Like movies, video games have contributed to a massive and diverse industry. The video game market place Steam has over thirty-thousand games available for sale and only 47% of developers sell their games using steam. This article will teach you what you need to know about the diversity in the gaming market, the games that came out of home projects, and what you need to know for you young gamers. Here at GKIS we care about the internet safety of your young gamers and we want to protect them from digital injuries. Check out the GKIS Social Media Readiness Course to prepare your tweens and teens for the dangers they will face while playing games and interacting on social media.
What is an indie game?
A video game can be classified into one of two groups based on who produced the game, AAA games and Indie games. AAAgames are produced by a major company that can back the game’s production with money, personnel, and any other resources the production may need. Indie games are produced by either a small team or a single developer with minimal resources at their disposal. An indie game developer is typically a single person with a good idea and access to game developing software.
A video game is a large time investment for any developer. Large game developers have teams of experts who each work on the pieces of the game resulting in a short production time. Indie developers, on the other hand, typically have minimal resources. They often crowd-fund projects and make sacrifices to release games in a reasonable amount of time. Indie developers tend to rely on social media for brand awareness and marketing.
Well Known Indie Games
Indie games may start out as small passion projects, but well-made games can gain popularity and become just as popular as AAA games. When an Indie game becomes popular enough, AAA publishers may buy the game from the original developer. This allows the publisher to put their formidable resources behind the project and then reap the rewards of the new and improved game. Here at GKIS, we put the formidable resource of Dr. Bennett’s years of knowledge and experience as a licensed clinical psychologist to work to create the Screen Safety Essentials Course. The Screen Safety Essentials Course provides parents and children with access to a comprehensive program that will help families to create safer screen-home environments and foster open communication.
Here are some Indie games you may recognize:
Minecraft
Minecraft is an incredibly popular Indie title, having sold over 200 million copies to date, and was sold to Microsoft the company behind the Xbox game console in 2014. Microsoft has since updated Minecraft with new content, released two more games under the Minecraft title, and expanded the game into other profitable areas such as toys.
Undertale
Undertale is a game that was crowd-funded and released in 2015 with an estimated 5.8 million users. Created by a single developer, this game has reached a level of acclaim that Nintendo licensed one of the characters to appear in one of their own games. The game also has its own line of merchandise and a much-anticipated sequel currently in development.
Among Us
Among Us is a more recent success story of a small social deception game that rocketed into the public eye, and boasted 60 million active users a day at the peak of its popularity. The game was very popular amongst YouTube and Twitch creators, which acted as a very successful marketing campaign. The game has become so popular that, during Halloween, kids were running around in inflatable costumes of the Among Us space suits.
The Benefits of Indie Games
Without a big corporation behind them forcing big decisions, indie developers can make any game they want. For example, Cup Head is an extremely difficult game with an art style designed to be an homage to the early era of hand-drawn cartoons. Some games are designed off of a single weird concept or a specific labor of love based upon an obscure passion.
Most indie developers try to get the funding they need to produce a game using crowd-funding. Crowd-funding is when a designer puts out a concept of a project online and gets funding from the potential fanbase to make the game through a mixture of donations, pre-purchasing the game before development begins, and additional benefits for backers of the game. Benefits can include anything from your name in the credits of the game as a backer to having input into a part of the game or a character in the game being named for the backer. Crowd-funding allows a developer to pool money for a passion project from people who are excited about the game. Crowd-funding success helps to attract investors because it reflects customer interest.
The Dangers of Indie Games
Indie games have been a source of some of the greatest titles of the last two decades, but that doesn’t mean that every Indie game is going to be like Minecraft. Indie games can be whatever the creator wants, and that’s not always a good thing. For example, some developers push the boundary of horror games and explore themes AAA horror would never touch. For example, The Binding of Isaac is one of the most popular Indie games of all time. The game explores themes of child abuse, religious extremism, and child suicide.
