though” part, I think that’s probably pretty straightforward as well. When you want to have a meaningful conversation about something, you can’t really just shrug your shoulders and call it a day. You need to be able to express yourself properly, and that’s something I’ve gotten a lot better at since doing IGBC. Things that I used to just have rough feelings about, I can now better discuss and explain why I feel that way - instead of going, “I don’t like this mechanic”, I can now dig deeper and say “I don’t like this because etc”. It leads to a lot of fun discussion and it makes me appreciate games a lot more when I think deeper about them.
I also just like the whole process of writing notes for the games we play. I think you can count them a precursor to these blog posts, because it’s where I started to fall in love with writing about stuff for just me again.
For Star Renegades, I wrote 690 words about how much I did not like the UI/UX of the game. That’s 50% of my notes. It’s so self indulgent but that’s what made it so fun to do.
Games we played this year (and my reviews)
This section’s all about the games we played and my reviews for them! If you’re curious about how I rate things and how I envision the 0-10 score scale, check out my post where I go in depth about it here! Just in case it’s not clear, I’ll be listing the name of the game, what platform I played it on and the year it released!
A Brief Aside About Release Years
Year Released is based on when it would have been originally available to me to play. For example: Yakuza 0 originally released in Japan in 2015, but only came out in English in 2017. Thus, it’s a 2017 game.
Ports will also use the original year unless there’s some drastic changes/upgrades made which change how the game is experienced.
Session 1 - Card Shark (PC, 2022)
Published by Devolver Digital
A really cool premise with a pretty unique aesthetic that doesn’t really leave you feeling like the card shark you thought you’d be. The primary attraction of the game is the card tricks you execute, and even though they’re feel like short mini games, pulling them off feels pretty good for the most part. The game doesn’t always nail a trick execution and it feels like a gearbox crunching moment where the cool flow of pulling off a scam has an awkward hitch. Still, for the most part, it’s shockingly enjoyable for a game where you play as a Frenchman. 7/10
Session 2 - SIGNALIS (PC, 2022)
Published by Humble Games and PLAYISM
Signalis is a game that has a lot of love for its inspirations that at times struggles to expand beyond them. But it’s not just a parade of references, there’s something really special here. A fantastic world, great lo-fi polygon presentation, a soundtrack that scores the game perfectly, and a melancholy story - all of this has stuck with me a lot more than I thought it would after I played it. A very solid and enjoyable survival horror experience - although it can feel like a Replika with the homages when you’re playing it, you’ll realise it’s more of a Gestalt. 9/10
Session 3 - Metal: Hellsinger (PC, 2022)
Published by Funcom
This is one of the most 5/10 games I’ve ever played. It looks good but doesn’t have a real style, it’s got a cool gameplay premise that ends up feeling not as cool as you think it does, it has Troy Baker in it doing a cowboy voice but that doesn’t really tie into his character at all. I don’t hate the game, I don’t love it, I am effectively neutral on it. I will eventually forget I played this game until one day I look back through my Steam library and go “oh yeah, that’s an okay game”. 5/10
Session 4 - Short Games Month
Our first themed month! We played 5 games, all of which could be completed in under 2 hours. This was such a cool event, I really enjoyed blasting through some really focused experiences. And for the game I didn’t like, it was short so who cares!
How Fish Is Made (PC, 2022)
Self Published
I don’t know what to write about this man, I just don’t know. It takes 18 minutes to beat, it’s free, you go play it and tell me what you think. 7/10
Sayonara Wild Hearts (PC, 2019)
Published by Annapurna Interactive
The structure of an album is something sacred to me. It’s something that should make sense from start to finish, is at it’s best when there’s some kind of thematic progress that takes place throughout it, and has great pacing and flow - not unlike a good story or rollercoaster ride. Sayonara Wild Hearts pitches itself as a playable pop album but doesn’t really come across like one when you play it, instead feeling more like a Sonic game structure with 2 acts and then a boss battle. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just feels like a missed opportunity, much like how the rhythm/beat of the songs in the levels aren’t a key part of timing certain actions. All of this doesn’t mean Sayonara Wild Hearts isn’t good. The music still slaps, the gameplay constantly feels fresh and exciting and the loose story is great because of all the different reads you can give it. Plus, who doesn’t love Queen Latifah? 7/10
A Short Hike (PC, 2019)
Self Published
A really charming little game with gorgeous aesthetics and fun music that just leaves you in a happy mood while you play the game. Exploring the island and discovering all the different areas, things to do and people to talk to is a blast. Really nails the vibe of a summer holiday adventure. 9/10
Blind Drive (PC, 2021)
Self Published
I hate all the humour in this game, and for a game with a lot of comedy that’s a pretty big problem. I don’t want to say it’s bad humour, I just think it’s not for me at all and I think I would have honestly rather there be silence instead of the story. With a hate that strong, I think it’s impossible to not have it affect how I felt about other aspects of the game. A game where you’ve got no vision at all and it’s all just sound cues + your reactions to them is interesting, but I felt like it overstayed it’s welcome despite the short length. There’s just not enough variety to keep it feeling fresh and I got bored very quickly. At least it was short. 4/10
Journey (PC, 2012)
Published by Sony Computer Entertainment and Annapurna Interactive
A game that’s not at all about the destination. A stunningly beautiful game with a great soundtrack and visuals that hold up incredibly well, which just goes to show that while high fidelity graphics are cool, they’ll never be as cool as a solid art direction. The pseudo co-op gameplay feels natural and the fact that different players can seamlessly both show up and leave while you’re on your own journey is a great use of online connectivity. I can understand why this blew away people when it was released, but I can’t say it had a profound impact on me in the context of the modern indie game scene, where games like this feel a lot more common than they would have when Journey first came out. 8.5/10
Session 5 - RPG Month(s)
Our second themed session, centred around playing an RPG which had some good length to it. I think in theory it’s a good idea, but in practice it didn’t work too well. The game we chose bounced some people off (understandably so) which meant turn out was low and we also did it between FF16 and Baldur’s Gate 3 being released - that’s some tough competition.
