Video games have grown exponentially in recent years and have captured the hearts of millions thanks to the success of titles such as Minecraft, Journey, Limbo, Terraria, or Firewatch. To compete with the blockbusters, the independents have had to be massively creative and come up with innovative gameplays, top-notch writing, original graphic universes, and sumptuous soundtracks.

 

Venturing into territory that holds infinite possibilities, such games can now be a way to discover a foreign culture (Year Walk, Never Alone), promote a moral viewpoint (This War of Mine, Beholder, Papers Please), go on a poetic journey (Abzu, Journey), or simply tell a story set in an extraordinary

landscape (Firewatch, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture).

 

The book pays homage to some of the greatest success stories in the world of indie games, and takes the reader behind the scenes at the independent studios who participated in the making of this volume.

 

These include: Amanita Design (Samorost, Machinarium, Botanicula); Double Fine Production (Broken Age, Day of the Tentacle); Frozenbyte (Trine); Giant Sparrow (What Remains of Edith Finch, The Unfinished Swan); Playdead (Limbo, Inside); Subset Games (Faster Than Light); Team Cherry

(Hollow Knight).