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TAKE TO THE STREETS FOR INTENSE CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT, where a team's survival depends upon securing crucial strongholds and destroying enemy supply. The follow-up game to the award-winning Source mod, INSURGENCY is highly competitive and unforgivingly lethal, striking a balance between one-life gameplay and prolonged action.

"Like Counter Strike and Red Orchestra had a baby."
Indie of the Year 2014 I Player's Choice
Post feature Report RSS Indie of the Year 2014 - Players Choice

The time has come, announcing the best Indie Games of 2014 as selected by you.

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Welcome to the Players Choice, Indie of the Year Event. Congratulations to all nominees. It has been a massive year for indies -- with so many amazing creations emerging daily. Before we begin it is time for some honorable mentions: Kerbal Space Program - Space Engineers - Project Zomboid - Blade Symphony - Mount & Blade: Warband and Tales of Maj'Eyal each did well in the voting again this year, but did not place higher than they have in years past. Onwards to the celebration!

IOTY COUNTDOWN


10 Developer - ChrisDtk Release: | Released Aug 19, 2014
@Escapists_Game

The Escapists

"streamer favorite."

Escapists is a prison break game that allows the player the 'freedom' to live the life of a prison inmate, ultimately planning and pulling off an escape.

You'll have to stick to a schedule to avoid arousing suspicion, craft the tools you'll need from stuff lying around the prison (or, instead, steal them), make use of/stay off the radar of your fellow cons and guards, and eventually build your own escape tunnel while keeping it hidden from the people that might reasonably want to cave it in. Read more...

9 Developer - hopoo Release: | Released Nov 8, 2013
@riskofrain
Risk of Rain

"amazing project from two university students."

In Risk of Rain, time = difficulty. The longer you play the harder it gets, do you tear through the levels as fast as you can or do you spend time collecting some of the many ability granting artifacts? With randomly generated levels, giant bosses and just one life. How far will you go?

An action platformer/adventure game with roguelike elements.While we don’t want to spoil the story, we can let a few things through! The game is set in the distant future, where space transportation is common. Space trains carry passengers and goods all across space. A particular space train, however, had some very special cargo. Through a series of unfortunate events, this space train gets shot out of orbit and crash lands on a mysterious planet.. with one survivor. Read more...

8 Developer - Uber Entertainment Release: | Released Dec 15, 2013
@uberent
Planetary Annihilation

"kickstarted indie that delivered its promise."

Planetary Annihilation is a all new next generation RTS developed by Uber Entertainment that takes the familiar gamplay from Total Annihilation and expands it to a planetary scale. From Earth like planets to Gas Giants and red glowing Lava worlds.

Expand your empire trough out the solar system, harness the powers of planets and uncover ancient worlds of a war long past. Beyond that lies a entire galaxy, each different from the previous one. Wage war with your clan, or go offline in Single player and Co-op local play.

Developed for Windows, Mac & Linux, Planetary Annihilation boost incredibly graphics with a unique art style. Advanced modding support for modders who would like to create amazing mods and changes to the game and much much more! Read more...

7 Developer - pivvott Release: | Released Dec 12, 2013
@7daystodie

7 Days To Die

"continually updated sandbox... with zombies."

7 Days to Die is an open world, voxel-based, sandbox game that is a unique mash up of First Person Shooter, Survival Horror, Tower Defense and Role Playing Games combining combat, crafting, looting, mining, exploration, and character growth.

In the near future where the a third world war leaves the Earth in ruins but the worst was yet to come. Nobody knows for sure if it was the radiation, the biochemical weapons or an act of god but an unknown virus soon transforms the surviving humans into an army of the animated dead, acting as a single-minded being.

You play a survivor trapped in the savage zombie infested world of Navezgane County Arizona one of the last true Eden’s on Earth. Ironically Navezgane means “Killer of Monsters” to the Apache who have inhabited the land for centuries, and that’s pretty much what you’ll do as you fight to survive and search for the truth behind what really happened. Read more...

6 Developer - 11bit Studios Release: | Released Nov 4, 2014
@11bitstudios

This War of Mine

"universally liked, indie gem from left field."

In This War Of Mine you do not play as an elite soldier, rather a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city; struggling with lack of food, medicine and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers.

The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely new angle. The pace of This War of Mine is imposed by the day and night cycle. During the day snipers outside stop you from leaving your refuge, so you need to focus on maintaining your hideout: crafting, trading and taking care of your survivors.

