New week, new tournament match-up! Before we begin, we have a quick update. It would appear that Shattered Horizon has deftly defeated its opponent, Crayon Physics Deluxe, in our first match-up. Congratulations to Futuremark Game Studios for making it to the round of 16!

OK and now onwards to today’s tournament!

Our first opponent today is none other than Braid, the premiere platform puzzler which took the world by storm in 2008. For those who have heard nothing of it (where have you been?) Braid is a platformer which emphasizes the use of time mechanics to solve puzzles and, eventually, save the “princess.”

On the other side of the ring, however, is one of my personal favorite indie platformers: Runman: Race Around the World. In Runman, you play as a tiny star-like creature, named Runman, who simply wishes to race around thew world (it’s all in the title!). The game is incredibly charming, offers simplistic yet adorable graphics, and features gameplay that is fast and incredibly challenging.

So which will it be? Vote now!

Check out the Bracket!

Other Match-Ups running right now!

N vs. Minecraft
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude
Love (MMO) vs. Adanaxis

Our last match up for the week and I gotta say, while the games might not be as large, I’d say that this is one of my favorite match ups, both games are fairly simplistic and yet totally complicated at the same time. It’s fascinating the way some of these games got randomly matched up. Anyway, without further ado, I bring you N/Ninja vs. Minecraft.

Up first we have the extremely popular Ninja platforming game N, which has been empowering ninja fans since the middle of this past decade. Over the years we’ve seen many iterations come out. While each brings with it new levels, and new levels of fun the one thing that remains unchanged is the incredible addictiveness of these titles.

Not to be counted out so quickly, however, is Minecraft. While not technically “released” anybody (you, me, that guy) can play it right now in it’s alpha stage. For those that don’t know about this game yet, it is basically a build whatever, destroy whatever type of game. While offering simplistic graphics, there’s nothing more satisfying that building a huge monolithic tower to keep the rampaging zombies out.

So which will it be? Only one can move on. Choice is yours!

Check out the Bracket!

Other Match-Ups running right now!

Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude
Love (MMO) vs. Adanaxis

UPDATE: Guys, I know it’s just called N, or N+. I’ve cleared this with the developers already. Fact of the matter is that some people simply consider it as Ninja. Don’t ask me why, I don’t know. It was a request and we went with it. It’s not a huge deal though, don’t stress out too much about it. If N wins, I’ll consider just calling it “N” for future match ups. Thanks for participating.

P.S. You guys rock, I never expected so many people would hit the voting booth, so to say. Thanks a million for supporting your this tournament and your choice, no matter which it may be.

Just about a third of the way through the match-ups at this point. Today we’ve got a rather interesting match up in Ben There, Dan That vs. Don’t Look Back. Each game posing stark contrasts in story and form.

Up first we’ve got the hilariously made Ben There, Dan That by Zombie Cow Studios. For those who have not yet played this rousing adventure game, I’d strongly recommend it as the laughs are frequent and the puzzles as challenging as you’d expect out of any adventure game.

Not to be outdone, however, is Terry Cavanagh’s dark, contemplative flash platformer DOn’t Look Back. While Don’t Look Back is a fine enough platformer, that’s plenty challenging, the real drive behind the game is the story that’s not only very intriguing but also done completely without any sort of dialog. It only takes about 30 minutes to complete and I highly recommend it.

So what will it be? Funny and humorous, or dark and contemplative? Only one can move on!

Check out the Bracket!

Other Match-Ups running right now!

Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude
Love (MMO) vs. Adanaxis

Continuing on with the tournament, for the third day in a row, we have two very different and unique games being pitted against each other. Honestly, I can’t say what kind of outcome will come of these two games.

On the one hand, we have Love (the MMO), by Eskil Steenberg, a unique MMO cooperative adventure game where you play as a scavenger attempting to build a settlement. While I haven’t personally played the game, yet, to me it almost sounds like a first person co-op city building simulation. Something that’s definitely an interesting idea.

On the other hand, we have Adanaxis, an opponent that’s not going to go down with out a fight. A self-proclaimed 4D shooter, Adanaxis is a unique game with an odd method of targeting. Still though, it requires a lot of skill to fully master which is one reason why it’s become popular.

Both game today are more abstract than any other match ups thus far which means the outcome could be anybody’s guess. Should make things interesting, at the very least.

Choose wisely, only one game can make it to the next round.

Check out the Bracket!

Other Match-Ups running right now!

Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude

Not long after we launched out first match up, Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics, are we jumping right into the second match-up, Knytt Stories vs. Altitude.

First, Knytt/Knytt Stories is a contemplative, adventure Metroidvania that features huge worlds to explore, items to gather, and a very unique setting. Time and time again it is lauded by gamers as one of the great indie games through the annals of history. Rightly so, as the developer Nifflas has proven his mettle in the indie game development scene for years now.

