FunEffect.com

[Only a couple of weeks until GDC 2010 and the 2010 Independent Games Festival now, so we compiled some of the neat coverage of the finalists over at the official site, and have crossposted here.]

As the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival at Game Developers Conference 2010 rapidly approaches, we're delighted to note that a lot of prominent video game outlets are covering this year's finalists.

In fact, the coverage is coming thick and fast, even before journalists get to chat to creators in-person at the IGF Pavilion, attend the Independent Games Summit, and see who wins at the IGF Awards on March 11th.

In particular, we wanted to highlight the following articles and series from third-party sites, and thank them for their coverage of IGF-honored indie games:

- UK-based PC game site Rock Paper Shotgun is also interviewing and speaking to a plethora of IGF finalists, with a dedicated landing page for each of the games discussed so far, including Shank, A Slow Year, and many more.

- Kotaku, the world's biggest video game weblog, is doing a daily 'Road To The IGF' feature, profiling each of the Main and Student Competition finalists, with ten articles looking at games from Owlboy through Monaco already posted.

- Several sites have individually profiled the IGF 2010 finalists, with Joystiq sister site BigDownload.com looking at each category in turn, and seminal blog Boing Boing creating video-filled guides to Main Competition finalists and Student Showcase winners.

- Long-time dev-centric destination GameDev.net is continuing its multi-year profile of Independent Games Festival finalists by talking to 2010's crop, with the creators of Vessel and AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! discussed so far.

- Last but not least, IGF sister website Gamasutra is supplmenting its multi-year set of 'Road To The IGF' interviews, with this year's in-depth Q&As already spanning Miegakure, Star Guard and beyond.

In addition, many other sites are covering IGF games in-depth, with DIYGamer talking to IGF Student Showcase winners and sifting through many other entries, for example. Once again, thanks to you all for covering independent games and the IGF.

Vince Noir: Welcome to the Mighty Decider!

Howard Moon: Where... you can decide things... as and when... you need to.

Noir: What is the Mighty Decider, Howard?

Moon: It's a... it's an incredible way of deciding about things.

Noir: Really.

Moon: Yeah.

Noir: It's a decision-maker?

Moon: Someone comes at you with a...nnn.... option.... You have a quick way of finding out... which one you... which way you want to go.

Noir: Really.

Moon: Mmm.

Brian "Doctor Popular" Roberts -- and I only know his actual, given name from an earlier GameSetWatch entry, incidentally -- flew out to LA late last year to meet with the men of The Mighty Boosh, where they recorded soundbytes for an upcoming iPhone app. Now, after several months of hard work, the game is finally ready for download.

Just four minigames-of-chance comprise the Mighty Decider. "Naboo's Wisdom" and "Ask the Moon" each are especially witty little fortune-telling games. The "Spin the Bottle" game is exactly everything its name implies, except that peripheral Boosh character Bob Fossil (played to the hilt by Chicago's own Rich Fulcher) deliberately desexes every bottle's turn. And in the boringest app, "Flip the Coin," you attempt to defeat the Crack Fox (voiced by Howard Moon himself, Julian Barratt) in a series of coin tosses.

Certainly this software is but a passing amusement, intended for a particular audience. But for fans of surreal UK comedy, or for fans of handpainted backgrounds, or horoscopes -- and I am all of these -- the Mighty Decider is great.

The game is currently listed as just $0.99 at the iPhone App Store.

The Mighty Decider [via DocPop and Boing Boing]

Today's collection of independent game links include the announcement of a new Experimental Gameplay Project theme, a look at the IGF 2010 Student Showcase finalists, the introduction of a new Boing Boing section for indie games, and Mod DB's feature on the best mods and indie games of 2009. (image source)

Experimental Gameplay: Theme - Rejection
"Another month, another theme. With everyone focused on love this month, what better theme than Rejection?"

Mod DB: 2009 Mod of the Year Awards
"From now until Feb 20th, we shall be sharing a year in review and showcasing the editors' picks of 2009, culminating in the announcement of this year's best mod and game as voted by you."

Guardian: How to become an indie developer in eight steps
"These days, anyone can make a game. Here's how to get started..."

