Indie Games

Over the last few years the independent games scene has grown considerably. Among the hundreds of games out there produced by small-time and aspiring games companies are several that are well suited to play on a home arcade cabinet. Here is a list of just some of the low-budget games out there that fit the bill, several of which have free demo versions available.

Note to editors: Please only include games that are known to play well using standard arcade or trackball controls.

Game	Type	Control	Notes
Airstrike II	Shareware	Joystick	an excellent shooter
Big Box of Blox	Freeware	Keyboard, customizable controls	Big Box of Blox can best be summed up as Tetris on acid.
Bomberman vs Digger	Shareware	Joystick	what would happen if Bomberman, Digger and Boulderdash had babies
BreakQuest	Shareware	Trackball Spinner	an incarnation of Breakout/Arkanoid
Chorensha	Freeware	Joystick	Great vertical scrolling shooter.
ClickBeat	Freeware	Mouse Touchscreen	Fun rythmic based game, where you clicking to music.
Dr. Blob's Organism	Freeware		Dr. Blob's Organism, winner in not one, but two, IGF categories (2004 IGF Innovation In Audio and Innovation in Visual Art), is a game about shooting one-celled organisms in a petri dish. Think of it like the old arcade game Tempest, only with much squishier targets.
FrozenBubble	Freeware	Keyboard	Linux only Bubble Boggle clones, w/level editor.
Guardian	?	?	a side-scrolling shooter a-la Defender
Grid Wars	Freeware	Mouse Joystick DualJoystick	An awesome game, based on Geometry Wars. Very definable too.
Hamsterball	Shareware	Trackball Joystick	a fun Marble Madness inspired game
Juno Nemesis	Shareware	?	a modern take on Tempest
Mutant Storm	Shareware	Dual Joystick	dual-joystick Robotron style game
Plasmaworm	Freeware		Plasmaworm is the fiendishly addictive arcade game of weird worms eating random probability eidolons in a tank of otherspatial plasma.
Platypus	Shareware	Joystick	a side-scrolling shooter with clay graphics
Prototype	Freeware	Joystick or keyboard	Horizontal 2D scrolling 'shoot em up' ala rtype
Space Renegade	Shareware ($8.00)	Joystick, keyboard configurable	Space Invaders style vertical shooter. Linux friendly, mac version coming.
Space Tripper	Shareware	Joystick	Defenders style gameplay with updated graphics
Stopple	Freeware	Joystick ?	a free, addictive, fun, puzzle game for all the family
Titanion	Freeware	Keyboard	Galaga style shooter, with an interesting twist on escorts.
Torus Trooper	Freeware	Keyboard	Tempest meets Wipeout, a rotating racer and shooter.