indie game the movie review

Indie Game: The Movie Review

The new documentary film starring Jon Blow, Team Meat and Phil Fish of Fez fame. Out now on iTunes and Steam.

This review of Indie Game: The Movie was written after a screening at the Game Developers Conference earlier this year. We present it again today to mark the digital release of the film on Steam , iTunes and direct download today. For full details, see 'How to See It' below.

It's not surprising that independent documentary film-makers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot - who raised the funds to make their film via Kickstarter - should find sympathetic subjects in a bunch of talented indie game creators. Nor is it surprising that Indie Game: The Movie should get a standing ovation after an oversubscribed screening at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. It's the definition of a home crowd, and this tale of triumph over adversity is just what directors and audience alike wanted to hear.

It's a soft-hearted, uncritical group hug of a film that romanticises the artist's struggle and delivers a fantasy-fulfilling Hollywood ending. But that's not the only reason they stood and whooped in the aisles at the Moscone Center on Monday night; it's also a heartfelt piece of work that does much to demystify and humanise games and the game development process.

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Indie Game: The Movie follows Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes as they complete and launch Super Meat Boy in late 2010, and Phil Fish as he prepares to give the first public demonstration of his long-delayed indie darling Fez at last year's PAX East show. It also features Jonathan Blow ruminating on the breakout success of Braid like some elder statesman of sticking it to the man.

Swirksy and Pajot originally planned a broader examination of indie game-making, but in Super Meat Boy and Fez, they found stories that were too good to pass up. McMillen and Refenes enter an horrific two-month crunch to get Super Meat Boy into an Xbox Live Arcade promotion, only for Microsoft to fail to promote the game on the Xbox dashboard on launch day, as promised. Meanwhile, an ex-business partner of Fish's refuses to sign a contract and end a legal dispute, leaving Fez's future - already hanging by a thread - in doubt.

Drama! But the directors are a little too in thrall to these phantom threats which, despite some merciless milking, fizzle out in the end - and they miss the opportunity to show the all-too-real consequences when everything goes wrong. Indie gaming is littered with equally passionate individuals who lose their shirts, but their stories aren't told. Swirsky and Pajot have only picked sure things to star in their fairytale.

What stars, though. And if the film-makers are too close to their subjects, at least that results in some fantastic material. McMillen, Refenes and Fish are frank about their fears and inspirations, and the depression and borderline mania that go with undertaking such huge creative projects in virtual isolation and with scant financial support. They're great characters, too. The spiky, awkward coder Refenes swings from crippling self-doubt to flashes of punk-rock defiance. Artist and designer McMillen looks outlandish but has his feet on the ground, talking with poignant lucidity about his childhood, inspirations and early games, and also offering a brilliantly practical five-minute primer on level design and game mechanics.

Fish, meanwhile, is heartbreakingly invested in a game he can't finish for his own perfectionism. "It's me, my ego. My identity is at risk. It's my perception of myself," he says of Fez. In the film's most startling moment, he's asked what he will do if he doesn't finish the game. "I will kill myself," he replies, meaning it. "That's my incentive to finish it." The flash of black humour relieves the tension, but it's an alarming vision of a man in desperate times.

Blow is underused, though, and the film never really gets under his skin. His reserved character and lack of a storyline (Braid is long since in the can, The Witness only in its early days) leaves him as a detached, gnomic figure in the background of the film. Blow's waters run deep and he has some fascinating things to say, but they're often glossed over quickly before we get back to the next gratifying story beat. At one point he says that he found many of Braid's most glowing reviews to be the most depressing, because they'd failed to engage with the game's ideas; cut to McMillen triumphantly reading out Super Meat Boy's scores (including some familiar-looking big blue numbers) over swelling music.

Still, it's far more compelling than a film about men sitting at computers has any right to be, and more stylish, too. Swirsky and Pajot use some contrived visual devices to make things look interesting, like Fish submerging himself in a pool while he talks about depression, or a recurring and meaningless image of a Super Nintendo controller hanging from telegraph wires. But the presentation of game footage is fantastic - beautiful, instructive, sensitive to the material but also to the needs of a film audience, it does the games themselves proud in a way few film or TV productions ever have.

And the indie scene? Despite Swirsky and Pajot's obvious love of the cool aesthetics and hipster attitude of indie games, much of Indie Game: The Movie could apply to any game development. The real virtue of sticking with these solitary developers is that their struggles are on a human scale, and a broader audience can understand how a game is made - this guy draws the pictures, this guy writes the program - much easier than they could the strange workings of a 100-man blockbuster team. But these guys' obsession and artistry can be found everywhere in the games industry.

It's a soft soap and in some ways a missed opportunity, but Indie Game: The Movie has one great achievement to its name: it's conclusive proof, for all the world to see, that video games are made by human beings.

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'Indie Game: The Movie': The Kotaku Movie Review

"Indie Game: The Movie" has finally been released into the wild. The much anticipated documentary centers on the creation of Super Meat Boy and Fez , along with the men responsible; Edmund McMillen, Tommy Refenes, and Phil Fish. It also seeks to enlighten the general audience on the magical work of independent games as a whole. Or one might assume.

People who will see this movie can be separated into two basic camps: those well-versed with the subject matter, and those who know nothing about indie games (or perhaps video games as whole).

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Reaction among those who have seen it already, and who represent the first camp, has been mixed. Some are elated that there finally exists a cinematic documentation of something they hold so dearly. Others have taken issue with how it is presented, and in particular, the men who have been chosen to represent the indie game movement.

I've also spoken with those who fall into the second camp, who simply enjoy a good documentary, since it gives them a chance to learn something totally foreign. And their reaction? Sadly, a mix of quiet confusion and boredom. But the thing is, you don't have to be in the second camp to feel that way either.

First and foremost, the movie preaches to the choir. Quite passionately and at serious length. There is little doubt that directors James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot have strong feelings towards their chosen subject matter and the utmost respect for the stars of their story. Yet this causes several serious issues throughout.

The movie is a lengthy hour and 40 minutes. So when one considers how much time has been allotted, and the very title of the movie (again, "Indie Game: The Movie"), one might expect to learn a lot about the subject matter, right?

Things kick off with a succinct rundown of the modern indie game movement. Immediately, anyone who knows a thing or two, especially about the indie scene, will be perturbed by lack of any substantial mention of anything prior to 2008. Whereas those who know nothing about games will be blissfully ignorant about the missing past, yet another point of contention.

Very early on, one of "Indie Game: The Movie"'s driving forces (Refenes) says that he would never work for a major studio, like EA or Epic, because that sounds like "hell" to him. Fair enough, but why? Such a bold statement is not once elaborated upon. Mainstream games are addressed, but only slightly. And that makes absolutely zero sense, given that it would be the perfect chance to offer a contrast, as to why indie games are so awesome.

After the brief rundown, we get the chance to become more intimately acquainted with our principles; who they are, and why they make games. We're also introduced to Jonathan Blow, presented as the indie game guy who has officially made it. He's where the three subjects want to be at. The focus is squarely on McMillen, Refenes, and Fish's struggles, with the success that Blow has managed to achieve, along with the wisdom drawn from it, acting as commentary for the film's narrative.

The best part of "Indie Game: The Movie" is easily its first 40 or so minutes. From hearing McMillen recount his tumultuous childhood, which was tapped into as a source of inspiration later on in life, to watching Fish demonstrate the games he made with his father; this is by far the most enjoyable, fascinating, and most importantly, accessible part of the entire documentary.

Too bad this doesn't last forever. Eventually, the film sheds its somewhat lighthearted tone and becomes rather grim, by detailing the not so pleasant realities of an independent game maker. No one has it the least bit easy, which is vividly illustrated. That's absolutely necessary to convey, given how it's the truth. Yet…

It's simply too much. The lack of levity around the mid-point is fairly uncomfortable. That's not to say that humor should have been arbitrarily infused into the proceedings, far from it. But given the ultra slow pace in which everything unfolds, it's not such a shock how some in the audience might "turn" on the subjects, as sad it is to say. This is also when it starts to feels as if the directors are too in love with the subject matter, and it's unfortunate that their reverence for their stars backfires in such a fashion.

Some who consider themselves knowledgeable about video games may feel that the drama presented in the latter half is trivial. Such as when both McMillen and Refenes freak out over Super Meat Boy not showing up in the Xbox Live Marketplace on the morning that it should. Or Fish having an anxiety attack that his former partner has yet to sign the appropriate paperwork that would allow him to legally show Fez at PAX East. I disagree with those assessments, yet they're hardly surprising. Everything is presented in such super-dramatic fashion that it is indeed off-putting and lends towards cynicism. The ultra-stylish presentation of the proceedings also doesn't help in this instance, either. It also feels as if the directors were looking to artificially add excitement to their narrative. Keeping things nice and lean would have solves this problem, plus many others, and resulted in a far stronger movie as a whole.

Near the end of the film, there are some truly powerful moments. Watching Fish dealing with his much-anticipated game constantly crashing on day one of the PAX East show is compelling and heart-breaking. The validation that McMillen and Refenes receive when they break day one-sales records is a definite, well deserved, feel-good moment.

Yet when things are needlessly dragged out for dramatic effect, or the obvious is overstated, it's frustrating and tiresome. Worst is how there are several moments in which avenues could have been explored, but were not: like Blow explaining how he's frustrated by critics liking his games, but not for the reasons that he feels they should. It's such a fascinating concept that is not followed up, and it's not like time was an issue.

That's another thing: given the message how indie gaming is in some ways superior to the mainstream gaming, it's somewhat contradictory to constantly refer to the standards that the other side uses to determine a title's validity, such as sales figures and review scores. One would have wagered that such trappings are not necessary in an alternative environment. The basis of such success, even if established by the status quo, helps to provide a sense of context to these indie achievements. Too bad none of this is sufficiently explained to outsiders. Granted, big dollar signs are easily understood by all, but not everyone walking down the street knows what a Metacritic score is.

"Indie Game: The Movie" had the real potential to introduce the subject matter to an audience that might otherwise not be exposed to it. Yet it's hardly accessible nor even all that informative. And that last part, mostly due to the film's lack of focus and constant need to put its subjects on a pedestal, is sure to irk those who are less interested in validation and more hungry for insight.

