2011: The Year's Best Indie Games

10. Retro City Rampage (XBLA, WiiWare)

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After games like Scott Pilgrim Vs The World and Super Meat Boy made pixels cool again, it seems that tons of indie devs are going back in time to give their games a retro veneer. Following suit is Retro City Rampage; a game that, at a first glance, looks like a top-down, retro themed GTA clone. But a quick watch of the trailer linked above reveals it to be an excellent mash-up of retro games that parodies games like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Super Mario Bros, Ninja Gaiden and Metal Gear. It's shaping up very nicely indeed.

9. Journey (PSN)

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We're looking forward to Journey for several reasons. It comes from flOw and Flower developer Jenova Chen and his studio thatgamecompany, and it looks set to be a provocative, emotional experience that is geared towards our interactions with other people, as well as our place in the world. It boasts highly stylised visuals and minimalist locales to make you feel all sad and alone inside. Given Chen's pedigree as a game developer, there's no reason for Journey to fail when it launches on PSN.

8. Rock Of Ages (PSN)

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Tower defence has been done to death. We genuinely thought the genre was stretched to breaking point until Rock of Ages entered our radar. It has a lot in common with other tower defence games, but it also splices the format with a neat boulder mechanic that smacks of Super Money Ball. Players take turns in rolling giant boulders towards their opponent's fort, while the defender scrambles about, desperately trying to defend using barriers, giant beasts and troops. Watch the trailer and you can see how fun this will be online.

7. Spelunky (XBLA)

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We've mentioned Spelunky a lot on NowGamer recently as it's shaping up to be the XBLA indie smash of the year. Created by indie dev Derek Yu, Spelunky sees a pint-sized cave explorer navigating randomly generated caverns in search of treasure. Along the way players will face traps, vicious wildlife and lethal pitfalls. It's bloody brilliant, and while it's an incredibly simple concept to grasp, mastering the treacherous caves takes a lot of practice. Given that each area is random, you can never be sure of what to expect next. Watch this space; Spelunky is destined to be huge.

Spelunking its way onto XBLA soon.

6. Bastion (PC)

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Bastion is looking very impressive. It's a lush, colourful and refreshing title that mixes isometric combat with town building and exploration. Developer Supergiant Games has created a visually striking world that has cracked and split apart as a result of a mysterious cataclysm. It's your job to rebuild and forge a new world from the broken pieces, and defeat a ton of monsters in the process. The visuals have a beautiful hand-drawn quality and the animation strikes similarities to the Disgaea series. It's yet to find a solid release format, but it'll be superb regardless of where it finds its home.

Bastion's visuals are breathtaking.

5. Explodemon! (PSN)

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At a first glance, Explodemon! May look like it's ripping off Twisted Pixel's 'Splosion Man, but you'd be unwise to take it at first glance. Sure it has explosions, but this gem from Curve Studios delivers the non-stop platform action of Mega Man, the bullet-dodging antics of Contra and the wall jumping, obstacle dodging of Shinobi. It's a melting pot of win, and we're looking forward to spending considerable hands-on time trying to top the leader boards.

4. The Witness (PC)

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Braid creator Jonathan Blow is no stranger to innovation. His second project The Witness is mysterious as it is endearing. One glance at Blow's development blog gives away some cryptic tidbits and while there is a maze-solving mechanic at work, these simple puzzles unlock only a fraction of a much larger conundrum. Check out the cam footage above, which was taken at Blow's covert reveal at PAX last year, and you can see that this is no ordinary puzzler. Expect nothing less than a revelation when it lands.

The Witness. Made of win.

3. Fez (XBLA)

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Rotation in games hasn't exactly been innovative since Tetris mania died down and Bioshock's pipe hacking games got boring, but Fez takes the idea to a whole new level. Similar to Super Paper Mario, players can navigate beautiful worlds and overcome obstacles by rotating the game world a full 360 degrees. The best way to explain how the mechanic works is to simply watch the trailer above. The mechanic is actually pretty simple at its core, but the possibilities are literally endless.

2. Pixeljunk Lifelike (PSN)

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This trailer is fast becoming the thing of legend. It's one of the most bizarre game reveals we've ever seen, but strangely enough, it really makes us want to see the proper game running. The Pixeljunk series has a glittering track record, so there's no reason to believe that Lifelike won't match the standard. Just try to watch the trailer without laughing or getting angry at the sheer absurdity of it all.

1. Black Mesa (PC)

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This Half-Life remake seems to have been in development for an eternity. Its little wonder however, as this is an indie title in the purest form; developed through collaborations between bedroom coders across the world at no financial gain, and fuelled by pure passion and dedication. We wouldn't be surprised if the developers get jobs at Valve after Black Mesa lands. The trailer reveals it to be a graphically stunning remake of the original.