Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

The indie crowd in any group of artists is usually very fickle. Oftentimes they operate on a whole different level, making constant inside jokes, speaking in meme references, and speaking in an overly critical way regarding outsiders entering their dark, sunless realm. This makes entering into such a social group daunting. This is as true of indie gaming as it is of indie art or indie music. Thankfully, though, the people in any social clique are just that: people. And they are willing to explain things to you to gain another comrade in arms. However, there are a few great ways to begin to network with indies, both of the gamer and developer variety, beyond just walking up to them and saying hi.

The biggest way to begin networking with indies is to obviously play or develop indie games. This seems like a no-brainer, but if you are trying to join a group whose topics you aren't interested in, then something is wrong. Those that develop indie games are usually held in higher regard than those who play them. This isn't necessarily because they are better people, but rather more along the lines that those who play the games (the media consumer) admire those who create them. This is the same across all entertainment industries and is no less of a truism amongst indies. Make sure you really want to hang out with them because you have the same interests!

The worst thing you can do when interacting with indie people is force things. The includes behavior as well as games. The more you force your game, the more people are going to dislike it. Just let it come naturally. In much the same vein, don't act out of your normal area (unless your normal area involves not talking to people) and don't try to start inside jokes. This just annoys most indies. Furthermore, some inside jokes which you know are inside jokes should definitely be left alone unless you know exactly when it is alright to use them and when it is funny.

Speaking of inside jokes, there's a definite basic rule behind usage of memes. Be sparse in your usage of a particular in phrase, or you risk bringing scorn upon yourself and making yourself look like an ignorant newbie. From personal experience, it is best to either just ignore memes altogether or only participate in them after lurking and figuring out when best appropriate to use them. Some memes include the usage of owls and gentlemen in art or descriptions, "cave story rip-off", Polybius, and the fabled Airship 2600. Familiarize yourselves with them so you aren't out of the loop!

The one thing that amateur game development has a plague of is "idea men". Specifically, people claiming to be writers, designers, and the like will normally be looked down upon. To some people they are perceived as leeches, attempting to latch on to somebody else's talent and skill. When starting out in the indie community, if you want to make a cool game, it is perhaps best to just work on learning how to draw or code. Most independent developers start out working on projects by themselves, after all. It is only later on that they normally team up.

Nothing annoys an indie more than people being ignorant about their hobby. It is a hobby-based clique of people, after all. Imagine a Dungeons and Dragons player not knowing who Gary Gygax is. Therefore it is best to lurk in whichever indie-oriented forums you want to participate in before actually beginning to make your posts and threads. This seems like a common sense thing, but there are people that leap into something blind all the time and accept the people involved to accept them out of the blue. Nothing is more annoying. So stick around for a little bit and learn about those you will be interacting with before leaping in head first. It'll smooth the interactions considerably.

These are people that are pretty knowledgeable in the area of indie gaming, so chances are they have heard of games like Eternal Daughter, Cave Story, Warning Forever, Multiwinia, and the like. However, also keep in mind that they love coming across new games. If you've found a sweet game some guy in the farthest, most desolate corner of the internet developed, share it! It's a great way to promote discussion and spread around the name of a game that happens to be particularly good and unknown. Be careful, though. Most people can recognize when you are trying to plug your own game and they don't look very well upon such behavior.

A great way to interact with people are the aforementioned many competitions, get-togethers, and various other gatherings that indies participate in to develop or play the latest games. Events like the Independent Games Festival and TIGJam bring together various developers and game players in a celebration of indie games. It's a great place to socialize with those who share the same interests as you, so keep your eye on such events and when they are being held. Just make sure to bring a healthy attitude and preferably something to work on while there. These are also great places to get feedback on a particular game you've been working on, so keep that in mind.

When all is said and done, networking among the indie crowd is not all that different from hanging out with your school friends, your family, or anything else. The only difference is in how inclusive they are, the hobbies they participate in, and how they perceive newcomers to their order. If you are friendly, helpful, and curious, you'll make some great friends and maybe one day gather together with them to make an indie game of truly epic proportions.

For more coverage on indie games and the scene, keep an eye out for Indie Showcase at the same bat time, same bat channel. Also check out Freeware Friday and our indie category for some excellent freeware games and indie news, respectively.