"Indie Game: The Movie" is available for purchases from either the films's website , Steam , or iTunes . That last avenue also offers the chance to rent the film. One last thing worth mentioning: one of the few unabashed positives, is the fantastic soundtrack by Jim Guthrie, best know for Sword & Sworcery. His music for the movie can be purchased via his homepage as well.

Matthew Hawkins is a NYC based game journalist who once upon a time used to be an editor for GameSetWatch , currently writes for MSNBC's In-Game , plus numerous other outlets, self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of the Attract Mode collective, and co-hosts The Fangamer Podcast . You can keep tabs on his personal home-base, FORT90.com .

Indie Game: The Movie review

Boys in their bedrooms, drop-out dreamers, shut-in gore fetishists - if ever a film were to quash the red-top stereotypes of game developers than this would surely be it. Indie Game: The Movie follows four of the most thoughtful, hard-working and sensitive young fellows you could probably find in this business or any other, and is both a clarion call for the thrilling creative freedom of independent development and a grim warning of its near-lethal stakes.

The sheer graft underpinning the development of Braid, Fez or Super Meat Boy is writ large here, and accompanied by no small amount of heartache. Charting half a decade of development, the filmmakers cherry-pick from a catalogue of dramas, as the four developers struggle with the threat of financial oblivion, acrimonious legal wrangles, corrosive relationships with corporate gatekeepers, depression, insomnia, bad diets and eccentric facial hair.

Just how much they sacrifice to ship their game, and just how much they suffer both before and after, makes for moving viewing. The film deftly sketches their characters, too: a shot here of the meticulous Jon Blow, developer of Braid, sitting with stiff poise in a bare apartment; a shot there of Super Meat Boy's Tommy Refenes drowsily pawing through a pile of grease-stained to-do lists. Refenes and his Team Meat partner, Edmund McMillen, are an endearingly asymmetrical duo - the tattooed, moustached McMillen is relaxed and warm, but touchingly vulnerable, while the skeletal Refenes is dryly cynical and seems permanently exhausted. You suspect his energy levels might improve if he didn't survive on microwave burgers.

It's Phil Fish, however, who offers the most wrenching story of all. While everyone seems willing to kill themselves to make their game, only in Fish's case does this appear to be a literal threat. His game, Fez, has been in development for years by the film's start, and has yet to ship when the titles roll. You get a glimpse of the reason for this in Fish's painstaking pixel-perfect overhaul of the game's textures - the third they have undergone. Like all of the film's subjects, this man is a perfectionist, possibly to the point of self-annihilation.

Curiously, though the film expertly explains the passion it fails to describe the projects at which it is directed. Sure, we know Braid does something funny with time, and Fez goes all 3D - but how these things are manipulated to create elegant puzzles and transcendent epiphanies goes unrecorded. Blow even describes sinking into a depression when Braid's rapturous reception failed to acknowledge his meta-narrative, but we never even understand how brilliant Braid's time-contorting mechanics are, let alone what its meta-narrative entails. For the uninitiated, all three of the featured platformers might end up looking very similar, and though the film focuses on the human story behind these developments, the intelligence and intent of their construction surely deserves more space. As it is, without a ready explanation of the games' ambition and worth, the film undersells the development as something akin to tilting at windmills.

There are some striking insights when the devs are allowed to discuss the design process: Blow describes how he structures his game as a dialogue with the player, so that the mechanics tumble out as minor revelations during play. Making an intimidating conundrum isn't the interesting thing, he suggests, but bringing the player to a comprehension of it. Perhaps this answers Blow's own puzzle: one reason for the lukewarm response to his narrative ambitions may be that they appeared opaque for opacity's sake.

Some of the connections the film makes are a little crude and possibly overly-manipulative: McMillen talks about his game's protagonist, Meat Boy, a character whose absence of skin leaves him vulnerable and in constant pain. He needs his girlfriend, who is made of plasters, to complete him. Cut to: interview with McMillen's girlfriend. It's a metaphor, see.

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The film also sags in its last part, apparently not quite sure what to do with Super Meat Boy's tremendous success, except repeat it several times. Oddly, it even revisits a long mission statement Blow gives at the film's start. Maybe the filmmakers were hoping for material provided by the launch of Fez, but Phil Fish's ever-retreating schedule evaded them. The lack of conclusion to his tale does leave something of a void, although it is heartening to know, as we now do, that he has probably since become rather rich.

Was it worth the effort? Refenes pays off the mortgage on his parents' house, McMillen buys his girlfriend a hideous cat, Blow pours millions into his next development (The Witness), all because they ship their games and people love them. By the fortuitous choice of its subjects the movie escapes the difficulty of wrangling a heartwarming tale from bankruptcy and suicide, but it's not a story without moments of bleakness. Indie Game: The Movie is an inspiring film, and even if it is rather vague about the specific appeal of the games themselves, it delicately articulates the passion, idiosyncrasies and brilliance of the developers as they pursue uncompromised creativity - and at what cost.

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Indie Game: The Movie Reviews

Everybody would benefit just from seeing how hard these guys work doing something they love to death. Their enthusiasm is awe-inspiring.

Full Review | Mar 4, 2019

While it's wonderful that the film is able to shine a light on an exciting group of innovators as they come into their own, Swirsky and Pajot should get equal recognition for capturing the moment as it's happening.

Full Review | Dec 17, 2018

Aptly demonstrates just how much they are willing to sacrifice to that end, bearing hardship and putting lives on pause to reach that final product of a completed game.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 20, 2013

It gives an insight into the creative process and the drive and passion necessary to produce something you want to share with the world.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 12, 2013

Compelling from start to finish, the movie is a real eye-opener for the uninitiated as it cogently makes the argument that video games deserve to be taken as seriously as movies, novels, paintings and more esteemed artistic disciplines.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 16, 2012

Watching [a programmer] reboot a computer at a trade show over and over again was hardly what I'd call stirring cinema.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Aug 25, 2012

The film becomes a cheerleader for its subjects, which limits its ability to understand them.

Full Review | Original Score: 48/100 | Jun 26, 2012

A passionate, deeply affecting celebration of a medium too often derided.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 18, 2012

Like punk rock or alternative comedy, it's a DIY pursuit that pits go-it-alone types against an industry machine, often breeding exciting but intensely idiosyncratic art in the process.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 1, 2012

Even if you are "pursuing your dreams," at the end of the day, work is work. It may be more exciting and different than your average 9-5 cubicle life, it is still a job with deadlines, pressure, and stress.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | May 29, 2012

The struggles these guys face getting their games done are monumental, and makes for some really tense, anxious stuff.

Full Review | May 29, 2012

Indie Game provides a gripping and consistently entertaining insight into this unique sub-set of the games industry.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | May 29, 2012

You don't have to be the type who keeps an Atari in a trophy case to be enthralled by Indie Game: The Movie.

Indie Game: The Movie is more than just a film about video games, it's an examination of the artistic spirit and the latest evolution of independent artist.

With just a Canon DSLR and help from Kickstarter.com for funding, Swirsky and Pajot have created a beautiful and fascinating look into the creative process in a never-been-told medium.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | May 29, 2012

Not only one of the best documentaries of the year, but one of the best films period.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | May 25, 2012

This is about developers communicating with the world in the most creative, productive way they know how. It's about the artistic process.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 25, 2012

A remarkable statement about a modern paperless product with paperless funding, paperless sales and paperless enjoyment. However, the exposure of the artists and the hovering threat of failure will never change.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | May 24, 2012

You may have never picked up a game console in your life, but there's universal access thanks to compelling stories in Indie Game: The Movie.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 24, 2012

It made me care very much about a topic that filled me with indifference.

Full Review | May 18, 2012

Review: Indie Game: The Movie

Everything you wanted to know about independent games, but were afraid to ask

We play games for a number of reasons - among them, for the escapism. We play games to disappear, albeit briefly, from the pressures of work, life, and the world at large. Once we’re done, we return to those roles and responsibilities. But those games need to come from somewhere, and they come via those that have chosen to make them their life. These guys, these independent developers who work for love - and maybe eventually money - can’t escape. Each game is a bet, and each bet is all in.

Indie Game : The Movie opens a window into their stories, allowing us a peek at the sacrifices and successes, the elated highs and the crashing lows, that flow through every day of their coding lives. There’s Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, the duo behind Super Meat Boy which is gearing up for its debut on the Xbox Marketplace. There’s Phil Fish, who’s racing to silence the online haters by finishing Fez amid a protracted legal battle. And then there’s Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid , and an inclusion in this documentary seemingly for that reason alone. There’s no journey to follow with Blow - his game is released, and his forthcoming project The Witness is barely mentioned at all - but we are permitted to receive some insights on his philosophy to game design, and to marvel at how dramatically they clash with those of his contemporaries.

They all do, in fact. They clash with each other. With Fez, Phil wants his creation to instill a sense of delight, to recapture that same childlike wonder he and his generation experienced the first time they booted up the likes of Super Mario Bros. There’s a deliberate simplicity to the visuals, an incentive to explore. Fez carries a delightful tone, and as he dusts off his old Macintosh to demonstrate some early examples of games he made as a child, it’s clear that tone is a key part of his approach. But he’s attached to Fez. It’s his baby. He’s been designing and redesigning it for the best part of four years. He wants - needs - it to live up to the expectations of the baying public, having taken Fez dark after generating positive buzz in 2007, and to the expectations of his own high standards. Phil shows us two different versions of artwork from Fez, side by side. One represents his first effort at designing the game’s pixel art, the other is from its most recent iteration. To us, they’re two decent examples of Fez’s visual style. To him, one is horrible, terrible, rubbish, awful, while the other is acceptable. For now.

Team Meat, meanwhile, are in it for themselves. With Edmund a jolly mass of tattoo and beard, and Tommy scraping by on a wiry frame and the occasional insulin injection, they’re like the Odd Couple of game design. Edmund says he wants to create a game that a younger version of himself would enjoy; one that combines his unique tastes and style into a game that’s racing against the clock if it’s to stand a chance of making its launch window. The sacrifices are made obvious. “I have no social life,” laments Tommy. “I wouldn’t even be able to have one anyway; I’ve got no money to take anyone out.” He’s sitting in a diner at 4am. He’s got two days to get Super Meat Boy ready for certification.