Indie games can explore any theme no matter how dark or twisted and the limit to what can be made is limited only by human imagination. That doesn’t mean all Indie games are horror games. But the range of themes available is significantly more diverse than the AAA scene for games.
What does this mean for your young gamers?
Within the gaming industry, Indie games are incredibly diverse. The diversity of genres and topics can create games that range from poorly made first attempts to truly frightening horror games and all the way to amazing successes like Minecraft.
So, what can you do for your young gamers online?
Read the summary.
If your child wants to get an Indie game it will often come from a website that allows developers to post and sell their games. There is a store page on Steam associated with a game that will give you a description of the plot, gameplay, pictures of the game, and reviews from people who have played the game. This will allow you to make an informed decision if this game is right for your child.
Our family course is designed to bring your family closer and get your kids working with you to stay safe on the internet. Our connected family course is outcome-based and will help you close screen risk gaps and increase family closeness and cooperation.
YouTube
You can often find YouTube creators that have recorded gameplay of popular new Indie games. If your child wants to play the new game their favorite YouTuber is playing, watch one of their videos with them. It’ll show you what kind of game your child is looking at, and you’ll get to hang out with your kid while you do it.
Thanks to CSUCI intern, Jason T. Stewart for researching advances in the video game industry and co-authoring this article.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
Coble, V. (2021, September 30). 10 most disturbing psychological horror indie games. CBR. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.cbr.com/indie-games-disturbing-psychological-horror/.
Curry, D. (2021, November 11). Among us revenue and usage statistics (2021). Business of Apps. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.businessofapps.com/data/among-us-statistics/.
Curry, D. (2021, November 11). Minecraft revenue and Usage Statistics (2021). Business of Apps. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.businessofapps.com/data/minecraft-statistics/.
Donnellan, J. (2021, June 8). 50 best indie games of all time. Cultured Vultures. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://culturedvultures.com/best-indie-games-all-time/.
G., D. (2021, November 1). 45+ video games industry statistics, facts, and trends for 2021. TechJury. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://techjury.net/blog/video-games-industry-statistics/.
Lowry, B. (2017, November 29). This is what sets ‘indie’ and ‘AAA’ video games apart. Windows Central. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://www.windowscentral.com/indie-vs-aaa-which-type-game-you.
Mikolić, M. (n.d.). Undertale stats by Playtracker Insight. stats by Playtracker Insight. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://playtracker.net/insight/game/1122.
Oddo, M. V. (2021, August 2). What’s an indie game anyway? Collider. Retrieved November 20, 2021, from https://collider.com/what-makes-an-indie-game/.
We at GetKidsInternetSafe love fun, educational, and safe screen time. But even better than that? We love creative offscreen play activities that help family members get to know and bond with each other, teach initiative and problem solving, and make forever memories. Sometimes great ideas are hard to dream up on-the-run with busy families. Enjoy these fun at-home indoors or outdoors activities that we at GKIS are sure your kids will love!
Indoor Fun
Let Your Kid be the Media Star
Record your kid as their favorite video star doing fun activities
Create an old movie recorder from cardboard boxes and black paint, don’t forget the director’s board so you or your kids get to yell “cut!”
If your kids like do it yourself videos, set up a station and let them surprise you with the results
If your child wants to be a movie star, let their imagination run wild and have them do small skits of their favorite scenes
Share videos with friends and family and have them comment and let them “like” the videos as fans
Don’t forget to follow up on their roles and nominate them in their own awards show for a later idea.
A thank you speech from your kid is highly encouraged
Up-Cycle Old Games
Give your old board games new meaning by breaking them apart and making a new game
Create cards with inside jokes that only friends and family will know
Use a Jenga game and tape truth or dares to pull out for twice the amount of fun
Create fun Loteria cards! Customize cards to make up members of your family such as the overprotective father or the daughter who says “like” in every sentence
Update trivia games and have your kids teach you a thing or two about new pop culture words and celebrities
Need Inspiration? A blogpost by Claire Harmeyer demonstrates how games are currently being reused with an old Guess Who game!
