Are Indy Games Losing Their Creativity, Or Am I Just a Grumpy Gamer?

[KitCatBass]

Sup guys,
I've been having this conversation with people over the weekend and thought I'd share it with you. I was thinking the other day that a lot of games I own on steam are independently developed games. And a lot of them I have not even played. Those that I have played have either been a side scroller or some other genre, like tower defense. Genres that have been milked over the past couple of years. Its getting to a point where its just kind of a disappointment, seeing an industry with so much potential go in this samey direction either because its easier to code or they don't have any really good ideas. Maybe I'm being critical but I think these later side-scrollers are wastes of my time and aren't worth my money.
I understand that there are amazing games out there that have gained much acclaim and may be considered classics in the future. So don't hate me on that. I've played the greats and some.

What do ya'll think?

[Southernslummin]

Games tend to come out in flavors of the month. I have hundreds of games with over half of them being indies that I may play for a day or finish and put away. Right now the strategy and side scroller thing may just be a fad that will move along to something else. Have you tried other games? Also, are those the ones that peak your interest the most because there are many other indie games that don't fall into those categories that are excellent. Look at games like Don't Starve, Unepic, Starbound, Bastion, Grim Dawn, Rogue Legacy, or Risk of Rain. All these games are different genres and in different stages of development with some being done and some still in progress but all are very good games by indie devs. Also try looking at sites other than steam. Desura and indiegamestand are sites that focus on indie games and development.

[Yazilliclick]

I think if you choose just to look at the games that are the same that you'll see them as all the same. There are plenty of innovative games coming out but they'll always be much much fewer in number than games building on or following existing mechanics. If anything these days there are the same amount of innovative new games coming out and games making big changes though building on existing concepts however there are a LOT more indie games getting out and getting attention than in past years. Before you used to have to look for indie games; now there are multiple major stores catering to selling them along with major stores like Steam putting them front and center on regular basis. Add to that mobile gaming and yeah you'll see a lot of duplicates but it doesn't mean there's any less innovative titles being made, they're just harder to see now.

[chr1s_]

I do not agree that most indie games comes out on genres that have been milked over the years , i would instead say that many indie games adds a lot of fresh ideas, are not as dumbed down (or mainstream, whatever you would call it), many are drm free and they cover genres which mostly have been abandoned by AAA developers and you do not even nearly see as much platformers, adventure games, roguelike, party based rpgs like D&D, Arcanum etc today as you used to 10 years ago which i find disappointig since i do not enjoy gaming as much as i did before because of these AAA games and their business models which are currently destroying everything i used love about gaming and that's why i'm happy most indies focus on them.

Currently i mostly keep playing classics, indies, drm free and kickstarter games (which mostly are independent and only in rare cases takes help from publishers) and use GoG many times over steam since i enjoy these games a LOT more, they do not treat me as a idiot which most non indie does imo, they focus on fun over tedious cutscenes and watered down game play and have a business models that i like.

With all this said i still play mmo's (rarely), shooters and other genres where most AAA devs focus on today but not enjoying them nearly as much because imo these are the genres i feel is the most milked today.