For both games, failure is not an option. Should Super Meat Boy fall, says Edmund, he’s done. The last few years are all for nothing. And Phil, courting a potential lawsuit by readying Fez for a demo booth at PAX without the okay from his former business partner, is feeling the pressure more than most. “If it doesn’t do well,” he says, “I’m going to kill myself.” We believe him.

Jonathan Blow, in the periphery, weaves in and out with his approach to game design. Fair enough - Braid is one of indie gaming’s biggest success stories. It set the bar. And it’s clear that the makers of Indie Game want us to know what he knows. There’s insight in Blow’s presence, but there’s no vested interest. With or without a project, Blow makes it hard to truly engage. He says he was disappointed by the reviews of Braid; most of them didn’t seem to “get it”. He chases down those reviews and adds his comments to each article. He says the only way to enjoy a game is the way he intended.

The direction by James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot is happy to let the participants do the talking. Only on the odd occasion does it intrude with attempted symbolism. When Phil relays his frustrations of legal red tape, it’s in voice-over as he floats, then submerges, in a hotel swimming pool. (Yes, we get it, he’s drowning.) Then, at a hotel bar where he’s losing himself in a drink, he’s perched on a stool not unlike Jack Nicholson in The Shining, right down to the wild hair and wilder eyes. (Yes, we get it, he’s losing his mind.) It’s a more effective tale when each participant is left to their own devices; their subtleties say more than deliberate framing ever could. Phil, a French Canadian, is fluent in both languages, yet when he gets particularly upset and enraged, you can hear the slight tinges of a French accent filter into otherwise impeccable speech. It’s involuntary, it’s true emotion. That, and his facial hair. As the months tick by with Fez no closer to release, Phil morphs from bearded hipster to fierce mutton chops - as observed by a friend of mine, the transformation practically serves as “an insanity meter”.

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Indie Game: The Movie was filmed in 2010. We know how these games end up. What the film truly exposes are not just the stories of its developers, but the unique realm of independent game development; it shows us how the process affects the very real lives of these very real people. Creative or artistic expression ultimately stems from, and contributes towards, human emotion. There’s no getting away from that. And these guys, they’re biting their nails to the quick after sending their babies out into the wild and leaving them at the mercy of Metacritic. After investing years of their lives, how can they not? We might play to escape, but they’re coding to live. Think of the bedroom programmer with a shattered body clock who’s living off microwaved burgers the next time you jump on Twitter to say “this game sucks”.

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Review: Indie Game: The Movie

Nearly a year after the initial release of Indie Game: The Movie, Blinkworks releases a special edition that sees epilogues and extras added on top of the acclaimed documentary itself. If you’ve never seen the film before, this is an unmissable opportunity to dive straight into it and be extra astounded. But even if you’re already an owner of it, it’s a chance to build on something that was pretty damn great to begin with.

Base Package

If you think documentaries are dull, this will be the film that challenges that. Even at nearly two hours long, it’s difficult not to tear yourself away from the screen as you’ll be more hooked and on the edge of your seat than your garden-variety blockbuster thriller.

It’s absolutely serendipitous that directors Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky managed to find three subject games that just happen to provide such fantastic stories. Whilst  Braid was a good choice as it had already enjoyed much success, taking the time and risk in following the creators of Super Meat Boy and Fez was a truly excellent punt. There is so much heart, drama, and peril in the journeys of these two games that makes this a phenomenal experience. 

But the roller coaster rides through these games’ developments and releases are not really what you get your teeth sunk into. Instead, it’s how Pajot and Swirsky have their subjects open up and give a surprising, unprecedented, and deep insight into the emotions and thinking behind their games. You suddenly share a profound understanding about these projects, and that they aren’t just a cynical way of making money: they are complex creative and social outlets.

It’s this empathy that you end up having for the people involved that absolutely make this movie. You’re rooting for them, biting your nails, and experiencing their heartbreaks and highs completely unrestricted and utterly willingly. It’s as emotionally exhausting as it is satisfying.

Augmenting this is Pajot and Swirsky’s exceptional direction and cinematography. Not only are there hosts of gorgeous shots throughout the film, everything is very well paced and dynamic. Gameplay footage, animations, and miscellaneous clips keep you engaged as visually as your are cerebrally. Jim Guthrie also provides a brilliant original score that really lifts the film’s timbre and feelings.

Overall, the completed film is nothing short of exquisite and elating. It’s not just a good documentary about gaming, it’s one of the slickest and engrossing factual films ever made.

Phil Fish, creator of Fez , in a nerve-racking lead-up to his PAX showcase. Photograph: Courtesy of Blinkworks.

Additional Content

The special edition content sees a bevy of extra shorts picking up with developers where they left off. But w hat’s great is that these additional titbits aren’t things that are thrown in rushed or without effort or inspiration; they’re just as absorbing as the original film itself.

Pajot and Swirsky bring the same recognisable style, cinematography and ability to extract some incredibly personal accounts to these as much as the main movie. Despite being mere extras, whether its expanding on epilogues, or delving into how their subjects have managed to deal with the problem of internet trolling, it looks and feels as if none of it is secondary.

Furthermore, Pajot and Swirsky invite some new friends into their fold through these little treatsies, like Derek Yu and his game  Spelunky, or   Josh Rohrer’s  Passage. It’s great to get glimpses into how similar, or different, other developers and games are in their own unique creations.

With over 100 minutes of these extras, it’s almost like a whole new film in itself especially as Pajot and Swirsky are by no means lack lustre. Matching the quality and insight of the main feature itself, buying them as a DLC is must, and choosing to purchase the film for the first time without these is just madness.

Indie Game: The Movie (Special Edition) is available on Steam . Owners of the original documentary on Steam can also purchase the additional content separately as a DLC. A physical collectors edition box is available via www.indiegamethemovie.com .

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The Sweat, Tears and Passion Behind the Pixels

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By Nicolas Rapold

• May 18, 2012

Struggling artists can welcome the practitioners of a new medium to their ranks, as persuasively shown by Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky’s tenderly wrought portrait of four video game designers. A welcome primer for the uninitiated, “Indie Game: The Movie” lays bare the passion behind the pixels, revealing the sweat, tears and sleep deprivation that go into trying to make the latest gaming sensation.

The lucrative video game industry is already the subject of obsessive evaluation online and academic scrutiny at universities. Instead of large companies, Ms. Pajot and Mr. Swirsky choose the smaller scale of independent designers, whose shoestring productions and headlong financial and emotional investments recall their indie equivalents in filmmaking.

Before succumbing to the protracted countdown to a big gaming expo , “Indie Game” succeeds where many chronicles of more established creative spirits fail. Conveying oft-derided aesthetics and anguished personal history to a broader audience is some kind of a feat when your subjects are toiling away at an old-school Super Mario-style game called Super Meat Boy .

But only the hardhearted could dismiss the vulnerable, harried and rather sweet creators of Super Meat Boy, Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes . And you may not be able to look away from Phil Fish, all nerves, as he proclaims his intention to kill himself or his estranged business partner if his long-gestating pseudo-Cubist game Fez does not come to fruition. (Not to worry: It became available on the Xbox downloadable games marketplace last month.) Jonathan Blow, a longtime veteran, is the Old Man River among them, yet still hyperconscious of fan expectations.

“Indie Game” experiences a drop-off in playability after a while, losing its detailed perspective on the gamer world and on behemoths like Microsoft in favor of the diminishing returns of pressure-based narrative. But along the way comes a bracing, honest confession about these interactive creations, voiced by one designer but no doubt applying to many more makers of all kinds: “I made it for myself.”

Opens on Friday in Manhattan. Directed by Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky 1 hour 36 minutes; not rated

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• User reviews

Indie Game: The Movie

A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world. A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world. A documentary that follows the journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

• Lisanne Pajot
• James Swirsky
• Jonathan Blow
• Brandon Boyer
• Renaud Bédard
• 31 User reviews
• 50 Critic reviews
• 73 Metascore
• 3 wins & 6 nominations

• PAX East Attendee
• (uncredited)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Much is made in the movie of the protracted development of Fez (2012) . The game did eventually get released on April 13, 2012. It received critical praise and is considered a commercial success.
• Goofs When Tommy is mailing Microsoft, he's using a PC, but the full-screen pictures of the email client are of Apple Mail.

Edmund McMillen : My whole career has been me, trying to find new ways to communicate with people, because I desperately want to communicate with people, but I don't want the messy interaction of having to make friends and talk to people, because I probably don't like them.

• Crazy credits Various game play video from other independent games not covered in the main movie are shown during the credits.
• Connections Features Braid (2008)

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes

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Buy Indie Game: The Movie

Packages that include this game, buy indie game: the movie special edition.

Includes 2 items: Indie Game: The Movie, Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DLC

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Includes 4 items: Super Meat Boy , Indie Game: The Movie , FEZ , Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DLC

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One of the top-rated movies of 2012. 93% RT Score – Rotten Tomatoes “There are victories, defeats, tears and smiles. Indie Game: The Movie is a MUST-SEE doc for anybody that fancies themselves a gamer or for anyone who gets sucked into a good underdog story.” – Ain’t it Cool News “'Indie Game: The Movie' lays bare the passion behind the pixels, revealing the sweat, tears and sleep deprivation that go into trying to make the latest gaming sensation” – New York Times

Special Edition DLC

Special Edition DLC now available. With 100+ minutes of new epilogues & short films, the Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DLC is another film's worth of stories, crafted by the directors of the original award-winning feature documentary. Find out about what happened after to the developers of Super Meat Boy & FEZ, and about other games and game creators.

Indie Game: The Movie has been updated with new languages, directors' commentary, trading cards & achievements.

