Super interesting regarding the term “Indie” - because 2D pixel art is such a smart choice for smaller / solo development teams, the term has eventually become so synonymous with the gameplay & art style that I wonder if the Dave the diver is proof of the definition having been adopted by most as loose genre slang for “looks like stardew valley”, heh.
I think this is a great point and I think what Andrew was getting at. Slang is a perfect way to describe it. Genres seem to have shifted more and more into slang to describe a couple of features, like art style or dropping your currency when you die and having to go retrieve it. And that makes it a bit jumbled and confusing when discussing games using genres because it feels like everyone is working off of slightly different definitions.
I haven't watched the episode yet but in regards to this I listen to another podcast (Game & Gig) and they've made an indie rubric that might be worth a shot (it's in their discord though not on their channel to my knowledge)
Super interesting regarding the term “Indie” - because 2D pixel art is such a smart choice for smaller / solo development teams, the term has eventually become so synonymous with the gameplay & art style that I wonder if the Dave the diver is proof of the definition having been adopted by most as loose genre slang for “looks like stardew valley”, heh.
I think this is a great point and I think what Andrew was getting at. Slang is a perfect way to describe it. Genres seem to have shifted more and more into slang to describe a couple of features, like art style or dropping your currency when you die and having to go retrieve it. And that makes it a bit jumbled and confusing when discussing games using genres because it feels like everyone is working off of slightly different definitions.
I haven't watched the episode yet but in regards to this I listen to another podcast (Game & Gig) and they've made an indie rubric that might be worth a shot (it's in their discord though not on their channel to my knowledge)