Written by hobblejp.

In this past year we’ve heard a lot from big companies.
We’ve had “Pre-owned games are stealing from the mouths of Developers children”
We’ve had “People playing online so much should pay us extra for the extra value”
The “We can lock stuff away on our disk and charge you for it because you rent the right to play the game from us you don’t have rights to any of the game “

Well for all those people moaning about supporting developers how about supporting some new developers ? here are a few games to spend your spare MS points on and you’ll get more fun than from an avatar item from them.

Heres my run down of the indie games that peaked my interest over the past year.

Adventures of Captain Becky – 80msp
 Pretty much the game Mace was meant to be this is what would happen if the Mario Developers took a leaf from Tomb Raiders book and put a Female lead. Yes the normal exposed flesh and titillation is there but under it lies a solid platformer.

Along came a Spider – 80msp
A rather unique colourful game which sees you take the rolls of a spider swinging round webs and catching flies, a pretty neat indie game which has you really use your head.

Avatar Glide – 80 msp
If you’ve played Super Monkey Ball you’ll find this game a nostalgic classic fly your avatar through the hoops in some very nicely designed level, a very relaxing game and good fun to play aswell as being one of the few good avatar games out.

Avatar Bowling – 80msp
A quite good bowling game for multiple players, ideal for those annoyed at the lack of multiplayer bowling on GTA IV and it uses your avatar.

Avatar Bowman – 80msp
A decent recreation of the webgame bowman just without the blood and gore and with Avatars, a nice little gem again here.

Avatar Hurdles – 80msp
I seem to have quite a few avatar games on here but considering how many there are these games are the creme of the crop honest. it’s a quite solid athletics (well hurdling) game with some challenge but its made the list due to the nice touch of having the winners national anthem play based on the flag you picked when you picked a player and the flag appearing behind the appropriate avatars on the podium.

Avatar Orbitoid – 80msp
Fly round planets and a planet demolition engineer and fight of the hordes of enemies before finally being able to dismantle the planet your tasked with. a good space fighter game just with avatars added.

Baby Maker Extreme – 80msp
Sick, $^&# up and plain wrong just some of the words my flatmate came out with upon first playing this game, yet its addictive and if you like slightly sick humour this game is for you.

Colosseum – 240msp
A game that I’m personally quite shocked at, an arena based fighting game with customisable fighters and a range of characters and moves. the price might look big but this game easily makes its worth felt with a level of quality that makes me wonder why it didn’t get an XBL arcade release in full for a higher price, get it while you can before some smart company buys the rights and releases the game at 800msp as an arcade game.

Creed Arena – 240 msp
A unique arena based shooting game with multiple view perspectives special moves and online multiplayer with some strange event types. Perfect for those looking for a little more quake without paying huge amounts.

Dark – 80msp
An adventure game and a show for all developers to see just how amazing lighting can be and how much it can add to a game, very stylish and very different, this is an indie game that look like art and doesn’t play too badly either.

Dragon Chess 80 – msp
A multiplayer Chess game on Xbox live with a new variation on the game adding an extra piece, quite a nice chess game though some battle chess style animations wouldn’t have gone a miss but for 80 msp its a damn fine game

Epiphany in Space – 80msp
A parody of pretty much every sci-fi series ever and a parody of text adventure games with a cool go back one decision feature, if you’re a fan of sci-fi series or text adventures this is definitely for you, the true question is what captain will you be, will you seduce strange alien women or will you be noble and take on the evil binary trying to take over the brains of the entire universe.

Flotilla  – 400msp
A hefty price tag for a game that deserves it, a turn based strategy game with a true 3D battle field use strategy flanking and space debris to get the upper hand on enemies for ambushes and cover, a game where the battle field expands above and below your ships allowing so many options, plus alot of comic characters to meet, another game that definitely justifys its hefty price tag with gameplay that you’d expect on a full arcade title.

GentleMacho – 80msp
An Old spice game and quite a good one, true its one big advert but the 3 and a half levels will keep you playing for a while and laughing at the insanity of it, though be warned the end is a let down.

Jonny Crush – 80msp
Play the most bad quantum singularity exterminator alive Jonny crush and you take on the job of a lifetime take down the super bug menace with your exterminator tools or as required more general use weapons. ideal for those who love serious same and just want more of the same for cheap, a very nice fun FPS game definitely worth a look in.

Kodu Game lab – 400msp
Nintendo has Wario ware DIY, Sony has Little Big Planet. Microsoft has um EA create ? Well worry no more as at last the xbox has its little big planet, a game that lets you make games that can be played as 2D like little big planet or create or an open world 3d style like many FPS and TPS games. The only limit is your imagination really with something Little Big Planet doesn’t have, logic programming, it lets you make pretty much any game, personally I’ve made a betting sim and a remake of an old school arena fighter and plan to make more. Then once you’ve made your game you can go to the online servers and share it free and download other people’s stored games off the server. This is 400msp for pretty much unlimited games. With 4 player offline capability and regular updates from the developer that hugely expand the games capabilities this is one indie game that keeps getting better and has big aims, hoping to be the first ever indie game to be able to share content with its PC version allowing people to make levels on 360 or PC and download one another’s levels to play.

Jet Pack War – 80msp
An online TPS game and actually pretty good for the price on and you get to both use your avatar and fly using a jetpack, definitely worth a look in for a fun multiplayer romp

Lets Draw a Picture Together – 80msp
a simple idea but brilliantly applied turn your 360 into a drawing pad and go online to draw with others if you so want, ideal for kids (as long as you’re careful online) a brilliant idea and a real bargain in the indie marketplace.

Mech Gladiator – 80msp
An old style Japanese robot fighting game, play as the giant robot and you fight even bigger robots and monsters, with plenty of power ups to help, this is a bit of old school fun and a truly beautiful indie game

Ninja Chop – 240msp
Taking its ideas from some old fighting games, earn points chopping milk lids off and unlock new outfit, thinking about it play dress up with a girl covered in a translucent white substance sounds very wrong but the games solid enough, though if the visuals and gameplay are worth it that’s for you to decide.

Monsters probably stole my princess – 240msp
Another of those games that makes its price definitely worth it a great quality silly platforming game, a parody of all those old platformers and their “the princess is in another castle” this game is another that could have made a full XBL arcade launch I’m sure so what are you waiting for snap it up before some company gets wise and buys the rights.

Spatial Rift – 80msp
Another RTS game set in space, an amazing little gem well worth a look in. ideal for fans of the Star Trek RTS games, definitely worth the price with minimal balance issues really.

Tokyo 2029 AD – 80msp
A fun little indie beat em up game with lots of gore, and no such thing as a cheap move as you don’t have a health system, simply fill your power bar and unleash a killing move to survive to the next fight. a very unique 2D fighting game that allows 4 players on-screen at once in a 4 way match. With unlockable characters and some already pretty crazy ones this is one game that will keep you going for quite a while.

Try not to Fart – 80msp
When reviewers say it required finger gymnastics on the controller you have to wonder what they mean, then you play this game and find out, a tough game seeing you try to co-ordinate yourself or tie your fingers in knots while you play through a love story with some quite funny moments, ideal to play with friends as if they aren’t laughing at the game they’ll be laughing at you trying to prevent the farts by holding down buttons with you nose and your hands are already tied up.