Thursday 28 January – Wednesday 3 February 2010

Check out the best independent videogames for free!

The production of videogames is a lot like the movies: in the same way that a film like Rachel Perkins’ Bran Nue Dae can hold its own against James Cameron’s Avatar, for every Guitar Hero or Grand Theft Auto that’s released there’s a World of Goo.

After winning multiple awards at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), World of Goo has been adapted for multiple platforms including PC and Nintendo Wii; Official Nintendo Magazine described it as “virtually flawless”. This is exactly why Think Services, producer of Game Developer magazine and the Game Developers Conference, came up with the IGF in the first place – to encourage innovation in game production and to recognise the best indie developers in the world.

Think of it as the Sundance for videogames. And until Sunday 14 February, you can play your way through the Best of the Independent Games Festival 2009 without parting with a single cent. Developed by Erik Svedäng from Sweden, Blueberry Garden is an experimental game about curiosity and exploration, and, according to Erik, is “probably not very much like anything you’ve played before”.

In Digital Eel’s Brainpipe, your ultimate objective is to “transcend humanity”, while in Hemisphere Games’ Osmos you’re a single-celled organism propelling yourself into other motes to absorb them. From Belgium comes The Graveyard, a short game that’s described by the developers as an “explorable painting” and from Japan comes PixelJunk Eden, an addictive game in which you control a “Grimp” who jumps from and grips to (geddit?) plant-like structures.

So if you’re a game junkie who wants to experience the best of the best, get your game gear on and come in before the game’s over!

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Other links:
www.acmi.net.au
View all events, here
View all screenings, here

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