A game which manages to merge minimalist styles with compelling and simple gameplay is no small feat. Doing it procedurally is nothing short of incredible. Dyson is easily our favorite from the competition, and with good reason. A map that completely changes every time you play, real-time strategy gameplay that foregoes most concepts of the genre, and a smooth, clean art style all distinguish this title from the various other games that were absolutely incredible.

Playing mining nanomachines, you must seed and colonize all the asteroids in a procedurally generated asteroid belt. The game plays less like it takes place in space and more like it takes place in a petri dish. With swarms of little seeds, trees that grow into multiple branches, and elaborate tunnel networks, the game is hypnotic in it's simplistic complexity. The gameplay is just as minimal, consisting of moving seeds from asteroid to asteroid on a quest to colonize and eliminate all competitors. It's the perfect game to relax for a real-time strategy fan and, indeed, any gamer in general.


Where we keep finding ourselves coming back to Dyson because of the relaxing nature of its gameplay, we keep coming back to Rescue: The Beagles for the exact opposite reason. With beautiful sprite artwork, elegant and refined gameplay, procedurally-generated environments, and menacing chiptunes, this is a great game to play when looking for some charming, old-school retro platformer action. Our resident indie writer, James Murff, even keeps it on his laptop for playing when on trips.

The game's concept revolves around a plane of beagles being used for animal testing crashing in the wilderness. You, one of two elite animal rights operatives, have been dispatched to rescue the poor animals. While this may seem like an endorsement of PETA, it really isn't. The gameplay is too simple and the setting too surreal to really be considered a political statement. There are zombies and menacing nurses among the evil research staff, for crying out loud. With your combination of parachutes (to save you from long falls), ropes (to climb up walls), medicine (for sick dogs), and owls (to attack researchers), you make your way across each stage, saving as many beagles as possible. It's a great arcade-y platforming action game, and we can't recommend it enough.


It speaks of the massive amount of quality work that came out of this competition when a title of this quality makes third place on our list. MMORPG Tycoon is an incredibly well-made title, rivaling most retail tycoon game releases. With vector graphics, a combination of both small and large scale gameplay, and an amount of choice concerning your product that could almost be considered crippling, it's a new standard for tycoon games in both the retail and independent world. And it got third in our list.

Don't get us wrong, though. MMORPG Tycoon is a fantastic game with very few flaws. The amount of control over how to zone particular areas, tweak the stats of different enemies and classes, and place different features of the typical MMORPG like towns and respawn points is incredible. The simulation of the players is especially excellent too, taking into account how much they are enjoying the game, what class and level they are, what name they go by, and a million other things. The sound and vector graphics are all exceptional as well. The only sticking points behind this game are the lack of a tutorial (based on how complex the game is) and the interface being rather poor considering the quality of the rest of the game. Thankfully, the developer has decided to continue developing it beyond the competition.

Fun Fact: MMORPG Tycoon's download server went down after being linked on our sister site, Massively. Seems people from every walk of life as well as major companies (including Sony and Microsoft, according to the developer) just had to play it.


In a shoot-'em-up competition, Self Destruct would easily get first place. With 250 procedurally generated waves of enemies, inspired play mechanics that rewards taking risks, retro graphics and sound, and online leaderboards, it's an absolutely wonderful game. The difficulty of the game may be a turn-off for most just starting to try it, but trust us. It's incredible. Just give it some time.


While the other games combined great artwork, gameplay, and sound into a single package, using procedural generation to enhance it, dropTD took a completely different route. Dropping files, folders, and URLs into the program gave you levels and towers galore. The mix of traditional TD gameplay with this new paradigm was perhaps the most intriguing use of the theme we encountered in the competition. It is thus with pride that we give it an honorable mention.


There's nothing quite like a cactus game to weird you out. From games about eyes attacking humanity to others about vaguely obscene tentacle things attacking you, he's always a master of the surreal and the strange. KrebsWelte is no exception. Part of the Mondo Medicals series, it mixes creepy character design, strange weapons, and intriguing gameplay to form a surreal experience better than any of the others in the competition.