VR gamer with controller – Pexels
Indie games are huge. That statement might seem surprising – these are the games made by tiny studios on shoestring budgets, often with minimal experience behind them. How can they account for a huge portion of the gaming market? But as any die-hard gamer will tell you… They certainly do. Minecraft, Stardew, and so many more prove it to us: these games have so much to offer.
On Steam alone, gamers spent about $5 billion on indie games in 2024, and these titles are often lauded for their uniqueness and innovative approach. With over 400 video game companies publishing indie games, it’s hardly surprising that we’re seeing a lot of activity in this space, but how do these companies come up with their content? It’s all very well to make “unique” a goal… and a lot harder to do it.
So let’s figure out where these games get their inspiration from!
Browser Games Like Casinos
Okay, a browser game might not be where you first imagine the developers turning for inspiration. After all, aren’t browser games just point-and-click or otherwise basic adventures?
No. Browser games are themselves enormously innovative and have a huge amount to offer players. Take, for instance, the online casino. Here is a world that has given inspiration to a slew of popular indie titles. If you’ve ever played slots online, you’ll know just how varied these titles can be, with intricate theming and gorgeous graphics lighting up the imagination of those who play them.
But it’s not just about that, of course. The mechanics of online slots, the basic bread-and-butter on which they run, can be found in a myriad of indie games. Take Stardew Valley, for example – the way that enemy drops are randomized uses the same technology as a slot machine does when it determines how the symbols fall during a spin.
There’s also the sensation. What do slots online do particularly well? They build your anticipation. They make you wait to see what the prize is going to be. They thrill you with a sense of “what’s about to drop?” And if you’ve ever played Vampire Survivors, a gem made by Luca Galante, you’ll have seen an almost identical setup.
Open a chest and you’ll see an animation of all the possible rewards you could get out of the chest spinning across the screen. The music intensifies and peaks. Finally, after several seconds of drawn-out excitement, you see what you’ve won. It’s exactly the same thrill that pulls people to online slots.
And if you want a more subtle example, have you ever noticed the way online casinos tend to scatter prizes about on the screen, whether you’re playing with crypto or fiat currency? You’ll see gems and coins bouncing about, both in the games and in their promo material.
Many indie games draw on that exact animation because it makes the prize so much more exciting and ensures you see it. Check out the way rosaries bounce about when you open a chest in Silksong – there’s no question it hypes you up for a prize. And given that Silksong broke multiple platforms because so many people wanted to buy it when it was released… well, you know they’re doing something right.
Real Life
Next, reality. It’s an endless source of inspiration for all creatives, and that goes for indie developers as well as AAA franchises – probably more so. When you haven’t got a huge team of other developers to bounce ideas off and a set of past scripts that have proven successful to work from, you’ve got to look outward for sources of inspiration. Real life provides it.
Indeed, they say that life is stranger than fiction, offering ample inspiration for those who turn to it. Some of the most successful indie games use reality as their springboard, incorporating other elements to take their game to the next level. Stardew Valley might be the most obvious of these, letting you retreat to a peaceful farming community and grow vegetables. Yes, there are monsters in there too, but the game unquestionably takes its heart and soul from a widespread desire to dial down on life’s complexities and reconnect with nature.
Myths And Stories
Finally, where would we be without inspiration from other stories that have been told before? Indie developers are always turning to this well, looking for ways to reimagine the tales that have enthralled humans in the past. Hades acts as a particularly notable example here, allowing you to enter the world of the Greek Gods and explore the underworld as the son of Hades. This great game hit a peak of about 54,000 players and spawned great enthusiasm for its sequel, and part of its popularity stems from our ongoing love for the Greek myths and legends.
Interestingly, this is also something you’ll see a lot of slots games and even triple-A titles drawing on, demonstrating just how ceaselessly popular it is with gamers across genres and game types.
So, the short answer to where indie developers get their inspiration from? A whole range of places, and that’s part of what makes this gaming genre so infinitely unique. From RPGs like Chained Echoes to stunning platformers like Silksong, it’s a category that never stops giving.