Indie Game: The Movie is a documentary that follows three independent video game makers as they endure the processes of independent game design. It’s not so much the story of how the games are made, but more of the different experiences each developer has gone through on what appears to be a very, very difficult journey. The three key players are the Super Meat Boy duo of Edmund McMillen & Tommy Refenes (Team Meat); Phil Fish, creator of Fez; and Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid.
The overall thesis of the movie infers a shift in development thought–creators have an opportunity to express themselves through numerous gameplay mechanics and ideas from under the thumb of some evil publisher. Game design is very obviously maturing and hopefully one day the platform can evolve into that of a true artform rather than just some cheap ploy to extract money from people. This drive for self expression is very much needed in the video game world; one must admit all these brown FPSs and sequel cash-ins are starting to feel stale.
The film is very charming as it reveals the passions of young developers who are in pursuit of their wildest dreams. These are people that don’t want to integrate with some monster corporate giant like Electronic Arts or Microsoft and are taking huge risks to do so. They aren’t necessarily in it for the money, either–again, game design should be about individuality just as much as it is about vulnerability, and Indie Game showcases this beautifully. I think anyone who is remotely interested in videogame design or personal expression (you know, drawing and stuff) should give it a look; it’s very moving and very sweet.
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ThomFiles 