
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68606120/ss_9cc0264c61e1706dae5b01aadbdf2cfcb518de4d.0.jpg)
Braid’s blend of mind-bending, time-shift gameplay, as well as tricky platforming, made for a truly novel experience. Braid | Number None inc., Hot Head Games | 2008: One of the first games to wholeheartedly exploit the creative freedom of the platform and run with it. Trials HD | Red Lynx | 2009: The ultimate, physics-based, 2.5D stunt bike escapade: and one of the best selling, most highly revered Xbox indie games of all time. If you’re just after the games and want to skip the nostalgia trip, here are each of my best Xbox 360 indie games at a glance! It’s still as bombastically fun as it was in 2009, and it played a huge part in invigorating the system’s zest for indie games. If you were to play only one of these titles to get a flavor for the era, I’d go with Trials HD. Given the age of these titles, as well as having graphics that were not demanding even for the time, anyone with a computer should be able to run them. While some of these games have since been taken off the Xbox 360 platform - most notably those that were part of the now-discontinued Xbox Live Indie Games service - those games can still be played today on Steam. Whether you’re interested in platformers, shooters, co-op titles, or addictive puzzle games, I’m certain there will be something for you here. Bottom Line Up FrontĪs stated above, this article provides a rundown of the best indie experiences to come out of the 360’s reign: games of all types and styles united under the umbrella of the Xbox platform.

Undoubtedly, the indie industry would not be where it is today without the foresight of Microsoft in the late 2000s, and this is the era we’re here to talk about today.įrom monumental successes to one-man development teams, presented here are the games from the time that I consider the best of the best - fantastic titles in their own right and pioneers of a sector of the industry that has immeasurably enriched the medium.

The 360 defined my gaming years as a teenager, and one element of that sentiment is owed to how the console blossomed my love for indie games. It represented a streamlined method for smaller development studios to deliver their titles to console gamers, and later down the road, Microsoft even extended the feature to include the smallest of developers under the category of Xbox Live Indie Games. Along with a stream of exclusive video content, the 360’s iteration of Xbox Live also brought the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA). While these features formed the backbone of the service, they were not the only perk. We usually only think of a system’s generational fortitude as being tied to the graphics potential or a particular exclusive AAA release or two, but what most defined the 360 was its uncompromising focus on online features.Ĭementing consoles as a viable online gaming platform with the original Xbox (which spiritually succeeded the SEGA Dreamcast’s efforts), this was the console that doubled down on the first fully-fledged, paid online service in the form of Xbox Live: a subscription that made playing your favorite indie games and chatting with your friends an effortless endeavor. The Xbox 360 was one of the most revolutionary (and one of the most popular) consoles ever made.

10 of the Best VR Indie Games You Can Play Today - April 3, 2022.Is Among Us Cross Platform? - April 17, 2022.
