An investigation of independent video games--creative, personal,
strange, and experimental--and their claims to handcrafted authenticity
in a purely digital medium.
Video games are often dismissed as mere entertainment products created
by faceless corporations. The last twenty years, however, have seen the
rise of independent, or "indie," video games: a wave of small, cheaply
developed, experimental, and personal video games that react against
mainstream video game development and culture. In Handmade Pixels,
Jesper Juul examine the paradoxical claims of developers, players, and
festivals that portray independent games as unique and hand-crafted
objects in a globally distributed digital medium.
Juul explains that independent video games are presented not as mass
market products, but as cultural works created by people, and are
promoted as authentic alternatives to mainstream games. Writing as a
game player, scholar, developer, and educator, Juul tells the story of
how independent games--creative, personal, strange, and
experimental--became a historical movement that borrowed the term
"independent" from film and music while finding its own kind of
independence.
Juul describes how the visual style of independent games signals their
authenticity--often by referring to older video games or analog visual
styles. He shows how developers use strategies for creating games with
financial, aesthetic, and cultural independence; discusses the aesthetic
innovations of "walking simulator" games; and explains the controversies
over what is and what isn't a game. Juul offers examples from
independent games ranging from Dys4ia to Firewatch; the text is
richly illustrated with many color images.