At night, take one of your civilians on a mission to scavenge through a set of unique locations for items that will help you stay alive. Make life-and-death decisions driven by your conscience. Try to protect everybody from your shelter or sacrifice some of them for longer-term survival. During war, there are no good or bad decisions; there is only survival. The sooner you realize that, the better. Read more...

5 Developer - Nicalis Release: | Released Nov 4, 2014
@nicalis

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

"unexpected complexity."

When Isaac’s mother starts hearing the voice of God demanding a sacrifice be made to prove her faith, Isaac escapes into the basement facing droves of deranged enemies, lost brothers and sisters, his fears, and eventually his mother. Read more...

4 Developer - Totem Arts Release: | Released Feb 25, 2014
@renxgame
Renegade X

"This is everything that is right with the modding scene of today."

Renegade X is a tactical First and Third Person Shooter with Real Time Strategy elements, set in the Command & Conquer universe. It is a high quality award-winning free indie game being created on the Unreal Development Kit. Read more...

3rd Place:Developer - animdude Release: | Released Jul 24, 2014
@scottcawthorn_
Five Nights at Freddy's 1 & 2

"innovative indie horror, at its best."

Welcome to your new summer job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where kids and parents alike come for entertainment and food as far as the eye can see! The main attraction is Freddy Fazbear, of course; and his two friends. They are animatronic robots, programmed to please the crowds! The robots' behavior has become somewhat unpredictable at night however, and it was much cheaper to hire you as a security guard than to find a repairman. From your small office you must watch the security cameras carefully.

Screenshots Screenshots

You have a very limited amount of electricity that you're allowed to use per night (corporate budget cuts, you know). That means when you run out of power for the night- no more security doors and no more lights! If something isn't right- namely if Freddybear or his friends aren't in their proper places, you must find them on the monitors and protect yourself if needed! Can you survive five nights at Freddy's? Read more...


2nd Place:Developer - New World Interactive Release: | Released Jan 22, 2014
@insurgencygame
Insurgency

"like Counter Strike and Red Orchestra had a baby."

TAKE TO THE STREETS FOR INTENSE CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT, where a team's survival depends upon securing crucial strongholds and destroying enemy supply. The follow-up game to the award-winning Source mod, INSURGENCY is highly competitive and unforgivingly lethal, striking a balance between one-life gameplay and prolonged action.

Screenshot 03 Screenshot 04

  • Over 20 weapons with numerous attachments, no crosshair, and a focus on realistic weapon behavior including a free-aim system and intense suppression effects.
  • 12 multiplayer and cooperative maps that take place in 6 distinctive environments ranging from Iraq to Afghanistan to Somalia.
  • 5 multiplayer game modes supporting up to 32 players, with a focus on territorial control, destroying weapon caches and escorting high value targets.
  • Create custom maps and content using the Insurgency SDK and scripting system.
  • Playable on both PC and Mac OSX and supports multiplayer cross-compatibility.
  • Dedicated Server Support for PC and Linux. Read more...

1st Place:Developer - Freejam Release: | Released Dec 19, 2013
@robocraftgame
Robocraft

"balanced yet complex. The fun increases each update."

Build insane Robot Battle Vehicles that drive, hover and fly; add weapons from the future and jump in the driving seat as you take them into battle in a team based capture the base Free-to-Win MMO.

BUILD - A futuristic robo vehicle from Cubes, add Wheels, Thrusters, Hoverblades, and Plasma Cannons
DRIVE - Jump in the Pilot seat of your Robot and drive it into battle in Jet Cars, Tanks, Flying Warships, anything you can dream up
FIGHT - Battle online in massively multiplayer mayhem against users from all over the world

Some user generated screenshots of Robocraft Some user generated screenshots of Robocraft

- Over 100 cubes and components to collect and combine to make a million different Robot designs
- Watch as you enemies Robot breaks apart cube by cube as you destroy them with powerful weaponry
- Form Platoons and battle on the same team
- Save your Robots in the Garage in the cloud
- Access your game account from any PC anywhere via Robocloud
- Free-To-Win, everything required to get to the very top of the tree in Robocraft can be gained for free Read more...