Opposable Thumbs: Student-developed games show bright future for industry
"One of the more interesting aspects of the annual Game Developers Conference is the Independent Games Festival, a showcase for some of the best and brightest people and ideas in the industry. Hidden among the next big indie games is the Student Showcase."

GameSetWatch: IGF Finalist Cogs Rotates Into iPhone
"Lazy 8 Studios's Cogs -- recently shortlisted for the 2010 Independent Games Festival's Excellence in Design category -- is now available on iPhone for $0.99." Cogs is also 50% off on Direct2Drive right now - just $4.95.

Boing Boing: Introducing our 'Games To Get' Page
"A compiled list of 2009's top games across all platforms, with quick descriptions and links to each game's original mention."

Indie Game Magazine: The Pay-What-You-Want We Heart IGM Sale
"Starting today through Valentine's Day, you can purchase a non-renewing digital subscription for the Indie Game Mag at any price you want. You can pay as low as $1, the usual $25, or more. You'll get a year of the bi-monthly magazine, six downloadable issues in total."

IndieGameMusic.com: The Music Resource For The Indie Game Developer
"This site was created to make it easier for indie game-developers who's on a tight budget to find music for their games. Prices should be rather low compared to other music libraries, because it's an indie to indie concept. Regardless of you're a game-developer or a musician, this site is a free service." Continue reading

Today's collection of independent game links include a write-up on indie game devs in the UK, a selection of the best indie Metroidvanias around, and a comprehensive look at this year's IGF finalists courtesy of Big Download. (image source)

DIYgamer: The Indie 10 - Best Metroidvanias
"A Metroidvania game is simply a game that consists of an non-linear map, where by the player must gather or accrue items in order to get beyond certain obstacles in the game. We've decided to put together this handy little list of our very favorite indie Metroidvanias."

Big Download: IGF 2010 Finalists - Visual Excellence
"With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of." Also: Design, Audio, Technical Excellence.

Guardian: How Indie Gaming is Reviving the Britsoft Spirit
"Britain used to produce some of the most entertaining and idiosyncratic videogames in the world. Then the eighties ended. But are the glory days returning?"

Bytejacker: The most amazing Captain Forever ship you will ever see
"Someone enjoyed Captain Forever far more than we (or any other mere mortal) dared to."

Daniel Silber's Blog: Lessons learned while submitting to IGF
"My game was not selected as a finalist in any of the categories, but I still seem to be learning from the experience. It has become clear that in order to be successful in IGF, the submission needs a level of polish much higher than I had anticipated."

The Spirit Engine 2 is going freeware
"We decided to take the significant move of making The Spirit Engine 2 freeware, like the first game. The (freeware) release will hopefully come in the next couple of months."

Boing Boing: What do Indie Gaming's All-Stars think of Apple's iPad?
"I called together a handful of the best and brightest developers pushing the medium forward across every new device to ask what's the iPad going to mean for the future." Continue reading

[GameSetLinks is GameSetWatch's semi-regular link round-up post, culling from hundreds of weblogs and outlets to compile the most interesting longform writing, links, and criticism on the art and culture of video games.]

Having just completed the first GameSetLinks trawl in a couple of weeks (don't ask how long it takes - lots of hours!), I handed over a few neat visual links to Eric, and now have another 35 misc. links of gaming goodness to parcel out.

Some of them you may have seen before - this set is some of the more obvious ones - but they are still well worth checking out as we head into the holiday season, from Brandon Boyer's spot on alt.game picks to the Slate end-of-year game retrospective pieces.

More value:

The Boing Boing 20, pt. 2: the best indie and iPhone games of 2009 Boing Boing
Another excellent list from Mr. Boyer.

Gamasutraが選ぶ「2009年 見過ごされたゲームTOP10」 - Game*Spark
Cool, Inside Games in Japan picked up our list of under-rated games and added videos.

Slate's year-end gaming club. (1) - By Leigh Alexander, Jamin Brophy-Warren, Mitch Krpata, and Chris Suellentrop - Slate Magazine
Yep, this thing, with our own Leigh and some other neat folks, in multiple parts.