About This Game

• 1080P, full HD video application.
• ‘Team Meat’ Audio Commentary Track: Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes provide their various insights throughout the film. Hilarious, informative and sometimes outright lies. It’s a great compliment to the film.
• Subtitle / Language Support: Arabic, Chinese (traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Ukraine.
• Video Extras: Assorted video pieces produced during the production of the film.
• 2012 Sundance Official Selection World Documentary Competition

• 2012 Sundance Winner for Best Editing in World Documentary Cinema

• 2012 South by Southwest Official Selection

• 2012 Hot Docs Festival Official Selection
• 2012 Sheffield Doc/Fest Official Selection

System Requirements

• OS *: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, Professional, or Tablet PC Edition with Service Pack 3; Windows Server® 2003; Windows Server® 2008; Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (including 64-bit editions) with Service Pack 2
• Processor: 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor or Intel® Atom™ 1.6GHz or faster processor for netbooks
• Memory: 512 MB RAM
• Hard Drive: 4 GB HD space
• OS *: Windows 7
• Processor: 2.4Ghz or faster x86-compatible processor
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• OS: Mac OS X v10.6
• Processor: Intel Core™ Duo or faster processor
• Additional: Not compatible with OSX 10.7.3
• Processor: Intel Core™ Duo 2.4Ghz or faster processor

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Where to watch

Indie game: the movie.

Directed by Lisanne Pajot , James Swirsky

Making fun and games is anything but fun and games.

Follows the dramatic journeys of video game developers as they create and release their games to the world. It's about making video games, but at its core, it's about the creative process, and exposing yourself through your work.

Jonathan Blow Phil Fish Edmund McMillen Tommy Refenes

Directors Directors

Lisanne Pajot James Swirsky

Composer Composer

Jimmy Guthrie

BlinkWorks Media

Releases by Date

18 may 2012, 03 may 2012, releases by country.

• Digital B-15
• Theatrical NR

103 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by P S ★★★★½ 2

Maybe the best argument against game piracy I've ever seen, Indie Game: The Movie depicts three different independent game developers (all of which are either 1 or 2 people) at various stages of the creative process. One (Jonathan Blow who created 'Braid') after completion and release reflecting on the experience; another (Team Meat, creators of 'Super Meat Boy') at the final stretch as their game preps for release after a long development; and finally Phil Fish, creator of Fez, in the confusing, doubtful center of development.

What is most amazing about Indie Game is that you don't need to be a gamer to get it, or enjoy it. It speaks on a much larger scale about the creative process as…

Review by Toing ★ 4

In the words of my sweetie, "I get the impression that most people talking about video games don't know shit about any other kinds of art." Bankrupt wank, as expected. Nerds talking about their art-babies such that the only way you could care at all is if you already did. No more compelling than a random doc about a random street busker would be: our nascent, unambitious artists (work may take a long time but that doesn't make it matter) discover what have forever been chestnuts to REAL artists (I get emotional when people like my art, I'm nervous about releasing it, etc). These people's popularity adds nothing to their pathos, intrigue, outright character, considering a) their dubious nerd outsider…

Review by Graham ★★★★

If this is a good representation of type, then Indie game makers are freaking adorable, the lot of them.

Working insane hours on passion projects that reflect their inner selves for years on end, the boys and girls that create these incredible works of moving art are so focussed it's easy to get absorbed in their story and wish as much as they do that what they (finally) put out is loved by the gaming hordes.

Indie Game: The Movie is a cracking documentary that really captures the hopes and dreams of these reclusive folks who must forgo so much in their lives to produce something of worth. Watching anyone commit like that is always a joy, but when it incorporates a tiny blob of meat jumping around a screen and avoiding spinning saws to get to his girl made of bandages because "she completes him", it's even more wholesome.

Review by Mary Conti ★★★ 4

Part of The December Project: Film #9

I walk the fine line between casual and hardcore gamers. I know more than most casual gamers, but I don't find myself as involved in the world as much as other people do. In fact, over the past year, I've almost completely lost interest in video games to the point where I only play to pass the time, and not out of actual interest. So it comes with no surprise that I'm pretty apathetic towards Indie Game. The Movie .

I will grant the documentary one thing, and it's that it does what all the best documentaries do: It tells a story. Indie Game. The Movie takes a look at the development of two…

Review by russman ★★★ 14

I don't think I ever finished FEZ

Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★½ 7

The Letterboxd Era Catch-Up 3: Steve Dies At The End

52 Films Directed by Women 2 (42/52)

I feel like I'm probably of around about the same age as the developers featured in Indie Game: The Movie.

Certainly, something that one of them said at one point of being part of the first generation where video games were parts of our lives is absolutely true. You only have to look at the opinions of many people in the generation before and how they don't really understand the appeal or culture of gaming to see that we were absolutely the first.

So it was quite interesting to see some of the developers here (I didn't take in all their names and…

Review by funke ★★ 3

most of these men are downright insufferable. good god. this to me is such a dark, super white era of games that im so happy we are heading away from. 

anyways here is stephy and my hollywood fancast for these developers: seth rogan, michael cera, jonah hill, jay baruchel, tom holland.

Review by James Healey ★★★½ 1

After watching this, I hate Phil Fish slightly less.

Review by Tony (tectactoe) ★★★½ 14

Not gonna try to defend this as something other than a niche documentary—honestly don’t know how much people who’ve never been “into” video games would care about this, if at all—and simply state that I just happen to be a part of that particular niche. Namely, I was a big fan of both "Braid" and "Super Meat Boy" when they were released—the former making my definitive list of ‘Top 10 Video Games of All-Time’ (yes, it’s that good) and the latter still being a whole lot of fun. Never played "Fez," but have heard good things. Biggest disappointment was that "Braid" is the least discussed of the three games here, mostly because it had already been released at the…

Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★

The things I've sacrificed are social. You kind of have to give up something to have something great. -Tommy Refenes

As a gamer (casual, hardcore, whatever label I fall under) I found the documentary interesting and highly entertaining. Judging it on it's own as a documentary though, it feels like the filmmakers showed up after all the drama had already happened and the aftermath settled in. We get a lot of talking heads regarding what happened to the 4 developers featured in the doc before any cameras showed up.

They picked developers from 3 games to cover. They represent the past, present and future of independent gaming, but in reality there's only 4 years between the oldest and newest so…

Review by Jim Drew ★★★★ 3

There's a scene in this which reminds me of a Paul Giamatti speech from the film SIDEWAYS. The one where he describes the sensitivity of Pinot (if memory serves) grapes, where he's obviously just describing himself. In this though, it's one of the programmers talking about his video game character Meat Boy.

Super Meat Boy is one of three games we follow, the others being Braid & Fez. We meet the developers as they painstakingly prepare their art (sorry Roger Ebert) and just hearing each one describe their game puts me on their side.

Charming and interesting stuff.

Review by chemergency ★★★

Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes = Based. Johnathan Blow = Undeniably talented, but also a snobby, pretentious dork. Phil Fish = Narcissistic, egotistical, racist, fraudulent douchebag (hey, Fez was a neat game but none of the dev's childish behavior over the course of the game's development and release was ever called for, in spite of his hardships).

It's an okay documentary generally, but I feel like it's edited and shot in a way that can feel a bit emotionally manipulative at times, panhandling for sympathy in its subjects (especially Blow and Fish).

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SPECIAL EDITION INFO

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SPECIAL EDITION DLC SHORT DESCRIPTION

With 100+ mins of new epilogues & short films, the Indie Game: The Movie Special Edition DLC is another film's worth of stories, crafted by the directors of the original, Sundance award-winning, feature documentary. Find out what happened after & about other games and game creators.

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SHORT SYNOPSIS

INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE, directed by Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, looks at the underdogs of the video game industry, indie game developers, who sacrifice money, health and sanity to realize their lifelong dreams of sharing their creative visions with the world. Following the making of the games SUPER MEAT BOY, FEZ and BRAID, this Sundance award-winning film captures the tension and drama by focusing on these developers' vulnerability and obsessive quest to express themselves through a 21st-century art form.

FESTIVALS / AWARDS / ACCOLADES

2012 Sundance Official Selection World Documentary Competition 2012 Sundance Winner for Best Editing in World Documentary Cinema 2012 South by Southwest Official Selection 2012 Hot Docs Festival & Hot Docs Live Official Selection

2012 New York Times Criticsʼ Pick 2012 Cinema Eye Honours Nomination Best Graphic Design & Animation 2012 Best Feature Documentary Canadian Screen Awards Nomination

Rotten Tomatoes Best Reviewed Films of 2012

IGN 30 Amazing Games People in 2012

Crave Online The Ten Best Films of 2012 

The 50 Best Films of the Decade (so far) 

Slash Film The Ten Best Films of 2012  

iTunes Best of 2012 -  Documentaries 

Letterboxd Top Reviewed Documentaries of 2012 

Utah Film Critics Association Best Documentary of 2012 

CBS 'This Morning' The Five Best Films of 2012  (Hon. Mention)

NME Ten Cracking Films You Might Have Missed This Year 

Cinesnob Top Ten Best Films of 2012

Wired Magazine The Top Ten Films of 2012 (that you haven't seen) 

MovieRants Top Ten Films of 2012 

Movieline Ten Overlooked Gems of 2012 

The FilmStage Best Documentaries of 2012 

'These Pretzels...' The Best Film of 2012 - Indie Game: The Movie

Film School Rejects Best Documentaries of 2012 

Fast Company 22 Movies Every Designer Must Watch

Indie Wire  Top Ten Films of 2012   - Industry Lists •  Dylan Marchetti,  Variance Films •  Basil Tsiokos , Sundance Film Festival /  What (Not) To Doc  

“The film delivers, taking us on a journey with regular people pushed to do something different, but equally extraordinary. There is a vibrant, beating heart that powers "Indie Game: The Movie" and will hopefully serve to inspire the many of us who confine ourselves to small places and lock humanity out while struggling and striving to create something beautiful. [A-] Possibly the most mature look at video games yet,”

Read the IndieWire Review Here...

Film School Rejects

“Both video game fans and casual gamers should find this documentary not only interesting, but compelling as you watch these real life stories unfold and experience the various emotions that come with creating something from scratch and then releasing it into the world.”

Read the FSR Review Here ...

Ain’t it Cool News

“There are victories, defeats, tears and smiles. Indie Game: The Movie is a must-see doc for anybody that fancies themselves a gamer or for anyone who gets sucked into a good underdog story.”