As a reward for your hard work, all Top 10 players' Choice winners will receive a one year subscription to the Unreal 4 Engine from our friends at Epic, redeemable by yourself or to share. Your profiles will also receive a pimping IOTY Players' Choice event badge and the winner will take home a one-of-a-kind memento, a IOTY pocket watch, acknowledging the time and hard work you have dedicated to your project and community.

pr

These watches were handmade by A.E. Williams Pewter specially for this event. You can also get your own custom loot (drinking horns, goblets, etc) made by them. So until next year, have a happy new year & keep changing the game!

Post comment Comments  (0 - 50 of 51)
medve
medve

this is almost a decent list if i dont count 5 nights at freddy's

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SIGILL
SIGILL

This is almost a decent comment if I don't count stating your opinion as a fact.

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EpicAce210
EpicAce210

You might want to apply some ointment to that burn.

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SIGILL
SIGILL

The fun thing is that my comment applies to itself as well :) Didn't mean to be an asshat but sometimes I just get a bit tired of people stating their opinions as facts.

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Coldonne
Coldonne

Explain to me why 5 nights is so good without telling me that it's scary, because, in my opinion, it's not.

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Derped_Crusader
Derped_Crusader

I don't think it's scary either, the reason I like it is because it's one of those games that's a challenge, but not impossible, and because i have worked it for about an hour, I show off to my friends about how i can get past night 6 without dying!

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Coldonne
Coldonne

Thank you, that is the perfect review I was looking for.

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OdinOnline
OdinOnline

5 nights was very interesting for the first 30 minutes. After that you realize it's only a challenge and in my eyes a very, very boring one.
Ignoring all of the different security cameras in order to win takes away too much to have fun with only a few things to do.

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lightningman222
lightningman222

Another good reason is because of the story that paces itself very well but at the same time not telling a lot to spoil it's mystery. I swear it's a great look-up on its own. Just watch the 2 game theory episodes about it and see how great it is.

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Mrlong2
Mrlong2

Yes, it's stupid.

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Guest
Guest

The original I found to be quite scary at first. After Night 4 however the anamatronics became too hard for the game to be scary anymore. The sequel is even worse in that regard because of a) the stupid music box and b) the fact that there's too many anamatronics. Are they good games? For clever design and (for the original at least) some great jumpscares, yes. Anything else, not really. The third game looks promising though because there's only one creepy-looking mothertrucker right now and the atmosphere looks facking creepy and a bit scary.

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_1dt3k_
_1dt3k_

I was afraid for a sec there that Five Nights at Freddy's would top this list. A good game, maybe, but indie of the year?

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EnigmaJetMoto
EnigmaJetMoto

Robocraft certainly doesn't deserve this title either, but it's there right?

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Guest
Guest

Robocraft самая крутая игра в мире!!!

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epic_ziver_D
epic_ziver_D

i think it dose and every update since its only better

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WaLTaRRoN
WaLTaRRoN

RoboCrap hijacked the #1 IMO. Since FJ weren't indie by the time they made the game. Hell that company is as old as i am... Companieslist.co.uk

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Aro
Aro

Whether you like it or not, you can't argue with Five Nights at Freddy's success. Sure it's not the best game in the world but it definitely made an impact and that alone makes it a good game. As a fan of the game, I'm glad to see it made the list, along with Insurgency and Robocraft, two other titles I enjoy.

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MindRiot
MindRiot

I kinda claim its success down to Youtube bait genre of horror games.

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Aro
Aro

The same can be said for a huge amount of Indie games though, most people only discover them by the hands of Youtubers.

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Dune_Jumper
Dune_Jumper

Woo! Insurgency!

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frenchiveruti
frenchiveruti

YEAH!

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Wookienator
Wookienator

Insurgency deserves its high rank :)

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HenryT77
HenryT77

Isaac... Hm, poor flash game so high? I was playing this and some games online are ten times much better. Still I have no idea where is source of this title's popularity???

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Stowenkiller
Stowenkiller

The binding of Isaac was a flash game and ever for it being so was still extremely complex. The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth is the game that you see up there taking 5th, which is no longer a flash game and has more content and even more depth than its counterpart.

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Havoc89
Havoc89

Congratulations to everyone who worked on the top 10! Applause all around for the fellow developers. :)

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chsignal
chsignal

I'm glad for INS. Although I'm more fond of old firefight and MOD had more better maps, Standalone is very good and fun game.

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SirErwinRommel
SirErwinRommel

I still remember back when it was a mod, the community around it was alot less elitist and much more helpful to new players

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Trooper_
Trooper_

But Planetary Annihilation didn't deliver imo, it still has bugs and feels unfinished.