CrossCode (Switch, 2018)
Published by Deck13
CrossCode’s a game who’s reputation had preceded it. For a few years I’d heard a lot of good things about it, and I was excited to sit down and see what the hype was about. To my surprise, all I found was a pretty good game. That feels weird to say, because pretty good is great! But I was expecting a lot more. It’s an enjoyable JRPG style experience with charming presentation and character writing that doesn’t quite stick the landing for a lot of the things it sets up, be it mechanics, main story or even side quests. That’s a hard pill to swallow when you’ve played for 55 hours. Regardless, CrossCode does enough right things that it still manages to be an entertaining play. 7/10
Session 6 - Ori and The Blind Forest: Definitive Edition (Switch, 2016)
Published by Microsoft Studios
An absolutely beautiful game which unfortunately has a lot more style than substance. Solid platforming mechanics placed in a map with nothing exciting going on, a story that starts strong but lacks enough momentum to have any real impact, stunning visuals with the world’s most boring enemy designs - it’s got a lot going for it but a lot more going against it. I really wish they’d just have made a level based platformer instead trying to make a Metroidvania because they could have had something great. 6/10
Session 7 - WORLD OF HORROR (PC, 2023)
Published by Ysbryd Games
A fantastic game with a really cool presentation, fun short stories to play through and spooky art which is borderline plagiarism of Junji Ito’s work. The double sided blade of the rogue-like genre is ever present here - it’s got high replayability and it’s super fun to play with different builds but you can also be left wanting more after you’ve played the same mystery for the tenth time in a row while trying to unlock something that has arcane conditions. 9/10
Session 8 - Party Game Night
Our last proper session for the year, so we decided to party it up and spend the night playing games together instead of separately. We didn’t talk critically about them but we had fun and that’s all that matters in the end.
Pico Park (PC, 2019)
Self Published
Beauty in simplicity personified. A short but sweet puzzle platformer best enjoyed with friends which has a wide variety of gimmicks, all of which go by so quickly that you’re left wanting more. 8/10
Videoball (PS4, 2016)
Self Published
A fast paced, hectic sports game that looks incredibly simple, is quick to pick up but has a surprising amount of strategy behind it. The game overall has a great minimalist design to it which works well because it really helps you focus on the game even while there’s balls, triangles and squares going everywhere. I think the core of the game is really solid, with the “regulation” setting on the basic stage being the best way to play. Unfortunately something doesn’t quite click when you scale it up and add in-built stage hazards to navigate around. 7.5/10
Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes (PC/VR, 2015)
Self Published
The only game from IGBC I’d played before, still fun though! A blast to play in VR, I still am not a fan of some of the more complicated modules - especially the morse code one. Always got me going … — … haha am I right fellow morse code haters? 7/10
SpeedRunners (PS4, 2016)
Published by Tiny Build
SpeedRunners is one part parkour side scrolling platformer, one part Mario Kart, and it rocks so hard. It’s so good dude, I can’t believe it took me this long to try out. The gameplay just feels amazing, every race gets tense as the screen closes in on you, the music and aesthetics are on point, there’s so much to love here. It sucks that stages and items are locked behind progression instead of being something you can toggle unlock for multiplayer, but it’s not too much of a blocker when you start up for the first time at least. Best enjoyed in person so you can have an easier time yelling at whoever’s grappled you and screwed you over. 9/10
Session 9 - Awards Night
We haven’t done this yet, but it’ll be fun. We’ve got great award categories like “Crunchiest System” and “Biggest Surprise”. Maybe I’ll update this post with who wins what, maybe it’ll be a different post by itself, who knows?
I feel like I need to write some kind of wrap up statement here, you know what I mean? Like it’d be weird to end the post on just the reviews. But I don’t really have much more to say. IGBC is a consistent highlight for me throughout the year - it’s a great way to experience the gaming sphere outside of the AAA context. I might be cold towards some of the games on this list but at least they still feel pretty fresh in a way that more mainstream games don’t. So hey, if there’s meant to be some kind of closing remark, I want it to be “go play indie games and talk about it with your friends”. I’m pretty sure you won’t regret it at least.