Read AICN's Review Here...

Globe and Mail

"...That’s the film’s great trick. Regardless of whether you’re a die-hard indie-gamer or someone who’s never touched a controller, it’s impossible not to empathize with these people." Read The Globe and Mail Review Here...

You'll believe a Video Game Documentary Will Make You Cry ...  directors Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky have made a truly magnificent documentary that you will love.

Read the Full Review Here...

Slant Magazine

Whether or not you care to classify video games as art,  Indie Game: The Movie , an extremely polished and absorbing documentary profiling a handful of ambitious independent game developers, makes a strong case that, at the very least, the types of gaming experiences offered by these one- or two-man shops reflect the personalities of their creators in the same way art does, acting as extensions of their fears and desires. 

Read the Review Here...

EPDaily (on the IGTM Special Edition)

A perfect score 10 out of 10…Absolutely dumbstruck at how beautiful this movie was…There are so many extras in here…

Watch the EPDaily Review Here...

“The third act of this film is as tense as any horror movie I’ve seen in the past two years as Team Meat and Fish face down their personal End Bosses.”

Read the Review Here... 

Crave Online

This is my favorite film of  SXSW  ... It’s not just that it’s a thoroughly engaging subject. The filmmaking is tense and emotional with beautiful cinematography, just everything you want a movie to be.

Read the Review here...

Geek Tyrant

“Indie Game: The Movie is a must watch film for anyone who loves the art of video games or is passionate about anything. This is a wonderfully fascinating documentary that any geek would enjoy watching, so I highly recommend watching it when it is released.”

Read the Geek Tyrant Review Here...

Jeff Dixon:  Musings of a...

“But trust me, as you finish the film you realize there is nothing benign about these games at all. These games are essentially these people’s hearts poured out onto a screen. Truly fascinating and gripping. I highly recommend this film.”

The Film Stage

“The cinematography is gorgeous, creating alien atmospheres from computer screens, video game levels and the real world environments that surround the characters.”

Read Film Stage's Review Here...

The best documentaries transcend the bounds of their subject matter to tell a compelling human interest story, which this movie does brilliantly. Whether you approach this as a gamer or an average moviegoer,  Indie Game: The Movie  is an awesome film. The documentary does a tremendous job of sharing human interest stories within the context of video game creation Read Split Kick's Review Here...

Salt Lake Tribune

“Swirsky and Pajot have created a beautiful and fascinating look into the creative process in a never-been-told medium”

Read the review here

“Swirsky and Pajot expertly weave these three stories together into one narrative ... So don't just take my word for it. Check it out and see if this inspires you to devote some blood, sweat, and tears to the world of indie games.

Read the Review

FirstShowings.Net

"Just might have you looking at video games in a whole different light Read the review here

Sound on Sight

Indie Game: The Movie  is an independent revolution. The documentary taps into the joys and tears that make the notion of independence both fearful and rewarding.... If you are creative, this film will surely become one of your favorite documentaries of all time.

The Final Take

Indie Game: The Movie  makes itself accessible to every aspiring artist, because it taps into those fundamental feelings of bringing your creativity to life and hoping others respond to it.

The Torontoist

“Inspiring and oddly touching.”

The Daily (U of Wash.)

“Indie Game: The Movie” captures a whimsical world and the creative fire that burns beneath it, making a powerful case for video games as art. It’s inspiring, heart-wrenching, and a little dark.

Three Imaginary Girls

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go purchase Super Meat Boy, Fez, and Braid. If I don’t write anything else for the next 2 weeks, don’t be alarmed—I’m just having lots of fun playing indie video games.

"Indie Game: The Movie  is definitely worth your time, and should be seen by everyone in the video game industry on the publisher, developer, and consumer sides." Read the review here

Finally, we have something that so perfectly explains what we never could. It's a film anyone can watch and enjoy. 

The Hollywood Reporter

“Compelling glimpse into artistic compulsion in video games.”

The Denver Post

'Compelling...passionate and funny ... [the film] never loses sight of the narrative thrust'

The MacGuffin

"Shot with a stunning HD look,  Indie Game  is a substantial documentary that uses its material wisely and delivers an entertaining as well as educational look into the new world of mass active participation in critical thinking"

NOW Magazine

The intelligent, thoroughly absorbing doc is a delight for both the avid gamer and those not so up to speed with Nintendo-speak.

Film Threat

“Indie Game: The Movie is more than just a film about video games, it’s an examination of the artistic spirit and the latest evolution of independent artist.”

Read Film Threat's Review Here...

  Top Ten Films of 2012   - Industry Lists •  Dylan Marchetti,  Variance Films •  Basil Tsiokos , Sundance Film Festival /  What (Not) To Doc  

•    Best Films of 2012

Rotten Tomatoes

•    Best Reviewed Films of 2012

•  The Ten Best Films of 2012 

•  Best of 2012 -  Documentaries 

  •  Top Reviewed Documentaries of 2012 

Utah Film Critics Association

•  Best Documentary of 2012 

  •  Ten Cracking Films You Might Have Missed This Year 

  •  Top Ten Best Films of 2012

Wired Magazine

•  The Top Ten Films of 2012  (that you haven't seen) 

•  Top Ten Films of 2012 

•  Ten Overlooked Gems of 2012 

The FilmStage

•  Best Documentaries of 2012 

'These Pretzels...'

•  The Best Film of 2012 - Indie Game: The Movie

Paste Magazine

• The 10 Best Movies of Sundance 2012
• Best New Filmmakers of 2012

Entertainment Weekly

• The Top MUST SEE Movies of Sundance 2012
• Sundance Photo Portraits
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Fast Company Magazine

• How To Win At Self Distribution if you're not Louis C.K.

Real Screen Magazine

• Top 15 Emerging Directors from 2012

A Jumps, B Shoots (Podcast)

• A Jumps B Shoots Talks with IGTM
• Docs at SXSW - Best of the Fest
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Huffington Post

• The Road to Sundance and Beyond

CBC Q With Jian Ghomeshi (Video)

• IGTM Directors Talk with Q Live in Salt Lake City for Sundance  (VIDEO Interview)
• IGTM Directors Talk Crowd Funding and Making the Craft Cinematic

Fast Company

• The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies
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Ain't It Cool News

• Indie Game: The Movie is a MUST WATCH!

Ars Technica

• Indie Game: The Movie Draws Tears, TV Deal in Successful Sundance Debut

Uptown Magazine

• Indie Game: The Movie
• Indie Game: The Movie Scores at Sundance

2012 Sundance Film Festival

• 2012 Sundance Film Festival Compeition Films Announced (Press Release)
• Indie Game: The Movie Brings Suspense of Videogame Creation to Sundance
• Indie Game: The Move Levels Up!

The Guardian UK

• Indie Game: The Movie: 20 Sundance films to Look Out For
• Meet the Filmmakers - Indie Game: The Movie
• Indie Game Documentary Shines a Light on Exciting New Breed of Developers

FilmCourage (Podcast)

• Lisanne Pajot & James Swirsky on LA Talk Radio's Film Courage

The Globe and Mail

• Indie Game: The Movie  by Chad Sapieha
• Canadian-made Video Game Docuementary Heading to Sundance

What (Not) To Doc

• Sundance Docs in Focus: INDIE GAME: THE MOVIE
• Video Games Headed to Sundance

4 Player Podcast

• An Interview with the Makers of Indie Game: The Movie (Audio Podcast)
• Sundance Doc Explores the Creative Processes of Indie Game Developers

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• An Interview with the Makers of Indie Game: The Movie

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• Indie Game: The Movie Going to Sundance  (Video)

P.O.V. PBS Blog

• Indie Game: The Movie rides $100,000 in Kickstarter donations to Sundance Premiere
• I have $5,000, What's the ideal Documentary Kit?

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• XPlay Talks to Indie Game: The Movie  (Video)
• Indie Game: The Movie - The Interview
• Interview with Lisanne Pajot & James Swirsky on "Indie Game: The Movie" by Evan Narcisse
• 'Indie Game: The Movie' Debuts Trailer & Soundtrack
• 'Indie Game: The Movie' Hist funding goal in 24 hours by Evan Narcisse

Destructoid

• Indie Game: The Movie Bound For Sundance

GoDevMental

• Meet the Makers of Indie Game: The Movie
• Indie Game: The Move

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• Indie Game: The Movie Looks at the Creative Process of VideoGame Developers

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• Indie Game: The Movie to be Shown at Sundance
• Indie Game: The Movie to Premiere at Sundance

MTV Multiplayer

• The Magic of Programming 'Super Meat Boy' by Russ Frushtick
• New Indie Game The Movie Trailer by Matt Clark

Ars Technica 

• Indie Filmmakers Tackle Indie Games by Andrew Webster

The Escapist

• Indie Game: The Movie Exposes Devs Blood, Sweat and tears
• Indie Game: The Movie is a Real Tearjerker by Tom Goldman

Reel Screen & Playback Daily

• Westdoc pitch winners focusing on creativity behind gaming
• BlinkWorks brings it back to the people by Emily Claire Afan
• Canadian Docs Indie Game: The Movie & Payback head to Sundance

Portland Mercury 

• Watch This Thing - Indie Game: The Movie  by Earnest Cavalli

The Creators Project Blog

• Check Out Indie Game: The Movie, Indie Development Just Got Interesting
• Indie Game: The Movie Trailer Likely to Make You Tear Up
• Indie Game: The Movie: The Trailer 

International Documentary Association - documentary.org

• Documentary and Reality TV Commingle Once Again at This Year's WESTDOC

BitMob Interview

• Indie Game: The Movie ... The Interview (Part 1 )
• Indie Game: The Movie ... The Interview (Part 2)

Indie Superstar

• Indie Games and Indie Film Make a Sexy Mixed Baby
• Prediction:  IGTM Needs Bigger Mantle!