Not to be counted our immediately, however, comes Altitude, one the most adorably charming, multiplayer, plane shmups to have ever been released. Developed by Nimbly Games, Altitude has long been a fan favorite in the indie multiplayer scene. It doesn’t hurt that your game also comes with a raving fanbase as well, something that’s quite rare amongst indie multiplayer titles.

So which will it be? Contemplative and imaginative, or charming and addictive? Only one can head on to the round of 16. Vote now!

Check out the Bracket!

Other Match-Ups running right now!

Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics

This is it! The very first tournament match up and it’s a big one too! Before we begin, let me just stress that you may only vote once. The poll we are using will be monitoring cookies, IPs and other such things to ensure there is no cheating. Hooray. Also please note that you are voting on which of these two games is better, i.e. can actually be the “best” indie game. There are no feature comparisons, or anything like that.

So without further ado, I bring you Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics.

Shattered Horizon is a game best known for it’s first person shooting multiplayer mayham which takes place in complete zero-G, something that is extremely unique amongst the FPS genre. Also cool is that the developers have offered 2 free DLCs thus far, something other companies gladly charge for.

On the other side, we have Crayon Physics, the quirky, yet extremely charming, physics puzzle game where you must manipulate various objects using crayons. Aside from the features, the developer has gone so far as to offer a “pay what you want” sale, in the past, to get more people playing the game, which is definitely cool.

So which one is the best? You tell me.

Poll is now closed! Congratulations to Futuremark Game Studios for making it to the round of 16!

Whew! After about a month of accepting nominations and about an hour putting together my bracket we finally have ourselves a nice little tournament running.

So, who will take the Rocket Trophy? Looking at the bracket set up I can already foresee quite a few big match ups like:

1. Dwarf Fortress/Trine
2. Shattered Horizon/Crayon Physics
3. Braid/Runman
4. Cave Story/Torchlight

Keep in mind that these brackets were chosen at random. I know it may seem unfair to put some of the larger games against each other ensuring that one of them won’t move passed the round of 32, but that’s just how we are doing it this year. Next year we can see about doing it a bit differently if it turns out to be a true problem.

Here’s how this is going to work:

Every weekday (no weekends) I’ll be posting a new matchup, going straight down the left side and then the right side. From that time you have exactly one (1) week to vote on which you want to be taken to the round of 16. This process will last, roughly, 3 week, after which we’ll begin the round of 16 which I’ll explain when we get there.

We’ll be using an outside polling service (PollDaddy) to ensure that people can’t vote twice.

Sound good? Everything kosher? Good!

So, if you had to guess, who do you think will make it to the finals? Of those two teams, which do you believe will win?

P.S. Yes, I did draw the bracket myself, thank-you-very-much. I even included the parachuting stickmen, castle, and rocket ship.

P.P.S. Click to enlarge the image.

P.P.P.S. Just a reminder, the winner gets this bitchin’ Rocket Trophy!

Subscribe to our tournament feed to keep up with all the rounds!

Here are currently running match-ups. Vote now!

Shattered Horizon vs. Crayon Physics
Knytt/Knytt Stories vs. Altitude

Seeing as how tournament styled competitions are all the rage right now, we figured we’d jump in on the fray as well, launching our First Annual Indie Games Tournament! That’s right, we are on the precipice of launching the first bracket-styled tournament for the best indie game of all time, which will be held annually. That means you, and your friends, will be voting for and nominating the winners in a 32 game mash-up.

Did I say nominate? You bet your ass I did.

Before we can even think about launching the actual tournament we need nominees! And the way we get nominees is by you actually nominating them. So tell us what your favorite indie game of all time is!

Here are the rules for nominating:

1. Indie games ONLY. No big names attached, I’m afraid.
2. The game has to have been released, no future titles like Super Meat Boy or Joe Danger, unfortunately.
3. Games actually have to exist. If we can’t find some sort of web presence, be it a YouTube video, website, twitter… whatever. We can’t accept the game. No matter how many nominations we get.
4. Nominate as many games as you want, but only once for each game.
5. You have until April 30th at 11:59pm to get in all your nominations.

And that’s it! The games with the most nominations will be put into the 32-game bracket styled tournament, to be voted on, by you guys, in one-off competitions.

How to nominate

To nominate a game you can do one of three things:

1. You can leave the name of the game in this thread.
2. You can reply to this forum post in our ever expanding forums.
3. You can email me at geoff[dot]gibson[at]diygamer[dot]com

Please only nominate games that actually exist. If we can’t find them on the web, somewhere, then we won’t allow them into the competition.

Feel free to nominate any game, no matter when it was created (yesterday or 10 years ago) and from any platform: PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android, PSP, DSi, Pandora… if it exists then it’s eligible.

Also, game developers, feel free to nominate your own games, but only once!

Oh and the prize for winning? That kick ass rocket ship trophy up top. Because everybody loves rockets!

UPDATE: I’ve extended the nomination process until Monday, when I originally set this date I hadn’t planned on it being on a weekend. Enjoy and we look forward to starting the tournament in t-minus 48 hours.