At Home Art Gallery
Let your child show their artistic creativity in a variety of ways by hosting an art gallery!
Remember that there are various forms of creating art, encourage them to complete at least three different “sections” to their gallery which may include the following:
The painting room
Play-dough or moon sand sculptures room
Origami room
The Barbie fashion showcase room
Photography room
The popsicle architecture room
Live art with temporary tattoos or a henna kit
Food art room
As the art critique, give reassuring feedback to encourage their creativity
Home Lab
Have your kids play mad scientist with some of these fun science creations
Follow scientist Joe and create a storm in a glass.
You’ll need: shaving cream, large glass, water food coloring, and a spoon
Help your kids create a baking soda volcano by following Science Bob’s easy steps
Something to put the liquids in, baking soda, liquid dish soap, food coloring, water, vinegar
Createa tornado in a bottle by looking at the young Youtuber Ryan lay out the steps with his dad
You’ll need: 2-liter soda bottles (same shape), duct tape or connector, water, lamp oil (any color)
You’ll need: Stones, a pencil, and a piece of clay
Outdoor Fun
Backyard Scavenger Hunt
Set up an imaginary scenario that will fit your child’s interests whether that be finding a treasure chest to a vial that will cure the zombie apocalypse
Entice your child: add something of interest to their treasure
Set up a list of instructions that may include:
Riddles
Math problems
Guessing an image outline
Word association games
DIY puzzles
Connect the dots images
Phone a Friend! (have them call a loved one for their next clue)
Create steps such as stacking stones or doing cartwheels to unlock the next set of instructions
If you’d like to play along, act as a helping hand and create a character that will help them
Balcony Garden
For those in apartments, set up a small garden for your child if you have a balcony available.
Be sure everything is easily accessible so that there is no need for leaning or climbing on the railing
Consider easy to maintain plants such as succulents
Customize pots with markers/paint or give them name tags to personalize
Make paper insects like butterflies and prop them into the plants for decoration
Use stick skewers for food or popsicle sticks to glue to your paper insects and stick them into the edge of the pots
Color skewers green to act as plant stems
Set up Christmas lights around the balcony so your child can admire their plant friends at night
Home Triathlon
Set up a backyard triathlon using whatever sports equipment you have or can make.
The idea is to do each obstacle non-stop until they reach the finish line
Get creative and work with what you have!
Ideas for challenges include:
Pitch up a tarp/sheet and have your kid’s army crawl under
Draw a challenging hopscotch segment
Set a designated amount of hula hoops swirls
Have two volunteers be ready with a double dutch jump rope obstacle
How low can you limbo station
Basketball into a hoop
Making a soccer ball into a goal that’s
guarded
Jumping jacks
Backward walking
Set up a finish line using items such as ribbon or even tied up rags
Outside Movie Nights
Pull up some chairs, snacks, and whatever else you’ll need to be comfortable
If you have a projector get a flat white surface to hang to a wall
If you’re trying this on a balcony, prop the backdrop on the sliding door
No projector? No worries, this idea will work fine with a device that’s big enough for you and your kids to see
Watch your favorite films under the night sky
Or make your own movie story
Grab a flashlight and have the family show their storytelling skills.
Give the group a movie genre they can work with
In a bowl you can add random folded words they will need to incorporate into their story
Set a timer that works for everyone
Deem the new storytelling king or queen of the night
The newest king or queen will get to be the judge for the next game
Added bonus! Stargazing till your kids are pooped and ready for bed
Wrap-up: These stars have a story, share a one constellation story and have them excited for the next one
Special thanks to Aroni Garcia for researching and co-writing this article. If you liked these fun tips and want to stay updated on new fun ways to keep your kids entertained follow GKIS on social media! Follow our @GetKidsInternetSafe Instagram and Facebook pages and @drtracybennett Twitter for our latest posts! And, as always, thanks for sharing us with friends and family. Cheers to happy memory making!