Charlie Brooker: why I love video games | Technology | The Guardian
He came from game writing, and Brooker, normally curmudgeonly, is evangelizing it again. In a curmudgeonly fashion. Hurray.

Media: A world of hits | The Economist
Fascinating long-form piece on the world getting more hit-driven, at least in some areas: 'Although small films can do astonishingly well (the latest is “Paranormal Activity”, a cheap thriller that has sold more than $100m-worth of cinema tickets in America alone), they do not do so at all dependably.'

The Boing Boing 20, pt. 1: the best console and handheld games of 2009 - Boing Boing
Even if Offworld is semi-no more, this list is good juju from Mr. Boyer.

No Comment | Edge Online
Cute piece from Hello Games on how your game gets discussed on forums.

Today's collection of independent game links include a couple of holiday bargains, indie game recommendations for the long vacation, and an inside look at Flashbang Studios' new commercial project.

The Boing Boing 20, pt. 2: the best indie and iPhone games of 2009
"The best web, PC, Mac, and iPhone games -- freeware, commercial, and uniquely otherwise -- that sprang from the best of the indie community this year."

Amanita Design: Amanita Design Christmas Pack
"Our Christmas Sale starts Dec 17th and ends Dec 25th, in that period you can buy the bundle with Machinarium and Samorost2 only for $10 which is 60% discount from it's regular price ($25)."

Gamasutra: IP Enforcement For Independent Developers
"Attorney Mona Ibrahim explains what indie game developers should know about protecting their game's intellectual property, both during the course of development and after it's released."

Flashbang Studios: Raptor Safari 64 First Look
"Most of our energy is being spent on the next version of the game, Raptor Safari 64. This new version will ultimately be a thing of perfect HD beauty. Right now we're planning a late 2010 release."

DIYgamer: Give the Gift of Indie Games This Year
"With Christmas just about on top of us, there's probably still a lot of shopping to do in between now and then and, while you may be struggling with some of your game-loving friends, we've got your back as we introduce you to our favorite picks for this year's Christmas."

Jim McGinley's Blog: Machinarium makes claymation look efficient
"Jakub casually mentioned the game's revolutionary design: 'You can only interact with items you can reach'. Simple. Elegant. Wish I had thought of it."

Vertigo Games: Liquisity 2 - Let’s Kickstart This Project
"Liquisity was released as a freeware game back in 2005, where you guided a ball to the goal in the deep ocean depths. It was a small little game that was quite popular, and was one I always wanted to go back to and make a sequel." Continue reading

Today's collection of independent game links include a list of common problems that most horror games exhibit (prepared by the developer of the Penumbra series), an article about everyone's indie hero cactus, and the announcement of a freeware game by Mark Pay (The Spirit Engine) due to be released this Christmas. (image source: Daphny)

Frictional Games: Why Horror Games Suck
"To be fair I do not think that all horror games suck, but there are some common problems that pretty much all the games have. These issues hold horror games back from using the medium's full potential."

Boing Boing: an intro to the indie game mind warps of Jonatan Söderström
"With just a handful of years under his game development belt, 24 year old Jonatan Söderström -- better known by his handle Cactus -- has already become something of a cult legend in indie circles, particularly for his relentless, near-manic prolificness."

Cliffski's Blog: Expansion pack underway
"The way I see it, expansion packs are about giving people options. Why release a game at a high price that puts some people off when you can release the core game at a lower price and let people choose if they want to have extra content?"

I am an Aspiring Game Designer: Sonar
"Sonar is about the visualization of sound to create a unique and engaging experience. Eric Spoerner and Waylon Fong made Sonar as a student project at USC Interactive Media in 2006 using Torque2D, and recently entered it into the Indie Game Challenge."

zolyx.co.uk: Frustrated? Yes, yes I am
"It's time for a rant about the continued lack of a solid release date for Wii Cave Story. And other related stuff, like Saira, Nifflas' promising new game."

Capt. Forever strategy and tactics
Having trouble getting into Captain Forever? This strategy guide might help.

The Spirit Engine 2: 8 months later...
"TSE-2 is now down to $10 in price. I have a little tactics game which I was working on earlier in the year, and I'm fixing it up for a freeware release with a limited skirmish mode for Christmas." Continue reading