holidays posts

This year has been a tremendous year for the growth of the indie scene. Many freeware and commercial indie games have seen the light of day, and thanks to the efforts of publishers such as Meridian4 and platforms such as Impulse or Steam, these indie games are getting more and more exposure to a broad audience. We think it's only appropriate that, after last year, we continue the tradition of naming our favorite indie games of the past year. We had to cut the list down to ten, and while this doesn't necessarily represent all of our favorites (that's practically every indie game!), it serves as a good cross-section. If you're looking for some excellent indie games to get yourself started on the treasure trove that was 2009, look no further than these games right here.

A year has gone by, and we find ourselves once again looking at our family and wondering just what to get them for Christmas. While you can certainly get them such stellar titles as Dawn of War 2, you may want to shift your focus to some cheaper and more interesting games. For the price of three indie games, you can get one triple AAA title, and many of these games exceed the games put out by major studios. Excellent gameplay at a third of the price always sounds like a deal to us, and with massive sales going on in the spirit of Christmas, the deal is even sweeter. We have 15 indie games that we think you or someone you love will absolutely adore this holiday season, and most of them run around or under a $20 price tag. Take a glimpse at some of these titles, and see if you want to go back to the big budgets of more mainstream games. After all, every year indie gaming only gets better.

We've talked about Lugaru here on Big Download before and praised it for being an engaging third-person brawler that happens to be about anthropomorphic rabbits fighting wolves with martial arts. We've even recommended it for purchase in our 15 Indie Games for the Holidays feature. But why take our word for it? Why not play the full game yourself?

Wolfire Games is offering a free copy of Lugaru for Christmas for anybody who uses Facebook. Signing up for this event and joining the ranks of fans on the Overgrowth fan page will net you a free copy of it for you or a family member come Christmas Day. This gift comes in the form of a personalized license key emailed out to all those participating in the event. It's rare to see a developer offer one of their games for free on Christmas, especially when it is $20 any other time of year, so take advantage of their kindness and snag a key. If you want to know what you are getting, the demo can be downloaded freely.

Download the Lugaru Demo [Windows] (24 MB)
Download the Lugaru Demo [Mac] (26 MB)
Download the Lugaru Demo [Linux] (25 MB)

Christmas morning is not the time to break even. What good are all those gift-wrapped PC games if your machine isn't up to the task of running them efficiently? Instead of tube socks, bubble gum, potato chips, and deodorant, make sure to consult Big Download's Stocking Stuffers 08 Guide if you're shopping for that special PC gamer in your life -- or if someone is shopping for you!

If you've been hoping for a sequel to Portal to show up this year, it's time to be disappointed. Valve Software's Doug Lombardi told Eurogamer that we shouldn't expect a new Portal by Christmas. He said that since Portal was revolutionary, "its successor has to be equally revolutionary," and that means the team will be taking its time to make it a much better experience than a more-of-the-same offering.

A few things he said in the interview implied that Portal 2 might be a much bigger and more expensive game than its predecessor. "Half-Life 2 was the right decision," he said. "It was painful, six years and upwards of 40 million dollars to develop, but that paid off. That's our recipe." So what would a $40 million Portal look like? We won't find out this year!

[Via XBox 360 Fanboy]