I still have preformance issues in it and it still needs a constant connection to the internet to play it.

A connection that some of us can't keep. The UI is a mess still, The Commanders are worthless at every point but the very early game where they are used to build.

The navy is a joke. And Uber has also left this game for a new one which I will not support considering how they handled deving this one I have a friend who agrees on not supporting future games based on how they left this one while a other one likes the game somehow with its unfinished state even tho Sup com 1, sup com FA hell even Sup com 2 is better they actualy finished there games and polished them. R.I.P Gas Powered Games, all thos people that made 2 very good RTS'es and one decent one and then they get bought up by a company that will squander their talents.

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frenchiveruti
frenchiveruti

If that... 7Days to Die also is an unfinished game... so whatever, take this as "people indie's choice award", I believe that editor's choices are better than this top 10
except for insurgency and this war of mine, those deserve it.

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Snuffeldjuret
Snuffeldjuret

Congratulations Insurgency! 2nd place is like a win, Robocraft looked unbeatable!

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Guest
Guest

Didn't really like Robocraft, but I can see how it got the top spot.(Being free to play probably helped a bit.)

Congrats to all the developers!

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MatNix101
MatNix101

Nice work robocraft. Great game. :)

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CthePredatorG
CthePredatorG

Congratulations to all developers!

Insurgency definitely deserves to be in the top 3! and so does Five Nights at Freddy's! Both 1 & 2!

I still need to try robocraft, though. All my friends love it!

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95acgrfs1228
95acgrfs1228

Alright Insurgency and Robocraft :D

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Chickenshot
Chickenshot

Congratulations to everybody on the list and also to the games that are not included in top 10.

Happy New Year! 2015!

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-Zeta-
-Zeta-

**** yeah! Insurgency FTW! congrats to all of the NWI developers and good job to the other contestants.

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seinfeldx
seinfeldx

i'm disappointed, was really hoping for Fight the Dragon, Dungeon of the Endless and/or Crypt of the NecroDancer being on the list.

Crypt of the NecroDancer is on the Editors Choice, already knew about Depth but have not seen the gameplay video yet.

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QuantumForge
QuantumForge

Planetary Annihilation was a watched title by the Quantum Forge team, we really liked the idea and the concept, and we wanted to see the game succeed. Great work to all the contestants it gave us all something to learn from and enjoy.

If you're like me and develop indie games, I'd highly recommend you research these developers, from the way they form their media and IndieDB page, to how their websites look. It made me think about how well they made it all look. Anyways, great contest!

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Blutarr
Blutarr

Pfff... Steam only games are not independent
at all. That is ridiculous.

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TheNodCommander
TheNodCommander

Yes they are. Steam and Valve had nothing to do with the development of the game. Steams only role is a way to publish the game, just like Game Stop does/did to other games.

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Dejected-Angel
Dejected-Angel

Hey, that Scott twitter page you linked in FNAF is a fake, its not the real Scott.

Dummy.

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Guest
Guest

Insurgency should top the list IMO. I love it,probably the most intense experience I've had for a long time.NWI tries really hard and it shows. Realism and fun enough to be addictive.

So addictive I created a Greek community for it on steam!

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Guest
Guest

Wooo, great job robocraft.

Been playing for a year and still has not gotten old.

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TheNodCommander
TheNodCommander

Congratulations everyone! Especially Renegade X!

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Guest
Guest

the good first 5 (at least) reviews about planetary annihilation on steam A.Say the game either sucks, or is unfinished. and B. missing multiple feature promised in the kick starter. dont see how that could possible be top ten material

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Guest
Guest

Woooo robocraft!!! I never thought it would come firs as it is one of the most troubled games ever (it's I'm alpha and it has already has had a DOSS hack over Christmas that brough the entire game servers down) but the game is the most enjoyable I have EVER played. Well done TC 10 man dev team u deserve it!!!!

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BalBudai85
BalBudai85

As for me This War of Mine is the best.

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windy_day
windy_day

I know this isn't the place to talk but Hello can anyone please help me out, how to spawn items in Project Zomboid? I cant find the command line! Please help. Where is the command line? I tried all letter's from the keyboard nothing seems to come up. And I tried typing on the CMD background behind the game, nothing's happening. Oh please oh please help me. Can anyone give me step by step procedure to bring the command line up? I want to spawn items. :_(

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Guest
Guest

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Dr.Octavia-Pus
Dr.Octavia-Pus

Number 3, fnaf?

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