IndieGames.com

• Indie Game: The Movie Talks to Adam Atomic by Michael Rose
• More Footage From Indie Game: The Movie by Michael Rose
• Help Fund 'Indie Game: The Movie' by Michael Rose
• GDC 2011: The Evolving Storyline of Indie Game: The Movie by Jeriaska
• IndieGames.com Podcast #18:  James & Lisanne of IGTM
• Indie Game: The Movie to Premiere at 2012 Sundance Film Festival
• Help raise funds for BlinkWorks documentary Indie Game: The Movie by Brandon Boyer
• Support, Money Wanted For Spectacular Looking Indie Game: The Movie By Patrick Klepek
• You Can Help Fund Indie Game: The Movie
• Indie Game: The Movie is Headed to Sundance
• Watch as Indie Game: The Movie Moves Phil Fish to Tears
• Be a big Hollywood producer by funding Indie Game: The Movie by Griffin McElroy
• Indie Game: The Movie Making its big debut at Sundance
• Seeing Stars:  Indie Game The Movie to Premiere at 2012 Sundance Film Festival
• Phil Fish Loved Indie Game: The Movie

That Gamer Hub

• Indie Game: The Movie by Matt Hunter

Game Spot Hub

• Indie Game: The Movie Accepted into Sundance

Winnipeg Free Press

• How to turn a crowd into cash: Viral video raises $20,000 for project by Geoff Kirbyson
• Winnipeg Filmmakers Going to Sundance

Interview: CBC Radio

• BlinkWorks CBC Radio Behind the Scenes Video

Video: The Electric Playground

• BlinkWorks The Electric Playground Behind the Scenes Video

Video:  Indie Game SearchLight

• Indie Game: The Movie Interview with Mark Carr  

Video: Bytejacker

• Indie Game: The Movie Interview with Anthony Carboni

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Pool Party Review: Indie Party Game Provides Bite-Sized Fun

A good party game really shines when they’re easy to pick up and are designed to play into players’ competitive edge. Lakeview Games’ Pool Party certainly has that going for it, as the cute party game is quite simple, taking the same controls into each minigame and offering a fun way for players to test themselves. While there’s not quite enough depth for it to be a new classic in the genre, it does fit in well to a rotation.

The setup is simple, you play as some rotund creatures and compete in different sports ranging from pool to soccer and tennis. The controls are rather simple in each minigame as you can kick other characters or objects with one button and can quickly roll yourself using another button. That’s it. There’s a bit of extra nuance as you can hold the button down in order to aim each action, but it keeps things on the simple side.

Overall, there are seven different minigames to play. My favorite of the bunch was sumo, which is quite like the classic bumper balls minigame from Mario Party, where you are trying to knock the other players off a small platform. Two others — jinx and idol — are about avoiding other players as you are cursed in one and try to keep wearing a crown in the other, while the rest are sports-focused, alongside a free-for-all mode that has you trying to knock the other players into pool table holes. It’s a decent variety, although there’s not really enough depth in each game to make it feel like an overly satisfying amount of content.

There are two ways to play Pool Party, either through local play or in tournaments (there’s no online, sadly). Tournaments are definitely the more enjoyable way as it has players going through a series of minigames (after an unskippable tutorial section each time) and gaining points after each. You can do party mode, where you vote on which minigame to play next, or you can just have it repeat one minigame if you really like one or just want to grind the game’s trophies out.

Besides its pick-up-and-play nature, the biggest thing Pool Party has in its favor is that it just looks cute. The pool ball characters are adorable, and there are lots of pastel colors on display in the levels. While not a visual marvel by any means, it’s got a good style and that goes a long way to make the game more appealing. I just wish there were more customization options for the characters or some sort of unlockables to get, as that would add some extra replay value and would play into its charming presentation.

Pool Party is a good but not great party game that is a welcome addition to any family gaming night. Each minigame is enjoyable, especially the sumo one, but it lacks the depth for it to become a game you’ll play for hours in a sitting. Instead, it’s best fit for quick 30-minute spurts with friends every once in a while. If you play it that way, it serves its purpose as a fun distraction meant for friends.

SCORE : 7/10

As ComingSoon’s  review policy  explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.

Disclaimer: Our Pool Party review is based on a PS5 copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on version 1.001.000.

The post Pool Party Review: Indie Party Game Provides Bite-Sized Fun appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More .

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Furiosa Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In On The New Mad Max Movie

Here's what the critics are saying about the next Mad Max movie.

By Eddie Makuch on May 16, 2024 at 11:11AM PDT

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga comes to theaters later this month, and hopes are high after 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road was praised by critics and fans, and won six Academy Awards.

Reviews for the film have now begun to appear online ahead of its May 24 debut in the US, painting a picture of the movie's critical reception. On GameSpot sister site Metacritic, Furiosa has an 83 metascore , while the film is rated 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. In short, critics are generally saying nice things about the movie. As always, though, your mileage may vary based on a wide variety of factors.

Furiosa stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the title character, Furiosa, a role that Oscar-winner Charlize Theron played in Fury Road. The filmmakers considered using de-aging technology to bring Theron back , but ultimately decided to cast someone new in the prequel.

Reflecting on the filmmaking experience, Taylor-Joy said she's never felt more alone, in part because she stayed quiet a lot ( she has about 30 lines of dialogue in the entire movie ) and was instructed to mainly act with her eyes.

"We're animals, and there's a point where somebody just snaps," Taylor-Joy said. "There's one scream in that movie, and I am not joking when I tell you that I fought for that scream for three months. I will never regret this experience, on so many different levels, but it's a very particular story to have. There's not everyone in the world that has made a Mad Max movie, and I swear to God, everyone that I've met that has, there's a look in our eyes: We know. There's an immediate kinship of like, 'OK, hey, I see you.'"

Chris Hemsworth plays the main villain, Dementus, and he recently reflected on how he felt liberated making the movie because it was so far removed from his Thor character in the MCU.

You can see a sampling of review scores and excerpts below and more critical consensus at GameSpot's sister site Metacritic .

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

• Directed by: George Miller
• Written by: George Miller, Nico Lathouris
• Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne
• Release Date: May 23 (Australia), May 24 (US)
• Runtime: 2 hours, 28 minutes

GameSpot -- 9/10

"I will admit that I was among those who didn't really see the need for this movie to exist--but this epic prequel hits so hard that I'm begging the gods to let the 79-year-old Miller make a few more of these things. Pretty please?" -- Phil Owen [ Full review ]

The Hollywood Reporter - Unscored

"Furiosa is a big step down from Mad Max: Fury Road. Whereas the 2015 instant action classic had grit, gravitas and turbo-charged propulsion that wouldn’t quit, this fifth installment in the dystopian saga grinds on in fits and starts, with little tension or fluidity in a narrative whose shapelessness is heightened by its pretentious chapter structure." -- David Rooney [ Full review ]

IGN -- 10/10

"George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga weaves a hero's journey of epic proportions, ushering in a powerful reflection on what it means to live and love in a dying world." -- Lex Briscuso [ Full review ]

Indie Wire -- A-

"How do we brave the world’s cruelties? By refusing to become them ourselves. Such an internally combusting prequel might seem like a strange lead-in to a movie that spit fire in every direction, but don't you worry: George Miller still has what it takes to make it epic." -- David Ehrlich [ Full review ]

Polygon - Unscored

"Even as Furiosa is inevitably compared with Fury Road, both positively and negatively, put your trust in Miller's weird, wild filmmaking. He'll make you root for a near-silent hero in the face of insurmountable odds, and a demented villain who will go down alongside Fury Road's Immortan Joe as a horrible new addition to Mad Max's rogues gallery. Innovative and strange in the best ways, Furiosa repays that trust with a trip down a twisted cinematic rabbit hole that'll likely once again redefine expectations for what an action film can be." -- Rosie Knight [ Full review ]

Variety - Unscored

"As much as I loved the character of Furiosa in Fury Road, do we really need to see her tangled, deep-dive-that-somehow-stays-on-the-surface origin story? It' an impulse, at heart, that grows out of franchise culture, and maybe that's why Furiosa, for all the tasty stuff in it, is a half-satisfying movie." -- Owen Gleiberman [ Full review ]

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Pool Party Review: Indie Party Game Provides Bite-Sized Fun

By Tyler Treese

A good party game really shines when they’re easy to pick up and are designed to play into players’ competitive edge. Lakeview Games’ Pool Party certainly has that going for it, as the cute party game is quite simple, taking the same controls into each minigame and offering a fun way for players to test themselves. While there’s not quite enough depth for it to be a new classic in the genre, it does fit in well to a rotation.

The setup is simple, you play as some rotund creatures and compete in different sports ranging from pool to soccer and tennis. The controls are rather simple in each minigame as you can kick other characters or objects with one button and can quickly roll yourself using another button. That’s it. There’s a bit of extra nuance as you can hold the button down in order to aim each action, but it keeps things on the simple side.

Overall, there are seven different minigames to play. My favorite of the bunch was sumo, which is quite like the classic bumper balls minigame from Mario Party, where you are trying to knock the other players off a small platform. Two others — jinx and idol — are about avoiding other players as you are cursed in one and try to keep wearing a crown in the other, while the rest are sports-focused, alongside a free-for-all mode that has you trying to knock the other players into pool table holes. It’s a decent variety, although there’s not really enough depth in each game to make it feel like an overly satisfying amount of content.

There are two ways to play Pool Party, either through local play or in tournaments (there’s no online, sadly). Tournaments are definitely the more enjoyable way as it has players going through a series of minigames (after an unskippable tutorial section each time) and gaining points after each. You can do party mode, where you vote on which minigame to play next, or you can just have it repeat one minigame if you really like one or just want to grind the game’s trophies out.

Besides its pick-up-and-play nature, the biggest thing Pool Party has in its favor is that it just looks cute. The pool ball characters are adorable, and there are lots of pastel colors on display in the levels. While not a visual marvel by any means, it’s got a good style and that goes a long way to make the game more appealing. I just wish there were more customization options for the characters or some sort of unlockables to get, as that would add some extra replay value and would play into its charming presentation.

Pool Party is a good but not great party game that is a welcome addition to any family gaming night. Each minigame is enjoyable, especially the sumo one, but it lacks the depth for it to become a game you’ll play for hours in a sitting. Instead, it’s best fit for quick 30-minute spurts with friends every once in a while. If you play it that way, it serves its purpose as a fun distraction meant for friends.

