I've recently browsed through the Xbox live indie marketplace. A lot of the games are pretty much crap. Some exist solely for the pleasure of lonely perverts (yes, Ninja Chop, I'm looking at you). Some border on the retarded. Some aren't even games at all !!!! Who would read the description of Gallery Landscapes and think "This is for me!". However, some games are just brilliant. Some of you might be familiar with Cthulhu Saves The World. This is a great little gem in xbox live indie and I'm quite happy I found it.

I've recently browsed through the Xbox live indie marketplace. A lot of the games are pretty much crap. Some exist solely for the pleasure of lonely perverts (yes, Ninja Chop, I'm looking at you). Some border on the retarded. Some aren't even games at all !!!! Who would read the description of Gallery Landscapes and think "This is for me!". However, some games are just brilliant. Some of you might be familiar with Cthulhu Saves The World. This is a great little gem in xbox live indie and I'm quite happy I found it.

The Cthulhu game looks pretty good. Shame Europeans don't get indie games...

I think indie games get a bad rap sometimes. Yeah, there's a LOT of garbage on there. In fact, there's far more garbage than not. If you know where to look, however, it actually has quite a few great games. Considering most of them cost a dollar I usually feel I've got my moneys worth even if it doesn't last very long. I mean, I used to drop a dollar or more on a single credit in the arcades frequently. Here's a few that I've played that I dig...

AardBloxX: It's basically top down Tetris. You can re-size the grid and throw in some non-standard piece shapes for a little extra challenge. 
 
Breath of Death VII: Made by the same dev as Cthulhu Saves the World (actually came out before). I haven't played Cthulhu but, from the looks of them, I'd imagine they're fairly similar.
 
Fishing Girl: You have to catch fish to make money to buy new gear to catch better fish to make more money to save your friend that's stranded on the island across from you. Not super lengthy but I had fun while it lasted.
 
Head Shot 2: You have to find and shoot the target you're given within a set time limit. Not much to it but it gets quite challenging after a few levels.
 
 I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES: This is pretty much the seminal XBL indie game. Top down dual joystick shooting insanity. EVERYONE should buy this game. It's a dollar and it's awesome.
 
Miner Dig Deep: You have a mine and you gotta dig. The deeper you get the better minerals you find so you can buy better gear to dig deeper. I honestly can't explain the euphoria when you see a new mineral off in the distance. You know that you have to have it and will do anything to get there. I also like the sandboxy nature of it. When you start out there's just a hole in the ground. You have to make sure to place the ladders and elevators correctly so you can get back to the surface and not kill yourself falling into a pit. The best indie game by far. It started at 240 points but I think it's down to 80 now. Buy it.
 
Ninja Bros: It's basically a puzzle/platformer. You control up to four ninjas at a time. The stick controls them all at once and each one is assigned to a different face button to make them jump. It starts off easy but after a while it gets down right diabolical.
 
Shoot 1up: Fairly basic vertical scrolling shoot 'em up, except, as the name implies, it's all about the 1ups. The unique thing about it is that every 1up you get automatically becomes part of your squadron. If I remember correctly you can get to a maximum of 30 ships at the same time.
 
Soul: It's basically Operation. You move your little soul through the levels and you can't touch the walls, if you do you die. Really nice art in this one. It's got a stupid "screamer' that pops up from time to time that kind of brings everything down, but I had a good time with it.
 
The Impossible Game: You go along a straight path and have to avoid obstacles. It's only got one level, but I've never been able to beat it without using the check points. 
 
There's probably more out there that are good, but those are the ones that I've really liked.

I played one earlier today, trial version of course, called Why Did I Even Buy This and it's basically just a pop-up trying to get you to buy the game. High-concept? Sure. Shamless? You bet your ass. I am in awe of the brass balls on the designers of this thing.

I really enjoyed the Impossible Game and its expansion (though those games are hard as nails) and Flotilla.

I played one earlier today, trial version of course, called Why Did I Even Buy This and it's basically just a pop-up trying to get you to buy the game. High-concept? Sure. Shamless? You bet your ass. I am in awe of the brass balls on the designers of this thing.

The original version of Cthulhu Saves the World is available now for 240 Microsoft Points ($3 USD) in all countries where XBox Live Indie Games are supported. Owners of the 360 version will be automatically upgraded for free to the enhanced version when released. The PC release ($3 USD) will include the enhancements by default when the PC version is released this Spring.

@Getz said:

I played one earlier today, trial version of course, called Why Did I Even Buy This and it's basically just a pop-up trying to get you to buy the game. High-concept? Sure. Shamless? You bet your ass. I am in awe of the brass balls on the designers of this thing.

Without consequences, there's nothing to be in awe about. Anyone can put up shit and ask money for it, like controller "massagers".

The Cthulhu game looks pretty good. Shame Europeans don't get indie games...

My recommendation: