java posts

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.

There's quite a few options for the budding indie game developer. Do I go with this concept, or that one? What do I do about getting more teammates onto the project? Where am I going to get the money to live while I work on this? Where are my pants? One of the most important of all, though, is the question of doing a browser-based game or making a standalone game right off the bat. This week, let's take a look at some of the best browser game engines available for a developer to use on their way to indie stardom.

When considering an engine to use for the web, there are three primary engines that are used widely. This is not counting PHP-based browser games such as Tribal Wars, by the way. The engines are Microsoft Silverlight, Adobe Flash, Unity, and Sun Microystems Java. Each has their advantages and disadvantages, and appeals to a specific kind of developer or audience.

Welcome to the Indie Showcase, a semi-new column on Big Download that takes a look at games we haven't covered on the site that we really think you should play. They can range from browser to downloadable games, but they all have one thing in common: They are all very good. This week we have a bundle of browser games for you to enjoy anywhere you want, from work to home. They range from Flash games to Java games, and one even has a downloadable version that works both on PC and Mac. This is not the focus of this column, though. In the future, games can range from those from a specific competition, recent excellent releases, or even old indie games that we really think you should look try!