The Art of Indie

This page is dedicated to the visual art of indie games and will be showcasing only the very best examples. So in no particular order.

Small Worlds

Small Worlds is a critically acclaimed, short, minimalistic, exploration, platforming, art game, by David Shute. It uses some of the best pixel art every created and as you explore the small worlds the view zooms out to constantly show all of the revealed terrain. This has the intriguing effect starting you out with just a few very big pixels on the screen and slowly adding to these pixels to create a a very detailed whole.


Hammerfight

Hammerfight is a action physics brawler with a rather unique and involved plot. It is a rather unique case on the art front; The gameplay has a very nice realistic destructible environment, maybe not quite good enough to get on this list alone but very good none-the-less. Interspersed between this gameplay is some very terrific elegant images, not a lot of them but I find them so beautiful that it inspired me to make this page.


Eternally Us

Eternally Us is one of my favourite games of all time and, I would say, the best looking game by Ben304 made to date. It is a short and simple graphical adventure about grief that is touching; But what I am interested in here is the graphics, and they do not disappoint. Eternally Us's static backgrounds are stylish and good looking in their own right but what makes the game really special is the environmental animations on a few of the levels. I have never seen anything quite like it before, and it really has to be seen in action to be appreciated.


Hide

Hide is a delightful lo-fi horror filled romp through a forest. It has some very low resolution and minimalistic graphics combined with detailed lighting and set in a fully 3D game world. This combination of unlikely features creates one unique and very visually intriguing game.


Hero Core

Hero Core made this list because it shows how beautiful and detailed you can be with a minimal use of colours and pixels. It plays like a Metroid demake crossed with a shoot 'em up and is simply a terrific retro game.



Honorable Mentions:

Pon

Pon is an interesting case. I absolutely love the style and some of its pixel art but it is simply not a very polished offering. Still the endearing characters and nice environments make it memorable.


Hard Reset

Hard Reset is quite possibly the only totally original (read, non-mod) indie action FPS. In addition to this, unique indie gameplay, it also has a high definition resolution and a beautiful cyberpunk style with an incredible amount of explosions, electricity, and bright lights and signs. It is a fantastic looking title, uniquely in both a mainstream and indie way of looking at it.


Machinarium

Machinarium is a very nice example of the hand-drawn style and is rather stylish to boot. It is overall quite an interesting and unique title.


What Makes you Tick: A Stitch in Time

A Stitch in Time is rather a unique entry in this list. It does not look incredibly unique or weird. It actually has rather conventional 2D hand-drawn graphics, but the exceptional quality and detail involved in each scene just made me include it, and I think that it is the only game in this list to make it without some unique gimmick. Not that it doesn't have notable graphical features; For one it features both a night and daytime setting for all of its locals; And some quite nice looking cutscenes, with similar graphics but from a less static perspective.












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