SCORE : 7/10

As ComingSoon’s  review policy  explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.

Disclaimer: Our Pool Party review is based on a PS5 copy provided by the publisher. Reviewed on version 1.001.000.

Tyler Treese is ComingSoon and SuperHeroHype's Editor-in-Chief. An experienced entertainment journalist, his work can be seen at Sherdog, Fanbyte, Rock Paper Shotgun, and more. When not watching the latest movies, Treese enjoys mixed martial arts and playing with his Shiba Inu, Kota.

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15 Most Violent Video Game Series Of All Time

While violence isn't a new concept in gaming, some franchises push the envelope more than others with their brutality.

Violence isn’t a new concept in gaming. Since video games first hit the arcade, players have always engaged in violence, whether shooting down alien spaceships or dodging speeding barrels thrown by an angry gorilla. Still, the levels of violence and realism in games have reached astronomical heights since those humble beginnings.

Despite pushback from parents and even politicians over the years, video games are even more violent today than ever. Some games have pushed the envelope of violence to new extremes in the path forged by Space Invaders , Doom , and Grand Theft Auto . While many video games revolve around action and combat, a select few have helped redefine violence in gaming.

Updated December 28, 2023, by Anthony Jeanetta . With upcoming releases like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Tekken 8, violent video games continue to dominate the art form. This list is updated to reflect CBR’s most recent style guidelines .

15 The Witcher's Variety Of Enemies Makes Combat As Awe-Inspiring As It Is Satisfying

Though the video game adaptations of The Witcher series have now secured their place in the pantheon of the best RPGs ever – thanks in particular to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – their original reputation was one of brutal and unrelenting combat with both beasts and men.

The Witcher’s violent reputation is primarily thanks to the visceral descriptions of author Andrzej Sapkowski, whose novels the games adapted were uniquely suitable for turning into video games. As genuinely brilliant as they are gory, The Witcher remains an easy series to recommend to the uninitiated.

14 Outlast Puts Players In A Grisly And Terrifying Setting

Although it may be stretching the definition of series to the limit, the second Outlast game and its indie sequel The Outlast Trials , with rumors of more on the way, are enough to secure Outlast’s position on this list. The first game features horrendously gruesome “medical” experiments and violence between inmates at a notorious asylum, all rendered on handheld cameras.

The second Outlast game took this spirit and ran with it, taking the story to an equally terrifying woodland, where a religious cult behaves similarly to the doctors from the first. Both Outlast games punctuate the tremendous tension they build through the hyperviolence that often accompanies their conclusions.

13 BioShock Combines Quality Storytelling With Visceral Violence

Though BioShock may not be the first game that springs to mind, thanks to the series consistently delivering amazing narrative-driven gameplay experiences, it has never been afraid to launch into the gnarly. The first two games in the series didn’t skimp on the gory action, which it used to frighten players as much as excite them.

Still, the series doubled down on its brutality in 2013's BioShock Infinite . In this game, the third of the series, at one point or another, players can explode and remove heads, watch flesh melt away from limbs, and even use Infinite's intuitive skyhook fast-travel mechanic to remove an enemy's facial features that players find displeasing.

12 Sniper Elite Spotlights Slow-Motion Gore Galore

Sniper Elite is considerably sillier in its delivery of violence than many of the other games on this list. Still, it doesn't stop this brutal rendition of wartime combat from being more visceral. The game has become famous for its slow-motion X-ray kill cams, which track the path of the player's bullets and depict where the hit occurred (with added points depending on how accurate the shot was).

These moments in Sniper Elite allow the player to see anything from punctured lungs to exploded hearts, and it's quite shocking the first time around. Plus, it's possible to explode Hitler's private parts in multiple games in the series, and if that's not enough worth recommending, then it's difficult to know what is.

11 Resident Evil Is One Of The Most Influential Games Ever

Review: resident evil 4 remake effectively reinvents the franchise's greatest game.

The Resident Evil franchise may be the most significant influence on the entire survival horror genre. By placing players in a zombie-infested world with limited ammunition and weapons, Resident Evil made every zombie encounter feel as life-or-death as it would in real life.

While some of Resident Evil’s early games haven’t aged well in terms of the type of action and horror they deliver, a steady stream of remakes has revitalized the franchise and highlighted what makes the series great for modern audiences. With halls full of death, blood, and gore, Resident Evil made fear in games a reality.

10 Dishonored Offers Inventive And Close-Quarters Combat

Dishonored is slightly different from many other games on this list, thanks to its decision to eschew full-blown realism in favor of cel-shaded goodness. Despite this difference in animation style, Dishonored and its sequels deserve a place on this list.

In Dishonored , developed by Arkane Studios, players control Corvo Attano, the Royal Protector tasked with securing the safety and future of Princess Emily and her throne. The combat features assassination-style gameplay that doesn't shy away from getting a player's hands dirty. This up-close-and-personal combat offers a window into the brutal realities of the world of Dishonored .

9 Dead Space Is An Ideal Blend Of Gruesome Action And Horror

Dead Space is one of the best horror game titles ever. The game's protagonist, Isaac, is trapped in a space station crawling with an army of undead alien zombies, and players must battle these aliens while attempting to uncover what happened on the space station.

Resident Evil undeniably influenced Dead Space in terms of its action-horror gameplay and concept , yet its story is almost entirely unique. As a space miner, Isaac lacks access to the weapons one would hope to use against a horde of space zombies. Instead, he must use whatever tools he has at hand to savagely dispose of any threat in his path.

8 Splatterhouse Is A Bloody Beat 'Em Up Adventure

The aptly named Splatterhouse is about as gory a game series as possible. The first Splatterhouse was a 2D side-scrolling arcade game filled with terrifying demons and tons of bloody action. Its 2010 remake included the same level of violence but took it up a notch with next-gen 3D graphics and even more gore than before.

In Splatterhouse , players take control of Rick, a student who must rescue his girlfriend after demonic monsters abduct her. Luckily, or perhaps unfortunately, for Rick, the Terror Mask – an ancient object that turns its wearer into a monster with superhuman strength – possesses him. Using his newfound power, Rick rips, tears, and shoots through hordes of otherworldly horrors.

7 God Of War Is An Emotionally Affecting Action Romp

Apropos of its title, Kratos, the main protagonist in God of War , is no stranger to violence, as he's on a seemingly never-ending quest to get revenge on the Gods. God of War follows Kratos, the son of Zeus, as he decimates anyone on his path to destroying Olympus.

God of War's latest entry, Ragnarök, essentially swept the 2022 Game Awards thanks to its fantastic action and genuinely affecting narrative . Despite this awesome storyline, the franchise's internal blueprint of intense violence has never receded, with plenty of dismemberment and decapitation to go around.

6 Grand Theft Auto Allows Players The Freedom To Commit Almost Any Act Of Violence

Grand Theft Auto has experienced a lot of controversies over the years. The series has faced many lawsuits and legal battles throughout the decades, and a game as vulgar and violent as GTA is bound to face more in the future.

While the first two GTA games were already quite violent, GTA III completely changed gaming forever with its anything-goes philosophy. Despite the strife this has caused Rockstar Games, the studio has stuck to its guns, literally and metaphorically. As a result, GTA V has become the second-highest-selling game of all time – beaten only by Minecraft .

5 Gears Of War's Visceral Brutality Has A Long-Lasting Impact

Since the first game in the franchise, Gears of War has differentiated itself from other third-person shooters with its realistic combat and brutal hand-to-hand kills. Marcus Fenix will do whatever it takes to bring down his enemies, including utilizing his trusty chainsaw bayonet to tear them apart from close range.

Despite its violence, or maybe due to it, Gears of War’s impact has reached far beyond the surface-level game community. Celebrity figures such as Terry Crews and Dave Batista have expressed interest in portraying some of the game’s iconic characters in possible film or TV adaptations .

4 Doom Remains An Iconic First-Person Shooter

The first-person shooter genre has violence in its name, but few shooters can do violence to the excessive degree of the Doom franchise. Similarly, few first-person shooters have left their mark on gaming in the same manner as Doom , and its violence is just part of this legacy.

Doom’s primary protagonist, Doomguy, isn’t contented with simply shooting his enemies like other, more civilized shooting game characters. Instead, he prefers to slice into his opponents with a chainsaw or even beat them with his bare fists. The series’ most recent release, Doom Eternal , added to the carnage and mayhem even more with the inclusion of its Glory Kill mechanic.

3 Postal Is A Deeply Disturbing Shooter

In terms of senseless gaming violence, Postal takes the cake. Players take control of a nameless character who has embarked on a murderous rampage due to a government conspiracy theory. Postal’s simple premise doesn’t hide its overall message, as the main character is convinced of wild theories and taunted by voices in his head.

Still, if examined deeper, Postal explores the psychological condition of an active shooter as the player experiences what it’s like to be one directly. On the surface, though, Postal is just an isometric shooting game about committing random, senseless acts of violence.

2 Manhunt Is One Of The Most Grisly Series Ever

Manhunt is a dark, third-person, stealth action game. In Manhunt , players control James Earl Cash, a prisoner on death row, forced to star in a variety of snuff films to win his freedom. The franchise's gameplay largely consists of Cash sneaking up on and violently murdering gang members using several household items for weapons, including baseball bats and plastic bags.

Manhunt's brand of violence was so extreme upon its release several countries banned it. Likewise, its sequel, Manhunt 2 , was initially so brutal that the ESRB initially gave the game an Adults Only rating in the U.S. Developer Rockstar Games had to censor it during some of its more sadistic parts to get the game a Mature rating.

1 Mortal Kombat's Brutal Kills Revolutionized Fighting Games

Review: the incredibly impressive mortal kombat 1 is a grisly great time.

Mortal Kombat deserves a special place in history for its influence on the violent games after it and is easily one of the most violent video games ever. Famously, the controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat's gruesome kills led to the creation of the ESRB rating system.

Mortal Kombat pushed the boundaries of violence in the game upon its initial release, and each game in the series continues this sacred tradition, upping the blood and brutality of its infamous fatalities to new heights. Still, its influence is about more than just violence; Mortal Kombat is the highest-selling fighting game franchise ever. With 2023's Mortal Kombat 1 , the franchise's reign of gore and violence promises to continue well into the future.

Indika Is The Most Gamey Game I've Ever Gamed

When games are desperate to be movies, be a game

• I'm not going to spoil Indika for you.
• Seriously, I'm not going to spoil it.
• Just play it!

Most games are desperate to become movies, but I prefer the games that try really hard to be games. The Last of Us is a cinematic marvel and its mechanics are a great way of informing its brutal premise about cycles of violence, but I find it boring to play. Doom Eternal , on the other hand, is so gamey it hurts. There are massive, glowing power-ups to buff your abilities, you can shoot yourself out of cannons, and there’s a heavy metal soundtrack in the depths of hell. That’s gaming, baby.

Similarly, 2022’s Neon White is incredibly gamey. While there’s a strong narrative and characters, every level is a speedrun with leaderboards, intended to be deconstructed and analysed in order to find the best routes and time-saving tactics. It has no qualms about being a game, and embraces the fact it can do things that movies can’t.

While Doom Eternal and Neon White battle it out for the prestigious title of ‘gamiest game ever to game’, new indie title Indika may have snuck around the back, hidden in a cardboard box, and taken the crown from under their noses. Heck, Metal Gear is such a gamey game, too.

I won’t spoil Indika past the opening scene, but if you’ve seen any marketing for the game, you’ll know it’s a realistic 3D affair about nuns in snowy Russia. You’ll be surprised then, when the opening is 2D pixel art shapes. Your character must be directed into numerous power-ups like you’re playing a slow, enemyless shmup. It’s a bizarre way to start a game, and things just get gamier from there.

You shoot into the 3D world and play on as the eponymous Indika, a trainee nun whom everyone else loves to hate. Your opening tasks are slow and monotonous, but incredibly gamey. You must fill a barrel with water from a well, slowly walking (there’s no option to run) between the two no fewer than five times, painstakingly cranking the handle to draw buckets of water each time. As all good video games should, Indika gives you points for this.

Points are displayed in a pixelated font in the top left of the screen, egregious against the minimal UI and realistic graphics of the rest of the game. When you level up, you can put your points into stats like Guilt or Grief. Gaming!

Indika gets stranger from here on out. I won’t spoil anything, but if you make it to the Holy Communion and don’t play on, you’re a lost cause.

Drawing water from a well for ten minutes is boring. Even tying it to a fun, old-school scoreboard can’t hide that. But it’s very gamey. You’re physically pulling the bucket with your joystick. You’re walking it from place to place. This could have been a cutscene, but then the scene’s payoff, where your superior tips your full barrel onto the cold, stone floor, wouldn’t hit the same. Because you put the time into this mundane activity, you feel aggrieved when it’s all for nought. You wouldn’t feel the same had the water collecting been a cutscene to watch, heaven forbid, or skip. The excruciating pain of having to play through it yourself is something unique to video games and elevates Indika’s most boring scene to a level above any movie.

I’m not saying this scene is better than every movie. It’s not. But it’s more interactive than any movie. It embraces what makes video games video games. This is a medium built on interaction, and the best games use those interactions to make you feel something. Jumping into a health boost while your HP bar is flashing red gives you a saved-by-the-bell elation, something that can only be matched by throwing a buzzer beater from half court (I assume).

Films try incredibly hard to involve you in their stories. Everything from dialogue to camera angles is chosen to draw you into their stories and give you a meaningful experience that you can connect to on some level. But there are limitations. Titanic never tries to make you feel like you were on the sinking ship, but it makes you care about the fictional characters that are. Alien doesn’t try to make you feel like you’re aboard the Nostromo, but it ramps up the tension using tight shots, smokey shadows, and a screeching score to simulate the emotions of Ellen Ripley. You feel on edge because Ridley Scott has made you worry for the characters, not because you think you’re there.

Games can be so much more transportative. You worry about being spotted while hiding in long grass in Horizon: Zero Dawn because you are doing the hiding. Sure, Aloy is the one on the screen, but you’re directing her. You chose the hiding spot, you tell her when to pounce. When she dies, it’s your fault. That’s something movies can’t replicate.

I don’t mind games being more cinematic, but it doesn’t really appeal to me. I prefer The Last of Us as a TV show rather than a game because I don’t have to mess around with fighting endless goons between my story snippets. I like my games gamey, and if that means getting a high score by drawing water from a well, that’s what I’ll do. I’m not far enough into Indika to tell you whether it’s a masterpiece or not, but it’s unapologetically a game. What more can you ask for than that?

Next: The Lord Of The Rings: Hunt For Gollum Has Got Off To A Terrible Start

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Lego 2K Drive review – racing into a brick wall

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The latest Lego game is not a movie tie-in but an open world racer that works like a cross between Lego Racers and Burnout Paradise.

It seems strange to think that just five years ago we were getting two, or even three, new Lego games every year, all using the same gameplay formula and made by the same developer – the UK’s Traveller’s Tales. It wasn’t just a brief spike of popularity either; for more than a decade new games, based on everything from Star Wars to Jurassic World, enjoyed considerable commerical success and it was only the failure of toys to life game Lego Dimensions, and the pandemic, that finally put an end to it all.

Since the pandemic, there’s only been one movie formula game, the extremely successful Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga , as well as puzzle game Lego Bricktales. Rumours suggest that Traveller’s Tales are working on a new Harry Potter title that’s not yet confirmed and there has been some suggestion that Lego Star Wars will end up being the last game from Warner Bros.

While the announcement of Lego 2K Drive came out of nowhere there were already rumours of 2K working with Lego on a football game , so it wasn’t quite the surprise it could’ve been. It makes sense too, since 1999’s Lego Racers, and its sequels, are amongst the few memorable Lego titles that don’t follow the movie game formula. For better and worse, though, Lego 2K Drive isn’t quite the spiritual sequel you might be expecting.

The Legacy of Lego Racers

Although the ability to build your own cars and minifigures added some wrinkles to the formula, Lego Racers was a fairly straightforward Mario Kart clone. But Lego 2K Drive is something more. It greatly expands the customisation options and while it still has collectible power-ups and Mario Kart style races it also comes across like a family friendly version of Forza Horizon and other open world racers.

Lego 2K Drive tries to channel a lot of the tone and energy of The Lego Movie (which we’re now staggered to find is almost a decade old), with lots of hyperactive chatter and talk of things being ‘awesome’ but the first disappointment here is that the game just isn’t very funny.

The script is aimed at the very youngest members of the game’s potential audience and apart from a few good puns for characters’ names it’s nowhere near as clever or witty as it needed to be, to justify the surprising amount of time spent on cut scenes and story mode quest giving. It’s certainly not a patch on Lego City Undercover , which still has one of the most genuinely funny scripts in all gaming.

The developer here is American studio Visual Concepts, best known for the WWE 2K games, and they don’t seem able to generate quite the same level of charm as the previous games. However, they’ve done very well in terms of the driving model, which is surprisingly technical and if divorced from the Lego visuals would happily fit a more serious arcade racer.

Drifting, in particular, is satisfyingly difficult to master and it’s clear Visual Concepts understand that despite all the wackiness Mario Kart is still a very solid racer, and so they have to be too.

A surprisingly serious racer

The big Lego-related gimmick is that the second you touch any water or go off-road your car automatically changes into a boat or 4×4 – much like Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (and coin-op classic Spy Hunter).

You’re also encouraged to smash any trackside scenery that’s made of Lego and collect the disgorged studs in order to either repair your vehicle or build up its boost meter. All of which is in addition to the power-ups, many of which are functionally identical to Mario Kart and just change the visuals (spiders spinning a web to block your view, instead of a squid squirting ink at you, for example).

The AI would probably be quite good if it wasn’t for all the rubber-banding going on, which means it’s impossible for anyone to get an unassailable lead. That might make sense in terms of accessibility but it means the game is never able to take full advantage of its excellent driving model, and the only real challenge comes from online and split screen multiplayer.

Thankfully, the customisation options are excellent, even if they do require a level of concentration and effort that many are not going to be prepared to give. Not only does building Lego objects from scratch take real skill but all the different pieces you add change things like handling, speed, and traction. So while building whatever you want sounds appealing there has to be a practical side to it too, which is great.

One of the most unambiguous problems with the game is one that is unfortunately commonplace with modern racers: there is no reason for this to have an open world environment. Racing around pre-made tracks is a ton of fun in Lego 2K Drive but to get to the next race or mission involves dragging yourself backwards and forwards across the map for no obvious reason or benefit.

The open world looks nice but there’s really nothing of interest going on in it. Attempts are made to liven things up with special challenges and mini-games but most of them are little more than fetch quests and while fighting skeletons and searching for UFOs sounds fun and imaginative in theory, in practice you just wish the game would get on with things and cut to the next race.

there is no reason for this to have an open world environment

And then there’s the problem that everyone anticipated the second they saw ‘2K’ in the title… microtransactions. It’s not quite as bad as NBA 2K but the game is desperate that you should spend real money on it as often as possible. Technically you can earn in-game currency just by playing, but so little of it that the temptation to just give up and pay for cosmetic unlockables is hard to resist. Which is especially cynical in a game that’s specifically aimed at children and in which cosmetic items are so important.

There’s a great game somewhere within Lego 2K Drive’s code but it’s suffocated beneath an entirely unnecessary open world structure and deeply unpleasant monetisation scams. It all begins to feel like a badly made Lego model, where either the pieces have been put in the wrong place or they’re completely the wrong ones for what you’re trying to build.

Lego 2K Drive review summary

In Short: The offensive microtransactions aren’t a surprise but the tedious open world structure obscures what is a surprisingly nuanced and technical arcade racer.

Pros: The racing model is great and the track design is largely good. Excellent customisation options and the transforming car gimmick is a good one.

Cons: There’s absolutely no reason for the open world, especially given how dull and empty it feels. Cynical microtransactions and a weak script.

Score: 6/10

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC Price: £59.99 Publisher: 2K Developer: Visual Concepts Release Date: 19th May 2023 Age Rating: 7

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